Perrotto’s Latest: Royals, Ibanez, Rauch, Gregg
It’s Sunday, which means that John Perrotto has his Every Given Sunday column up over at Baseball Prospectus. Here’s the highlights…
- Royals GM Dayton Moore will likely make a big splash in the free agent market once again. Two years ago, he signed Gil Meche to a five-year, $55MM deal. Last year, he signed Jose Guillen to a three-year, $36MM contract. This year, his big target appears to be Rafael Furcal, which would allow the Royals to move Mike Aviles to second base. Moore is also believed to be willing to trade anyone on the team with the exceptions of Meche, Zack Greinke, and Joakim Soria.
- Raul Ibanez isn’t likely to be back with the Mariners as a free agent next season. Perrotto feels that Ibanez is a good bet to become the Rays’ designated hitter for 2009.
- The Diamondbacks originally wanted to use Jon Rauch as their closer for 2009 and let Brandon Lyon leave through free agency. Rauch’s recent string of rough outings has them reconsidering that train of thought.
- The Marlins will try to trade Kevin Gregg this offseason, and will likely non-tender him if they don’t find match.
- The Braves are looking to add two starters for the 2009 campaign. General manager Frank Wren has traveled overseas to scout Japanese pitchers Koji Uehara and Kenshin Kawakami already this year.
- The Nationals have a crowded situation at first base with both Nick Johnson and Dmitri Young under contract, but they’ll still be looking to improve at the position in the offseason.
Dunn: No Word From D-Backs About Contract For Next Year
Dayton Daily News columnist Hal McCoy checks in from Phoenix, where he’s been following the Diamondbacks-Reds series. McCoy chatted with Adam Dunn before Friday’s game. He asked Dunn if he and the Diamondbacks had talked about a contract for next year and Dunn said, “No, nothing. And I’m not worried about it."
And then the talk turned to Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo, who recently told writers the Reds traded Dunn because he was going to ask for between $120 million and $125 million for a new contract.
“Who is he, my agent?” said Dunn. “First and foremost, I would never say anything like that. And if I did the only guy I would have said it to would have been Ken Griffey Jr. But I didn’t say it.
Did you know that Dunn and Griffey were such good friends? I didn’t.
Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com. He can be reached here.
Reds Officially Acquire Owings
According to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds officially received pitcher Micah Owings as part of the bounty for the Adam Dunn trade. Owings dealt with shoulder stiffness shortly after the D’Backs sent him to the minors in late July.
Owings, 26 in a few weeks, posted a 5.93 ERA in 104.2 innings this year. He lost a mile an hour on his fastball, but maintained a solid strikeout rate. His control worsened, and home runs continued to be a problem. Owings’ flyball tendencies won’t be a good fit for Great American Ballpark, but he can still be a solid #4 starter when healthy.
Heyman’s Latest: Sabathia, Steinbrenner, Heilman
Let’s take a look at Jon Heyman’s latest column at SI.com.
- Heyman talked to "several baseball people" who believe the Angels will be a player for C.C. Sabathia this winter. Possibly, but I think re-signing Mark Teixeira will be their top priority. Heyman spoke to a competing owner who can’t see the Angels doing two $100MM+ deals.
- Heyman considers Hank Steinbrenner’s recent comments a slap at GM Brian Cashman, but notes that Hal is running the team.
- The Rockies and D’Backs have inquired about Aaron Heilman in the past; they may view him as a starting candidate.
Week In Review: 8/31 – 9/6
Sunday afternoon means it’s time to look back at the week and recap the major stories here on MLBTR. Let’s take a look:
- Arizona made a move to help replace Orlando Hudson when they acquired David Eckstein from Toronto for minor league pitcher Chad Beck. Second major move we saw from the D’Backs in August, and it seems like a fair price to add some stability to the middle of their infield for the remainder of the season.
- Brief update on the Pedro Alvarez drama. The Pirates will not re-negotiate his contract even if that option is somehow allowed.
- Tim began a couple of new series this week, one being the Offseason Outlook series, which will take a look at potential signings and moves for each team this offseason. So far, the Giants, Mariners, Padres, and Orioles have been covered.
- Tim also broke down some of the free agent market, taking a look at free agent starters sorted by strikeout rate, and position players sorted by on-base percentage.
- Curious to see if your team’s pitchers will be Type-A or B free agents? Here’s a look at the Elias rankings for both American League and National League free agent starters.
- Speaking of starting pitchers, Randy Wolf (Type B) has decided that his desire to pitch closer to home wasn’t as important as he originally thought. He’ll be open to all options this offseason. Wolf has pitched well since being acquired by Houston, despite moving to a more hitter-friendly park.
- Can’t say I’m surprised, but if you any Seattle fans were hoping for a big-name free agent this offseason, you’ll have to wait a bit longer.
Perrotto’s Latest: La Russa, Offseason Moves
John Perrotto at Baseball Prospectus has his Every Given Sunday column up. Here’s the highlights from the Rumors and Rumblings section (with some added speculation here and there from yours truly):
- There’s a growing rumor that Cardinals manager Tony La Russa could step down after this season and pursue a job as a general manager. We all know Seattle’s looking…
- The Diamondbacks love Adam Dunn’s production so much that they are considering re-signing him and possibly having him play first base. Dunn’s racked up a .474 OBP since coming to Arizona… what’s not to like about that?
- The Padres seem willing to move Kevin Kouzmanoff once again. Perrotto doesn’t say, but it would make sense for young starting pitching to be the target for the Padres, and a move would allow Chase Headley to move back to his natural position, third base. The Giants are looking for help at third, but I doubt the Pads would trade him within the division. Minnesota, perhaps?
- The Marlins are considering playing Jorge Cantu at first next season, using Dallas McPherson at third, and trading Mike Jacobs in the offseason.
- The Royals will not re-sign Mark Grudzielanek this offseason, but will likely target both Rafael Furcal and Raul Ibanez. Given Mike Aviles‘ emergence at the plate, shifting him to second base and putting Furcal at shortstop would make for a very good middle of the infield in Kansas City. The Royals will also explore options for trading Jose Guillen. I personally didn’t like the contract they gave him at the time, and I doubt many clubs like it now either. Moving him could be difficult.
- The Rangers will try to trade Gerald Laird for pitching, given their surplus at catcher. The Yankees could use some help behind the plate if Jorge Posada is unable to catch…
- Jeff Kent, Frank Thomas, and Kent Mercker are all mentioned as possibilites for retirement this offseason, with Jeff Kent being almost a certainty, regardless of how his knee reacts to surgery.
A Tale Of Two Second Basemen: Hudson, Castillo
Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News, via MetsBlog, notes that the Mets are looking to shop Luis Castillo this off-season. This comes just one year after the team signed him to a four-year, $25MM deal. His aching knees have limited him to just over 300 plate appearances this year. It’s not clear who would want Castillo, nor how much salary the Mets would need to eat.
One speculated target is Orlando Hudson, who sits atop an uninspiring class of free agent second basemen. He’ll be in high demand, of course. The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro talks about Hudson’s fate. He doesn’t seem optimistic that Hudson will return to the Diamondbacks next season. He talks about the team’s options, including moving Mark Reynolds to second and signing a third baseman, or acquiring a second baseman in a trade, possibly Mark Ellis or Robinson Cano.
In my own speculation, I can see the D’backs going for a one-year stopgap like Mark Grudzielanek or Ray Durham, rather than trading away even more of their farm for a longer-term solution. The Yankees would likely ask the moon for Cano, despite his disappointing season. Ellis does sound intriguing, though. Billy Beane and Josh Byrnes hooked up successfully this past off-season in the Dan Haren trade.
Stark’s Latest: Cain, Beltre, Burrell, Wigginton
Let’s take a look at the latest column from ESPN’s Jayson Stark.
- Stark wonders why no one has questioned MLB’s apparent trade deadline extension for the Manny Ramirez deal.
- Currently the idea of the Brewers swapping Prince Fielder for Matt Cain is just fun speculation. However, it is true the Brewers will listen on Fielder (he is about to get expensive). The Giants are known to like the big first baseman. The hangup is Brian Sabean’s reported unwillingness to trade Tim Lincecum or Cain.
- The Giants also have their eye on Adrian Beltre. The Mariners want starting pitching, but one year of Beltre is not equal to four of Jonathan Sanchez.
- The Phillies still don’t want to go past two guaranteed years for Pat Burrell. Stark points out another complication – Burrell would gain 10-and-5 rights early in a Phillies contract. Any NL team inking Burrell for four years is a risky proposition given his defense. If Burrell leaves the Phillies, Stark doesn’t expect the team to sign a major free agent as his replacement.
- The Indians deserve props for acquiring Anthony Reyes. Let’s not overdo it though – it’s only been five starts, and his strikeout rate is just 4.0 per nine in Cleveland.
- The Indians talked to multiple teams about Cliff Lee last winter. Interestingly, they thought the hardest about swapping him for Carlos Quentin.
- The Astros were quite willing to trade Ty Wigginton, prior to his massive August.
Odds and Ends: Soto, Joba, Colletti, Tazawa
Let’s dig in with today’s links!
- As you know, the Steinbrenners want Brian Cashman back for ’09. Now it’s up to him.
- Geovany Soto was discussed as a throw-in on the trade that ultimately sent Sammy Sosa to Baltimore back in ’05. One that did get away that year: Ricky Nolasco (in the Juan Pierre deal).
- Michael Gluckstadt interviewed ESPN’s Buster Olney.
- CBSSports.com’s Danny Knobler takes a look at the deep free agent class of starting pitchers. Dave Cameron considers this "the greatest collection of free agent arms to hit free agency at the same time in the history of the game."
- Joel Sherman disagrees with the ’09 Joba Rules.
- Ned Colletti, the game’s best GM? It’s hard to tell if T.J. Simers is being entirely serious here.
- Nick Piecoro gives a scout’s take on Chad Beck, who the D’Backs sent to Toronto for David Eckstein.
- The Red Sox, Braves, and Mets are eyeing Japanese amateur pitcher Junichi Tazawa, and Patrick Newman has more details.
- John Perrotto says Pedro Alvarez is coming across as a punk.
Gammons’ Latest: Martin, Dunn, Quentin
Here’s the latest blog post from ESPN’s Peter Gammons…
- Takashi Saito is mentioned as a free agent this winter, but I believe it’s a situation where he can only re-sign, return to Japan, or retire.
- Gammons heard talk that Russell Martin could be switched permanently to third base. In that scenario, the Dodgers would sign a pitching-oriented catcher such as Jason Varitek. Would that be a good move?
- Adam Dunn knows it’s cliche, but he intends to prioritize winning over money when he hits free agency.
- The D’Backs were asking a lot for Carlos Quentin last winter, with the White Sox, Red Sox, and Indians interested. Josh Byrnes was not able to get Michael Bowden, Jed Lowrie, or Cliff Lee. Arizona ended up getting Chris Carter from Chicago and flipping him to Oakland in the Dan Haren deal. Carter mashed 39 home runs in A ball this year. You can’t say the Diamondbacks gave Quentin away for nothing, since they acquired a crucial component for the Haren trade.
- A year ago, Yankees GM Brian Cashman asked Joe Torre and his coaches their opinion on a Robinson Cano for Orlando Hudson swap. Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa were heavily in favor of keeping Cano.