Bryan Corey Chooses Free Agency
Nothing earth-shattering here…recently designated Boston pitcher Bryan Corey has opted for free agency.
Who wants a 34 year-old journeyman? A month ago, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo noted that the Orioles were scouting him. A return to Japan may be another option.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Crisp, Murton, Lowrie
Ken Rosenthal, your favorite hot stove reporter, has a new article up. Let’s discuss.
- The Red Sox seem inclined to keep Coco Crisp unless they’re blown away with an offer. Jayson Stark noted last week that the Sox don’t want to eat any of the $11MM owed to him.
- The Rays still like Matt Murton, and are not content with Nathan Haynes as their only outfield acquisition. Rosenthal says the Cubs are asking for a lot for the 26 year-old, who is hitting .333/.487/.333 in 30 Triple A at-bats.
- Rosenthal notes that Jed Lowrie is pretty well blocked in Boston with their infielders signed through at least 2010. Could bring something nice in trade.
Odds and Ends: Schilling, Piazza, Howard
Tax day roundup…
- Some mild drama over whether Curt Schilling would consider pitching for the Yankees next year. He reiterated that he won’t. It takes two to tango, anyway.
- Pedro Martinez may be out until June. Nelson Figueroa‘s chance continues, with Claudio Vargas as the backup plan. The Mets still have a solid rotation without Pedro.
- Mark Healey has heard rumblings that the Reds and Yankees are looking at Mike Piazza.
- Phillies Nation on why they would trade Ryan Howard.
- Bill Barnwell looks at the four trades Randy Johnson trades. I thought the Unit looked respectable last night, though it’s hard to gauge against the Giants.
- Susan Slusser believes a recent roster move indicates that the A’s are playing to win in ’08. They’re in first place at the moment.
- The Dodgers rolled out the red carpet for bloggers.
Snyder Accepts Minor League Assignment
MONDAY: Snyder has cleared waivers and accepted his assignment to Triple A, as suggested by Sarah Green back on April 5th.
FRIDAY: According to Jeff Horrigan of the Boston Herald, the Tigers, Rays, and Phillies have interest in recently-designated pitcher Kyle Snyder.
Snyder, now 30 years old, was the seventh overall pick by the Royals in the 1999 draft. He was tolerable as a middle reliever for the Red Sox last year, though his control was poor. He had two labrum surgeries in ’03 and ’04, and that injury reoccurred in ’05. The Royals designated him the following year, and the Sox claimed him off waivers.
Here’s a look at Snyder’s pitch type data from last year. Most projection systems predict an ERA around 4.80 this year for him.
By the way, the Red Sox will also be designating Bryan Corey tonight.
Odds And Ends: Crisp, Spiezio, Lahey, Longoria
Here are a few notes from the MLBiverse…
- Terry Francona sounds like a manager that is frustrated and wishes the Red Sox would go ahead and trade Coco Crisp. After starting Crisp for the second straight game, Francona said "The more [Jacoby Ellsbury] plays, the better he’s going to be, and I clearly feel that responsibility…I’m trying to balance [playing time] the best I can."
- It only took a couple of weeks, but Scott Spiezio managed to mess up his latest opportunity with the Atlanta Braves. After failing to show to his AAA Richmond game "ready to play", Spiezio was released by the Braves.
- Rule 5 pick Tim Lahey, who was DFA’d by the Phillies, cleared waivers and has been sent back to the Twins for $25K.
- With Evan Longoria now in the majors, the Rays may be forced to trade Jonny Gomes or Eric Hinske (who is off to a hot start) in the next few weeks.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Recently DFA’d: Corey, Bazardo, Jimerson
Anyone looking for a relief pitcher or an outfielder? The Red Sox, Tigers, and Mariners designated a few for assignment yesterday. Let’s see what they’re leaving on the table.
- Yorman Bazardo, a 23-year-old who actually pitched pretty well last year, was curiously designated by Detroit.
- The Red Sox designated 34-year-old reliever Bryan Corey to make room for Mike Timlin, who got the loss last night in his first appearance since coming off the DL. You’d figure Bazardo would get a lot more interest than Corey.
- Finally, the Mariners have designated 28-year-old OF Charlton Jimerson after just one plate appearance. It was just the ninth of his career. It seems his .901 OPS in the minors last year, mostly with AA, was an outlier.
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski
Stark’s Latest: Roberts, Crisp, Loretta
ESPN’s Jayson Stark has a new Rumblings and Grumblings column up. Let’s examine some of the hot stove material.
- There’s nothing cooking with the Cubs and Brian Roberts. The O’s still intend to trade Roberts this year, along with pretty much all of their other veterans. Their hot start is unlikely to halt the farm sale.
- The Red Sox don’t want to eat any of the $11MM owed to Coco Crisp over the next two years, and for now there are no trades in the works. Roberts, Crisp, and Joe Crede were three trades we all expected to go down.
- Once Kaz Matsui and Ty Wigginton are fully healthy, the Astros will look to trade Mark Loretta. He makes $2.75MM this year, a bit much for a utility guy. Stark says the Dodgers and Giants don’t appear interested at present, so there’s no obvious suitor. The Orioles could re-engage if they trade Roberts and don’t get a second baseman back.
Red Sox Acquire Eric Hull
The Red Sox and Dodgers made a deal last night. The Sox acquired 28 year-old righty pitcher Eric Hull for 23 year-old shortstop Christian Lara.
Lara was once Boston’s top shortstop prospect, but he’s been passed by Jed Lowrie and several others. A couple years ago Baseball America wrote that Lara had "a chance to be a plus defender." They weren’t impressed with his bat. The Sox challenged him by putting him at Double A in 2005-06, but he was demoted to High A for ’07.
Hull seems like an organizational arm, though he did intrigue last year with an 11.1 K/9 in Triple A as a reliever. Doesn’t help that he’s just 5’11" though. The Dodgers needed roster space and designated him for assignment on March 31st.
Red Sox Designate Snyder for Assignment
Relief pitcher Kyle Snyder was designated for assignment by the Red Sox this afternoon to make room on the roster for Josh Beckett, who is set to come off the DL and start for Boston tomorrow. Snyder is out of options and hence cannot be sent down to Pawtucket.
Snyder has not impressed in 2008. Today versus Toronto, he pitched a third of an inning, gave up two runs, and walked two. March 25 against Oakland, he gave up two runs on two hits, including a solo home run. He wasn’t terrible in 2007, posting a career-best 3.81 ERA, but the Red Sox still preferred Eric Gagne over the 6’8" righty for their postseason roster.
The move makes sense for Boston, since they have a better long-reliever/emergency-starter/mop-up man/Manny-Ramirez’s-stable-pony option in Julian Tavarez. (Tavarez stanched the bleeding today in Toronto, going two and one-third innings and allowing just one hit and one walk.) The Red Sox now have 10 days to release Snyder, trade him, or put him on waivers.
So where will Snyder go now? It’s hard to say—at this point in his career (he’s 30) there’s not a lot of upside anymore. I don’t see another major-league club making room for him on their roster, so a trade seems unlikely. The probable outcome, in my view, is Snyder consenting to a minor league assignment after he clears waivers.
Sarah Green writes for the Boston Metro and UmpBump.com. She can be reached here.
Olney: Red Sox Looking For A Catcher
From Buster Olney’s blog today:
Scouts and officials with other teams say the Red Sox have been actively making inquiries about catchers.
Kevin Cash is Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher, for now. Not sure on their knuckleball-handling skills, but here are some other backstops who may be available: Gerald Laird, Michael Barrett, Ramon Hernandez, Bengie Molina, Humberto Quintero, Brayan Pena, and Jeff Mathis. However, Laird may be off limits and Barrett isn’t known for his defense. Molina and Hernandez are signed through ’09.