Jason Isringhausen Rumors

Cards Decline To Offer Arb To Springer, Looper, Isringhausen

By Tim Dierkes [December 2, 2008 at 11:01am CST]

TUESDAY: Another note from Strauss - it seems the Cardinals are moving on from Springer. MONDAY: According to MLB.com's Matthew Leach, the Cardinals declined to offer arbitration to Russ Springer, Braden Looper, and Jason Isringhausen (as well as their other free agents). The Looper decision comes as a surprise, as he earned only $5.5MM in '08 and would've been a solid addition or trade chip for '09. He's a Type B free agent, but the Cards won't get a pick now. Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Looper is seeking at least a three-year deal. Springer is a... Continue Reading

Indians Shift Focus To Closer

By Tim Dierkes [December 1, 2008 at 8:43am CST]

According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Indians decided last week that multiyear deals for Rafael Furcal or Orlando Hudson would be too risky (health concerns). They're likely to switch their focus to finding a closer. Hoynes says the Indians have talked to the agents for Brian Fuentes, Trevor Hoffman, Jason Isringhausen, and Francisco Rodriguez. Hoynes believes the Mets have the upper hand on K-Rod. Still, Fuentes has scheduled a trip to New York to visit with the Mets. Continue Reading

Cards Make Offer To Rhodes

By Tim Dierkes [November 25, 2008 at 8:57am CST]

According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals made an offer to lefty reliever Arthur Rhodes. Rhodes' agent says nine teams expressed interest, and a handful made offers. More offers are forthcoming for the 39 year-old. Cardinals GM John Mozeliak continues to hammer out the details of a contract with Trever Miller; he hopes to add two lefties to the pen. Goold says the Cardinals are also considering two righthanded relievers in Brandon Lyon and Jason Isringhausen. Three other teams have expressed interest in Isringhausen, who would like to regain his job as the Cardinals' closer. The... Continue Reading

Indians Rumors: Shoppach, Roberts, Street

By Tim Dierkes [November 7, 2008 at 4:51pm CST]

Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer discusses the Indians' offseason needs. With Victor Martinez, Kelly Shoppach, Carlos Santana, and others, the Indians have a surplus of catching (and mad guitar skills). The Red Sox, Marlins, Reds, and Tigers are known to be in the market, so maybe the Indians can deal a catcher to fill another need. Those other needs: an infielder, a late inning reliever, and a starter. Hoynes believes the Indians will fall short of meeting the demands of free agents Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, and Rafael Furcal. Hoynes implies the asking price for one year of... Continue Reading

Indians Interested In Blake

By Tim Dierkes [November 4, 2008 at 11:31am CST]

According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Indians have expressed interest in bringing third baseman Casey Blake back to Cleveland. Blake stands out in a weak free agent market at the hot corner. The Dodgers are also interested, but they may view other needs as a higher priority. At the least, they should offer him arbitration as a Type B free agent. Blake's agent anticipates offers ranging from one to three years. Blake brings the added benefit of versatility, as he can play first base and right field as well. In other Indians news, agent Rick Thurman... Continue Reading

Odds and Ends: Pujols, Isringhausen, K-Rod

By Tim Dierkes [September 9, 2008 at 11:15am CST]

I am going to toss up some links as I come across them, so check back on this post. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick has an excellent piece on the Pedro Alvarez situation, including quotes from Scott Boras and Max Scherzer. The grievance will be heard tomorrow, but the entire process could take months. The big news of the day is not hot stove related. Albert Pujols is considering offseason Tommy John surgery, which would require seven to nine months of recovery time. It could cause him to miss April of '09. UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal's sources say Pujols does not intend to... Continue Reading

Odds And Ends: Mets, Embree, Olsen, Hoffman, Izzy, Phillies

By Cork Gaines [August 21, 2008 at 9:56am CST]

A few notes from around the MLBiverse... Bill Madden says the Mets may be out of luck for a closer, even if Huston Street and Brian Fuentes have cleared waivers and are available. Madden says the price tags are just too high for the Mets. Alan Embree hopes that not being traded is a sign the A's are going to pick up his $3MM option for next season. Scott Olsen said he prefers to be back with the Marlins in '09 but conceded that the Marlins may prefer to move him due to his arbitration eligibility. Kevin Towers would not... Continue Reading

Odds and Ends: Elias, Izzy, Silva, Colletti

By Tim Dierkes [August 20, 2008 at 12:49pm CST]

Linkage for Wednesday... Eddie Bajek over at Detroit Tigers Thoughts has successfully reverse-engineered the Elias Type A/Type B formula. Today he assigns statuses to the American League catchers. Jason Varitek clings to Type A, while Ivan Rodriguez has slipped to Type B. Read more about how free agent compensation works here. Jason Isringhausen's season, and maybe his career, is over due to a torn flexor tendon in his elbow. J.C. Bradbury puts on his GM hat for the Braves. Rather than plug in free agent signings, he'd sell off most of the infield. MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone extinguishes a Carlos Silva... Continue Reading

Odds And Ends: Cards' Bullpen, Fish Extensions, Aubrey Promoted

By Coley Ward [May 17, 2008 at 4:44pm CST]

St. Louis closer Jason Isringhausen is on the DL. But the Cards aren't going shopping for a replacement. At least, not yet. "Not at this time," Mozeliak said when asked if the club might be tempted to check out the market for relievers. "We're very fortunate that we have a lot of depth in relief, not only here but at Triple-A [Memphis]. A lot of this can be addressed internally." After today's press conference announcing Hanley Ramirez's six-year deal, Marlins officials said the baseball personnel staff has not recommended any other players receive multi-year contract offers. Dan Uggla, Mike Jacobs,... Continue Reading

Isringhausen Wants a Break

By Coley Ward [May 10, 2008 at 3:15pm CST]

The Post-Dispatch's Joe Strauss today reports that there is growing concern about the work of closer Jason Isringhausen, who has already blown five save chances this year. After his most recent blow-up, Izzy said he is sick of embarrassing himself and hurting the team. He suggested a meeting today with manager Tony La Russa, pitching coach Dave Duncan and general manager John Mozeliak to find at least a temporary alternative to using him in the ninth inning. In the short term, Ryan Franklin or Randy Flores could be called on to close games for the Cards, though neither pitcher strikes... Continue Reading

Cards Exercise $8MM Option On Isringhausen

By Tim Dierkes [October 5, 2007 at 10:41pm CST]

John Mozeliak's first move as Cardinals interim GM was a no-brainer - he exercised Jason Isringhausen's $8MM option for 2008. Always good to throw the new guy a softball. There was some speculation in early August that Walt Jocketty might consider overwriting the option by extending Izzy for 2008-09. That move backfired with Jim Edmonds, and Mozeliak apparently has taken the more conservative approach. As a reminder, the Cardinals have roughly $20MM to burn and hope to acquire a shortstop, a power hitter, and two starters Continue Reading

Full Story | Comments (25) | Categories: Jason Isringhausen | St. Louis Cardinals

Cardinals Face Decisions On Relievers

By Tim Dierkes [August 27, 2007 at 1:24pm CST]

It seemed Jason Isringhausen's career was in jeopardy less than a year ago, but he's fully returned to form and re-established himself as a successful closer. He's been ridiculously hard to hit this year, allowing a career-best 4.85 hits per nine innings. The Cardinals hold a very reasonable $8MM club option for 2008, with a $1.25MM buyout attached. So there's no doubt Izzy will be donning Cardinal red once again next year. He'll probably reach his 300th save, too. The Cardinals may do that one better, though, giving him a contract to cover 2008-09 as they did Jim Edmonds. I.. Continue Reading

Isringhausen Would Veto Any Trade

By Tim Dierkes [July 30, 2007 at 10:06am CST]

Several teams have expressed interest in soon-to-be 35 year-old Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen. However, as a 10-and-5 player, Izzy has earned the right to veto any trade. He's prepared to exercise that right. According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Isringhausen told the Cardinals he would not waive his no-trade clause and wants to finish his career in St. Louis. He said as much publicly, too. 300 career saves might be a goal; he's at 269 now. Isringhausen's career was nearly left for dead in September of '06, when he elected to have surgery for his degenerative hip.. Continue Reading

Full Story | Comments (45) | Categories: Jason Isringhausen | St. Louis Cardinals

Tigers Notes

By Tim Dierkes [July 28, 2007 at 1:02pm CST]

Will Carroll has the scoop on which relievers the Tigers may be chasing: The Tigers are also after a reliever, but they're not willing to give up much, knowing that Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney are coming back. All rumors involving the Tigers seem to be centered on Kyle Farnsworth, but they've also looked at Rauch, and asked about Jason Isringhausen and Al Reyes. Between getting guys back and being in the catbird seat in the AL Central with postseason odds around 86%, it seems likely to me that the Tigers stand pat. After all, that seems to be what.. Continue Reading

Rosenthal's Latest: Dunn, Wheeler, Izzy

By Tim Dierkes [July 27, 2007 at 9:56am CST]

Ken Rosenthal posted a new column last night, and has updated it very recently. I've already spoken about the Teixeira stuff, but there's other good material in there too. Some of the wilder speculation out there has been that the Twins might trade Torii Hunter or Johan Santana if they decide they're out of it. Various Baseball Prospectus reports put the Twins' playoff chances between 5-10%. Rosenthal debunks the idea that Minnesota would shop Hunter without first making him an offer, and keeping Santana for at least 2008 makes sense. Plus, Santana has a no-trade clause. Rosenthal does have some.. Continue Reading

Cardinal Trade Rumor Roundup

By Tim Dierkes [June 2, 2007 at 10:02am CST]

My apologies for posting some rumors from a few days ago; I'm still catching up. Today's let's look at some recent Cardinals trade rumors. The first question is whether the team should conduct some form of a fire sale. Right now, they're still mired in the NL Central race at 6.5 games out. But if the team does spiral out of contention by July 31st, it might make sense to trade Jason Isringhausen. He's probably their best trading chip. Cards beat writer Joe Strauss mentions the Braves, Indians, and Cubs as teams that would have interest in the 34 year-old.. Continue Reading