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Archives for January 2008

Carlos Pena Could Sign Long-Term

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The St. Petersburg Times’ Rays blog has a note up about first baseman Carlos Pena.  (Hat tip DRays Bay.)  Pena is under team control through the 2009 season, but a multiyear extension is a possibility.  The post says Pena will probably earn in the $4.5-7.5MM range in ’08.  In ’09 he’d probably get up to the $12MM+ range.

Maybe the Rays could work out a three-year, $36MM extension to buy out one year of free agency?  There was an erroneous report in late November that Pena had rejected a three-year, $30MM extension.  Pena is represented by Scott Boras, who didn’t seem optimistic about a multiyear deal in early December.  Boras had all kinds of debatable quotes about Pena in September.

Blanton To Stay Put?

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MLB.com’s Jim Molony talked to an A’s source who expects Joe Blanton to stay put and be Oakland’s Opening Day starter.  The offers so far must not have been encouraging.

We haven’t really heard the specifics of any Blanton offers.  The closest we came to learning Billy Beane’s asking price was on December 20th, when Buster Olney said:

Have heard that the Mets could land Joe Blanton with this package: center fielder Carlos Gomez, pitcher Aaron Heilman and pitcher Kevin Mulvey.

Aside from the Mets, the Reds, Indians, and Mariners reportedly had some level of interest in Blanton.

Jonathan Mayo Discusses Bruce For Bedard

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You’ve probably heard of Jonathan Mayo.  He’s a prominent writer on MLB.com, focusing on the minor leagues more recently.  Mayo recently wrote a book called Facing Clemens, which "puts you right in the batter’s box against the Rocket Man."  Mayo finished the book before the steroid allegations surfaced, but it sounds like an interesting read regardless.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that if you click the above Amazon link and buy the book, I’ll get 46 cents.  Hopefully Mayo gets a better cut than that from his publisher!

Anyway, I asked Mayo a handful of questions for publication on MLBTR.

MLBTR: If you were Wayne Krivsky, would you trade Jay Bruce for Erik Bedard straight up?  What players would you compare Bruce to?  How does Bruce compare to Adam Jones?

Mayo: In a word, no. I wouldn’t trade Bruce for Bedard straight up. Frankly, and maybe I’m a little prospect-slanted, there’s not much I would trade Jay Bruce for. Not only is the guy going to be one of the game’s great hitters, he’s an outstanding individual who’ll represent the organization extremely well. I know that’s not the be-all, end-all, but Bruce is going to be a true ambassador for the game. He’s going to hit for average, get on base, hit for a ton of power, play good OF (eventually RF, but fine in CF for now), throw runners out, maybe even steal a few bases. It’s hard to come up with a good comparable, but I’ll go with Larry Walker. Maybe not quite as much speed, but it’s pretty close.

Jones is more of a prototypical five-tooler, who won’t hit for as much power right away. I think Bruce has more power potential than Jones, while Jones is likely a bit faster and will stay in CF.

Piazza Struggling To Find Work

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Mike Piazza, now 39, isn’t have much luck finding a job this winter.  First there were the rumors about Japan.  Now we learn that he’s expressed interest in closing out his career with the Marlins, and they’ll pass.  Piazza played five games for the Fish in ’98 before being flipped to the Mets for Ed Yarnall, Preston Wilson, and Geoff Goetz.

Piazza doesn’t make much sense as a backup catcher for NL teams, since he’s not much behind the dish these days.  Oakland brought him aboard last year to DH for $8.5MM, which seemed like a decent move.  He wasn’t healthy and didn’t hit as expected.  Another DH job would be ideal.  14 such gigs exist, but David Ortiz, Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, Travis Hafner, Gary Sheffield, and Jose Vidro are all locked in.  To be generous Piazza might have eight AL teams to call up.  Realistically it’s even fewer since some of those eight will use their DH as a rotation spot and don’t have room for Piazza.

Help Wanted

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I am looking to assemble a squad of capable writers who can step in on the occasional MLBTR post when I’m not available.  I tried the "team representative" approach, and I’ve decided that’s not the best way to do it.  Instead I want to put together a crack team of 5-10 people who can blog about any rumor intelligently.  Here’s what I’m looking for:

  • Lack of bias.  I get some flack for being a Cubs fan but I honestly don’t think it affects objectivity here at MLBTR.  I can happily compliment a good Cardinals move and rip on a bad Cubs one.  You need to be able to check your bias at the door.
  • Strong writing skills.  Obviously I need excellent writers.  That means grammar, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, brevity, style, and possibly sportswriting experience of some kind.  One optional way to demonstrate this would be to write some kind of mock MLBTR post and include it in your email.  A voice similar to my own would be good.
  • Attention to detail.  If Buster Olney speculates on a trade he’d like to see and you report it as actual trade discussions, that’s bad.  If two teams are "making progress" and you say the trade is done, that’s a problem.  Not everyone on MLBTR clicks through to read the source material, so you have to be very careful about your choice of words.
  • Baseball knowledge.  You need to be able to write about all 30 teams without the fanbases calling you out for mistakes or ignorance.  Can you name each team’s rotation off the top of your head?  Can you name five prospects from each club?  Which ones have a bad history with Scott Boras?  If there are teams you know nothing about or don’t care to cover then you don’t fit the bill.  Also, an understanding of modern stats is important – we can do better than talking about a guy’s batting average and RBI total.   
  • Know your way around the web.  Do you know some places to look for rumors?  Where will you get contract info?  What’s the best site for stats?  Are you subscribed to ESPN, BP, and sites like that?  Do you know how to quickly dig through the MLBTR archives and find older rumors you need to reference?
  • On the computer often; usually available.  I need people who are constantly connected to the Internet, checking baseball stuff throughout the day just because they love to.  People who reply to most emails within a few minutes.  I might ask you to write a post without advance notice, and timing will be of the essence. 

I know I am asking for a lot, and it’s not a paid position.  But the actual work might only be a post or two a week.  If we expand to larger things – say, you covering eight hours on a Saturday – that would be paid.  Here are the benefits of joining the MLBTR team:

  • Huge audience.  This month we’ve had about 20,000 absolute unique visitors per day.  It’s pretty cool to have that kind of readership.
  • Resume builder.  If you are trying to break into sportswriting without spending four years covering youth field hockey, this might help.  You can use me (Tim Dierkes) as a reference, for what it’s worth.
  • Learn about blogging.  You get to use the TypePad blogging platform for free, and see exactly what goes into an MLBTR post. 

If this appeals to you, write me an email at mlbtraderumors@gmail.com.  Unfortunately I won’t be able to reply to all.  Tell me why you’re perfect for the gig and what you bring to the table.

Thanks.

Erik Bedard Rumors

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Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider dug up "a few fresh nuggets" regarding the Erik Bedard trade discussions.

  • The Mariners reportedly offered Adam Jones, Jeff Clement, and George Sherrill for Bedard.  Seems the Orioles want Brandon Morrow or Carlos Triunfel instead of Clement.  One source of Churchill’s believes the Mariners would be more inclined to buckle and surrender Morrow than Triunfel.  It’s even possible that the Orioles gave the Mariners a "final counteroffer" including one of the two and will move on if it’s rejected.
  • Many Mariners fans believe Bedard is not even worth Jones straight up, so imagine how they’ll feel if the Orioles extract significantly more.
  • The Orioles still want Jay Bruce from Cincinnati; otherwise they would ask for a ridiculous package of pretty much everyone else worth discussing in the Reds’ farm system.

Neal On Garza Trade

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I recently named La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune as Rumor Royalty for the Twins.  He answered a few questions for MLBTR.

MLBTR: Given the loss of Carlos Silva and probable trade of Santana, was it wise for the Twins to send Matt Garza to the Rays?

Neal: The Twins needed to address their offense. They were deficient last season at third base, left field and, on the days Joe Mauer wasn’t available, designated hitter. Scouts from other organizations keep talking about Delmon Young’s 40-homer potential, and it was nice to hear Brendan Harris say, "everyone has to pull their weight at the dish," on the day of the trade. I’ve covered this team for 10 years and have seen a lot of bad offense.

You can’t blame the Twins for not re-signing Silva, but you wonder why they didn’t trade him during the season when the Phillies and other teams were interested.

Johan Santana Rumors

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As usual, MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone sums up the latest on the Johan Santana front.  It’s not Cerrone’s fault, but it looks like things are pretty quiet right now.  A summary:

  • The Mets still appear to be the frontrunner.
  • As you might expect, Santana would like this done by month’s end.  He’s not stomping his feet and demanding it though.
  • And that’s pretty much where we stand…I would like to see this thing take a dramatic turn, maybe a late bid from a random team.  But it looks like we’ll keep slugging along.

Perrotto’s Latest: Sabathia, Varitek, Crede, Villone

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John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus checks in with his usual Sunday column.  He’s got some new hot stove material to consider.

  • Perrotto says the Indians are holding firm at an offer of four years plus an option for C.C. Sabathia.  As of a week ago, the Indians were said to have an offer on the table for him.  I suggested that the Tribe might top out around four years, $72MM plus an option for 2013.
  • Perrotto writes that "Boston is expected to sign catcher Jason Varitek to a two-year extension worth around $20 million."  Varitek could retire after that.
  • Perrotto suggests that Joe Crede is on the Giants’ radar if they don’t re-sign Pedro Feliz (hat tip South Side Sox).  Crede seems like he’ll be involved in one of those late Spring Training deals, given the need to prove his health.
  • The Yankees, Mets, and Pirates are interested in free agent lefty reliever Ron Villone.

Odds and Ends: Inge, Snell, Jones

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Some early Monday odds and ends to get things rolling…

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