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Rosenthal On Abreu, Royals, Garland

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The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…

  • Bobby Abreu and the Angels have mutual interest in continuing their relationship, according to his agent Peter Greenberg.  Greenberg says there have been discussions but they'll probably wait until after the season.  Abreu, 36 in March, is hitting .297/.391/.428 in 547 plate appearances while playing subpar defense.  He should end up earning $6MM given his plate appearance incentives.  He'll easily achieve Type A status again.
  • Rosenthal praises the Royals for extending GM Dayton Moore, and suggests the team should commit to a full-bore rebuild.  Rosenthal believes it would've been wise to trade Mark Teahen and Gil Meche.
  • Rosenthal says to expect another overloaded 1B/DH market this winter.  Survey the free agent market here.  I think we might find a .400 OBP on the cheap in Nick Johnson, while Jason Giambi is in for a minor league deal.  Carlos Delgado, Russell Branyan, Hank Blalock, Ken Griffey Jr., Hideki Matsui, Aubrey Huff, Gary Sheffield, and Jim Thome are some of the other names.
  • The Phillies decided to stick with Miguel Cairo as their right-handed bench bat, rather than pursue Nomar Garciaparra.
  • A rival exec Rosenthal spoke to feels that Tony Abreu is not enough for Jon Garland, since the D'Backs are picking up all of Garland's contract.

Royals May Part With Catchers This Winter

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The Royals may be ready to cut ties with catchers John Buck and Miguel Olivo this winter, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  Buck is a non-tender candidate, while Olivo has a $3.3MM mutual option.  Dutton also speaks of mixed reviews on rookie catcher Brayan Pena.  My take: if the Royals decide to enter the free agent market, they can consider names such as Rod Barajas, Ramon Hernandez, Jason Kendall, Bengie Molina, Ivan Rodriguez, Brian Schneider, and Jason Varitek.  Arizona's Chris Snyder could potentially be available via trade.

Dutton traces Buck's history as a major piece in the Carlos Beltran deal.  The 29 year-old has a career-best .446 SLG in limited playing time, but he's never mustered an OBP above .308 in his career.  He's easy to run on as well, unlike Olivo.  Olivo changed his mind and re-signed with the Royals in November once he was promised the starting gig.  He has better power than Buck but is even worse at getting on base.  I think Pena deserves a better shot; he's only 28 in January and he's showing improved power this year.  He seems just as good as most of the options listed above.

Odds & Ends: Diamond, Penny, Pelekoudas

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Links for Tuesday…

  • Chat today, 2pm CST.
  • The Rangers designated pitcher Thomas Diamond for assignment, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.  Diamond was the 10th overall pick in the 2004 draft.  He was considered the #52 prospect in the game by Baseball America in '05, but he had Tommy John surgery in '07 and dealt with shoulder soreness this year.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney says the Angels were in on Brad Penny, with a bullpen role in mind.
  • Stephen Strasburg has a few things to learn about dealing with media attention, says John Feinstein of the Washington Post.
  • Mariners Associate GM Lee Pelekoudas has resigned to pursue other career opportunities, according to a team press release.  Pelekoudas was the Ms' interim GM before Jack Zduriencik was hired.  He spent 30 years in the organization. 
  • USA Today's Paul White writes about the stigma of a college degree for ballplayers.
  • Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star suggests newly-extended GM Dayton Moore, and not the Glass family, is accountable for the Royals' future performance.
  • Reliever Luis Ayala, recently designated for assignment by the Marlins after pitching badly, was upset by the team's "lack of respect" (Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporting).  Ayala earned $1.3MM for his 5.63 ERA this year in 40 innings.

Royals Extend Dayton Moore Through 2014

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3:35pm: The Royals officially announced the extension, according to MLB.com's Dick Kaegel. Moore is under contract through 2014.

1:48pm: The Royals are set to sign GM Dayton Moore to a four-year extension, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. The deal, which could be officially announced tonight, will keep Moore in charge through 2014. He became GM in 2006, when he agreed to a five-year deal that locked him up through 2010.

When we heard last week that the Royals were considering an extension for their GM, ESPN.com's Keith Law wrote that there was no good reason to do so.

Perrotto’s Latest: Twins, Damon, Franklin, Penny, Dye

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John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus brings us his latest from around the leagues:

  • When they come off the DL, Francisco Liriano and Glen Perkins will be used in relief. So, the Twins are hoping to add a starter who can pitch in the playoffs. This means they have until tomorrow at midnight to do so.
  • The Yankees would like to re-sign Johnny Damon to a one year deal and give Austin Jackson a second year to develop at Triple-A, while pursuing Matt Holliday and Jason Bay in the offseason.
  • The Marlins and Giants are frontrunners to land Brad Penny.
  • The Cardinals expect to exercise Ryan Franklin’s $2.75MM club option and then sign an extension with their closer for 2011.
  • The Royals want to extend G.M. Dayton Moore who is signed through 2010.
  • Perrotto says the Cubs are likely to deal Milton Bradley this winter, even if it means eating a large portion of the $21MM owed to him through 2011.
  • Jermaine Dye will more than likely not see his $12MM option exercised by the White Sox after a dip in production in tandem with the salary demands of Alex Rios and Jake Peavy.
  • For the postseason, the Dodgers are seeking “a left-handed bat with power” for their bench.
  • The Nats are auditioning Livan Hernandez as a veteran innings eater for 2010.
  • The Diamondbacks may non-tender Conor Jackson.
  • Brewers manager Ken Macha said G.M. Doug Melvin “scoured the area for pitching” before the deadline but was unable to add a starter because he refused to trade Mat Gamel or Alcides Escobar.
  • After making seven trades this year, the Pirates are the youngest team in the MLB.

Odds & Ends: Twins, Astros, Magglio

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Some links for the morning:

Royals Considering Extension For Moore

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8:39pm: The team confirms that there have been talks about an extension for Moore, but insist "no deal is in place or close" according to The KC Star's Bob Dutton.

7:45pm: Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse confirms through a source that the extension for Moore is "done."

10:22am: The Royals are considering a contract extension for GM Dayton Moore, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. Moore's current contract runs through 2010 and the Royals may keep Moore around for even longer.

Moore, who took over control of the team in 2006, has been harshly criticized for some deals, but praised for others. He faced criticism for acquiring Mike Jacobs and Yuniesky Betancourt, but received praise for locking Zack Greinke up affordably.

Crasnick suggests that an extension for Moore would increase manager Trey Hillman's chances of keeping his job after next year, when his contract is set to expire.

Twins Acquire Ron Mahay

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1:32pm: The Twins acquired Mahay from the Royals, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney. The Royals will cover most of his salary, and the Twins will pay the pro-rated MLB minimum, which should amount to less than $100k.

1:14pm: The Twins are "on the verge" of acquiring reliever Ron Mahay from the Royals, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Royals designated the lefty for assignment last week. He allowed 55 hits and 19 walks in 41.1 innings, striking out 34. We first heard of the Twins' interest in the 13-year veteran yesterday.

Mahay makes $4MM this year, so there's about $740k remaining on his contract.

Odds And Ends: Royals, Mets, Marquis

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More links for the early afternoon…

  • ESPN.com's Keith Law argues there's no reason for the Royals to consider extending GM Dayton Moore now. It could impede them in the future, and they're in no apparent danger of losing him to a rival club.
  • Author Erin Arvedlund told Ben Klayman of Reuters that the Wilpon family will be forced to sell the Mets.
  • The Mets, however, say the author's claim is "false and irrespopnsible," according to Jon Heyman of SI.com.
  • EPSN.com's Rob Neyer says MLB should change its draft if it makes sense to do so, but not just to make people feel better.  
  • Jason Marquis' team has made the playoffs every year of his decade-long career, as Tim Kurkjian of ESPN.com notes. Marquis is in the midst of a career year and about to hit the free agent market this offseason.

Odds And Ends: Mahay, Hudson, Wagner

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Some links to distract you from the Brad Penny rumors…

  • Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune hears indications that the Twins could consider dealing for Ron Mahay, who the Royals just designated for assignment.
  • ESPN passes along an AP report informing us that Tim Hudson will make his 2009 season debut on Monday. It would be a surprise if the Braves turned out to be the team that claimed Rich Harden given their pitching depth.
  • Newsday's Ken Davidoff points us to an interesting wrinkle in the rulebook. Teams that offer their free agents arbitration don't have to offer them anything close to the salary they made the previous season. So if the Red Sox decide they want to offer Billy Wagner less than $8MM next year, they can do so. This is not the case for players who don't yet have six years of service time. 
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