Scott Baker Rumors
By Tim Dierkes [March 8, 2009 at 9:33pm CST]
Sunday night linkage... Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Dodgers "will not restructure Juan Pierre's contract to make him go away." Murray Chass likes Jim Bowden, while Hal McCoy has a negative recollection. ESPN's Peter Gammons wrote about teams clamoring for Marlins prospect Michael Stanton last July. Jesse Spector of the New York Daily News talked to Baseball-Reference mastermind Sean Forman. Aaron Gleeman analyzes Scott Baker's new extension with the Twins. RotoAuthority recently looked at catcher tiers for fantasy baseball drafts.
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By Tim Dierkes [March 7, 2009 at 3:48pm CST]
3:48pm: Christensen adds the annual details: Baker will earn $750K this year, $3MM in '10, $5MM in '11, and $6.5MM in '12. So, $14.5MM for the three arb years. 1:07pm: According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins signed pitcher Scott Baker to a four-year deal with an option for 2013. The deal is worth $15.25MM and the '13 option is for $9.25MM. The contract includes this year and his three arb years and gives the team an option on one free agent season. Baker's extension is very similar to Paul Maholm's deal, which was signed on January...
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By Drew Silva [February 2, 2009 at 8:06pm CST]
Twins right-hander Scott Baker said recently that he would be open to signing a long-term deal to stay in Minnesota. Kelly Thesier has the report over at MLB.com. "I have definitely entertained the idea of it." Baker said. "I like this place. I like playing here. I like the coaching staff and obviously we have a great clubhouse. It's kind of up to them, but I definitely have thought about it." Multiyear deals for pitchers can be risky, but Baker has shown the kind of consistency over the past two seasons that would warrant long-term consideration by most teams. He...
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By Tim Dierkes [July 31, 2008 at 11:07am CST]
La Velle E. Neal III and Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune have the latest Twins buzz. The Twins would like to trade Boof Bonser to make room for Francisco Liriano. The Giants and Rangers might be interested. Targets for the Twins: relief help, third base, and second base. Talks for Adrian Beltre are not dead. The Mariners are eyeing Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, and Denard Span. The Twins aren't biting. Sounds like the Mariners want a premium arm for Beltre from the Twins or Giants, but those teams see it as more of a salary...
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By Steve Adams [July 20, 2008 at 5:19pm CST]
Another week in the history books! Here's a look back from July 13-19: The Phillies acquired Joe Blanton from the A's for a package of three minor leaguers: Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman, and Matthew Spencer. Cardenas and Outman were the Phils' #2 and #4 prospects. Personally, that seems like a lot to bring a pitcher who's already struggling to a much smaller park. Blanton is a much better pitcher than he's showed this season, however. Francisco Rodriguez will test the free-agent market this offseason. I don't think anyone would be surprised to see K-Rod sign a record-setting contract for a...
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By Tim Dierkes [November 8, 2007 at 9:48am CST]
Terry Ryan hung on to his fine corral of young pitchers, and it's hard to find fault with that. However, new GM Bill Smith is open to dealing one of them for a high impact young hitter. Specifically, Joe Christensen says the Twins are willing to move 24 year-old Matt Garza, who posted a 3.69 ERA this year. The price would be huge - the names the Twins have in mind are Delmon Young, B.J. Upton, and Carlos Gomez. Upton, a favorite of theirs, seems like the least available of the three. Marc Topkin agrees that a Young-Garza rumor has..
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By Tim Dierkes [November 8, 2007 at 9:06am CST]
Plenty of new hot stove talk involving the Mets. Let's get into it. First off, there's the fact that Omar Minaya met with Scott Boras yesterday. Minaya says he talked to Boras about all the players he represents. Besides Mr. Rodriguez, Eric Gagne, Byung-Hyun Kim, Kenny Rogers, and Kyle Lohse may be considerations for the Mets. Indeed, there is some buzz that the Mets could bring Kim in to compete for a rotation spot. So what about A-Rod? He'd cost the Mets a ton of money, plus the #22 overall pick in the 2008 draft. It sounds like the Mets..
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By Tim Dierkes [July 25, 2007 at 10:48pm CST]
Jim Molony's column today at MLB.com has many good trade rumors that I haven't seen elsewhere. Let's discuss. Molony says at least a dozen scouts watched Jason Jennings toss a quality start last night. He needed it; I was beginning to think he wasn't right. Still, the performance probably isn't enough to cause some team to offer a package for Jennings superior to two draft picks. The Diamondbacks and Pirates had a scouting presence at the Astros-Dodgers game. Interesting players appearing in the contest included James Loney, Andre Ethier, Wilson Betemit, Mark Loretta, Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, Chad Qualls, Dan..
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By Tim Dierkes [April 6, 2007 at 9:10am CST]
Reed Johnson. He's a 30 year-old outfielder who can play all three positions. He posted a .391 OBP as the Jays' leadoff hitter last year. He doesn't need to be platooned. He makes $3.075MM this year and has two years of service time left before free agency. If there's one team that can afford to compromise a little outfield defense, it's the Jays. They've got two excellent athletes in Vernon Wells and Alex Rios. The DH spot is blocked with Frank Thomas, leaving no spot for young Adam Lind. Lind appears Major League ready - his PECOTA is .289/.349/.493 and..
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