Odds and Ends: Bay, Roberts, Cliff Lee
And here we have some random links I’ve collected over the past day or so.
- The Bucs will try to fill their open 40-man spots through low profile moves, not unlike the Jason Michaels one. They won’t move Jason Bay or Xavier Nady until they’re truly out of it. 4.5 games out of the wild card, they still have a prayer here on May 9th.
- Keith Law’s top 60 prospects list for the June draft has been published. Shortstop Tim Beckham heads the list.
- Gordon Wittenmyer looks back on the Cubs players rumored to be traded for Brian Roberts.
- Juan Uribe, partially on the strength of a great takeout slide, still has life with the White Sox.
- Nick Piecoro reminds us that the D’Backs were close to acquiring Cliff Lee in a deal for Carlos Quentin this winter. That would just be unfair, Lee as a part of that rotation. Ken Davidoff notes that the Mets discussed Lee as well.
- So…did the Yankees really have a shot at Micah Owings in the Randy Johnson deal?
Stark’s Latest: Griffey, Daniel Cabrera, Lidge
ESPN’s Jayson Stark has a new column up; it’s a must-read.
- Stark examines the impact of ten deals made last offseason; check it out.
- Because of last year’s surprise playoff clubs, teams may wait extra long this year before throwing in the towel and trading veterans.
- As Peter Gammons has noted, Ken Griffey Jr.‘s 2009 option will be an impediment in dealing him. Even if the Reds find a suitor Griffey will probably want that $16.5MM guaranteed for ’09.
- Daniel Cabrera will be available again this summer. The Orioles should trade him as soon as possible; the .213 BABIP and 1.62 K/BB ratio indicate that his 3.54 ERA is a fluke.
- The Royals will have pitching to spare this summer, with guys like Ron Mahay, Jimmy Gobble, and Brett Tomko on the block. Might make sense to shop Gil Meche, too.
- The Phillies may want to explore an extension with impending free agent Brad Lidge before season’s end. Three years might be their max, though. The extension subject has not yet been broached with Pat Burrell.
Heyman On Teixeira
Jon Heyman’s latest column does a fine job analyzing Mark Teixeira‘s future. To sum it up:
- Heyman’s source expects the asking price to be around ten years and $200MM. Personally, I don’t see him getting a term nearly that long.
- Heyman and his sources do not see the Braves re-signing Tex.
- The suitors, in order of likelihood: Yankees, Mets, Orioles, Mariners, Braves, Red Sox, Giants. A battle of the New York powers is a reasonable prediction – both clubs should have first base open and the market for the position is otherwise poor.
- In a February MLBTR poll, the Yankees were picked as Tex’s most likely future club.
Rockies Sign Juan Castro
FRIDAY: The Rockies win the Castro sweepstakes. Ken Rosenthal notes in a sidebar that the silver lining to the Tulo injury could be Barmes getting a chance to build up trade value. Rosenthal doesn’t see the Rox pursuing Brian Roberts for second base help unless they battle their way into contention first.
THURSDAY: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News has been all over the Juan Castro situation. The 35 year-old shortstop became a free agent today, and four clubs are in pursuit. The Dodgers, Padres, Orioles, and Rockies are all after him. Jackson says the Dodgers and Rockies would want him to do a brief Triple A stint. Troy E. Renck confirms Colorado’s interest.
The Rockies received devastating news today – star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki could be out until July with a torn tendon in his quad. Clint Barmes will assume the starting shortstop position.
O’s Not Planning Long-Term Deals For Markakis, Jones
Interesting note from Buster Olney’s blog today:
Most major-league teams are working to sign their best young players to multi-year deals. But right now, the Orioles’ internal philosophy is to wait for at least three years before discussing a multi-year deal with the likes of Adam Jones and Nick Markakis.
Surprising, isn’t it? If the Orioles eschew long-term deals, their best players will be much more expensive when the team is ready to compete. Markakis, their star player, will be up for arbitration after this season. Maybe he won’t get the $10MM Ryan Howard did, but $7MM seems reasonable. There were already rumblings that Markakis was angered by this year’s $55K raise.
Corey, Aquino Designated
The Red Sox designated reliever Bryan Corey for assignment today to make room for Mike Lowell. Also, the Orioles designated reliever Greg Aquino.
Corey, 34, has decent big league stats in 53 career innings but could never hold a job. Aquino, 30, has been done in by home runs, walks, and injuries in his career. He did manage to close for the D’Backs in ’04.
Gammons’ Latest: Crisp, Piazza, Wells
ESPN’s Peter Gammons has a new blog post up.
- Peter Angelos might put the kibosh on any Brian Roberts trade.
- The Red Sox apparently wouldn’t mind shipping Coco Crisp to the Cubs for Sean Gallagher and another prospect. The Sox might hope Crisp is the Cubs’ backup plan to Roberts.
- Gammons says Tommy Lasorda suggested the Dodgers consider Mike Piazza as a backup catcher; they are not interested. It would’ve been fun to see Piazza finish his career in L.A.
- Another free agent, David Wells, "hasn’t gotten a sniff from any team." It’s only April 23rd, so desperation hasn’t quite sunk in.
Odds And Ends: Lowry, Street, Farnsworth, Roberts
Just a few loose links for Saturday morning.
- Billy Beane has talked to Alan Hendricks, agent for closer Huston Street, about an extension. However, they have been informal talks, with no specifics to mention. Don’t expect much movement on this front until we get deeper into the season and see where the A’s really stand.
- Brian Roberts is relieved now that the trade rumors are dead. "I know where I’m going to be on a nightly basis now, at least," Roberts said. "It is a relief because I think everybody wants stability in their life, but I understand that doesn’t always happen. If it comes up again, I’ll deal with it."
- Brian Sabean talked about the possibility of a six-man rotation once Noah Lowry returns to action in May. The article says that this "ensure that the youngest and most prized starters, Cain and Lincecum, are not overtaxed in a rebuilding season." But you still need them to get their innings in. Lincecum, for instance, pitched 177.1 innings last year. You’d like to get him to 200 this year, which would be difficult in a six-man rotation environment.
- It looks like Kyle Farnsworth will be suspended for throwing at Manny Ramirez the other night. I know it’s not a transaction rumor. But won’t punishing retaliation just mean more preemptive aggression?
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski, who writes for River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog.
Odds and Ends: Tejada, Howard, Johnson
Couple more odds and ends this evening…
- Orioles executive VP Mike Flanagan admitted he wouldn’t have signed Miguel Tejada to a six-year deal if he knew the shortstop’s proper age. But he still would’ve signed him (if possible). People are debating whether ESPN ambushed Tejada with his birth certificate…of course they did.
- Ken Rosenthal believes the optimal course of action for the Phillies is to just let Ryan Howard play out the string and then let him walk as a free agent after the 2011 season.
- Rays Index says the Dan Johnson acquisition signals a "win-now" attitude for the Rays.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Roberts, Jones
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.