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Yankees Eyeing Peavy?

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There’s a lot being made of the Yankees signing CC Sabathia, but as Ken Davidoff of Newsday.com asks, "Whom would you rather have? CC Sabathia for six years and $150 million? Or Jake Peavy for four years and $63 million?"  Buster Olney reported on this possibility recently. Davidoff reports:

"Peavy’s agent, Barry Axelrod, who lives in the San Diego area and is very friendly with Towers, said: "My guess is, unless somebody knocks their socks off this offseason, I don’t expect that Jake will be moved. I would think that starting the middle of next year and into the next offseason, there could be a significant possibility of Jake being moved" because of Peavy’s significant raise from 2009 to 2010."

Peavy would need to approve a trade and it’s not sure thing he’d want to go to New York. On whether, Peavy is seeking a trade at all, Davidoff quotes Peavy:

"’I want to be here, but I want to be here with a chance to win a World Series. If someone says, ’Hey, we’re going to rebuild, that’s not going to be our top priority,’ you certainly would wonder what your other options are.’"

Olney’s Latest: Sabathia, Ellis, Embree, Giles

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Buster Olney brings the rumors:

  • If the Yankees want CC Sabathia, they will not lose in any bidding war now that a new ballpark puts them in the position to "throw unlimited dollars" at CC. Unless CC wants to play in the NL, or avoid the media circus of New York City, Olney seems convinced the Yankees will land him.
  • The A’s have begun contract negotiations with Mark Ellis. No details yet.
  • Before the trade deadline, no teams expressed interest in Alan Embree and his $2.25MM salary. This could indicate that the A’s will not pick up his $3MM option. The 38 year old lefthander struggled with a 4.96 ERA this season.
  • The Padres are going to pick up Brian Giles $9MM option at the deadline, shortly after the World Series, rather than buy him out for $3MM. This was expected.

Fukudome Is Just A Rookie

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While Japanese players are eligible for Rookie of the Year honors, they often come with much higher expectations than rookies. As evidence, scapegoat-du-jour Kosuke Fukudome has 3 years, $38MM left on his contract. That is a large commitment to a first year player who struggled more like a traditional rookie than delivering like a high-profile Japanese import.

Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune says what to do with Fukudome is at the top of the Cubs offseason to do list. Says Rogers,

"According to scouts, Fukudome would have no value if Hendry tried to shop him. He isn’t going to go back quietly and resume his career with the Chunichi Dragons, walking away from his deal with the Cubs. That would send a terrible signal as teams around the majors become more aggressive in pursuing players from Asia. One scout interviewed Saturday suggested a course of action that could be tough to swallow.

’He has to go to the minors,’ the scout said. ’He has to get rid of all those habits, pulling out on pitches, collapsing. He’ll never hit the way he’s hitting now, and this is a tough place to work out your problems. Always has been.’"

Here we find the expected risk associated with giving large contracts to unproven commodities. It’s obvious Fukudome needs to make adjustments to big league pitching; however, his contract prevents the club from treating him as they should: like a rookie.

Fukudome put up .257-.359-.379 with 10 homeruns, 25 doubles, and an underwhelming 58 RBI. With a career OBP just under .400 in Japan, disappointment lies primarily in his .359 OBP and the inability to adjust and remain the tablesetter he was in May. Fukudome finished with a stat line less than that of a $12.5MM player and more akin to a rookie. As Rogers points out, Jim Hendry might need to treat him like one.

Edmonds Considers Retirement

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Jim Edmonds is mulling over retirement, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun Times. The 39 year old is not complaining of breaking down physically and was a starter on the Cubs postseason roster so it’s evident the guy can still play. Still, as many-a-ballplayer considers at his age, Edmonds says, "I’m just trying to figure out what I want to do, what’s best for my family.”

While Edmonds admitted to "soaking it in" during his final games, Wittenmyer writes:

"The Cubs are expected to leave the door open for Edmonds to return but won’t break the bank to keep him off the free-agent market. Whether he returns to Chicago could come down to whether another team goes after him hard, whether a team closer to his Southern California home pursues him or whether he decides to retire."

There are 18 reasons to expect Edmonds to return. Needing only that many homeruns to reach the 400 mark, Edmonds should be motivated to find a full time role with a club this offseason. The outfielder made $8MM with the Cubs this season and while that amount could come down a notch, if Edmonds is healthy and motivated to put up another 20 homerun season then he should find plenty of interest.

Latest On A.J. Burnett

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11:06pm: Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi says he’s yet to discuss dollars with Burnett’s agent.

10:38am: Yesterday, MLBTR reported the Blue Jays are preparing a two year, $30MM contract extension which would have A.J. Burnett making $54MM over the next 4 years. Here’s some of the latest:

Mike Rutsey of the Sun Media reports Burnett has also mentioned to Baltimore players that he’d like to play for the Orioles, but that his decision on whether to opt out or not is contingent on the Blue Jays offer.  Says Burnett,

"The bottom line is when I sit down at the end of the season and [my agent is] with me and tells me what I’m worth and then we will look at Toronto’s offer and hopefully it’s close."

Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star says Burnett was pleasantly surprised by the number being floated by the Jays.

"Nice," he said, nodding his head approvingly. "That’s more than I thought they would come up with."

Mussina Speaks About Future

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Mike Mussina, who goes for his first 20 win season today, is unsure about his future although he does seem open to stay in the game for at least one more year, this according to Kat O’Brien of Newsday.  O’Brien writes,

"If my intent is going for 300, then if I’m in for one, I’m in for three," Mussina said. He added that if he pitched one year and pushed past the 280-win mark: "By then, I would absolutely owe it to myself to try."

If he does return, Mussina said his first choice is to pitch for the Yankees. If he wants to pitch and they do not want him back, he will look elsewhere, but only within a limited radius of his home in Montoursville, Pa., and only in the American League. Said Mussina: "My market’s pretty limited."

If Mussina does continue on a grail quest to reach 300 wins, which he acknowledged does in fact matter if attainable, seems to have limited himself to three teams in the AL East (New York, Boston, Baltimore) and maybe certain AL Central teams like Chicago, Cleveland, or Minnesota. I’ll posit that Kansas City would not be both too far and not provide the opportunity for wins a guy seeking 300 would want.

Tyler Kepner of the New York Times suggests Moose is more tentative. Writes Kepner,

"Mussina has studied the careers of pitchers with comparable statistics, noticing that many limped to the finish. He would rather leave while pitching well, but his career wins total complicates things."

Odds & Ends: Roberts, Holliday, Cashman

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Some points of interest:

  • Brian Roberts, once a sure-fire bet to be dealt, is now a priority for the Orioles to resign according to Marc Carig of the Washington Post. The second baseman wants to play for a contender and says all the right things about wanting to stay with Baltimore. Roberts is 31 and will finish in the top 5 in average, doubles, stolen bases, and runs scored.
  • According to Troy E. Renck, Matt Holliday is not happy about the idea that his back injury might influence contract talks with Colorado. Renck quotes Holliday, "It’s a stiff back, and it could get worse if I pushed it. Back stiffness and having surgery, that’s a little different. It’s just ridiculous," Holliday said. "If we were playing meaningful games, I would be in there."
  • George A. King III of the New York Post tells us Brian Cashman has informed Hal Steinbrenner he would like to return. An announcement could come as soon as tomorrow.

Rangers Looking Into Free Agent Market

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Jeff Wilson of the Star Telegram reports the Rangers will be having the first of a series of meetings on October 6th to assess the free agent market. They need starting pitching, a right handed bat, a lefty reliever, and improved defense, leading the majors in errors and unearned runs allowed. 

Nolan Ryan plans to overhaul the attitude of the pitching staff, and the general consensus is that the young pitching staff will be improved next year. Nelson Cruz will be counted on as a right handed power bat, and the Rangers will have an opportunity to re-sign Milton Bradley. C.J. Wilson could become that left handed reliever if Frank Francisco remains the closer.

Wilson’s article provides quotes from Jon Daniels, all of which express confidence in his current team. Still, the Rangers shouldn’t count on simply improving internally if they want to be competitive in 2009, and these meetings will sort out where they feel their priorities are. It’s good to hear they’ll have a plan going into the GM Meetings in November 3rd-6th.

Dontrelle For Lugo?

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The Tigers 2009 season is going to be reliant on some bounce back candidates to do just that.

According to Jon Paul Morosi, the Tigers will need to guess which of Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Dontrelle Willis, and Nate Robertson will bounce back. And aside from Verlander, they will more than likely want to deal one of them to scale back an already unsustainable projected team salary of $130MM.

Some speculation by Morosi: The Tigers need a shortstop and could swap Dontrelle Willis for Boston’s Julio Lugo. Both guys are signed through 2010, Willis making $22MM and Lugo making $18MM. The Red Sox have shown a willingness to take on reclamation projects in pitchers like Wade Miller and Bartolo Colon, so why not Dontrelle when they have a more favorable (and fan-friendly) option at shortstop in Jed Lowrie? The Tigers could also use the spare $4MM and the Red Sox could afford the risk. Morosi quotes Jim Duquette:

"That can be an effective way to swap players who’ve had below-average years," Duquette said, when asked about that approach. "Lugo would not be a bad player in that situation, as long as you’re not taking on any more money. It would be a break-even proposition. "You take the position player and hope that Lugo has more of a bounce-back year."

Scherzer Open To Fall Ball

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Yesterday, Max Scherzer, in hopes of being in the Diamondbacks rotation in 2009, said, "If they want me to get more innings, I would be more than happy to go to the Arizona Fall League to obtain those innings."

In this piece by Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, it’s noted the Diamondbacks do not like to increase an innings count by more than 30 per season and Scherzer will be happy to finish around 60. According to Piecoro, Scherzer referenced a Sports Illustrated article – presumably Tom Verducci’s Year After Effect – and understands that having 60 major league innings under his belt does not guarantee he’ll be a starter next season.

The Diamondbacks conditioned Scherzer, a max-effort pitcher, as a starter in Triple-A, where he totaled 53 innings. If the Diamondbacks go ahead with having him pitch in the Arizona Fall League, I would expect them to monitor Scherzer’s workload and arm strength closely in 2009.

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