Tim Lincecum Wins NL Cy Young Award
Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young award for the second straight season, edging out Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Lincecum, 25, went 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA. He struck out a league-leading 261 batters, walking 68 in 225.1 innings. He made his second consecutive All-Star appearance and led the league in complete games and shutouts. According to WAR, Lincecum was the NL's best pitcher.
He'll be arbitration-eligible as a Super Two this offseason and the Giants will likely have to hand out a record-setting contract. Lincecum has said before that he's open to an extension.
Wainwright – who obtained the most first place votes - and Carpenter each receive $100K bonuses for their finishes in the Cy Young voting, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts.
Royals Agree To Sign Brad Thompson
12:25pm: The Royals confirmed, via press release, that they agreed to sign Thompson to a minor league deal.
11:13am: The Royals have agreed to a one-year deal with righty Brad Thompson, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The 27-year-old allowed 85 hits and 23 walks in 80 innings for the Cardinals last year, striking out 34 for a 4.84 ERA. He has had good control throughout his career, but his average fastball clocks in at just 87mph, which presumably prevents him from striking more hitters out.
Thompson doesn't have a guaranteed spot on the team's 40-man roster, but could make the team out of Spring Training. As a minor league free agent, he is allowed to sign before November 20th.
Blue Jays Rumors: Trades, Halladay, Gillick
Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos tells MLB.com's Jordan Bastian that he's going to be considerably more aggressive on the trade market than on the free agent market this offseason. Some players have caught the Jays' attention.
" We have players that we have, as an organization, targeted to try to acquire," Antopoulos said.
The Blue Jays already have one player that teams will be eyeing as long as he's in Toronto. The Dodgers are interested in Roy Halladay, but the Mets aren't thought to be players for Doc, according to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post.
On another note, Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star wonders if the Blue Jays might hire Pat Gillick as a senior consultant. Perkins says the Jays would "love" to bring their former GM back.
Nightengale On Jackson, Swisher, Rays, Halladay
USA Today's Bob Nightengale suggests we keep an eye on a possible three-way trade between the Tigers, Mariners and one other club. The Tigers would give up Edwin Jackson and the Mariners would give up Brandon Morrow. Here are some more rumors to read as you wonder who that third team might be:
- Nightengale says the Rays are the "clear-cut favorite" to acquire Milton Bradley from the Cubs.
- The Yankees are apparently letting teams know that Nick Swisher is available. Swisher was involved in his share of trade rumors after the Yankees acquired him last season.
- The Dodgers are focusing on Roy Halladay, who would potentially cost Chad Billingsley and others.
Bay Rejects Boston’s Offer
Jason Bay rejected a contract offer from the Red Sox worth close to $60MM over four years, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. We've heard for a while that Bay wants to test the free agent market, and so have the Red Sox.
"It's not a surprise that a player that's gone this far wants to see what's out there,'' GM Theo Epstein said.
Bay will hit the open market in 12 hours, along with John Lackey, Matt Holliday and the rest of this year's free agents. Heyman says the Red Sox are thought to have interest in Holliday as well as Bay.
Epstein told a group of reporters including WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that there's no firm timetable for signing Bay.
"This part of the process is important to him, so he’ll see what it’s like, see what’s out there and ultimately make a decision,” Epstein said.
Odds & Ends: Figgins, Holliday, Padres
Some links to read through on Ryan Howard's 30th birthday…
- The White Sox would like to add a true leadoff man and are open to bringing back Jim Thome, according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
- MLB.com's Todd Zolecki says the Phillies aren't considered serious contenders for free agent Chone Figgins.
- MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez reports that the Marlins may spend on a corner outfielder, a second baseman or a third baseman if they free up some payroll by trading Dan Uggla. Jamey Carroll is one of the many free agents the Marlins would consider.
- The Brewers are open to bringing Craig Counsell back, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says tension is rising between players and owners.
- MLB.com's Corey Brock wonders if the Padres could bring Mike Cameron back.
- Padres fixture Brian Giles won't return in 2010, though he hopes to keep playing.
- MLB.com's Matthew Leach reports that the Cardinals will likely add a veteran bat if they don't re-sign Matt Holliday. However, the Cards say they're still hoping to sign Holliday, according to FOX Sports.
- Leach expects the Cards to sign a pitcher to a one or two year deal to be the club's fourth starter.
- As MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo points out, some of the best free agent signings are the ones that get the least attention.
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun says there's a good chance the O's sign Pedro Feliz.
Reds Rumors: Free Agents, Scutaro, Wells
MLB.com's Mark Sheldon has the latest on the Reds' offseason plans:
- GM Walt Jocketty says the team won't be very active on the free agent market.
- The Reds won't set a payroll until next month, but they won't be spending on big-name free agents.
- That probably includes Marco Scutaro, who would fit the team's needs.
- The Reds don't plan on offering free agent pitcher Kip Wells a major league contract.
Tigers Don’t Have To Dump Salaries; Could Trade
Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski know a thing or two about fire sales, and he insists the Tigers aren't in the midst of one. The former Expos and Marlins exec told Lynn Henning of the Detroit News that he's only going to make solid baseball trades.
"I can assure you 100% that we do not have any kind of fire sale, or salary dump, or whatever you might call it, taking place," Dombrowski said.
The GM didn't mention Curtis Granderson or Edwin Jackson specifically, but both have been involved in trade rumors recently. It's still possible that the Tigers could deal one of the two players and Dombrowski said the Tigers are in conversations with other teams.
"To me, you're always in position where you listen to what people have to say," he said.
As long as the Tigers are wiling to listen, teams like the Brewers, Mariners and Cubs will continue to call. Dombrowski tells MLB.com's Jason Beck that the club's trade talks aren't likely to slow down negotiations with any of the team's free agents.
Braves Rumors: Heyward, Wagner, LaRoche
We've been hearing for a while that the Braves may trade from starting pitching depth to free up money, but what other moves might we see? MLB.com's Mark Bowman has some answers:
- Braves GM Frank Wren says there are "a lot of trade conversations going on" around the league.
- The Braves don't seem concerned about finding another outfielder, because they will consider letting top prospect Jason Heyward start the season in the majors. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the Braves sign an affordable outfielder, in case they decide to keep Heyward in the minors for a couple months.
- The Braves are interested in Billy Wagner.
- Free agent Adam LaRoche would be a good fit, but the Braves, who have prospect Freddie Freeman in the system, may hesitate to offer LaRoche a multi-year deal.
- Frankie Piliere of AOL FanHouse hears that the Braves will deal Derek Lowe or Javier Vazquez.
- Piliere adds that the market for Rafael Soriano should be strong.
Odds & Ends: Yanks, Boras, Greinke, Cards
A few more items for Wednesday evening…
- Chad Jennings of The Journal News thinks the Yankees ought to at least call Toronto about right-handed ace Roy Halladay. "I have no idea what the asking price might be," writes Jennings, "but Halladay is better than [John] Lackey and he’ll surely cost fewer prospects than Felix Hernandez."
- As noted by the Boston Globe's Nick Carfado, MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred said Wednesday the revenue sharing figures thrown out by agent Scott Boras during last week's GM meetings "have no basis in reality" and that Boras is living in a "fantasy land."
- According to Ryo Shinkawa of NPB Tracker, right-hander Ryota Igarashi and left-hander Hisanori Takahashi filed for international free agency on Wednesday.
- Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star expects Zack Greinke to move on once his contract with the Royals is through. "The good news is that the team has Greinke under contract three more years," writes Mellinger. "The bad news is they have a lot of improving to do in that time."
- Joe Strauss and Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch took to the radio Wednesday afternoon with a few opinions on the Cardinals' offseason plans. Both feel Matt Holliday is only an average defender and that the Cardinals could be looking to add starting pitching via trade this offseason.