Chad Finn of the Boston Globe hears that the Red Sox would like to trade for Mets reliever Billy Wagner, who was just claimed on waivers by an unknown team. The Globe's source didn't say whether the Red Sox are the team that has been awarded the claim, but confirmed that they would like to trade for Wagner if possible. If another team was awarded the claim, the Red Sox will not have the opportunity to work out a trade.
Archives for August 2009
Sheffield Says He Didn’t Ask For Extension
Gary Sheffield says he didn't ask for an extension from the Mets, according to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post (via Twitter). Sheffield, who says he's now ready to move on and finish the season, says GM Omar Minaya called the meeting, not him. As Ben Shpigel of the New York Times notes, Sheffield wishes he had found out about his waiver status from Minaya instead of the media.
We heard yesterday that the Mets denied Sheffield an extension when he asked for one. Now, Minaya says he expects Sheffield to remain a Met for the rest of the season, according to Shpigel.
Red Sox DFA Fernando Cabrera
The Red Sox designated Fernando Cabrera for assignment according to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe. The 27-year-old righty didn't do badly in four MLB games this year, walking two and allowing four hits in 4.0 innings and striking out seven batters along the way. He'd been striking out nearly a batter an inning at Triple A Pawtucket before getting the call to the majors.
Verducci On Bonuses, Hamels, Lincecum
Tom Verducci of SI.com says teams are willing to spend on amateur talent now because they expect MLB to push for a hard-slotting system after 2011 that would limit the bonuses top draft picks receive. Large-revenue teams like the Red Sox will lose the advantage they have now, since they'll no longer be able to snap up players who fall because of signability concerns.
Cole Hamels set a record for a pitcher in his first year of arbitration when he signed a three-year $20.5MM deal last year. Tim Lincecum appears ready to break that record after this season and not even Giants GM Brian Sabean knows what kind of deal to expect.
"I'm not sure who you compare him to," Sabean said. "And the other thing is he already has a Cy Young Award and just might have two."
Lincecum has 100 more strikeouts than Hamels did after last season and his ERA is half a run lower.
Odds And Ends: Cubs, Royals, Morgan
More links for the afternoon…
- MLB president Bob DuPuy confirmed to MLB.com's Barry Bloom that the Cubs should soon be sold to Tom Ricketts for about $900MM.
- Royals third-rounder Wil Myers told Matt Forman of Baseball America that it felt a little weird to face live pitching after a few months off. He still managed to hit a homer in his ffith pro at bat.
- You don't hear many Cardinals fans complaining about Matt Holliday, but how about Brett Wallace, the centerpiece of the trade that sent Holliday to St. Louis? As Baseball America shows with its latest Prospect Hot Sheet, Wallace homered five times this week.
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post compares Nyjer Morgan to a number of leadoff hitters throughout history and shows that Morgan looks like a nice acquisition.
- The Nats introduced Stephen Strasburg to the fans at Nationals Park this afternoon, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Strasburg, Cordero, Swisher
On this date 25 years ago, B.J. Upton was born. The second overall pick in the '02 draft, Bossman Junior made his big league debut in 2004, but will be arbitration-eligible for the first time following this season. The Rays prefer to lock up their young players to long-term deals, but there has never been an indication that Upton is willing to sign long-term. With the signing deadline for most draft picks now past, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- The Biz of Baseball looks at how the slotting system held up with this year's draft (not very well).
- Capitol Avenue Club declares the winners and losers of this year's draft.
- Nationals Pride notes that the Nationals are two-for-two in their decisions affecting Stephen Strasburg.
- Center Field Gate likes the Stephen Strasburg deal, but wants to see what Strasburg can do before getting too excited.
- Sully Baseball notes that Stephen Strasburg needs to get past Betty White before he is worth $50M.
- Around the Majors looks back the Reds' decision to give Francisco Cordero a $46MM contract.
- 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba revisits the deal that brought Nick Swisher to the Yankees.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.
Odds And Ends: Padres, Jays, Pineiro
More links for Friday…
- Padres beat writer Tom Krasovic hears that the Padres agreed to sign Fabel Filpo, a 16-year-old Dominican outfielder, for $450k.
- Padres GM Kevin Towers says the Padres have now spent over $10MM on amateur talent this year.
- Commissioner Bud Selig tells Shi Davidi of the Canadian Press that he'd like to see Paul Beeston stay on as the Blue Jays' CEO on a long-term basis (via the Toronto Sun).
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs wonders if anyone will offer Joel Pineiro a four-year deal as a free agent. He's in the midst of a career-year, but will teams believe in it?
- Here's a look at the upcoming class of free agent pitchers. Other than John Lackey and Brandon Webb (who may not hit free agency) Pineiro figures to be among the most coveted starters out there.
Molina Wants To Stay In San Francisco
Bengie Molina wants the Giants to offer him a two-year contract, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Molina, who becomes a free agent after the season, hasn't started formal talks with the team, so he considers the next six weeks a chance for him to audition for the job he already has.
Some teams would hope for the return of a catcher who has led a strong pitching staff and clubbed 15 home runs, but it's not that simple in San Francisco. Buster Posey– considered by Baseball America to be the 6th-best prospect in the game- is waiting at Triple A Fresno. He's hitting .322 with nearly as many strikeouts as walks and 48 extra base hits for an OPS of .958 in the upper minors.
Molina believes he could teach Posey and says there's room for both on the club. Molina should be a Type A free agent after the season, so the Giants could offer him arbitration and either keep him around for another year or collect two draft picks if he signs elsewhere.
Angels Rumors: Abreu, Reagins, Free Agency
Some Angels rumors, from around the league:
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, who says the Angels are the Yankees' biggest threat, spoke with Bobby Abreu and heard that he wants to return to LA next year.
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan shows that the Angels, unlike most of their rivals, have managed to hold onto most of the players from their 2006 team.
- It's not a coincidence. GM Tony Reagins says the Angels hold onto the talent they acquire and try to avoid making drastic moves.
- The Angels will see Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey, Chone Figgins and others hit free agency after the season, so they have a franchise-defining winter coming up.
Nats President On GM Search
According to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, Nationals president Stan Kasten knows that Mike Rizzo isn't perfect, but he says he's the best candidate to lead the club forward. Not only does Rizzo have a background in scouting and a solid record as interim GM, he showed Kasten that he wants to become "much more adept sabermetrically."
Kasten started with 75 candidates for the job- including some unconventional ones- before narrowing the group down. Kasten says a number of his finalists were never named in media reports, which tended to focus on Jerry DiPoto, Jed Hoyer and Rizzo, the eventual winner. Kasten suggests that at least one of those men wasn't a serious contender for the job.
"Truthfully, we've seen names of guys who weren't really candidates," he said.
Kasten said he expects many of his finalists to become GMs in the Major Leagues before long.
