Schilling Starts Blogging
Kind of cool to see Curt Schilling blogging.
Click here to see an up-to-date list of baseball players with blogs. Additionally, On the DL tracked down a host of ballplayers with MySpace pages last summer. A few of those might be bogus or private now of course.
Helton Meets With Rockies’ Owner
Take it for what it’s worth – Rockies first baseman Todd Helton met with team owner Charlie Monfort on Thursday but declined to comment on the nature of the conversation. In the opinion of Buster Olney:
"If the Red Sox and Rockies rekindled trade talks, getting a deal done might take about 3.4 seconds, because there was already a structure in place and both sides would have great reason to be motivated to get this done."
And Ken Davidoff of Newsday mentioned today:
"The widespread industry belief is that the Red Sox and Rockies will re-ignite trade discussions involving Todd Helton. The two clubs remain stalled in a game of chicken. Boston doesn’t want to give up any young players with potential, with only expensive veterans Mike Lowell and Julian Tavarez on the table, and the Rockies don’t want to hand over Helton in a straight salary dump."
The Red Sox remain in the catbird seat with this potential deal, as Helton is not a strong need for them in any way. They can just sit back and see if the Rockies cave and pay $40-45MM of his contract to get Manny Delcarmen.
No Boston For Mariano Rivera In ’08
Mariano Rivera, asked whether he could cross enemy lines and join the Red Sox as a free agent in 2008, said, "I don’t think I could do it." So we can almost officially cross Boston off the list. Which other clubs might be ready to woo him after this season?
I think the Giants, Rangers, Cubs, and Phillies should be top contenders. Those are the teams I can see having the need and willingness for an $11-12MM a year closer. Of course, the Yankees have to be considered the favorite.
Schilling To Reach Free Agency
The possibility of a preseason contract extension for Curt Schilling is out; he’ll file for free agency after the ’07 season. Schilling spoke to WEEI this morning and made the announcement.
This doesn’t rule out Schilling returning to the Red Sox for ’08 and beyond, however. I’d be surprised if the Sox don’t make an offer, assuming he stays healthy this season. If Schilling can duplicate his ’06 numbers (204 innings of 3.97 ball) he might be worth a one-year, $13MM commitment. PECOTA sees Schilling posting 198 innings of 3.84 ball this season, and would pay him $8.6MM in ’08. Suffice it to say he’ll top that on the open market, even if the Yankees aren’t involved.
One More Minor Move
The Athletics have claimed lefty swingman Lenny DiNardo off of waivers from the Red Sox. The Red Sox were going to have to part with somebody, and DiNardo seemed the most likely lefty to go, especially after Boston signed J.C. Romero.
DiNardo wasn’t going to have any chance of contributing in Boston and won’t be much of a factor in Oakland either, but may have a shot if/when injuries strike the A’s. Especially with Joe Kennedy in the rotation mix, the A’s don’t have a lot of good lefty options if Alan Embree goes down…and Embree is old.
By Jeff Sackmann
www.BrewCrewBall.com
One More Minor Move
The Athletics have claimed lefty swingman Lenny DiNardo off of waivers from the Red Sox. The Red Sox were going to have to part with somebody, and DiNardo seemed the most likely lefty to go, especially after Boston signed J.C. Romero.
DiNardo wasn’t going to have any chance of contributing in Boston and won’t be much of a factor in Oakland either, but may have a shot if/when injuries strike the A’s. Especially with Joe Kennedy in the rotation mix, the A’s don’t have a lot of good lefty options if Alan Embree goes down…and Embree is old.
By Jeff Sackmann
www.BrewCrewBall.com
Helton Talks To Resume?
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe talked to four baseball officials about the failed Todd Helton trade. The majority (three, I guess) agreed that the Rockies and Red Sox would rekindle talks in spring training.
Helton, however, has told the Rockies he is prepared to veto all future trades. Will he bend from that stance if the Red Sox and Rockies come to an agreement? I would expect Colorado to lessen their demands a bit if they can get this thing done before the seasons starts.
Helton Talks To Resume?
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe talked to four baseball officials about the failed Todd Helton trade. The majority (three, I guess) agreed that the Rockies and Red Sox would rekindle talks in spring training.
Helton, however, has told the Rockies he is prepared to veto all future trades. Will he bend from that stance if the Red Sox and Rockies come to an agreement? I would expect Colorado to lessen their demands a bit if they can get this thing done before the seasons starts.
Shaughnessy Talks To Schilling
Dan Shaughnessy got his arch-rival Curt Schilling on the phone recently to ask him about his contract demands.
Apparently Schilling had already been in discussion with Theo Epstein about coming back in 2008 before he broke the news on the airwaves. The story had been about to leak, so Schilling announced it himself.
Schilling thinks the Red Sox want him back and that both parties could get the deal done in 15 minutes if they are close. They’ll meet before spring training and make a decision one way or another. Schilling seems to consider $13MM a discount; he feels he could get $17MM+ on the open market using the Yankees as leverage.
It seems likely to me that he stays in Boston. A one-year, $13MM commitment is reasonable for the Red Sox.
Shaughnessy Talks To Schilling
Dan Shaughnessy got his arch-rival Curt Schilling on the phone recently to ask him about his contract demands.
Apparently Schilling had already been in discussion with Theo Epstein about coming back in 2008 before he broke the news on the airwaves. The story had been about to leak, so Schilling announced it himself.
Schilling thinks the Red Sox want him back and that both parties could get the deal done in 15 minutes if they are close. They’ll meet before spring training and make a decision one way or another. Schilling seems to consider $13MM a discount; he feels he could get $17MM+ on the open market using the Yankees as leverage.
It seems likely to me that he stays in Boston. A one-year, $13MM commitment is reasonable for the Red Sox.