Odds & Ends: Wagner, Astros, Haren, Mora
Some more links to check out…
- Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reconstructs the day that the Red Sox acquired Billy Wagner with help from the hard-throwing lefty himself.
- If you ask Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle, Astros owner Drayton McLane sets an open tone for the entire organization.
- Justice believes the Astros need to add an innings eater this offseason and says he expects them to shop for bargains.
- Dan Haren says he wants the D'Backs to bring Brandon Webb back next year, according to Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic.
- Melvin Mora tells Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun that he'll never tire of thanking the Orioles, even if they don't exercise his option after the season. It would be a shock if the O's picked up Mora's $8MM option.
Dotel Would Play For Mets Or Yankees
The White Sox told Octavio Dotel that he's not in their long-term plans when the righty approached the club about a contract extension last month, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The 35-year-old reliever says he'd like to play in New York for the Yankees or, his preferred team, the Mets. Dotel has experience in New York; he began his MLB career as a starter with the Mets in 1999 and played a season with the Yankees in 2006.
This year Dotel has allowed 54 hits in 61.2 innings, walking 36 and striking out 74 for an ERA of 3.36. He projects as a Type A free agent, so teams will have to surrender a high draft pick to sign Dotel if the White Sox offer him arbitration. He's currently making $6MM in the second deal of a two-year contract.
Lincecum Open To An Extension
Tim Lincecum is open to the idea of a long-term deal, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. The 25-year-old righty says he'd consider a multi-year deal if the Giants approach him about one.
"I definitely like San Francisco," Lincecum said. "I've seen nothing but positive things as far as my personal experiences. It's where I see myself being for a while."
If the Giants decide to extend the reigning Cy Young winner, there won't be many precedents off of which to base a deal. After all, few pitchers win Cy Youngs in both of their first full seasons. Lincecum has an ERA of 2.47 and a league-high 247 strikeouts over the course of his 211.1 innings pitched, so he's a leading Cy Young candidate once again.
Lincecum will be a super two player this offseason, so he's about to hit arbitration for the first time. Fellow super two Cole Hamels signed a three-year deal worth $20.5MM last offseason, so Lincecum's agent, Rick Thurman, will be in position to demand at least that much if the sides start negotiating. Lincecum, who is on track to become a free agent after 2013, could conceivably demand Zack Greinke money ($38MM) to cover his four years of arbitration. Greinke's deal bought out two of his free agent years, but Lincecum can demand a precedent-setting deal since he has established himself as one of the game's best.
Odds & Ends: Harden, Pirates, Corpas, Astros
Some links for Friday morning…
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post doesn't think the Mets should pursue Rich Harden when the righty becomes a free agent this winter. Instead, Sherman would like to see the Mets sign someone with a more consistent history.
- The Pirates want manager John Russell and his coaching staff to lead the club again next year, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Team president Frank Coonelly and GM Neal Huntington both sound confident in the skipper despite the club's 95-loss season.
- Troy Renck of the Denver Post expects the Rockies to shop Manny Corpas aggressively this offseason.
- The Astros are just beginning to search for a permanent manager, but Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle says we shouldn't rule out current third base coach Al Pedrique.
- It's possible that Roy Halladay will make his final home start for the Blue Jays tonight. As MLB.com's Jordan Bastian points out, Halladay is an offseason trade candidate.
- Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the Rangers weren't impressed to hear that Milton Bradley sat out to make sure his stats looked good before signing with the Cubs as a free agent.
Stark On Bradley & Zambrano
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark hears that the Cubs will likely try to move Milton Bradley for another "problem" player this offseason. Eric Byrnes, Pat Burrell and Bronson Arroyo haven't been discussed, but they are the kind of expensive player the Cubs might consider trading Bradley away for. There will likely be takers for the unpredictable outfielder, despite his year-long struggle in Chicago.
Stark hears that Bradley's teammate, Carlos Zambrano, is far less likely to be traded. Baseball men say the Cubs have never shown any interest in dealing the big righty, so he's likely to be their Opening Day starter once again in 2010.
Odds & Ends: Redmond, Mauer, Bay
Another round of links…
- Backup catcher Mike Redmond wants to re-sign with the Twins this offseason, according to Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Rookie Jose Morales has been backing Joe Mauer up lately, so the Twins have options behind the plate.
- Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press says the Twins "are expected" to try to sign Joe Mauer for about $120MM over seven years after this season. If Mauer hits free agency after next season, he'd probably see multiple offers worth more than $120MM.
- The Red Sox will have an opening in left field after the season and Curt Schilling knows how he'd attempt to fill it. He said on WEEI's The Dennis & Callahan Show that he'd rather re-sign Jason Bay than pursue Matt Holliday because Bay has proven he can play in Boston.
- ESPN.com's Keith Law reports that the D'Backs are about to sign their first European player. Andrea Pizziconi, a 17-year-old Italian, has a "promising" slider and may develop into a four-pitch pitcher.
Odds & Ends: Braves, Astros, Valentine, Baez
Some links for the morning…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports is glad that Bobby Cox's tenure as Braves manager will end with a sense of finality. The Braves announced yesterday that Cox will manage for one last year in 2010.
- MLB.com's Alyson Footer lists some of the managerial candidates the Astros could consider, including Jeff Bagwell, Jim Fregosi, and Bobby Valentine.
- Could Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan be a candidate? Duncan told Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle that he's focused on the Cardinals now, but he didn't completely rule out the job.
- Yesterday Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News reported that Valentine was nearing a deal to join ESPN as an analyst. If the deal goes through, Yahoo's Gordon Edes expects Valentine to have an escape clause that would enable the former MLB skipper to take a managerial job if he so chooses.
- Danys Baez tells Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun that he'd like to sign with an East Coast team after the sason. The reliever doesn't rule out the Orioles, but a reunion seems unlikely.
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post asks Nationals fans how many games their club will win next year. More than half of Post readers expect the Nats to win between 71-80 games.
Cards Void Wagner Mateo’s Contract
8:28pm: Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told Derrick Goold of the P-D he has no plans to renegotiate with Mateo at this time. Mozeliak is disappointed the deal fell apart.
5:37pm: Badler talked to Mateo's agent Edgar Mercedes, who said his client will be among those in attendance at a tryout in October. By the way, the Cardinals noted that there were no concerns about Mateo's age.
2:43pm: The Cardinals voided the contract of top prospect Wagner Mateo, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 16-year-old Dominican signed a $3.1MM deal with the Cards in July, but failed to meet the club's physical standards. The team discovered "pre-existing injuries and physical defects" and voided the deal.
Mateo's representatives say the outfielder has 20/30 vision in his right eye, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. However, they say Mateo doesn't have a degenerative eye condition or nerve damage. Mateo's representatives say the prospect's vision is the same as it was earlier in the year when Mateo was impressing scouts. Regardless of the severity of Mateo's eye issue, he's a free agent again now.
Odds & Ends: Greinke, Rangers, A’s, Yankees
Some more links for the afternoon…
- Zack Greinke told WEEI.com's Alex Speier that he wouldn't have trouble pitching in any city except New York. The Cy Young contender sounds confident that he could thrive in other places, but suggested he might struggle if asked to pitch in the Big Apple on a regular basis.
- MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan provides the names of some possible bidders for the Rangers. George Bush and Nolan Ryan don't appear to be candidates to buy the club.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer says the A's could use some big bats next year. As Ken Rosenthal pointed out earlier today, Adam Kennedy's .767 OPS leads all A's with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.
- Matthew Pouliot of NBC.com's Circling the Bases continues to rank the offseason's top free agents. Carlos Delgado and Hideki Matsui place 40th and 36th, respectively.
- As Peter Abraham of the Journal News points out, Andy Pettitte will probably earn about $5MM in incentives before the season ends. Earlier in the month Jon Heyman of SI.com predicted this would happen.
- Abraham also notes that Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez were literally lined up to speak with Scott Boras at one point yesterday.
Odds & Ends: Astros, Indians, Werth
More links for Tuesday…
- Today's chat starts in an hour.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Astros aren't likely to hire Jeff Bagwell as the club's next manager. Former MLB managers Jim Fregosi, Buck Showalter and Manny Acta could all be considered for the job.
- As MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reports, the Indians continue to discuss manager Eric Wedge's performance. An announcement about the skipper's future with the Indians should come soon after the end of the season, if not earlier.
- If the Indians decide to fire Wedge, Boston pitching coach John Farrell would be the favorite to replace him, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
- Jayson Werth explains to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick how Philadelphia fans bring out the best in him. Werth's having a career year, with 34 homers and a .900 OPS.