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Jorge Sosa For Todd Williams?

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Kevin Davidoff of Newsday has rumor of a small trade that has been discussed.  In March, the Mets and Orioles discussed swapping Jorge Sosa for Todd Williams.  However, there’s been nothing going on recently.

The Mets picked up Sosa this winter for $1.25MM to add some pitching depth.  I imagine more teams will start calling about the 29 year-old Sosa, noticing he’s thrown 13 scoreless innings in Triple A.

Williams is earning $775K from the O’s. The 36 year-old has only made two appearances, and has two scoreless innings under his belt. 

The Benitez/Julio/Burgos Connection

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It’s all connected in beautiful symmetry: First Armando Benitez pitched for the Orioles, Mets and Marlins, and now hurls for the elderly Giants. When Jorge Julio came to New York by way of Baltimore, it seemed that Benitez had never left.  Also a shaky, flame-throwing right-hander, Julio even looked like Benitez to Mets fans– many of them thought the two pitchers were the same man.  Now Julio occupies Benitez’s former role as Marlins’ closer.

What does this have to do with the Mets now? According to DNL from Armchair GM, the trade last year of Kris Benson and his wife Anna to the Baltimore Orioles for John Maine and Jorge Julio had a deeper meaning.  Perplexing on the surface– why trade away needed started pitching for an unnecessary, shaky reliever?– the trade was greatly redeemed when Julio was traded to the Diamondbacks for Orlando Hernández.

The armchair GM proposes that this was Omar Minaya’s plan all along- to showcase the young, high-upside fireman early in the year in order to trade him later for a good veteran pitcher.  This is what the team is now doing with Ambiorix Burgos, or so this speculation goes.  Acquired from Kansas City for Brian Bannister, Burgos seemed like an unlikely candidate for the Mets’ solid bullpen, and despite continuing his struggles during spring training, made the team and pitched with a one run lead yesterday afternoon against the Phillies.  Perplexingly, he was left in the game to face the lefty slugger Ryan Howard with a base open and the tying and lead runs in scoring position.  Why? Perhaps Omar Minaya told Willie Randolph to "give him some good spots," and the manager complied.

It’s possible that Burgos, the successor to the Benitez/Julio line (yes, he also looks like part), will be on the move some time this year for a starting pitcher.

John Peterson is a Mets fan and writes for the blog Blastings Thrilledge.

Rockies Offer Kim To Orioles

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Ken Rosenthal’s recent column is chock full o’ rumors as usual.  The highlights:

  • The Rockies offered Byung-Hyun Kim to the Orioles for reliever Todd Williams but were turned down.  The O’s may yet work out a deal with the Mets for Williams.  Kim, meanwhile, may end up a bargain for some team if the price is that low.  Really, he’s better than most teams’ fifth starters.
  • Rosenthal agrees with most that Carlos Zambrano will sign with the Cubs by Opening Day.  However, a couple of other big-name free-agent starters to be probably will hit the market.  Jason Jennings and Jake Westbrook are two of the younger members of the ’08 free agent starter class.  Mark Buehrle, Joe Kennedy, Kyle Lohse, and Kim will all be under 30 as well.

O’s Will Wait On Corey Patterson

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The Orioles made a rare smart move last year in stealing Corey Patterson from the Cubs for a 1990 Jerome Walton Starting Lineup figure. 

Patterson was insanely bad in 2005, but regained his power stroke last year.  He hit less grounders and more line drives to get his batting average back up to a respectable level.  Combined with good defense and a spot towards the bottom of the order, he’s an asset.  It’s been a while since he hit left-handed pitchers, but he did post a decent line against them in 2003-04.

Patterson is a Scott Boras client.  While the O’s are interested retaining his services, they’ll address it after the season.  Is this the right course?  Tough to say.  If the Orioles wait back and Patterson posts another tolerable batting line with a gaudy steals total and some flashy D, Boras will price him out of their range.  If they somehow convince Patterson to sign now, they run the risk that 2006 was a fluke.

Patterson will turn 28 in August; his youth is only matched by two other 2008 free agents – Adam Dunn and Carlos Zambrano.  There seems to be a surplus of free agent center fielders next offseason.  Perhaps Boras would convince Patterson to wait back and sign a one-year deal in February if he doesn’t get that huge Gary Matthews Jr. offer.

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.

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