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Red Sox Rumors: Ortiz, Papelbon

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Imagine the Red Sox without David Ortiz and Jonathan Papelbon. Heading into the 2010-11 offseason, it's hard to do, but not utterly impossible. As you'll see below, it now looks like both will be back in Boston next year…

  • David Ortiz told Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com that he'd like to retire in Boston, but he realizes it's out of his control. "Sometimes, I feel like I'm part of the family and I'm going to stick around longer but I'm not the one who takes that decision," Ortiz said. The Red Sox can bring Big Papi back for $12.5MM next year, though he has expressed interest in a long-term deal.
  • Red Sox GM Theo Epstein told John Tomase of the Boston Herald that he'd like to bring back Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon in 2011. “Having two really good pitchers is better than one,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t want to overcomplicate things.” Both pitchers are under team control, but Papelbon has struggled this year and will make an eight-figure salary in 2011, so he's a trade candidate.

Dipoto Will Not Return To Diamondbacks

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6:36pm: Arizona is still holding out hope that Dipoto will stay in the front office, tweets Steve Gilbert of MLB.com.  Kevin Towers plans to talk to Dipoto this week, according to Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic.

12:54pm: Jerry Dipoto, Arizona's interim GM since July, will not return to the Diamondbacks organization. Kevin Towers is the team's permanent GM, so Dipoto informed the D'Backs that he'll move on, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic also reported that Dipoto would likely resign (all Twitter links).

Dipoto, 42, was a big league reliever for eight seasons. He spent two of those years with the Mets, one team that could be looking for a GM this offseason. Dipoto, who began the year as Arizona's vice president of player personnel, has interviewed for GM jobs in Seattle and Washington.

Dipoto traded Dan Haren, Edwin Jackson, Chad Qualls and Chris Snyder away in July, creating payroll flexibility and acquiring Daniel Hudson, Joe Saunders and others.

Towers To Prioritize Bullpen, Bench

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Kevin Towers says he’d like to see next year’s Diamondbacks team surprise people just like this year’s Padres team did. But only two clubs have lost more games than the Diamondbacks this year, so the new Arizona GM has some work to do. And Towers knows which areas of his new club he'll be targeting first.

“The focus will probably be primarily on the bullpen this winter, as well as the bench,” Towers told reporters via conference call.

That isn’t to say that the entire ‘pen will be turned over, but the Diamondbacks will consider every possible avenue as they look to improve upon an MLB-worst 5.82 bullpen ERA. Towers said he’ll explore major league free agency, minor league free agency, international options and the Rule 5 Draft in search of better production.

Towers gets credit for assembling the Padres bullpen, which has an MLB-best 2.85 ERA this year. Replicating that success in the desert “really boils down to good scouting and good evaluations,” Towers said. In particular, Towers’ scouts will be instructed to look for big pitchers (potentially starters who fit best in the ‘pen) with good fastballs and “plus” secondary pitches.

The Diamondbacks will also look to acquire starting pitching depth this winter; until then, Towers is familiarizing himself with the team and his new staff. After 14 years in San Diego, Towers has many connections in the Padres front office and didn’t rule out the possibility that he might bring some of his former Padres employees to Arizona.

Odds & Ends: Sandberg, Nationals, Padres, Bautista

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On this date in 1978, the Pirates purchased Cito Gaston from the Braves and the outfielder went on to play his last two major league games in a Pirates uniform (believe it or not, future managers Ken Macha, Phil Garner and Jim Fregosi also played on that Pirates team). When this season ends, Gaston will step down as Blue Jays manager, but he'll do so with a pair of World Series rings and at least 885 wins to his name. Here are today's links…

Free Agent Stock Watch: Adam LaRoche

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Earlier in the summer, Adam LaRoche and the Diamondbacks had preliminary discussions about an extension, but that was before the D’Backs hired current GM Kevin Towers. It’s still possible that the D’Backs work out an extension with LaRoche under Towers, but it seems more likely that LaRoche will hit free agency (assuming both sides don’t exercise his $7.5MM mutual option for 2011). Here’s the outlook for LaRoche this offseason:

The Pros

  • He’s a consistently productive hitter, and has now combined 20 or more homers with an OPS of at least .775 in all seven of the seasons he’s played since becoming a starter.
  • LaRoche has generally stayed healthy, averaging 145 games per season in that seven-year stretch.
  • As a likely Type B free agent, he won’t cost a draft pick.
  • He doesn’t turn 31 until November, so his skills probably aren’t about to fade.

The Cons

  • Though he has traditionally been a strong second half player, LaRoche is slumping badly and has just three extra base hits this month.
  • He’ll join a group of free agent first basemen that includes Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko, Carlos Pena, Lance Berkman, Derrek Lee and Lyle Overbay. Teams looking for first basemen will have lots of selection this winter.
  • LaRoche drew limited interest from other clubs when he cleared waivers this summer.

The Verdict

LaRoche signed for $6MM last year after hitting .277/.355/.488 with 25 homers. He now has a .260/.321/.460 line with 23 homers and a career high 93 RBI. The numbers are similar this year and the market remains flush with first basemen, so a similar one-year $6MM deal seems likely for LaRoche.

Astros Claim Cesar Carrillo

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The Astros claimed Cesar Carrillo from the Padres, according to Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle. The Astros confirmed the move via press release and announced that Carrillo will not be joining the big league team. 

This marks the second time this month that the Padres have lost the pitcher to a waiver claim after designating him for assignment. The Phillies claimed Carrillo on September 9th, but the Padres re-claimed him only to designate him for assignment a second time.

This time the Astros pounced on the 2005 first rounder. In 27 Triple A starts this year (all in the Padres organization), Carrillo had a 5.60 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. The 26-year-old debuted on last year’s Padres team but has not returned to the majors in 2010.

The Astros designated Edwin Maysonet for assignment to make room for Carrillo. Maysonet, a 28-year-old middle infielder, has not appeared in the major leagues this year and he has a .637 OPS in the minors.

Olney On D’Backs, Hinch, Martin, Werth

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Now that the Diamondbacks have hired Kevin Towers to be their new GM, their priority is to assemble an improved bullpen, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. Olney says it’s likely that the Diamondbacks will part ways with one or two of their hitters this offseason, because their lineup strikes out so much. Here are the rest of Olney’s rumors:

  • Former Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch joined the Padres scouting department because he believes they have a “good pro scouting staff in place with some building to do.”
  • Rival GMs believe Russell Martin will have some trade value if the Dodgers decide to move him (Twitter link).
  • Multiple talent evaluators tell Olney that they see Jayson Werth as a distant second to Carl Crawford among free agent outfielders (Twitter link).

Diamondbacks Name Kevin Towers GM

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The Diamondbacks officially announced that Kevin Towers will be the team's new executive vice president and general manager. Towers gets a two-year deal plus options that could keep him in Arizona for longer, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown, who broke news of the agreement. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Towers won't earn close to $2MM, as he did with San Diego, but escalators could boost the value of his salary (Twitter link).

Towers, who now works for the Yankees, took over the Padres after the 1995 season and led the team until about a year ago, when he was fired. Jim Bowden of Sirius XM Radio reported this afternoon that Arizona offered Towers the GM job (Twitter link).

Interim GM Jerry Dipoto will not return to the Diamondbacks.

Heyman On Crawford, Soriano, Werth, Mets

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Teams are locking young stars up to long-term deals, so this year's free agent market looks less impressive than it could have. The result, according to one AL executive who spoke to Jon Heyman of SI.com, is a “thin class” behind Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth, Adrian Beltre and Adam Dunn. Heyman polled two agents and an executive on the earning potential of a number of free agents. Here are some results, plus other noteworthy rumors.

  • The executive and one agent predicted Carl Crawford will sign for $120MM over seven years.
  • One agent predicted that Derrek Lee would sign for $24MM over two years. The others predicted a one-year deal worth $4-6MM. Lee’s recent struggles and history as a middle-of-the-order hitter make him hard to project.
  • Agent Scott Boras called Rafael Soriano, who is not his client, “one of the top closers in the game.”
  • Boras continued to link Jayson Werth to Matt Holliday, who signed for $120MM, rather than Jason Bay, who signed for $66MM. "Why not compare [Werth] to Holliday? He's had a platform year like Holliday, and he's a better defender than Holliday,'' Boras said.
  • The Mets won't reach out to Pat Gillick if and when they look to replace GM Omar Minaya. Gillick once said he wouldn’t work for chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, who has a reputation as a difficult boss.

Rockies Won’t Acquire Starter

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The Rockies won't acquire a starter for the stretch run, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Jason Hammel is dealing with an extreme case of dead arm, but Colorado can rely on 25-year-old swingman Esmil Rogers to start. Rogers is striking out nearly a batter per inning and has walked just 3.0 batters per nine innings, though he has a 5.29 ERA.

After yesterday's loss, the Rockies are 2.5 games out of a playoff berth. They considered trading for a starter to reinforce the staff, even though no acquisition would have been eligible for the postseason. Colorado hosts the NL West-leading Giants for three games this weekend.

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