Stark’s Latest: Davis, Valdez, Roberts, Lofton
ESPN’s Jayson Stark checks in with a blog entry jam-packed with rumorage.
- Stark says the Giants are shopping Rich Aurilia, Ray Durham, Steve Kline, Randy Winn, Tyler Walker, Rajai Davis, and Merkin Valdez. The vets we knew about; the last two are a surprise. Probably stems from both being out of options.
- Brian Roberts update: Stark talked to a club official who’s in touch with the Cubs and O’s. That guy expects a deal to be done next week. Plus, Stark sees the O’s as an active suitor for Kyle Lohse at the right price.
- Stark confirms the rumblings that the Rays have checked in on Kenny Lofton. Lofton could be a nice bargain this year for a couple mil.
Heyman’s Latest: Crede, Ethier, Teixeira
SI.com rumor guru Jon Heyman has a new column up; let’s take a gander.
- Heyman talked to an NL scout who considers Joe Crede a below average third baseman right now. If that scout’s opinion is the consensus, it makes sense that Kenny Williams is inclined to wait for Crede to build more value.
- The Rangers pushed hard to acquire Andre Ethier from the Dodgers, both in a Mark Teixeira deal and after L.A. signed Andruw Jones. If I were a Dodger fan, I’d be angry to see the team put its pride ahead of winning by playing Juan Pierre over Ethier.
- Heyman talked to a general manager who felt the Braves have no chance of signing Tex. That GM named the Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees, Giants, Mariners, Dodgers, and Angels as potential suitors. In a survey of almost 1,700 MLBTR readers, the Yankees were picked as the team most likely to sign Teixeira (followed closely by the Braves).
Odds and Ends: Garland, Linden, A-Rod
Time to round up various tidbits and rumors.
- Jon Garland says that unless his agent kept him in the dark, a long-term deal was never discussed with the White Sox. But in the unlikely event the Sox pursue Garland this winter, he’ll listen. Here’s a look others who will be free agents after this season and under 30 years old for ’09.
- We’ve heard the Brandon Inge/Joe Crede rumors regarding the Dodgers. Tony Jackson speculates that Wes Helms or Jeff Cirillo could also be options.
- Paul Sullivan says Aaron Rowand was the Cubs’ Plan B to Kosuke Fukudome.
- ShysterBall can’t figure out why the Cubs would go after Coco Crisp.
- Todd Linden is mashing so far this spring, but he gets the feeling he won’t make the A’s. The 27 year-old switch-hitter has a Major League line of .231/.303/.335 in 502 ABs.
- Jon Heyman has an inside look at Alex Rodriguez‘s offseason adventure.
- In addition to the aforementioned Brandon Medders and Dustin Nippert, Arizona’s Edgar Gonzalez is out of options and has drawn interest.
Pirates Make Offer To Snell
Dejan Kovacevic noted on Saturday that the Pirates have made a formal long-term offer to righty Ian Snell. As I wrote last Wednesday, the going rate for three arb years of a good young starter is $13-14MM. Kovacevic believes it was a four-year offer, probably tacking on the ’08 season for less than a million bucks before covering Snell’s arb years.
Though the going rate is pretty well established, there is definitely still room for negotiation. Look at the differences between the three comparable deals:
- Jamie Shields (signed January ’08) – extra money for pre-arb years, third arb year a club option, club options to buy out two possible free agency years. Also includes performance bonuses. Shields took a little more cash upfront for possibly a lot less down the road. The most team-friendly deal.
- Chris Young (signed April ’07) – third arb year guaranteed, club option for one free agency year. The middle ground deal between Shields and Cain.
- Matt Cain (signed March ’07) – club option for third arb year, but it may vest. Also a $1MM signing bonus and another $600K in incentives. The Giants don’t get in the way of Cain’s free agent payday after the 2011 season.
Contract info from Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
What’s Next For Brian Anderson?
White Sox center fielder Brian Anderson has had a roller coaster career, though he’s only 26. The former first-round pick entered the ’06 season as Chicago’s starting center fielder, but he didn’t hit enough to keep the job. BA didn’t make much noise in ’07 (aside from comments he made to Scott Merkin).
Now Anderson is making the good kind of noise, hitting .351/.442/.568 in 37 spring ABs. He’s battled his way into the Opening Day picture, especially with Jerry Owens and Carlos Quentin ailing. Anderson is leading all players in spring ABs, which would almost indicate a showcase. All sorts of teams have had interest in the past, including the Marlins and Rangers. However, Anderson still has two options so there’s no pressing need to trade him.
Brian Roberts Rumors
Ah, Brian Roberts. The Cubs’ talks with the Orioles have stagnated, though the O’s still watched a slimmed-down Sean Gallagher on Sunday. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times still thinks it gets done by Opening Day.
For now I just have a tidbit to add from the esteemed Peter Gammons in Saturday’s blog:
The Cubs will eventually get Brian Roberts. Andy MacPhail has to decide whom he wants. But the Cubs are convinced it will happen.
Tim On No Bias Baseball
On Saturday morning, I spoke with Matt Bishoff and Matt Wilson of No Bias Baseball. Surf over there – you can listen on the site or even download an mp3 of the podcast. I jump in about eight minutes through.
Perrotto’s Latest: Giles, Crisp, Wells
John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus has some hot stove tidbits to consider in his Sunday column.
- Perrotto notes that Jeff Baker‘s success this spring for the Rockies could lead to a trade of Marcus Giles. Baker is hitting .316/.350/.579 in a 19 AB sample. Giles is at .385/.500/.615 in 13 ABs (yes, it seems silly to be talking about these stats). Giles hasn’t hit much since ’05, so I doubt he’d bring anything in return.
- Perrotto says the Padres are "considering trying to trade for Coco Crisp." However, Tom Krasovic wrote on Friday that the Padres pursuing Crisp was doubtful for many reasons. Who knows; at the least, Theo Epstein and Kevin Towers get along.
- David Wells is still kicking around wanting to play, and could have to wait and serve as a midseason reinforcement.
Freel Could Be Traded
Hal McCoy of the Hamilton Journal-News notes that superutility man Ryan Freel is in a precarious position in Cincinnati. The Reds don’t have a major need for him; he makes $3MM this year and $4MM in ’09. McCoy and Freel have both heard trade rumblings.
The best part about Freel’s availability is that the Frofton monster could still be created. Back in mid-December I wrote:
Here’s the kicker of my plan: pair Kenny Lofton with Ryan Freel. Freel couldn’t touch lefties last year but the two previous years he had OBPs over .400 against them. Taking Lofton’s ’07 vs. righties and Freel’s ’06 vs. lefties and creating one hybrid Frofton Monster, you get a .311/.394/.444 hitter. Even better, Freel can help out at second base when righties are on the hill.
This plan was devised for the White Sox pre-Swisher, and I conceded that it didn’t pay much attention to defense at a key position. So it’s not without its flaws. But I still contend that Freel and Lofton could make a very solid offensive platoon. Plus you get the midget in Freel’s head, Farney. The problem is that teams have mostly settled their center field situations and don’t have two free roster spots. Still seems like Freel alone could fit in with the Sox.
MLBTR Bullpen
I feel refreshed this morning after letting the MLBTR Bullpen step in for the rumors this past weekend. The team was excellent. I used to be a full nine-inning blogger but these days I like to come out after six and still get the win. This analogy is starting to confuse me.
I didn’t do a good job explaining what the ‘pen currently looks like, so here is our tentative schedule. All times are in CST.
Monday-Friday
Tim Dierkes
Saturdays
9am-1pm: Big Mike Glab
1pm-5pm: UmpBump team
Sundays
9am-1pm: Nat Boyle
1pm-5pm: Matt Birt
5pm-9pm: Aaron Shinsano of East Windup Chronicle
Unscheduled Contributors
Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues
Cork Gaines of Rays Index
Andrew Stoeten of Drunk Jays Fans
I should also mention Brian Ward, owner of the Blogs By Fans network. Brian has done a lot of behind the scenes stuff for me and will be doing my site redesign. Fingers crossed, we hope to have that ready around Opening Day.