Some buzz from around the American League…
- The Twins are looking at low-cost pitching help and have some interest in Clayton Richard, 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson reports (Twitter link). After a rough 25-game/14-inning stint with the Cubs last season, Richard was released but posted much better results after signing on with the Padres. The lefty posted a 2.52 ERA over 53 2/3 innings for San Diego, starting nine of his 11 outings for the team.
- The Yankees have interest in signing infielder Ruben Tejada to a minor league deal, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. The former Mets regular hit just .167/.247/.242 over 78 plate appearances with the Cardinals and Giants last season.
- The renewed momentum towards getting a new ballpark in Oakland has shifted the Athletics‘ focus, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. While Billy Beane has always hesitated to embark on a full rebuilding process, the longtime A’s executive notes that “it still has to be in the back of your mind that if you’re going to have a venue, make sure you’re going to have a good young team that’s sustainable. Finding players has never been a challenge for us. We’ve found good players. It’s retaining them, and we’re operating with the idea we’re going to be able to retain them.” Beane said the A’s will hiring additional staff for the scouting and international operations departments in order to help the club’s player development process.
The Yankees don’t need tejada, he’s horrible.
A’s need a new stadium bad. Went to a game 10 years ago and the place was falling apart. Cant imagine what its like today.
O.Co is terrible because both the Raiders and A’s play there. That’s why the sewage lines don’t work, faucets clog, and there is just a general sense of blight in the ballpark
Having two teams play there isn’t the only reason for having a ball park that’s in disrepair. While I get the point that there’s added pressure with two teams and less down time to repair and remodel whomever is responsible for that ball parks upkeep has done a half assed job. Maybe they are cheap, maybe they don’t have the money. But it seems strange to me that a ball park that has two paying tenants doesn’t have the money to fix stuff or maybe paint an ugly concrete wall.
I love the o.co. A new stadium doesn’t make a franchise winning team, good management and player development does. look at the Raiders same venue and 10-2. If a ball player doesn’t want to play at o.co bc they don’t have all of the amenities that other stadiums have then there is a problem with how uppity the players are becoming. I went to Qualcomm stadium to watch a college football game and that place is more ran down than o.co.
A new stadium does make a difference as it provides additional revenue that can be used in player development or elsewhere
Sounds more like uppity fans than players.
O.Co is one of the best values in sports. I sat 25 rows directly behind home for $30/seat on partial season plan. That wouldn’t get me into the lower half of the upper deck in most other ballparks.
If everyone else wants their baseball with a $15 glass of wine and a clean facade, they can go see the Giants.
You make a point, but…why would a player go to Oakland where they play on a nickel and dime team in a stadium and city that looks like a trash dump when they could play in a nice stadium with a team that financially can compete. That why Oakland runs out the cast offs, injured players that they do.
It’s like saying is a girls cares about looks, financial security and the house I live in then I don’t want her! In that case your stuck with whatever the girl version of Eric Sogard is?
@JKB it’s ownership that creates a championship team not a stadium. if the A’s are going to sit here and say we can’t find a superstar to play here because of our stadium then explain Josh Reddick, Josh Donaldson, and any other A’s player that wanted to stay in Oakland but were traded because ownership didn’t want to pay them what they are worth.
The only thing a new stadium brings are the fake ass fans who only go to meaningful games when Oakland is doing well. when the A’s don’t do well in their new stadium you’ll see an empty ass stadium like you see at the o.co now.
Twins looking for low cost pitching help, what a shocker. Glad to see the new front office is stirring things up:(
In a normal offseason I may agree with your comment, but the free agent marked for SP this year is terrible. Absolutely terrible.
Everyone was saying Rich Hill was the best guy available and he is 36 years old. Rich Hill has been good, but he was just given 3/48. If he was younger it would be a no brainer to me, but I’m not positive in two years Rich Hill will be as good as he has been. It’s his age that really hangs me up on him…but it could work out.
I don’t want the Twins to sign bad pitchers for long term deals worth big money. Not in this market. This team does not need another Ricky Nolasco. If they want to add to the rotation they should do it via trade (preferred route depending on the trade) or go after guys who they can get on cheaper, shorter term deals. Doing nothing is even preferred to getting another Nolasco type.
And to be clear, I do not want Richard on this team, not even short term…but there are a few other guys who may be worth a look.
What’s your take on a signing of Tyson Ross for the Twins?
In favor, for sure. He was a guy I had in mind when I wrote the above post. Would be my top choice. Not sure what his market is but I’d go 2/20 or 3/30. Might be too much considering his iffy shoulder but it might still be worth the risk due to the potential.
Twins have a lot of quantity in the SP dept, but not a lot of quality. I’d like them to take that shot. And if they trade Dozier for pitching, I think I’d still go for Ross. Excess can be traded or moved to the bullpen. The bullpen needs help too. I just know the Twins aren’t winning anytime soon if Santana is the only guy who performs, which is what happened in 2016.
I don’t see a guy like Richard helping at all while I could definitely see Ross helping if healthy.
Not a fan of Richard either. Ross is an intriguing fit for MN for sure. I might be alone in saying they should extend Dozier and build around him. Completely understand why there’s buzz around him and rightfully so but it seems the kid is worth much more the the franchise than any haul of prospects they could net. That said if they get their socks blown off I think it’s see ya later Brian.
I don’t think you’re alone on that. It seems to be 70/30 or 50/50 as far as the “trade him” crowd goes.
I’d get building around him if he were two or more years younger than he is. And I don’t really want the Twins to give a 32 year old (when he’s a FA) a 4/72 contract (if he keeps hitting the way he has the last three years).
The way I see it is that the twins have zero shot at contending or being a consistent .500 or better club until they get two to three more pitchers on top of having Ervin. Some of our own guys may work out (Berrios, Gonsalves etc, but no guarantee there either). We see the FA market is mostly blah so your options appear to be do nothing and very likely keep losing 90 games or trade. Valuable trading assets appear to be: Dozier, Ervin, Sano, Buxton, Kepler and then some minor league guys. Twins are obviously a rebuilding team so I don’t want to use any of the young core to fix the pitching to me that would weaken the rebuild, not help it.
That leaves Dozier and Ervin as the only “big value” tradeable assets. I’d trade Dozier in a heartbeat for the right package (say Dodgers for DeLeon plus one of Alvarez or Bellinger). I’d say Bellinger is not realistic but I feel the other two are. I would think they wouldn’t do the trade without DeLeon. If they can get two of those plus a low level guy then awesome.
Ervin I am way more on the fence for. There are pros in trading him and pros in keeping him. If someone wants to overwhelm for Ervin then definitely do it. There’s been some crazy returns so far.
After two days of the Winter Meetings, Rueben Tejada is the best the Yankees can come up with to address a backup infielders need? Give me a break Cashman. Start getting to work and address the rotation and bullpen.
If the A’s are expecting to retain players, might make Gray’s asking price a little higher.
Yankees need to trade gardner and romine for gio
Prediction:
Sox trade Frazier for prospects to someone.
Sox swap Robertson’s burdensome contract to Yanks for Headley.
Yanks sign Tejada allowing them to platoon Tejada and Ronald Torreyes. One is good against righties and the other is good against lefties. This gives the yanks an extra bullpen arm and opens the roster up later in the year to see what either Andujar or Glebber Torres can do in the majors.
Prediction: Yanks sign both Chapman and Jansen for 7,8,9 powerhouse again.
Another great signing in the line of Ellsbury, Drew, Headly and Ackley. Seems I remember we have quite a few SS down in the minors.
Beane: Sign Ben Revere. Classic A’s style to bring in someone non-tendered to a 1 year make-good deal, deal them at midseason for an asset. Revere would be an OK enough addition in CF