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Mets Interested In Todd Williams

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Excitement!  The Mets have "mild interest" in 36 year-old Orioles reliever Todd Williams.

Williams has been around the block – the Orioles are his ninth organization.  He doesn’t miss bats at all, but he can come in and get you a groundball in a pinch.  He’s making $775K, and would likely see a diminshed role in 2007 with all the relievers the O’s imported. 

The Mets’ need was brought about by the discovery that Duaner Sanchez will likely miss most of the season.  The bullpen was supposed to be a strength; the expectation was that it could compensate if the back of the rotation is lackluster.

Orioles Considering Reggie Sanders

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Somewhere, Dayton Moore is praying that the Orioles take Reggie Sanders off his hands.  Sanders, now 39, was signed in December of 2005 for two years and $10 million.  He’s one of a handful of Allard Baird mistakes still residing on the Royals’ roster.

I imagine Moore has struggled to find a team willing to take Sanders and most of the $5MM he’s owed.  What team would want to do that?

Enter the Orioles.  Baltimore wants a right-handed bat and the Royals just want a reliever with his arm attached.  The two sides are talking, so maybe Moore can unload Sanders before the season begins.  Bob Dutton adds that the sticking point is how much of Sanders’s salary the Royals would consume.

Orioles Like Josh Fogg

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According to the Denver Post, Josh Fogg remains on Baltimore’s radar after they almost traded for him a few months ago.  Fogg makes $3.625MM in his walk year.

Fogg is one of those guys who just shows up and puts in his 170 lackluster innings.  He doesn’t get strikeouts, doesn’t have great control, doesn’t get a lot of groundballs, and pitches to contact.  I’m not sure how the Orioles can win the wild card if they give him 30 starts.  They’ve already got Steve Trachsel.

Ken Rosenthal’s Latest

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Ken Rosenthal has been hard at work with his sources, and he has a new article at FOX Sports.  Some highlights:

  • The Marlins and Dodgers are interested in Byung-Hyun Kim as a reliever, and the A’s could add him as the fifth starter instead of Joe Kennedy.  Kim, a 28 year-old sidearmer, hasn’t closed since ’03 with Boston.  A trade to Florida would make him the ninth inning favorite though.  He’ll earn $2.5MM this year.
  • The Rockies like Mark Hendrickson of L.A., and they may release Josh Fogg this spring.  I wouldn’t discard Kim while acquiring Hendrickson; Kim projects as a slightly better pitcher.  Advantages to acquiring Hendrickson from Dan O’Dowd’s point of view: a slightly better groundball rate and two years remaining until free agency.
  • The Blue Jays want to give Josh Towers a rotation spot.  Towers has nine Ks in nine innings this spring while allowing two runs.  Does spring training really have that kind of influence on a team’s decision-makers?  Towers will make $2.9MM this season, but he’s still pretty far from free agency.  The Jays would like to trade John Thomson; otherwise they may release him.  As a newly signed free agent Thomson can veto any deal.  He’d be wise to take a trade to the NL, in my opinion.
  • Rosenthal thinks the Orioles and Nationals will be competing for Mark Teixeira, who will become a free agent after the 2008 season.  Tex is a Maryland native, which usually doesn’t matter for a Boras client.  But Boras might actually be able to use this to get the two clubs bidding against each other.

Orioles Sign Roberts To Extension

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The Orioles finally inked second baseman Brian Roberts to a contract extension for the 2008-09 seasons.  It ran them just $14.3MM, which I think is an excellent deal.

Fully recovered from elbow surgery in the second half of last year, Roberts hit .277/.332/.436 with nine home runs.  He upped his contact rate overall as well.  I have him hitting .296 with 11 HR, 60 RBI, 92 runs, and 29 stolen bases in my 2007 RotoAuthority Fantasy Guide.

As we discussed earlier, the Orioles will have a chance to start fresh with the 2010 season.  40% of the roster will reach free agency after 2009.

Orioles Close On Roberts Extension

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According to the Washington Post, the Orioles will soon complete a two-year extension for second baseman Brian Roberts that extend him through 2009.

As Peter Schmuck writes, the team has semi-intentionally left itself a three-year window to win.  40% of the team’s likely 25-man roster will reach free agency after the ’09 season.  Orioles VP Jim Duquette describes it as partially design (built around the Tejada contract) and partially coincidence.

So in the winter of 2009-10, the Orioles will have the perfect opportunity to do something different.  I hope they act with some conviction at that point instead of what they’ve been doing lately. 

Jorge Arangure Jr. names the core for the 2010 season: Billy Rowell, Brandon Erbe, Pedro Beato, Daniel Cabrera, Nick Markakis, Chris Ray, Adam Loewen, and Hayden Penn.  Do they Orioles start a complete youth movement at that point? 

Or do they dive headfirst into the free agent market and bring in a name to rival Tejada?  The free agent class after the 2009 season includes Jason Bay, Miguel Cabrera, Matt Holliday, Victor Martinez, Brandon Webb, and Dontrelle Willis.  The Orioles could bring in some major star power with all the free cash.

O’s To Discuss Extension With Roberts

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Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts is set to become a free agent after the 2008 season. The O’s would like to sign him to a deal to cover 2008-09 in the neighborhood of $12-14MM. The two sides decided to focus on two years.  Wow, that sounds downright…reasonable.  In fact, it’d be a huge bargain.  Five-win second basemen are worth significantly more than $7MM a year to a team, but the market undercompensates the position.

The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec notes that Orioles have tons of players up for free agency after the ’09 season – Miguel Tejada, Ramon Hernandez, Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora, Jay Gibbons, Erik Bedard, Danys Baez, Chad Bradford, and Jamie Walker.  If there was ever a time to bring for new management to give this team a complete makeover it’s before the 2010 season. 

Orioles Sign Steve Trachsel

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UPDATE: The O’s wasted no time replacing Benson, signing Steve Trachsel to a one-year $3.1MM deal with a $4.75MM club option for ’08.  PECOTA says the Orioles overpaid by $625,000.  Assuming he can hold together for 180 innings, Trax should be a tolerable replacement.

The big news today courtesy of Ken Rosenthal is that Orioles starter Kris Benson is out for the season because of a rotator cuff tear.  It’s a bummer for Benson, as it may result in his $7.5MM option for ’08 being declined.

The injury leaves the Orioles scrambling to find a starter who can provide 180 innings of 4.90 ball in the AL East.  Rodrigo Lopez might’ve been that guy; Hayden Penn probably isn’t ready to do that yet.  The team will probably bring in a veteran replacement.  Rosenthal mentions Steve Trachsel as the most likely, as well as Mark Redman and Ron Villone.  Villone last started in 2004.

Additionally, there are plenty of trade options, as discussed yesterday.  Mike Maroth would be a nice pickup. 

Orioles Sign Steve Trachsel

By | at

UPDATE: The O’s wasted no time replacing Benson, signing Steve Trachsel to a one-year $3.1MM deal with a $4.75MM club option for ’08.  PECOTA says the Orioles overpaid by $625,000.  Assuming he can hold together for 180 innings, Trax should be a tolerable replacement.

The big news today courtesy of Ken Rosenthal is that Orioles starter Kris Benson is out for the season because of a rotator cuff tear.  It’s a bummer for Benson, as it may result in his $7.5MM option for ’08 being declined.

The injury leaves the Orioles scrambling to find a starter who can provide 180 innings of 4.90 ball in the AL East.  Rodrigo Lopez might’ve been that guy; Hayden Penn probably isn’t ready to do that yet.  The team will probably bring in a veteran replacement.  Rosenthal mentions Steve Trachsel as the most likely, as well as Mark Redman and Ron Villone.  Villone last started in 2004.

Additionally, there are plenty of trade options, as discussed yesterday.  Mike Maroth would be a nice pickup. 

Juan Gone Still On The Radar?

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Despite published reports to the contrary, Tracy Ringolsby says the Tigers and Orioles are considering extending a spring training invite to Juan Gonzalez.  He adds that despite Bill Stoneman’s denial, the Angels had scouts watching Gonzalez in Puerto Rico this winter.

Now let us all sit back and wait for those three clubs to re-deny interest.  It’s funny to me that the clubs even felt compelled to comment on the rumor in the first place.

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