Gammons Rumors: Qualls, Garland
In today’s blog post at ESPN.com, Peter Gammons slips in a couple of trade tidbits.
While discussing the Boston bullpen, Gammons remarks:
"They’ll keep looking at relievers on other teams — like Houston’s Chad Qualls — and figure they’ll get a mess of innings out of the starting rotation."
Gammons may be speaking in the hypothetical, but he may be implying that the Red Sox are looking into Qualls’ availability. The 28 year-old righty has been tough to hit the last two seasons, but a K/9 below 6 isn’t closer material.
Another Gammons bullet point regarding the Red Sox:
"The Red Sox were told that Jon Garland is not available. Period."
That suggests they called on him, though I’m not sure at what point. There’s something to be said for a 210 inning, 4.50 ERA guy to add some stability to the rotation. The Astros seemed inches from acquiring Garland in December, but got Jason Jennings instead.
Red Sox Inquire On Armando Benitez
One trade tidbit I missed, assuming it was printed elsewhere: the Red Sox recently inquired about the availability of Giants closer Armando Benitez. As you know, the Marlins were interested earlier this winter.
According to John Shea, Benitez still needs a lot of work to improve his velocity and location (and his location was never that great). Not that Benitez is any great shakes, but I can’t see how the Giants think they have a surplus of relievers. They really don’t have anyone who can take care of the ninth inning; I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tim Lincecum closing by June.
As for the Red Sox, Benitez is the ninth sounds like a disaster in the making. Maybe no more so than Joel Pineiro, but I don’t see the point. I suppose it’d be a reasonable gamble if Boston only needed to cover his salary.
Schilling Starts Blogging
Kind of cool to see Curt Schilling blogging.
Click here to see an up-to-date list of baseball players with blogs. Additionally, On the DL tracked down a host of ballplayers with MySpace pages last summer. A few of those might be bogus or private now of course.
Helton Meets With Rockies’ Owner
Take it for what it’s worth – Rockies first baseman Todd Helton met with team owner Charlie Monfort on Thursday but declined to comment on the nature of the conversation. In the opinion of Buster Olney:
"If the Red Sox and Rockies rekindled trade talks, getting a deal done might take about 3.4 seconds, because there was already a structure in place and both sides would have great reason to be motivated to get this done."
And Ken Davidoff of Newsday mentioned today:
"The widespread industry belief is that the Red Sox and Rockies will re-ignite trade discussions involving Todd Helton. The two clubs remain stalled in a game of chicken. Boston doesn’t want to give up any young players with potential, with only expensive veterans Mike Lowell and Julian Tavarez on the table, and the Rockies don’t want to hand over Helton in a straight salary dump."
The Red Sox remain in the catbird seat with this potential deal, as Helton is not a strong need for them in any way. They can just sit back and see if the Rockies cave and pay $40-45MM of his contract to get Manny Delcarmen.
No Boston For Mariano Rivera In ’08
Mariano Rivera, asked whether he could cross enemy lines and join the Red Sox as a free agent in 2008, said, "I don’t think I could do it." So we can almost officially cross Boston off the list. Which other clubs might be ready to woo him after this season?
I think the Giants, Rangers, Cubs, and Phillies should be top contenders. Those are the teams I can see having the need and willingness for an $11-12MM a year closer. Of course, the Yankees have to be considered the favorite.
Schilling To Reach Free Agency
The possibility of a preseason contract extension for Curt Schilling is out; he’ll file for free agency after the ’07 season. Schilling spoke to WEEI this morning and made the announcement.
This doesn’t rule out Schilling returning to the Red Sox for ’08 and beyond, however. I’d be surprised if the Sox don’t make an offer, assuming he stays healthy this season. If Schilling can duplicate his ’06 numbers (204 innings of 3.97 ball) he might be worth a one-year, $13MM commitment. PECOTA sees Schilling posting 198 innings of 3.84 ball this season, and would pay him $8.6MM in ’08. Suffice it to say he’ll top that on the open market, even if the Yankees aren’t involved.
One More Minor Move
The Athletics have claimed lefty swingman Lenny DiNardo off of waivers from the Red Sox. The Red Sox were going to have to part with somebody, and DiNardo seemed the most likely lefty to go, especially after Boston signed J.C. Romero.
DiNardo wasn’t going to have any chance of contributing in Boston and won’t be much of a factor in Oakland either, but may have a shot if/when injuries strike the A’s. Especially with Joe Kennedy in the rotation mix, the A’s don’t have a lot of good lefty options if Alan Embree goes down…and Embree is old.
By Jeff Sackmann
www.BrewCrewBall.com
One More Minor Move
The Athletics have claimed lefty swingman Lenny DiNardo off of waivers from the Red Sox. The Red Sox were going to have to part with somebody, and DiNardo seemed the most likely lefty to go, especially after Boston signed J.C. Romero.
DiNardo wasn’t going to have any chance of contributing in Boston and won’t be much of a factor in Oakland either, but may have a shot if/when injuries strike the A’s. Especially with Joe Kennedy in the rotation mix, the A’s don’t have a lot of good lefty options if Alan Embree goes down…and Embree is old.
By Jeff Sackmann
www.BrewCrewBall.com
Helton Talks To Resume?
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe talked to four baseball officials about the failed Todd Helton trade. The majority (three, I guess) agreed that the Rockies and Red Sox would rekindle talks in spring training.
Helton, however, has told the Rockies he is prepared to veto all future trades. Will he bend from that stance if the Red Sox and Rockies come to an agreement? I would expect Colorado to lessen their demands a bit if they can get this thing done before the seasons starts.
Helton Talks To Resume?
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe talked to four baseball officials about the failed Todd Helton trade. The majority (three, I guess) agreed that the Rockies and Red Sox would rekindle talks in spring training.
Helton, however, has told the Rockies he is prepared to veto all future trades. Will he bend from that stance if the Red Sox and Rockies come to an agreement? I would expect Colorado to lessen their demands a bit if they can get this thing done before the seasons starts.