Congratulations to national baseball writer Jon Heyman, who has a new job with CBSSports.com starting Monday. As usual, Heyman is tweeting up a storm; here's his latest from the Winter Meetings (all links go to Twitter):
- The Royals are talking trades for starters and are in on Oakland's Gio Gonzalez.
- Everyone wants bullpen help but few want it more than the Padres, Brewers, and Red Sox.
- The Phillies haven't completely ruled out Michael Cuddyer, but the Twins are still trying to bring him back as well. The Giants and Red Sox are other logical destinations, in Heyman's estimation.
- The Yankees would love to bring back Andruw Jones for his right-handed pop and strong clubhouse presence.
- Former Reds executive Scott Nethery is in the mix for the Astros GM opening. Andrew Friedman is still their top choice, Bill Geivett and Jeff Luhnow are also in the mix.
- The Astros will also eat most of Carlos Lee's contract to facilitate a trade. They still expect a good return for Wandy Rodriguez and something decent for Brett Myers in any trade.
- Heyman also said this morning that the Angels are looking for a closer and the Pirates are talking to Derrek Lee.
Glad to see Cardinals are wanting to bring Dotel back.
I’m really torn on Dotel. I wouldn’t mind having him back, he was really good for the Cards down the stretch. There are just so many relief options it’s hard to justify passing up the free draft pick from letting him walk. The Cardinals are already pretty strong from the right side of the pen without him.
I would say he has to take a pretty good discount for it to be worth passing up the gift draft pick the new CBA would give them if he signs elswhere.
Did they offer him arb
No, they don’t have to. He is one of the modified free agents that does not require an offer to get the pick. If Dotel signs with another team, the Cardinals will get a supplemental pick. Like I said, it’s a gift.
I’m so excited with the new Astros emphasis on player development. This cannot be anymore evident given the top candidates for the GM job and the willingness to finally eat enough of Carlos Lee’s contract to initiate a trade.
This and additional moves could assist Houston in truly moving forward without the distraction of Carlos Lee’s final season with the club.
New ownership has a good chance of leaving a good first impression on the fan base, even with a 100 plus loss season staring in their face.
There you go ATL there is your leftie killing LF
Wonder if the Pads would have interest in Andruw? Play left field, right handed bat….should come fairly inexpensively…..won’t happen but I think it would be a good fit.
Wandy is decent add for a NL team but I think he gets beat up pretty bad in the AL. He’s still probably serviceable in the AL, but his value drops quite a bit.
What a fall for Andruw though when you think about it. He had a good season for the Yanks and I’d love to see him back, but the guy was once on his way to a possible HOF career. When he fell, he fell off a cliff.
Wait. The Padres need bullpen help? Their pen was loaded last year. Did they give it all away?
Whenever someone mentions Andruw Jones, I always think about his tenure with the Dodgers.
You mean the one that comes off the books after this season….lol
say Papi goes to the Jays or wherever, could anyone see the Red Sox sending 2 prospects to the ‘Stros for Rodriguez (SP we need) & El Caballo (DH, RF when they need a day off, 1B when Gonzo needs a day off)?
Andruw should return to the Yankees