Tim Lincecum Wins NL Cy Young Award
Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young award for the second straight season, edging out Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Lincecum, 25, went 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA. He struck out a league-leading 261 batters, walking 68 in 225.1 innings. He made his second consecutive All-Star appearance and led the league in complete games and shutouts. According to WAR, Lincecum was the NL's best pitcher.
He'll be arbitration-eligible as a Super Two this offseason and the Giants will likely have to hand out a record-setting contract. Lincecum has said before that he's open to an extension.
Wainwright – who obtained the most first place votes - and Carpenter each receive $100K bonuses for their finishes in the Cy Young voting, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts.
Royals Agree To Sign Brad Thompson
12:25pm: The Royals confirmed, via press release, that they agreed to sign Thompson to a minor league deal.
11:13am: The Royals have agreed to a one-year deal with righty Brad Thompson, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The 27-year-old allowed 85 hits and 23 walks in 80 innings for the Cardinals last year, striking out 34 for a 4.84 ERA. He has had good control throughout his career, but his average fastball clocks in at just 87mph, which presumably prevents him from striking more hitters out.
Thompson doesn't have a guaranteed spot on the team's 40-man roster, but could make the team out of Spring Training. As a minor league free agent, he is allowed to sign before November 20th.
Blue Jays Rumors: Trades, Halladay, Gillick
Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos tells MLB.com's Jordan Bastian that he's going to be considerably more aggressive on the trade market than on the free agent market this offseason. Some players have caught the Jays' attention.
" We have players that we have, as an organization, targeted to try to acquire," Antopoulos said.
The Blue Jays already have one player that teams will be eyeing as long as he's in Toronto. The Dodgers are interested in Roy Halladay, but the Mets aren't thought to be players for Doc, according to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post.
On another note, Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star wonders if the Blue Jays might hire Pat Gillick as a senior consultant. Perkins says the Jays would "love" to bring their former GM back.
Nightengale On Jackson, Swisher, Rays, Halladay
USA Today's Bob Nightengale suggests we keep an eye on a possible three-way trade between the Tigers, Mariners and one other club. The Tigers would give up Edwin Jackson and the Mariners would give up Brandon Morrow. Here are some more rumors to read as you wonder who that third team might be:
- Nightengale says the Rays are the "clear-cut favorite" to acquire Milton Bradley from the Cubs.
- The Yankees are apparently letting teams know that Nick Swisher is available. Swisher was involved in his share of trade rumors after the Yankees acquired him last season.
- The Dodgers are focusing on Roy Halladay, who would potentially cost Chad Billingsley and others.
Bay Rejects Boston’s Offer
Jason Bay rejected a contract offer from the Red Sox worth close to $60MM over four years, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. We've heard for a while that Bay wants to test the free agent market, and so have the Red Sox.
"It's not a surprise that a player that's gone this far wants to see what's out there,'' GM Theo Epstein said.
Bay will hit the open market in 12 hours, along with John Lackey, Matt Holliday and the rest of this year's free agents. Heyman says the Red Sox are thought to have interest in Holliday as well as Bay.
Epstein told a group of reporters including WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that there's no firm timetable for signing Bay.
"This part of the process is important to him, so he’ll see what it’s like, see what’s out there and ultimately make a decision,” Epstein said.
Odds & Ends: Figgins, Holliday, Padres
Some links to read through on Ryan Howard's 30th birthday…
- The White Sox would like to add a true leadoff man and are open to bringing back Jim Thome, according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
- MLB.com's Todd Zolecki says the Phillies aren't considered serious contenders for free agent Chone Figgins.
- MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez reports that the Marlins may spend on a corner outfielder, a second baseman or a third baseman if they free up some payroll by trading Dan Uggla. Jamey Carroll is one of the many free agents the Marlins would consider.
- The Brewers are open to bringing Craig Counsell back, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says tension is rising between players and owners.
- MLB.com's Corey Brock wonders if the Padres could bring Mike Cameron back.
- Padres fixture Brian Giles won't return in 2010, though he hopes to keep playing.
- MLB.com's Matthew Leach reports that the Cardinals will likely add a veteran bat if they don't re-sign Matt Holliday. However, the Cards say they're still hoping to sign Holliday, according to FOX Sports.
- Leach expects the Cards to sign a pitcher to a one or two year deal to be the club's fourth starter.
- As MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo points out, some of the best free agent signings are the ones that get the least attention.
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun says there's a good chance the O's sign Pedro Feliz.
Reds Rumors: Free Agents, Scutaro, Wells
MLB.com's Mark Sheldon has the latest on the Reds' offseason plans:
- GM Walt Jocketty says the team won't be very active on the free agent market.
- The Reds won't set a payroll until next month, but they won't be spending on big-name free agents.
- That probably includes Marco Scutaro, who would fit the team's needs.
- The Reds don't plan on offering free agent pitcher Kip Wells a major league contract.
Tigers Don’t Have To Dump Salaries; Could Trade
Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski know a thing or two about fire sales, and he insists the Tigers aren't in the midst of one. The former Expos and Marlins exec told Lynn Henning of the Detroit News that he's only going to make solid baseball trades.
"I can assure you 100% that we do not have any kind of fire sale, or salary dump, or whatever you might call it, taking place," Dombrowski said.
The GM didn't mention Curtis Granderson or Edwin Jackson specifically, but both have been involved in trade rumors recently. It's still possible that the Tigers could deal one of the two players and Dombrowski said the Tigers are in conversations with other teams.
"To me, you're always in position where you listen to what people have to say," he said.
As long as the Tigers are wiling to listen, teams like the Brewers, Mariners and Cubs will continue to call. Dombrowski tells MLB.com's Jason Beck that the club's trade talks aren't likely to slow down negotiations with any of the team's free agents.
Braves Rumors: Heyward, Wagner, LaRoche
We've been hearing for a while that the Braves may trade from starting pitching depth to free up money, but what other moves might we see? MLB.com's Mark Bowman has some answers:
- Braves GM Frank Wren says there are "a lot of trade conversations going on" around the league.
- The Braves don't seem concerned about finding another outfielder, because they will consider letting top prospect Jason Heyward start the season in the majors. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the Braves sign an affordable outfielder, in case they decide to keep Heyward in the minors for a couple months.
- The Braves are interested in Billy Wagner.
- Free agent Adam LaRoche would be a good fit, but the Braves, who have prospect Freddie Freeman in the system, may hesitate to offer LaRoche a multi-year deal.
- Frankie Piliere of AOL FanHouse hears that the Braves will deal Derek Lowe or Javier Vazquez.
- Piliere adds that the market for Rafael Soriano should be strong.
Trades Of The Decade: Teixeira To The Braves
Once the Braves acquired Mark Teixeira before the 2007 trade deadline, they started thinking of themselves as a World Series contender. They were 4.5 games behind the division-leading Mets and 3.0 games behind the Phillies, but there was still a sense of excitement when GM John Schuerholz made the move.
"We've got the team to win the World Series," Brian McCann told the AP. Tim Hudson and Edgar Renteria echoed McCann's comments, and why not? The Mets added Luis Castillo and the Phillies added Kyle Lohse, but the Braves acquired a premier bat who was still a year and a half away from free agency.
Scott Thorman had been playing first regularly before the trade, so Teixeira was an immense upgrade. To acquire Tex and and Ron Mahay, the Braves sent Beau Jones, Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison and Jarrod Saltalamacchia to the Rangers.
The Braves gave up their top three prospects in the deal – Saltalamacchia, Andrus and Harrison – so Baseball America called it a a "good haul" for GM Jon Daniels.
Saltalamacchia had potential to "blossom into one of the game's best catchers," but he was expendable to the Braves, who had Brian McCann. They could also afford to deal Andrus because of shortstops Edgar Renteria, Brent Lillibridge and Yunel Escobar.
Saltalamacchia had already arrived in the big leagues at the time of the trade, but Andrus was just 18. Baseball America considered him a "classic projection prospect" because no one was sure he would hit enough to become a major league regular. He was still raw, but Daniels said he had to obtain more than draft choices for his first baseman.
"We said we were not going to allow ourselves to run the course on [Teixeira's contract] and not have anything to show for it," Daniels told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Braves were willing to give so much up because Teixeira was one of the best all-around first basemen in baseball. They finished 84-78, 5.0 games behind the Phillies, but it was in spite of their big acquisition; Teixeira hit .317/.404/.615 down the stretch, with 17 homers.
They traded him to the Angels a year later for Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek. Not much, in comparison to the bounty they gave up for Teixeira. Kotchman was later flipped to Boston for Adam LaRoche, who is now a free agent. One other remnant of the trade is lefty Brett DeVall, who the Braves drafted last year with a supplemental pick for the loss of Mahay.
- Harrison has been hittable in parts of two major league seasons and he missed the second half of this season with an injury, but he's 24 and just two seasons removed from top prospect status.
- Andrus hit .267/.329/.373 as a rookie this year and was one of the best defensive shortstops around, according to UZR. He just turned 21 in August.
- Saltalamacchia hit .233/.290/.371 this year before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. He hasn't come close to actualizing the 25 homer potential he had a couple years ago and questions about his defense linger.
- Feliz, 21, astounded in his major league debut this summer, striking out 39 and walking just eight in 31 innings. The incredible part? He allowed a mere 13 hits. He's not likely to sustain those rates, of course but he is a top prospect and could crack the team's rotation as soon as next year.
- Jones has yet to play in the majors, but the 23-year-old struck out 11 batters per nine innings in the Rangers' system this year.
That's better than a "good haul." Without the Teixeira trade, the Rangers wouldn't have such a highly-regarded farm system and might not be as well-positioned to contend annually. Before the trade, the Rangers offered Teixeira $140MM to sign long-term. Looking back, they must be thrilled he didn't accept.