Sunday links….
- Joe Cowley at the Chicago Sun-Times has Kenny Williams' final take on missing out on Johnny Damon to the Tigers. Cowley's piece also expands a bit on the Dye note we've linked to below.
- The A's received cash to complete the trades for both Adam Rosales and Dana Eveland, writes Susan Slusser.
- Regarding his current contract situation, Josh Beckett says he and the Red Sox "talked about talking," according to WEEI.com's Alex Speier. Beckett says he won't have anything to say about the situation during Spring Training or even after. Speier's piece also contains video highlights of Beckett's press conference, including his take on Mike Lowell's situation.
- MLB.com's Steve Gilbert has a series of tweets regarding Mark Reynolds, who hopes to have his contract situation resolved within the next couple weeks. Reynolds says that the deadline for talks is still Opening Day. Gilbert adds that the current discussion is whether to buy out two or three arbitration years.
- White Sox GM Ken Williams considered pursuing Jermaine Dye, but felt that the Sox' need for a left-handed bat was more pressing, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter).
- MLB.com's Scott Merkin tweets that John Danks and the White Sox did not discuss a multi-year deal this offseason.
- Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports, via Twitter, that the Rays were in the mix for Johnny Damon until the end, bidding more than every team but the Tigers.
- Jim Leyland says that Damon's arrival in Detroit won't mean any less at-bats for Carlos Guillen, according to John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press.
- MLB.com's Jordan Bastian breaks down (via Twitter) the early-round draft picks the Blue Jays will now hold this summer, following the Mets' agreement with Rod Barajas.
- Former Brave Greg Norton will head into 2010 as a coach instead of a player for the first time. He'll serve as the hitting coach for the New Orleans Zephyrs, the Marlins' Triple-A affiliate.
- WEEI's Alex Speier takes a look at the first impression made in Red Sox camp by slick-fielding shortstop Jose Iglesias. Many felt the Sox overpaid for the Cuban prospect last summer, but according to Speier, the Cubs were willing to pay even more.
Yeah thats right, the Jays have 9 picks in the first few rounds. Hopefully they can make something of that.
The Rays just need to bring up Jennings in a couple months. Damon was unnecessary.
I would put Zobrist at second and put Jennings in the lineup on Opening Day. The Rays should worry more about competing than his service time clock.
To do that you may have to put Upton in RF because I’m not sure Jennings or Crawford have the arm to play RF. A Crawford-Jennings-Upton outfield would be fantastic.
I think they were talking about putting B.J. in right. I don’t think there would be any problem with that.
That is the likely scenario and makes the most sense.
I hope Norton does better as a coach than his .214 AVG last year.
you mean .145. he did walk 20 times though.
As the old saying goes…Those who cannot do, teach.
I can see Norton being another Gabe Kapler type, take a year off yo coach in the minors and then try and make a comeback. He really struggled last year but was a serviceable player in his past.
Kapler was only 33 the year he came back after coaching for a year. Norton will turn 39 in the middle of the 2011 season, so it seems unlikely he’d have a chance at a comeback, seeing as how his most recent numbers weren’t even good.
Yes, the Marlins have hired Norton as a hitting instructor. They have also hired Stevie Wonder as a driving instructor, and Charlie Sheen as lifestyle coach.
Well, it’s obvious that the Tigers won out because Detroit is so much more “cosmopolitan” than Tampa.
And the no-trade clause was the clincher. Or maybe it was the autographed Steve Yzerman hockey stick.
As an aside, any predictions on where Johnny will be playing on August 1?
No Trade clause is a non issue.
Only teams that would want Damon at the deadline are contenders, provided Detroit is out of it. I would guess he ok’s a trade to NY, Boston, LA for a shot at a title. Face it, means he wouldn’t be in Detroit for the second half which was a big deal..IF we believe all that we read.
I’m guessing he’d okay a trade to the Yankees.
“any predictions on where Johnny will be playing on August 1?”
are you hoping the giants get him. so you guys can add another mediocre hitter to your lineup?
I keep seeing pieces talking about how amazing Iglesias defense is, practically telling me he’s going to be a future gold glover, but has anyone seen anything regarding the other parts of his game? Hitting, baserunning? If the Sox get a .225 guy who plays gold glove defense at short then so be it, but I heard he was going to work on that stuff when they signed him, and so far, everything has just been about his defense. Has anyone seen anything about him that wasn’t about his glove?
I’ve heard people say he is a mirror image to Elvus Andrus with Texas, with slightly stolen bases projected.
That’s because Iglesias couldn’t hit water if he jumped out of a boat…Adeiny Hechevarria is the better prospect.
The Red Sox really like how his bat is projects to the bigs. He’s not going to be Hanley or anything, but they think his bat will be enough to supplement his outstanding glove. Apparently, scouts have been pleasantly surprised with the bat so far so maybe there’s hope.
Remeber him saying he could see him self with the yankees again well maybe just maybe if the yankees platoon isnt working out in left (which i think it will fine) i coould see Yanks trading for him or he could force a trade like some due (manny)
The Yankees should sign Jermaine Dye.
If I remember right, in Dye’s contract last year it said he can not be traded to any team in the AL East, also I believe he has already said he doesn’t want to play in the AL east.. although that would have been before no other team wanted to sign him.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure he just wants to play
Dye to white sox. nice 5th of. Damon didn’t fit anyway
It would be nice for them to resign Dye.
Dye’s production the first 4 months of the past 2 season’s was fantastic. His price would be worth having him fall over again after the all-star break when Jordan Danks would probably be ready to call up. They could DH Dye as long as he’s productive and call up Danks to play RF and DH Quentin if/when he stops producing.
Seems simple and obvious.
Does anyone else here find the Nightengale tweet about the Rays being in on Damon until the end highly suspect? I can’t say I’m enlightened about their budget, but I was definitely under the impression that they didn’t have anywhere near the kind of money available to outbid Chicago, much less compete with Detroit, for his services. Correct me if I’m wrong, please.
Well the Rays have always had money, it’s only since the begining of the decade that they’ve begun to actually spend it. According to Cot’s they’re breaking their record this year with an opening day payroll around $70M. I wouldn’t be shocked if they could afford another $10M or more.
Yeah, especially with their recent success. Maybe they will go after Jermaine Dye, Garret Anderson, or Chan Ho Park.
The only one of those who might bring something to the Rays would be Park and only if they keep him in relief.
Well he’s not pitching in any rotation. Especially not the Rays’. They already have some of the best rotation depth in Baseball.
I think Garret Anderson could be a useful DH against righties. He really hasn’t had any terrible seasons in his career. Even last season on the Braves he wasn’t that bad. He could someday make it in to the hall. But for right now, he can still hit righties and deserves a shot somewhere. Tampa I think would be a good fit. He’s never had a good OBP but he’s always been able to hit for a high average.
He could play until he’s 50 and he still won’t make the Hall. There’s nothing remarkable about his career. He’s not even what I’d call one of the betters of his generation. In his career, of the 12 seasons where he played 135 games or more, 7 of them he posted an OPS+ under 100. Not even close to hall worthy.
Andre Dawson had a miserable career OBP. And if he plays until he’s 50, he will have 4000 hits by then. He has 2500 Hits. 285 Home Runs. There are some Hall of famers who got in strickly by the amount of Hits they had or Home Runs they hit. I’m just saying that he could eventually get in.
By that logic Alex Cora could eventually get in if he plays long enough. As for Dawson, only his final 4 seasons did he have an OPS+ under 100 and in those seasons he was largely a platoon player. That said I think Dawson in the Hall is a mistake.
there are other ways to get in to the hall of fame aside from OPS and OPS+. Believe me, I know how much a players OPS means to his career and season. But in the end of the day, there are benchmarks (3000 hits and 500 home runs), World Series’, post-season stats,just how good a player was. You are making it seem like a players OPS+ determines if he makes it in to the hall of fame or not. Andre Dawson got in due to his hit totals and home runs. I think if Garret Anderson plays for a few more seasons, not only will he get 3000 hits (4 season which is not going to happen probably) but even if he plays this season and thats it, he could get up to 2600 or 2650. That is a lot of hits for anybody. 3000 hits is a no doubt hall of fame benchmark. But there are a lot of players who havent come close to 3000 and are in the hall of fame.
There are benchmarks but they tend to come with a whole host of other reasons. Can you point to one season where you can say Anderson was one of the greatest player in the game? And again his OPS+ for his career is 104. No player with 3,000 hits is even close to that. His career has been slightly above average. That’s it.
I can point out some reasons for voters to consider it. There are some Hall of Famers who I don’t think were the best on the game during their Era but remember, a players OPS+ doesn’t define their whole career.
And my point is for Anderson it does. He’s been above average, good, not great. Hell, not even as good as Dawson. So if we’re gonna open the Hall of Fame then let’s be honest and rename it “Hall of Players who were Above Average.”
Okay, I’m going to tip my cap to you on this one. But we’ll see what happens.
Enough Johnny Effing Damon! He signed, now talk about someone else.
In the Rosales trade, the cash went from the A’s to the Reds, just for the record. The deal was Taveras and Rosales to the A’s for Miles and a PTBNL and/or cash to the Reds.
Yeah I was thinking that to. Is that what Susan meant?
We’ll have to deal with the Johnny Damon again next off season along with Man Ram.