By Tim Dierkes | at
My latest fantasy baseball column is up over at RotoWorld. Players such as Alfonso Soriano, Rafael Furcal, and Esteban Loaiza are profiled.
Also, the 2006 RotoAuthority Fantasy Baseball Guide is currently available for less than ten bucks. Everyone who’s bought it has been quite satisfied so far. Get it now to secure the early-bird price!
By Tim Dierkes | at
Some interesting items for Cubs fans in Phil Rogers’s column today.
Rogers calls the Cubs’ decision not to exercise Jeromy Burnitz’s $7MM option a gaffe. He points out that Jacque Jones is basically Burnitz’s equal in right field. That’s true, even when you take fielding into account. In my opinion, letting Burnitz go was a smart move. However, signing Jones for three years is a poor way to solve fill the vacancy. At least, that’s been my stance on this site.
But after perusing the right fielder rankings from 2005, I had to ask myself: what alternative would I have proposed as Cubs GM? Nobody ranked above Jones/Burnitz was ever really available, at least not for a reasonable price. Looked at in that way, Rogers is right. Better to have one year of Burnitz and see if Felix Pie is ready in 2007. However, given the almighty power as Cubs GM, I would’ve traded for Craig Wilson and stuck him in right.
Rogers also weighs in on the Tejada trade possibility:
"If Hendry really will give up Mark Prior or Carlos Zambrano—and he would be nuts to deal Prior—there’s a deal to be made. The Orioles should soon realize that."
There’s been pages of debate on this site, but I think Hendry would be truly nuts to trade Zambrano. Z is just 24 and has quietly become one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. If he ever gets a handle on his walks, he’d be downright dominant.
Finally, Rogers mentions Alfonso Soriano as a trade possibility. I shudder at the thought. Remember when Hendry mandated the callups of Matt Murton and Adam Greenberg? It seemed like he was forcing some OBP guys onto Dusty Baker and that was that. I thought the organization had turned a corner and embraced on-base percentage.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Wondering how new Astro Preston Wilson will perform in 2006? Check out the latest RotoAuthority projection.
Miguel Tejada backed off on his trade demand. Translation: the Orioles didn’t find an offer they liked.
Read about the Diamondbacks’ new philosophy towards team defense under Josh Byrnes over at Baseball Prospectus.
Some lesser known breakout prospects over at Baseball Analysts.
By Tim Dierkes | at
According to Bruce Levine on ESPN Radio 1000, four different teams have interest in Cubs former phenom Corey Patterson. The contenders are the Orioles, Mariners, Rangers, and Nationals. Hendry apparently wants at least two young players in return. A trade is possible next week.
Personally, I hope Hendry chooses quality over quantity here. Running down the teams:
The Orioles have nothing to lose by throwing Patterson in CF and seeing if he can reignite his career. The club doesn’t seem fond of Luis Matos at this point.
A trade to the Mariners would imply the departure of Jeremy Reed, which would be a curious decision by Bill Bavasi. We’ve heard in the past that he could go to Boston for various young starters.
The Rangers have a lot of outfielders – David Dellucci, Gary Matthews Jr., Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix, and Brad Wilkerson. Dellucci is a fit for DH, and the rest have all been mentioned in trade rumors. Why Daniels would want to replace one of the four with Patterson is beyond me.
Ryan Church is a better fit in right field for the Nationals, but that’s Jose Guillen’s position. Brandon Watson and Marlon Byrd may not be regulars, so moving Church to left and giving Patterson a shot isn’t a terrible idea. Although Watson seems like a better option that Patterson based on his Triple A stats.
Thanks to Alex
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Miami Herald and WTMJ in Milwaukee are reporting that Brewers GM Doug Melvin has swooped in and acquired third baseman Corey Koskie. To get him, they sent righthanded reliever Brian Wolfe to Toronto. Wolfe is a 25 year-old career minor leaguer with little chance of ever seeing the big leagues. This was a salary dump, as Koskie is owed $5.25MM in 2006 and $5.75MM in 2007. His $6.5MM 2008 option can be bought out for $500,000. However, the option becomes guaranteed if Koskie gets at least 796 plate appearances over the next two seasons.
Koskie will be entering his age 33 season with a career line of .277/.369/.455. He’s averaged just 115 games over the last three seasons. His latest injury was a broken thumb with ligament damage. If the Jays are throwing in some cash, it’s another smart acquisition by Doug Melvin. Koskie’s not terribly expensive, and if the Brewers can keep him on the field they’ll get decent on-base skills and 20-25 HR. The move rightly puts Bill Hall back into more of a utility role, although he’ll start at third with southpaws on the mound. The platoon could easily result in Milwaukee getting 30 HR out of the third base spot in ’06.
RotoWorld speculates that righty masher 3B/1B/OF Russell Branyan could be traded. Which club would benefit from his services? The Twins, Phillies, and Indians would be good fits.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Check out my Felix Hernandez projection for 2006 over at RotoAuthority. These always bring about good debates, so get to it!
You can purchase projections for 573 other players and much more in the 2006 RotoAuthority Fantasy Baseball Guide for the early-bird special price of just $9.99.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Late last night I talked to Dave Kaplan, co-host of WGN’s Sports Central. Dave gave me a different take on the Miguel Tejada situation than what my source told me.
He said his sources indicate the White Sox are out of the Tejada sweepstakes and that the Red Sox are also backing away now that Manny said he’ll stay. According to Kaplan, the Cubs are "trying hard." He also mentioned that there’s "still a long way to go to get a deal done, but if the Cubs will include Felix Pie they could get it done."
FoxSports’s Ken Rosenthal threw his hat into the ring last night, indicating that the Phillies have offered Bobby Abreu for Tejada and would play Tejada at third base. Of course, Abreu has the power to veto such a trade.
At any rate, more than one source has indicated that the Tejada situation will get resolved today, whether he stays or goes. I guess we’ll see.
In other news, Dan Connolly of the Chicago Tribune quotes an industry source saying the Cubs are "closing in" on a trade to send Corey Patterson to Baltimore for an unknown minor leaguer. The minor leaguer is said to not be one of the Orioles’ top five. Based on Will Lingo’s top ten list for Baseball America, perhaps numbers 6-10 are possible. I’m just speculating, but the Cubs could really use a guy like Val Majewski if the Orioles would part with him.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Alright, I’ve got the goods on the current state of the White Sox’s attempt to acquire Miguel Tejada.
Remember the unknown prospect I referred to in the Orioles’ proposal? Turns out the pitching prospect the Orioles wanted was either Lance Broadway or Brandon McCarthy. Neither player was on the list agreed upon earlier, and the Sox scoffed at the idea of including Broadway or McCarthy.
Despite reports in both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times today, the deal is very much alive at this point. Unfortunately, my source is more involved with the financial approval aspect of the deal (hence the statement that the Sox will take the payroll up to $105MM if necessary). He’s been cut off from personnel discussions, so this is probably the end of the line as far as the info goes.
By Tim Dierkes | at
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 Saarloos. This rumor appears to have been fabricated; it doesn’t seem that the radio station ever proposed it. KNBR didn’t return my emails, but I’m still pretty sure there’s nothing to the rumor. It’s not implausible, as Billy Beane is the type of GM to acquire an undervalued player and worry about his outfielder surplus later. I don’t believe Dave Littlefield’s statements about not wanting to trade Wilson. He’d be valuable to many teams, and the Pirates’ recent acquisitions indicate that they’ll deal him.
RotoAuthority’s latest:
2006 Fantasy Guide On Sale For $9.99 For A Limited Time
Good readin’: 1060west has updated its post about the Cubs’ revamped bullpen. This quote resonated with me:
"Seen in the light of statistical evidence, it becomes clear that nothing has been done to improve the Cub bullpen from April 2005 to this stage; in fact, if anything, the Cubs have actually gotten weaker in going from Hawkins to Howry and Remlinger to Eyre."
The main point is that Hendry tends to purchase free agent relievers for big bucks following the reliever’s best season. Not a smart strategy.
The Phillies and Ryan Franklin? This won’t end well. I’m just happy to see than Ryan Madson will finally get a shot in the rotation; he’s got a 3.25 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 7.27 K/9 in 166 Major League innings. High strikeout totals and good control are always a great combo.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Remember when I decided to start calling Kenny Williams "spunky" based on his Javier Vazquez and Jim Thome trades? I’m starting to think I should stick with "bold," as cliche as it may be.
As I mentioned earlier on this site, the White Sox submitted two trade proposals for Miguel Tejada with a deadline of December 31st. Now the White Sox have re-entered the Tejada fray.
A rock-solid source of mine close to the White Sox tells me that the team is "lying in the weeds" and allowing the Mets, Devil Rays, Orioles, and Red Sox to beat each other up with this whole Manny/Tejada 4-way thing. The White Sox hope that the 4-way deal falls apart because it’s too complicated and too expensive. Presently, it seems that their wish will be fulfilled.
The Orioles want the Tejada deal done soon, and approached the White Sox yesterday with a proposal. The Orioles asked for Jose Contreras, Juan Uribe, Ryan Sweeney, and a top pitching prospect. That unknown prospect may be a sticking point, but it can probably be worked out. Alex Woodson has been previously mentioned in discussions between the two clubs. It would be a daring move by Kenny Williams to subtract Uribe and Aaron Rowand after winning a World Series with defense as the team’s strength.
My source tells me to look for an announcement by Friday about Tejada, no matter where he ends up. The White Sox have their own motivation to wrap things up before the weekend: they’d like to have an announcement that does not conflict with a Bears playoff weekend or the Cubs Convention.
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