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Archives for December 2007

Starting Pitching Market Starts Moving

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In recent days the starting pitching market has finally started moving.  Dan Haren was traded to the Diamondbacks, and Hiroki Kuroda signed with the Dodgers.  Now that the ball is rolling, what’s next?

  • There are no aces available via free agency, but Kuroda might’ve been the best anyway.  There are three free agents with ace potential but checkered histories: Roger Clemens, Bartolo Colon, and Mark Prior.  Colon is the only one with a shot at 200 innings in 2008, and he probably won’t require more than a two-year deal.  Healthy pitchers with lower ceilings comprise the next tier – Carlos Silva, Kyle Lohse, Josh Fogg, Josh Towers, and Livan Hernandez. 
  • The injury tier of once-decent free agents, who are garnering plenty of attention: Kris Benson, Matt Clement,  Freddy Garcia, Jason Jennings, Jon Lieber, Rodrigo Lopez.
  • There are some ace starters available via trade, if you’re willing to give up half of your farm system.  Johan Santana and Erik Bedard are the game-changers.  Joe Blanton will be slightly cheaper, but isn’t as nasty.  A.J. Burnett can compete with Bedard’s stuff but he has injury concerns and one year left on his deal before he can opt out.  After that we see a dropoff in trade candidates – Kevin Millwood, Dave Bush, Chris Capuano, Matt Morris, Jason Marquis.  The Brewers are definitely holding some nice cards here.
  • Teams looking to add pitching: Yankees, Royals, Mariners, Rangers, Nationals, Mets, Phillies, Reds, Astros, Cardinals, Giants, and Rockies.

Tigers, Jays Interested In Miguel Olivo

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UPDATE, 12-15-07 at 12:51pm: The Jays have their eye on Olivo as well.  He would get more playing time in Toronto than Detroit.

FROM 12-14-07 at 3:06pm:

Hot stove action!  It was revealed today that the Tigers recently contacted Miguel Olivo’s agent to express interest.  Olivo’s agent has also heard from four or five other teams.  Olivo would have to serve as Ivan Rodriguez’s caddy if he signed with Detroit.

A starting gig for Olivo might be hard to come by.  He earned $2MM in ’07 and figures to make a touch more in ’08.  He gunned down an impressive 32.9% of baserunners this year.

Nats, Mets, Yanks Interested In Prior

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UPDATE, 12-15-07 at 12:47pm: The Phillies are one team that does not have interest in Prior.

UPDATE, 12-15-07 at 8:48am: Ed Price adds that the Yankees and Mets have both shown preliminary interest in Prior.  Apparently he is throwing on flat ground and could be ready by May.  Translation: he may return by the second half. Price believes roughly a dozen clubs are interested in Prior.

FROM 12-14-07 at 11:53pm:

The Nationals are looking in the bargain bin for a veteran starting pitcher.  Two options they’re considering are Mark Prior and Jason Jennings, according to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson.  The Nats first touched base with Jennings’ agent around November 6th.  Prior is a new name for them though.

Jennings has the Royals, Rangers, Rockies, and Mets on his trail as well.  As for Prior, the Astros, Reds, Rangers, Phillies, and Padres may be the most interested clubs.

Odds and Ends: Garces, Aquino, McPherson

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Let’s round up a few Saturday odds and ends.

  • Pitcher C.J. Nitkowski writes a semi-defense of Brian McNamee.  Nitkowski has his own blog and recently finished up a season in Japan.
  • According to Andrew Baggarly, the Giants have been in touch with Scott Boras regarding free agent corner infielder Dallas McPherson.  He missed the ’07 season with back surgery, but recently appeared in the Arizona Instructional League.  The 27 year-old has a career line of .247/.294/.461 in 360 ABs, including 121 strikeouts in those 117 games.  The 30 HR power may remain but he’ll need to show more than just that. 
  • Peter Abraham has a funny comment regarding the appearance of Rich Garces on the phony steroid list that circulated Thursday morning.  That bogus list actually hit my inbox the night before and it was an obvious delete.  I shouldn’t throw stones, because I have definitely put up a few bad trade rumors in my day.  But it was very surprising to see an NBC affiliate running with that crap on Thursday.
  • Andy MacPhail continues to leave the door open for an Erik Bedard contract extension.  That same article mentions the Orioles’ claim of 30 year-old reliever Greg Aquino.  Fantasy geeks recall Aquino’s stint as D’Backs closer in 2004, when they were the worst team in baseball.  Aquino supplanted Mike Koplove that summer. 

Clemens May Not Be Done

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The general assumption when Roger Clemens was named in the Mitchell Report was that he would quietly retreat from the public eye.  That might not be so, according to Newsday’s Ken Davidoff.

Davidoff talked to a couple of people "familiar with Clemens’ thinking."  These sources below The Rocket wouldn’t go out on such a low note – the steroid accusation plus the aborted Division Series start.  Clemens has already denied the allegations in a public statement, and a 2008 return could be an act of defiance.  He’s not likely to be suspended, anyway.

Davidoff believes the Astros and Red Sox are the two possibilities.  The ’Stros have a desperate need for rotation help.  Or, Clemens might be angling to finish his career in Boston.  That opportunity might grow a little larger if the Sox miss out on Johan Santana.  My guess is that Clemens might have to scale back his demands to the $12MM range.

Braves Eyeing Brian Fuentes

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According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves are interested in Rockies reliever Brian Fuentes.  However, they don’t want to take on his entire salary.

Fuentes earned $3.5MM in 2007, and will get a raise in his last year before free agency.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see him up around $5MM for 2008.  That’s the price of a good setup man these days.

Mike Gonzalez was supposed to be the Braves’ late-inning southpaw reliever, but he’ll probably be out until June due to Tommy John surgery.  It seems the Rockies’ asking price is steep for a year of Fuentes – they wanted Aaron Heilman and then some from the Mets, and Jed Lowrie from the Red Sox.

Yankees Still Discussing Santana

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Ed Price of the Newark Star-Ledger spoke to Yankees senior VP Hank Steinbrenner yesterday.  He learned what we all suspected – the Yankees aren’t truly out of the running for Johan Santana, and have even spoken to the Twins recently about him.

Price’s Twins source indicated that the Yankees want to move Hideki Matsui’s $26MM before they get heavily involved for Santana.  Another option might be to ditch Mike Mussina and his $11MM salary for ’08.  He and Matsui both have no-trade protection though.

Luis Vizcaino Signs With Rockies

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UPDATE, 12-14-07 at 10:16pm: Tracy Ringolsby reported (several hours ago actually) that the Rockies have an agreement with the Viz.

UPDATE, 12-14-07 at 9:41pm: Here we go…MLB.com’s Thomas Harding says Vizcaino is close with the Rox.

UPDATE, 12-14-07 at 3:21pm: Definitely not the Brewers, we know that much.

UPDATE, 12-14-07 at 2:30pm: Readers are emailing in that WFAN is reporting the Rockies signed Vizcaino.

FROM 12-14-07 at 2:11pm:

Per Peter Abraham, Luis Vizcaino signed somewhere in the NL.  Brewers, Rockies?  Not sure yet.  The URL string, though, says Milwaukee.  The deal was for two years and $7MM despite the talk about Vizcaino looking for Linebrink money.

Twins Sign Mike Lamb

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UPDATE, 12-14-07 at 9:45pm: The Houston Chronicle has the dollars on this deal.  Lamb will get $6.6MM over the 2008-09 seasons.  Sounds about right.  In particular it’s $3.5MM in ’08 and $3MM in ’09.  LEN3 says bonuses and such plus the option year could make it a three-year, $12.5MM deal.

FROM 12-14-07 at 4:48pm:

According to Phil Miller, the Twins signed third baseman Mike Lamb to a two-year deal with an option for 2010. 

Not sure of the money yet, but I’m a fan of this value signing.  I’ve been saying for a while now that Lamb had some of the better numbers among free agents out there.  He hit .289/.366/.453 in 2007.  No doubt he’s been helped by Minute Maid Park, but he’ll surely top the .236/.308/.323 line the Twins got out of their third basemen in ’07.

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