Here are some notes from the game's eastern divisions:
- After watching rehabbing reliever Ryan Madson throw on Friday, the Nationals came away impressed, reports James Wagner of the Washington Post. Reportedly throwing in front of representatives from 15 clubs, Madson is said to have touched 93 mph during the session.
- Nationals rotation candidate Taylor Jordan suffered a broken ankle over the off-season, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Jordan seems to be ready to go, though manager Matt Williams says the club will keep a close eye on him to ensure that ankle issues do not impact his motion and create bigger problems.
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson spoke again about the club's shortstop situation, Marc Carig of Newsday reports. He tempered expectations of a Stephen Drew signing, saying that it remained possible but only "under the right circumstances." Alderson also said that the team was looking to the trade market, but a rival executive tells Carig that New York would probably need to give up young pitching to add anything worthwhile up the middle.
- The Orioles have stepped up their interest in Ervin Santana since losing out on Bronson Arroyo, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Though he is not sure how heavily the club will pursue the free agent starter, Connolly says that Baltimore is definitely still in the mix.
- Speculation arose that South Korean hurler Suk-min Yoon may have signed with the Orioles after a picture was apparently sent from his Twitter account purportedly showing him donning an O's cap. But two high-ranking team officials tell MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko that they have heard nothing about an agreement with Yoon (Twitter link). Likewise, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter) that no agreement has been reached. Baltimore has certainly been linked to the 27-year-old, but as of now it is just one of five clubs in the mix, according to Rosenthal.
- Filling in for the suspended Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees expect to use Kelly Johnson as the left-handed side of a platoon at third, reports Jorge Castillo of the Star-Ledger. GM Brian Cashman said that the team would pick from among "a cast of characters that are going to compete for that spot on the right side."
I like the idea of Madson to the Nats. Low-risk, high reward. Could be this year’s Brian Wilson.
Couldn’t hurt on a low money deal.
O’s fans must be extremely tired of hearing that they are in the mix..
The physical jokes are spreading cheer throughout the fan base.
print the play off tickets is a real knee slapper too
Pure gold!
The Mets should’ve looked into the trade market for a young SS from the very beginning instead of wasting time on Drew. Why wait till now? There’s a kid I like in Cleveland by the name of Jose Ramirez that would be a good fit and wouldn’t cost too much.
SA was doing that too. But when you have a guy like Tejada who has had a couple solid years and still has potential to be an average everyday shortstop it would be stupid to overpay for a shortstop in a trade. It’s better to keep the prospects, because it’s been obvious that any trade for any difference maker would have to include someone like Thor or Montero. And I’d rather have either of them (and the extra couple guys that would be traded with) than whatever shortstop might be available via trade. Only exception is if you can get a real good deal on someone, but I doubt that’s happened since SA hasn’t pulled the trigger on anything.
I’m a life long Mets fan, but I can’t understand why so many Mets fans are ready to gve up on Tejada after only one bad year. in 2 partial and one full season, before last year, the kid was pretty solid.
I can completely understand giving up on Davis.. Ike has looked completely lost at the plate for the better part of 2 years.
As far as Tejada goes, I can definitely understand people wanting to give up on him. In addition to being atrocious last year and having his effort publicly called out by both the manager and GM, his absolute ceiling seems to be around a ~2.5 WAR player, with a below average bat and zero power. He also rarely walks and has no speed.
In re: Davis, I also have the opposite opinion, and will flip your scenario around: Davis has been a fine, sometimes great hitter throughout his career, with the exception of two half-seasons, when he’s been one of the worst hitters in baseball. Someone who can be that hot or cold (he was on fire in the latter halves of both of those seasons) is someone who should be allowed far more leeway than a guy like Tejada.
Tejada plays scratch defense and can be slightly above average offensively for the position. He’s not lighting the world on fire, though.
Yeah, that’s the thing with Tejada. His OPS+ for his two good seasons was just below league average, which is good for a SS. However, the whole ‘no walking, no power, no speed’ thing seriously hampers his value. It’s too bad he doesn’t steal 20+ bases a season or hit ~10 HR, he could have a lot of value.
I agree with your comments on Tejada but along the same lines, that same argument should support Ike Davis. Davis has had two bad first halves in back to back years but he’s had stellar 2nd haves. If he were to have a full season like he had in the 2nd halves of 2012 and 2013, he’d be one of the best 1B in the game.
I’ve always seen Tejada more as a 2nd baseman, but since the Mets had nothing depth wise when they let Reyes walk, Tejada got the job by default. Over the long term, Tejada doesn’t cut it and the Mets have a need to fill up some depth at short. The closest thing by my estimation of a SS in the system towards the ML level is Cecchini, who’s years away.
I disagree. His arm and range are good enough to play short and his bat plays better at short than 2B. You would want him to be a bit more powerful to play 2B.
I’d be all for a Montero – Nick Franklin trade, which seems pretty balanced. Nick Franklin has found himself out of favor and behind Seager, Miller, and Canó on the depth charts. Between his offense and his defense, he’d easily be a major upgrade over Tejada, and between being able to bat from both sides and historically impressive OBPs in the minors, he could be the Mets’ new leadoff hitter.
Montero is at the edges of the various Top-100 prospect lists and could pitch for a Major League team in April as a solid #4 or #5 with #3 upside.
Can someone explain to me why the Yankees haven’t moved Jeter to 3rd a la Ripken yet? His body is breaking down as is and he no longer has the range (which was always poor to start) to play short.
A Texiera, Roberts/Johnson, Drew, Jeter/Johnson infield looks infinitely better than a Tex, Roberts, Jeter, Johnson.
It’s not just Jeter, but several people around the league should play other positions due to deficiencies in defense to keep their bat in the lineup.
Uggla, when he was with the marlins at one time even they wanted him to try third, but he resisted. His range is atrocious at 2b. Granted at Atlanta now they have Johnson, but his range is terrible for a 2b and should have moved to 3b several years ago. He’s got the arm for it.
Jed Lowrie.. SS is his worst position, he is a natural 2b, ok there, but probably would cover up his average defense best at 3b and has the arm for it.
Hanley Ramirez should have moved to 3b also, marlins asked him to move there as well.. He also resisted. he has range at SS, but has lousy footwork and still needs to move. No idea if LAD have requested it or not.
Missing some, hit some obvious 2b-ss-3b guys who should be moved.. Who are others?
Troy Tulowitzki. Real good SS, but that big body needs a break. They should have began the transition a couple years ago imo.
What would you move him to, though? He’s currently one of the better defensive SSs in the game – where would you want to put him? CF?
Third Base, no doubt. He takes the glove with him and he still has one of the bigger bats at the position.
But does that mean he actually gets hurt less? Unless we’re putting him at 1B/DH, I don’t really see the huge difference in injury prevention between SS and 3B as prolonging the guy’s career especially when considering a) how much value he would lose by moving off the position (which he is currently one of the best at), and the fact that his current teammate at 3B, Nolan Arenado, is the reigning Gold Glover, with the advanced defensive stats to back that win.
If you can hit like he can and stash him at SS, you do it. Besides, he makes the routine plays and plays SS at least as well as Peralta.
The reason why the Yankees don’t move him is because Jeter has refused. He refused when Arod came and has continued that insistence. That usually gets glossed over when people talk about how Jeter is ‘The Captain’.
I would remind you that the Yankees were also considering a move to CF for Jeter a couple of years back. It’s almost as if the organization is afraid to send him out there to any place but SS. Don’t know why — they could have preserved his health a little better. It could have a lot to do with his production not being so impressive if you pencil him in anywhere else but middle infield.
Jeter should have moved to 3B when A-Rod came over. A-Rod was the better SS.
Orioles Brass: We are pleased to announce the signing of Suk-min Yoon…
Orioles medical staff: Um, not so fast…
With regard to the Yoon O’s story, my guess is that if there’s anything to it, the O’s are NOT going to confirm it until every last “i” is dotted and “t” crossed. While the physical thing has been the subject of endless bad jokes, there’s no way they want to risk another PR debacle.
He’s a Boras guy. Seems like we would have heard something from him leaked out just before the deal was inked in an attempt to drive up the price again.
If he is an oriole tho.. I am glad. The Duke has a knack for unheralded players and a keen eye. This could work out much better than Jimenez and Santana, who I think are going to be worse busts than Edwin Jackson was/is.
Agreed. Burnett, who seems to be out of the running, would be the only one more attractive. The two you mentioned are too risky/expensive, especially with the pick involved.
If the projected contract of 10M over 2 years holds any weight, I agree.
At this time, any money saved on a huge gamble like Jimenez and Santana is preferred, in order to prepare for the contracts of Davis and Machado.
Apparently Yoon is close to signing with the O’s.
The next Wada, congrats!
Thanks, but I’m not an O’s fan…
Connolly is guessing.
The O’s are either determined to do absolutely nothing this off-season.
The O’s are determined ‘NOT’ to give up their draft pick.
The O’s off-season was a complete waste of time for the Team, for the Media that cover them, for the Fans! However, it wasn’t a waste of time for Duquette and Showalter. They got a vacation to Florida for the GM meeting! They pleased Peter Angelos! In fact, I am willing to bet he handed out ‘Cuban’ Cigars to celebrate how much money the both of them saved him this off-season! Also, if remain real, real quiet! You can hear Peter Angelos saying ‘The Revenue’ Sharing Money is all Mine! Mine, Mine, Mine!
If Yoon has agreed to terms with the O’s it would not surprise me that everything is being kept hush hush until after the physical. Yoon does have an injury history and it would be bad for the team and player (would most likely agree to a lesser contract on another team) if something was wrong.
Wish the Sox could take a chance on Madson but I don’t think there is a lot of room.
Think he’d have to start the season on the 60 day DL (unlikely with Boras picking his landing spot), or Boston moving either Dempster/Peavy beforehand. there isn’t a spot on the roster and that’s even counting out Workman being there as I see it to start the season at least *if* everyone is healthy.
Madson is one of the smartest Pitchers in Baseball. Got 6 million from the Reds, didn’t Pitch. Then got 3.25 million from Angels didn’t Pitch. He hits 93 another team will throw a Deal at him, instead of just offering him a Minor League deal.