Zrebiec On Bedard, Roberts
The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec was recently named Rumor Royalty for the Orioles. Here’s the last in a series of questions we asked him.
MLBTR: Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts are elite players under team control through 2009. If you had to guess, will both be playing for the Orioles on Opening Day 2008?
Zrebiec: Yes, I would guess that both will be Orioles on Opening Day. I’ve been surprised about the lack of trade buzz surrounding Roberts. I can’t help but think that it is because O’s owner Peter Angelos has already nixed one deal involving Roberts last year and has made his fondness for the second baseman known. I just think Roberts means more to the Orioles than he would to any other team and I don’t see MacPhail moving him unless he’s totally overwhelmed. And even then, good luck convincing Angelos to sign off on the deal.
Bedard is a little trickier. MacPhail and Mark Pieper, Bedard and Roberts’ agent, have been talking "conceptually" about an contract extension for Bedard. I think people in the organization are split on whether they should secure long term the team’s first legit ace since Mike Mussina or trade him and get multiple major league ready young players in return to a roster that is badly in need of them. If Bedard’s contract demands aren’t reasonable, that could make their decision for them. But even if that’s the case, I don’t see the O’s in a hurry to do anything since Bedard is still under contractual control for two more seasons.
Scott Rolen To Milwaukee Rumors
Apparently intra-division trading is no problem for John Mozeliak and Doug Melvin. Here are two takes on the rumored Scott Rolen to Milwaukee deal.
- Tom Haudricourt talked to Doug Melvin and learned that nothing is imminent with the Cards. What’s more, Melvin hasn’t talked to the Cards for weeks. Hmmm. This trade would require the Cards eating some salary. Theoretically Ryan Braun would move to left field to accomodate Rolen. The Brewers could send over Chris Capuano and might try to act like Kevin Mench would sweeten the deal.
- Buster Olney said this morning that the Cards "have had their most extensive talks with the Brewers" regarding Rolen. He also names Capuano as the likely target. Olney ponders whether the Cards would be compelled to pursue Miguel Tejada to replace Rolen at third base.
Erik Bedard Rumors
The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec has the latest regarding ace Erik Bedard. Some rank Bedard as the best available starter, all-in-all – he’s under team control for longer than Johan Santana, doesn’t have no-trade rights, and has better stuff than Dan Haren.
- The Orioles and Bedard’s agent never actually exchanged salary figures, and now contract extension talks have come to a stop. Andy MacPhail isn’t concerned but no one seems to expect the O’s to pony up the money needed to retain their ace beyond 2009. Johan Santana should set the bar; Bedard may become a $20MM pitcher.
- Zrebiec lists the Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Angels, and Dodgers as teams that have inquired on Bedard. It’s surprising to see the Red Sox omitted from that list.
- The Mets made an offer: Carlos Gomez, Aaron Heilman, and perhaps Phil Humber. That’s an OK starting point but the O’s could do better.
- The Dodgers have also had talks with the O’s, with Matt Kemp, Jonathan Broxton, and Clayton Kershaw coming up. That’s certainly worth mulling over.
Phils Not Interested In Mora
Steve King reported yesterday that the Phillies were interested in third baseman/outfielder Melvin Mora. Not so, according to Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The specific words were "no chance." I saw this debunked elsewhere as well; can’t recall where at the moment.
As I said before, Mora doesn’t have much value and I’d imagine any team willing to pay his entire salary could have him for a song.
Zrebiec On O’s and Free Agents
The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec was recently named Rumor Royalty for the Orioles. Jeff answered a few questions for MLBTR.
MLBTR: Andy MacPhail has said he doesn’t expect to be in on many free agents, but there was a rumor that the O’s are entertaining Jose Guillen [note: written prior to debunking]. Do you expect them to spend any money on free agents this winter?
Zrebiec: First, the Guillen report was inaccurate. He’s exactly the type of player the Orioles are not interested in at this stage. As for other free agents, I see the Orioles making a couple of small, low price/low risk signings to fill out their roster.
For example, I could see them signing a veteran starter on the cheap, somebody in the Steve Trachsel mold. I wouldn’t rule out them signing a reliever, though it won’t be at anywhere close to the contracts they gave out last year for Bradford, Walker and Baez. And if Tejada is traded and I fully expect him to be, signing a guy like Cesar Izturis could appeal to them. They’ve liked him in the past.
But for the most part, I think you’ll see them try to fill their holes in trades and then patching a couple of spots up with one or two signings. I think it was telling that MacPhail didn’t have one extensive meeting with an agent at the GM meetings.
Phillies Interested In Melvin Mora
Melvin Mora doesn’t figure to be a hot commodity on the trade market. He’s got name recognition because of two very good seasons in from 2003-04. But he turns 36 in February and will earn $17MM over the next two years. He also has a no-trade clause, but he’d probably waive it to go to a competitor.
The Phillies are interested in Mora for their third base vacancy, according to Steve King. I don’t think the Phils would have to give up much in the way of prospects to get him; they could probably send over a bag of baseballs if they’re willing to take on the entire contract.
Can Mets Acquire An Ace?
We’ve discussed this before…it seems like the Mets don’t stack up with certain other clubs trying to acquire available frontline starting pitching. Ken Rosenthal definitely feels this way – Carlos Gomez is considered a blue-chipper but the others may not be.
Rosenthal notes that a package starting with Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman doesn’t do much for Billy Beane. The A’s don’t see Milledge as a long-term center field solution, and Heilman is a reliever. Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber aren’t the top-shelf pitching prospects the A’s covet in return for Dan Haren or Joe Blanton. It seems as if the very best package the Mets can assemble might only be enough for Blanton.
The Mets are also after Johan Santana and Erik Bedard, but it’s the same story. Unless they create a huge hole by trading Jose Reyes, it doesn’t seem they can offer the best package. Though the Twins still want Reyes, Adam Rubin and Joel Sherman indicate that’s not an option.
Dipping into the free agent market for Hiroki Kuroda or Carlos Silva seems to make more sense. One option the Mets have been linked to in the past, Dontrelle Willis, may be off the market now.
Zrebiec On Miguel Tejada
I recently named the Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec as Rumor Royalty for the Orioles. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for the site.
MLBTR: Give us an example of a reasonable trade bounty for a team acquiring Miguel Tejada. Do you think the Orioles are targeting a certain number of players or certain positions? If the acquiring team intended to move him to third base, would this become a problem?
Zrebiec: All indications are that the Orioles are still looking for two high-level prospects for Tejada. I’m not sure they’ll get that now with Tejada’s defensive concerns and declining power numbers, but that could change when Miguel Cabrera is no longer on the market. The Orioles are in desperate need for young position player talent, but president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has acknowledged that he is in no position to discriminate. He wants to bring in as much young talent as possible this offseason, regardless of position. "We’ll sort it out later," he has said.
Tejada has given conflicting answers in the past about whether he’ll move to 3B. He has made it clear that he’d prefer to stay at shortstop. However, he has also said that he would make the move for a playoff-caliber team. I don’t foresee it being a problem at all. Everybody that knows Miguel insists that all he wants to do is win, and he’ll do what he has to do to make that happen.
Rumor Royalty: Jeff Zrebiec (Orioles)
Rumor Royalty is an MLBTR feature that honors the best journalist for each team in terms of hot stove material. The Newark Star-Ledger’s Dan Graziano recently snagged the honor for the Yankees.
The choice for the Baltimore Orioles was really easy for me. The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec owns Orioles hot stove chatter; he gets all the scoops. Here’s a link to the Sun’s baseball page, where his work can be found. I asked Jeff three hot stove questions, which will be posted here separately over the next couple of days.
Cards Considering Jack Wilson, Izturis, Tejada
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss has an excellent update on the Cardinals’ pursuit of a new starting shortstop.
- Sounds like the end of the David Eckstein Era in St. Louis – Strauss says it’s a widespread belief that Eckstein will not be offered arbitration and probably will not stay around.
- While the Cards are drawn to Miguel Tejada, a deal seems highly unlikely. John Mozeliak wants to move quickly to fill the shortstop position and the Orioles are taking their time with Tejada.
- Sounds like there’s a very good chance the Cards get Jack Wilson from the Bucs. They’re OK with paying all of the $13.75MM owed to him through 2009.
- If Wilson doesn’t work out, Cesar Izturis is the one free agent the Cardinals are considering. They could have some competition from the Rays.
- There isn’t much interest in acquiring Juan Uribe or going with internal option Brendan Ryan.
- A few speculative options not mentioned by Strauss: Cristian Guzman, Alexei Ramirez, Jason Bartlett, Adam Everett, Joaquin Arias, Clint Barmes, and Russ Adams.