Cubs Rumors: Schilling, Peavy
Let’s talk about the Cubs’ connection to starters Curt Schilling and Jake Peavy.
- Schilling is undecided on pitching in 2009, but if he does he’d be interested in the Cubs and Rays, among other teams. As a reminder, here’s Schilling’s list of ten preferred teams from October of 2007. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times finds it a "long shot" that the Cubs would pursue Schilling, while Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune thinks the Cubs "probably would take a flier on him, at the right price."
- Wittenmyer and Sullivan have quotes from Peavy, who denied singing "Go Cubs Go" at a Vegas bar in December. Peavy had kind words for the Cubs, but the two teams are not talking trade currently.
- In a related story, Sullivan’s heard that Padres CEO Sandy Alderson could take a similar role with the Cubs once new owner Tom Ricketts takes over. Alderson declined comment.
Brett Myers Hopes To Stay With Phillies
MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki spoke to Phillies pitcher Brett Myers yesterday. The 28 year-old righty is entering the last year of his contract. After John Lackey, Myers is in the running to be the second-best available free agent starter after the season.
Myers managed to drop 35 pounds in the offseason, and he’s also trying to improve his changeup. He has no desire to pitch the ninth inning anymore, and said he "absolutely" wants to stay with the Phillies beyond this year. With a huge season he could have a shot at an A.J. Burnett contract (five years, $82.5MM), but he may wind up in the Oliver Perez range (three years, $36MM).
Dodgers Make New Offer To Manny Ramirez
WEDNESDAY, 11:45pm: I was just thinking, this contract offer is not unlike A.J. Burnett‘s opt-out clause. The Dodgers would have Manny on a one-year, $25MM deal, plus an option that cannot possibly work in their favor.
7:29pm: Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports makes a good observation:
Boras did not immediately accept the offer, but a source said he delivered the offer to his client – a sign of progress because the first two offers were dismissed immediately by Boras.
7:18pm: Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times says the player option came at Boras’ request.
7:05pm: Jackson reports that the Dodgers have offered Manny a two-year, $45MM contract.
From what I understand, though, there WON’T be a deal tonight, Jackson writes. The offer is a two-year, $45 million contract, with salaries of $25 million the first year and $20 million the second, but the second year is a PLAYER option so Manny can walk away if he believes he can get more on the open market next winter. If he is injured during the first season, the second year becomes guaranteed. Boras and Co. have taken it under advisement, and the club is expecting a response early tomorrow.
6:12pm: Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News chimes in:
Gurnick wrote earlier today that they are meeting, and I have been able to semi-confirm that, as well as semi-confirm the fact that said meeting is taking place at Dodger Stadium. What I can tell you, from my own observations, is that people are behaving strangely, or at least at odds with their normal behavior. This could be it, folks. Stay tuned. It might be a long evening.
5:38pm: Gurnick has made an update to his most recent story.
Dodgers chairman Frank McCourt and GM Ned Colletti did, in fact, meet with agent Scott Boras during the team’s first spring game Wednesday. Gurnick calls it "the most serious attempt to date to sign" Ramirez.
4:37pm: MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick notes that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti was absent from the team’s first exhibition game. Might be Manny-related; might not.
9:08am: ESPN’s Buster Olney believes Manny Ramirez remains unsigned because of his behavior in Boston:
The primary reason for [the lack of interest in Manny], unquestionably, is the sport-wide perception that he did not honor his contract in Boston, and went to extraordinary depths to get himself out of that contract. These are not the on-background musings of a couple of rogue scouts, or the chortlings of conspiracy-theorist sports writers. This is the cemented belief of many executives with many teams, reinforced by Ramirez’s sudden transformation into a high-energy player as soon as he moved from the Red Sox to the Dodgers.
In my opinion, the primary interest for the limited Manny interest is his asking price. At a time when solid corner outfielders are signing for $10MM per year tops, Manny wants more than twice that salary and at least three years guaranteed. I think if Ramirez and Boras were willing to take a reasonable two-year, $30MM deal, there’d be five more teams in on him.
White Sox Sign 22
10:28pm: Quentin gets $550K, while Floyd and John Danks get $520K according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
11:42am: The AP reports today that the White Sox signed 22 players, including Carlos Quentin and Gavin Floyd. Par for the course with prearb players, and we don’t always mention these signings on MLBTR. I am curious, though, to see if the Sox threw Quentin and Floyd a few extra hundred thousand bucks over the minimum as teams sometimes do.
Offseason In Review: San Francisco Giants
The offseason is not quite over, but things are obviously winding down. Let’s kick off a new series called Offseason In Review. We’ll go team-by-team through March. First up is the San Francisco Giants; take a look at what we had to say on September 1st.
Additions: Randy Johnson (one year, $8MM), Edgar Renteria (two years, $18.5MM), Bob Howry (one year, $2.75MM), Jeremy Affeldt (two years, $8MM), Ramon Ortiz, Rich Aurilia, Juan Uribe, Brandon Medders, Francis Beltran, Luis Perdomo, Josh Phelps, Justin Miller
Subtractions: Jose Castillo (August), Omar Vizquel, Ray Durham (July), Kevin Correia, Tyler Walker, Brad Hennessey, Vinnie Chulk, Erick Threets
In September I figured the Giants had $12-13MM to spend, but they spent more than $20MM in guaranteed ’09 salaries. The fans have to appreciate that.
The Giants’ biggest need was offense, especially in the infield. The no-risk moves to bring in Aurilia and Phelps could help a bit. But the big addition, Renteria, wasn’t money well-spent. The Giants signed him on December 4th, and it’s fair to say that no one was predicting Orlando Hudson would sign for 20.5% of the guaranteed money Renteria did. Brian Sabean is not alone, but he did not read the market well here. It’s true that the best free agent hitters were outfielders and the Giants are flush with those, but you can’t argue that the offense hasn’t improved much over the winter.
The Giants spent $13.75MM for ’09 on Johnson, Affeldt, and Howry, and I liked all three additions. Despite the presence of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, the Giants’ pitching needed help. If Johnson stays healthy and Jonathan Sanchez replicates his first-half performance, they’ll have one of the best rotations in the league.
Bottom line: thumbs up on the pitching additions, but that Renteria money would’ve been better spent on a bat or two.
Nationals Considering GM Change
According to John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus:
The Nationals, according to multiple industry sources, are strongly considering firing general manager Jim Bowden and replacing him with Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava.
This rumor first surfaced on Ed Chigliak’s Federal Baseball blog yesterday. Fire Jim Bowden rounded up a bunch of info on LaCava. I’ve heard the Nationals may also consider in-house candidates such as Deric Ladnier and Mike Rizzo.
CHONE Projected Standings
Sean Smith’s projected standings are out, using his CHONE projection system. His playoff teams: the Yankees, Red Sox, Indians, Angels, Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers, and the Braves or Mets. You can contrast these projections with those from Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA system.
The two systems project the exact same number of wins for the Orioles (74), Twins (79), White Sox (73), Angels (85), and Rangers (72).
Their biggest disagreements: the D’Backs (79 vs. 92 wins), Pirates (73 vs. 64 wins), and the Cubs (88 vs. 96 wins).
Of course, this is really just a fun exercise…there are way too many variables to predict the standings in February. Even if the systems nail the win totals it may be for the wrong reasons.
Andy Marte Clears Waivers
MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince says Indians third baseman Andy Marte cleared waivers, so he’ll head to Triple A. No team was willing to take on Marte for nothing and give him a big league spot.
Marte was ranked no worse than 14th among all prospects by Baseball America in 2004, 2005, and 2006.
Cubs Sign 20
According to a press release, the Cubs signed all 20 of their zero to three years service time players. That includes Carlos Marmol, Geovany Soto, and Ryan Theriot. Before players reach arbitration, the team basically gets to decide their salaries.
Duaner Sanchez On The Bubble
Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes today about Mets reliever Duaner Sanchez, who could be released before April 1st. In that case the Mets would only have to pay a quarter of his ’09 salary – they’d owe about $422K. They could also shop Sanchez around; Sherman suggests they ask for Marlon Byrd or Marcus Thames.
Sanchez, 29, posted a 4.32 ERA and 6.79 K/9 for the Mets in 58.3 innings last year. He’d previously missed over a year with two shoulder surgeries in a span of nine months. His average fastball velocity was below 90 mph last year; he’d been above 93 in 2005-06.