Odds And Ends: Crisp, Spiezio, Lahey, Longoria
Here are a few notes from the MLBiverse…
- Terry Francona sounds like a manager that is frustrated and wishes the Red Sox would go ahead and trade Coco Crisp. After starting Crisp for the second straight game, Francona said "The more [Jacoby Ellsbury] plays, the better he’s going to be, and I clearly feel that responsibility…I’m trying to balance [playing time] the best I can."
- It only took a couple of weeks, but Scott Spiezio managed to mess up his latest opportunity with the Atlanta Braves. After failing to show to his AAA Richmond game "ready to play", Spiezio was released by the Braves.
- Rule 5 pick Tim Lahey, who was DFA’d by the Phillies, cleared waivers and has been sent back to the Twins for $25K.
- With Evan Longoria now in the majors, the Rays may be forced to trade Jonny Gomes or Eric Hinske (who is off to a hot start) in the next few weeks.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Recently DFA’d: Corey, Bazardo, Jimerson
Anyone looking for a relief pitcher or an outfielder? The Red Sox, Tigers, and Mariners designated a few for assignment yesterday. Let’s see what they’re leaving on the table.
- Yorman Bazardo, a 23-year-old who actually pitched pretty well last year, was curiously designated by Detroit.
- The Red Sox designated 34-year-old reliever Bryan Corey to make room for Mike Timlin, who got the loss last night in his first appearance since coming off the DL. You’d figure Bazardo would get a lot more interest than Corey.
- Finally, the Mariners have designated 28-year-old OF Charlton Jimerson after just one plate appearance. It was just the ninth of his career. It seems his .901 OPS in the minors last year, mostly with AA, was an outlier.
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski
Stark’s Latest: Roberts, Crisp, Loretta
ESPN’s Jayson Stark has a new Rumblings and Grumblings column up. Let’s examine some of the hot stove material.
- There’s nothing cooking with the Cubs and Brian Roberts. The O’s still intend to trade Roberts this year, along with pretty much all of their other veterans. Their hot start is unlikely to halt the farm sale.
- The Red Sox don’t want to eat any of the $11MM owed to Coco Crisp over the next two years, and for now there are no trades in the works. Roberts, Crisp, and Joe Crede were three trades we all expected to go down.
- Once Kaz Matsui and Ty Wigginton are fully healthy, the Astros will look to trade Mark Loretta. He makes $2.75MM this year, a bit much for a utility guy. Stark says the Dodgers and Giants don’t appear interested at present, so there’s no obvious suitor. The Orioles could re-engage if they trade Roberts and don’t get a second baseman back.
Red Sox Acquire Eric Hull
The Red Sox and Dodgers made a deal last night. The Sox acquired 28 year-old righty pitcher Eric Hull for 23 year-old shortstop Christian Lara.
Lara was once Boston’s top shortstop prospect, but he’s been passed by Jed Lowrie and several others. A couple years ago Baseball America wrote that Lara had "a chance to be a plus defender." They weren’t impressed with his bat. The Sox challenged him by putting him at Double A in 2005-06, but he was demoted to High A for ’07.
Hull seems like an organizational arm, though he did intrigue last year with an 11.1 K/9 in Triple A as a reliever. Doesn’t help that he’s just 5’11" though. The Dodgers needed roster space and designated him for assignment on March 31st.
Red Sox Designate Snyder for Assignment
Relief pitcher Kyle Snyder was designated for assignment by the Red Sox this afternoon to make room on the roster for Josh Beckett, who is set to come off the DL and start for Boston tomorrow. Snyder is out of options and hence cannot be sent down to Pawtucket.
Snyder has not impressed in 2008. Today versus Toronto, he pitched a third of an inning, gave up two runs, and walked two. March 25 against Oakland, he gave up two runs on two hits, including a solo home run. He wasn’t terrible in 2007, posting a career-best 3.81 ERA, but the Red Sox still preferred Eric Gagne over the 6’8" righty for their postseason roster.
The move makes sense for Boston, since they have a better long-reliever/emergency-starter/mop-up man/Manny-Ramirez’s-stable-pony option in Julian Tavarez. (Tavarez stanched the bleeding today in Toronto, going two and one-third innings and allowing just one hit and one walk.) The Red Sox now have 10 days to release Snyder, trade him, or put him on waivers.
So where will Snyder go now? It’s hard to say—at this point in his career (he’s 30) there’s not a lot of upside anymore. I don’t see another major-league club making room for him on their roster, so a trade seems unlikely. The probable outcome, in my view, is Snyder consenting to a minor league assignment after he clears waivers.
Sarah Green writes for the Boston Metro and UmpBump.com. She can be reached here.
Olney: Red Sox Looking For A Catcher
From Buster Olney’s blog today:
Scouts and officials with other teams say the Red Sox have been actively making inquiries about catchers.
Kevin Cash is Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher, for now. Not sure on their knuckleball-handling skills, but here are some other backstops who may be available: Gerald Laird, Michael Barrett, Ramon Hernandez, Bengie Molina, Humberto Quintero, Brayan Pena, and Jeff Mathis. However, Laird may be off limits and Barrett isn’t known for his defense. Molina and Hernandez are signed through ’09.
Cubs, Sox Still Like Crisp
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that the Cubs and White Sox "have shown the most consistent interest" in center fielder Coco Crisp. Nothing appears imminent, as the teams haven’t found any kind of match on players. Cafardo says the Cubs have found the asking price prohibitive. A week ago, Peter Gammons suggested Sean Gallagher and/or Matt Murton could be in the mix.
The Cubs are currently using Felix Pie and Reed Johnson in center; the White Sox used Alexei Ramirez on Opening Day. As the season progresses we could see the Sox try Nick Swisher, Brian Anderson, and Jerry Owens.
Crisp himself named the Cubs, White Sox, A’s, and Padres as clubs he’s heard rumored for his services.
Kielty Stays With Red Sox
Outfielder Bobby Kielty will not opt for free agency; he’ll head to Triple A for the Red Sox.
Kielty, a 31 year-old switch-hitter, batted .218/.287/.287 in 87 ABs for the A’s and Red Sox last year. In his defense, he battled back and calf issues. Kielty can handle all three outfield positions and typically handles lefties well. He’ll await a Coco Crisp trade to create an opportunity for him in Boston.
Odds and Ends: Cashman, Matsuo, Durham
Some random links to ponder today…
- Peter Abraham submitted nine reader questions to Yankees GM Brian Cashman. I liked reading about how Cashman deals with agents who lie to him.
- The Red Sox signed free agent Terumasa Matsuo, who was pitching in a Japanese independent league. I have no idea what the 26 year-old pitcher is capable of.
- Tracy Ringolsby says the Giants really want to move Ray Durham and Dave Roberts, and will pick up some salary to do so. Durham makes $7.5MM in ’08. Roberts gets $6.5MM in each of the ’08 and ’09 seasons.
- The Big Lead interviewed ESPN’s Keith Law.
Odds And Ends: Quintero, Rios, Pierre
A few random notes from around the MLBiverse…
- Henry Schulman says the Giants are in need of a backup catcher and a logical choice may be Astros backup Humberto Quintero, whom Bruce Bochy is familiar with from his days with the Padres. He also notes that the Rays have two experienced catchers that were just reassigned to the minor leagues in Josh Paul and Mike DiFelice.
- The Jays and Alex Rios are closer today to an agreement on a long-term extension than they were yesterday. That according to Rios’ agent, Paul Kinzer. Yesterday it was reported that the Jays had offered a six-year, $65MM deal. No word yet on what any new offers might look like. Kinzer reasserted that a deal needs to be done by tonight or negotiations will be put off until after the season.
- Bobby Kielty initially accepted his demotion to Pawtucket, but he is now having second-thoughts and will wait a few days to see if any other teams are interested in a switch-hitting outfielder. With all the rumors swirling recently about teams in need of outfield help, I have to believe that Kielty will land a major league gig. PECOTA projects a line of .253/.331/.418 based on 159 plate appearances and Kielty can play all three outfield spots.
- The Dodgers made it official today, giving Andre Ethier the left field job. This puts one more nail in the coffin of one of the worst free agent signings in recent memory. The move means that Juan Pierre will be a reserve, one year after signing a five-year, $44MM deal. The Dodgers will certainly look to trade Pierre, but will have to swallow a good portion of the $36.5MM remaining on the deal.
- A couple of big names have made major league rosters after only earning non-roster spring training invites prior to spring training. The Rockies have given a job to Scott Podsednik, while the Rays did the same with former Rookie-of-the-Year Eric Hinske. In fact, Hinske will start on Opening Day and will be the Rays’ right fielder against right handers to begin the season.
- Phil Sheriden notes that Adam Eaton was named the Phillies’ fifth starter, but that may not last long as Pat Gillick will certainly be looking for a better option. Sheriden feels that Gillick is much better at making moves in-season than during the offseason.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.