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Archives for January 2008

Mets Prefer Bedard Over Santana?

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Interesting line from Lisa Kennelly of the Newark Star-Ledger today:

The Mets, however, prefer Baltimore’s Erik Bedard over Santana, since he wouldn’t require the same lucrative extension as part of the deal.

The Mets have an option the Red Sox and Yankees probably don’t – they might be able to acquire Erik Bedard for a price similar to what it would take to get Johan Santana.  It makes complete sense that Bedard would be more attractive – it’s two years of him versus one of Santana.  Even if Santana is a slightly better/more durable pitcher, two years easily outweighs that.  Jon Heyman said on December 3rd that the Mets had offered Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, and Aaron Heilman for Bedard, which "barely drew a response from Baltimore."

The Mets’ interest in Bedard goes back for at least a few months; it’s probably just been on the backburner.  The Red Sox and Yankees have expressed interest, but it was said that Peter Angelos didn’t want to trade Bedard within the division.

Rockies May Head To Arbitration Hearings

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According to Troy E. Renck, the Rockies have only had two arbitration hearings in franchise history. I dug around and found that they beat Sun-Woo Kim over a $200K difference in ’06 and lost to Dennys Reyes over a $200K difference in 2002.

This year, the Rockies will be prepared for the possibility of multiple hearings.  They’ve got to deal with Matt Holliday, Brian Fuentes, Garrett Atkins, Brad Hawpe, and Willy Taveras.  Renck notes that "significant gaps exist with Atkins and Fuentes."  Since we saw the Rox go to their only two hearings over $200K, we know it doesn’t take much of a disagreement sometimes.  If no contracts are reached by Friday each side must submit a salary for ’08 and an arbitrator will pick one later.  Teams typically like to avoid hearings partially because they can create some hard feelings.

The Rockies’ 2008 payroll should rise more than $10MM just to accomodate the five mentioned above.

Johan Santana Rumors

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It’s time for today’s dose of Johan Santana rumors and info.  It’s funny – I sense that everyone is getting sick of this stuff and would prefer a fresh rumor about, say, Brad Wilkerson. 

  • Lisa Kennelly wrote this morning that the Mets appear to be sticking to their guns with an offer of Carlos Gomez or Fernando Martinez, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra.  However, she says the Mets prefer Erik Bedard over Santana since he will not require a huge extension.  The New York Times adds that the Mets "are not engaged in heavy discussions with the Twins."
  • MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone dives into the situation, summing up recent events and providing some insight from a roundtable that included Ken Rosenthal, Dan Graziano, and Jim Duquette.
  • Michael Silverman, with some help from Baseball America, evaluates each reported package of prospects that has been offered for Santana. 
  • An end may be in sight – the Twins lose leverage if teams truly start to pull out, writes Joe Christensen.

Neal On Santana Staying

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La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune was recently named Rumor Royalty for the Twins.  As part of the feature, he answered a few questions for MLBTR.

MLBTR: In your estimation what is the percent likelihood that Johan Santana stays with the Twins for all of ’08 and Bill Smith just collects the draft picks?  I imagine fans wouldn’t mind seeing Johan and Francisco Liriano paired up one last time.

Neal: I would guess 10 percent – and some people would say that’s too high. The Twins had to deal with Torii Hunter’s lame duck season last year and, while it would be entertaining to watch Santana work his craft during a walk year, the Twins would be criticized all season for not dealing Santana to get players who could fill holes on the major league roster and boost the minor league system.

MLBTR Feature Survey

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Here at MLBTR we have various features, some of which appear more often than others.  They are Odds and Ends, Rumor Royalty, Needs and Luxuries, Mailbag, and GM Trade Profiles.

Click here to take a brief anonymous survey where you rank your enjoyment of each feature on a scale of 1 to 10.  There’s also a comment box for you to suggest a new feature idea if you have one.  Thanks for your help.

Odds and Ends: Stewart, Shelton, LaRoche

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Today’s smattering of random rumors and links.  Question for you readers: how do you feel about the Odds and Ends posts in general?  Interesting?  Lame?  Do you skip them, or are they worthwhile?

Yankees Still Involved On Santana

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UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 10:28pm: Hank says "there’s still a little back and forth" between the Yanks and Twins regarding Santana.  Ugh.

FROM 1-14-08 at 11:47am:

ESPN Radio’s Andrew Marchand reports that the Yankees have again pulled their offer for Johan Santana off the table.  Hank Steinbrenner could certainly change his mind again, but it seems to be down to the Red Sox and Mets.  And recent rumblings point to the Mets as the frontrunner.

The Yankees’ rotation currently shapes up as Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and probably Mike Mussina.  Ian Kennedy will be nipping at Mussina’s heels in Spring Training, while Kei Igawa’s status is unknown.  Keep in mind that Chamberlain pitched only 116 innings in 2007, most of them in the minors.  It would be surprising to see the Yankees take him past 150 innings this year.  What are your thoughts on the current Yankees rotation, sans Johan? 

Kubatko’s Latest: Jones, Dotel, Barajas

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Roch Kubatko of the Baltimore Sun has a blog update with plenty of new hot stove info.

  • Adam Jones never left Venezuela, and has been cleared to play in tonight’s winter league game.  Does this means something changed in the Erik Bedard talks?  We can only speculate.
  • The Orioles have been talking to the agents for free agents Octavio Dotel and Rod Barajas.  The Dotel talks were recent.  However, Kubatko says "late inning relief isn’t a top priority."  Maybe Andy MacPhail just wants to see if he can get Dotel on a nice one-year deal for $6MM or so.
  • MacPhail told Kubatko, "We haven’t closed any doors" in response to a question about supposedly dead talks with the Cubs.  Nothing seems imminent but perhaps the two sides are still discussing Brian Roberts after all.

Rolen For Glaus Finalized

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UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 5:44pm: And it’s official, news conference Wednesday.

UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 2:15pm: Both players passed their physicals, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  This could be officially a done deal later today.  By the way, the Belleville News-Democrat discusses some of the failed Rolen scenarios here (including one that involved Jhonny Peralta, Cliff Lee, and Anthony Reyes).

UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 10:57am: A small amount of money will change hands – the Jays will send $1.8MM to the Cards, pending commissioner approval.  Given that Rolen has more money on his contract, it’s surprising to see the Jays sending money.

UPDATE, 1-13-08 at 12:12pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says the agreement has been reached; the deal will be done if both third basemen pass physicals on Monday.  The Cardinals required that Glaus exercise his $11.25MM player option for ’09 as part of the trade – they didn’t want him to have a big ’08 and then opt for free agency.  No money changed hands, which makes the deal look like a win for St. Louis.

FROM 1-12-08 at 11:00am:

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Blue Jays and Cardinals are "closing in" on a trade of Troy Glaus for Scott Rolen.  Both would have to pass physicals first.  Rosenthal adds that both players agreed to waive their no-trade clauses and the Cardinals might need to cough up some cash as well.

Glaus, 31, hit .262/.366/.473 in an abbreviated 2007 season.  He had nerve decompression surgery for his foot in September, which will hopefully relieve his plantar fasciitis.  Also that month, Sports Illustrated reported that Glaus received multiple shipments of steroids as a member of the Angels.  Glaus is set to earn $12.75MM in ’08 and $11.25MM in ’09.

Rolen, who will turn 33 in April, hit .265/.331/.398 in a similarly abbreviated season.  He also had September surgery, a shoulder cleaning that involved removing scar tissue.  Rolen also had shoulder surgery in ’05, but did show good power for the first five months of ’06.  His other wart is a strained relationship with Tony La Russa.  He’ll earn $12MM in ’08, ’09, and ’10.   

It’s hard to say which team won the swap, though I lean towards the Cardinals.  They get a younger player with a less serious health issue and a shorter commitment.  The reason I think it’s close is that Rolen is a superior defender.  Can you imagine hitting a groundball to the left side when Rolen and John McDonald are both on the field?

Kotsay Traded To Braves For Devine, Richmond

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UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 5:07pm: Kotsay passed his physical; he’s a Brave.  The Braves also got most of his salary covered.  In return the A’s receive Joey Devine and Jamie Richmond.  Devine is a 24 year-old righty reliever with a 92-94mph sinker, according to Baseball America.  Richmond turns 22 in March; he’s the type of pitching prospect who doesn’t light up the radar gun but has "command of three pitches and advanced feel for pitching" according to BA.

FROM 1-13-08 at 12:11pm:

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports today via a Braves official that the Mark Kotsay trade is "still kind of a tentative thing."  He doesn’t take his physical until Monday, and there’s no deal until the Braves deem him healthy.  Slusser notes that the A’s acquisition of Kotsay several years ago was delayed by concerns over his health.

Slusser also says the A’s could receive an A ball pitcher in addition to Joey Devine.  She confirms that the Devine acquisition could be a precursor to a Huston Street trade, something many emailers have speculated.

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