Archives for August 2009

Odds And Ends: Nats, Royals, Rios, Rays

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 10, 2009 at 1:40pm CDT

How Much Should The Nats Offer Strasburg?

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 10, 2009 at 12:21pm CDT

The Nationals have one week to sign top pick Stephen Strasburg. Widely considered one of the best college pitching prospects ever, Strasburg is in line for a record-setting bonus. Nats acting GM Mike Rizzo will negotiate with crafty agent Scott Boras, Strasburg's representative. The Nats don't have any long-term commitments other than Ryan Zimmerman's deal and they've only committed about $28MM to their 2010 payroll so far (though that figure will rise considerably because of the team's arbitration-eligible players).

So how much should the Nats be willing to offer? $10MM? $50MM? They would receive the second overall pick in next year's draft if they fail to sign Strasburg, but a first overall pick now is worth more than a second overall pick later, at least in theory. If you're making the call for the Nats, how much would you offer Strasburg?

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the financial details.

Olney On Guzman, Hardy, Rays, Rios

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 10, 2009 at 11:37am CDT

ESPN.com's Buster Olney says we should know today whether anyone has successfully claimed Cristian Guzman off waivers. However, some executives say Guzman isn't worth the $8MM he makes annually. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors:

J.J. Hardy hasn't yet cleared waivers and Olney wonders if the Red Sox could target him. They had interest in Hardy earlier in the year, but the two teams couldn't agree on the shortstop's value.
The Rays are one of the teams claiming many players. They don't expect to acquire all the cheap youngsters they claim, but they could face a roster issue if they're handed multiple players.
Every talent evaluator Olney speaks with believes the Jays need to take advantage of the club that claimed Alex Rios and dump the right fielder's salary while they can.

Odds And Ends: Rios, Mets, Pirates, V-Mart

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 10, 2009 at 10:58am CDT

A variety of links to look at this morning…

The Blue Jays have until 12:30 CST tomorrow to deal Alex Rios, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com.
Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog considers possible replacements for current Mets GM Omar Minaya.
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Pirates will have to be something more than an "unmitigated disaster" for Neal Huntington's moves to start looking good, since the GM obtained half the team's roster in recent trades.
Victor Martinez tells Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald that he's looking forward to his first home game as a member of the Red Sox.
John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer shows that the Reds' moves impacted players personally and professionally.
Baseball America's Conor Glassey reports that the Phillies signed third rounder Kyrell Hudson to an over-slot bonus worth about $475k.

Mariners Rumors: Felix, Ackley, Branyan

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 10, 2009 at 10:32am CDT

Jack Zduriencik says he hasn't started talking with Felix Hernandez about a new deal, according to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, who passes on comments the Mariners GM made on Q-13 FOX over the weekend. Here are the details and assorted Mariners rumors:

The Mariners haven't started talking with Felix Hernandez, who will hit free agency after 2011, about a new deal. Zduriencik says he appreciates Felix's talent, but cautions: "it takes two to tango."
The Mariners have started talking with Scott Boras about the team's first round pick, Dustin Ackley. The two sides have had a couple conversations recently and Zduriencik expects talks to intensify soon.
The Mariners want to re-sign Russell Branyan after the season. Something tells me $1.4MM won't be enough this time around!

Torre Confident The Dodgers Can Add Pitching

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 10, 2009 at 10:10am CDT

Manager Joe Torre says he's confident the Dodgers front office can add pitching if necessary, according to Kevin Baxter of the LA Times. Chad Billingsley has had hamstring cramps and the team has no permanent fifth starter, but Torre knows GM Ned Colletti will be watching the waiver wire.

"If we're going to need a starter, we'll get a starter," Torre said.

Baxter suggests Vicente Padilla and John Smoltz, who were both DFA'd this week, could interest the Dodgers.

Huff, Mora & Baez Clear Waivers

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 10, 2009 at 9:15am CDT

Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun reports that Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora and Danys Baez all cleared waivers, and can now be dealt to any club. As we mentioned earlier, you can find this trio on our list of players to clear waivers.

Zrebiec suggests the O's would be willing to absorb some of the $9MM Mora makes if they found an interested team. Given Mora's struggles at the plate, it would be a surprise to see a rival team take on even a third of what's he's owed. Baez ($5.5MM) and Huff ($8MM) both have relatively expensive deals. All three O's are set to become freee agents after the season.

Could Nomar Fit In Philly?

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 10, 2009 at 9:01am CDT

When asked if he'd accept a deal to the Phillies, Nomar Garciaparra said "Sure, why not?" according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle The Phillies are looking for a right-handed bench bat and they had interest in Garciaparra in the offseason. The 36-year-old is hitting .265/.300/.372 and his base salary is just $1MM.

Percival Leaning Towards Retirement?

By Mike Axisa | August 9, 2009 at 9:41pm CDT

When Rays closer Troy Percival hit the disabled list in May, we weren't sure if that would be the last time we'd ever see the righty. Well, according to Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times, manager Joe Maddon recently spoke to Percival and is "under the impression his career is over."

Paul Cohen, Pervical's agent, indicated that his client was having severe back problems and is seeing a specialist this week about a possible fusion, but said that the decision to retire hasn't been made yet. Maddon would like to see the team have a day to honor Percival if he does indeed call it quits, saying "He was such a big part of what we did last year, and people have kind of forgotten about that way too fast."

If he does retire, Percy would finish with 358 career saves, good for 8th all time.

Several Clubs Interested In Smoltz

By Mike Axisa | August 9, 2009 at 9:21pm CDT

We touched on this earlier tonight, but let's expand on it a bit. ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that the Texas Rangers and some National League clubs have expressed interest in acquiring the recently DFA'd John Smoltz, which is an indication that he'll have another opportunity to pitch this year if he's up to it. The other night we heard from Cardinals GM John Mozeliak that they were unlikely to pursue the future Hall of Famer, and it seems unlikely that Boston would made a deal with Texas since the two clubs are in a tight race for the American League Wildcard.

The Red Sox would not only like Smoltz to accept a minor league assignment so he could transition to the bullpen, but they also want to restructure a clause in his contract that pays the righty $35K for every day he's on the Major League roster. Olney mentions that teams like the Dodgers, Cubs, Brewers, and Astros were looking for pitching, but he says that it's "highly unlikely that any NL team would be willing to take Smoltz in a trade without some financial adjustment from the Red Sox, perhaps with Boston kicking in money to pay off a large portion of his base salary and roster bonus." Interested clubs could also wait it out and see if Boston releases Smoltz, when they could sign him for nothing more than the pro-rated minimum.

The 42-yr old Smoltz pitched to an 8.32 ERA in six starts with Boston, but teams will line up to take a chance on a player with his track record and pedigree. Of course, before anyone goes and acquires him, Smoltz will first have to decide if he wants to keep pitching.

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