Scott Kazmir Signs Extension With Rays
5:59pm: Marc Topkin of The St. Pete Times has the details. It is four-year deal for $28.5MM with a team option for 2012 season at $11MM. It’s a team-friendly contract, as you’d expect. The Rays are setting themselves up for a run of excellence.
5:47pm: Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus reports that Kazmir has signed and the deal will be announced tonight.
5:45pm: Rays Index transcribes a quote from Rays owner Stuart Sternberg via Mike & The Mad Dog. Sternberg hinted that the team is exploring a deal with Scott Kazmir. Kazmir made his season debut on May 4th following a March elbow strain.
Kazmir, just 24, has two more years of arbitration eligibility before he hits free agency after the 2010 season. The going rate for the last two arb years of a young ace is about $11MM. The Rays managed to get options on James Shields‘ first two years of free agency for $9MM and $12MM, respectively. For Fausto Carmona, the free agency options are for $7MM, $9MM, and $12MM.
Mariners OK With Griffey’s Salary
According to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, Ken Griffey Jr.‘s remaining $8MM this year and his $16MM option/$4MM buyout next year will not deter the Mariners. The revelation that Junior may not require his ’09 option exercised and the chunk of deferred money could indeed make the money a non-issue.
One question is whether the Reds will treat this as a salary dump or if they’ll want a decent prospect in return. The other is whether Griffey would want to join the last place Mariners.
Jonathan Mayo Projects The Top Ten Picks
MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo admits it’s too early, but still takes a stab at projecting the first ten picks of the June draft. Here’s what he’s come up with:
1. Rays – Buster Posey, C.
2. Pirates – Pedro Alvarez, 3B.
3. Royals – Eric Hosmer, 1B.
4. Orioles – Brian Matusz, LHP.
5. Giants – Tim Beckham, SS.
6. Marlins – Kyle Skipworth, C.
7. Reds – Aaron Crow, RHP.
8. White Sox – Gordon Beckham, SS.
9. Nationals – Justin Smoak, 1B.
10. Astros – Tanner Scheppers, RHP.
Interesting note from Mayo: he’s hearing that the Orioles are leaning toward a college player. Mayo has also heard buzz that the Marlins "have been all over Skipworth." Read Mayo’s column – it’s a nice blend of inside info and educated guesses. What do you think about this mock top ten?
Also, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune has some White Sox draft tidbits.
Cubs Sign Edmonds
5:33pm: He’s a Cub, pending a physical.
3:38pm: Sounds like Edmonds will become a Cub after tonight’s game and may debut tomorrow.
WEDNESDAY, 11:11am: Edmonds has moved from appearing poised to "about to" sign with the Cubs. Cubs fans don’t seem to like the move, but it doesn’t seem like anything to get worked up about.
TUESDAY: Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun-Times says the Cubs "appear poised to sign Edmonds after he clears waivers Wednesday."
MONDAY: According to Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs are "exploring the possibility" of signing center fielder Jim Edmonds. This was first reported by Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio 1000 yesterday evening.
Edmonds, 37, was let go after hitting .178/.265/.233 in 103 plate appearances. It’s hard to say whether Edmonds has anything left. He did hit relatively well in the last two months of 2007. Van Dyck says Edmonds would replace Felix Pie on the Cubs’ roster.
Maddux-Braves Speculation
It’s pure speculation at this point, but MLB.com Braves beat writer Mark Bowman believes the Braves could bring Greg Maddux back for another tour. Braves fans seem to like the idea, based on chat questions I received yesterday.
The Braves’ rotation of Tim Hudson, Jair Jurrjens, Tom Glavine, Jo-Jo Reyes, and Chuck James/Jeff Bennett could seemingly use an innings eater. Maddux is usually good for six decent innings, and he’s healthy at 42. He makes $10MM this year and has no-trade protection. The Padres probably wouldn’t demand any of the Braves’ top five prospects. A Maddux-Smoltz-Glavine reunion seems entirely possible to me.
Kenshin Kawakami Prefers Red Sox?
RotoWorld has done some translating of a Japanese Associated Press article. They learned that Japanese righty Kenshin Kawakami reportedly prefers the Red Sox as his 2009 destination (he’ll be a free agent). The translation notes that the Yankees and Mets have scouted Kawakami.
Back in November of 2007, I asked Aaron Shinsano and Jackson Broder of East Windup Chronicle for a profile on Kawakami, among others. Here’s what they wrote:
Kenshin Kawakami – Japan’s highest paid starter for the champion Chunichi Dragons (he made around $3MM) mixes a fastball, cutter, and curveball. His fastball runs around 87 and his curve is very slow. He’s known as a big game pitcher and always challenges hitters. He was 12-8 with a 3.55 ERA in 2007, but the K/BB ratio was an appealing 6.3 in 167 2/3 IP. He’s a HR prone strikeout pitcher. Kawakami has been healthy for the past four seasons.
Odds and Ends: Jacque, Lee Hak-ju, Tavarez
Here’s today’s collection of links.
- The Tigers weren’t able to trade Jacque Jones; he’ll become a free agent tomorrow. The Marlins are expected to make an offer.
- The Cubs signed a Korean high school shortstop named Lee Hak-ju. Aaron Shinsano, who works for the Cubs as a scout, says the team believes he’d have been a first round pick in the states.
- Giants owner Peter Magowan is expected to step down Friday.
- Troy Renck says the Rox still want Julian Tavarez but won’t give up pitching prospect Brandon Hynick. Baseball America ranked Hynick eighth among Rockies prospects, they describe him as a command guy with a decent splitter. The Sox are talking to two or three teams about Tavarez.
- Not a surprise, but Jon Garland isn’t likely to sign back with the White Sox.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Joe Crede
White Sox third baseman Joe Crede hopes to stay in Chicago beyond 2008. He’s willing to have his agent, Scott Boras, negotiate in-season with the Sox – but only if the team approaches him. Crede will still listen to the Sox after the season, but he’ll be on the open market after the exclusive negotiation period expires.
Will the Sox offer Crede arbitration? The possibility that he accepts and they have him for ’09 seems a risk worth taking. Crede would probably be a Type B free agent, and he’d likely decline arbitration in hopes of a multiyear deal.
It’s a weak free agent market for third basemen. The closest guy to a regular besides Crede is Casey Blake, and he’s having a lousy year. Boras should ask for more than three years and $25MM, since that’s what Melvin Mora is earning. Mike Lowell’s three years and $37.5MM seems too much. The Indians, Twins, Angels, Brewers, Dodgers, and Giants could be suitors.
Sosa, Figueroa Designated
The Mets designated pitchers Nelson Figueroa and Jorge Sosa for assignment today.
Figueroa, a 34 year-old journeyman, provided a few decent starts but seems to have stopped fooling people. Sosa was just terrible; the Mets will have to swallow his $2MM salary.
Yu Darvish E-Ticket Article
I always enjoy ESPN’s in-depth E-ticket articles. Jim Caple’s piece on Yu Darvish is no exception. In case you hadn’t heard, Darvish is the Next Big Thing in Japan. He’s a 21 year-old ace pitcher. A few highlights from the article:
- The commonly kicked-around posting fee for Darvish is $75MM. Remember, everyone thought Dice-K would require $25-30MM and the fee ended up being $51.1MM. If Darvish received Dice-K’s six-year, $52MM deal and required an $80MM posting fee, he’d cost $22MM a year.
- Darvish’s team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, didn’t allow Caple to ask about the MLB possibility. But the team’s GM has said that he’d probably post a player who requested it.
- Does Darvish want to come to MLB? Opinions run the gamut on that question. A posting this winter is possible but far from certain.
- Darvish’s father seems to want him to play in New York or Boston, if he comes to MLB.