Ryan Franklin Rumors

Odds & Ends: Drew, Molina, Cards, Chapman

Another round of links before the weekend... WEEI.com's Alex Speier suggests J.D. Drew has been worth slightly more than the $42MM the Red Sox have paid him since 2007 because of his on-base skills and strong defense. Drew's no RBI machine, but GM Theo Epstein likes his hitting approach as-is. Considering the massive deals handed out to Vernon Wells, Alfonso Soriano and others after 2006, Drew's contract seems reasonable. Jack Moore of FanGraphs expects Bengie Molina to draw interest this offseason and predicts that the catcher will be worth $4MM or more next year. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis...   Continue Reading

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Cardinals Extend Ryan Franklin, Trever Miller

11:20pm: Goold has the contract details. As he mentioned before, Franklin gets about $6.5MM plus incentives for 2010-11. As for Miller: The contract finalized Sunday picks up and guarantees all of his bonuses for this season — some $680K worth for appearances yet to come — and pays him $2MM for next year. Miller has a $2MM vesting option for 2011. It triggers a $1MM buyout if he makes 45 appearances in 2010 and does not go on the disabled list with the shoulder imperfection discovered in the physical. 2:40pm: The Cardinals extended the contracts of relievers Ryan Franklin and...   Continue Reading

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Perrotto's Latest: Twins, Damon, Franklin, Penny, Dye

John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus brings us his latest from around the leagues: When they come off the DL, Francisco Liriano and Glen Perkins will be used in relief. So, the Twins are hoping to add a starter who can pitch in the playoffs. This means they have until tomorrow at midnight to do so. The Yankees would like to re-sign Johnny Damon to a one year deal and give Austin Jackson a second year to develop at Triple-A, while pursuing Matt Holliday and Jason Bay in the offseason. The Marlins and Giants are frontrunners to land Brad Penny. The...   Continue Reading

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Cardinals, Franklin Near Agreement On Extension

Friday, 5:20pm: Via MLB.com's Matthew Leach, Franklin confirms that the two sides are close to an agreement that will keep him in St. Louis through 2011. He says: "We've been talking for a couple months, and it's getting pretty close. Both sides are going to be happy. My whole thing to be happy is to be able to maybe finish my career here. I'm not saying that I'm done after this, if we get this done, but it would be an awesome thing to be able to end my career here in St. Louis. To be close to home, it's...   Continue Reading

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Cardinals Looking In-House For Closer

A week ago, John Perrotto mentioned Tony La Russa was considering using Chris Carpenter as a closer. Today, Matthew Leach of MLB.com reports Cardinals GM John Mozeliak is comfortable turning toward internal options to fill the closer role. Chris Perez and Jason Motte, as well as Ryan Franklin are listed as most likely options. Franklin had 17 saves last season for St. Louis. Leach mentions the Cardinals could attempt to work out a deal for Brandon Lyon or Juan Cruz, as well as the possibility of signing free agent Chad Cordero, to add depth and expand their options in the...   Continue Reading

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Isringhausen Wants a Break

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

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Cardinals Face Decisions On Relievers

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

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Craig Wilson, Cubs Bullpen, and More

Today seems to be a bit of a slow day on the trade rumors front. I'm still working on gathering some Tejada info. For now I'll just say that you shouldn't discount the White Sox even after both major Chicago newspapers quoted Kenny Williams saying no deal will happen. As commenters in this thread pointed out, Williams has been known to keep a low profile and be less than forthright when talking to the media. Somehow, a rumor came about yesterday that San Francisco's KNBR 1050 was reporting that the Pirates had dealt Craig Wilson to the Athletics for Kirk..   Continue Reading

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