Rosenthal’s Latest: Pedro, Wood, Pudge, Gonzalez
Ken Rosenthal weighs in on a few of the recent hot topics…
- Like we heard earlier, Rosenthal says the Dodgers would only be willing to add Pedro Martinez to the mix if he is willing to “pitch for pay” and accept an incentive-laden contract. Rosenthal adds that Martinez’ agents reached out to the Dodgers and that the Dodgers contacted Pedro’s personal trainer but deny that any serious conservations have occurred.
- Rosenthal feels that the Dodgers have a better shot of landing a starter if they trade Delwyn Young who is out of minor league options.
- Rosenthal says Brandon Wood has given up hope that the Angels will trade Chone Figgins to clear a spot for Wood on the roster. Wood does have a minor league option remaining. Rosenthal says the Angels would need to find another leadoff hitter if they let Figgins walk at the end of the season as a free agent.
- Rosenthal adds that the Marlins are “warming to the idea” of signing Ivan Rodriguez, but that playing time remains an issue as Pudge wants to play five days a week.
- According to Rosenthal, Luis Gonzalez is willing to resign with the D-Backs, but it may only happen if Eric Byrnes continues to have problems with his hamstring.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
How The Top Free Agents Are Faring
It is still very early in spring training, but let’s take a look back at Tim’s top 15 free agents and see how they are performing for their new clubs…
1. C.C. Sabathia (Yankees; 7 yrs/$161MM). Sabathia has made one appearance for his new club going 2 innings, giving up 1 unearned run on 2 hits. He struck out 2 and walked none.
2. Mark Teixeira (Yankees; 8 yrs/$180MM). In 5 games, Teixeira is 7-14 with 2 doubles.
3. Manny Ramirez (Dodgers; 2 yrs/$45MM). Manny will make his spring debut on Thursday.
4. Francisco Rodriguez (Mets; 3 yrs/$37MM). Rodriguez is pitching for Venezuela in the WBC. He has thrown 1 scoreless inning with 2 K’s.
5. A.J. Burnett (Yankees; 5 yrs/$82.5MM). Burnett has made 1 start for the Yankees, pitching 2 scoreless innings, giving up 1 hit.
6. Derek Lowe (Braves; 4 yrs/$60MM). Lowe has looked strong in 2 starts for the Braves, striking out 9 in 6 innings, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits.
7. Orlando Hudson (Dodgers; 1 yr/$3.38MM). Hudson is 3-16 in 6 games with the Dodgers. He has 4 Ks and a walk.
8. Adam Dunn (Nationals; 2 yrs/$20MM). Dunn is 1-5 with a double in 3 games.
9. Ryan Dempster (Cubs; 4 yrs/$52MM). Dempster has made 3 appearances (2 starts) allowing 5 runs (2 earned) in 8 innings on 7 hits and 2 walks. He has struck out 5.
10. Ben Sheets (Unsigned). Sheets remains unsigned and is currently rehabbing in Texas.
11. Mike Mussina (Retired). Mussina visited with his former Yankees teammates today and told the press that he has "no itch" to pitch again.
12. Raul Ibanez (Phillies; 3 yrs/$31.5MM). Ibanez is hitting .200 (5-25) with 3 doubles in 8 spring games. And I guess it is worth noting that he has not committed an error.
13. Pat Burrell (Rays; 2 yrs/$16MM). Burrell is 4-12 and hit his first home run today, a grand slam. He has driven in 7 and has 6 walks to only 2 strike outs. He even played one game in right field.
14. Bobby Abreu (Angels; 1 yr/$5MM). Abreu is 3-9 with 2 doubles and a walk in 4 games. He has struck out 4 times.
15. Brian Fuentes (Angels; 2 yrs/$17.5MM). Fuentes has made only 1 appearance for the Angels, giving up 2 hits and striking out 1 in 1 scoreless inning.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Yankees Not Likely To Replace A-Rod Through Trade
7:32pm: Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger has another quote from Cashman on why the Yankees will not trade for a replacement.
"With the team not wanting add payroll, not wanting to hurt the farm system and stuff like that, and we’re going to get Alex back, we’re going to go with what we have in camp," Cashman said.
7:08pm: According to an AP article, Brian Cashman spoke about the possibility of finding a replacement for Alex Rodriguez through the trade market saying it is not likely.
"I’m not optimistic about doing anything," Cashman said before the Yankees played Cincinnati on Tuesday night. "I’m not going to be proactive in trying to do something. If something represents itself that makes sense, then maybe it will be different. I think our answer is here in camp."
Cashman added that he has not spoken to any other GM’s about a third baseman but he has heard from the agents representing free agent third basemen.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Pudge To Marlins Not Likely
Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post reports that a reunion between Ivan Rodriguez and the Marlins is not likely and the biggest factor is playing time.
"Obviously the issue is playing time,” [Scott] Boras said Tuesday, adding he also is talking to teams that might be willing to give Rodriguez, 37, a bigger role than the Marlins are offering.
Capozzi added that the Marlins are offering contract worth less than $1MM that would come with performance incentives. Boras added that the economics of the deal may have also been a hurdle, but that the playing time issue needed to be addressed first.
Yesterday, Pudge said that he would like to play for the Marlins again, while Jon Heyman thinks the Astros are interested and Jim Baumbach reported that the Mets have their eye on the catcher.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Donald Fehr Comments On Idea Of Salary Cap
Barry Bloom reports that Donald Fehr met with the media today and the head of the Player’s Association offered his thoughts on the potential of baseball instituting a salary cap.
"We’ve been down this road before and we saw where this led us," Fehr said during a 25-minute interview with about a half-dozen members of the media. "We spent an awful lot of time after the strike and again in 2002 and 2006, tying revenue sharing to the competitive balance tax and the free-agency system…It’s difficult for me to envision a situation where we’d make a wholesale change in the system. It’s nearly impossible for me believe that the players would be in favor of a salary cap."
These comments come only a few weeks after John Henry and Larry Luccino of the Red Sox made it known that they favor a salary cap in baseball.
Recently, Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said he expects baseball to institute a "much broader salary structure," but that he doesn’t necessarily favor a salary cap, noting that if it comes with a minimum (salary floor) he "can’t afford to run [his] business."
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Olney: Mets Will Not Sign Pedro
According to ESPN 1050 Radio (via MetsBlog), Buster Olney is reporting that the Mets have decided to fill the fifth spot in the rotation with an in-house candidate and will not pursue Pedro Martinez.
Buster Olney is reporting that there is "no chance" that Pedro Martinez will become a Met. Olney says the Mets will stay with what they have at the fifth spot and will not entertain the thought of bringing Pedro back.
According to MetsBlog, the Mets are clearly cutting costs as evidenced by the release of Duaner Sanchez and there was little chance they were going to offer $5MM to Pedro. They add that for the same reasons, they don’t see the Mets signing Ivan Rodriguez. MetsBlog would prefer Livan Hernandez as the fifth starter.
Earlier today we learned from Ken Rosenthal that Pedro is seeking a similar deal to John Smoltz. Other than the Mets, Rosenthal listed the Dodgers, Marlins and Indians as potential suitors.
Jon Heyman said that Pedro was possibly interested in reuniting with the Dodgers, but that the Dodgers have yet to show any interest.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Stark On Red Sox Offseason Moves
In his latest column, Jayson Stark weighs in on the moves the Red Sox made this off-season. While Boston did not spend nearly as much as the Yankees, their moves have a ton of upside potential and that no team "had a more underrated offseason than the Red Sox."
- Stark spoke to one scout that thinks the Red Sox did a better job than the Yankees at filling their needs through free agency.
- Stark notes that the amount of guaranteed dollars for the Red Sox four free agents (John Smoltz, Brad Penny, Takashi Saito, Rocco Baldelli) is less than what the Yankees will pay AJ Burnett this season.
- The Red Sox moves also did not leave the team with "long-term inflexibility."
- One scout believes Smoltz will come back healthy at some point and compares the signing to trading for an impact pitcher at the trade deadline. Stark says the Sox believe $5.5MM for Smoltz is a better gamble than a five- or seven-year deal for "any free-agent pitcher."
- Stark notes that Penny did not need off-season surgery and one scout says pitching coach John Farrell is the one person that should be able to get the best out of Penny.
- One scout says that if Saito is healthy, the Red Sox got a steal.
- Stark says the Red Sox rotation is more "October-ready" than the Yankees, even if the Yankees have the better long-term outlook.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Manny Ramirez
On this date 36 years ago, Yankee teammates Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich made it known that they had traded their families. Seriously. Their entire families including wives, kids and dogs. Kekick and his new "wife" broke up shortly thereafter while Peterson and his new wife may still be together and may have four kids of their own. You can’t make it up. In more recent relationship news, the Dodgers finally signed Manny Ramirez. Let’s take a look at what is being written about Manny and the Dodgers in the Blogosphere…
- The Biz of Baseball takes a look at the Manny deal and the negotiations that led up to it and can describe the entire process with one word: Lunacy.
- Feeling Dodger Blue says the Manny signing takes the Dodgers from an average offense to one of the best offenses in the NL.
- Josh Q. Public says Manny is worth every penny no matter how he left Boston.
- The Ghost of Moonlight Graham offers their feelings on the Manny signing from their perspective as a Red Sox fan.
- Mets Geek says the Manny signing was a sad day for many Mets fans, while the rest can finally get on with their lives.
- Jorge Says No! examines why Manny is the most polarizing presence in baseball right now.
- The Sons of Steve Garvey predict that with the opt-out clause, Dodgers fans will be angry again before the year is done.
On a quick side note…It has been a little while since I have updated my blogroll. While I do receive numerous suggestions from bloggers each week, I would love to hear from you guys. So let’s have it in the comments: Which blogs do you prefer for your favorite team?
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.
Manny Meets With Media
8:05pm: Some more on Manny and Boras…Gwen Knapp of CBS Sports says Boras is not to blame and that he just takes what the teams give him. Knapp added that the Dodgers played right into Boras’ hands because they did not have a fallback plan and needed the megastar that all teams crave…Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com takes a closer look at how much the Dodgers’ lineup has improved in the last two weeks.
5:21pm: Manny Ramirez met with the media today in Arizona. Steve Silva of The Boston Globe provides some quotes in which Manny takes some parting shots at the Red Sox.
"I was looking for this place for eight years," Ramirez said. "Now I’m here and I’m just gonna go give it all I got…[On whether the scene in Boston last season hurt his contract] “I don’t think so," Manny replied. "I’m 37 years old. I got two more years. What happened in Boston, that’s in the past. I think it didn’t hurt me. It was a bad economy. I got a great contract. And, hey, I made my money already. I’m in a happy place, where I wanted to be, so . . . I don’t think . . . actually, I won. I won getting out of there [Boston] because I’m in a great place. I’m in a place that I want to play. I’m in a place that I’m gonna be happy.
Bob McManaman of the The Arizona Republic has a few more quotes from the press conference, in which Ramirez makes it a point to thank Scott Boras.
"First, I want to thank the McCourt family for doing this good investment. Second, I want to thank Scott (Boras, his agent) for making the deal happen – good job. I’m happy to be back and like I told (manager) Joe (Torre), I think we have some unfinished business to take care of."
Also, it is worth noting that Manny has until November to decide whether to void the second year of the contract.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
WBC May Be Showcase For Future Major Leaguers
Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune notes that the ’06 World Baseball Classic was the coming out party for Kosuke Fukudome and Alexei Ramirez, and gives us a list of players that could be playing for big league contracts in this year’s WBC.
Rogers lists Yu Darvish (Japan), Hyun-jin Ryu and Suk Min Yoon (Korea) along with Albertin Chapman, Yuniesky Maya and Yuliesky Gourriel (Cuba) as the players that could be playing for future millions.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.