Some links for Friday…
- In an interview with 619 Sports out of San Diego, Scott Hairston said he found out he got traded back to the Padres by reading MLBTR. Cool!
- The Brewers will wait until next month before they consider making an offer to Mark Mulder, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
- John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer runs down the Reds' arbitration history.
- The Orioles have signed outfielder Jeff Salazar to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, reports Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun.
- The Brewers are still in touch with Mark Mulder and Doug Davis, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- The Yankees offered Jesus Montero straight up for Roy Halladay, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (Hat Tip: River Ave. Blues).
- The Rockies watched Derrick Turnbow throw today, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
- The Nationals are still in the mix to sign Orlando Hudson, who hopes to sign soon (MLB.com's Bill Ladson reporting).
- Pete Caldera of NorthJersey.com hears of some mutual interest between the Yankees and Rocco Baldelli.
- The Rangers avoided arbitration with Brandon McCarthy, agreeing to a $1.32MM deal for 2010, according to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels tells Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas that he'd like to add a catcher, but he's not about to rush. "We have some time," the GM said.
- Ryan Theriot tells Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune that he'd like the Cubs to sign Ben Sheets.
- The Mets signed Jolbert Cabrera to a minor league deal, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse (via Twitter).
- Writing for FanGraphs, Patrick Newman explains what the Rangers can expect from new signing Colby Lewis.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted last night that the Mets contacted Jerry Hairston Jr..
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney says some people within the Mets organization believe Omar Minaya will be fired the first time his club slumps badly.
- Olney also notes that Adam LaRoche will be up against a crop of free agent first basemen that could include Carlos Pena, Lance Berkman and Derrek Lee after the season.
- Troy Renck of the Denver Post says the Giants, Padres, Rangers and Mariners have all called about Yorvit Torrealba.
- The Pirates aren't close to agreeing to terms with Zach Duke on his 2010 salary, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Duke made $2.2MM last year in his first season as an arbitration-eligible player.
- The Cardinals will watch Derrick Turnbow throw today, according to Rob Rains of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
- The Cards signed knuckleballer Charlie Zink to a minor league deal, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. After eight years in the Red Sox organization, the 30-year-old will try to break camp with St. Louis.
- Bill James tells Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe that he's curious to see how much better the Red Sox are on defense this season.
Good luck with Turnblow. The guy is washed up and useless. He was a juicer during his good days….so I guess he would be a good fit for the Cards.
10 titles, my friend.
wow…i can imagine what a yankee fan would say to u …
lol
The Yankees are in a league of their own. 10 titles doesn’t sound too shabby to me.
yeah u know better to mention 10 titles to a New Yorker…
it’s obnoxious to rub in team history…the past doesnt matter..
how many titles have the cardinals won in the past 40 years?
2 ?
The Yankees are in a league of their own. 10 titles doesn’t sound too shabby to me.
What kind of a low life team hires a shameless lying steroid junkie like McGwire???? Hes in the same boat as the other A holes like Bonds, Clemens, Palmiero, etc. Loosers, and for the Cards to be tied to him makes them just as pathetic as he is. His only concern, and the only reason hes back in baseball, is making it to the hall of fame, AND IT AINT GONNA HAPPEN!!!!
A franchise that has the second most titles in history, possibly. Every team was connected with steroids so just get over it. I don’t know what kind of moral crusade you’re on here but it’s a joke. You’re either a fan of a joke of a franchise, or you’re just being ridiculous.
i would love to see u in Yankee Stadium with 50,000 screaming yankee fans…all wearing something with the number 27 on it….and u bragging about ur 10 titles
hahahahahah
A franchise that has the second most titles in history, possibly. Every team was connected with steroids so just get over it. I don’t know what kind of moral crusade you’re on here but it’s a joke. You’re either a fan of a joke of a franchise, or you’re just being ridiculous.
What kind of a low life team hires a shameless lying steroid junkie like McGwire???? Hes in the same boat as the other A holes like Bonds, Clemens, Palmiero, etc. Loosers, and for the Cards to be tied to him makes them just as pathetic as he is. His only concern, and the only reason hes back in baseball, is making it to the hall of fame, AND IT AINT GONNA HAPPEN!!!!
Cool glad you know how to use one player to represent an entire franchise. Let’s completely forget about ortiz, manny, sosa, clemens, a-rod, petitte, giambi ( who had his best years with the yanks), etc etc
Good luck with Turnblow. The guy is washed up and useless. He was a juicer during his good days….so I guess he would be a good fit for the Cards.
I wonder if the Pirates would consider trading Duke? Could there be a fit with the Mets?
Who are the Mets going to offer?
I see the Red Sox making a play for Dunn as DH after the season. He gets on base and hits for huge power, there’s not much else they would want from a DH.
Kevin, the sox already have two DH’s (ortiz and lowell)
Lowell I would hope would be gone and Ortiz will most likely be as well.
he said after the season, they will be free agents because lowells contract is up and theo would be hunted down if he picks up ortizs 12.5 mill option. Dunn will be a free agent too and i can see him signing for 5 mill
Dunn will also be another year older at that point.
I’m of the mind the Sox should follow suit with most of the rest of the AL and drop the whole dedicated DH thing entirely. It creates roster issues like the one they have. They’re better off just signing a good OBP guy who can play multiple fielding positions rather than signing a guy who hits well but becomes a waste of a roster space should his hitting ability go downhill.
I know he will be another year older, but how can you possibly believe that one of the only 40 HR powers, with as many BB’s as he commands with sign for 5 mil? I know he will have to be a DH and Boston is the best place for him, but 5 mil? I don’t see it happening… although, the market is pretty stout.
Olney also notes that Adam LaRoche will be up against a crop of free agent first basemen that could include Carlos Pena, Lance Berkman and Derrek Lee after the season
Even more reason to think LaRoche is clueless to turn down 2/17
I had a guy on here argue with me that LaRoche made a smart move…LOL. The option that Laroche agreed to is worth 7.5, that still does not add up to anything close to 17 million. He and his agent are fools for turning down the much better offer from the Giants orginization.
It’s not all about money I hope you realize. Maybe he just doesn’t like SF?
Disliking it to the tune of 5-10 million dollars though? You got to seriously hate fog or something to do that.
“Adam LaRoche turned down a two-year, $17MM offer from the Giants to sign with the Arizona, where he may receive as little as $6MM for one year. LaRoche said that one reason for his decision was that he preferred Chase Field’s hitting conditions to AT&T Park.”
Like I said, it is possible to hate some places more than others.
Haha, true dat. But yah, I can see it’s his official story and it might even be true. The truth of people’s motivations can be stranger than fiction, I guess.
Haha, true dat. But yah, I can see it’s his official story and it might even be true. The truth of people’s motivations can be stranger than fiction, I guess.
In this economy, its absurd to turn down 3x the money just to spend 6 months playing for a city (for half that time) you dont like. LaRoche is going to have hit 40 HR and OPS 950 in 2010 to come close to getting more than a $12+MM multiyear deal next season. He screwed himself, or his agent did. Bottom line, if Sabean offers you a deal, that deal will be at least 2 to 3 times what you are going to get from anyone else, and unless you hate money, you should really take it.
This happened last year too and players and agents STILL think its 2006 and we arent in a near-depression economically. Chone Figgins is a genius for taking the largest sum of money he could as soon as he could. Johnny Damon whould have asked the Yankees for 1/10 or 2/18 instead of the 2/28 he wanted. Now he’s probably going to get 1/5. Smart players are going to take the 1st offer thats relatively close to what they want, players like LaRoche who hold out for 2 or 3 more million are making collosal mistakes and losing incredible sums of money (in Laroche’s case $12MM).
Adam LaRoche = biggest fail of 09/10 offseason.
assuming he has a good year…what 1B are in the market in the next off-season
First Basemen
Lance Berkman HOU *
Wes Helms FLA
Jason Giambi COL
Ross Gload FLA
Paul Konerko CWS
Derrek Lee CHC
David Ortiz BOS *
Lyle Overbay TOR
Carlos Pena TB
Albert Pujols STL *
Cots MLB Contracts has all the info on potential FA.
LaRoche or his agent indeed screwed him out of 13 million from the Giants 18 mil offer. His plan to test the market next winter will indeed backfire because there will be four other First basemen more coveted than Laroche next winter.
That makes even less sense. If he accepted a 2yr deal, he would be up against the best first basemen in the game namely Howard, fielder, agonz, and ( maybe ) pujols in 2011. Dunno bout you, but I’d take my chances verse pena, lee, Berk as opposed to ANY of those other fellows
Doubtful for Pujos. Howard and Fielder will be signed long-term. I don’t see how they can say no, unless Philly runs out of money. A-Gon will likely be traded or traded with an extension, or just may go into the FA. I don’t see many if any at all of those guys actually going into the FA market in 2011.
Fielder is represented by boras so I gurantee he hits the FA market.
I hope I am wrong but I think Beltran is done.
Done implies never to play again. If you want to say shell of his former self? Maybe but that would make him still one of the better CF in the game anyway.
Worried about his knees being chronic
We all are, but there are steps to take to keep him from being “done”. Moving to LF or perhaps 1B could save wear and tear. Either way, too early to even imply done.
Considering he cannot stay healthy, had a surgery without the Mets knowing (from what it seems) and it happens to be knee surgery… I think all anyone can hope for is him being a shell of his past self. I hope I’m wrong, but he’ll never be close to what he was.
Need to check updates. Mets knew of the surgery. Also the can’t stay healthy thing is a product of blogs and not facts. Last year was the first year in 9 years that he did not play at least 140 games.
More like the complete opposite? Seriously where are you getting your terrible information from? Beltran is one of the most durable players in baseball, last year was his only major injury year in almost a decade. Get your facts straight and stop spreading false information.
As long as he stays away from Mike Cameron he should be alright.
So the Mets need a CF huh? Billy Beane has Davis, Sweeney, Hairston, Cunningham, Buck & Crisp all as trade pieces. Minaya, time to make a call…
They look like good partners here but Omar and Beane never seem to get anything done.
Mets have a good defensive 4th outfielder in Angel Pagan (for all his mental meltdowns on the basepaths). Since the guy can flat-out hit too, I’d put my wallet away for now and turn my attention to finding some starting pitching!!!
I didn’t know about his melt-downs, but I was at that game where he hit the in-the-park HR. That guy is a dominating speedster, from what I’ve seen. Braves would kill to have him lead-off… technically, they’d kill to have anyone lead-off. Here’s hoping McLouth has come back to the McLouth of old.
Mets do need to focus on pitching.
Yeah, on the surface Angel Pagan looks like the all around player. He often impresses defensively and has considerable skill with the bat. However to look more closely you can see that he definitely has some kind of glitch that causes him to make mental mistakes in key situations. While he often makes stunning plays with the glove, he periodically causes confusion among the outfielders that lead to hideous misplays. What stands out even more are the costly running mistakes he makes on the basepaths – errors that his blazing speed alone cannot make up for. I recently saw a replay of some of his most eye-popping errors that made me want to hide under the couch. However, on the other side of things, when he’s good, he’s GOOD!About McLouth, I didn’t watch him closely last season but I know his power numbers dipped, and although he doesn’t really hit for average, that was down too. Not the offensive stud the Braves were expecting for sure. What’s your take on him?
in his case the good outweighs the bad.
put him in the 3 hole with reyes or castillo on base..and many of those 3B are RBI’s
That could be. Right now analysts are placing him much lower in the order but…it’s still January.
Waiting for your take on McLouth. What do you think bit him last season?
Sorry about that. I have been very busy lately and I don’t check my e-mail enough. McLouth was an All-Star and a gold-glover in 2008, but that may just be a career year for all anyone knows. We traded away 2 AAAA players and a great AA Lefty-relief pitcher. We didn’t give away too much, but McLouth has a high ceiling. He’s a confident player who thinks he has fixed his swing. I will be expecting a lot more out of him this year, but don’t expect him to repeat his ’08 numbers.
Better to say, he’s a perfect 2-hole guy and if he raises his average, a powerful and +++ lead-off. He was batting 3rd for the Pirates and at 1st Braves were hoping he might be able to take that spot, but there are reasons we got him cheap.
Regarding the Mets’ remaining needs, the only other area I think they sorely need to address besides pitching is….pitching. After they get that done they should probably follow that up with additional pitching. Finally, once that’s all settled, the next step would be to go ahead and get more freakin’ pitching. Hmm…did I miss anything? :-p
Beane no longer has Cunningham. He is a corner OF anyway.
Or Hairston. Both Cunningham and Hairston are Padres now.
I understand the worry but that’s a very premature conclusion. Let things unfold – which they will.
Zach Duke wold def. command a lot in return. Would be a great pickup for the Mets, but I don’t see it happening. As a Phillies fan, I was hoping that the Phillies would make an offer last year before the AS break, but it ended up working out for us in the end, well, almost. haha
Heh yep I was hoping they’d go after Duke as well, but can’t complain with the route they went. Never saw it coming
I like the Charlie Zink signing. The Cardinals haven’t had a knuckleballer in a while! At worst he will provide a quality MiLB veteran in Memphis and he should have a chance to compete with internal options and Rule V pick Ben Jukich for the 5th starter role.
The Cardinals have at least 5 guys to compete for that job now, so surely Duncan can find something someone he can turn into a 15-game winner in that bunch!
I know Duncan’s good, but I’m reasonably sure expecting fifteen wins out of your fifth starter is asking a bit much.
I would like to see Baldelli sign with the yankees and have a chance for a ring. Rocco was expected to be a top class ballplayer until he started having medical problems. He lives with a chronic condition but has so much natural talent he can still get a job on a big league team. His days as a starter may be over, but he can still contribute. In the era of greedy owner and player and with the whole steroid issue, Rocco Baldelli in still an
athelte to admire.
I’m pretty sure Baldelli has interest in talking to anyone willing to give him a contract.
what are teams afraid of?
that condition he had was misdiagnosed and he’s perfectly fine.
For the life of me I can’t figure out why the Twins aren’t in on Hudson. I don’t care if it means Punto at 3B at this point, he’s the #2 bat they need.
Minnesota – like almost every team evidently – does not care to pay Hudson upwards of $3 million! He is a journeyman 2B who is certainly a good enough player but lost his job last year to another another journeyman 2B, which does not translate into another big contract. Fans on MLBTR seem to be the only ones clamoring for the services of Hudson (see comments from Met and Cub fans especially). We can be pretty certain that major league front offices do not view Hudson with the same love that some guys on MLBTR do since no one seems to pursuing him hard this year and didn’t last year.It seems pretty clear that the Twins hope that Punto will rebound and bat in the #2 hole. Ron Gardenhire is still – apparently – hoping to re-sign Orlando Cabrera to play 2B and presumably bat #2 with Punto at 3B and hitting in the #9 hole. I still think the Twins will acquire another 2B or 3B in a trade or a late, low cost free agent signing. It could be Hudson but there is simply nothing that suggests the Twins like Hudson, though you never know. But, it won’t be Hudson unless he willing to take a $1-1.5 million deal.
Hudson is smoking something if he thinks he’s going to make as much as he’s asking for. Any team, including my Nats, that pays his asking price is WAY overpaying in my opinion.
It was Hudson himself who said the Nats are still in the mix. I hope that means they are the only team in the mix. You can all scoff at him, and I wish you would. Nats fans would be thrilled to get him.
I can see why. It’s not just the stats, it’s also the intangibles he brings. Good for the Nats if they land him!
Very interesting to read that the Yanks and Sox were only willing to offer Montero and Buchholz straight up for Halladay. Not sure if that was the right or wrong move, but interesting how they valued acquiring Halladay. Also, interesting to know that Halladay had indirectly narrowed his list down to the Yanks, Sox and Phillies.
Yeah pretty shocking that’s all they’d offer. Just goes to show, teams are protecting their prospects more now than ever.
When discussed in trades Montero is talked up like he’s going to be the next Joe Mauer, but when his playtime is discussed people make it seem like he’ll be lucky to get a full time DH position. Either way, Montero for Halladay straight up is laughable.
Keep in mind, unless of course I read it wrong, Montero is rated as the #1 prospect in the entire minor league system by Baseball America last month, so he’s got to be good for something no? Apparently he is playing in the winter league and knocking the %^& out of the ball, three time the next player. Perhaps not the perfect fit the Yankee’s in the short term, but we’ll see.
Quiet frankly, I think a contract to Halladay is what deterred the Yanks. Even though 3 yrs for $60mm for Roy is a relative steal, not sure the Yanks wanted to have that potential risk in 2 or 3 yrs with the magnitude of the other contracts they have.
This is ridiculous for me to say also, since I am a Yank fan, but perhaps the Yanks didn’t press to take on Halladay for the risk of alienating many other teams in the league. If they signed Halladay I think many in baseball would just send the WS trophy to their po box for the next 2 yrs, cause no one would have been able to compete.
All in all the situation worked out well. He is out of the AL East, AL all together and he got his wish, one of the three teams. Good fit him and I wish the guy luck. He deserves it for as good as he is.
I don’t think the Yankees are worried about “alienating” other teams in the league.
Why is it laughable? The Yankees clearly didn’t want to give up too much. I doubt Cashman made that offer and said “There is on way AA turns this down – no way” Going into the offer, Cash probably knew that there was a very low chance of getting Halladay at just the price of Montero. But if the Jays didn’t get any better offers, who knows what could’ve happaned?
The Halladay offers were right on for one year of a great pitcher. I remember saying to people that a Buchholz or Kershaw was to much and the brain dead drones here scoffed about the usual kings ransom that would be required to get him. After seeing the trend of not blowing out the farm since the Tex trade to Atlanta, hopefully the drones will be more real with their outrageous suggestions!
lol..how does that comment make any sense at all??? Halladay was dealt for 3 top prospects..because of an unconfirmed rumour that the Yanks and Sox were playing hardball that makes everyone else “brain dead drones” because they thought he was worth more. No, all that confirms if it was true was that the Sox and Yanks thought they could steal Halladay from a new GM who was in a tough position. The fact is the only thing anyone knows for sure is that he was dealt for 3 top prospects, thus proving the “brain dead drones” point…lol. Not sure how you can twist that into saying what you did.
The Halladay offers were right on for one year of a great pitcher. I remember saying to people that a Buchholz or Kershaw was to much and the brain dead drones here scoffed about the usual kings ransom that would be required to get him. After seeing the trend of not blowing out the farm since the Tex trade to Atlanta, hopefully the drones will be more real with their outrageous suggestions!
•In an interview with 619 Sports out of San Diego, Scott Hairston said he found out he got traded back to the Padres by reading MLBTR. Cool!
Wow, his agent isnt a good one.. nor are the As. Imagine the way you find out you were fired is on the internet…
I was going to say the same thing. It’s great that MLBTR is getting some recognition, but where is his agent or the A’s?!
honestly, isnt it a respect thing to be told by your boss or agent you have been dealt, not a rumor sight?
I wonder if Jeff Salazar is related to Oscar Salazar
Montero for Halladay straight up? The Yankees need to lay off the Kool Aid.
The Phillies outbid them, plain and simple.
But them getting propsects for Cliff Lee? come on.
I think the Yanks got outbid just bcus they weren’t really serious like the Phillies were
If we needed any more evidence that Riccardi had screwed the organization by not moving Halladay at the deadline this article is the real nail in the coffin. Confirmation that deals from clubs (specifically the Red Sox) were greatly diminished between what was being discussed at the All-Star break vs what teams were willing to shell out in the off-season.
Another great reminder for teams to strike while the iron is hot (and yes – I am looking at you Padres).
I cant say I agree with this comment. From the rumours we heard at the deadline it looked like the Jays were after Drabek and one of the Phils 2 top OF prospects and the Phils declined. The Jays received Drabek and Taylor as the main players in the Halladay deal….exactly what they were after at the deadline. Dont know about you but that sounds like they received pretty much the same as what they were after at the deadline so did his value really drop???
You do realize that there is a reason that they currently have a payroll of about 12 million right? It’s going to be used for something…
They mentioned mlbtradrumors.com on espn.com. Also I would like to see Jerry Hairston Jr. back on the yankees. He’s a good bench player and utility player. Since we lost Eric Hinske to the Braves we need to also bolster our bench a little bit.
Scott Hairston reads MLBTR? Hi, Scott!
“Rocco Baldelli just came to a mutual agreement with the New York Yankees..now I get to see what the Yankee side of the rivalry is like after witnessing the Boston side in 2009” – according to his facebook fanpage.
edit: riveraveblues.com notes that cashman said this rumor was false.