By Tim Dierkes | at
According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have signed Byung-Hyun Kim. It’s a Major League contract worth $850K, with another $1MM in incentives. He’ll be used only in relief. The Giants had been interested, but Kim didn’t want a minor league deal with them.
The 29 year-old Kim whiffed 107 in 118.1 innings in ’07, winning ten games. But he also posted a 6.07 ERA. He earned $2.5MM for his efforts.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Here’s the latest.
By Tim Dierkes | at
It seems as though all the players we thought we would be traded this off-season, have been traded, minus one…Brian Roberts. The oft-rumored deal to send Roberts to the Cubs continues to linger. Ken Rosenthal first suggested that Roberts would be a good fit for the Cubs back in early December and Jeff Zrebiec confirmed the Cubs interest. Then the deal may have been dead, with the O’s asking price too high and by the end of January Gordon Wittenmyer suggested Cubs had turned their focus to Marlon Byrd. Then according to Jon Heyman a deal appeared imminent. Rosenthal thought the O’s insisting on the inclusion of Felix Pie was a deal-breaker. But then Baltimore acquired Adam Jones and Chris De Luca noted the deal might have life. But now Heyman wonders if the proposed package(s) is not enough and if Peter Angelos will nix a deal, as Roberts is one of his favorite players. Now that Spring Training has begun we have to wonder if a deal can still get done. let’s take a look at how the Roberts deal is being handled in the blogosphere.
If there is a topic you would like to see covered in "Baseball Blogs Weigh In" please let me know HERE.
By Tim Dierkes | at
I am doing two radio segments tonight; I hope you’ll listen.
At 7:10pm CST I will be on Columbia College Chicago’s Sports After Dark program, 88.1 on your FM dial. Go here and click the Streaming Now link in the upper right to listen live. You’ll need RealPlayer.
Then at 7:30pm CST I will be on WMAR Marist College Radio (New York), also at 88.1 FM. Click the 1630 AM link found on this site to listen live.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Your collection of links and rumors…
By Tim Dierkes | at
It seems as though all the players we thought we would be traded this off-season, have been traded, minus one…Brian Roberts. The oft-rumored deal to send Roberts to the Cubs continues to linger. Ken Rosenthal first suggested that Roberts would be a good fit for the Cubs back in early December and Jeff Zrebiec confirmed the Cubs interest. Then the deal may have been dead, with the O’s asking price too high and by the end of January Gordon Wittenmyer suggested Cubs had turned their focus to Marlon Byrd. Then according to Jon Heyman a deal appeared imminent. Rosenthal thought the O’s insisting on the inclusion of Felix Pie was a deal-breaker. But then Baltimore acquired Adam Jones and Chris De Luca noted the deal might have life. But now Heyman wonders if the proposed package(s) is not enough and if Peter Angelos will nix a deal, as Roberts is one of his favorite players. Now that Spring Training has begun we have to wonder if a deal can still get done. let’s take a look at how the Roberts deal is being handled in the blogosphere.
If there is a topic you would like to see covered in "Baseball Blogs Weigh In" please let me know HERE.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Sorry for the delay from the last edition of Where Will The Starters Go. Since then, we’ve seen two guys come off the market in Kris Benson and Odalis Perez, and another strongly speculated to sign: Shawn Chacon with the Astros. So here’s what we’ve got left:
Bartolo Colon, Josh Fogg, Freddy Garcia, Byung-Hyun Kim, Kyle Lohse, Rodrigo Lopez, Eric Milton, Tomo Ohka, Russ Ortiz, John Thomson, Jeff Weaver, David Wells
Once again, I’m open to corrections on my pitching depth charts. I tried to cull as much information from blogs and sites like Baseball America as possible.
Anaheim Angels: John Lackey, Jered Weaver, Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders, Jon Garland, Dustin Mosely, Kelvim Escobar, Nick Adenhart, Nick Green
Seattle Mariners: Erik Bedard, Felix Hernandez, Carlos Silva, Miguel Batista, Jarrod Washburn, Horacio Ramirez, Cha Seung Baek, Ryan Feierabend
Oakland A’s: Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, Justin Duchscherer, Lenny DiNardo, Dana Eveland, Dan Meyer, Chad Gaudin, Dallas Braden, Jerry Blevins, Gio Gonzalez
Texas Rangers: Brandon McCarthy, Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Jason Jennings, Kason Gabbard, Luis Mendoza, Eric Hurley, Matt Harrison, Elizardo Ramirez
The Angels look to open the season with Lackey, Weaver, Santana, Saunders, and Garland in the rotation, thanks to a Kelvim Escobar injury. So they’ve got five solid starters, with a sixth coming in time for May. Mosely will likely start the year in the bullpen, but can start in a pinch. Nick Green had a decently impressive year at AA in 2007, and is on the 40-man roster, so you have to figure he’s in the succession plans should the team befall an injury. Adenhart would require some manuevering, since he’s not on the 40-man. Yet, this all might be moot, as Mike Scioscia has said that the team won’t be signing any free agent starters.
I’m kind of disappointed not to put Brandon Morrow on this list, but it’s been made pretty clear that he’ll be in the bullpen this year. I personally don’t see the sense in drafting a guy at No. 5 then going and signing Carlos Silva to start over him. But, again, I don’t follow the M’s specifically, so I might be missing something here. There’s some depth there for certain, with six guys projected. They also have Eric O’Flaherty on the 40-man. So it appears Seattle has some decent depth, though I’m not so sure they’re keen on giving starts to Baek, Ramirez, and Feieraband. Would the M’s consider bringing back Weaver? Probably not, unless they were in a real bind. Josh Fogg? Once again, it’s tough to see them signing anyone unless there is an injury.
The list might be able to go on longer for Oakland, but I’ll stop it there. They have a ton of options, and since Billy Beane has basically indicated that this is a rebuilding year, it doesn’t seem to make much sense to sign a free agent starter. Then again, he did go out and get Keith Foulke, and he made that surprise move to get Esteban Loaiza a couple of years ago. So he could definitely surprise and bring in someone. Maybe Colon on a one-year with an option? Beane has done stranger things.
The Rangers are another team with a ton of depth beyond their set starters. Yes, we’ll see Millwood, McCarthy, Padilla, Jennings, and probably Gabbard start in the rotation. I’d add Kameron Loe and Robinson Tejeda to the list, but it appears they’ll start in the bullpen. They do have starters in case of an injury, once again, including Tejeda and Loe, but none have the experience or track record you’d really look for. I can see them jumping in on Colon or Fogg in case of injury. But barring that, they could look to add some depth, maybe with Kim. I don’t see them making a commitment to a guy like Kyle Lohse, though.
A note before continuing on to the NL: It doesn’t look like this crop fits in well anywhere yet. Teams are for the most part filled out five-deep with starters, so these guys are really looking for an injury or some ineffectiveness come game time in March. I’ve been opening up the "in case of injury" portion, because it appears that’s what it will take for one of these guys to land somewhere, especially if it’s a Major League deal.
– Joe
By Tim Dierkes | at
12:45pm: It’s official; the Nats have signed Perez to a minor league deal. He certainly picked the right team to attempt to bounce back to relevancy. He gets $850K if he makes the team.
12:23pm:Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe says it appears likely Perez will sign with the Nats. I imagine both offers were of the minor league variety.
TUESDAY, 9:02am:The Nats have an offer on the table for Perez, as do the Red Sox. You’d think he’d prefer the opportunity in Washington.
MONDAY, 7:49pm: In January, the Mets met with Odalis Perez. They scouted him in the Dominican Republic. The Mets later signed Tony Armas Jr. In February, Perez worked out for the Phillies, whose interest was characterized as "lukewarm." The Phils later signed Kris Benson. A third NL East team has entered the picture – MLB.com’s Bill Ladson says the Nationals have serious interest in the southpaw.
Perez might have to settle for a minor league deal, maybe with incentives to reach $2-3MM. The 30 year-old pitched 137 innings of 5.57 ball for the Royals last year.
By Tim Dierkes | at
MLB.com’s Corey Brock quotes Kevin Towers as saying a free agent signing is unlikely, which implies that Shannon Stewart is not on the radar. Towers still may add an outfielder via trade.
The idea of the Padres and Mariners being interested in Stewart was misconstrued a bit. Jerry Crasnick said Towers "might be tempted to look at a free agent" and that the Mariners "seem like a potential fit." My summary of his article said the Mariners and Padres were possibilities. I should’ve been more clear that Crasnick was speculating on those two clubs rather than reporting specific interest – sorry about that. As for Stewart, only the Blue Jays have made an offer. He came up in the Toronto organization and had some nice seasons for them.
Back to the Padres. Brock adds that Michael Barrett is not likely to be traded – Towers likes having two starting-caliber catchers on the roster. Not an ideal situation for Barrett, but it was his choice to accept the Padres’ offer of arbitration.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Cardinals inked 38 year-old lefty reliever Ron Villone to a minor league deal today. Randy Flores and Tyler Johnson seem to have the lefty bullpen roles locked up, but maybe Villone can squeeze his way in.
Villone is typically pretty tough to hit, but his control is questionable and he’s a flyball pitcher.
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