Baseball's general managers met in Orlando today and discussed potential changes to the collective bargaining agreement. MLB Executive Vice President Rob Manfred told reporters that he's optimistic about reaching a new CBA with the MLB Players Association and eager to hear the opinions of baseball's GMs. Manfred declined to go into detail on the talks, but the GMs addressed a number of hot stove topics with MLBTR soon afterwards. Here are the details (and be sure to follow @mlbtrorlando for more updates):
- The A's are off to a busy offseason start, but it's not intentional. "I don't think any particular reason other than opportunities presented themselves when they did," A's GM Billy Beane said. "It wasn't by design or anything like that. [David] DeJesus was somebody we inquired on back in August when he was hurt and we didn't control the pace of that negotiation, because they didn't move him until they were ready to move him."
- Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski says the Tigers could add left-handers, right-handers or both to their bullpen this winter.
- The Tigers expect Andy Oliver to be a quality big league pitcher, but they aren't counting on him for their 2011 rotation, according to Dombrowski.
- Asked who will close for his team in 2011, Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik praised David Aardsma's recent body of work. Zduriencik also said he doesn't expect Milton Bradley's history with manager Eric Wedge to be an issue.
- The Mariners opened the 2010 season with a heavily right-handed bullpen and Zduriencik says "it'd be nice to have a left-hander or two out there" in 2011.
- Red Sox GM Theo Epstein says the Red Sox need to get to know Andrew Miller and Taylor Buchholz before he knows specifically what to expect from the team's new acquisitions. He does like "the possibility of real upside" for both pitchers, and was impressed by Buchholz's 2008 season with the Rockies.
- Epstein says the Red Sox bullpen is far from a finished product despite the acquisitions. "We probably have to acquire one or two relievers through trade or free agency and we will. I really believe in the guys we have in the back: [Jonathan] Pabelbon, [Daniel] Bard and possibly [Felix] Doubront. If he's not in the rotation, he could be a very valuable bullpen piece."
- Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail says there haven't been major developments with free agents Cesar Izturis or Ty Wigginton since the O's expressed interest in both when the offseason ended.
- For more GM Meetings coverage, see what Jed Hoyer of the Padres, Neal Huntington of the Pirates and Andrew Friedman of the Rays had to say.
It’s nice to see Epstien really attacking the Sox’ bullpen issue right away.
Was it just me, or did Epstein’s little plug for Doubront in the rotation sound like a trade brewing? Either involving another starter that bumps him up, or just trying to hype up Doubront in preparation for using him as bait?
Most likely. As of now, he does not have a spot in the rotation. In fact, he’s the 7th starter.
Exactly, which made me wonder…we’ll see. The Hot Stove seems to be heating up pretty quickly this year; starting to make me feel like anything goes right now.
Anything goes a little faster after the 23rd, when clubs will know who is getting arby offers and who will cost them comp picks to sign. There are usually a few deals on hold pending the non offers.
Bradley and Wedge is going to be fun to watch, as someone not rooting for the M’s
according to the extra bases blog
One major league source indicated last night that the Sox will go no more than four years, $52 million for Adrian Beltre. And they appear to be on the same type of path with Victor Martinez.
anyone else think theo&CO, are 100% right on this.. i wouldn’t give either of them more then 4 years my self.
I hope they don’t even offer four to V-Mart…unless he stays for three, I’d like to see that position stay open for Salty or one of our many decent-but-not-great catching prospects.
And I hope that price range doesn’t mean they’re out of the running for Beltre. Was hoping to see them push hard for him.
Give Martinez the fourth year, but make sure he spends most of that time at first base.
or DH
But why would you even want him at first or DH? Even if Youkilis moves to third, V-Mart is pretty low on the list of possible 1B candidates. Fielder, A-Gon, trading for another, even a prospect like Rizzo would likely be better options. His offense is superb for a catcher, mediocre for a first baseman.
But why would you even want him at first or DH? Even if Youkilis moves to third, V-Mart is pretty low on the list of possible 1B candidates. Fielder, A-Gon, trading for another, even a prospect like Rizzo would likely be better options. His offense is superb for a catcher, mediocre for a first baseman.
Why the concern over giving Victor Martinez a long-term deal?
I know it’s not durability…
“Zduriencik also said he doesn’t expect Milton Bradley’s history with manager Eric Wedge to be an issue.”For how long, Jack? Until they meet?
History with Wedgie? How about his history with his temper?
That’s the damdest thing about having Milton Bradley on your ballclub. It’s not his history that you have to worry about. It’s his future.
Well if you say something enough times it might come true…
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Good to see that DD isn’t “counting on” Andy Oliver just yet. I wouldn’t be “counting on” Phil Coke in the rotation, either. At least we know what we’ve got with Galarraga, but Coke is a complete unknown in the rotation at this point. Need a starting pitcher, DD, and they’re going fast!
Agreed on Coke. I’d rather have him in the bullpen and a “known” commodity in the rotation.
I still think (hope?) they’ll end up landing a starter that’ll make this Coke-to-the-rotation talk moot.
I’m sure they sign a starter. I think galaraga will earn a spot and really hope they go out and sign a starter and leave coke in the pen. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them sign boderman at a bargain and try him out in the pen too but they need a solid 4-5 guy to fill out the rotation as badly as anything else.
I’d rather they let Bondo walk, to be honest. I feel like they’ve gotten everything out of him that he could give.
It would be nice if I’m wrong and he rebounds from this slew of injuries to be the pitcher he was the first half of ’07, though.
With all the young pitching the Tigers have as stated earlier, one has to wonder if they will talk to Arizona about Justin Upton if they fail to lure VMart, Dunn, Crawford or Werth to Detroit. Arizona has plenty of position players in their farm, but barely any pitching. Their top pitching prospect Jarrod Parker just had Tommy John. Detroit’s the opposite, loaded with pitching, but barely any hitters. With Verlander-Porcello-Scherzer, they really only need to sign middle of the rotation guys or Oliver, Gallaraga and Coke to step up to be their 4th and 5th. The Tigers could afford to trade Turner, Crosby, Villareal, and a solid OF prospect like Boesch or Casper Wells for Upton, especially if it meant getting 5 decently cost-effective years of the potential superstar as opposed to renting a big bat like Prince Fielder for one season. It’s hard for Detroit to lure top free agents so it might be best for them to trade for a player knowing he’s guaranteed 5 years production. Arizona would have an unbelievable potential rotation within a few years with Turner, Parker, Hudson, Crosby/Corbin, and Kennedy/Skaggs/Villareal and still have plenty of offense left over without Upton.
Then the Tigers farm would have no pitching or hitting.
8 of the Tigers top 15 prospects are pitchers and they have 3-4 established young starters in the majors already. Trading 3 of them would arguably deplete the farm system LESS than the MCab-D-Train trade did. Depending on if you count Gallaraga as their 5th starter, their only need in the rotation is a solid 3rd or 4th pitcher, preferably LH. Oliver or Coke can be that guy. What everyone agrees on is that the Tigers farm has NO offensive “superstars” in it. Strieby and Fields have high ceilings, but need to develop more. Upton would provide them with 5 years they need to draft and develop one and keep fans coming to the games with the team in most likely in contention. With all the young talents under team control for the next 5 years like MCab, Verlander, Scherzer, A-Jax, Porcello, and even Avila and Sizemore the Tigers should do everything they can to provide the Tigers with a legitimate shot to win in that window.
I’m afraid DD is going to think like you. I really don’t think this is the time to trade those young arms with all of the money available for free agents or salary trades and the potential of few of those kids could be better than anything they have in the majors right now. I just think they could be really selling themselves short by moving them right now. even if they could get a greinke, Hanley or a Jimenez type player they would cost everything we have.
DD would be thinking the right way then. Overpay and give up high draft-picks for an aging offensive player with bad defense and arguably closer to hitting his decline(either Dunn or VMart) or pay even more for one with better defense (Werth) but still relatively old 32. Or for LESS money, trade your top 2 pitching prospects and 2-3 top 15 prospects for a player that hasn’t even reached his prime yet, will contribute at a cost-effective contract, and has arguably BETTER offensive upside than ANYONE on the free agent list, including Carl Crawford. The Tigers have decently high draft picks next draft and could replace what they trade with another pitcher-heavy draft.
I like your calculus. And, you haven’t even taken into account how hard it is for Tigers to actually sign high demand free agents. (think about it, before ’06 no one would come to Detroit unless they were out of options, but even after ’06 Tigers haven’t landed any top10 free agents). One thing the Tigers have going for them is deep pockets for picks. Porcello, Perry, Turner, Oliver, Fields, etc – they’ve paid top dollar to sign each and have quickly rebuilt their system.
Excellent point, one that i normally address. I can’t remember the last BIG free agent Detroit signed outside of Magglio, who was coming off an injury plagued season. Damon and Valverde don’t count as there were hardly any bidders.The other thing I did not take into account thats worth noting is that Mike Illytch is OLD. He wants a ring now, and is willing to deplete the farm system to do so. But even if a Justin Upton-esque trade were to not work out and Detroit falls out of contention within the next 5 years, they could always trade Upton again, rebuild some of the farm, or trade other top notch players like Cabrera and Verlander to fully rebuild it and have the money to spend on the good draft slots they would have BECAUSE of the failure to contend or the bad draft slots if they contend. Win-Win.Meanwhile, if they sign and overpay a big, aging free agent, he may be harder to move if they fall out of contention. Additionally, he would not net you the prospects that retrading Upton would. AND they wouldn’t get the draft picks they deserve after this season, regardless of how well they contend. Lose-Lose
I would trade those young pitching prospects for Greinke, given that Greinke is still pretty young himself and a very proven commodity. I would also empty the farm system for Hanley Ramirez, to get that kind of offensive production out of the Shortstop position is hard to find. I wouldnt trade those blue chip pitching prospects for Upton though.
Wow, that Dombrowski sure is playing it coy. He could add righthanders, lefthanders, or possibly both to the bullpen! Tigers’ fans must be on the proverbial edges of their seats.
Dombrowski is like that. Plays his cards close to his vest and/or gives vague answers.
aardsma+figgins for mark renyolds…… sign brian fuentes=AL West Champs!!!
“Zduriencik also said he doesn’t expect Milton Bradley’s history with manager Eric Wedge to be an issue. ”
And Jack Z didn’t expect him to lose it in 2010 either. And Jim Hendry didn’t expect him to be batshit crazy when he signed him to a three year contract. And the Padres didn’t expect him to lose control, even if he was provoked. And the Dodgers didn’t expect him to be a malcontent towards fans and teammates. And the Indians didn’t expect him to treat police officers and his manager as if they were nothing to him.
Perhaps worst of all…. Given the way the Rangers handled him, coddling him and constantly staying on top of his behavior issues it’s obvious that they didn’t expect him to stay out of trouble. Sure, he blew up when a TV guy criticized him but they raced after him and cut him off before he could do anything really stupid. They knew what to expect from him and even with kid gloves they barely kept him from self destructing yet again.
So, Jack Z can say he doesn’t think Bradley’s issues with Wedge, clearly his favorite manager, will be an issue but I doubt even he believes what he’s saying. Maybe reaching out last year and getting help will keep Bradley from losing it again but I won’t believe it until it doesn’t happen.
Dude. Get over it. Just cause ur a cubs fan and had him for a bad year, doesn;t mean u should keep whining bout him. get over it, and wait until your cheering for a playoff team before continuing. Thanks! :)
Jack Z better do something fairly quickly in regards to finding another lefty or two for the Mariners bullpen. In recent history the M’s have always had a decent lefty out there. Might as well bring back Aurthur Rhodes! That guy has always struck out more than he walks.