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Lackey Extends Deadline For Extension Talks?

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Previously, Angels pitcher John Lackey had expressed a desire to wrap up contract extension talks by Opening Day.  A couple weeks ago Lackey suggested the Angels were "not trying very hard" and he'd be comfortable going to free agency.  It was thought that Lackey wanted something in the range of five years and $80MM.

The Angels are willing to talk about an extension during the season.  Now that Lackey is dealing with an elbow injury, he's softened his stance according to Mike DiGiovanna and Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times:

"Opening day is not my opening day anymore," said Lackey, who was shut down two weeks ago because of a forearm strain. "I'm going to let my agent handle that. I'm just worried about getting healthy now and helping us win. It's not going to be a distraction."

It's a tough call for the Angels – do they use this leverage to sign Lackey at a reasonable price?  Or do they consider the '08 and '09 injuries red flags for the future?

No Deadline For Lincecum Talks

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Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News spoke to several people about a possible long-term contract for Giants ace Tim Lincecum.

The team's president, Larry Baer, expressed a willingness to discuss an extension during the season.  Lincecum would also be fine with that, as he'll let his agent Rick Thurman handle the talks.  General manager Brian Sabean said he remains open to an extension for Lincecum, but admitted, "Going year to year may not be a bad option at this point."  Sabean referred to Lincecum extension talks as a "back-burner issue."

Sabean notes that Lincecum stands to get paid once he enters arbitration, anyway.  Baggarly says Lincecum profiles as a Super Two player after this season, meaning he'll go to arbitration four times in his career instead of the normal three.  Back in February, the Giants threw a few hundred thousand dollars in goodwill money toward Lincecum, signing him at $650K even though the pitcher and his agent had no say in it.  Baggarly talked to an industry source who believes a Lincecum extension would exceed Cole Hamels' three years and $20.5MM.  Hamels is also a Super Two, so his contract doesn't take him through all his arbitration years.

In another article, Baggarly talks about the possibility of an extension for Sabean.  New managing general partner Bill Neukom and Sabean have exchanged ideas about objectives for Sabean that could lead to a new contract.  Manager Bruce Bochy's contract is also up after the season.

Zimmerman Talks On Hold

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MONDAY: Extension talks for Zimmerman are indeed on hold until after the season, according to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post.  Zimmerman does not seem concerned, noting that "it's come a long way" and expressing relief to have entered the arbitration system.

SATURDAY: According to the Associated Press, via the Miami Herald, Ryan Zimmerman wants long-term contract negotiations to cease once the regular season starts.  The Nationals have been working toward a multi-year extension with their 23-year-old third baseman since spring training began.

Zimmerman tells The Associated Press on Saturday that if there isn't something in place by Monday's first game, he wants a break in negotiations. He says the last thing he needs is to be worrying about something other than trying to help the Nationals win.

Offseason In Review: Milwaukee Brewers

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Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the Brewers.  Here's what we wrote about them on October 16th.  Changes for 2009:

Additions:  Trevor Hoffman, Braden Looper, Jorge Julio, R.J. Swindle, Chase Wright, Craig Counsell (re-signed), Joe Koshansky, Casey McGehee, Chris Duffy, Chris Capuano (re-signed), Wes Littleton.  Midseason: Todd Coffey

Subtractions: C.C. Sabathia, Ben Sheets, Gabe Kapler, Russell Branyan, Ray Durham, Salomon Torres, Guillermo Mota, Brian Shouse, Eric Gagne

The Brewers' batting lineup remains unchanged for 2009 (GM Doug Melvin decided not to trade Mike Cameron).  They ranked 7th in the NL last year with 4.63 runs scored per game.  Using CHONE projections and the lineup analysis tool, the Brewers project to score 4.86 runs per game in '09.  The projection system sees better seasons from Hart, Braun, Fielder, Weeks, and Hall.

It will be impossible to replicate the 3.86 ERA posted by last year's starters.  329 of the rotation's 983.3 innings came from Sabathia and Sheets at a 2.52 ERA.  Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra form an interesting front two, but Melvin's main import was Looper for $4.75MM after his bid to retain Sabathia fell short.  Using a rotation of Gallardo, Parra, Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush, Looper, and Wright, I tweaked CHONE's innings totals and arrived at a projected 4.44 ERA for the '09 rotation.

The bullpen, which posted a 3.89 ERA in 472.3 innings last year, has been overhauled again.  Many of last year's offenders are gone, with Hoffman signed to take over closing duties once he's healthy.  Julio was also added to the mix.  Carlos Villanueva quietly posted a 2.12 ERA and 4.43 K/BB ratio in 59.3 relief innings last year.  All in all, the '09 bullpen projects to a 3.84 ERA.  The Brewers' defense was third in the NL last year according to The Fielding Bible II.  The defense remains the same, except for subtractions of Kapler, Branyan, and Durham.

So perhaps the Brewers will score more runs, but the main difference is obviously their rotation.  Right now they project as an 85 win team, which should keep them in the wild card race. 

Bottom line: The Brewers did little to replace Sabathia and Sheets.  But with a breakout or two and/or another big summer trade, the Brewers may return to the playoffs in 2009.

Odds & Ends: Sheffield, Morillo, Perdomo

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I think you would all agree that today should be a federal holiday.  Monday links to tide you over until games start…

Halladay Situation Looms Over Blue Jays

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We talked about Jake Peavy, so we might as well bring up Roy Halladay too.  Which would you rather have? 

In the Globe and Mail today, Jeff Blair says Halladay's future is the 2009 storyline for the Blue Jays.  Halladay is signed through 2010, and GM J.P. Ricciardi has been all over the map in his comments about trading his ace.  At the least, the situation seems similar to Peavy in that the GM is not thinking about making a trade right now.

As for the possibility of an extension, Halladay said he'd prefer to wait until the offseason but added, "circumstances can change."  Halladay commented to the Toronto Star about the trade talk:

"For me, I just feel like it's a different situation.  I'm still under contract for two years and unless you force something, create a big stir, it's not even an option for me. I feel like I'm still happy here. I feel like I have a chance to win here and that would be my ultimate goal, to win a World Series here, more than anywhere else."

More Peavy Chatter

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How about a little more Jake Peavy chatter, courtesy of Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune?  Krasovic sums up the situation: Peavy and GM Kevin Towers hope the Padres will contend and trading the ace will not become an issue.  But with Peavy earning nearly 30% of the payroll and the Padres looking questionable, there's a good chance this will come up again near the trade deadline.

Krasovic adds that the Dodgers and Cubs "interest both the Padres and Peavy."  He says "a person close to Peavy said those two remain the most likely choices for a trade."  Peavy still prefers the National League, though I can envision a potential match with the Angels a few months from now.  Here on April 6th, what's your Peavy prediction?

14 Teams Cut Payroll

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According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, 14 of the 30 MLB teams cut Opening Day payroll this year compared to last year.  He adds that 10 of the 14 sliced the budget by at least $10MM.  The Yankees' spending spree still led to an $8MM payroll cut.  The Cubs had the largest bump at $16.5MM (despite cost-cutting moves such as not offering arbitration to Kerry Wood and trading Mark DeRosa).  The Padres had the biggest reduction at almost $20MM.

Odds & Ends: Metcalf, Baisley, Predictions

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Links for the afternoon…

  • T.R. Sullivan informs us that the Rangers have designated Travis Metcalf for assignment to make room on their 40-man roster.
  • Another DFA this afternoon: Susan Slusser reports that the A's have DFA'ed Jeff Baisley.
  • ESPN had its writers predict the divisional outcomes, playoff outcomes, and the MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year for each league. Mostly Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays, but Jim Caple spiced it up by picking the Twins, and Peter Pascarelli went with the Cardinals.
  • The Braves will retire Greg Maddux's number 31 this July. Not entirely MLBTR-relevant, but I'm all for honoring one of the best pitchers we'll ever have the privilege of seeing.

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