A round-up of news from around the majors….
- The Mariners will be hard-pressed to contend with AL West superpowers like the Rangers and Angels, but Larry Stone of the Seattle Times argues the club shouldn't think about trading Felix Hernandez. Stone thinks such a deal would cause a "backlash" among M's fans and "there's still plenty of time to consider a Hernandez trade down the road if the Mariners' situation gets more dire."
- Michael Cuddyer was frustrated by the negativity surrounding the Twins last season and isn't sure if the team will be able to contend in the near future, reports Phil Mackey of ESPN 1500 Radio. The Twins have had a three-year, $24-$25MM offer on the table to Cuddyer for the last few days and the Rockies may also be willing to go to three years for the veteran. Mackey speculates the Cardinals could check in on Cuddyer to help fill the void left by Albert Pujols.
- Octavio Dotel tells MLB.com's Jason Beck that his choice of teams came down to the Tigers and the Brewers. Dotel says the Padres were also interested in signing him as a setup man.
- MLB.com's Todd Zolecki has contract details for a number of new Phillies, most notably Jonathan Papelbon.
- Carlos Beltran hasn't gotten much attention this winter, and Fangraphs' Eric Seidman names seven teams who could be a fit for the free agent outfielder.
- Nick Punto is "at or near [the] top" of the Braves' list of backup infield options, reports David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter).
- A rival executive tells FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi (Twitter link) that the Mets won't trade David Wright. "He’s more valuable to them than he would be to any other team," the exec says.
Let the Felix for Montero, Betances, and Nunez type offers start…now.
Felix for Montero, Betances and Nunez.. please?
I hope Cuddyer goes to the Cards. They need him.
I’d rather get Beltran. Not a big fan of Cuddy.
Mariners will be hard pressed? They midaswell just stay home this season. They need to work on their farm system; Baseball Prospectus had them at 13th and BA at 18th before the season started, and I’m pretty sure Ackley burned his prospect status, so they’re probably at best 20th now.
They also have a very good top-three in terms of young pitching prospects with Walker, Hultzen, and Paxton. Add in Nick Franklin and they have some guys worth noting. Now as to the depth, perhaps not so much…
Never said their farm was bare. I should have emphasized a little more clearly that they need to work on obtaining positional prospects. Their pitching is.. adequate.
Actually were at 10-13 but there is no hitters on the way its all pitching with guys like Hultzen,Paxton,Walker who all have top of the rotation stuff.
Nick Franklin and Vinnie Catricala beg to differ.
Maybe Nick Franklin but Catricala really isn’t a star type player.
So people don’t develop or improve over time?
No he can but he isn’t considered a A prospect like the 3 pitchers i named are hes lower down.
So people don’t develop or improve over time?
We did add Hultzen, Frank Martinez, and Chiang. Trayvon would have been rated high in the farm as well.
Not to mention Ruffin.
I don’t think punto is the right answer for the braves
Depends on what the question is.
Punto makes a lot of sense for the Braves… versatile defender, decent glove at all the infield positions. So long as he doesn’t cost more than $1Mish I’m all for it.
Punto is going back to STL. I think that’s pretty much a given at this point.
Thanks for shunning the Brewers OD! I knew I liked you!
And the “Beating a Dead Horse Award” goes to, yet again, the notion of trading Felix Hernandez!
I really want Cuddy to go to the Rockies. He’d be a perfect fit.
Cuddy is running out of years. As much as I would love to see him stay with the Twins, he’s not going to chase the money. He’s going to go after a ring.
I’d rather see the Twins let Cuddyer go and instead sign Josh Willingham and Edwin Jackson. The Twins can certainly afford this while also adding some solid bullpen arms.
I wouldn’t be against Punto to the Braves as a backup infielder as long as the price is reasonable. He has a decent glove and can play several positions.
He has more than just a descent glove. Just saying.
I think you could get more upside and same versatility from Gordon Beckham, and just maybe coming back to Altanta kick starts a little hitting.
I actually wouldn’t be opposed to trading Felix if we don’t sign Prince because as we have seen with all Mariner players the M’s front office doesn’t pay them. Randy Johnson,Griffey,A-Rod.
Are you special? We offered Alex a huge contract, and he turned it down. Griffey’s situation was about him being closer to home, and he got his wish. Nothing they could do about that. Johnson, yeah they could have ponied up, but that trade led to the foundation of the 2001 season.
And really? We don’t pay them? We locked up Felix below market. We locked up Ichiro. The previous front office is to blame for what the Mariners are right now. A depleted farm system which has had to be rebuilt from the ground up. And a bunch of bad contracts were given out like Halloween candy.
Stop being so reactionary.
I don’t give the M’s any credit for locking Felix up he gave them a huge discount Boston or the Yankees would have gladly payed the 150M+ to get him infact if he didn’t give us the discount he would be with one of those clubs through a trade. Obviously we didn’t offer enough to A-Rod and i don’t believe the front office on that front. Sure Griffey wanted to be closer to home but that wasn’t the only reason we didn’t offer him enough money either.
Also you realize why Ichiro was payed right? Because he brings them a ton of money they can shove in there pockets. Face it the M’s are turning into the Pittsburgh Pirates and Felix will be traded away soon.
I won’t turn my back on the M’s but the fan base is dwindling seems like we only get 8k people attending games now a days unless there throwing Bobble heads at people.
I want Z to stay the GM but i want new ownership because our owners are awful. Im going to laugh if they give us the rebuild excuse as to why they won’t go out and get Fielder because he is 27 and fits perfectly into a rebuilding team.
I’ll be devestated if we commit so much money to him that we can’t sign any other players. That being said, I hope the Twins increase their “fluid payroll” to sign Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Edwin Jackson, and some bullpen arms. But knowing how tight this organization is with money, they’ll forget how nice it is to have more than two power hitters in the lineup.
It never ceases to amaze me how out of touch with reality some people are.
Fact: the Twins have added over 50M to their payroll, as based on actual amounts on Cots, yet some here are delusional and say they don’t spend. Perhaps many Twins fans don’t look at team payrolls. lol. They live in a dream world of fantasy. lol.
2011:
$113,237,000
2010:
$ 97,659,167
2009:
$ 65,299,266
Yes, I agree with you. Except the Twins do have limits, and signing Cuddyer may restrict the Twins from signing some other key, free agents. Is that really too difficult for you to comprehend? Did you not notice my statement regarding the “fluid payroll”?
I’ll be devestated if we commit so much money to him that we can’t sign any other players. That being said, I hope the Twins increase their “fluid payroll” to sign Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Edwin Jackson, and some bullpen arms. But knowing how tight this organization is with money, they’ll forget how nice it is to have more than two power hitters in the lineup.
i think this is a sighn that cuddy will not be a twin next year.
i think this is a sighn that cuddy will not be a twin next year.
Never been a fan of trading Felix but I see no other way to paying Felix back for his services. He will never reach the post season with Seattle. Lets be real, the FO is more concerned where to put Ichiro in the lineup than producing a winning ball team. I’m sick and tired of watching a losing team and I’m sure Felix is as well.
I hope we don’t sign Ichiro to a big extension that would be horrible.
The Seattle organization is so unpredictable and so detached from reality it’s a wonder they can even get guys to play on the team. I see Felix getting traded and Prince signing with the Cubs.
No kidding the only guy we ever payed was Ichiro.
Totally agree, if the Rangers find a way to keep their team their will be two teams ahead of the Mariners for another 5-10 years. The Angels and Rangers have tight grasp on the division and while the Mariners have been a non-factor for the last decade. This team needs many more pieces and they would be wise to add them if possible.
At least you are not the Astros.
nick punto ?? jajaj
Felix is only 25. I just had to remind myself of that. It seems like he’s been around forever.
I’d hate to see Cuddy leave the Twins. He is the only really good righty they have and AL teams basically gave up running on him in right. He has a frickin cannon out there. But if the Twins us the money upgrade pitching it might end up being a good thing.
I have a feeling that Cuddy is waiting on the Prince Fielder situation. Why settle for what the Rockies and Twins are offering when you can get at least $15 to $20 million per year from a team desperate for a 1st baseman.
Good point. Although, he is out of his mind if he thinks he is getting $15-20 million per year.
There are a lot of teams that are desperate for a 1st baseman. But if Cuddyer can get $15 to 20 million for his services, so be it. Heck, some team might be so desperate to get a quality 1st baseman that they might decide to give up three A+ rated prospects in order to nab Justin Morneau, and they would eat Morneau’s entire contract, in the process, as well.
Good point. Although, he is out of his mind if he thinks he is getting $15-20 million per year.