Sunday linkage…
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reflects on Eric Byrnes' time with the D'Backs.
- Skip Schumaker tells MLB.com's Matthew Leach that he and the Cardinals are nearing an agreement on a 2010 contract.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro tweets that the Marlins were willing to offer $20MM to Aroldis Chapman.
- MLB.com's Scott Merkin writes that a handful of teams have contacted Jim Thome, including the Rays, though nothing is imminent.
- Owner Tom Ricketts defended general manager Jim Hendry this Saturday at the Cubs' annual convention, according to Melissa Isaacson of ESPNChicago.com.
- Shi Davidi from the Canadian Press spoke with both Justin Morneau and Jeff Francis at Baseball Canada's Annual Awards Banquet Saturday. Morneau expects to begin full workouts in a couple of weeks as a season-ending stress fracture in his back appears to have healed without issue. Francis is recovering from shoulder surgery but expects to be ready for Spring Training.
- Bill Ladson tweets that Ryan Zimmerman thinks the Nationals are having their best offseason since he's been with the organization. Some of the larger moves we've seen the Nats make include signing Jason Marquis, Matt Capps, and Ivan Rodriguez, in addition to trading for Brian Bruney.
- Eric Chavez told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he is comfortable with shifting to a utility role after the addition of third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff.
- Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated (via Twitter) "overheard" that the Brewers will sign at least one more pitcher. Recently, Milwaukee outrighted pitcher Omar Aguilar to Triple-A, though assistant GM Gord Ash claimed it wasn't in anticipation of an acquisition.
- ESPN's Buster Olney writes that the Marlins didn't give Josh Johnson an extension just to appease the "Powers That Be". Those within the organization expected the deal to get done well before the joint press release from the commissioner's office and the players' union.
- Olney also writes that the Marlins are still looking for bullpen help and will sift through the remaining free agent relievers, including Kiko Calero. Florida declined to offer arbitration to Calero, to avoid giving him a raise on his $500K salary in 2009.
It would certainly serve the Marlins well to bring Calero back. It would serve them even better to bring him back and insert him in the closer role, as I am not too confident in Leo Nunez.
Yeah I’m pretty sure Jim Hendry isn’t going to do any of them because he is a lazy bum, but I would sure like him to sign Kiko Calero, Jermaine Dye, and Ben Sheets. If not Dye then I would like him to have interest in Eric Byrnes. He is a more powerful Reed Johnson and could bolster our bench, be a DH, come in for a defensive replacement, he would be our best pinch hitter, and he could also platoon with Kosuke Fukudome.
I couldn’t have said it better myself, if Hendry could sign those 3 I would say he had a pretty succesful offseason.
Ok, they issued contracts. That don’t mean they don’t plan to trade them off for cheaper prospects…
Who do the Marlins think they’re fooling? And I like how their defense of the Johnson extension is immediately followed by more evidence of their ridiculous stinginess. It’s the same stupid thing as Joe Nelson last year, except Calero is better.
Also, isn’t Gord Ash the assistant GM or something?
Just looked it up. He is the assistant GM. That’s exactly what I was thinking when I was reading it.
In fairness, they are following a formula that has already netted them 2 world series titles already, and the team will have a more-serious-than-usual shot in 2010
In fairness, they are following a formula that has already netted them 2 world series titles already, and the team will have a more-serious-than-usual shot in 2010
He “overheard” that the Brewers will sign at least one more pitcher? No, really? What was his first clue?
I’ve been “overhearing” that the Brewers will sign Mark Mulder ALL off-season. Of course they’re going to sign one more pitcher. Besides, if they didn’t, we as fans would probably want Doug Melvin’s head on a stick. :p
I would like the Brewers to sign Doug Davis AND Mark Mulder. That would leave us with 2 pitchers(Mulder and Chris Capuano) who are coming off Tommy John surgery who could eventually work their way into our rotation/bullpen. I don’t exactly get what Melvin is trying to do with Suppan. He’s obviously our worst pitcher but we owe him a lot of money this upcoming season. If we push him out of the rotation, where will he go?
He’ll go to TGI Fridays and be your server at your next home game!
Mulder is coming of of his SECOND shoulder surgery, and Capuano is coming off of his SECOND Tommy John surgery. Go ahead and sign Mulder if you wish; counting on him to do much for you now, or ever, might be a problem though.
Doug Davis is a better bet going forward- if you actually want someone to take the mound.
true…Doug Davis is very reliable.
true…Doug Davis is very reliable.
Mulder is coming of of his SECOND shoulder surgery, and Capuano is coming off of his SECOND Tommy John surgery. Go ahead and sign Mulder if you wish; counting on him to do much for you now, or ever, might be a problem though.
Doug Davis is a better bet going forward- if you actually want someone to take the mound.
Of course Chavez would ‘accept’ a utility role with the A’s; He’s only been an Albatross around the neck of Billy Beane since 2007. He’s coming up on 33YO, in a post-steroid era, and desparately needs to post some decent numbers to prolong his career.
Good attitude by Chavez of knowing that he must earn his playing time. Unlike Bobby Crosby who thought he deserved to be a position player without proving it. Maybe Chavez can take the first base job. good luck Chavez in your comeback bid.
I hope Thome gets signed, his bat is still there and he is still the best team mate in the league
“The new owners of the Chicago Cubs made one thing clear Saturday in their first give-and-take session with fans at the team’s annual convention: General manager Jim Hendry is here to stay.”
*sigh*
I wouldn’t be so sure imo this was probably done to squash any further controversy, the whole bradley situation took its toll,very smart move by rikkets,but that being said if the cubbies have another year like last hendry won’t be back….maddux maybe in line to replace him he is a smart guy and very beloved by cubs fans….and rikkets being a life long cub fan i’m sure maddux is a favorite of his also
Exactly. What is Ricketts suppose to say at a convention, ‘Hendry’s a gonner’? No way, that’s unrealistic. If the Cubs do well and make it to the playoffs, Hendry might survive and be back. If they win a couple playoff games or more, he’s back. If the Cubs repeat last year, injuries or not, then he is a gonner. Let this year play out, because that will determine his and other jobs.
I was thinking the same thing. It’s the convention. It’s the “feel good” time of the year. They’re not going to be negative about anything. I wouldn’t put a whole lot of weight on the Ricketts endorsement. On the other hand, I can’t get myself to dismiss it entirely either! He gave Hendry credit for specific things like the farm rebounding, the team’s recent regular season success, and building a great scouting department. It gave me the slight impression that Hendry’s seat may not be as hot as I thought it was.
A couple months ago, I thought it was a slam dunk Hendry’s gone. Now, I think the team’s performance is the deal breaker for another year, like it or not. I agree, comments made during a team’s convention should be taken lightly.
I agree that the team’s performance will be a key factor with regard to Hendry’s fate. Now the question for me is what level of performance saves his job? Is it contending? Making the playoffs? Winning a series? Or does he have to make the World Series and possibly win it?
Conversely, what if the Cubs fall out of contention but the Cubs prospects show promise at the major league level? What if they get significant contributions from Cashner, Castro, Jay Jackson and (more likely) some of the young bullpen arms? Does Hendry get credit and the chance to stay on and rebuild with the farm he supposedly helped bring back to respectability?
After last year’s slide, I was leaning toward the Cubs having to make a serious playoff run to save Hendry’s job. Now I’m not so sure he needs that much.
But I have one more possible reason why Ricketts talked about sticking with Hendry. It’s already evident that Ricketts values the Cubs farm system. Could giving Hendry a vote of confidence mean he doesn’t want Hendry to go all out to save his job this year and start dealing prospects for short-term band-aids? If Hendry still thinks he has a chance to keep his job, he’s more likely to try and keep the Cubs farm in tact.
The one positive the Cubs have done in regards to the GM position is to lessen Hendry’s role somewhat. Asst. GM Randy Bush was hired to take care of the details/paperwork that go with the job. Tim Wilken has taken over the farm and it’s been improving ever since. Now Greg Maddux comes in with a (presumably) more analytical approach and to give a different perspective on evaluation/development. The Cubs also need to delve further into sabermetrics and take some of the guesswork out of their scouting. Their scouting has improved but some hard numbers to back it up (or catch scouting mistakes) would make it so much better.
One more option: If the Cubs are successful this year and they feel like they can’t fire Hendry, why not move him up? Get him into a position where he completely leaves the evaluation/development to others and he becomes more of a figurehead…
I was wondering how well do the Cubs have to do for Hendry to stay around as well. I am not defending Hendry here. But I have looked at how the Ricketts do business (non baseball) recently and I no longer think it’s a certainty Hendry is gone. It’s still early and they need a year to evaluate. In my mind, it’s anyones guess, but not a sure thing Hendry gets let go. I agree they need a better balance of sabermetrics. Personally, people who do not use them as a tool are missing reality. I am also strong on the feeling that people who go on nothing but stats are seriously mistaken as well. There needs to be a better balance. In the past, Hendry has surrounded himself with people who do not value sabermetrics. That is a mistake. Again, like everything, balance is key and those tools could help. Do you know who is a sabermetric person within the Cubs…Tom Ricketts. Hendry reports to the owner, not a non, baseball president like Kenney or McDonough (when he was here). They know how to make money and are not baseball savy. It makes a huge difference knowing the owner values sabermetrics. He’s a buinessman, he better know numbers. 🙂
On one hand, it’s sad the new owner is the voice of these tools. On the other, he needs good evaluation to balance out the numbers…baseball people. That’s where it’s tough to say what Hendry’s future is with the Cubs. Is the Ricketts going on Hendry and staff’s baseball IQ (there is a joke in there somewhere) while he uses sabermetrics in decisions. Or does he find someone who is a better mix of numbers and the people side of the game. Tough to know what the boss is thinking so far. I don’t know if I like your thought of moving Hendry to a figurehead position. If he is moved, it’s bye-bye. I mean, the only place to get moved to for him is a president’s position in the Cubs. I don’t think Tom Ricketts is a Jerry Jones run it all owner, but he seems like he will be involved with his people. I don’t know if he needs a team president, other than him. Just my guess.
This next point may come off as if I am defending Hendry. I am not a Hendry defender or basher. I call it like it is, good or bad. Tom Ricketts knows what went on the past few years with the team when they went up for sale. He’s no fool. Sam Zell wanted to maximize profits. Kenney was a Tribune suit and gave his blessing (not via a Greek Priest, either) to Hendry to spend. He did so as to increase the Cubs value. That was the plan. Then the ecomomy tanked and the bad contracts look worse than there origanily looked, which was bad. But the gamble was to backload them and we know how it turned out. We know that story, but people seem to think Hendry invented the whole idea alone. No one in that organization held Hendry accountable on deals. Maybe Ricketts knows this and the fact it was not all just Hendry. There is plenty of blame to go around over there. I find it interesting (as you pointed out) how Hendry was held back this year. The Grabow deal was interesting, but considering how the team has done buisness the last few years, it has been a more patient Jim Hendry. Maybe he learned his lesson the hard way, especially with the Bradley situation. I tend to believe the new owner knows his GM and has held him in check with accountability, just like he said he would do. Time will tell. It’s obvious Ricketts wants the farm to do well. That’s great to hear! You may have it right though. It may come down to how well the farm produces in the coming years as well as the current team. Not just the 2010 year…unless they repeat 2009.
Sorry for the long post. I usually try to keep them tighter.
I was thinking the same thing. It’s the convention. It’s the “feel good” time of the year. They’re not going to be negative about anything. I wouldn’t put a whole lot of weight on the Ricketts endorsement. On the other hand, I can’t get myself to dismiss it entirely either! He gave Hendry credit for specific things like the farm rebounding, the team’s recent regular season success, and building a great scouting department. It gave me the slight impression that Hendry’s seat may not be as hot as I thought it was.
Exactly. What is Ricketts suppose to say at a convention, ‘Hendry’s a gonner’? No way, that’s unrealistic. If the Cubs do well and make it to the playoffs, Hendry might survive and be back. If they win a couple playoff games or more, he’s back. If the Cubs repeat last year, injuries or not, then he is a gonner. Let this year play out, because that will determine his and other jobs.
I hope that Chavez can salvage something out of his career. He was a good third baseman with power. Oakland gave him a nice contract and he has had some bad injurys. He always was a gamer on the field and I hope he can make a good comeback to his career.
Chavez was such a good player. It’s sad what’s happened to him. It hasn’t been too good for the A’s either.
Chavez was such a good player. It’s sad what’s happened to him. It hasn’t been too good for the A’s either.
I agree with Zimmerman
Zimmerman would like O-Dog on the team, too. Things are looking up for once.
Zimmerman would like O-Dog on the team, too. Things are looking up for once.
I wonder what schumaker will get in 10′. Brobably not more than 4M. But I have no clue.
He deserves a decent amount, He’s a .300+ BA and a great leadoff.
I’d Say anywhere from 2M-3M.
I see him getting 3-4m. Is it worth putting a multi-year deal out there?
Glad that Chavez can continue to play. I feel for him, as he was close to having spinal fusion surgery, which I myself have had. In spite of having this, I still played baseball in high school for three years. Good for you Chavez!
yup i think chavez should play first base