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Archives for April 2008

Recently DFA’d: Corey, Bazardo, Jimerson

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Anyone looking for a relief pitcher or an outfielder? The Red Sox, Tigers, and Mariners designated a few for assignment yesterday. Let’s see what they’re leaving on the table.

  • Yorman Bazardo, a 23-year-old who actually pitched pretty well last year, was curiously designated by Detroit.
  • The Red Sox designated 34-year-old reliever Bryan Corey to make room for Mike Timlin, who got the loss last night in his first appearance since coming off the DL. You’d figure Bazardo would get a lot more interest than Corey.
  • Finally, the Mariners have designated 28-year-old OF Charlton Jimerson after just one plate appearance. It was just the ninth of his career. It seems his .901 OPS in the minors last year, mostly with AA, was an outlier.

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski

With Willis Injured, Is Snyder Detroit-Bound?

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Tigers lefty Dontrelle Willis didn’t even make it out of the first inning last night, leaving the game with a hyperextended right knee. The bullpen kept the game close, and the vaunted yet under-performing Tigers offense carried the team to victory. However, Willis’s knee adds greater concern to an already shaky rotation. Only Jeremy Bonderman has gone over 6.0 IP in a single start this year. Do these woes, combined with the Willis injury, mean that recently-DFA’d Kyle Snyder could be wearing orange soon?

Yesterday, Tim told us that the Tigers were among two other teams interested in the 30-year-old righty. The Phillies and the Rays are the others. Whether that would be for the rotation or the bullpen we don’t know. The Tigers could certainly use him as a swingman of sorts, as their bullpen also poses a problem.

I wasn’t able to find any word on how long this injury will keep Willis off the mound. If it’s just one or even two starts, the Tigers might not be desperate to make a move. Then again, the Tigers could stand to add some depth to the rotation and the bullpen in any case. Not sure if they are so keen on Snyder as an answer, though.

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski. Please, email me rumors.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In

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Bunch of random topics so let’s just get to it and see what it being said in the Blogosphere…

  • Big League Stew talks to Bless You Boys about the idea of Barry Bonds signing with the Tigers. BYB argues against signing Bonds noting that the Tigers already have a bunch of slow players (base cloggers?) and what they really need is some more speed in the lineup…Although we keep hearing about collusion and have not heard any numbers bandied about, Bonds has always made it very clear how much he values the almighty dollar. Does anybody else think that Bonds would already be in uniform if he had come out said he would play 2008 for $3-5MM plus incentives? The baggage is what it is, but teams might find it easier to deal with it at a price Bonds is not likely to accept.
  • Rockin’ The Red takes a look at the five Cardinals that are most likely to be traded during the season…Chris Duncan is an interesting name on the list. With all the outfielders that the Cards have, Duncan is a solid bat that is likely to be a Super-2 at the end of the year.
  • The Yankees: Minors to Majors looks at the pending free agents for the Yankees and concludes that there is plenty of compensation picks to be had giving the Yankees plenty of flexibility to sign a high-end free agent like C.C. Sabathia…Of course, that is assuming the Yankees would let something like draft pick compensation stand in the way of signing a free agent. Not likely.
  • Wrigleyville23 has had enough of the Brian Roberts-to-the-Cubs media reports…Who?
  • The Bronx Zoo would love to see Nick Johnson back in a Yankees’ uniform but notes that Dmitri Young may not be a dependable replacement for the Nats.
  • Mets Fever notes that eight players have moved among the Brewers, Mets and Nats since this offseason…Let’s just say that the Brewers did not get the best of that "three-way trade".
  • One writer at DRays Bay is hoping the Rays and M’s can re-engage talks for Edwin Jackson…The M’s may be interested once again after being two-hit by Jackson yesterday, but maybe the price just went up.
  • One name that kept popping up recently as a possible trade piece in the near future was Rich Harden. Well, Harden has once again found himself on the DL and Athletics Nation is not taking it well.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Odds and Ends: Deeds, Tejada

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Some random tidbits for you; I may add to this post if I find a few more.

  • RotoAuthority analyzes the hottest fantasy baseball pickups from this week.
  • The Twins completed the Craig Monroe deal by sending 25 year-old outfielder Doug Deeds to the Cubs.  He looks like a long shot to make the Majors.  Monroe hasn’t looked like much of a big leaguer lately, either.
  • Richard Justice notes that the Cardinals targeted Miguel Tejada this winter but couldn’t get it done.  As if they needed any more steroid stigma.  It’s interesting to see the Tejada deal looking so good for Baltimore, without Troy Patton factoring in at all.
  • I did a fantasy baseball mailbag over at The Hardball Times.

Rumor Royalty: John Fay (Reds)

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John Fay covers the Reds beat for the Cincinnati Enquirer.  John also has a popular Reds blog.  He kindly answered some MLBTR reader questions today for our Rumor Royalty series.

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MLBTR: How do you perceive the relationship between Wayne Krivsky and Walt Jocketty?

Fay: On the surface, everything is fine, but I don’t see what happens behind closed doors. I think if the Reds win this year, you could very well see the arrangement continue. Jocketty said as much when I did a story about the two this spring.

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MLBTR: Any idea what the Reds offered for Joe Blanton and/or Erik Bedard?

Fay: Baltimore wanted Jay Bruce, the Reds weren’t going to do that. I believe they offered a package that included Homer Bailey and Joey Votto, plus a third player. I think the A’s wanted Johnny Cueto and the Reds never seriously considered that.

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MLBTR: Do you think the catching concerns with Dave Ross and Javier Valentin will lead to a trade? If so, any ideas who Krivsky might favor?

Fay: The Reds were and probably still are pursuing a catcher. The thing that complicates it a bit is how well Paul Bako’s worked with Cueto and Edinson Volquez. I think Bako stays on the club when Ross comes off the DL. Valentin will strictly be used a pinch-hitter/emergency catcher. Catching is so thin around baseball that there aren’t many options. The only name I’ve heard mentioned is Gerald Laird from Texas.

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MLBTR: Do you expect Ken Griffey Jr. and/or Adam Dunn to be traded this year?

Fay: It depends on where the Reds are as far as contention when the trading deadline approaches. If the Reds are out of it, they’d be silly not to move them. I still think there’s a good chance they’ll extend Dunn’s contract. But, again, that depends somewhat on how he plays and the teams plays.

Stark’s Latest: Roberts, Crisp, Loretta

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ESPN’s Jayson Stark has a new Rumblings and Grumblings column up.  Let’s examine some of the hot stove material.

  • There’s nothing cooking with the Cubs and Brian Roberts.  The O’s still intend to trade Roberts this year, along with pretty much all of their other veterans.  Their hot start is unlikely to halt the farm sale.
  • The Red Sox don’t want to eat any of the $11MM owed to Coco Crisp over the next two years, and for now there are no trades in the works.  Roberts, Crisp, and Joe Crede were three trades we all expected to go down.
  • Once Kaz Matsui and Ty Wigginton are fully healthy, the Astros will look to trade Mark Loretta.  He makes $2.75MM this year, a bit much for a utility guy.  Stark says the Dodgers and Giants don’t appear interested at present, so there’s no obvious suitor.  The Orioles could re-engage if they trade Roberts and don’t get a second baseman back.

Phillies Sign Steve Kline

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According to Scott Lauber, the Phillies signed veteran lefty Steve Kline to a minor league deal.  Kline had been released by the Giants.  The Phils recently added Rudy Seanez to their bullpen as well.  Might as well stock up and hope that a few guys work out.

Kline, 35, had a career low strikeout rate in ’07.  Lefties hit .318/.375/.365 off him.  Kline is known for his colorful personality.

Odds and Ends: Hosmer, Fossum, Garza

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Some random tidbits for today…

  • USA Today has an in-depth look at high school first baseman Eric Hosmer, who will likely be advised by Scott Boras.  He’s a likely top-ten pick this June unless his asking price causes him to drop.  Baseball America looks at another first-round first baseman, Yonder Alonso.  Here’s a reminder of which teams pick when.
  • The Tigers inked oft-injured pitcher Casey Fossum, who is not likely to help them at the big league level this year.
  • Rays Index wonders whether the Rays might seek compensation from the Twins for Matt Garza’s injury.

Indians Sign Carmona To Extension

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11:46am: Rosenthal says it’s $15MM over the four guaranteed years; that’s about the going rate.  That implies the free agent options average about $11MM per year.

My own opinion – the Indians still aren’t likely to re-sign Sabathia, but this deal has little bearing on that.  Perhaps the cost certainty and discount increase the chances ever-so-slightly.

10:12am: Castrovince has some details.  Carmona actually gets four guaranteed years.  The total package could be worth $43-48MM over seven years.

9:34am: According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Indians have signed starter Fausto Carmona to a three-year contract extension with club options for 2012-14.  A news conference is scheduled for this afternoon.  MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince first suggested the possibility of a Carmona extension back in December.  I’m guessing $8MM or so is guaranteed over 2009-11, but we’ll see. 

Carmona, 24, broke out last year with 215 innings of 3.06 ball.  He’ll inherit the ace title if C.C. Sabathia departs after the season. 

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