Paul Bako Rumors

Odds & Ends: Phillies, Hendrickson, Sheets, Brewers, Hinske

A few links to start the day... Andy Martino of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets that the Phillies will prioritze defensive versatility over power when filling Matt Stairs' roster spot, though Stairs, Miguel Cairo, and Paul Bako are welcome to come to Spring Training on minor league deals. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com has an update on the Orioles' negotations with Mark Hendrickson. Last month we learned that Hendrickson hoped to re-sign quickly. ESPN's Keith Law wrote about players coming off injury, and notes that Ben Sheets is worth gambling on, considering his upside. Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com...   Continue Reading

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Phillies Free Agent Notes

MLB.com's Todd Zolecki runs down the Phillies offseason, looking at how the club is planning to improve coming off back-to-back World Series appearances. Here's some highlights: The Phillies are looking to upgrade at third base, as we've heard before. Chone Figgins figures to be too expensive for their liking, and they'll look for a shorter, more affordable contract. Zolecki names the same possibilities we heard earlier in the week: Adrian Beltre, Mark DeRosa, and Placido Polanco. Philadelphia has interest in Fernando Rodney, but it may not be mutual, as Rodney likely would prefer a team with whom he can close....   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Eyre, Rockies, Red Sox

Links for Monday... Slate's Craig Fehrman writes about "the sports media's unique mindset toward [online] aggregators" and how MLBTR fits in. On his MLB.com blog, Phillies reliever Scott Eyre suggests he and catcher Paul Bako are reconsidering retirement because they're having so much fun. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti told CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler that he offered four players to the Indians for Cliff Lee back in July. Lee instead landed with the Phillies and shut down the Dodgers last night. Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star believes it's very difficult for fans and reporters to create realistic trade scenarios. Do...   Continue Reading

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Phillies Sign Paul Bako

According to Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies signed catcher Paul Bako to a minor league deal. Bako signed with the Cubs in January and had a nice spring, but lost the backup catcher competition to Koyie Hill and was released. Bako, 37 in June, hit .217/.299/.328 in 338 plate appearances for the Reds last year.   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal On Free Agents, Orioles, Ortiz

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a new column up. Rosenthal discusses the unprecedented number of decent free agents available, a few games into the season (click here for our free agent list). He suggests the hitters will have a harder time getting jobs than the pitchers due to the time needed to shake off the rust. In talking with execs, Rosenthal learned that the trade market for mediocre players (Jarrod Washburn, Nate Robertson, Austin Kearns) may be depressed this summer due to the available free agents. As he wrote in February, Rosenthal says that Braden Looper turned down more...   Continue Reading

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Cubs Release Paul Bako, Mike Stanton

According to a press release, the Cubs released catcher Paul Bako and reliever Mike Stanton today. So, it looks like Koyie Hill has the team's backup catcher job. Bako, 36, hit .364/.400/.515 in 35 spring plate appearances. Stanton, 41, allowed six runs and 13 hits in 8.3 innings.   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Cabrera, Waivers

Links for Friday... RotoAuthority asks: who is the next Carlos Quentin? The Cubs may trade or lose whoever doesn't win their backup catcher job, Paul Bako or Koyie Hill (according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times). By the way, Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker says the Cubs signed a Korean high school outfielder named Don-Yeop Kim. Hanley Ramirez was upset about the Marlins' new hair and jewelry policies, but cooled down after meeting with the team's brass. Excellent Stephen Strasburg profile by Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated (hat tip to Rob Neyer). Rays Index talked to Nick Cafardo of...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Boras, Manny, Heilman

Links for Friday... ESPN's Jerry Crasnick examines Scott Boras' work so far this winter, as well as his remaining clients. RotoAuthority has first baseman rankings for fantasy leagues. Matthew Cerrone suggests the Mets might want to publicly rule out Manny Ramirez. Interesting WHIFF profile on Aaron Heilman. Patrick Newman introduces us to Norichika Aoki, perhaps the best hitter in Japan. Aoki may end up in MLB, but it probably won't be anytime soon. The Orioles agreed to a split contract with pitcher Brian Burres, says Troy Renck.   Continue Reading

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Cubs, Bako Agree To Terms

According to a press release, the Cubs agreed to terms with catcher Paul Bako for 2009. Bako, 36, played for the Cubs for 2003-04. According to the AP, Bako gets $725K plus $300K in possible incentives.   Continue Reading

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Cubs Rumors: Bako, Looper, Wolf, Uribe

Fresh off scooping the Cubs' acquisition of Aaron Heilman, ESPN Radio's Bruce Levine has more info about the team's plans. Levine says the Cubs will sign backup catcher Paul Bako to a one-year, $750K deal once they clear a spot on the 40-man roster. The 2-for-1 Heilman trade takes care of that. The Cubs are still looking at Braden Looper and Randy Wolf if they aren't able to reignite the Jake Peavy talks. The Cubs have Juan Uribe on the radar as a bench bat and backup infielder.   Continue Reading

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