The first-place Diamondbacks had a magic number of 2 to clinch the NL West entering Thursday's action and could pop the champagne as soon as Friday. Here are some notes regarding three of the division's other ballclubs:
- Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp, echoing what his agent said recently, told Beto Duran of ESPN 710 radio in Los Angeles that he hasn't yet begun discussing a possible contract extension with the club but he'd like to spend the rest of his career there (Twitter link). Kemp is eligible for free agency after 2012.
- Giants lefty Jonathan Sanchez won't return in 2011 and may have thrown his last pitch for the Lads, writes Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. The Giants may non-tender Sanchez, or, if they do go through the arbitration process with him, could decide to trade him for a bat, according to Baggarly. Sanchez, 28, dealt with injuries and ineffectiveness this season, making just 19 starts, while earning $4.8MM. Sanchez does possess a big arm, so he won't have trouble finding a new job if and when the Giants decide to move on.
- The Rockies will seek a trade partner to offload closer Huston Street, perhaps in return for a starting pitcher, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. However, Renck notes it won't be easy to shop Street considering the depth of relief pitching on the free-agent market, so he could just as easily return to Colorado in 2012 (Twitter links).
- Giants first base prospect Angel Villalona, who recently had murder charges against him dropped in his native Dominican Republic, has reportedly changed agents from Boras Corp. to Para Sports, tweets Baggarly. Para Sports represents Orioles pitcher Alfredo Simon, as Baggarly notes, who also had murder charges against him dropped in the Dominican.
am i wrong for thinking all this “dodgers could spend this winter” is talking about kemp/ethier more than a FA?
Non-tendering Sanchez would be beyond stupid . . . which is why it will happen.
I know. Who else are they going to find to walk that many guys?
Well my particular plan would be to offer him arbitration and include him in a trade for a hitter.
Sanchez has very minimal trade value. He’s had one good year and still hasn’t honed his control problems. Cain and Bumgarner have less walks than him and have pitched in almost double the amount of games. His trade value was at it’s peak last offseason. No way we’re getting a hitter for him.
I guarantee you some other team out there would take a chance on him.
I don’t doubt a team would, he has talent, but they won’t give up someone of much value. A player they would give up, will not help us with our needs. If this was last year, we probably could’ve gotten a good player back.
it will save them 6M or they could trade him for a bullpen arm
“Giants lefty Jonathan Sanchez won’t return in 2011 and may have thrown his last pitch for the Lads”
Lads? I have never in all my years as a Giants fan heard that term in relation to the Giants. I see that and think Los Angeles Dodgers. Wth is a “Lad”?
I read Lads and thought the same thing. I figured it was just my relative ignorance of Giants’ history.
Para Sports should change their name to something along the lines of Murder Inc. That, or they need a “killer” catchline for the agency.
Jonathan Sanchez WILL NOT be non-tendered. Even at $6-7million for 2012, ANY team in baseball would love to pencil him in anywhere from #3 to #5. While he may lead the league in walks, he also will allow the least hits, and be top 5 in strikeouts. Um, that’s a pretty good lefthanded pitcher. I know this may just be me, but I’d rather see a walk than a hit. Jonathan Sanchez is frustrating to watch, but maybe the most exciting pitcher in baseball. I’ve never seen a player get out of bases-loaded jams with one or no outs without allowing a run as many times as he has.
Personally, the Giants should keep him and pitch him. He would be the best #5 in baseball, easy.
But that said, I would be there are teams that would love to get Sanchez, and would love to try to get him cheaply. I think the Red Sox would love to have him, as would any other team that needs an above-average left-handed pitcher. Sanchez is still a pretty valuable player.
Top 5 in strikeouts? I think Kershaw, Halladay, Lincecum, Lee, Hamels, Kennedy have something to say about that.
I wouldn’t mind having him back, but not at 7m. That can be used somewhere else where we need it more, like CF or SS.
well, obviously not this year as Sanchez only made about half his starts. Nonetheless, he had a k/9 of 9.1, which is elite, and would place him in the top 5-10 of SP this year. Moreover, he had a k/9 or 9.5 last year, which I’m nearly positive was top 5 in the league (to go along with 205 strikeouts total…elite, but lower than halladay/hamels/etc because sanchez doesn’t go as many innings because he runs his pitch count up so high).
He also allowed the fewest hits/9 last year at 6.6, and was at 7.1 this year before getting injured.
He’s still a very good lefthanded starting pitcher, and many teams have enormous holes. There are very few elite pitchers, and tons upon tons of bad pitchers in MLB today. Sanchez isn’t an elite pitcher, but he has elite stuff, and if he throws strikes, can give you an elite performance. I bet Boston would give anything to have a healthy jonathan sanchez right now. The yankees too. Detroit, Milwaukee, Arizona, every contender sans philly could use him in their rotation or in their bullpen.
He’s worth signing for this year, pitching through 10 starts, then trading with prospects for another team for a bat, or for trading for a good prospect, straight up. Non-tendering him would mean we get nothing for a pretty good southpaw; if we weren’t stuck with zito, and didn’t have vogelsong and surkamp, we wouldn’t even be questioning this. Just because the Giants don’t need him doesn’t mean nobody else wouldn’t.
I knew you didn’t mean this year for top 5, but I doubt he will ever be top 5 in K’s. He’s got great stuff, but isn’t consistent. I don’t think he will ever hit the mark where is consistent. He’ll be 29 on Opening Day and still hasn’t gained control yet. When he’s on, he’s great, but when he’s not, it’s a train wreck, and that happens more often than not. If we were to trade him, it’d be near the trade deadline, not in Mid May (10 start point). I can even see them not trading him if he does well, since the Giants love pitching.
Unless you find a team you can fleece like Anthopolous did to the Cardinals (which I do not trust Sabean to do), no one is going to give up much value for Sanchez. Clearly the coaching we’re giving him hasn’t been able to help him keep his mechanics under control at all. Why buy high when you can buy low?
He said that on the Mason and Ireland show today on 710 ESPN at 2:30pm PST not to Beto Duran. Source: I was listening.
If Sanchez were to become available, the Mets should be all over him. He is exactly the kind of buy low option that can help rebuild the Mets horrid rotation.
I saw Renck tweeted recently the Rockies may target Twins’ Pavano. An interesting trade could be built around a Pavano-for-Street swap. Street could replace Capps in the pen for Minnesota while Pavano gives the Rockies some of that SP depth they need.