Brad Ausmus has a supporter in former teammate Andy Pettitte, who tells Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald that Ausmus would be a "great" choice to manage the Red Sox. Ausmus is one of four candidates (along with Tim Wallach, DeMarlo Hale and Tony Pena) who have interviewed for the job, though the Sox are also negotiating with the Blue Jays about manager John Farrell. Here's the latest from around the AL East…
- Sources familiar with the Dodgers' and Marlins' plans tell Jon Heyman of CBS Sports that neither team has an interest in Alex Rodriguez. The Miami source said that rumors about talks between the Yankees and Marlins about Rodriguez are "BS. [It's] not happening."
- The Angels may not be interested in an A-Rod-for-Vernon Wells deal due to the salary differences and the fact that the Angels see prospect Kaleb Cowart as a potential starting third baseman by 2014, opines MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (Twitter links).
- Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun grades each member of the Orioles' roster.
- As the Red Sox and Blue Jays continue to negotiate about Farrell, an anonymous AL East GM tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that he isn't a fan of manager trades. "I don't think it's a great practice to deal for managers. I'm surprised the league allows it," says the general manager. "If the guy doesn't want to be there you just let him go. What's the big deal? You get someone else who does want to be there and who you feel will do a good job."
- Gerry Hunsicker and Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman talk to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times about Hunsicker's decision to leave the Rays for the Dodgers.
- From earlier today on MLBTR, I compiled some news about the Blue Jays.
i agree with cafardo’s anonymous AL East GM, only in this case theres no (credible) indication that farrell doesnt want to be in toronto. so the “just let him go” advice is kind of moot. on second thought, this may just be an attempt to make the jays look like some kind of oppressive employer to guilt them into releasing a guy the sox want. how likely is it that the anonymous GM is Cherington?
Oh man. I mentioned A-Rod and Wells in that other article. I feel so freaking amazing right now.
Vernon Wells for Rodriquez.. Hmmmm… Wells could be another Andruw Jones type (5th OF) but does NY want to have to cough up 80m+ in $$, besides paying the 42m Wells is due?
Wouldn’t they just be better off, keeping Rodriquez and planting him at DH, letting him pass Mays, maybe Hank Aaron and letting him get a few kudos for a long career?
Wells is barely a 5th OF.. I wish sports writers would find something else to write about and I DON’T mean John Farrell…
Vernon wells-Jason Bay swap?
Not happening. Wells has two years at $21MM per. Bay is $16+ 3 MM Buyout after this year. He’s gone at season’s end, if not sooner.
The real question is why did the Angels trade for Vernon Wells in the first place?
They were blackmailed.
Tony Reagins was secretly a triple agent. he pretended for the blue jays to pretend for the angels that he worked for the blue jays when he actually was a Mark Polishuk. in this turn of events he was able to convince the angels that they should trade for Vernon Wells and take his contract as he was severely underrated by conventional methods such as statistics and the naked eye, while making sure the Blue Jays pulled the trigger for a change by telling them the Angels would never accept such a one-sided deal in the Angels favor, as it would unbalance the competitiveness of all of baseball. Now that he is back to being Mark Polishuk, he is able/will be able to write about this trade for years to come.
^^^ this just made my day lol
I never thought that the Angels would make a bigger mistake than Gary Mathews Jr. Boy was I wrong.