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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: O’s. Holliday, Glavine, Maddux, Cardinals, Jeter

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A few notes on from around the baseball Blogospehere…

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Odds And Ends: Lane, Taveras, Cubs, Reyes

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Round three from the MLBiverse…

  • The Red Sox have signed former Astros outfielder Jason Lane to a minor league deal.
  • Troy E. Renck says that Willy Taveras could be moved this winter and speculates that the Nationals might be a good fit if Lastings Milledge is moved from center field.
  • Paul Sullivan says the Cubs are not likely to make many changes this winter with only four key free agents. One of those free agents, Ryan Dempster, said that he would prefer to stay with the Cubs.
  • Omar Minaya says Al Reyes turned down a major league job with another organization to take the minor league deal with the Mets.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Jays Acquire Jose Bautista

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The Blue Jays have announced the acquisition of Jose Bautista from the Pirates for a player to be named later.

Bautista is making $1.8MM this season, his first of arbitration eligibility. He signed a one year deal last winter, avoiding arbitration. Bautista was hitting .242/.325/.404 in 107 games for the Pirates, very close to his career marks of .240/.328/.397.  Nothing amazing, but a decent pickup for a team with some question marks in the infield next year.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Odds And Ends: Glavine, Dunn, Draft, Tigers

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A few more notes from around the MLBiverse…

  • Tom Glavine will not need Tommy John surgery and Glavine puts the chances of an ’09 return "50-50 at best."
  • Scott Bordow takes a look at how the Adam Dunn acquisition is affecting the D-Backs.
  • In Peter Gammons’ latest piece he takes a look at how small-market teams ignored the slot recommendations from the commissioner’s office, noting that the slot system "only rewards big market teams."
  • In the same article, Gammons says the Tigers may have to reduce their payroll by $40MM next season. Gammons believes it will be very difficult, noting they are already committed to more than $100MM for ’09.
  • The Hardball Times takes a look at several players drafted using compensation picks that turned out to be much better than the free agent the team lost.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Looking At The Yankees’ Impending Free Agents

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The Yankees have several big-name free agents looming this off-season, including Bobby Abreu, Andy Pettite, Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Mussina, and Jason Giambi ($5MM buyout for his $22MM option). Deciding who to bring back, who to let walk and who to offer arbitration could be the key decisions that have a ripple effect throughout the rest of baseball.

Tyler Kepner says the Yankees have already decided to not bring back Abreu and Giambi at their current salaries, $16MM and $21MM respectively. However Kepler says the Yankees may be open to bringing Abreu back at a reduced rate, especially without any obvious replacements in the farm system.

Peter Abraham thinks Pudge and Giambi would accept arbitration if it is offered by the Yankees. Now that Pudge is only a type-B free agent the Yankees may not think the one compensation pick is worth the risk.

So let’s hear it in the comments…Who should the Yankees bring back this off-season and do they risk offering arbitration to Pudge and Giambi?

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Breaking Down The Rangers Offseason

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The Rangers figure to be very active this offseason. With the only pitching staff in baseball with a negative VORP (-46.7), that would likely be the area that sees the most change.

We have already seen that Tom Hicks is not willing to throw free agency dollars at starting pitchers over 30. The Rangers have several good prospects that could be used as trade bait, including Engel Beltre and Elvis Andrus. And many feel that Jarrod Saltalamacchia will be moved this winter as the Rangers are deep at catcher.

Jamey Newberg breaks down what the Rangers need to do this off-season and reasons that Roy Halladay is a pitcher the Rangers could target…

  • The Rangers would like to add one or two front-of-the-rotation pitchers.
  • Newberg says it sounds like "free agency is not the first answer when the question is how to improve the rotation," but Tom Hicks will be open-minded if a unique case presents itself (CC Sabathia?)
  • Newberg discuses the package that might be required for the Jays to part with Halladay.

So let’s hear it in the comments…Who should the Rangers target this offseason?

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Odds And Ends: Mets, Embree, Olsen, Hoffman, Izzy, Phillies

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A few notes from around the MLBiverse…

  • Bill Madden says the Mets may be out of luck for a closer, even if Huston Street and Brian Fuentes have cleared waivers and are available. Madden says the price tags are just too high for the Mets.
  • Alan Embree hopes that not being traded is a sign the A’s are going to pick up his $3MM option for next season.
  • Scott Olsen said he prefers to be back with the Marlins in ’09 but conceded that the Marlins may prefer to move him due to his arbitration eligibility.
  • Kevin Towers would not answer questions when asked if the Padres would bring free agent-to-be, Trevor Hoffman, back in ’09. We had heard previously that Towers wants Hoffman to end his career with the Padres.
  • Jason Isringhausen’s agent said that his client’s "desire is to play [next season]," and they will wait to see if he needs surgery before deciding how to make that happen. Isringhausen is a free agent following this season.
  • Jimmy Rollins made comments to reporters that suggested free agents may avoid signing with the Phillies because of the fans.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

More Odds And Ends: Rays, Rangers, Burnett, Pirates

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A few more random notes from the MLBiverse…

  • Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman says the team’s waiver position makes it "extremely unrealistic to expect that [the Rays] will be able to get something done in August."
  • Tom Hicks says the Rangers will look for free agents this offseason that fit the team, but he doubts they will offer any long-term deals to pitchers over 30.  That doesn’t rule out C.C. Sabathia or Oliver Perez.
  • A.J. Burnett denies he has already decided to opt out of his contract, but Jays manager Cito Gaston thinks the pitcher won’t be back.
  • Dejan Kovacevic says now that the signings are concluded, the Pirates’ draft bonanza was unprecedented for the organization.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

MLB Suspends Indians’ International Free Agent Signee

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Paul Hoynes is reporting Major League Baseball has suspended Edward Pinales for one year after failing a background check.

Right-hander Edward Pinales from the Dominican Republic did not pass a background check by MLB officials. John Mirabelli, the Indians’ director of scouting, said he wasn’t sure if Pinales said he was younger than he really was or used a false identification…Pinales claimed to be 16.

Pinales is the latest of 16 international free agents to be suspended. These suspensions show baseball is trying to get a better grip on international free agency and will certainly have an effect on how teams handle these players in the future. However, Hoynes reports the Indians "lost no money in the deal," suggesting these suspensions are unlikely to curb signing bonuses.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here .

Odds And Ends: Angels, Glavine, Johnson, Santana

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A few minor notes from around the MLBiverse…

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

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