By Tim Dierkes | at
Nippon-Ham Fighters ace Yu Darvish is represented by Arn Tellem of Wasserman Media Group as well as Don Nomura, MLBTR has confirmed. There had been rumors of a Darvish-Tellem connection dating back to May of last year.
The bigger question, of course, is whether the Fighters will post the superstar righty this offseason. That is currently an unknown. Darvish, 25 this month, has a 1.56 ERA, 10.2 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, and 0.20 HR/9 in 133 innings for the Fighters this year.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma hired Paul Cobbe of Sosnick-Cobbe Sports as his new agent several months ago, reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Iwakuma, who will be a free agent after the season, intends to make another attempt to join an MLB club this winter. You can keep track of all the representation changes with MLBTR's Agency Database.
The Rakuten Golden Eagles posted Iwakuma last year, with the Athletics winning the right to negotiate with him for a reported $19.1MM. The team has been through tough times since having to return that posting fee after talks with the A's broke down. The Eagles are from Sendai, a city that was ravaged by the earthquake and tsunami in March.
Iwakuma's former agent, Don Nomura, said after talks broke off that the A's "never showed any respect" toward his client. He took a jab at the team on Twitter as well, calling their pursuit of Adrian Beltre "just a PR" move. Nomura wanted $12MM a year, while the A's were thinking $3-5MM per year given the commitment they made on the posting fee. The situation was considered an embarrassment for Rakuten and cost Nomura the client.
Crasnick notes that Iwakuma battled a shoulder injury this year. If that's behind him, there's a case to be made that he'll be one of the five best starting pitchers on the free agent market this winter, perhaps commanding three or four years at a salary approaching $10MM per. This year Iwakuma has a 1.67 ERA, 7.5 K/9, 1.5 BB/9, and 0.33 HR/9 in 54 innings. He'll turn 31 in April.
Sosnick-Cobbe also represents Darrell Rasner and Randy Messenger, a couple of American-born pitchers who have sub-3.00 ERAs this year in Japan. I spoke to Sosnick today about the agency's efforts in Japan, and he told me, "We opened an office in Tokyo that we think will serve our Japanese and American clients well. The fact that Paul Cobbe speaks some Japanese has been a huge advantage for us."
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Pirates will designate first baseman Lyle Overbay for assignment, reports Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Pirates have since confirmed the move. Overbay homered yesterday, but it wasn't enough to save his job with the team acquiring Derrek Lee.
Overbay, 34, has a .227/.300/.349 line in 391 plate appearances this year. He signed a $5MM deal in December, which seemed a bit high at the time.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Nationals announced today that they have released Matt Stairs. He'd been designated for assignment on Wednesday to open up a spot for Jonny Gomes.
Stairs, 43, hit .154/.257/.169 in 74 plate appearances for the Nationals this year. In his 19-year career he's played for the Expos, Red Sox, Athletics, Cubs, Brewers, Pirates, Royals, Rangers, Tigers, Blue Jays, Phillies, Padres, and Nationals. His body of work may surprise you: .262/.356/.477 in 6023 plate appearances, with 265 home runs and almost $19MM in earnings.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Phillies released reliever Danys Baez after he cleared waivers, tweets Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He'd been designated for assignment a week ago to create a spot for Brad Lidge.
Signed to a curious two-year deal before the 2010 season, Baez produced a 5.81 ERA, 4.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, and 1.2 HR/9 in 83 2/3 innings for the Phillies. He still posts healthy groundball rates, at least.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…
By Tim Dierkes | at
The non-waiver trade deadline came and went yesterday with nary a Carlos Pena rumor. At first glance you'd think an impending free agent with 20 home runs would be on the move, but Pena remained with the 43-65 Cubs. Why?
For one thing, Pena is moveable in August. Cubs GM Jim Hendry explained to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, "The guys that we kept, for the most part, are guys that still have a chance to be involved next year, and if we do make a trade or two in August, that’s still no more or less significant than if we made them [Sunday]." There's a decent chance Pena would clear waivers, especially since $5MM of his $10MM contract is due in January. If not, the Cubs could just hand over the contract.
Another reason Pena stayed is that Hendry doesn't have anyone to replace him. The GM explained that the Cubs had Tyler Colvin to step in for Kosuke Fukudome, but have no such replacement for Pena. Bryan LaHair has 29 home runs at Triple-A Iowa, but he's 28 and this is his sixth stint at the level. Personally this explanation doesn't do much for me, as the Cubs are going to remain terrible this year whether Pena or LaHair starts at first over the final two months.
I imagine Hendry was also limited by the scant number of contenders in need of first base or DH help. Pena is best marketed as a first baseman, and with the Pirates adding Derrek Lee it's tough to find a contender in need of help at the position.
Wittenmyer mentions draft pick compensation, but Pena is actually below Type B status at present. Plus, the Cubs have often been reluctant to offer arbitration to free agents.
One last possibility is that Pena was not traded because the Cubs want to re-sign him and that's generally easier when you retain a player. Pena, a Scott Boras client, said he'd love to stay in Chicago and is excited about the team's future, but hasn't really looked ahead to next year. The Cubs will have options, with a large amount of payroll flexibility and Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols potentially on the market.
By Dan Mennella | at
Last year, we created the @closernews Twitter feed, a must-follow for fantasy junkies who are looking for an edge in the saves and holds categories. Presently, it has 8,800 followers and is still growing. Then, in July, we officially launched CloserNews.com, a place where we could expound on all the information found in the Twitter feed.
After only a few few weeks, the early returns on CloserNews.com are promising, and now we're looking for a few motivated, strong writers to contribute to the site as we build it into a must-read for fantasy fans.
Ideal candidates will:
This position is unpaid with the potential to become paid as the site grows. So, it's probably best for someone who is breaking into sportswriting — either as recent or soon-to-be grad, or someone changing careers.
If interested, please submit a writing sample to closernewshelp@gmail.com. The piece should be roughly 300 words and written in a style similar to the posts published at CloserNews.com. It can be a reaction to news or an original analysis piece. As well, tell us briefly about yourself and why you'd be a good fit.
By Tim Dierkes | at
ESPN's Buster Olney talks waivers in his latest blog post, and I can't help but join in.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Red Sox righty Clay Buchholz is unlikely to pitch again in the regular season due to a stress fracture in his back, reports Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. McAdam's source believes postseason pitching is possible, though it'd be a tall order.
That explains why the Red Sox picked up Erik Bedard yesterday, though Bedard was actually Plan C after Hiroki Kuroda and Rich Harden. The Sox had a deal in place to acquire Kuroda for Tim Federowicz and another prospect Saturday night, reports McAdam, but the righty rejected it. The Kuroda talks were later used as a base for GM Theo Epstein to acquire Trayvon Robinson, who they sent to Seattle in the Bedard deal.
MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com
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