Here are the rest of the day's links on the 11th anniversary of the Shawn Green–Raul Mondesi trade…
- Darek Braunecker, the agent for Cliff Lee, told the AP (on CBS Sports) that his client is “clearly the best player on the free-agent market.” Hard to argue with that one.
- If the A's reach a deal with Japanese righty Hisashi Iwakuma, they'll have a surplus of arms and a number of suitors for them, so Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea wouldn't be surprised if Oakland flips a starter for some offense this offseason.
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson will interview DeMarlo Hale, Clint Hurdle and Don Wakamatsu for the team's managerial opening according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter).
- Andy Martino of the New York Daily News hears that the Mets will also consider internal candidates Tim Teufel and Ken Oberkfell.
- The Blue Jays announced that Wakamatsu will serve as the team's bench coach assuming the Mets don't hire him to be their next manager. Joining Wakamatsu on John Farrell's staff: former AL Cy Young Award winner Pat Hentgen.
- Derrek Lee, who had surgery on a ligament in his right thumb, told Yahoo's Tim Brown that he'd like to sign with a team that has a good chance of reaching the playoffs.
- The Pirates agreed to a minor league deal with left-handed reliever Justin Thomas, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.
- Mike Hampton, who pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings with Arizona last year, wants to pitch again and is drawing interest, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
I love Hisashi Iwakuma going to the A’s. What a great deal. I love the A’s and am picking them to win the World Series in 2011. I think signing Hideki Matsui would be an extroadinaly crucial move if the A’s want to win, also think about the impact that he could have on Iwakuma and someone else who I think could be on the A’s next season — Yoshi.
And I think Vin Mazzaro has to be the one flipped. He could bring back something in return and to sweeten the deal, put in either Tyson Ross or Ian Krol possibly…
I’m a big Iwakuma fan myself, and I think he will turn out much better than Daisuke did. I also think that he will be a huge boon to the A’s rotation which is shaping up to be great.
Do you really think the A’s are going to win the Series next season though? They need much more offense. More offense than Matsui can provide. If they sign him and get a bat like Casey McGehee who was proposed as a potential trade target, then I still think they need more to provide an offense that is of a high enough caliber to compete for the title.
I’m not saying it’s impossible; The Giants were in a same predicament when it came to offense coming into the 2010 season, but they were helped out in huge part by the contributions of Posey and Burrell midway into the season and then by Ross in the playoffs. I just don’t see them getting that kind of production in 2011.
Of course… That’s just this fan’s opinion.
One more thing. I don’t see the A’s going after Tsuyoshi Nishioka after having just spent 17 mil just to get to talk to Iwakuma. That on top of the actual contract I would say takes them out of the running for Nishioka.
That and the fact that Pennington and Ellis are at least a respectable up-the-middle combo. If they add offense, it should be at 3B, DH, or one of the outfield corners.
Definetly 3B and DH…I’d like to see them sign Hideki Matsui, and trade Vin Mazzaro, Tyson Ross for Chris Young. and sign Yoshi.
Why Matsui, when Cust is cheaper, less fragile, and just as good? And why Young? The A’s already have Crisp in CF, and Young does most of his damage at home.
Iwakuma hasn’t gone to the A’s yet, and it’s impossible to call it a great deal. If they sign the guy to a five-year, $10MM great. If they sign him to a four-year, $80MM contract, not so great. It’s far too early to predict the value of Iwakuma’s deal, let alone a 2011 World Series for the A’s.
That rotation is bound to regress some, and their offense is in dire need of help.
I expect everything to go together and I actually think their rotation and pen to be better. They will also acquire a good bat of two.
Their rotation’s ERA outperformed it’s FIP by more than 0.75… that’s pretty substantial, and again, we’ve yet to see how they address the offense.
The price for Iwakuma will be around $25M or so for the immediate future. Sure, if they use the pitching depth to acquire Prince Fielder, sign Adrian Beltre, and get some good production out of Chris Carter or something, then they can contend.
But a lot needs to go right for that to happen. Too early for that kind of prediction.
Like the Giants this year, I think its going to happen to the A’s next year. I do think Chris Carter will have a huge year and win rookie of the year.
Hoping it’s going to happen is one thing, but actually thinking something as improbable as the Giants’ run in 2010 is going to repeat in 2011 is another matter. Plus with Jennings and Hellickson getting full seasons, Carter’s hardly a lock. Especially with how overmatched he was by MLB pitching this season.
It was his first cup of coffee. Your tellling me my opinion is wrong but you are saying Carter is overmatched? Isn’t that you’re opinion? Come on.
I am feeling good about the A’s chances.
Carter started off 0-32 and struck out in 30% of his plate appearances. If you want to say it’s an opinion that those numbers qualify as “overmatched,” that’s fine, but that’s a pretty convincing opinion I’d say. If you disagree, I guess that’s your right, but I’d like to hear your definition of what “overmatched” is then.
There’s nothing wrong with feeling good about the A’s chances, but you’re putting the cart waaaaay before the horse.
At this point, you could arbitrarily declare almost any team to be your World Series favorite. The Nationals could sign 4-5 players and warrant a legitimate prediction as well.
My only point is that it’s incredibly early and there’s an enormous amount of holes (vastly outperforming pitching peripherals, one of the league’s worst offenses) Oakland needs to fill before it can be assumed they’re a World Series threat.
And he finished the season 9 for 30. .318?
Hmm. Remember when we were talking about the Mariners like this after they landed Cliff Lee. I just hope it doesent go that way because I’m really excited for the A’s.
The rotation can regress some and still be very good. Also, your talking about a very young rotation that is still growing together and will continue to improve. I understand that by using advanced metrics such as FIP and xFIP the rotation wasn’t quite as good as the basic numbers suggest, but they were still a very good group. I’ve read several places that Iwakuma’s annual salary, will be much, much less then the initial posting fee and likely in the 4-5mm range so I think its safe to assume this deal will not crush the A’s even if it doesn’t work out as planned. I’m not gonna sit here and predict a world championship for the A’s in 2011, but it’s pretty obvious among baseball fans/people that this team is going to be pretty good adding 2-3 bats to a team that managed a .500 record with next to no offense last year.
The rotation can regress some and still be very good. Also, your talking about a very young rotation that is still growing together and will continue to improve. I understand that by using advanced metrics such as FIP and xFIP the rotation wasn’t quite as good as the basic numbers suggest, but they were still a very good group. I’ve read several places that Iwakuma’s annual salary, will be much, much less then the initial posting fee and likely in the 4-5mm range so I think its safe to assume this deal will not crush the A’s even if it doesn’t work out as planned. I’m not gonna sit here and predict a world championship for the A’s in 2011, but it’s pretty obvious among baseball fans/people that this team is going to be pretty good adding 2-3 bats to a team that managed a .500 record with next to no offense last year.
Span, you do realize Mazzaro won’t get you much. Tyson will definetly sweeten the deal. But I think Braden should also be flipped. In my opinion, Josh Outman is the better pitcher, and he’s coming off TJ surgery, and people say pitchers come back stronger after TJ surgery. Ask Tim Hudson.
Vin Mazzaro, Tyson Ross/Ian Krol, and Dallas Braden can land you a Chris Young.
Not at all that’s wrong.
Wrong. He will land you a lot. He is a young pitcher with a lot of potential. I assume your not familiar with him but he can definetly bring back a quality bat in return.
“braden, krol, mazzaro, Ross” that’s enough to bring you two DBacks hitters.
I don’t see it happening. They’ve got the Angels and the Rangers in their way. Plus, their pitchers were a little lucky. Their staff as a whole don’t really strike guys out either.
Brett Anderson and Gio Gonzalez are two definite strike out arms.
Gio’s 7.7 K/9 is nothing special. Thus far, Anderson has only had 7.0 K/9 in the majors. Plus, the staff as a whole finished 8th in total strikeouts. Their bullpen doesn’t strike guys out either. A lot of that low ERA came from the defense and the ballpark. I think they may finish 2nd next year in their division if they get a little more offense.
I can sit on a disabled list for most of the year like Hampton too! Can I get a league minimum contract?
Someone will sign him for his bat.
I agree… That’s exactly the criteria I have when I think about what pitcher I want my team to sign.
Most certainly! Those are the kind of forward thinking moves that put me in contention for the Mets GM position.
Add Livan, Zambrano, and Owings to that rotation. Ohhhh yeah.
See Family Guy last night? Awesome zinger on the Mets.
His ex-teammate Adam Everett thinks he can return to the majors in spite of his bat. Hampton is a way better hitter than him.
Hampton should resign with Arizona. He might even get a few chances to start until Parker is ready/someone gets hurt.
I would also like to add that you would be taking young from one of the most hitter friendly parks and putting him in one of the most pitcher friendly parks. Need I remind you of what Carlos Gonzalez did for the A’s…nothing.
Hahahah A’s fans crack me up… Chris Young is going NOWHERE so stop we arent trading him for 2 starting pitchers when we already have 4 in our rotation plus Jarrod Paker could show up come spring time. The only batter you have a chance at land for pitching is Mark Reynolds. Young is one of Towers’ keepers.
I think the trade should be Reynolds/minor prospect for Kouzmanoff and Mazzaro/Outman.
See thats a reasonable trade, maybe a bullpen arm instead of Outman because you know Towers loves to find arms via trade. But I wouldnt mind that trade being a Dbacks fan.
You wouldn’t mind that trade because its probably an overpay on the A’s part. Kouzmanoff plus a solid pitching prospect, and a bullpen arm for a poor defensive 3B that strikes out too much and couldn’t manage a .200 BA last season? The one thing Reynolds has going for him is his power. Problem is he would be leaving one of the better hitters parks in baseball and going to one of the worst. A switch to the AL to that park will cause a drop in all his numbers, and most importantly his ISO. Also, Kouzmanoff was a 2.9 WAR player last season compared to a 2.4 WAR for Reynolds.
And Hampton will resign in AZ most likely, hes from Arizona, his family is here and they need a lefty, but you never know.
“Darek Braunecker, the agent for Cliff Lee, told the AP (on CBS Sports) that his client is “clearly the best player on the free-agent market.” Hard to argue with that one.”
Well, I’m happy to argue. Carl Crawford is the best player available on the free-agent market. He’s younger, plays every day, has contributed more to team wins in his 9 seasons in MLB, contributed more this past year, will likely break down later than Lee and thus be more likely to be worth the large contract he’s bound to get.
I have no doubt that Lee will get a larger contract. But to say it’s hard to argue with the idea that he’s the best free agent available is ludicrous.
Pitching may be more valuable in the playoffs, but first you’ve got to get there, and players like Crawford are more help getting you there over the course of a season.
Brett Anderson – Matt Kemp trade?
With a line like this .249/.310/.450/.760 in 2010, no thanks.
Besides, Brett is locked up through 2013 with team options for 14 & 15.
His value isn’t entirely based on one season…
But I had forgotten Anderson’s extension. So, yeah, that dorsn’t work.
Defense sucks too.
No Way. Beane would never make that deal.
Kemp’s sudden drop off in defense and production and attitude for Anderson = hell no
Kemp’s sudden drop off in defense and production and attitude for Anderson = hell no
I would LOVE Wakamatsu on the Mets, I always thought he was unfairly treated in Seattle and that he deserves another head coaching gig.
Also, do you think the Braves have interest in bringing Derrek Lee back?
as long as he stays away from the Mets, he can be a manager again.
as long as he stays away from the Mets, he can be a manager again.
Hampton 4 1/3 scoreless innings after like 20 years of injuries and he is drawing interest? If held up for say 6 innings maybe. Can GM’s be that desperate?
LOL I honestly forgot about Hampton, as sad as it sounds is the only player more injury prone than Nick Johnson which is quite the feat
LOL I honestly forgot about Hampton, as sad as it sounds is the only player more injury prone than Nick Johnson which is quite the feat
if Lee was willing to sign for 4-5 million, he might be a very good fit with the Rays. If he could regain his power stroke and his wrist is healthy, he would provide a lot of RH’ed protection behind Longoria in their line-up and he is still a good glove at first base.
if Lee was willing to sign for 4-5 million, he might be a very good fit with the Rays. If he could regain his power stroke and his wrist is healthy, he would provide a lot of RH’ed protection behind Longoria in their line-up and he is still a good glove at first base.
Urban is a hack. He wrote that as if he came up with some brilliant scheme the A’s could use to improve the offense. Only problem is Beane said that was his plan in a podcast about three days ago.
Urban’s is probably writing a piece right now detailing why he thinks the Cowboys should fire Wade Phillips.
Ya that was a nice podcast. Its been a long time since I have heard Beane say he plans on being very aggressive over the offseason. It’s obvious he thinks highly of this team going into next year, I just hope he can achieve what he said he wants to do in adding a bat through both free agency and trades.