Tom Glavine Rumors
Gammons On Glavine, Pirates, Mets
Speaking on ESPN Radio, Peter Gammons said Tom Glavine wants to pitch again. Here are the details, as well as a transcription on Joe Haggerty's blog, Hacks with Haggs:
- Texas could be a fit for Glavine and though the Dodgers don't appear to be interested, Gammons suggests they could reconsider.
- Gammons says the Pirates are trying to build long term and believes it's the only way for them to end their streak of losing seasons.
- The Mets don't appear likely to trade for an expensive shortstop, but they may have to deal for some offensive help if they want to keep up with the Phillies.
Odds And Ends: Oswalt, Pirates, Glavine
More links for Thursday afternoon as we wait for Randy Johnson to take his first crack at the 300-win plateau ...
- Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports that Roy Oswalt doesn't expect to stick around long enough to win 300 games. Instead, he says he'll stop playing once he stops producing.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette confirms the Pirates will shop Jack Wilson, Adam LaRoche and John Grabow.
- Keith Olbermann wonders if the Pirates improved in center field by callling up Andrew McCutchen. Three hits an RBI and a steal made for a nice MLB debut.
- Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune wonders why the White Sox didn't trade for Nate McLouth.
- Jen Langosch of MLB.com reports that the Pirates say the McLouth deal wasn't financially motivated.
- David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says Tom Glavine's velocity has dipped noticeably, but laments the rough ending to the future Hall of Famer's Atlanta career.
- Remember to follow MLBTR on Twitter. Become a fan on Facebook to join in and discuss phenom Bryce Harper.
Glavine Rumors: Red Sox, Dodgers, Nats, Mets
- According to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, a source close to Tom Glavine says the Red Sox are "close to the top, if not at the top" of the list of teams the lefty would pitch for. The Red Sox seem well-stocked with arms for now and Glavine's friend John Smoltz is nearing his Boston debut, so the team appears to have no room for Glavine now.
- Kevin Baxter of the LA Times reports that the Dodgers are "not likely to pursue" Glavine.
- David Lennon of Newsday has a source who says the Mets aren't interested in reacquiring him.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports that the Nationals aren't interested in bringing Glavine aboard as a player, but they would have interest in him as a mentor or coach.
Olney On Glavine, Dunn, Penny
ESPN.com's Buster Olney wonders where Tom Glavine will land and comes up with a couple options. The Rangers, who are looking to shed Vicente Padilla, "will probably talk about Glavine." Olney says the pitcher could also "fit cheaply" with the Marlins and former Braves coach, Fredi Gonzalez. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors:
- Adam Dunn fits Boston's needs, but the Nationals would want a "big-time pitching prospect" in exchange for the slugger. The two teams match up well, but Olney warns this doesn't mean we'll see a deal.
- The Phillies heard that the Red Sox would want infielder Jason Donald in exchange for Brad Penny.
- The Reds are looking for a third baseman.
- Olney hears buzz that the Mariners may pass on Dustin Ackley, who's considered the best college hitter in the draft. If that's the case, the Padres would consider him and Donovan Tate with their 3rd pick.
- The Brewers are "actively looking" to improve their team.
Reactions To McLouth Deal, Glavine's Release
The Braves caught our attention yesterday with two major moves. They released Tom Glavine and then traded for Nate McLouth an hour later. Here's an assortment of reactions from around the majors:
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post talked to one executive who believes the Pirates sent a mixed message by signing McLouth to an extension and dealing him soon after. One team official says the Pirates never shopped McLouth, which suggests they were impressed by the Braves' offer.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer says he usually loves deals like this for the team acquiring young talent. In this case, he doesn't believe the Pirates got enough. For the Braves, however, it's a "brilliant" move.
- MLB.com's Adam Rosenberg reports that McLouth will arrive in Atlanta today.
- MLB.com's Jen Langosch sees both sides of the deal for the Pirates: It's possible Neal Huntington could have traded McLouth for more, but the three players he obtained are good ones.
- In spite of all the analysis, Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says we won't really know who won this deal for months or even years.
- Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the fan reaciton has been "mostly negative."
- John Smoltz's reaction to the Braves' decision to release his former teammate: "That's not how you treat people." Smoltz disagrees openly with the move in the rest of his discussion with Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says Glavine can prove the Braves wrong by pitching well for another team.
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan believes it took a "healthy dose of emotional detachment" to cut Glavine, one that signaled "a clean break from the Braves' old identity."
Odds & Ends: Tejada, Lohse, LaRussa
Some late night linkage as you wait to see if Randy Johnson picks up win number 300:
- Jeff Zrebiec says that the Orioles may end up releasing Jamie Walker in the coming days.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro reports that the Marlins will designate reliever Hayden Penn for assignment. It's unclear who will take his place on the roster.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson says not to expect to see Tom Glavine in a Nationals uniform, but the team wouldn't mind having him as pitching mentor/coach. Glavine and team president Stan Kasten have a long standing relationship.
- Miguel Tejada wants to finish his career in Houston. With the Astros already seven games back of first and a handful of teams looking for upgrades at shortstop and/or third base, Tejada probably won't get his wish.
- Kyle Lohse left tonight's start in the third inning when his right forearm discomfort returned. Just yesterday there was talk of the Cardinals dealing from their pitching depth to address their infield issues, but depth on the mound has a way of disappearing quickly.
- Tony LaRussa is suing Twitter. Whether Tony likes it or not, Twitter is here to stay.
Mike Axisa writes for River Ave. Blues.
Braves Release Tom Glavine
5:48pm: David Lennon of Newsday tweets that the Mets are not considering bringing Glavine back. Also, word via radio reports is that Tommy Hanson will come up to start Saturday. That's Kris Medlen's turn, but he's not in the Nate McLouth deal.
4:42pm: According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports the Braves have released Tom Glavine. Glavine signed an incentive-laden deal with the Braves this winter that could have paid him as much as $4.5MM. He would have received a $1MM bonus for making the team. Glavine had just finished rehabbing and had proclaimed himself ready for big league action.
We heard today that Glavine doesn't expect to play in 2010, but his career could be over sooner than that. Ironically, his release comes on the same day fellow-lefty Randy Johnson makes his first attempt at joining Glavine in the 300 win club.
Glavine Doesn't Expect To Pitch In 2010
Jim O'Hara of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Tom Glavine expects this season to be his last. When he looks at this year's rotation Glavine says the only "logical spot" is as the fifth starter. With Javier Vazquez, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens and Kenshin Kawakami in the rotation, Glavine's probably right.
Return of Tim Hudson Scheduled for August
Tim Hudson, recovering from Tommy John surgery, believe he can rejoin the Atlanta Braves sometime in August, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
"I feel really good about where I'm at right now," Hudson said. "I haven't thrown breaking balls, splits or changeups or anything like that. But how I feel right now, it's hard to think that it's going to take me three months to get ready to pitch in a game."
Hudson could encounter a logjam when he returns, between starters Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez and Jair Jurrjens, not to mention prospects Tommy Hanson, Kris Medlen and the old standby Tom Glavine.
But the real question is this: just how well would Hudson have to pitch in the season's final month for the Braves to pick up his $12MM option? Hard to imagine anything short of a Greinke would lead the Braves to do so. They have, as an alternative, a $1MM buyout.
Odds & Ends: Bonds, Armas, Strasburg
Links for Wednesday...
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says the Royals received righty Eric Basurto as the player to be named later in the Ross Gload trade.
- Tom Glavine hopes to pitch in the Majors this month, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman.
- Back on May 3rd, Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times wrote about the possibility of Barry Bonds signing with the independent league Long Beach Armada (the team already employs Hideki Irabu and Jose Lima). But Bonds' agent Jeff Borris said, "He's not going to do that."
- It appears that Tony Armas Jr. signed a minor league deal with the Braves after the Mets released him.
- Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News says Padres beat writer Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune will be out of a job come August. Sorry to hear it; Krasovic does excellent work.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo talked to Tony Gwynn about Stephen Strasburg.
- Johnny Damon talked about his future again, this time with MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
- Jim Thome would like to return to the White Sox next year, based on his comments to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
|
|
