At least three teams are "pushing hard" for Joel Zumaya, says Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. According to Cafardo, 50 scouts from 20 teams were in attendance for Zumaya's December workout, and the Red Sox and Padres are among the clubs who are very interested in the right-hander. Here are a few more items of interest from Cafardo's Sunday Baseball Notes:
- An Astros source confirmed to Cafardo that the club has received a few inquires on Carlos Lee, as we heard earlier this week. The Rays briefly discussed a deal, but even half of Lee's $18.5MM salary figures to be too pricey for Tampa Bay.
- A long-term extension doesn't look likely for Jacoby Ellsbury this week, but he and the Red Sox should avoid arbitration on a one-year deal before Tuesday's deadline.
- Based on Hiroki Kuroda's deal with the Yankees, an NL GM thinks Roy Oswalt could be had for about $9MM for one year. There were rumblings this week suggesting Oswalt's current asking price may be even lower.
- An NL scout on Edwin Jackson and his likely cost: "For that kind of money, you need more consistency out of him. I guess there's a lack of trust in that consistency. He's a great athlete, but he doesn't have a great feel for pitching. To me, he's still a complementary piece."
- Ryan Spilborghs and Chad Qualls are two free agents to keep in mind for the Red Sox, says Cafardo. The Sox have "always liked" Spilborghs, who was non-tendered by the Rockies last month, and Qualls "has been on Boston's radar all offseason."
Can we ban Fonz?
Spilborghs is terrible. Why would they ever want him? They already have a bunch of scrubs in RF — they don’t need another.
Sign with the Twins Edwin! We need a flamethrower in our rotation! Oswalt would be another great option, as well as Zumaya on a minor league contract.
The Twins should just let Oswalt sign with someone else. It will only be for one year, and the Twins are years away from competing again. Oswalt will be long gone. Why waste the money?
The AL Central is still relatively weak. If the Twins can stay healthy in 2012, they have a ligitimate chance of competing, especially if someone like Jackson or Oswalt were added to our rotation.
Not really. The Tigers are a great team. The Indians have improved, and the Royals are up and coming. Only the White Sox and the Twins are bad teams. I know you’re a Twins fan, but they have a 1% chance of competing. If they win more than 80 games that’s a miracle.
No. The Twins, Sox, Royals, and Indians are weak. The Tigers have put themselves apart from that group. The Twins need to rebuild. They are a worse team than last year.
I guess we will have to wait an see. Any team with a 100 million dollar payroll and good health is dangerous.
Mets?
he said good health
It was a joke. Even when they’re in good health they aren’t any good.
Not really. What about the M’s a couple years ago? Or even the Tigers in 2008? Granderson was hurt for a while, but that’s not why we lost. We had a payroll over $130MM and came in last. Foolish money doesn’t buy wins.
How are the Twins going to be a worse team this season? Willingham is about the same as Cuddyer, and Mauer and Morneau will be playing more this season, I’m assuming.
Unless I’m missing something, they will be much better. Why not take a chance with Oswalt? If the Twins don’t compete, you trade him for some help in the farm system. Also, he could be a helpful guy to have around the Twins’ pitching staff. I don’t see a problem with the Twins looking into signing Oswalt – in fact, it makes sense to me.
Cuddyer is better than Willingham and Kubel is better than Doumit. I don’t think that Morneau will ever come back to what he was and Mauer won’t do anything as a catcher. They are worse.
Willingham:
.262/.361/.475
Cuddyer:
.272/.343/.451
…Or were you talking about Cuddyer’s awesome defense?
You can’t seriously think that Mauer won’t be better than Drew Butera? That difference is much more important than the Doumit/Kubel difference, but…
Doumit:
.271/.334/.442
Kubel:
.271/.335/.459
Factor in positional value, and this one goes to Doumit.
Positional value or not, you just proved the other guy’s point, lol. Twins are a last place team. Morneau’s career is over, Mauer will probably never be the same. Willingham is good, but I’d rather have Kubel anyday. They have no pitching and no bullpen.
The point is that the Twins will be better team than they were last season. I have no idea how you got the idea that they aren’t, or how I proved that.
Kubel and Cuddyer had a combined WAR of4.2 last year. Willingham and Doumit had a combined WAR of 3.9. They are worse.
And where did I say that Butera is better than Mauer? Whatever you’re smoking, it’s making you see weird words that aren’t there.
1. Dounmit had 236 plate appearances last season. If he had a regular sample size, the new group would easily be better.
2. The question at hand is whether or not the Twins are better or worse than last season. I don’t think you need me to make this inference for you; I think you’re intentionally being thickheaded. Joe Mauer returning to the lineup easily pushes them above their win total from last season. What kind of place is this that I have to make inferences like this for people?
How do you know that if Doumit had a full season he would be better? You are giving me opinions. Don’t think too high of yourself when you aren’t giving a good argument.
Really? The fact that he is 2000 plate appearances into his major league career, and has been solidly above average isn’t a good reason to speculate that a full season would improve his WAR? Come on, man. Also, I’m not the one who, knowing Joe Mauer would be returning to the lineup, suggested that the Twins would be a worse team. You’re a funny dude.
The Twins get the second overall draft choice, they have acquired Terry Doyle, they have a healthy Joe Mauer, they have a progressing Morneau, they improved with Ben Revere over Delmon Young defensively and perhaps offensively, they moved Duensing back to the pen where he has been very good, they have Carrol over Nishioka, they have Doumit over Butera, they have Denard Span back hopefully healthy, they have signed low risk, high reward bullpen arms, shall I continue?
Yeah they’re definitely a lot worse than last year.
The draft pick and Doyle are irrelevant to the MLB team improving. Mauer will not stay healthy if catching. Ben Revere is a good one. Don’t be so happy about Jamey Carrol being your starting short stop. Doumit won’t be catching but playing in the outfield or DHing. Morneau has done nothing to show me that he is back. Willingham is not as good as Cuddyer. So yes, if want a chance to win this argument, you should continue.
Doyle an the potential draft pick could very likely end up impacting the Twins in 2012. Doumit will be catching quite a few games, and Mauer insists that he is for once very healthy. He usually doesn’t break his silence, so for him to say that it means something. Morneau is further in his rehabilitation than he was prior to last season. Willingham is better than Cuddyer offensively. They are both below average dedenders, but Cuddyer can play more positions. They are very similar and you cannot pick one over the other in my opinion. Jason Marquis is solid improvement over Duensing in the rotation. The Twins bullpen is very much improved since last season, which was one of the main problems. There is no argument here. The Twins are better now than they were last year!
How will the draft pick impact the team? Willingham and Doumit had a WAR of 3.9 last year and Cuddyer and Kubel had a WAR of 4.2. Marquis is injury prone.
Either way, they aren’t winning the division.
The draft pick will help our minor leagues, which are struggling. I’m glad you pointed out the players WARS, since .3 wins is going to dramatically affect the Twins next season. Cuddyer and Kubel were overpriced this offseason, and the draft picks will be nice. Jason Marquis isn’t injury prone either. Breaking your leg from a line drive is a freak injury. Before that he has been a very durable hurler. He’s only on a one year deal anyway, if injuries become a huge factor.
You do know that you just helped prove my point. Draft picks will not make the 2012 Twins any better. And 4.2 is a bigger numberthan 3.9.
4.2 is a bigger number than 3.9. That’s your whole argument, and it’s comical. I’ve already explained this.
You have no idea what you’re talking about. Learn what WAR is.
The Tigers are licking their chops, with the addition of Fister last year they are a clear favorite.
The Twins look to have self-destructed.
One reason is that Morneau hasn’t been able to play significant time for quite a while now, so expecting that both he an Mauer come back, full force, is just asking a bit much.
Jackson looks like the odd man out in this year’s free agency. He won’t get more than a 3 year contract. I still think it was a big mistake not building a retractable dome in the Twin cities. The hitters don’t hit the ball as far in the cold weather. Compare the stats in the old dome.
I made a point earlier (like start of FA period) in the off season with Boras playing musical chairs with his clients..
It seems it came out correct also.. ALL of them are left standing when the music stopped.
Good call!
Of course they won’t do it, but I think that signing Oswalt to a one year deal for 8-9 million would be a good move for the Indians. They have starting pitching depth, but Oswalt would truly legitimize their rotation: Jimenez, Oswalt, Masterson, Tomlin, and then Carmona, Lowe, Huff, Gomez, McAllister to fight it out for the fifth spot. Additionally, this signing would allow the Indians to trade from their SP depth and bullpen depth for a serviceable right handed 1B. If Oswalt is doing well come AllStar break and the Indians are not, they can unload Oswalt, Jimenez, Sizemore etc for prospects, but saying you’re going all in by trading your future for Jimenez means you should actually go all in.
Can someone explain to me why Oswalt isn’t signed? He is asking for a one year deal that may be less that 9m and yet there doesn’t seem to be much interest.
He’s waiting for Jackson to sign. Probably waiting to see if Darvish lands in Texas, too, because he wants to pitch for the Rangers.
Ther are plenty of teams that would likely sign him at 1yr/$8-10MM. That doesn’t make any of them a fit though. He’s looking to impress this year in order to obtain a bigger deal next off season. Although it’s not vital, pitching for a contender would be a high criteria in that case. Then also, pitching in something other than a launching pad (like Chase Field) would also help.
Unfortunately the sort of team/ballpark/opportunity combination that he is looking for isn’t really out there AND in actual NEED of another starter. The Yankees signing Kuroda took them out of the mix, so now Oswalt’s potential suitors has dropped by one.
My guess is he will need to pick taking the money OR the team he plays with, but won’t be able to pick both. I still see him signing with a contender. If he performs up to par, he’ll get paid quite well come 2013.
I think Oswalt has a few teams he is interested in, location, and a contender may be a factor.
i think zumaya needs to go to a low pressure situation and play in a pitcher friendly ballpark like the mariners, padres, or mets. with all 3 teams, he could become a back of the bullpen guy if he is healthy and all play in pitcher friendly parks that can help him get a nice contract next year if he can prove to be healthy.
Zumaya should go to the Mets. Fits the “Never plays a full season”.
He chose the Twins if only to show they have someone whom can hit 90mph on the radar outside of Liriano 😉
carlos lee in an american league team doing dh will do alot of damage. did u see his numbers while in a well below mediocre Astros lineup? i think he had 90+rbis. he is a legitimate run producing machine but the problems are his defense and speed. so a dh change can do him good, a la david ortiz.
carlos lee in an american league team doing dh will do alot of damage. did u see his numbers while in a well below mediocre Astros lineup? i think he had 90+rbis. he is a legitimate run producing machine but the problems are his defense and speed. so a dh change can do him good, a la david ortiz.
Lunhow strikes me as an intelligent fella, so I just don’t see him giving up a ton of cash to ship Lee out of town. He would become a hero here in Houston, but it’s not like there’s a logjam of talent behind him that’s waiting to get into MMP… I’m no Lee fan, but unless they get proper value in return, it’s senseless to just “dump” him if you’re still paying 50-70% of his salary…
Just a thought.
Well, trading Lee certainly wouldn’t make the difference between winning the division or not. We’re playing for 2014—2015 at this point, so if we can turn Lee into a decent prospect, I think we should do it.
The Astros should just clean house and get prospects.
Already traded valuable plays. No one wants Lee, Myers, or Wandy.
For the record: I know how to use WAR, and I am applying it appropriately.