Josh Towers Rumors
By Drew Silva [January 14, 2009 at 8:15pm CST]
Bill Ladson of MLB.com reports that the Nationals have signed Josh Towers to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. The 31-year-old right-hander spent all of last season at Triple-A Colorado Springs and finished with a 6-7 record and 6.27 ERA. He'll need a really strong showing this spring to make the Nats.
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By Tim Dierkes [January 4, 2008 at 2:49pm CST]
UPDATE, 1-4-08 at 2:48pm: Towers has been signed; Troy Renck has the contract details. There's a mutual option for '09 for $3MM. FROM 1-3-08 at 10:07pm: According to MLB.com's Thomas Harding, the Rockies are close to a deal with pitcher Josh Towers, who turns 31 in February. It would be a one-year deal for $1.8MM plus incentives. Those incentives would start at 35 games pitched, so basically he won't earn them if he's exclusively a starter. Harding adds that Towers would get $400K for earning a 40-man roster spot or the $1.8MM for getting on the 25-man. He'd take on..
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By Tim Dierkes [January 2, 2008 at 7:54am CST]
According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, the Rockies have several bargain-priced free agents on their radar. GM Dan O'Dowd has ongoing talks with second baseman Marcus Giles, who prefers Colorado. Seems like the best place to rebuild value for Giles, who will turn 30 in May. Coors Field inflates right-handed batting average by 17% and right-handed home runs bt 23%, according to the Bill James Handbook. Giles made $3.25MM in 2007 but hit just .229/.304/.317. Giles' agent says a few other teams are involved on him, and Renck adds that Todd Walker remains an option. Pitching-wise, the..
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By Tim Dierkes [December 21, 2007 at 3:16pm CST]
MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan has all the latest hot stove buzz around the Rangers. The Rangers are nearing a deal with Eddie Guardado. Everyday Eddie might be a dark horse to close, if he can flash his late season form again. The Reds decided in October that he was not worth $3.5MM, and declined his option. Guardado is 37. The Rangers hope to add some kind of veteran starter. Bartolo Colon and Jason Jennings are still options, but Mark Prior and Freddy Garcia pretty much are not. Sullivan names Mike Maroth, Mark Hendrickson, and Josh Towers as pitchers of interest. Mike..
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By Tim Dierkes [December 12, 2007 at 11:48pm CST]
Tim's out for the night, so we've got a fresh post started for the non-tenders. MLB.com has a running list as well. These guys are the officials as of now: As expected, the Marlins non-tendered catcher Miguel Olivo. Johnny Estrada was another casualty; these two make up the market for starting catchers. The Blue Jays non-tendered Josh Towers, a surprising move. Some NL team could offer him two years and get league average work out of him. Mark Prior has been non-tendered. Honestly if I were the Cubs, I would've tossed the $3.5MM his way just to see. Aaron Miles..
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By Tim Dierkes [December 4, 2007 at 9:52am CST]
Tom Krasovic fills us in on the latest with the Padres. Kevin Towers is considering Mark Loretta and Tadahito Iguchi as second base options. Loretta has expressed interest. I wonder how this will make the Padres feel; his strong flirtations may turn them off. Jake Peavy will get full no-trade protection for 2008-10, limited for 2011-12. As reported yesterday Towers is in talks for Mark Prior and Josh Towers. Towers said that himself? Tampering! The Padres still expect Michael Barrett to accept arby. Krasovic mentions the Cubs actually considered having Barrett switch positions last year. Yes! Barrett should market himself..
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By Tim Dierkes [December 3, 2007 at 11:13pm CST]
The Padres have already signed Greg Maddux and Randy Wolf this winter, but GM Kevin Towers isn't done. He's expecting to finish a trade before the Padres leave Nashville. Tom Krasovic thinks it might be Mark Prior or Josh Towers. Both are said to be non-tender candidates, but surely the Cubs and Jays can work out deals rather than lose the pitchers for nothing. Prior is the high risk high reward guy, Towers is the opposite
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By Tim Dierkes [November 19, 2007 at 10:59pm CST]
Josh Towers has pretty much proven to be less than useful in the AL East. However, his peripheral stats aren't too shabby and most speculate a move to the easier league would turn him into a solid #4 starter. J.P. Ricciardi knows this, and is likely to offer arbitration to Towers. Towers is due for a bump from the $2.9MM he made in '07. I'll guess he'll land in the $3.5-4MM range. Ricciardi is paying lip service to the idea of keeping Towers around, but he'll surely explore the trade market for him. He might be disappointed - no one..
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By Tim Dierkes [November 4, 2007 at 9:21am CST]
Tom Krasovic continues to set the standard for Padres inside information. Today's column is especially delicious for rumor junkies, with tons of new material to chew on. Kevin Towers expects to fill his center field vacancy via trade. He may first want to wait to see if Mike Cameron accepts the team's upcoming offer of arbitration. Cameron is a Type B free agent. Remember that he will be limited to 137 games in '07. As for trade candidates, Coco Crisp is on the radar but the Padres smartly won't part with Chase Headley. Krasovic notes that Bud Black's connection with..
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By Tim Dierkes [October 30, 2007 at 2:41pm CST]
I feel like with two guys named stairs and towers I could craft some sort of amusing play on words. Oh well. Here's the latest on the Blue Jays. They'll pass on A-Rod, says J.P. Ricciardi. No surprise there, but now it's official. They could still stand an upgrade at shortstop though. Unless Travis Hafner teaches John McDonald how to hit. Hafner needs to get himself in order first though. The Jays also hope to re-sign Matt Stairs, who wants a raise from last year's $850K. Maybe $3MM would get it done. Stairs was shielded from southpaws a bit but..
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