Links for Wednesday night..
- Brewers negotiator Teddy Werner told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter) that the ability for Shaun Marcum to exceed the $4MM arb midpoint via incentives was key to making the deal happen.
- Royals outfielder Gregor Blanco is out of options and on the bubble, writes Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
- The Mets could learn a lot from the Rangers, who also experienced financial trouble recently, writes Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal.
- Jake Peavy is eager to fulfill the expecations that the White Sox had for him when they traded for him in 2009, writes Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.
- Agent Adam Karon has been promoted to partner and general counsel at Sosnick-Cobbe Sports, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Karon represents Jonathan Singleton, Brent Morel, Jesse Biddle, Sean Coyle, Chris Heisey, and others.
- Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (via Twitter) points out that the Cardinals have an exclusive negotiating window with Albert Pujols from the end of the team's season to five days after the World Series.
- The Cards should give Pujols the dollars he's looking for but only across seven years, says Jon Heyman of SI (via Twitter).
- The White Sox are amongst the teams that did well this offseason, writes Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer.
- Reliever Duaner Sanchez worked out for several clubs in Arizona today, though the Red Sox were not among them, tweets Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe. The veteran right-hander last pitched in the majors in 2009 when he made 12 appearances for the Padres.
Pujols? You got to give him the money, You sure don’t want to play against him
Thank you, Jon Heyman for solving that for the Cardinals. It’s not like that is their plan anyway.
i dunno, it may be in the cards best interest. pujols may not feel 100% this year, and have an off year, possibly lowering his asking price?
If Kenny Williams wasn’t a moron the Sox could have Dan Hudson and Clayton Richard instead of Edwin Jackson and Jake Peavy. Cheaper, younger, and way more healthy. Way to go KW!
If they can’t sign Pujols by Monday (the 14th) then why don’t they give him an Andre Dawson check and say, “Here ya go, see ya Wednesday”?
I hope Maier gets the bench job over Blanco.
Great article on Peavy, I hope he returns to his old form. Peavy was one of the best pitchers in baseball not too long ago. I can’t believe he is under 30. It’s tough for fans when they see his contract and he’s not pitching, but I can see that it has been a tough road for him.
It’s hilarious to see Blanco listed before Pujols and Peavy.
The Braves should snatch up Blanco if he hits waivers! Heh.
Blanco has a career OPS+ of 85, Peavy only has a career OPS+ of 23. Clearly Blanco is better.
I liked Blanco when he was on the Braves. At least he added a little bit of speed to the lineup and could take a walk.
I remember when Sanchez was a capable relief pitcher, and then he just lost it.
It’s really sad what happened to him, he was pretty dominant. He has never been the same since his taxi in the DR was involved in a serious accident.
It was in Miami
I think one of the biggest questions the cardinals are asking themselves is, Can we sign Albert pujols and still win? I think the answer to that has yet to be seen so it could come down to this season.
I expect the Cardinals not to sign Albert Pujols before the season starts, and if the Cards are winning throughout the season or win their division, then the Cards will give Pujols what he wants and is asking for. It’s as simple as that.
The way I figure it is the only way the Cards sign Pujols is if they also increase the payroll. Assume Pujols gets over $30M, if the Cards want to pick up the options for Carpenter and Wainwright and keep their current team salary around what it is then 75% of their team salary will be tied up in 4 players, slightly less than 85% if you include Molina as well. That’s either a recipe for disaster or simply blind optimism.
That said, I believe someone told me the other day that the Cards would have most (all?) of the new stadium paid off after this season, so I don’t understand any argument where the Cards keep the payroll at status quo, whether or not they extend Pujols, especially when you consider the Cards have the 4th highest attendance in the majors. So I think if they let Pujols walk the question might come down to “how committed is the ownership to bringing in a World Series team.”
I think Carpenter is gone, he will be 37 next year, and they will bring up Miller. The Cards have to sign Pujols unless it gets crazy with the money.
First off, they absolutely CAN sign Pujols! They wouldnt have signed Holliday last year if they didnt have the money. They have averaged better than 3million fans/year for the past 10-15 years. Bill will open the wallet and sign him cause he knows if he doesnt, Cardinal nation will turn our backs on him. We are talking about a player who will be, and already is, considered 1 of the best to ever play the game. If as an owner you cant recognize AND sign him, you need to find a new job
The Red Sox are going to camp with only one backup for the shortstop/2nd base position combo. Either Scutaro, Lowrie, or Pedrois will occupy those positions on any given day. At the same time the Sox are 7 deep in the outfield (Crawford, Ellsbury, Drew, Kalish, Cameron, McDonald and Nava). Taking into account the uncertainty of Pedroia’s physical condition, shouldn’t Theo Epstein be looking around for another infielder capable of playing in the middle of the diamond with a decent bat?
the Royals seem to hate Aviles for some reason. maybe he could be a fit.
Did anyone read that Paul Hoynes article above? He has the Blue Jays as the fifth best offseason? Did I missed something? Sure they added some pieces to their bullpen, but trading away a contract doesn’t make your team better when the person attached to that contract is pretty darn good. Granted Wells had his down years, but I can think of multiple teams that had a better offseason than the Jays.
well thats why you’re not an expert..
They traded a dead weight contract that no one in the MLB considered movable and didn’t send cash with it WHILE still getting back useful pieces..
They got a compensatory draft pick for 500,000 (olivo)
Got draft picks for Downs, Gregg, Buck
Got a blue chip prospect for Marcum
Built one of the best bullpens in the league.
Considering the prices of relievers this offseason, he got Rauch, Dotel and Francisco for 11 million .
It makes me not an expert to think that the Jays did not have one of the best off-seasons? Contract wise, its nice that Wells’s is gone, no one would disagree: Wells is WAY overpaid for his production, but now on a “these teams actually play baseball” level, replace his production.
EDIT: Also wanted to add, that your compensatory draft pick argument is pretty absurd. So if a team retroactively gains draft picks without doing anything they had a good offseason? With that logic, theres NO QUESTION the Rays have a better offseason than the Jays.
REALLY? Garza, Crawford, Pena vs. Downs, Gregg, Buck
c’mon man
besides pujols, holliday, carpenter, and wainwright, who is making much money in STL? they must have a very small payroll considering how good a team they are.
Kyle Lohse (haha), Jake Westbrook, Lance Berkman, and Yadi Molina
I know Pujols has the “10/5 rule” but if there was a way around it they should trade Pujols to the Giants for Buster Posey and Tim Lincecum. Poseys can play 1st and a rotation with Adam Wainwright, Tim Lincecum, Chris Carpenter, Jake Westbrook and Jamie Garcia would almost insure a World Series title.
that would be an awesome idea for the giants. trade away the best pitcher in the game today and posey who’s cieling looks insane(both of which you have years of great value contracts from) for albert pujos who u will have one year of and would have to offer a contract at roughly free-agent value
Hate to break it to ya buddy but Lincecum is NOT the best pitcher in the game today.
Roy Halladay > Lincecum
Adam Wainwright > Lincecum
Felix Hernandez > Lincecum
thats just a few… Did you need more?
As a team owner I would value lincecum highest in 2 years maybe I would say hernandez
Pujols for Lincecum and Posey?????? Only if the Giants are taking stupid pills.
Pujols best days are BEHIND him. When will people face the reality that free agents in their early 30’s are on the decline. Certainly he is still a good player- but injuries and worse statistics will surely arise.