Links for Thursday…
- Nomar Garciaparra told Lou Merloni of WEEI.com that he would like to play in 2010, if the right situation presents itself. Garciaparra played in 65 games for the A's last season, hitting .281/.314/.388 with 3 homers.
- RotoAuthority discusses the fantasy prospects of Rangers starter Colby Lewis.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says that while an arbitration hearing is likely for Edwin Jackson and the Diamondbacks, "the team has broached the idea of a two-year deal."
- Piecoro also says the D'Backs are considering bringing recently-designated lefty Dana Eveland back.
- Talking to agents who dealt with the Mets this winter, Murray Chass believes the team was incapable of multitasking. On a related note, MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone believes the team remains interested in free agent catcher Rod Barajas.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says Russell Branyan was seeking a three-year deal in the $20-30MM range earlier this offseason. At this point I'd say he's looking at a one-year deal at maybe $3MM.
- Unlike CEO Jeff Moorad, Padres GM Jed Hoyer said all the right things regarding Adrian Gonzalez (Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reporting).
- Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says the Twins are in a position of strength in that they don't need Orlando Hudson or Jarrod Washburn. He doesn't feel they'd still be willing to offer $5MM to Washburn. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports notes that if the Mariners re-sign Erik Bedard, as has been rumored, they probably wouldn't sign Washburn.
- Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times says the grievance has been settled regarding the Ramirez Provision, involving forced charity donations as part of contracts.
Damage control from Jed Hoyer. Two weeks until pitchers and catchers and he has to clean up Moorad’s mess, the quote from yesterday, “While I’d be thrilled to have him part of the organization for the long term, the early signals indicate his cost will be greater than our ability to pay.”
Adrian is Gone, its not a matter of if its a matter of when, and always was, for anyone paying attention. Nice to keep him around for the season ticket holders and then turn around right before spring and say an Adrian extension is unlikely.
You mean “Adrian is Gonzo”
It’s a question of where…
As for Edwin Jackson, He deserves every penny he gets. The guy is nasty and I think if healthy, the Diamondbacks 1-2-3 is among the top 5 in Baseball.
My comment was directed specifically to the quotes, I am not too concerned where he will go because either way ANY team will have to pay a “kings ransom” to land him.
I wonder if Hudson has actually narrowed it down to the Nationals or Twins. Thought there were more options out there.
I agree with Joe though, I like the Twins position in this. We don’t NEED Hudson, so we can basically say, “Here’s our price, and we’re going to win. You wanna come for the ride?” And if he says no, well, have fun being a .300 team in DC. Hope that extra half million was worth it. If he says yes, it’ll be at a reasonable price and we’re replacing an unpredictable 2-hole 2B with a stable and productive one. That also probably puts solidly at 3B which is where he’s best defensively.
I’m totally cool with this.
The Twins are good without Hudson, but they are inevitably destined for a first round loss to the Yankees again. With Hudson, the Twins are much better and put a lineup that can score a lot more runs than our current lineup. I completely agree that our offer can be less but we need to emphasize the fact that we ARE going to the playoffs. Hopefully Hudson realizes that winning is better than 500k.
As for Washburn…leave him be. It would be a waste of money.
They do need either Hudson or Felipe Lopez. They may be in a position of strength but why does that have to translate into waiting until someone else moves on a guy or staying with the status quo? Again, I can handle one of Punto/Casilla/Harris everyday, not two.
As for Washburn – let’s hope than man crush is over with him.
No one needs Washburn (unless he has a particularly rare blood type or something.)
Dear Omar Minaya,
Please sign Rod Barajas to a Major League deal.
Sincerely,
Alex Anthopoulos
Ever heard of the baseball adage “you have to be strong up the middle”. Right now Mets up the Middle consists of :
CF B/c Beltran is Hurt – Pagan/Matthews – medicore at best
SS – Reyes – good SS but coming off an injury
Castillo – a shadow of his former self
Santos/Blanco/Coste –
That’s weak up the middle.
Sign Barajas for 1 year, he also was Halladay’s catcher and could provide some sneaky tips that couldn’t hurt.
I don’t get your logic. The team is weak up the middle so you want them to add a catcher who hit .226/.258/.403 this last season and a .238/.284/.408 career line?
That wouldn’t help. Like, at all.
I’m speaking defensively, as a hitter ur right he sucks
I wouldn’t be surprised if Doug Melvin tried to bring Eveland back to the Brewers since he has a history of giving guys multiple shots. I.E. Doug Davis, Craig Counsell, Dan Kolb, and a handful of guys during his time in Texas. Point is, Melvin doesn’t like to give up on guys and he probably thinks Eveland can get back to his 08′ form where he pitched 4.34 era and won 9 games….his only decent year in the majors.
“Talking to agents who dealt with the Mets this winter, Murray Chass believes the team was incapable of multitasking.”
And here is a short list of other things that the Mets are also incapable of doing:
-Winning
-Pitching………….(throwing strikes esp.)
-Catching
-Staying Healthy
-Singing FA’s
-Walking in a straight line
-Finding a batting helmet that fits
-Hitting HR’s
-Prospect Development
-Making the apple pop out
-Not Choking
-Avoiding concussions: i.e. not accidently having your head make contact with solid objects(baseballs, door frames, Mike Cameron’s head.)
-Not getting ripped off in a trade
-Any solution for anything that doesn’t involve throwing money at problems
-Retaining Dignity
-Functioning
You say all that like it’s a bad thing!
:-p
You know what, for the right price I think that Nomar could land with the Cardinals.
The corpse of Nomar lingers……………. It would be a bad thing for him to take a roster spot on the Cardinals from a guy like Craig or Mather. It probably woudn’t last long…………… I’m guessing Aaron Boone/Eric Chavez territory of like an 0 for 14 April stretch: Then his decaying system succumbs to the high nitrogen content of the air or the drafty locker room is just too much for him and he gets released. No doubt though that LaRussa would show the same dog-like loyalty he shows to most veterans and lets him rehab for the rest of the year at a swank Mayo-Clinic on the team’s dime.
Nomar- No more, not worth it. Pointless, empty-space cipher vacuum………….. washed up living on his name.
Right now, an open competition between David Freese, Allen Craig, and Joe Mather for the 3B job seems rather plausable. Mather was playing 3B in ST last year and was fielding competently………… Freese and Craig both seem to project as sort of Wiggentonian figures. I think the extreme upside is that either Freese or Craig emerge an an Ugglian style. Our offense should be competent enough to pick up the slack(hopefully,) if no good option emerges at 3B and we are stuck with Thurstonian replacement-level options like Ruben Gotay.
My preference would be for a cheap Joe Crede pickup…………….. if nothing else he could at least up the ante for the 3B competiton in ST……………… some decent insurance. Branyan would be a good option as long as they can get him on the cheap. I think though that the Cardinals FO brass formed a very negative opinion of him after his brief sojourn here at the end of 2007. I get the impression that they are uninterested.
Branyan, if he does come to the Cards, would give them a Left-handed bat that they could really use(we only have Rasmus and Schumaker at present.) It seemed like the Mariners figured out last year that the way to maximize Branyan’s productivity was to keep him underexposed against LHPs……………….. So we do the same thing with a Branyan/FreeseandorCraig platoon.
What was Russell Braynan smoking?
Not sure, but if he isnt careful he might be looking at a forced retirement. Its recently happened to much better players that offered more then Russells one skill.
Right now, the market for 1B/DH types is much deeper then the available 25-man spots for 1B/DH types. Some of the players are going to be on the outside looking in. If he isnt willing to consider a minor-league with invite offer, he very well could be one of them.
What about Nomar in a bench role with the Yankees. He can spell A-Rod and Tex. Even though so can Johnson.
Pretty sure Nick Johnson won’t be spelling Arod at 3B.
No reallyyyyyy???? Let me try again – EVEN THOUGH JOHNSON CAN FILL IN FOR TEX TOO.
lol
Who does Russ Branyan think he is? Gary Matthews Jr?
Milton Bradley is more accurate, per contract.
Nah, Milton isnt that bad of a player (just a horrific human)
But Jose Guillen is probably the best punchline for his joke. He is a really close match in production prior to requested contract and ended up receiving the 3 years, just at a couple million more per season.
The Cardinals should be all over Eveland. Add smoltz+Lopez. McClellan and Hill can be used for depth instead of being counted on for innings.
Carpenter, Wainwright, Smoltz, Lohse, Penny, McClellan, Hill is not bad at all.
I doubt we will be able to afford both Smoltz and Lopez. I see the Mets getting desperate, bidding against themselves and signing Smoltz. I would love Smoltz back on the Cards, but he would be in my bullpen to back up Franklin in case Franklin regresses further or has an Isringhausenesque implosion. My preference for any pitcher-relative-to-cost would be for Mike McDougal to add a cheap bullpen arm to add some bullpen depth, as right now McClellan is the only Cards RHreliever I trust……….(I suspect this is also the case with LaRussa which is why McClellan is staying in the pen for now to back up Franklin.) I see the bullpen as it is currently constructed being the biggest source of problems for the Cards in 2009, as our plan B is currently K-Mac and we really have little reliable depth in case Franklin continues to regress, which is a very real problem.
My preference would be to have a lefty 5th starter just to break up the right-handers and give other teams a different angle to prevent their complacency with seeing similar pitchers night after night. Between Eveland, Hill, or Garcia, one should show enough to earn the job.
I would rather add Crede as a low cost acquisition in a few weeks and let him compete with Freese, Craig, and Mather for 3B. I would try and pick up Ty Wigginton from the O’s though in ST and let him join the competition.
you can have Wigginton, please. That man frustrated me to no end last year.
I have a massive, inexplicable mancrush on Wiggy……………….
Mets need Barajas. Platoon Santos and him at C until Santos proves himself. If he doesnt, recall Blanco or Coste and put in Barajas because he is the best option at this point.
Cards should do what they can to bring in Lopez.
Branyan to FLA makes sense, I don’t know what kind of ABs he expects to get elsewhere. Especially when there are plenty players like him still available.