Links for Saturday….
- With Rafael Furcal returning to the Dodgers, the out-of-options Nick Green is a candidate for demotion, writes Evan Drellich of MLB.com.
- Roy Oswalt told Houston owner Drayton McLane that he wouldn't mind coming back and finishing his career with the organization, tweets Alyson Footer of the Astros.
- More on Oswalt: Footer (via Twitter) is skeptical about the Mets' chances of acquiring Houston's ace. Meanwhile, manager Brad Mills doesn't expect Oswalt's trade request to be a clubhouse distraction, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.
- At MLB.com, Peter Gammons takes a look at a few underachieving teams who are under pressure to make changes.
- Scott Olsen has been placed on the disabled list, but Stephen Strasburg won't be the pitcher called up to take his roster spot, tweets Bill Ladson of MLB.com.
- Jack Curry of the YES Network (via Twitter) asked Mets GM Omar Minaya if Jerry Manuel is managing to save his job. Minaya answered, "I don't want to say that. I wouldn't say that's the case."
- Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Chad Gaudin received and turned down a minor league assignment offer from the A's.
- Mike Lowell told Scott Lauber of The Boston Herald that he has no regrets about passing on a four year, $37.5MM contract offer from the Phillies after the 2007 season.
- Jayson Werth said he's "played [his] entire career for this year," according to David Murphy of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Werth, of course, is referring to his contract year and impending free agent payday.
- Chris Iannetta remains the one who got away for the Red Sox, who almost drafted the catcher back in 2004 according to WEEI.com's Alex Speier.
- Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune analyzed the Carlos Gomez–J.J. Hardy trade now that we're six months out.
- John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the Reds have gotten tremendous production out of their bargain basement left field combo of Jonny Gomes and Laynce Nix ($1.4MM combined salary).
Werth deserves a huge deal. He benefits from playing in a stacked lineup in a good hitter’s park, but he is still one of the best outfielders in the league. He can do it all and he should have some good years left since he got started late. He deserves more than Bay who just got a big contract because of name recognition and a desperate franchise.
The flip side of this is that teams may see this as Jason Bay II, a deal where other clubs see how the Mets overpaid and how Werth, especially with comments like those above, may be more interested in earning his big payday than delivering once he gets on the other side of it.
You can’t fake the type of passion Werth shows for the game. Every player plays for the money. Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to be media savvy. “Playing for the love of the game” is all well and good, but I don’t really see many players who are worth 10 mill going out and taking the league minimum. You play and get paid what the market says you are worth. We talk about players not speaking their mind, well we can’t judge those who do. Just because a player doesn’t say he is playing for the money doesn’t mean he isn’t and on the flip side just because a player does say he is playing for the money doesn’t mean he doesn’t love the game.
I’d say Jason Werth is playing for the love of the game AND the money he’ll get paid. He had to overcome a lot to get where he is with extensive injury time outs. You don’t go through that if you’re not motivated to play the game-and reap all rewards.
So yeah, I agree with you. I love Werth’s game, and I hope he can continue at this level for years to come.
Werth may ‘deserve’ more than Bay, doesn’t mean he’ll get it.
All about the market, what are his demands, who else is out there, how many teams need a corner OF, how many of those teams can pay him 15-18m a year, etc.
I predict he ends up in Detriot though, assuming they don’t let Magglio’s option vest. If they dont they have around 50m coming off the book.
really hope the Tigers do not let ordonez get another charity contract like last year and get those AB’s, even if he does put up decent numbers. 18M for 2010 was more than enough to dole out for what he has done last year and whatever numbers he will do this year, giving him 15M next is FAR above what a defensive liability and a DH playing a corner OF spot that is 3 years past prime.
If he wants to stay in Detroit, let him and Boras negotiate a fair contract after the season, something in the 3-5M range.
Can see Werth hitting more than 80M only if somebody like Anaheim makes a quick sign on Crawford and takes him away from the NYY, then they will possibly offer the typical boatload of cash to get their man, who could hit the 40HR total with ease in NY. A perfect fit in NY, probably better than Crawford, but just have a feeling that Crawford is there man who would also fit in Anaheim perfectly also.
“then they will possibly offer the typical boatload of cash to get their man”
Which is different than how other teams sign FAs?
And Crawford’s agent would be foolish to have him sign quickly without going to the Yankees to get a counteroffer.
It was not meant as an affront to the NYY to make a huge offer right off to Werth *IF* Crawford was to sigh was with someone else like Anahein, they have been know to do this before (ARod) and is a good tactic for a player who fits that stadium perfectly.
Reason think that Anaheim might be inclined to another place (if feeling is mutual and a large offer is made fast) is think that Crawford may not like the huge spotlight playing in a media mega market like, say NY and even Boston would bring.. Just a hunch from being in Tampa and reading/watching him over his career. Could be wrong of course.
how would werth hit 40 hrs in yankee stadium? The power spot is right field and he has only hit 2 of his hrs to right all year. Plus the park factor has regressed (last I saw) to becoming a less hr friendly park. And Citizens Bank Park isn’t really a pitchers park either. I’d see some regression moving from the NL to AL but similar numbers to his Philly years.
There is no logic behind the notion that a hitters numbers will regress due to a switch from the NL to the AL. That argument really only works when discussing pitchers because of the DH in the AL. Now if you want to argue a possible regression due to ballparks, age, weaker lineup, etc. you could make a case. But it’s not like the AL has better pitchers than the NL.
Maybe I’m missing something, but Ianetta seems overrated. He does well at throwing people out, but his stats don’t seem to justify how high people are on him.
He has an 800 career OPS while playing catcher and is considered disappointing. That says a lot. How many catchers can hit that well and actually play the position? Now imagine if the Rockies ever left him alone at the big league level without demoting him after EIGHT games of slumping or putting Torrealba in his way. Plus he’s always gotten great marks for makeup and he’s still pretty young. I’d love to have him on my team.
What the Brewers did with the spare money aside, I think we got the better end of the Gomez-Hardy deal. Gomez has a better upside in my opinion and Hardy, while he may be an idol among the women, was playing himself out of a spot in Milwaukee. He may play solid defense, but his range and speed is no match for Escobar’s.
Werth should pick his new team wisely. He bats in the middle of a stacked lineup in a hitter friendly park. If he signs with a team who doesn’t have the caliber lineup of the phillies and a huge park he may be hearing the same things people are saying about Bay this year.
F-Mart package for Oswalt? Might as well. Crawford becoming a FA should mean the end of Frenchie…I hope.
Imagine the lineup if they sign Crawford:
Reyes
Crawford
Beltran
Davis
Wright
Bay
Thole
Castillo
Pitcher
The only problem is that I don’t think they have enough money to retain Oswalt AND sign Crawford. Plus, wven with Oswalt, they’ll need another pitcher. Though, if Vasquez keeps sucking he’d probably come cheap, and he’s an NL stud.