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Red Sox Catching: Bard, Montero, Kottaras

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Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe has a wrap-up of the Red Sox’ catching situation heading into the beginning of the 2009 season.

Even after signing Jason Varitek, the Red Sox were rumored to have been continuing their pursuit of a trade for a young catcher. In today’s article, Massarotti writes that at the beginning of Diamondbacks camp, Miguel Montero was informed that "no deals were imminent." Instead, it appears the Red Sox will stick with Josh Bard for now.

However, Massarotti also mentions another interesting in-house option for the Red Sox in George Kottaras. Massarotti summarizes Kottaras’ situation:

Kottaras is out of options and could be a threat to beat out Bard, though the more likely scenario is that the Red Sox are trying to increase Kottaras’ trade value so that they do not simply lose him on waivers.

It’s probably going to be ’Tek and Bard on Opening Day. We’ll see if the Red Sox end up acquiring, or even trading away, any young catchers in the meantime.

Cardinals Rumors: Hudson, Schumaker, Ryan

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In a blog update for the Daily News, Tony Jackson reports that, according to the second baseman himself, "several other teams" had multi-year offers out to Orlando Hudson. Who were those teams?

According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals may have been one of them. Strauss has a quote from Cardinals’ GM John Mozeliak: “We checked it out because we obviously are looking at ways to fill the position, and somewhat to gauge where the market was going."

As for what the Cardinals plan to do with second base in the near future, Strauss writes:

The Cardinals continue to audition Skip Schumaker at the position with Brendan Ryan and Joe Thurston representing his primary competition.

“I’m comfortable with what we have in camp,” Mozeliak said. “Ultimately, if we have to address it, we have another five or six weeks to do so.”

I understand the Cardinals’ perspective here, but I still wonder if Mozeliak isn’t even thinking about calling the agent of Mark Grudzielanek.

Astros Void Hall’s Contract

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Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports the Houston Astros will void the minor league contract of Toby Hall.

Hall’s shoulder requires surgery, which will keep him out of the game for nearly four months. The Astros had expected Hall to recover from his injury via rehab over a timeframe closer to one month.

Presumably, Hall will re-enter the market once his health is firmly established. It’s not a stretch to suggest some competitive team might need catching help in the middle of the 2009 season, so Hall may find a job yet.

As for the Astros, their catcher competition going forward consists of a battle for two spots between Humberto Quintero, J.R. Towles, and Rule 5 pick Lou Palmisano.

The Return Of Corey Koskie?

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Kelsie Smith of the Pioneer Press reports that Corey Koskie will play for Team Canada in the WBC. His appearance is motivated by a strong interest in returning to the major leagues, after a break from the game of over two years due to his experiencing symptoms of post-concussion syndrome.

We’ve mentioned the Koskie story before. Here’s to hoping that Koskie finds a way to get back into the game.

Oakland Hot Stove: Garciaparra, Cabrera, Reyes

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Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Oakland Athletics and Nomar Garciaparra are "in serious talks" about a bench spot for the team. Slusser notes that the Phillies are likely competing for Nomar’s services as well; I myself would also mention the Cubs as a team in need of a right-handed bench bat.

Additionally, Slusser points out that signing Garciaparra would not preclude the Athletics from also going after Orlando Cabrera. However, it seems as though the two parties continue to have difficulty in bridging the salary gap, despite Cabrera’s reducing his salary demands from $9MM to roughly $5.5MM at this point.

Also on the A’s radar are a pair of relievers: lefties Dennys Reyes and Andrew Sisco.

Manny Ramirez Rumors: Sunday

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9:36am: Another interesting note from Jonathan Abrams of the San Francisco Chronicle: the Dodgers are saving a locker for Manny.

9:26am: Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times says that talks are intensifying between Ned Colletti and Manny Ramirez. Discussions over the past week have been more frequent than in any other one week period since November.

However, the report should be taken with a grain of salt. Writes Hernandez, "[Colletti] wouldn’t say if the increased dialogue is a sign of progress."

Technically, Roberts Could Be Traded

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Following a new contract extension for Brian Roberts, Peter Schmuck and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun point out an interesting feature of Roberts’ new deal:

The club retains a fairly unfettered right to deal Roberts now, but Orioles officials insist the club has no intention of pursuing any trade talks involving him.

Many sportswriters have questioned the fit of this contract for the Orioles, since it keeps a 31-year old second baseman signed on an otherwise young team. With limited no-trade protection, Roberts may or may not be a continued fit for the Orioles’ long-term plan.

Halladay Trade Rumors

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Scott Miller of CBSSports.com looks at just how long the Toronto Blue Jays will be able to hold on to ace pitcher Roy Halladay. Writes Miller:

If the Blue Jays veer off course… they could reach a point where the organization might be best served if Ricciardi fields offers for Halladay.

"The only way we’d trade him, I’d say, is if all hell broke loose and the stock market went nuts and (ownership) said we’ve got to take the payroll down to bare bones," Ricciardi says. "And if that was the case, then we’d be trading a lot of people."

The other part of the "all hell breaking loose" scenario, of course, would be the bottom dropping out unexpectedly on the Blue Jays early in ’09, and them sailing toward the July trading deadline hopelessly out of the AL East race.

That happens, Ricciardi is guaranteed to be inundated by contending vultures looking to pick Halladay from the Jays’ carcass.

"At that point, we’d have to reevaluate," the GM says.

In this case, "inundated" might be a bit of an understatement.

The Remaining Free Agent Market

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As we anxiously wait for Manny Ramirez, Orlando Cabrera and others to sign, remember to keep an eye on MLBTR’s list of remaining free agents for 2009 (there’s also a link under MLBTR Features, on the right side of the site).

Beyond Manny and Cabrera, there are a few lefty relievers available (guys like Joe Beimel and Dennys Reyes), as well as some older position players that may have some pop left in the bat yet. Do any teams need a centerfielder than can hit righties, like Jim Edmonds? Will the Cardinals go after Mark Grudzielanek to replace Adam Kennedy?

Manny aside, there are still a few other impact players on the market to keep an eye on.

Braves Interested In Griffey

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8:21pm: Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times had a conversation with Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln on Saturday and Griffey was obviously a topic of discussion.  Lincoln seemed less than enthused about the possibility of getting into a bidding war with the Braves.

"Everybody always wants more money, that’s reality,” he said. "It doesn’t matter whether it’s the baseball business or any other business. But you’ve got to go with what you’ve got.”

6:14pm: David O’Brien took to the comments section of his blog for a little more insight on the Griffey situation:

Atlanta is his first choice. He really wants to play for the Braves. Has a daughter on an Atlanta AAU team and a son who’s playing high school football this year in Orlando, and Griffey doesn’t want to be on the other side of the country at Seattle. Plus, he’s always wanted to play for Bobby Cox.

If I had to bet, I’d say this gets done early next week.

5:28pm:  So much for the whole "agent leaking" theory.  Braves GM Frank Wren just confirmed to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s David O’Brien that his club does indeed have interest in Griffey:

"We have interest in several available outfielders, including Griffey," said Wren.

5:22pm:  The Tacoma News Tribune’s Ryan Divish suggests that the Braves’ reported interest in Griffey "could be another case of an agent leaking some info to the media to make it seem like his client is coveted to enhance his positions in negotiations." 

It’s just speculation, but it’s definitely a possibility.  With Griffey off playing in a Pro-Am tournament at Pebble Beach, his agent might as well stir the pot.

2:33pm:  Jerry Crasnick at ESPN.com reports that the Atlanta Braves are looking to acquire Ken Griffey, Jr.. According to Crasnick’s sources, "Griffey is Atlanta’s prime target."

Crasnick says there is mutual interest between the two parties. Griffey lives in Orlando, where the Braves’ spring training facilities are located. Also, Griffey may benefit from the ability to split time with Matt Diaz in left field.

If the Braves miss on Griffey, their next likely target would be Garrett Anderson.

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