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Archives for January 2007

Doug Davis Gets Three-Year Deal

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Instead of battling Doug Davis at an arbitration hearing, the Diamondbacks decided to sign him through 2009 for $22MM.  The deal buys out his first two years of free agency; there’s one off the board for the ’08 class.  While Davis would have earned several million more had he waited until November, the certainty is valuable.

The 31 year-old southpaw is a durable 200 inning guy with a strong strikeout rate but shaky control. He, Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb are locked down for Arizona’s 2008 rotation.

Braves Sign Craig Wilson

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The Braves have brought in some competition for Scott Thorman at first base.  Today they signed Craig Wilson to a one-year deal for only $2MM, according to a team press release.

Looking at Wilson’s and Thorman’s splits, it might make sense to use Wilson primarily against southpaws and Thorman against righties.  This signing may have been in queue for a while, given how quickly it was completed.

Rumor Roundup

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Let’s see what we’ve got today.

The Padres made David Wells a one-year offer, and would like an answer by week’s end.  They’ve also got an offer out to Brian Lawrence.  Should they snag both, that would be some nice depth.

Speaking of Lawrence, the Mariners might be the favorite for his services.  Clever Bill Bavasi…building the world’s most groundballingest pitching staff.  Will it work?  Now to acquire Jake Westbrook somehow. 

The Pirates and Rockies are still involved on Lawrence as well.  The Rox might go after Ramon Ortiz or Bruce Chen if Lawrence doesn’t sign with them.  Colorado would also like to sign Rudy Seanez for the pen.

The Rockies lost Chin-Hui Tsao to the Dodgers.  The once highly regarded Tsao is trying to come back from a torn labrum.

The Giants might consider bailing on Barry Bonds.  They’d have to cook up a reason aside from his amphetamine test.  Buster Olney thinks his knees would be a sufficient excuse, and that the Barry Zito signing and preseason ticket sales free the Giants from a reliance on Bonds.

I’d write about the Nats signing Tony Womack, but c’mon now.  Tony Womack?

Final results of my "expert" fantasy baseball mock draft last night can be found here.  How’d I do? I can’t believe I missed out on Rich Hill.

Pirates Acquire LaRoche For Gonzalez

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UPDATE: A source tells me the Pirates included shortstop Brent Lillibridge in the trade, and it’s a four-player deal.  That’s quite a price – Baseball Prospectus’s PECOTA system indicates that the college product would be baseball’s ninth best shortstop in 2007 (based on projected WARP).

The above info is now confirmed by John Perrotto of the Beaver County Allegheny Times.  The Braves are sending outfielder Jamie Romak to the Bucs to complete the deal. 

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have agreed to send Mike Gonzalez and another unknown player to the Braves for first baseman Adam LaRoche.  Nice to finally put the daily LaRoche rumors to rest.  Given the inclusion of Lillibridge, I’d say the Braves won another deal here. 

Check out RotoAuthority to read the fantasy implications of this deal.

Sosa Agrees To Deal With Rangers

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UPDATE: MLB.com reports that the Rangers have agreed in principle to an incentive-laden, $500,000 minor league contract with Sosa.

The amusing experiment continues, as the Rangers have offered Sammy Sosa a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.  Plus, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick has a source who says the two parties are "working toward an agreement."

Judging from Jon Daniels’s positive comments towards Sosa, it appears that an incentive-based deal will get done.  I don’t know.  A part of me wants to see how this turns out.  Will he get his 12 homers? 

Amusingly, Rafael Palmeiro tried to jump onto the train but was shot down.  Somewhere, Juan Gonzalez just shed a tear.

Terry Ryan Interview And More

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Joe Hamrahi sat down recently with Twins GM Terry Ryan and snagged an interview for his website, Baseball Digest Daily.  Check it out.

Drays Bay speaks to Rays.com beat writer Bill Chastain.

The Rangers will try defensive whiz Joaquin Arias as a center fielder.

Buster Olney mentions that the A’s and Giants may have interest in free agent reliever Dustin Hermanson.  Here’s a list of the remaining free agent relievers.

The bad boys of…San Diego?

Over at Baseball Prospectus, Nate Silver has a bonus ’07 projection for Sammy Sosa as a Ranger.  Outlook: not so good.

Richard Justice’s educated guess is that Morgan Ensberg will be traded for pitching. While a nasty shoulder bruise sapped his power in ’06, Ensberg still had a Bondsian 20% walk rate.

Also, check out my 2007 projections and fantasy baseball tool, on sale here for $9.99.  At the least you should download and play around with the sample – it contains all projections for the Cubs, White Sox, and Cards.

Jays Interested In David Wells

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Ken Rosenthal brings up the possibility that the Blue Jays would entertain bringing 44 year-old lefty David Wells back for a third stint.  The interest is mutual, as Wells would be willing to play in Toronto.

However, Wells’s agent meets with Padres GM Kevin Towers today and San Diego is the clear frontrunner.  The Jays could really use one more vet in the rotation, though.  Wonder if Boomer would consider a return to Cincinnati?  Did he have fun there?

Jays Offered Rios For Myers, Billingsley

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According to Ken Rosenthal’s latest column, the Blue Jays wanted either Brett Myers or Chad Billingsley plus Matt Kemp or Jonathan Broxton in return for right fielder Alex Rios.  Both clubs are known for their current starting pitching surpluses; the Phils actually have the need for an outfielder.

Not too many teams are looking to unload an AL-East-ready starter, so the Jays might have to lower their expectations.  Plenty of teams could make room for Rios as a right or center fielder.

Elijah Dukes In Trouble Again

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Oh, Elijah.  This time, it’s marijuana possession.  At least, that’s the charge. 

Elijah Dukes is an interesting player – a world of talent, a complete wild card in terms of behavior.  PECOTA sees him hitting .283/.349/.454 as a 23 year-old this year.  I think the D-Rays should just grin and bear it rather than trade him, as dealing now would be selling low.

Pirates Still Chasing LaRoche, Tracy

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Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tells us that Pirate GM Dave Littlefield is under pressure to acquire a power bat before the season begins. The two main targets are still Adam LaRoche and Chad Tracy, but will Littlefield include a second Major Leaguer along with Mike Gonzalez?  And if Kovacevic’s report of Littlefield’s mandate is true, isn’t that leak detrimental to the GM’s efforts?

The Bucs still refuse to include Chris Duffy or Paul Maholm in a two-for-one deal.  Kovacevic speculates that another reliever might represent a compromise; if the Pirates need to include Salomon Torres they should do it.  While it would decimate the bullpen it still makes sense to trade relievers for sluggers.

The article also mentions that trading for Ryan Church or signing Trot Nixon wouldn’t fulfill the team’s goal and seems unlikely.  Options such as Geoff Jenkins or Jacque Jones could be pursued, however.

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