Braves Start Extension Talks With Hudson
The Braves have begun negotiating an extension with Tim Hudson and his agent, Paul Cohen, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman. Under Hudson's current deal, the Braves can buy the righty out for $1MM or agree to pick up a $12MM option that the pitcher can void. But Hudson would prefer an extension.
"Truthfully, I've never even thought that the option was an option," Hudson said.
Bowman says "it is believed" the Braves would be comfortable offering Hudson a three-year deal worth $27-29MM. Hudson had excellent seasons back-to-back in 2007 and 2008 before undergoing Tommy John surgery, a procedure which limited him to just seven starts last year.
Yesterday David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution guessed that the Braves would try to work out an extension with Hudson. If the sides do work out a deal, ESPN.com's Buster Olney expects the Braves to consider dealing Kenshin Kawakami or Derek Lowe.
If the Braves extend Hudson, they'll have made long-term commitments to three starters 34 and older (Kawakami and Lowe are the others).
Heyman On Lee, Sabathia, Mattingly
Indians GM Mark Shapiro tells Jon Heyman of SI.com that it's "bittersweet" to see Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia excelling in the postseason for other clubs. The former Indians aces could match up in Game 1 of the World Series if the Yankees beat the Angels in six games. Lee tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports it would be a lot of fun and I'm sure thousands of baseball fans agree with him. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors:
- Shapiro says "the realities of the business" prevented the Indians from retaining either Sabathia or Lee.
- Heyman says the Indians offered Sabathia $72MM over four years to stay in Cleveland before the 2008 season and Shapiro admits the offer was probably "unrealistic."
- The Indians never made Lee an offer and traded him and Victor Martinez because they would have had limited payroll flexibility had they held onto both players for 2010.
- The Indians appear to have chosen four finalists for their managerial opening: Bobby Valentine, Don Mattingly, Manny Acta and Torey Lovullo.
- The Dodgers appear to be preparing Mattingly to take over for Joe Torre after next season, so it might make sense for Mattingly to stay in LA.
Odds & Ends: Drew, Molina, Cards, Chapman
Another round of links before the weekend…
- WEEI.com's Alex Speier suggests J.D. Drew has been worth slightly more than the $42MM the Red Sox have paid him since 2007 because of his on-base skills and strong defense. Drew's no RBI machine, but GM Theo Epstein likes his hitting approach as-is. Considering the massive deals handed out to Vernon Wells, Alfonso Soriano and others after 2006, Drew's contract seems reasonable.
- Jack Moore of FanGraphs expects Bengie Molina to draw interest this offseason and predicts that the catcher will be worth $4MM or more next year.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch says the Cardinals are in position to bring back their entire bullpen in 2010. The Cards expect Ryan Franklin to close once again next season.
- ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr. reports (via Twitter) that Aroldis Chapman will meet with the Cardinals Monday before going to Boston Wednesday to meet with the Red Sox.
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos tells MLB.com's Jordan Bastian that the Jays are talking to other teams about possible trades.
Garner, Acta, Mills Or Clark Will Manage Astros
12:55pm: MLB.com's Brian McTaggart says the Astros are still considering Dave Clark.
11:41am: Phil Garner, Manny Acta or Brad Mills will be the next Astros manager, according to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle. Astros owner Drayton McLane says he expects a decision early next week; for now the club is doing final reference checks for Acta and Mills (none are required for Garner, who already managed the Astros). McLane doesn't expect to interview any more candidates at this point.
This means Jim Fregosi, Bob Melvin, Bobby Valentine and others are no longer in the mix for the job. Acta, who was fired by the Nats this summer, is also a candidate to manage in Cleveland.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Gonzalez, Thome, Hinske, Red Sox, D’Backs, Twins
On this date 64 years ago, the Dodgers announced the signing of Jackie Robinson, who would become the first African-American to play major league baseball since the 1880s. Robinson would spend the '46 season with Triple-A Montreal, hitting .349. The next season he would hit .297/.383/.427 and help the Dodgers to the National League pennant. With the Hot Stove season only days away, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- Sox and Pinstripes looks at what it would take for the Red Sox to land Adrian Gonzalez.
- Phlavio's Corner attempts to fix the Diamondbacks in three moves or less.
- Around the Majors takes a look at the free agent class of shortstops.
- MLB Notebook breaks down the market for Jim Thome.
- Nick's Twins Blog makes an off-season blueprint for the Twins and projects next season's roster.
- Capitol Avenue Club examines what the Braves can do to reload the bullpen in 2010.
- Talking Chop says the Braves need to add a power-bat this off-season, in part to protect Chipper Jones.
- Marlin Maniac sees Eric Hinske as a good fit for the Marlins.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.
Trades Of The Decade: Bedard To The Mariners
After months of speculation and one false alarm, the Mariners acquired Erik Bedard from the Orioles in February of 2008. The cost? Tony Butler, Kameron Mickolio, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman and Adam Jones.
Then-GM Bill Bavasi told reporters that the Mariners were getting "one hell of a player," and he wasn't the only executive who thought so. Before the trade became official, a rival GM told Sports Illustrated that Bedard had become "an annual Cy Young candidate."
The numbers backed it up. Bedard was coming off two straight dominant and mostly healthy seasons. He had an astronomical K-rate (10.9K/9), walked relatively few hitters (2.8BB/9) and was extremely tough to hit in 2007.
Cy Young candidate or not, Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said trading Bedard away was best for the franchise's long-term success.
"There aren't too many five-for-one trades anymore," MacPhail said. "We are delighted to have all five in the system."
Two of the five have yet to contribute at the major league level, but the O's still obtained a remarkable haul. Mickolio, a 6'9'' 25-year-old, has limited major league experience, though he has succeeded as a reliever in the upper minors. Butler, 22 next month, has yet to pitch above Single A.
This summer, the O's sent Sherrill to the Dodgers for powerful infield prospect Josh Bell and righty Steve Johnson. Sherrill was Baltimore's closer for a year and a half before the trade; he saved 51 games for the O's, striking out more than a batter per inning.
Tillman, who turned 21 this year, struggled in 12 major league starts this summer, but has excelled in the minors since the trade and he remains one of the game's top prospects. (A few months ago, Baseball America ranked him as the 8th-best prospect in baseball.)
Jones was coming off a productive year at Triple A at the time of the trade. He had just hit .314/.382/.586 with 25 homers in Tacoma. Those numbers translated into major league production this year, after Jones struggled at the plate in his first season with the O's. He made the All-Star team this July and hit .277/.335/.457 for the campaign, all while playing a solid center field, according to UZR.
The Mariners didn't get nearly as much value in return, though Bedard is as tough to hit as ever. Overall, Bedard allowed 135 hits and 71 walks in 164 innings as a Mariner, striking out 162 for a 3.24 ERA.
That wouldn't be a bad season, but the Mariners hoped for two years out of Bedard, not one. Back, hip, shoulder and hamstring injuries limited him to 30 starts. The M's expected to contend when they added Bedard and Carlos Silva to a rotation that already included Felix Hernandez and Jarrod Washburn, but the 2008 team lost 101 games and, despite a turnaround last season, they didn't come close to making the playoffs.
Odds & Ends: Chapman, Indians, Mulder, Royals
More links for Friday…
- Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News says the Mets are meeting with Aroldis Chapman today in New York. Rubin also passes along the bio Chapman's representatives have prepared.
- The Angels have given the Indians permission to interview bench coach Ron Roenicke for the club's managerial opening, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times.
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney says Don Mattingly is a frontrunner for the Indians job and, as Brian Costello of the New York Post reports, the Nationals have interest in Mattingly, too.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel agrees with Buster Olney. Mark Mulder makes sense for the Brewers, who had interest in the lefty earlier this year.
- Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star assumes the Royals won't bring Tony Pena Jr. back. The shortstop-turned pitcher chose to become a free agent earlier in the week.
- Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox have enough organizational pitching depth to focus on adding a big bat this offseason. Massarotti expects the Red Sox to target Jason Bay and, possibly, Matt Holliday. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the team sign either player. Check the article out to see a breakdown of the club's financial commitments for the next couple years.
Olney On La Russa, Mulder, Hudson
ESPN.com's Buster Olney breaks down last night's ALCS contest in detail before turning to some rumors. Here they are:
- Olney can see Tony La Russa returning to manage the Cardinals for a final season in 2010.
- Could Mark Mulder end up in Milwaukee? His former pitching coach, Rick Peterson, has joined the Brewers, who are looking for starting pitching. Brewers manager Ken Macha managed the A's when Mulder was in his prime. As Olney points out, Mulder won't be expensive.
- The Braves are determining the trade market for Kenshin Kawakami and Derek Lowe. They're more likely to bring Tim Hudson back if they anticipate a trade market for Kawakami or Lowe.
- Talks with Hudson should accelerate in the next week or so.
Odds & Ends: Chapman, DeRosa, Lackey, Hinske
Some links for Friday morning…
- Roch Kubatko of MASN.com doesn't expect the Orioles to win the bidding for free agent lefty Aroldis Chapman, but the club doesn't have a policy against signing Cuban defectors, according to a high-ranking Orioles official.
- Tyler Hissey of Around the Majors takes a look at this year's class of free agent second basemen. Players like Mark DeRosa and Freddy Sanchez have value, but Hissey doesn't see a true star among the group.
- MLB.com's Carrie Muskat says the Cubs aren't going to sign DeRosa just because he's popular. Jeff Baker is currently the frontrunner to start at second base next year.
- Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog thinks John Lackey, who turns 31 today, would be a fantastic pitcher for Citi Field.
- The Blue Jays are looking for a Canadian scout and, according to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, have received permission from the Phillies to interview a member of their front office for the job.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker compiles a list of players who could spend next season in Japan, including Kenji Johjima and Eric Hinske.
- Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle points out that most of baseball's best-respected managers improved in their second or third stints.
- Felix Perez, the Cuban outfielder who was suspended for lying to the Yankees about his age, has been reinstated, according to Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN.com.
Odds & Ends: McCourt, Manny, Duncan, Blue Jays
A few links to check out between ALCS pitches…
- Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt has fired his wife, Jamie, as CEO of the team. The McCourts are famously going through what will likely be a messy divorce, and Jamie's lawyers maintain that "she owns 50 percent of the team."
- Diamond Leung tweets that the Dodgers and GM Ned Colletti are planning on having Manny Ramirez around next year. Manny has a $20MM player option that he has until shortly after the World Series to exercise.
- Now that they've brought in hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, Mark Potash of The Chicago Sun Times wants to see the Cubs go after pitching coach Dave Duncan. Duncan has said he's going to wait and see what Tony LaRussa does before deciding on his coaching future.
- ESPN's Keith Law, former special assistant to the GM in Toronto, mentioned a few interesting Blue Jays' non-trades in his chat today. He says that the Mets once offered 19-year-old David Wright for Jose Cruz Jr., but J.P. Ricciardi said "I'm not trading a major league player for some guy in the (Low Class-A) Sally League." Klaw also mentions that the Jays had a chance to trade Cruz Jr. for Rafael Soriano, but wouldn't do it unless the Mariners kicked in Clint Nageotte as well. What could have been, Jays fans.