Randy Wolf Rumors
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [May 1, 2009 at 1:11pm CST]
They're 15-8, in first place in the NL West, but the Dodgers face questions about a rotation that includes three ERAs of 5.50 or more. Behind Chad Billingsley and Randy Wolf, they have Clayton Kershaw, who hasn't pitched out the the fifth inning his last two starts, James McDonald, who has walked a batter an inning this year, and Eric Stults, who's allowing two baserunners an inning. Yahoo's Tim Brown takes stock of the rotation and how Ned Colletti will progress with it. Brown says it's unlikely the Dodgers will add Pedro Martinez, Paul Byrd, Odalis Perez or Freddy Garcia....
Continue Reading
By Tim Dierkes [April 22, 2009 at 11:30am CST]
Links for Wednesday... WEEI's Alex Speier points out that Ryan Zimmerman's deal mirrors the Kevin Youkilis extension, despite the difference in performance. Tyler Hissey of Around The Majors likes the Zimmerman contract nonetheless. Speier also reports that the Red Sox placed pitcher Devern Hansack on unconditional release waivers, not long after he dislocated his shoulder. UPDATE: Hansack will be re-signed to a minor league deal. Athletics reliever Joey Devine had Tommy John surgery, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star talked to Royals GM Dayton Moore, who said the decision to...
Continue Reading
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 14, 2009 at 11:32am CST]
MLB.com's Alyson Footer spoke with Astros GM Ed Wade and has the latest on the club. The Astros made "11th-hour" offers to Randy Wolf and Braden Looper before they signed elsewhere. They offered Wolf a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2010. The offers to Wolf and Looper were both for less than $5MM. The Astros haven't spoken with Ivan Rodriguez in weeks and never made him a formal offer. Wade says he isn't likely to make any moves between now and the regular season.
Continue Reading
By Drew Silva [February 12, 2009 at 8:50am CST]
THURSDAY, 8:50am: The Wolf signing is official. Ramona Shelburne of the L.A. Daily News talked to Wolf, who said: "I had offers pulled, offers reduced, it was really weird. I was like, 'Wow, I must've had a bad game in the offseason.'" FRIDAY, 8:06pm: Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News has heard that the deal is worth $5MM. Wolf can also earn up to $3MM in incentives if he reaches 200 innings. 5:54pm: FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal writes that the "deal is expected to be in the $5.5MM range and also will include incentives." 5:15pm: Tim Brown of Yahoo!...
Continue Reading
By Drew Silva [February 4, 2009 at 9:58pm CST]
According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, the Dodgers resumed negotiations with the representatives for free agent Randy Wolf on Wednesday evening. Ken Rosenthal said Tuesday that Wolf "should be theirs by the end of the week." The Orioles have also shown interest, but are currently engaged in talks with Braden Looper. Wolf, 32, went 12-12 with a 4.30 earned run average last year. He has a 4.26 career ERA.
Continue Reading
By Tim Dierkes [February 4, 2009 at 9:10am CST]
Here's the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Jeff Moorad's acquistion of the Padres does not affect the likelihood of a Jake Peavy trade, according to Rosenthal's source. There have been no recent conversations with the Cubs about Peavy. The Phillies had been confident of signing Ty Wigginton before the Orioles offered two years. The Phils are still mulling Nomar Garciaparra and Rich Aurilia, with the Giants also in on Aurilia. The Phillies are out on Will Ohman. Braden Looper is receiving interest from Baltimore, but he prefers the NL. The Brewers are not optimistic about signing Looper despite...
Continue Reading
By Tim Dierkes [February 3, 2009 at 3:11pm CST]
3:11pm: Dylan Hernandez and Bill Shaikin asked Dodgers owner Frank McCourt about the Manny situation: "We very much want this player back and we’re trying to hard to do that, which is why we came up with something that we thought was creative that gave him a lot of money, well-deserved money, in a very, very challenging economy, but also gave him flexibility. I don’t see the long-term contract happening in this particular baseball market that we’re in." More McCourt quotes from MLB.com's Ken Gurnick: "The other thing is, the agent [Scott Boras] is challenging to work with and we've...
Continue Reading
By Tim Dierkes [February 2, 2009 at 9:23pm CST]
9:23pm: MLB.com's Ken Gurnick confirms that the Dodgers spoke multiple times with the agents for Wolf and Looper over the weekend. Gurnick writes that the team is "cautiously optimistic" that having Oliver Perez off the board will spur the remaining free agent pitchers to reach agreements. The Dodgers currently have starters Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda slotted into the starting rotation with Jason Schmidt, Eric Stults, Shawn Estes and Claudio Vargas looking on from the outside. Either Wolf or Looper could easily slide into that fourth spot. 3:21pm: Ken Rosenthal has the latest on free agent lefty Randy...
Continue Reading
By Tim Dierkes [January 29, 2009 at 10:28pm CST]
According to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick, the Dodgers resumed contract talks with Randy Wolf. He's thought to be asking for a deal similar to Jon Garland's ($7-9MM). While Wolf is the Dodgers' first choice, he's expected to wait until the Mets reach a resolution with Oliver Perez. So once again, we're waiting on the notoriously patient Scott Boras. Gurnick says the Dodgers also spoke to Braden Looper's agent today; he's their backup plan.
Continue Reading
By Tim Dierkes [January 29, 2009 at 3:23pm CST]
THURSDAY: The D'Backs' signing of Garland is official; he was introduced today. WEDNESDAY, 2:52pm: More details from ESPN's Jerry Crasnick: Garland gets $6.25MM in '09 and the 2010 option for $10MM has a $2.5MM buyout if the D'Backs reject it. If Garland rejects it it's a $1MM buyout. Bottom line: if he doesn't return in 2010, he'll have made either $7.25MM or $8.75MM for '09. 1:49pm: Different take from Ken Rosenthal; he says Garland is guaranteed more than $8.5MM in total. Heyman figures Arizona's Garland signing makes the Dodgers the "heavy favorite" for Randy Wolf. 1:11pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman has...
Continue Reading