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Rich Harden Back From DL; Back On Market?

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Rich Harden has been activated from the DL and will make his third start of the season today. John Shea says that the A’s are hoping Harden will stay healthy, as the A’s are better team with him. Billy Beane may be hoping for Harden to stay healthy for an entriely different reason. Before His latest trip to the DL, it was believed that the A’s were marketing the right-hander that has not made more than nine starts since 2005.

After making two strong starts at the beginning of the season, Bruce Jenkins suggested that Harden needed about six strong and healthy starts before other teams would become interested. After the latest setback, that number is probably higher now. Troy E. Renck noted that it would probably take a healthy month before the Rockies would be interested.

Harden is to make $4.5MM this year and the team has a $7MM option for 2009. Harden is scheduled to become a free agent following the 2009 season.

It will be interesting to see if teams show enough interest in a talented pitcher that has made six trips to the DL in six seasons, or if the A’s will be willing to lower their asking price.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here .

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Wells, Griffey, Olney, Tavarez, Edmonds

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A lot of links today, so let’s get to what is being said about some trade and signing possibilities in the Blogosphere…

  • The Darth Boss George Brigade wants Hank Steinbrenner to sign David Wells to prove that Hank is indeed his father’s son.
  • River Ave. Blues says the Yankees are too smart to sign Wells and then goes on to list about 87 pitchers that should be given a shot in the Highlanders’ rotation before Wells.
  • Redlegs Rant feels that Ken Griffey Jr. is behind the recent stories that speculate on him being traded.
  • Mariners Central speculates on some of the names that it might take to land Ken Griffey Jr., noting that the M’s are not likely to part with either of their top two prospects, Wladimir Balentien and Jeff Clement.
  • The Tribe Time Report sees plenty of holes in Buster Olney’s recent theory that Garret Atkins would be a good fit for the Indians.
  • Brewers Nation agrees with Olney that the Brewers should trade Ben Sheets.
  • Sox & Pinstripes doesn’t want to just give away Julian Tavarez but they also note that the bullpen needs help and Tavarez isn’t the answer.
  • Batter’s Box says Brad Wilkerson should fit in well with the rest of the Jays lineup, which also lacks the ability to hit for average or power.
  • One writer at Fanhouse doesn’t understand why Kevin Towers is so disappointed in the play of Jim Edmonds. They feel it was pretty obvious that the Pads were getting a player well past his prime.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Johnson, Bonds, Piazza

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So far during the 2008 regular season, 28 players have either been DFA’d or released. At the same point last year, that list only included 14 players. In the past four seasons, only 2006 (22) had more than 14 players DFA’d or released this early in the season.

This will be an interesting trend to watch the rest of this season and into the early portion of 2009. It appears to be an indication that teams are showing less patience to work trades for fringe players or teams may be placing higher premiums on prospects, unwilling to move even mid-level prospects for a guy that might be the 24th or 25th man on a 25-man roster. Either way, it could mean fewer trades in 2008 and beyond.

The list of players DFA’d so far this year includes some that have been productive Major Leaguers at some point in their career and could be again, including Kirk Saarloos, Juan Castro, Dan Johnson and Hideo Nomo. OK, maybe Nomo is a stretch. With players like this being made available it is even more reason for teams to avoid trades and wait. And of course Barry Bonds and Mike Piazza are still sitting out there. Let’s take a look at what is being said about these players in the Blogosphere…

  • Mets Fever wonders if Johnson is worth a flyer from the Mets but wonders who would go to make room.
  • Fanhouse sees Johnson ending up right back where he started (almost), signing with the Giants.
  • Beyond the Boxscore wrote this prior to Frank Thomas signing with the A’s, but the question, "Who Needs a DH?" is still relevant with Piazza, Bonds and Johnson. They take a look at several teams that could be in the market.
  • I am convinced that by the All-Star break, we will have seen 30 different versions of "Why [insert MLB team] should sign Barry Bonds". The latest comes from Jays Nest who argues for the Blue Jays signing the all-time home run king.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: The Longoria Deal

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Yesterday, the Tampa Bay Rays announced a historic long-term deal with their rookie-of-the-year candidate, Evan Longoria. If all the options are picked up and bonuses earned, the Dirtbag from Long Beach State will earn $44.5MM over the next 9 years.

Some have noted that the Rays are following the blueprint of the Indians from the 90s, by locking up their young talent long-term. However, this move is unprecedented for a player so early in his career, as last night marked only his 7th game as a major leaguer.

Buster Olney notes that this deal is not surprising as teams are even starting to consider giving star college players 10-year deals when they are drafted. While there is certainly risk with the deal, historically the risk is minimal for top position prospects. Fred Claire notes that long-term deals are now the norm, but that these deals are being reserved for players with impeccable character traits.

Lets take a look at what is being written about this contract in the Blogosphere…

  • skyking162 looks at the math behind the Longoria deal in a two part series. In Part 1, they calculate how much money the Rays are saving. They note that the Rays are paying Longoria during his arbitration years as if he would be worth $9MM on the free agent market. In Part 2, they calculate the addition of the option years and note that the upside far outweighs any downside.
  • Outs Per Swing notes that signing Longoria before he becomes a star will help the Rays avoid making the same mistake the Marlins made with Miguel Cabrera.
  • DRG of Rays Index takes exception to writers that now say sending Longoria to the minors had nothing to do with delaying his free agency clock. DRG notes that keeping Longoria in the minors for two weeks meant the Rays only had to buy out two free agency years instead of three, thus saving the team money. He also refers to reports of players being upset about the deal. He says they should talk to Rocco Baldelli and ask him if he thinks it is a good idea to leave money on the table for a little security up front.
  • Her Rays needs help deciding on the white Longoria jersey or the grey.
  • Baseball Musings is surprised by the move but notes that this is just another reason to like the future of the Rays.
  • Babes Love Baseball thinks the Rays bought the car without so much as a test drive.
  • Fanhouse notes that the Rays are doing a great job of locking up their young talent and while Longoria may be underpaid the first six years of the deal, he will make up for it in the option years and beyond.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Sabathia’s Future Value Remains Strong

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Jon Heyman weighs in on C.C. Sabathia, his early season struggles and his impending free agency. Heyman notes that Sabathia and his 13.50 ERA are "costing himself millions by the pitch", even going so far as to say that CC could stand for "Complete Choke."

Heyman lists four players that had huge walk-years (Adrian Beltre, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, B.J. Ryan) and four players that struggled in their walk year (Andruw Jones, Jason Jennings, Jermaine Dye, Jeff Weaver). The problem with this list, is that there is not a single player similar to Sabathia. That is, there is not one left-handed ace in the bunch. As far as free agents go, there is nothing more valuable than a left-handed power pitcher in his prime.

The one player that Sabathia should be compared to is Barry Zito.

Zito had win totals of 14, 11, 14 and 16 and ERA+ of 134, 101, 113 and 116 in the four years prior to free agency and still managed to collect a 7-year, $126MM contract. On the other hand, Sabathia’s last three seasons included win totals of 15, 12 and 19 and ERA+ of 104, 140 and 143. In addition, Sabathia is a year younger in ’08 than Zito was the year prior to free agency.

Sabathia may indeed be costing himself a few million dollars, but in the end he is still a left-handed power pitcher in his prime and will almost certainly eclipse the $126MM contract signed by Zito.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Astros Sign Soler

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Kevin Czerwinski is reporting that the Astros have signed Alay Soler to a one-year deal for $400K. Soler was originally signed by the Mets in 2004 after defecting from Cuba but did not begin pitching in the U.S. until 2006 in which he made eight starts for the Mets, going 2-3 with a 6.00 ERA. He was later released and then signed by the Pirates last season. He only made 14 appearances for the Pirates AA affiliate before asking for, and being granted his release.

Soler will first report to extended spring training and then AAA Round Rock.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Cubs May Have Use For Murton After All

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One of the players most-rumored to be traded in the past month is Matt Murton after he failed to make the Cubs opening day roster and was sent to AAA. Now it appears the Cubs may have a use for Murton after all, recalling him from the minors today.

Jon Greenberg notes that Murton is still not an everyday player but could get an occasional spot-start in the outfield as well as regular pinch-hit at bats.

Earlier this week, Ken Rosenthal noted that the Rays were still interested and earlier this month wrote of the Padres also pursuing the outfielder. The sticking point appeared to be the Cubs demand for a top pitching prospect.

This could just be a ploy by the Cubs to try and up the offer from other clubs, showing that he is still of value to the Cubs or the Cubs are just now realizing that he is just more useful in the majors than he is in the minors.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Roberts, Jones

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Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has his latest video "Rosenthal’s Full Count" up and running.

  • First, Rosenthal calls Andruw Jones the "early candidate for worst free agent signing" noting that Jones is now batting 7th. Rosenthal goes so far as to say that the Dodgers’ best outfield right now includes Juan Pierre and does not include Jones…The Dodgers are truly lucky to have Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp on the cheap right now ($840K combined), because Jones ($14.1M) and Pierre ($8M) are a lot of dead contract weight for one outfield.
  • And we can thank Rosenthal for keeping Brian Roberts in our lives…Rosenthal notes that as the O’s start coming back to earth after their hot start, they can start thinking once again about their July fire sale. The big name is obviously Roberts and Rosenthal says that the Cubs still want the second baseman. He says the Rockies are also likely to be interested. However, the Indians, who tried to put a package together for Roberts this past off-season, will not be one of the bidders as it would require position shuffling, something not likely to occur in-season…Then again, Peter Angelos may just keep dangling Roberts into next off-season. Once Roberts is traded, Angelos may be worried that there won’t be much reason to talk about the O’s. You guys would miss all the Roberts rumors, wouldn’t you?

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Odds And Ends: Crisp, Spiezio, Lahey, Longoria

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Here are a few notes from the MLBiverse…

  • Terry Francona sounds like a manager that is frustrated and wishes the Red Sox would go ahead and trade Coco Crisp. After starting Crisp for the second straight game, Francona said "The more [Jacoby Ellsbury] plays, the better he’s going to be, and I clearly feel that responsibility…I’m trying to balance [playing time] the best I can."
  • It only took a couple of weeks, but Scott Spiezio managed to mess up his latest opportunity with the Atlanta Braves. After failing to show to his AAA Richmond game "ready to play", Spiezio was released by the Braves.
  • Rule 5 pick Tim Lahey, who was DFA’d by the Phillies, cleared waivers and has been sent back to the Twins for $25K.
  • With Evan Longoria now in the majors, the Rays may be forced to trade Jonny Gomes or Eric Hinske (who is off to a hot start) in the next few weeks.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In

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Bunch of random topics so let’s just get to it and see what it being said in the Blogosphere…

  • Big League Stew talks to Bless You Boys about the idea of Barry Bonds signing with the Tigers. BYB argues against signing Bonds noting that the Tigers already have a bunch of slow players (base cloggers?) and what they really need is some more speed in the lineup…Although we keep hearing about collusion and have not heard any numbers bandied about, Bonds has always made it very clear how much he values the almighty dollar. Does anybody else think that Bonds would already be in uniform if he had come out said he would play 2008 for $3-5MM plus incentives? The baggage is what it is, but teams might find it easier to deal with it at a price Bonds is not likely to accept.
  • Rockin’ The Red takes a look at the five Cardinals that are most likely to be traded during the season…Chris Duncan is an interesting name on the list. With all the outfielders that the Cards have, Duncan is a solid bat that is likely to be a Super-2 at the end of the year.
  • The Yankees: Minors to Majors looks at the pending free agents for the Yankees and concludes that there is plenty of compensation picks to be had giving the Yankees plenty of flexibility to sign a high-end free agent like C.C. Sabathia…Of course, that is assuming the Yankees would let something like draft pick compensation stand in the way of signing a free agent. Not likely.
  • Wrigleyville23 has had enough of the Brian Roberts-to-the-Cubs media reports…Who?
  • The Bronx Zoo would love to see Nick Johnson back in a Yankees’ uniform but notes that Dmitri Young may not be a dependable replacement for the Nats.
  • Mets Fever notes that eight players have moved among the Brewers, Mets and Nats since this offseason…Let’s just say that the Brewers did not get the best of that "three-way trade".
  • One writer at DRays Bay is hoping the Rays and M’s can re-engage talks for Edwin Jackson…The M’s may be interested once again after being two-hit by Jackson yesterday, but maybe the price just went up.
  • One name that kept popping up recently as a possible trade piece in the near future was Rich Harden. Well, Harden has once again found himself on the DL and Athletics Nation is not taking it well.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

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