Nats Demand Red Sox Pitchers For Chad Cordero
According to the Boston Herald, the Red Sox remain interested in Nationals closer Chad Cordero. The info may be in contrast to an article in the Boston Globe yesterday, which indicated that the price was too high on "name" closers.
The Nats are fond of pitchers Craig Hansen and Michael Bowden, but favor 22 year-old righty Clay Buchholz. Baseball Prospectus’s Kevin Goldstein ranks Buchholz a touch above Bowden, mentioning "three plus pitches at times." Buchholz finished 2006 in High Class A. All three pitchers are quality arms with a lot of upside.
Cordero turns 25 in March. He’s got three full seasons under his belt. He features fine command and has been unhittable throughout his career. He was bitten by the longball in 2006, but it looks like a fluke to me.
Boston Globe Trade Rumors
Aside from the aforementioned Roger Clemens tidbit, Nick Cafardo’s recent Boston Globe column is packed with interesting info. A brief summary follows.
Cafardo believes the Red Sox will add one more reliever and then sort out the closer situation in spring. The Cordero, Lidge, and Gonzalez talks didn’t go anywhere. The idea of returning to Jon Papelbon, on the other hand, makes a lot of sense and isn’t out of the question. Failing that, Julian Tavarez could be the favorite. Shaky alternatives (Brendan Donnelly, Mike Timlin, Craig Hansen, Manny Delcarmen) abound.
A source told Cafardo that Matt Clement wants to prove everyone wrong and could be throwing by springtime. Maybe he just wants to cash in after his walk year. Clement had rotator cuff surgery at the end of September.
Rodrigo Lopez has gotten interest from five teams. A move to St. Louis or somewhere like that could help him quite a bit.
Carl Everett and Sammy Sosa may need to play in the independent leagues to convince some team to give them a shot. Two of baseball’s finest role models, right there.
Mark Mulder is still looking at the Cards, Rangers, and Indians for his options. The Tribe has offered two years and $8MM with another $7MM in incentives. The Rangers offer less than $8MM guaranteed but a possible package of $18.75MM instead of $15MM.
The Giants would still like to recruit David Wells despite their signing of Barry Zito. Such a move would push Jonathan Sanchez to the bullpen. The Phillies, Padres, Diamondbacks, and Mets may also be interested in Wells.
Red Sox Targeting Closer?
The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo has a J.D. Drew update for us. It may be that Boras does not want to revise Drew’s contract given that Boras’s surgeon gave Drew’s shoulder the thumbs up.
More intriguing is a line at the end of the post – the Red Sox are targeting a trade for a closer and are targeting one of Chad Cordero, Brad Lidge, and Mike Gonzalez.
Inside Info On J.D. Drew
Just got off the phone with an informed baseball guy, and we spoke on the topic of J.D. Drew.
He tells me that Drew has seen two surgeons for his shoulder, one requested by Scott Boras and the other by the Red Sox. It appears that one of the surgeons may have been Dr. James Andrews.
The likely result? A one-year clause similar to the one the Tigers gave Magglio Ordonez. The Red Sox would be able to opt out after the first season if Drew goes on the DL because of the shoulder. In the case of Maggs, Detroit could’ve voided the contract after ’05 if he spent 25 days on the DL for his formerly troublesome left knee. There is no sign that Drew will end up anywhere other than Boston.
J.D. Drew – Major Shoulder Damage?
Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald reported yesterday that J.D. Drew appeared to have a problem with his physical. He indicated that an Ivan Rodriguez-like injury clause would be included. He didn’t expect the deal to be killed altogether.
Additionally, Will Carroll chimes in with speculation that Drew’s shoulder could be damaged to the level of Scott Rolen in 2005. That year, Rolen slugged just .383 in a lost season.
Whatever the problem, Drew will seek a second medical opinion on Monday.
Relief Moves
The Red Sox picked up 35 year-old right-handed reliever Brendan Donnelly from the Angels for Phil Seibel. Donnelly’s control slipped significantly last season, but he’s had an excellent career despite a late start. He can help. Seibel, a southpaw, turns 28 in January. He was unhittable across three minor league levels for the Red Sox this year. The Red Sox also added J.C. Romero as a LOOGY option.
The D-Rays signed Al Reyes to a one-year deal. You may recall he was a fantastic reliever for the Cards in ’05 before succumbing to TJ surgery. He already threw a few Triple A innings in August so he should be 100% for spring training. I could see him as the closer at some point.
The Mets probably won’t land Akinori Otsuka, but the Diamondbacks could trade for him. On one hand, it’s scary to rely on Eric Gagne for anything. On the other hand, Otsuka’s value will never be higher. I agree with RotoWorld that Scott Hairston could be a huge sleeper in Texas. More on Hairston here.
Chan Ho Park A Closer Candidate?
Interesting note from the Boston Globe:
"A source told the Globe’s Nick Cafardo that during the Matsuzaka negotiations, Boras was trying to sell the Red Sox on signing Chan Ho Park to be the team’s closer."
It’s a smart idea, grabbing a failed starter and converting him to relief. Park currently posts mediocre strikeout rates, but it stands to reason that he could bump that up if used in one-inning bursts. Other starters who could excel in relief: Renyel Pinto, Oliver Perez, Angel Guzman, Jorge de la Rosa, Ian Snell, or Mark Prior.
Red Sox Sign Matsuzaka
According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, the Red Sox have signed Daisuke Matsuzaka to a six-year, $52MM deal with an additional $8MM in incentives. That makes him an $18.5MM player, if you are to include the posting fee. If you’re so inclined. Boston now boasts the following starting rotation:
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Curt Schilling
Josh Beckett
Jon Papelbon
Tim Wakefield
I would assume Jon Lester is the sixth man, ready to step in when needed or when he proves he’s better than Wakefield.
Yanks, Red Sox After Mike Gonzalez
Dave Littlefield should be able to extract a solid young player or two if he wants to trade the Pirates’ closer, Mike Gonzalez. George King of the New York Post writes that both the Yankees and Red Sox are interested.
King believes Littlefield might ask for Scott Proctor and Melky Cabrera from the Yankees, while the Red Sox have dangled Coco Crisp. Imagine Gonzalez as the lefty out of the Detroit pen. Gonzo would also be a big help to the Indians, Rangers, Phillies, Cubs, or Giants.
Gonzalez, who turns 29 in May, was told by Pirates doctors just before Thanksgiving that he is completely healthy. In 155 career innings, he has a 2.37 ERA, 6.7 H/9, 0.52 HR/9, 4.28 BB/9, and 10.58 K/9. His control has been very shaky in recent years but his unhittable nature has compensated.
Red Sox To Make Record Offer To Matsuzaka
The Red Sox plan on making a record offer to Daisuke Matsuzaka, at least for a player who’s never pitched in the Majors.
Based on this info from Gordon Edes, I wonder if it’s a six-year, $100MM offer. It’s tough to picture the Red Sox going far beyond that dollar amount, though Scott Boras might want that amount for five seasons. Or perhaps he’s angling for $60MM over three seasons instead. We should have an idea soon. Baseball Prospectus’s Nate Silver has a system that says Matsuzaka is worth roughly $80MM over six seasons.