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Odds and Ends: Colon, Koskie, Atkins

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We take a break from your regularly scheduled Erik Bedard drama to bring you some random links.

  • The White Sox made an incentive-laden offer to Bartolo Colon, but Colon apparently physically disappeared at the thought of it.  There’s a joke here, somewhere.  Kenny Williams also almost kind of hinted at implying that he made some kind of effort to acquire Bedard.

  • A brief note from the Sun-Times – outfielder Brian Anderson may be traded to an NL team (Marlins?).

  • It’s possible that Corey Koskie makes another comeback attempt.  He’s gone through a postconcussion syndrome nightmare.

  • The Denver Post’s Troy Renck is always going over to Rockies players’ houses and chilling in their living rooms.  This time, it was Garrett Atkins.  Atkins says the Rox made a multiyear offer to him a year ago more similar to Jeff Francis’ (4/13.25) than that of Aaron Cook (3/30) or Troy Tulowitzki (6/31).  That offer was to cover Atkins’ three arbitration years and have a club option for his first of free agency.

  • I recently did a Q&A with Science Fiction Baseball.

  • Website note: I am leaning toward doing a full redesign.  New logo, widen this baby, brighten her up, increase the font size, and yes, do away with the white on black type.  Lots of room for improvement with this clunky old design, we all know it.

Odds and Ends: Velocity, Santana, Teixeira

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Make sure to check out these links.

Rockies Rumors: Fuentes, Fogg

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UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:28am: More from Renck.  He confirms the Red Sox’ interest in Fuentes and adds the Astros to the mix.  While the Rox like Burke, the teams don’t really match up because that’s not enough.

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:01am: The Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck has more. 

  • Brian Anderson – remember him? – is on the radar as a lefty swingman.  The 35 year-old hasn’t pitched in the bigs since ’05.

  • Renck ponders whether the Rox might revisit talks for Matt Morris, a sentiment echoed by Jenifer Langosch.

  • Nothing seems to be imminent on the Fuentes-Lowrie rumor.

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 9:21pm: A suitor for Fuentes has emerged.  ESPN’s Amy Nelson says the Red Sox are interested and the Rockies could seek Jed Lowrie.  Lowrie would be a nice fit at second base.

FROM 12-3-07 at 8:28pm:

MLB.com’s Thomas Harding checks in with some Rockies nuggets.

  • The Rockies have no pressing need to trade Brian Fuentes, so they’ll sit pretty with two closers unless an impressive and helpful offer comes along.  Dan O’Dowd believes four or five clubs might have the goods and need to get Fuentes.  We’ll see.

  • The Rox let Josh Fogg’s agent know they’d like to explore bringing him back.  No figures were exchanged.

  • The team still hopes to bring LaTroy Hawkins back, but they’d have to go to two years to pull that off.  They already chose not to exercise an effective $3.5MM option on him.  It seems the Rockies may have underestimated the interest in Hawkins. 

Odds and Ends: Cabrera, Blanton, Haren, Sabathia

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Let’s round ’em up.

  • Indians GM Mark Shapiro will soon get a contract extension offer for C.C. Sabathia approved by ownership.  Then he’ll put that in front of Sabathia’s agent, with an eye on resolving the situation one way or another before Spring Training.  Shapiro’s model will not be Johan Santana’s upcoming deal but rather Jake Peavy’s three-year, $50MMish extension.

  • White Sox outfielders Ryan Sweeney and Brian Anderson might be on the fringe.  The Marlins, if I recall correctly, once had interest in Anderson as a center field option.

  • Miguel Cabrera is out to prove he’s a good athlete and can stay at third base – he’s beginning a rigorous workout program like nothing he’s ever done before.

  • The D’Backs could pursue Joe Blanton or Dan Haren, while the Yankees may turn to Haren if they fail to acquire Johan.

  • The Yankees are receiving a lot of interest in The Farnz, according to Brian Cashman.

Kenny Williams Ready To Deal

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This is going to be an incredible offseason, I just know it.  This is going to be a hot stove season for the ages.  White Sox GM Kenny Williams seems ready to dive right in, starting with the GM meetings on Monday.

Interesting notes from the above-linked Mark Gonzales article:

  • Josh Fields’ position for 2008 will be revealed shortly, which seems to indicate a trade of Joe Crede on the horizon.  Fields will end up at third base or left field next year.

  • Outfielders Brian Anderson and Ryan Sweeney may be shopped.  Anderson is doing a nice job talking his way out of Chicago, and Williams notes that Anderson must be "disappointed over the opportunities he hasn’t maximized."  Ouch.  Maybe the Marlins will take a flier.

  • Gonzales throws down the Crede for Johnny Damon idea I’ve been pushing here repeatedly.  This idea is spreading!

Marlins, Brewers Scouting White Sox

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According to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, the Marlins and Brewers have been scouting the White Sox lately.

Gonzales believes the Marlins may be looking at Triple A center fielder Brian Anderson.  He mentions that the Fish have been fans of BA for quite a while.  Anderson is currently a member of the Charlotte Knights, but did not play in today’s blowout against Pawtucket.  Anderson is 25 now and hitting just .239/.302/.364 in Triple A.  A fresh start in a new organization could help.

Gonzales says the Brewers have been scouting Chicago’s pitching.  Not sure how a team that just demoted Yovani Gallardo to the bullpen would be in need of pitching, but you can never have too much. 


Brian Anderson Trade Near?

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Between Ozzie Guillen’s words and actions, it’s safe to say he does not like Brian Anderson.  I don’t know if it’s BA’s attitude or something else, but he’s had his chance and he’s not getting another one with the White Sox.  He did get 365 ABs last year, so you can’t say he didn’t get a legitimate shot.  Anderson seemed to be making some progress offensively in July and August of ’06, but regressed in September.

Nathaniel Whalen of the Daily Southtown reads between the lines, and thinks a change of scenery might make sense here.  Anderson’s minor league record is still contributing to a healthy PECOTA projection: .265/.324/.447.  That’s pretty good for a CF, especially if he’s a plus defender.

In the past, the Giants and Rangers have inquired about Anderson.  I feel like the Marlins did too, but can’t find a record of it.  The Fish in particular can afford to let Anderson develop at the big league level.  Perhaps the Padres, A’s, or Nationals would get involved as well.  They haven’t been major deals, but Jim Bowden has been Kenny Williams’s most frequent trading partner over the years.


Assorted updates: Alou, Hudson, Garland, Okajima

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Earlier today, we found a report that Moises Alou was about to sign with the Mets.  Now Rosenthal is saying that it could be a two-year deal.  With Carlos Gomez right behind Lastings Milledge, putting two established vets in the outfield through 2008 would seem to make Milledge expendable. 

Yesterday, Phil Rogers speculated that Mark Buehrle could be headed to Texas.  Rosenthal says it’s Jon Garland, and hints (as Rogers did) that John Danks and Brian Anderson could be part of the package, especially if the deal gets bigger.

And, Buster Olney is reporting chatter about Tim Hudson heading to the Orioles.  If, as Olney speculates, the return could include Adam Loewen or Hayden Penn, it would seem to be ideal for Atlanta: free up payroll for Tom Glavine, and get another (cheap) potentially decent starter in the deal as well.

And here’s something out of nowhere: Hideki Okajima, a lefty reliever, may be coming to the states.  Okajima, a longtime Yomiuri Giant and recently a Nippon Ham Fighter, had a great 2006 but a mediocre ’05.  Sounds like your typical middle-bullpen fodder.

By Jeff Sackmann

Rangers Covet Brian Anderson?

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Phil Rogers, down with the GMs in Florida, uncovered a trade possibility of White Sox center fielder Brian Anderson for Rangers reliever Nick Masset.

Anderson will turn 25 before next season.  The former first rounder had a rough first year offensively for the Sox, but he still has the potential to be a slightly above average CF package.

Masset will also be 25 next season.  A converted starter, he’s pitching well in the Mexican Winter League.


White Sox Pursuing Jason Schmidt?

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Of couple of ESPN columnists seem to have independently arrived at the same trade rumor in their blogs in recent days.  Buster Olney’s source is a "talent evaluator" while Jayson Stark got word from "an executive who has heard this talk." 

According to Olney and Stark, the White Sox would trade Brandon McCarthy and Brian Anderson to the Giants for Jason Schmidt.  The Sox would then acquire a center fielder in a separate trade.


Schmidt, 33, has been the NL’s second best pitcher this year behind Brandon Webb. This is his contract year and he’s making $10.5 million.  Anderson and McCarthy were ranked #1 and #3 among White Sox prospects entering the 2005 season.  McCarthy has had superb control at the big league level, with his one flaw being too many home runs allowed.  U.S. Cellular inflates home runs by about 35%, while AT&T Park deflates them by around 10%.  It’s been a rough 81 games for Anderson with the Sox, but the 24 year-old remains in high regard.

Freddy Garcia, Javier Vazquez, and Jon Garland haven’t performed as well as the Sox would’ve liked; all three own ERAs near 5 entering the All-Star break.  Chicago would stand to gain an estimated three wins by replacing one of them with Schmidt.  Olney speculated that Kenny Williams could consider using one of his surplus starters to acquire a center fielder.

Names that have come up in center include Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones, or Aaron Rowand.  None of the three seem feasible for various reasons.  The Sox could also consider players like Luis Matos, Willy Taveras, Brady Clark, Juan Pierre, and Ken Griffey Jr.  Clark would be a good fit if Doug Melvin makes him available.  It certainly wouldn’t hurt to add Clark’s .380 OBP to the top of the lineup, and he plays capable defense.  He’s signed through 2007.    

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