Ned Colletti Rumors

Rosenthal's Full Count Video: Dodgers, DeRosa, Cubs, Managers, General Managers

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has a new Full Count video up, so let's dive right on in...

• Southpaws Randy Wolf and Clayton Kershaw are likely to start the first two games of the playoffs for the Dodgers, but Kershaw must recover from his dislocated non-throwing shoulder first. The back-to-back lefties would be a big advantage if LA played the lefthanded hitter heavy Phillies. Rosenthal also mentions that the Cardinals, despite being so righty heavy, have the second lowest team OPS (.675) against lefthanded pitchers in the National League.
• Hiroki Kuroda would likely start game three for the Dodgers, followed by either Vicente Padilla or Jon Garland. Chad Billinglsey will likely be left out of the rotation.
• The Cards have put their contract extension talks with Mark DeRosa on hold until the offseason, making it more likely that he'll become a free agent. The deal St. Louis originally proposed was less than the three-year, $17.5MM contract Casey Blake received as a free agent last offseason. DeRosa is a year younger now than Blake was then, but the offseason wrist surgery he is scheduled to have makes the situation cloudy.
• The Cubs will be open to "anything and everything" this offseason, including trading Milton Bradley and/or Carlos Zambrano. Anything to improve the club, basically. However, perhaps the only way the Cubs could unload Bradley would be to take on another underachieving, overpaid player in return.
• Zambrano has a full no-trade clause and is owed $54MM over the next three years, but he's still only 28-years-old and still incredibly talented. The free agent market for starting pitching is thin, which may work in Chicago's favor. Big Z might be appealing at the right price.
• Ken Macha will likely remain with the Brewers, but at least four other managers are in danger of being fired. The list starts with Cecil Cooper of the Astros, and also includes Jim Riggleman of the Nationals, Dave Trembley of the Orioles, and Eric Wedge of the Indians.
• Among general managers, Ned Colletti of the Dodgers, Brian Sabean of the Giants, and Dan O'Dowd of the Rockies are all without contracts for next year, and two of them are going to the postseason. The only GM that appears to be in jeopardy of losing his job is J.P. Ricciardi of the Blue Jays.

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Dodgers Rumors: Colletti, Thome, Garland, Hudson

The latest from Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times covers the future of Dodgers GM Ned Colletti and also reveals details from the team's acquisitions of Jon Garland and Jim Thome.

• Colletti faces a mutual option for 2010.  He says he'd love to be back, but hasn't discussed his future with owner Frank McCourt yet.  Sure, Colletti has been able to operate under a budget.  But his work as a GM is a mixed bag at best.  SI's Jon Heyman recently weighed in on Colletti's recent work; check that out here.
• The White Sox are paying $1.4MM of the $2.4MM still owed to Thome.  From Chicago's point of view, the benefit was saving a million bucks.  With all the penny-pinching in the Dodgers' trades the past few years, I'm surprised they were willing to spend that million for one month of a bench bat.
• Hernandez heard that Tony Abreu is the player to be named later in the Garland deal, as had been rumored.  Abreu, a Scott Boras client, is hitting .351/.382/.609 in 213 Triple A plate appearances.
• Hernandez says the Dodgers are "not expected to retain" second baseman Orlando Hudson.  Hudson may not be up for a one-year, incentive-laden contract this time around.

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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Pedro, Byrd, Ibanez, Figgins

On this date three years ago, the Red Sox traded for Doug Mirabelli to be Tim Wakefield's personal catcher. Mirabelli had to put his uniform on in the car from the airport and arrived 13 minutes prior to first pitch against the Yankees. While trades in April and May are rare, they are not unprecedented. Let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere...

• Fire Ned Colletti Now argues that Ned Colletti does not deserve an extension. My head just exploded.
• Sox and Pinstripes makes a case for the Yankees signing Pedro Martinez.
• Jorge Says No! takes a look at the market for Paul Byrd.
• More Hardball puts together a roster of the highest paid players ever.
• Fangraphs reviews the Yankees drafts from the past three years.
• The Fightins honor Raul Ibanez's first month with the Phillies. The signing was highly criticized.
• 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba contemplates the Yankees acquiring Chone Figgins.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.

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Odds & Ends: Perez, D'Backs, Baez

Links for Monday...

• RotoAuthority looks more closely at the Pirates' MLB-best rotation.
• Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the Marlins won't be pursuing Luis Vizcaino.
• On Saturday, MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan wrote that the Rangers don't expect to be in on Pedro Martinez, but could have interest in Vizcaino for a Triple A job.
• Eddie Bajek of Detroit Tigers Thoughts has a quick American League Elias rankings preview.
• Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post thinks Oliver Perez may be headed to the bullpen or even Triple A if he'll consent.  Perez has pitched poorly in three of his four starts.  He's had streaks like this before, though.
• With Brandon Webb out for at least six weeks, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic wonders if the Diamondbacks will be sellers this summer.
• Could Danys Baez have midseason trade value?  Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun thinks it's possible, despite the pitcher's $5.5MM salary.
• Joel Sherman of the New York Post looks back at last summer's Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte deal with the Pirates.
• Murray Chass thinks Ned Colletti deserves a contract extension.  Do you agree?
• ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. wonders who will be the first American-born player to exploit a draft loophole by dropping out of high school and living in another country for a year to become a free agent.

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Odds & Ends: Wells, Gaudin, Projections

Links for Monday...

• Ken Kadokura, briefly with the Cubs, is headed to Korea according to NPB Tracker.
• Jill Painter of the L.A. Daily News has Frank McCourt's unrevealing comments about Ned Colletti's future.
• Baseball America's Matt Eddy has the latest minor league transactions, including plenty of releases.
• The AP reports that David Wells has signed a multiyear deal as a TBS analyst.
• We snagged a mention in ESPN The Magazine, due to our sponsorship of Matt Holliday's Baseball-Reference page.
• Chad Gaudin told MLB.com's Sandy Burgin "as many as 11 teams" made inquiries before he signed with the Padres.  He signed with San Diego for the opportunity to be a starting pitcher.
• Matt Swartz of Statistically Speaking finds the strengths and weaknesses of various projection systems.
• Admit it...you're starting to panic about certain members of your fantasy team.

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Odds & Ends: Colletti, Youkilis, Turnbow

Links for Tuesday...

• Chat today, 2pm CST.
• Rays info from Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times: they're trying to figure out a way to keep Jason Isringhausen, and they've released pitcher Chuck Tiffany (part of the Danys Baez trade in '06).
• In talking to Ramona Shelburne of the L.A. Daily News, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti explained his success reading the market this offseason.  He also said, "I believe there will be some players available on July 31st that normally would never be available."
• Ken Davidoff of Newsday reminds us of past trade discussions involving Kevin Youkilis, before he was highly regarded.
• Baseball America's Jim Callis notes that the Cubs released "three of their top picks from the last six drafts this spring: outfielder Ryan Harvey, the sixth overall pick in 2003; righthander Grant Johnson, a second-rounder in 2004; and lefty Mark Pawelek, the 20th overall choice in 2005."
• According to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, Rangers reliever Derrick Turnbow's opt-out date is Thursday.  He's talking to his agent about whether he should head to Triple A Oklahoma.
• MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince says lefty reliever Juan Lara signed a minor league deal with the Indians - "just 16 months after a car accident nearly took his life."

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Ned Colletti: GM Trade History

MLBTR contributor Brendan Bianowicz is back with a new installment in our GM Trade History series: Ned Colletti of the Dodgers.  Click here to download the spreadsheet chronicling Colletti's work.

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Odds and Ends: Smoltz, Cordero, Colon, Byrd

Links for Thursday...

• John Smoltz told Dan Patrick that the Yankees and Dodgers also courted him.
• KNBR had interviews with Scott Boras and Ned Colletti yesterday.
• The Dodgers are "only monitoring" Kris Benson and Chad Cordero.
• The Phillies have "kept tabs" on Cordero and Eric Milton.
• Baseball America ranked the Rangers' farm system as the best in baseball.
• Andy MacPhail says the Orioles don't necessarily have to add a first baseman.
• South Side Sox and Sox Machine on the Bartolo Colon signing.
• Jon Paul Morosi says Jason Isringhausen is a "natural fit" for the Tigers.
• The Red Sox will only get a supplemental pick for Paul Byrd if he signs before the June draft.
• Barry Bloom gathers responses from baseball execs on the salary cap issue.
• Eddie Bajek made a breakthrough in his attempt to crack the Elias code.
• Richard Justice has an interesting story involving new Astro Russ Ortiz.
• Rickey Henderson says he's still available to play.  Asked about the WBC, he responded, ""What is [the WBC], wrestling?"
• Transcript of an interview with Red Sox owner John Henry.

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Colletti Will Return As Dodgers GM

After the Dodgers were eliminated last night, owner Frank McCourt said GM Ned Colletti will be back for the final year of his contract.  McCourt would not say whether he plans to discuss an extension with Colletti.

Colletti has a huge offseason ahead of him.  He has 14 potential free agents and important first-time arbitration cases for Russell Martin, Jonathan Broxton, and Andre Ethier.

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Odds and Ends: Steinbrenner, Burnett, Sabathia

Links for Sunday, before I head out to Chipotle...

• Hank Steinbrenner talked to George King of the New York Post. He made it clear that he has not taken a step back in running the Yankees.  Hank also mentions Mark Teixeira by name, calling him a "quality player."
• Ken Davidoff tries to determine if A.J. Burnett's injury-prone days are behind him, as his agent would like us to believe.
• Henry Schulman chatted with Dodgers GM Ned Colletti.
• John Shea lays odds for the C.C. Sabathia bidding.
• Phil Rogers campaigns for an extension for Cubs GM Jim Hendry.  He wonders if Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood would follow if Hendry joined a different team.
• A's GM Billy Beane talked to Matthew Lutovsky of the Sporting News about fantasy baseball as well as a new video game.

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