Some interesting items to pass along from around the AL "Beast" …
- The Red Sox were gauging trade interest in some of their out-of-options pitchers at the GM Meetings this week, a source tells Alex Speier of WEEI.com. Franklin Morales, Andrew Miller, Felix Doubront, Michael Bowden and Scott Atchison are all out of options but aren't locks to make next year's bullpen, according to Speier, so Boston may decide to add or remove some of these players from the 40-man roster based on relative trade interest.
- The Rays are hopeful of extending the contract of manager Joe Maddon, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.com. Maddon is entering the final year of a three-year extension he signed in 2009.
- The Yankees may shy away from pursuing Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish if he's posted because of the club's history with busts Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa, opines Heyman (Twitter link), although owner Hal Steinbrenner told reporters, such as the New York Post's Joel Sherman and Newsday's Ken Davidoff, that the team will evaluate each player on a case-by-case basis.
- The Blue Jays are interested in free agent DH David Ortiz, tweets Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.
- Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano said that last month's rumors that he was angling for a contract extension was the result of a joke gone awry, according to Spanish-language Web site DiarioLibre.com. “I’m not thinking about the contract. My lawyer told a journalist as a joke that I was looking for a contract extension, and that’s what got published… I’m not thinking about that. The team has a $14MM option for next year." Thanks to MLBTR's Nick Collias for the translation.
AL “Beast” ? I LOL’d
AL Beast… and zero mention of the O’s
Good God…..Al “Beast”….
With the additions of the second wild card I look forward to see the excitement that we’ll experience down the road. It’s fairly possible we’ll see the Rays, Red Sox and Yankees battling out for 3 of the five playoff spots, can’t wait!!!!
Ugh…
fairly possible? im a yankee fan and as much as i hate the red sox there not going anywhere and niether are the rays its almost a given at this point
Wouldn’t count the Blue Jays out, maybe not next season, but definitely soon.
i can see them in it if they sign both bronxton and nathan to 1 year incencitive deals with a 2nd year mutual option i have a gut feelingthat if darvish is posted they get him maybe a trade for kendry morales if the “price” i s low
the price better be “free”
First time I’ve seen the idea of going for Morales and I actually really like it. The price can’t be too high since he just missed a whole year. He was becoming a top 1st basemen in the league before his injury and if we can get him for the right price, we could either get a great #4 bat in the lineup, or a backup 1B/DH. Seems like the angels would want to trade him too since they have Trumbo and just drafted CJ Cron.
I doubt they give him up for cheap.
He hasn’t play in 2 years and you want trade for him AND bat him 4th?
buying low on a guy whos done nothing for 2 years sounds like an AA move
AA has bought low on players being mishandled (morrow) or having clubhouse issues (rasmus, escobar,) Don’t really see how this fits in the mold since there are serious health concerns, not playing in 2 years from an injury that usually takes 6 months is a bad sign
Plus with Dipoto as GM, do we really think he is satisfied with Trumbos .287 OBP?
Why should anyone be satisfied with Trumbo’s .287 OBP
Reagins + HR’s
I’ve become a believer in Tebow, but not the Jays, there not close to the Sox, Yanks, or Rays at this point. They just traded away alot of pitching. I don’t know what they were thinking geting rid of Marcum. Now they’re scrammbling to ge pitching, not to mention all the pitchers they gave to the Cards. While AA was making those trades Detriot was getting Fister.
So you believe in the worst and most overhyped quarterback maybe ever more than a young promising baseball team. Lowrie was a huge return for Marcum and the spare parts given away to the Cards won’t hurt in the long run. You aren’t thinking before you make posts like this one.
Yeah cause Lawrie just some nobody we picked up!! Marcum was the price. Alot of pitchers????? Halladay Marcum and Zach Stewart. All the pitchers AA traded to St Louis were expendable relievers that had no future in Toronto. With the exception of Zep who was a dependable reliever and Stewart was the price to get Rasmus.
But To make my point, AA is looking for a top (controlable) SP. Trading Halladay and Marcum brought back a haul of talent and made the team alot younger. Theyre both in their 30’s and weren’t considered in the plans for when they can compete. It makes sense to have a core group of players the same age to compete together for the next 5 years .
Braves have a recent history with making the Yankees their {female dog} in trades so how about Jair Jurrjens for Nick Swisher? If you need pitching so badly then go ahead and gamble!!
A prospect would have to be involved for sure.
but see that’s the thing, we got away with only giving them Boone Logan along with Vasquez and we got a treasure chest in return.
Swisher for Jurrjens… I honestly can’t tell if you’re being funny or serious.
That trade makes no sense to me.
Also, can anyone tell me why Darvish is so special? He throws strikes, which is good. His stuff however, doesn’t seem all that imposing. If Ted Williams were still alive and in his prime, I don’t think he would just bat .406 against these kinds of pitchers, he would bat at least .506 and I am being serious!
Totally serious. Yankees need pitching and Braves need a power outfielder. I would assume Swisher can play left.
Honestly, I don’t know if Swisher could play left field. What I do know is that he drives me crazy and destroys the Orioles. The O’s have no answer for him.
He plays a good RF, why in the world wouldn’t he be able to play LF?
He is implying if the Braves took Swisher from the Yankees. The Braves don’t need a RF
Have you been paying attention to the conversation? Lefty was saying that he doesn’t know if Swisher could play left, then Alex said that Swisher plays well in right so the transition to left would be an easy one. Paying attention the #1 step to understanding.
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What exactly are you talking about when you say “these kind of pitchers”?
Yu Darvish is not like other Japanese pitchers. His fastball is comparable to most MLB pitchers.
And get real please…Ted Williams would not bat .506 against “these kind of pitchers”…
“Is not like other Japanese pitchers.”
They say this about almost all Japanese pitchers
Well it’s a good thing he’s just as Iranian as he is Japanese.
Your ideas are intriguing to me, and I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter.
snail mail or e-mail? lol
Rule V draft is on Friday? Really?
edit: Rosters must be set by November 20th.
The rule 5 is in December; 40 man rosters and minor league reserve lists need to be set by Friday.
Right, so the article and MLBTR worded it wrong there.
Yes. My apologies.
Who would be the back-up Ortiz or EE?
Actually stupid question because of pay but then what would we do with EE? If he does good early do we trade him?
I dont think we should go for him.
Yes.
Or some kind of trade that either sends Lind packaged with something which gives EE chance at 1B. He is quite a decent fielder, just dont ask him to throw and he is pretty quick!
The only way Ortiz comes is if Lind goes.
Ortiz full time DH
Lind VS RHP
EE VS LHP
17th pick + sangwich pick to the sox.. X
For a while.
I just don’t see what Lind or EE could fetch us in a trade, prob more worth while to keep em
they’d be a pretty good platoon
Lind Vs RHP . 771 OPS
EE vs LHP . 845 OPS
but I dont want to sign Ortiz, you’re give a first round pick to a division rival known for going overslot in the draft… You could end up losing a Casey Kelly (30) Ranaudo (39) Bard (28) Buchholz (42) Ellsbury (23) to a close competitor
They don’t always go overslot now. Vitek (20) Fuentes (28).. Situation and who is available usually determines that.
Do you want to win now or 5 years from now?
Ortiz isn’t going to make the Blue Jays win now. You yourself JUST said that the Jays don’t look close to New York, Tampa and Boston.
The Blue Jays signing Ortiz would be completely idiotic unless compensation were completely upended, which all indications say isn’t happening.
“17th pick + sangwich pick to the sox..”
Yes please
….
You should sign Jason Varitek too. You need a backup catcher, right?
(Not that I honestly think the Sox will offer him arbitration anyway)
if Type B compensation continues, I can see AA signing a Type B catcher to a one year deal to get a chance for an additional sandwich pick.
We have a young defensive catcher that we can plug in…
AA in inquire on Varitek, he wanted to wear a Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey with a ‘C’ on it behind the plate. His demands were just too high
Joe Saunders for Felix Dubront makes sense. Plus AZ would prob non tender him anyways.
since AZ wants another lefty outta the pen
The latter means the former doesn’t make sense. If the D’Backs are likely to non-tender Saunders, why bother giving up guy we could use for him? We’d be better off non-tendering Bowden (Doubront is a year younger and a lefty) and signing Saunders once he’s non-tendered.
because all other teams act as a farm ssystem to the Red Sox and Yankees.
How does that make any sense in context of my remark?
We’re not looking to pry Upton away for a package centerpieced by Doubront, I’m just saying there’s no point giving up something of even minimal value for a guy who will very likely be non-tendered anyway.
For one, I don’t much want Saunders, that aside, though, there are two ways of acquiring him here:
Give up a prospect and take his entire bloated salary.
Wait until he gets non-tendered, hold onto your prospect to package for something worthwhile and maybe get Saunders for cheaper on the open market.
There is absolutely no logic to what was suggested.
Yeah but all other teams act as a farm system to the Red Sox and Yankees, so your argument is invalid.
I know, I was being sarcastic.
“The Yankees may shy away from pursuing Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish if he’s posted because of the club’s history with busts Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa, opines Heyman (Twitter link), although owner Hal Steinbrenner told reporters, such as the New York Post’s Joel Sherman and Newsday’s Ken Davidoff, that the team will evaluate each player on a case-by-case basis.”
I kind of dont understand this. It’s like saying the Yankees will shy away from white players because AJ Burnett was a bust.
im really beginning to wish i had chosen to respond to the joe saunders for felix dubront comment instead. have a good night everyone…
this whole notion that the yankees are going to shy away from Yu is insane. Just because some random sports writer, who most of us dont take seriously anyway, thought in his down time the yankees would shy away because of TWO count them TWO pitchers in the past is nuts. These two pitchers debuted at 28 and 32 respectively. Darvish would be 24 or 25 depending on when he actually makes his first MLB start. putting him right on par with most mlb players. Also Darvish is more highly touted then either of these players. If darvish is treated correctly, not rushed and allowed some time, maybe even a full year in the minors he will be just fine. As long as he is not expected to be the second coming of Cy Young and is allowed to mature at a reasonable rate he will be a fine pitcher for an MLB team. He should be given at minimum half a season in AAA to adjust to American life style and the American version of the game. Remember this Nomo was good, Kuroda is good, dice-k over the course of his deal was good, yes he recently had issues that I think are more injury related than anything. But over the course of his deal Dice-k has actually paid off. Ichiro is still great(down year should bounce back) Kaz matsui was good, Iguchi was very good for the white sox. Koske was actually pretty decent, the cubs just didnt know how to use him, not great but not bad. Hideki matsui was always a great hitter and is still good, Saito and Uehara are both very good relievers….all good players. These is no reason to believe that Darvish’s game wont translate, even at 50% he is still a good MLB pitcher…
And if you think that because of two Japanese players teams should shy away from other new comers then the opposite approach could be used for canadian players then because of Votto, Lawrie, Morneau, Jessi Crain, Axford, russel martin, depmster…teams should be foaming at the mouth to draft guys from our upstairs neighbors…
I remember the days when young canadian baseball fans only had Larry Walker and Matt Stairs to look up to. Pretty impressive list now.
If darvish waits until next season they don’t have to do a posting fee for him. Everyone wins, except the Ham Fighters.
I thought so too, but apparently he’s still under contract so he wouldnt be a free agent until 2015
I want to be a Ham Fighter.
Not sure if you are being funny or not, but the team moniker is just “Fighters”. They are owned by Nippon Ham.
You are showing your age kid….Ferguson Jenkins, Reggie Cleveland, Claude Raymond, Dave Pagan, and Pete Ward
Don’t forget about how Darvish is ripping up the NPB, his lifetime ERA there is below 2. His NPB career is much better than Matsuzaka’s was when he was posted.
A year or two ago, one of the Baseball America writers/scouts rated Darvish as 3rd in their 2008 Top List. That makes him equivalent to David Price.
AL East notes and there is absolutely nothing pertaining to the Orioles. The last major news is that the Orioles (via Dan Duquette) is looking to add bench players such as a back up catcher, a middle infielder, and another outfielder. So not only are we not going after top free agents, but we also aren’t addressing the glaring weakness of this team which is the horrendous starting pitching.
It is tough to be an O’s fan. At least we have the cartoon bird logo back. Weee!
Do the O’s really want to go after SP in a market that is so shallow it could give CJ Wilson $100MM?
They’re trying to build that team up and spending big and overpaying guys isn’t going to help them right now. They need to be developing their own pitchers.
Kyle, the Orioles HAVE been trying to develop their own pitchers. Do you know what the results of that has been? 14 consecutive losing seasons, and bank on a 15th if they try to do it again this season.
the ghost of Bedards past…
Ortiz would be a perfect fit for this team
Lineup:
1- Rasmus CF
2- K.Johnson 2b
3- Bautista RF
4- Ortiz DH
5- Lind 1b
6- Lawrie 3b
7- Snyder LF
8- JP C
9- Escobar SS
Bench:
Teahan UT
M.McCoy UT
Encarcion 1b/3b
Wise CF
Jerolamon C
Rotation:
LHP Romero
RHP Morrow
LHP Cecil
RHP Drabek
RHP McGowan
Bullpen:
H.Street(v/trade), J.Rauch, S.Camp, C.Villanueva, Jannsen, Litsch
not bad, but you have our 2nd best hitter batting ninth..
yep…plus…last month, Farrell said he envisions Lawrie as a number 3 hitter. That should shift Bautista down to clean-up.
Yeah, Lawrie BEHIND Lind? You obviously wouldn’t know a stud if he snuck up behind you…
and you spelled Snider wrong.
David Ortiz in Toronto is a win-win…