Dodgers Curious About Pedro Martinez
1:59pm: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News says there hasn’t been contract between the Dodgers and Pedro’s agent for months. He says the Dodgers still are not considering signing him. It’d only happen with a base salary near the league minimum.
Like Colletti, manager Joe Torre at least seemed open to the idea in his comments to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.
8:58am: Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times advocates the Dodgers signing Pedro Martinez, and GM Ned Colletti admitted, "He’s somebody we’re curious about." The question is whether Pedro will drop his asking price enough to make a return to L.A. feasible. Plaschke also talked to former Dodgers GM Fred Claire, who admitted "it was a bad trade" when he traded Martinez to the Expos for Delino DeShields in November of 1993.
The Pirates explored the idea of signing Pedro back in January, but found the price prohibitive at the time according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Odds & Ends: Manny, Papelbon, Pudge, Peavy
Links for Thursday…
- The Nationals remain interested in Duaner Sanchez, says Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post.
- Yahoo’s Jeff Passan talked to Mark Prior.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post heard Manny Ramirez and Scott Boras consider the contract with the Dodgers a one-year deal with a safety net. Sherman wonders if the Yankees and/or Mets could get involved depending on how Manny’s 2009 season plays out.
- Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon commented about Manny to Chris Jones in the April issue of Esquire. It’s a good article and there’s a lot more to it than the Manny comments.
- Free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez is working out at first base, according to Will Gonzalez of MLB.com.
- The Padres have the third pick in the June draft. Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune asks whether they’ll finally take a player with big upside.
- Jake Peavy‘s agent Barry Axelrod seems to be writing off the Padres, in comments to Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune: "It’s tough with the Padres’ situation. They are not very good and it looks like it is going to be another long year for them."
- Marlins shortstop Robert Andino is out of options, so Mike Phillips of the Miami Herald says this is his audition.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney says Mark Mulder‘s audition is drawing closer and he’s throwing well. Olney also says Luis Gonzalez is waiting by the phone. For a look at the other remaining free agents, click here.
Tough Decisions For Tigers
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes about the tough decisions faced by the Tigers this spring.
First, they have to decide whether to let 20 year-old phenom Rick Porcello break camp with the team, even though he has yet to pitch above A ball. GM Dave Dombrowski seems open to it. He says the issue of delaying Porcello’s arbitration will not come into play.
The Tigers also have to decide what to do with veterans Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson, and Gary Sheffield. Will their contracts lead to roster spots? Robertson (4 ER in 4 IP) is owed $17MM through 2010. Willis (4 ER in 3 IP) will make $22MM in that time. And Sheffield (.167/.423/.500 in 18 ABs) earns $14MM in ’09. Spring Training stats don’t mean much anyway, but these samples are especially small. And Rosenthal says Willis and/or Robertson could be sent to the minors or bullpen if necessary.
Yanks Sign Joba, Mets Sign Murphy
Joel Sherman of the New York Post has more pre-arbitration signings for us today, including Joba Chamberlain ($432,575) and Daniel Murphy ($401,000).
Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Pedro, A’s, Padres
Links for Wednesday…
- Orioles president Andy MacPhail doesn’t seem interested, but Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun quizzed various players on the team about the possibility of signing Pedro Martinez.
- MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone says Pedro was hitting 92 yesterday and his fastball had the old-school tail on it.
- The AP reports that MLB is investigating the ages of 42 Dominican prospects.
- RotoAuthority names 20 undervalued hitters for 2009 fantasy drafts.
- Nationals acting GM Mike Rizzo spoke highly of Stephen Strasburg, talking to Ben Goessling of the Washington Times.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney learned that the A’s are open-minded to Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, and/or Vin Mazzaro cracking the Opening Day rotation. Jerry Crasnick has more on Oakland’s next Big Three.
- Olney also says the Padres will be "scouring the earth for pitching" over the next few weeks. This jives with Tom Krasovic’s recent article.
Schumaker Second Base Experiment Failing
According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Skip Schumaker second base experiment is not going well. So far it’s been a learning experience for Schumaker defensively. Tony La Russa’s internal options: Brendan Ryan, Brian Barden, Joe Thurston, Tyler Greene, and Jarrett Hoffpauir.
Strauss believes Cardinals GM John Mozeliak may explore a trade to fill the position rather than sign a free agent. Aside from possibly Dan Uggla, though, the trade market doesn’t seem to offer anyone better than Ray Durham and Mark Grudzielanek.
Nationals Sign Kip Wells
According to Pete McElroy of MASN, the Nationals signed righty Kip Wells to a minor league deal. Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post says he can earn $500K if he makes the team. Wells, 32 in April, posted a 6.21 ERA, 7.41 K/9, and 7.17 BB/9 in 37.2 innings for the Royals and Rockies last year while earning $3.1MM. He also tossed 25 innings in the minors for Colorado. He dealt with blood clots in his pitching hand during the season.
Offseason In Review: Atlanta Braves
Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the Braves. Here’s what we wrote about them on September 18th. The changes for 2009:
Additions: Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez, Kenshin Kawakami, Tom Glavine (re-signed), Boone Logan, Eric O’Flaherty, David Ross, Garret Anderson, Greg Norton (re-signed), Brooks Conrad. Midseason: Casey Kotchman, Stephen Marek
Subtractions: Mike Hampton, Will Ohman, Julian Tavarez, Chuck James, John Smoltz, Royce Ring, Ruben Gotay, Brent Lillibridge, Tyler Flowers. Midseason: Mark Teixeira, Mark Kotsay
I’ll kick things off by annoyingly quoting myself from September:
Manager Bobby Cox expects to add two quality starters, whether via free agency or trade. I would target Derek Lowe due to his strong health record. He might cost $14-15MM per year. After that I’d ink a more affordable veteran like Paul Byrd, Freddy Garcia, or Randy Wolf. That bargain starter may come from Japan, with Koji Uehara and Kenshin Kawakami considered the top names.
Granted the market shifted, but the Braves got Lowe at exactly $15MM per and Kawakami at $23MM over three years. On top of that GM Frank Wren added one of the game’s most reliable innings eaters in Javier Vazquez. The Jake Peavy talks didn’t work out, but Wren shifted gears and did a great job bringing in three solid starters as well as Glavine. Throw in Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson at midseason, and many others, and Wren turned a deficit into a surplus. The loss of Smoltz was surprising and disappointing but not really a big deal for the 2009 Braves.
The Braves had more drama with the near-Rafael Furcal signing, but they were already respectable in the middle infield. Anderson isn’t spectacular as the left field import, but he’ll help (and isn’t any worse than Ken Griffey Jr.). Presumably the Braves have some cash left over for a possible midseason addition. But using CHONE projections, their lineup projects to score a healthy 4.93 runs per game. The Mets and Phillies tied for second in the league last year with that same figure.
The Braves should have a pretty good defense again; last year’s was rated seventh in the game in The Fielding Bible II. Last year’s bullpen wasn’t great, but more pitchers are healthy this time around. Overall, this looks like a 90 win team to me.
Bottom line: Despite the offseason drama, Wren assembled a deep, revamped rotation to go with an already-above average offense. The Braves should return to their contending ways in ’09.
No Starting Job For Willingham?
Nationals outfielder Josh Willingham hit a respectable .254/.364/.470 last year, which is very similar to his career line. His defense isn’t too bad, either. FanGraphs suggests he was worth $10.3MM last year, and he’ll earn $2.95MM in ’09. All in all, pretty good player. So how come he doesn’t have a starting job?
According to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson, Willingham may be the odd man out in the Nationals outfield if everyone is healthy. They’re set to employ an Adam Dunn/Lastings Milledge/Elijah Dukes starting outfield, with Willie Harris and Austin Kearns also looking for playing time out there.
Willingham thinks the situation will work itself out, and he’s smart not to get worked up. Maybe Mike Rizzo can move Nick Johnson and open up first base. Failing that, someone figures to hit the DL sooner or later.
Heyman On Contracts, Loretta, Indians, Lackey
SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up…
- Heyman writes in praise of White Sox GM Ken Williams, who says, "People don’t really understand our way, our method."
- Heyman names his top 13 contracts, from an agent point of view. Barry Meister appears twice, with Edgar Renteria and Kyle Farnsworth. Scott Shapiro and Barry Praver get two mentions (Willy Taveras and Juan Cruz), and Scott Boras has three (Derek Lowe, Mark Teixeira, and Willie Bloomquist).
- Heyman writes of "talk at Dodgers camp" about possible Yankee interest in Mark Loretta (you may recall their consideration of him as a first base candidate in 2007). Loretta would have to consent to a trade, and keep in mind Brian Cashman’s comments yesterday.
- The Indians may have sufficient depth in young position players to make a trade for pitching.
- Heyman speaks of optimism for an extension for Angels ace John Lackey, since the team was able to hammer out his ’06 contract with agent Steve Hilliard.