Here are some notes from around MLB to cap off a day that saw Billy Beane, Clayton Kershaw and Elvis Andrus agree to extensions with their respective clubs…
- The Mets have “pretty much stopped pursuing” left-handed hitting outfielders, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. The Mets had been linked to free agents such as Raul Ibanez, Kosuke Fukudome and Johnny Damon, but it now appears that they’ll take a wait-and-see approach.
- Reds GM Walt Jocketty told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com that the team isn’t any closer to an extension with Brandon Phillips. The GM said the sides haven’t had the chance to talk and hope to discuss a deal within a few weeks.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin told ESPN.com’s Buster Olney that he is committed to giving Mat Gamel a shot at developing into a Major League regular in 2012.
- Assistant GM Thad Levine acknowledged the Rangers could go to a hearing with one or more of their arbitration eligible players, ESPNDallas’ Richard Durrett reports. Andrus recently agreed to terms on a three-year extension, but Mike Napoli and Nelson Cruz remain unsigned, as MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker shows.
- Nationals media relations manager Bill Gluvna resigned and took a marketing and public relations job with the Boras Corporation, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports.
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs presented ten of the best offseason moves, and Hiroki Kuroda, Edwin Jackson and Carlos Beltran all made appearances on the list.
- Dodgers assistant GM Logan White discussed Zach Lee, Kershaw, Nathan Eovaldi and drafting young pitchers with David Laurila of FanGraphs.
I think that Fukudome would be the best fit for the Mets.
Leaving Washington to join the Boras Corporation… What’s the difference? The Nationals are a Scott Boras corporation…
Kosuke Fukudome could be a pretty good bench bat. He’s actually an ok starter too.
I guess once Ankiel flew the coop, the Mets decided to hold off. Good choice. Kosuke is old and not a great hitter, Ibanez is old and has next to nothing in the tank, and Damon really should retire. Given their minor league signings and prospects, they could have someone make the club out of Spring training, at least.
Damon has enough value left to at least be added to a bench role. No sense in retiring when you’re still somewhat productive and approaching 3,000 hits.
Brandon Phillips HAS to see what the Reds are doing and NOT like it very much.
I mean, in the last few years, the Reds have given contract extensions to Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Scot Rolen (reworked the contract), Ryan Hanigan, Bronson Arroyo, Johnny Cueto, Nick Masset and Jose Arredondo They offered one to Edinson Volquez (who turned it down).
Yet, here they are with Phillips, a guy who WANTS to come back and the team is dragging their feet with him.
I would love for Phillips to say the heck with it, you want my money to try and sign Votto with, here it is, good luck. This is my last year in Cincinnati. I am going to play out my contract and become a Free Agent.
Then, he signs with the Cardinals and gives them a “Home boy hook up”.
Brooks Conrad once made Brandon Phillips cry.
Brooks Conrad once made Braves fans cry.
Well done. Don’t put it in your pocket, that’s your lucky quarter.
Man, I still blame Bobby Cox more than Conrad for that. Well, at least game 3. Braves finally take the lead in the bottom of the 8th after getting shutout for 7 innings. Wagner wasn’t available. Conrad made 2 errors in the game(I think) prior to the 9th inning. They added Diory Hernandez to the postseason roster STRICTLY for his defense. Why on earth would you let Conrad take the field in the top of the 9th? Hinske’s HR was one of my favorite Braves moments and it was followed by that…..Coincidentally, one of Bobby Cox’s worst decisions as a manager ended up being one his last decisions of his career. Glad he managed to get them to the playoffs to end it, but that was brutal….
Well thanks for the set up for a good straight line.
I watched the clips, one of those errors could be partially blamed on Heyward in right. The second error which allowed the first run to be scored should have been Heyward’s ball. It was too deep for a second baseman who isn’t a top fielder and Conrad was going after it hard while Heyward was just trotting over.
Yeah, Heyward should’ve taken charge there. It’s just Conrad being on the field in the 9th while trying to protect a 1-run lead that gets me the most….
Got to hand it to Giants fans though, they showed a lot of restraint with all of that. I’m sure the bulk of them laughed, and rightfully so……..but they didn’t pour it on like I thought they would’ve. Despite the outcome, I really enjoyed watching that series.
I’ve never bought the argument that Cox is a great playoff manager. With some of the great teams he had and their dominance in the early and mid-90s… Only 1 WS title?
To be honest, I never really heard that argument. I’ve heard radical Braves fans argue that, but it doesn’t count. He wasn’t a great postseason manager, but I chalk their 1 ring in 14 playoff trips to how much of a crap shoot the playoffs are. The pitching was almost always good in the postseason, much like it was in the regular season during that stretch. You look at Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz’s postseason numbers and just wonder why they didn’t have more success….Those big hits just didn’t come.
So, they signed Bruce to a 6 year 51 million contract, Joey Votto to a 3 year 38 million, Scott Rolen got a 2 year extension for 13 million, Ryan Hannigan got a 3 year 4 mil contract and I wont bother with the others. In comparison to what Phillips deserves, those are cheap. The Reds don’t want to do more than 4 year 45 million, but Phillips stats and play say he is deserving of a 5 year 80mil contract… I think I see the problem here. I’m sure Brandon Phillips does too, and that’s what needs to be worked out and it will probably take time and with all the contracts the Reds have doled out in the last 2-3 years, it will be incredibly difficult to sign Phillips long term.
You should have linked Billy Beane to his Baseball Reference page.
Fukudome.