Jason Giambi was a surprise candidate to become the Rockies' next manager, but now that the job has gone to Walt Weiss, the team has offered Giambi the job of hitting coach, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Giambi had said he would continue playing if he wasn't hired as manager, though he's taking a few days to consider Colorado's offer. If he turns it down and wants to keep playing, agent Joel Wolfe tells ESPN's Jerry Crasnick that "several teams" have shown interest in his client, who will be 42 years old on Opening Day.
Here are some more items from a very busy day around baseball…
- Robinson Cano believes he has already signed one team-friendly contract with the Yankees and will look for market value in his next deal, a "confidant" of the second baseman tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Cano's last contract with the Yankees ended up paying him $57MM over six years once New York exercised its two club options for 2012 and 2013.
- The Blue Jays' waiver claim of Bobby Wilson as catching depth "suggests J.P. Arencibia is in play on the trade market," writes Sportsnet.ca's Shi Davidi.
- Also from Davidi, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos said that Mike Aviles drew "pretty good demand…the Indians weren't the only team that asked about him," before the infielder was traded to Cleveland last weekend.
- Though Phillies GM Ruben Amaro said earlier today that he preferred signing players to making trades this offseason, David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News thinks the trade market might be the best way for the Phils to solve some roster problems.
- Angels GM Jerry Dipoto likes his core of position players, leaving Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times to conclude that the Halos will pursue rotation depth through free agency, not trades.
- Jose Veras has switched agents, going from Bryce Dixon to the Praver Shapiro agency, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The veteran righty chose to become a free agent after he was outrighted off the Brewers' 40-man roster.
- Minor league free agent Collin Balester is "in demand," reports FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter). Balester, 26, had a 6.50 ERA in 11 relief outings for the Tigers last season but posted strong numbers at Triple-A Toledo.
cause Amaro knows it’s easier to sign than to trade…brilliant GM …joke
There is definetely a benefit from free agency. Sure you end up paying more for one player, but you are able to keep prospects which if turn out strong will save significant money. I prefer FA, but you can’t always fill all your needs through that.
Free agency isn’t bad, but GMs need to look beyond the top names to
find good value. Otherwise, they just end up bloating their payroll.
2008 Phillies’ payroll $98m
2012 Phillies’ payroll $172m
It’s not necessarily the fact that they only sign top name players, it’s the fact that the core guys that were on that team (Hamels, Ruiz, Rollins, Howard, etc) are making a lot more money now than they were in 2008.
I agree with you though, Ruben doesn’t bargain shop that much, which is surprising since, other than last year, the times he has he’s found some contributors (Pedro Martinez, Jose Contreras, Chan Ho Park, Wilson Valdez, Kevin Fransden, etc).
But also consider this part:
When Ryan Howard was just a prospect and Jim Thome was at 1B, GM Gillick traded away Thome in favor of allowing Howard to play 1B. That saved the Phillies a lot of money and surprisingly gave them an even better 1B in Howard.
Of course it’s always a bonus when a prospect outperforms a vet, but my point is it that, if GMs (not just RAJ, but all GMs in general) truly believe in their prospects, it’s not always a bad thing to trade away an establish veteran and save your money.
They also had Ryan Howard coming off a Rookie of the Year season when they traded Jim Thome, so it’s not like he made it out of blind faith.
The thing with the Phillies is, Ruben and Company made the decision that they were going to take advantage of having a core in place. They saw a window and took their shot by selling the farm system for Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Roy Oswalt. When you make that decision, you can’t wait for young players to develop at the Major League Level. Case in point:
There was a period in 2011 where Domonic Brown was scheduled to take over for Jayson Werth. His inablity to develop cost us two young contributors who could be ready to help this team out in 2013: Singleton and Cosart.
I definitly see your point though, and I think Ruben and all GM’s try to do that. Again, another example: Our bullpen is riddled with rookies and young pitchers beyond Papelbon.
What prospects are those?
Is a general statement. You are paying pretty much $1M for the first 3 years combined of a players salary. That is way cheaper than someone say like upton’s extension at $13M.
If you get someone identical to upton at say $18M and 1 of the 4 prospects you need turns out to be good you can save money.
Why I prefer FA, but you really can’t always solve your needs through just FA.
Ruben’s actually pretty good at making trades, a lot better than he is in free agency. Really only awful trades were dealing Cliff Lee and the trade that got us Hunter Pence.
Lee
Halladay
Oswalt (absolutely unhittable down the stretch in 2010).
John Mayberry Jr
Jeremy Horst
just to name a few of the contributors he’s gotten.
If that’s Robinson Cano’s mindset, the Yankees would be smart to consider a trade for him when the circumstance arises. The team as a whole is far more important than one superstar being overpaid millions upon millions of dollars, regardless of how good he may be. Were the Yankees willing to trade Cano, they would be set for the future. It is definitely something to consider as time goes on. Its no secret they would get a lot in return. Or they could just overpay him and regret it later on..
I definetely think they should consider it if the return was right. They do have depth, CoJo, Adams, and Nunez would probably be better there with the shorter throw. I think it would have to be a really strong package for them to even consider though. I don’t feel as though he is going to age very good so I’m hoping not to see a 8 year contract.
“The team as a whole is far more important than one superstar being
overpaid millions upon millions of dollars, regardless of how good he
may be.”
That’s a very odd statement considering that it’s the Yankees.
well considering the yankees are trying to get under the luxury tax threshold by 2014 and have made it known since last off season it really isnt that odd.
Winning a ws is more important than whatever we could back for him.
that makes me laugh. and when do you expect them to win one??? next year??? and believe it or not with his value where its at now we can get alot back for him. and getting that is worth a heck of alot more then paying him 9 figures when he will be 31 years old.
Considering he has one yr left on his contract, it’s pretty obvious as to when…. “believe it or not with his value where its at now we can get alot back for him”, the yankees can get a lot for a MVP candidate? Are you sure????
Yup. Definitely agree. I have no problem whatsoever playing Adams or Joseph at 2B if the alternative is overpaying for Cano until his late 30’s.
If he continues to demand so much, Robbie may end up paddling his own Canoe.
Arencibia to the Pirates for…
….The boot-camp staff. And the entire FO.
I could see the Bluejays trading with the Mets as they need a C
Mets are possible. I think the Pirates and Cubs should be in on it also. If its Arencibia who is likely going. If its the mets maybe Davis or Duda. Pirates maybe Garrett Jones or Tabata. Or if its the Cubs maybe Darwin Barney
Barney is the only one of those guys that I like.
and i think that the cubs could make him available for an everyday catcher. Idk if Arencibia is that guy or not but he is better than what the cubs have now and we already have a solution to 2b if Barney is moved.
Good for Cano. Not his fault the Yankees decided to pay top dollar for that stiff Arod.
sorry but a guy who is a career .308 regular season hitter but is a career .222 postseason hitter is not worth the type of contract he wants. yeah regular season stats are nice but the post season is what matters when all said and done. and as you said yankees already payed ” top dollar ” for one no need to pay it again to a guy who will be 31.
I agree. The Yankees should let him go. I’d be happy with that.
Cano’s contract wasn’t just “team-friendly”. As if he did them a favor? He got guaranteed money that made him rich in exchange for security. It was his decision, he could have gone year to year.
I would offer him a reasonable contract his month and if he won’t accept and wants more than 7 years, trade him. No more Arod contracts.
Cano for Felix, i think they are both in their last contract year.
Jason Giambi and McGwire as hitting coaches in the MLB. So how much do they make for reminding players when to take steroids?
what is “market value” for a 32 year old superstar who has been GREAT for 4 or 5 seasons, but didn’t make much noise before then.