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Archives for January 2008

Livan Hernandez Close To Deal With Mets?

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UPDATE, 1-26-08 at 9:46am: According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick on Thursday: If the Mets fail to pull off a Santana trade, indications are that Kyle Lohse — not Livan Hernandez — is their top free agent fallback.

FROM 1-25-08 at 8:27am:

Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News writes:

Right-hander Livan Hernandez, who is a workhorse, is close to a deal with the Mets, where he will be reunited with brother Orlando Hernandez.

This would seem to have Johan Santana implications, if it is finalized.  Livan and Kyle Lohse were kind of the Plan B if they couldn’t acquire an ace via trade.  But, as some commenters mentioned, signing Hernandez would not preclude a Johan trade.

Marlon Byrd/Matt Murton Rumors

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Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News has the latest on the Marlon Byrd/Cubs rumors.

Byrd has been informed that the Cubs have interest in him.  Grant says the Rangers reportedly turned down an offer of Matt Murton for Byrd, requiring one or two pitching prospects be added by the Cubs.  So for those who think Murton is worth more than Byrd – the Rangers apparently do not agree.

Meanwhile, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick runs down three possible destinations for Murton: Texas, Baltimore, and San Diego.  It seems that the Cubs would prefer to resolve the Baltimore trade talks before they’d ship Murton to one of the other two clubs.  Talks for Erik Bedard and/or Brian Roberts are ongoing, according to Crasnick.

Odds and Ends: Dotel, Valverde, Wilkerson

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Some Saturday odds and ends to mull over…

  • The Yankees considered bringing Octavio Dotel back, but wouldn’t go two years on him.
  • Richard Justice thinks Astros GM Ed Wade is making a mistake by setting a deadline and going to arbitration hearings with Jose Valverde and Mark Loretta.  I doubt the Astros wanted Loretta to accept their offer of arbitration in the first place, but they took the $4-5MM gamble hoping to get a draft pick.  But they actively sought out Valverde, and this might not bode well for him staying past 2009.
  • Can’t promise anything, but my source is saying Brad Wilkerson is likely to become a Mariner on a one-year deal.  Put this in the unconfirmed category for now.
  • Did the Rangers DFA Armando Galarraga in anticipation of including him in a trade?
  • Troy Tulowitzki explanation: he can opt out of his $15MM club option for 2014 if he’s traded. Tracy Ringolsby also reports that Garrett Atkins had unfruitful extension talks with the Rox last year and would still like to stay.
  • "No substantive negotiations" on a multiyear deal for Ryan Zimmerman.
  • Casey Blake’s agent put in a counteroffer but hasn’t heard back from the Indians yet; the two sides are $1.5MM apart on his ’08 salary.

White Sox Considering Jenks, Cabrera Extensions

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Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times says the White Sox "began preliminary talks last month on a contract extension" for closer Bobby Jenks.  GM Kenny Williams also hopes to extend new shortstop Orlando Cabrera before the season begins.

Jenks, 27 in March, has a 3.26 career ERA with 87 saves in 174 innings. Last year he traded some missed bats for improved command, while also maintaining a strong groundball rate.  By my count he is eligible for arbitration after the ’08 season and free agency after 2011.

Cabrera, 33, hit .301/.345/.397 for the Angels in ’07. Bill James’ panel of ten experts ranked his defense 11th among shortstops.  He makes $9MM in ’08, though the Angels are paying $1.5MM of it.

Brian Bannister Q&A, Part 1

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We’ve done some Q&As with players before – Curtis Granderson, Jason Hirsh, and Michael Barrett.  This time, for our Brian Bannister Q&A, we had readers submit the questions.  Brian really went the extra mile to accomodate, providing thoughtful and elaborate answers.  Great stuff – many thanks to him for participating.  We’ll break this up into several parts. (UPDATE: Read Part 2 and Part 3).

Baseball Blogs Weigh In

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Haven’t done one of these in a while.  Let’s see what baseball bloggers around the web have to say about recent moves.

  • Aaron Gleeman considers the Twins’ signings of Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer as "a major risk and perhaps not the best use of limited resources."
  • Depressed Fan considers the Robinson Cano signing a "great move," noting his increased trade value.
  • Drunk Jays Fans believes Toronto was pandering to sports radio show callers with the Rod Barajas signing.
  • Rays Index believes the James Shields signing sends a message to other young players on the club.
  • Balls, Sticks & Stuff does not believe the Phillies are lowballing Ryan Howard by submitting a $7MM figure.

Pirates Have Multiyear Offer Out To Sanchez

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Pirates president Frank Connelly verified tonight that at some point this offseason, the Bucs made a multiyear offer to second baseman Freddy Sanchez.  It doesn’t mean anything is close, however.  Sanchez and the Pirates are currently $800K apart on their 2008 figures.

Back on January 7th, Dejan Kovacevic reported that Sanchez had not received a multiyear offer.  But even at that time the Pirates were keen to the idea of signing Sanchez through his two remaining arbitration years and tacking on an option to buy out his first of free agency.  Ultimately I could see a guaranteed third year.

The 30 year-old Sanchez hit .304/.343/.442 as the Pirates’ second baseman in ’07.  Meanwhile the average NL second baseman hit .272/.341/.418.

Johan Santana Rumors

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UPDATE, 1-25-08 at 9:46pm: According to LEN3: I was told today that next week is a big week in terms of determining if and where Santana will be dealt.  The end is in sight, then?

FROM 1-25-08 at 9:30am:

Time for your daily Johan Santana rumors post.

  • LEN3 talked to a Twins official who said there had been no recent extension talks between Santana and the Twins.  Meanwhile Sid Hartman at the same paper says the Mets and Yankees won’t go seven years, and he think the Twins’ 4/80 offer is fair.
  • Neal says that while Santana won’t necessarily veto any trade reached after Spring Training starts, it’s in everyone’s best interest to avoid dragging it that far. 
  • The Mets are still reluctant to part with Fernando Martinez, seemingly the dealbreaker right now.  Aaron Heilman could enter the mix though.
  • Neal believes the Yankee/Red Sox offers from December are still on the table.  This has been my hunch as well.  Which is why I think Boston can still pull this off.
  • If no deal can be reached soon the Twins might have to sign a stopgap CF like Corey Patterson or Kenny Lofton.
  • Buster Olney on Johan’s warning signs: I talked with evaluators and scouts with three other teams since then, and they all saw the exact same thing in Santana: diminishment in velocity, relatively few sliders thrown, subpar (for Santana) performances. But two of the three believe the regression could be attributed to the Twins not being in the race, Minnesota not playing in a high-adrenalin situation, and Santana coping with a cracked nail. The third evaluator wonders, too, if Santana is OK. "If a deal is made, you could see there would be a complete physical, given the money involved," said the evaluator.

Erik Bedard Rumors

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The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec was able to get in touch with Erik Bedard this evening.  Bedard’s quotes paint a story of his team not attempting to sign him to an extension.  He says how there are a lot more talks about trading him than signing him.  He accuses the Orioles of "playing it both ways."  Bedard is certain about one thing – he has no desire to be part of a rebuilding effort.

Andy MacPhail says Bedard’s agent suggested a one-year deal and denied the Orioles’ multiyear overtures.  MacPhail’s version sounds more accurate, given that Bedard’s agent acknowledged the Orioles’ "conceptual" talks about signing him through 2010.

Zrebiec thinks a deal could happen with the Mariners next week, of course centered around Adam Jones.  The Orioles covet Chris Tillman and Carlos Triunfel as well, though Triunfel may be untouchable.

Twins Lock Up Cuddyer, Morneau

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UPDATE, 1-25-08 at 4:35pm: Cuddyer gets a $2.75MM signing bonus, $5MM in ’08, $6.75MM in ’09, and $8.5MM in ’10.  The Twins have a $10.5MM option for ’11 with a $1MM buyout. As far as I can tell Cuddyer would’ve become a free agent after the ’09 season.

Morneau gets six years, $80MM, a Twins record both in years and dollars.  I believe this buys out three years of free agency.  This should generate some good PR and help brace the fans for the loss of Johan Santana.  Plus, Bill Smith can say he made a solid offer to Santana. 

UPDATE, 1-25-08 at 1:35pm: Charley Walters says Morneau will get six years and about $75MM while Cuddyer’s deal is for three years and about $23MM plus a club option for the fourth year.

FROM 1-25-08 at 12:10pm:

The Twins are planning a press conference to announce multiyear contracts for Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer; these deals were certainly reached quietly.  According to KARE 11 TV’s Twins source, the players will be with the Twins "deep into the new stadium."

Morneau signed for ’08 at $7.4MM recently, while Cuddyer had yet to sign.  LEN3 had reported about a week ago that the Twins would discuss multiyear deals with both, but not until after the Johan Santana situation was settled.

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