San Francisco Giants Rumors
By Cork Gaines [November 20, 2009 at 12:00pm CST]
On this date two years ago, Mike Lowell re-signed with the Red Sox for three-years, $37.5MM. In this first two years of the deal, Lowell has taken in $25.5MM, and according to his WAR has been worth $19.9MM. In '10, Lowell will be 36 as he enters the final year of his deal. Today is the first day of free agency, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere... Howard Megdal and Chris Pummer of The Perpetual Post debate the Oliver Perez and Derek Lowe signings of a year ago. The Ghost of Moonlight Graham looks...
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By Luke Adams [November 19, 2009 at 5:30pm CST]
The San Francisco Giants don't expect to pursue free agent outfielders Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Giants GM Brian Sabean tells Schulman that he hasn't been in touch with the agents for Holliday or Bay, and that he doesn't plan to contact them. Sabean indicated that he doesn't want the Giants used to give leverage to a player hoping to pry more money from the Yankees, Red Sox, or other big-market teams. The team is only interested in free agents who have a "genuine interest" in playing for San Francisco. Sabean...
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By Ben Nicholson-Smith [November 19, 2009 at 3:13pm CST]
Some more links to read through as we count down the hours until teams can start serious negotiations with all free agents... GM Neal Huntington tells MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch that the Pirates won't be spending big on relievers this year: "Our focus is going to be more on the borderline-type guys that may not get $3-4 million or may not even get a Major League contract," Huntington said. The Cubs probably can't afford Rich Harden or Reed Johnson, according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. Harden and Erik Bedard appear on Jeff Zrebiec's list of ten free agents the O's might target....
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By Ben Nicholson-Smith [November 19, 2009 at 2:18pm CST]
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark responds to some of Scott Boras' recent comments before providing some rumors in his latest Rumblings and Grumblings column: The Rays, Rangers and Jays appear to be the three likeliest landing spots for Milton Bradley. The Cubs say they don't want to eat much of the $21MM remaining on Bradley's contract, so a bad contract swap still seems possible. Stark hears that the Marlins were in serious trade talks with the Giants and Rangers about Dan Uggla. There's no indication that the Yankees are in on Jason Bay or Matt Holliday at this point. The Yanks figure...
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By Ben Nicholson-Smith [November 19, 2009 at 1:04pm CST]
Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young award for the second straight season, edging out Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Lincecum, 25, went 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA. He struck out a league-leading 261 batters, walking 68 in 225.1 innings. He made his second consecutive All-Star appearance and led the league in complete games and shutouts. According to WAR, Lincecum was the NL's best pitcher. He'll be arbitration-eligible as a Super Two this offseason and the Giants will likely have to hand out a record-setting contract. Lincecum has said before that he's open to an extension. Wainwright - who obtained...
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By Howard Megdal [November 16, 2009 at 10:00pm CST]
Some of the moves we can expect from San Francisco came into focus with Chris Haft's terrific interview with Giants' GM Brian Sabean for MLB.com. Among the tidbits: The Giants are unwilling to offer Bengie Molina more than a one-year contract, though they will offer him arbitration. Brad Penny's current contract demands are "out of reach at this point." Juan Uribe, who hopes to earn something similar to his $4.75MM deal from 2008, won't get close to that from the Giants. Still, this doesn't mean the Giants won't be spending money this winter. Haft writes, "Sabean said that he envisions...
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By Howard Megdal [November 16, 2009 at 8:50pm CST]
There's no such thing as an offseason- just different kinds of on-seasons. Todd Zolecki of MLB.com believes the Phillies will find a replacement for Eric Bruntlett among John McDonald, Omar Vizquel, Jamey Carroll, Ronnie Belliard and Juan Uribe. According to Scott Olsen, arbitration-eligible member of the Washington Nationals (for now, anyway), his shoulder is now 100 percent. Larry Stone of the Seattle Times discusses how Edwin Jackson, Curtis Granderson, and John Lackey would look in Seattle. Tyler Hissey at Around the Majors talks Yankees' roster strategy. Dave Cameron tells us which minor league free agents are most worth pursuing, including...
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By Luke Adams [November 15, 2009 at 9:49am CST]
In his latest column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe examines the differing opinions on this year's free agent market and passes on some info from around the majors. The highlights: One National League GM on the top players in this year's free agent class: "[Matt Holliday] won’t get what Mark Teixeira got. No chance. [John] Lackey may get A.J. Burnett money, but I’m not even sure anyone would go that high." A separate source tells Cafardo that many teams will wait out the market this winter, potentially resulting in a few bargains for thrifty teams later in the offseason....
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By Mike Axisa [November 13, 2009 at 8:36pm CST]
Some more links to check out as you celebrate the end of the work week... MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez confirms that the Red Sox did indeed meet with John Lackey's agent. This morning we learned that Boston expressed preliminary interest in the free agent hurler. ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Rangers asked the Rays about outfielder B.J. Upton as part of their offseason routine, but no talks are ongoing. Rockies' GM Dan O'Dowd said that they will only look at a one year deal for the arbitration eligible Jorge De La Rosa, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post....
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By Tim Dierkes [November 13, 2009 at 2:22pm CST]
Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Giants. Their likely commitments for 2010: C - Buster Posey - $400K C - Eli Whiteside - $400K 1B - Travis Ishikawa - $401K 2B - Freddy Sanchez - $6MM SS - Edgar Renteria - $9MM 3B - Pablo Sandoval - $402K IF - Kevin Frandsen - $410K IF - Emmanuel Burriss - $404K IF/OF - Eugenio Velez - $404K LF - Fred Lewis - $440K CF - Aaron Rowand - $12MM RF - Nate Schierholtz -$401K OF - Andres Torres - $400K SP - Tim Lincecum - $650K+ SP - Matt...
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