Schilling Names Targets
UPDATE, 10-31-07: Gordon Edes and Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe spoke to a Red Sox source who does not expect Schilling to return to the team. The Red Sox will offer an incentive-based contract. The source added that Tim Wakefield‘s option is likely to be exercised.
FROM 10/30/07:
Interesting. After Boston, Curt Schilling has 12 teams he’d consider pitching for in 2008. Here they are:
Indians
Tigers
Angels
Mets
Phillies
Braves
Dodgers
Padres
Diamondbacks
Cubs
Cardinals
Brewers
Schilling had talked about the idea of going somewhere he could tutor young pitchers, like Tampa Bay. But it sounds like that idea is out and he wants to play for a contender. Not that the Rays can’t contend in ’08. I’m curious as to why the White Sox and Rockies were excluded, but who knows.
That’s a nice extensive list, so it should be fun if Boston passes. At a reasonable one-year commitment, any of the dozen should have interest no matter what their rotation looks like.
Angels Talk To Boras About A-Rod
Angels’ GM Tony Reagins has already spoken to Scott Boras about Alex Rodriguez. Of course, they can’t talk dollars and cents until November 13th.
Mike DiGiovanna notes in the above-linked article that the Angels are not phased at all by Rodriguez’s purported ego. In contrast, the Red Sox are said to be concerned with clubhouse chemistry and Rodriguez’s recent postseason performance.
It’s all about the money for the Angels – owner Arte Moreno would have to be willing to take a short-term loss to bring A-Rod aboard. But even if Moreno bleeds $15-20MM a year because of Rodriguez, he still comes out ahead in the long run. Right now he’s up roughly a quarter billion bucks given the value of the Angels. Another fact to consider, per Buster Olney, is that each team will get roughly $30MM+ from the successful MLB.com.
DioGiovanna also suggests that Moreno’s talk about not paying any player $20MM is just posturing, part of the negotiation process. I agree – if Moreno was really that opposed to it, why not just declare the Angels out of the Rodriguez sweepstakes right now? Instead they’re meeting with Boras. They’re interested.
A-Rod Aftermath
Lost in the shuffle of Alex Rodriguez‘s opt-out media frenzy – the Yankees should be able to snag some nice draft picks for him. They’ll undoubtedly offer him arbitration, and he’ll decline that offer. If that does happen and he’s signed by the Cubs, Tigers, Mets, Angels, or Red Sox, the Yankees will get that team’s first-round pick. The Giants and Dodgers’ first round picks are protected however.
Joel Sherman names the Angels, Dodgers, Cubs, Mets, Red Sox, and Tigers as teams to watch in this bidding war. Kat O’Brien adds the White Sox to the mix, while Peter Abraham adds the Giants. My best guess is the Halos. Another thought – does it have to be Lowell or A-Rod for Boston? Couldn’t it be both if they believe Rodriguez can play a capable shortstop?
Stoneman To Leave Angels’ GM Post
According to Scott Miller of CBS Sportsline, Bill Stoneman will step down as GM of the Angels. The team’s director of player development, Tony Reagins, is likely to take his place.
Stoneman seemed loathe to surrender prospects for a big bat in his tenure. Will Reagins be the same way, given his intimacy and involvement with the team’s farm system?
There will be a press conference tomorrow, as yet another GM bites the dust.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Bonds, Nathan, Barrett
Ken Rosenthal has a new rumor column up. Feels like it’s been a while.
- Rosenthal thinks it’s a sign of desperation that the Angels would entertain signing Barry Bonds, who doesn’t fit in with their club. His OBP would fit in anywhere, but he would tie up the DH spot at the expense of Juan Rivera and Vladimir Guerrero.
- The Cubs are expected to bring Daryle Ward back at $1.2MM (makes sense) and Steve Trachsel at $4.75MM (questionable). Cubs fans can only hope Trachsel would be considered a tradeable asset, as Rosenthal opines. Rosenthal also quashes the idea of trading Aramis Ramirez, both because of his full no-trade clause and the team’s impending sale.
- David Eckstein is expected to leave the Cardinals, no big surprise. Rosenthal reiterates recent rumors connecting him to the White Sox, Tigers, and Mets.
- Rosenthal’s idea for Bill Smith and the Twins: keep Johan Santana this winter, and instead trade the $6MM super-closer Joe Nathan. Teams would line up for him, and Pat Neshek wouldn’t be a bad replacement.
- Do you think Michael Barrett could be a free agent bargain? Rosenthal talked to one exec who feels this way, and it is a good point if he can bounce back to .280/.350/.480 for five million bucks.
Odds and Ends: Aramis, La Russa, A-Rod
A random smattering of links this morning…
- I wrote a postmortem on why the D’Backs beat the Cubs over at The Hardball Times.
- Just a whisper at the moment, but I’m hearing that the Angels could pursue Aramis Ramirez if the Cubs make him available. They were in hard on him last year when he was briefly a free agent.
- Seems that Joe Torre is done as Yankees manager, but Tony La Russa is not interested.
- Another important date to mark down: November 10th. That’s when Alex Rodriguez decides whether to opt out of his contract. Right after the GM meetings.
- The Tigers will stick with Brandon Inge at third base next year, perhaps feeling that his defense justified his .236/.312/.376 line. There is hope for a rebound, since he slugged .463 the previous year. Plus Inge is locked in for $6.2MM in ’08, $6.3MM in ’09, and $6.6MM in ’10.
- The Mariners had a $2.7MM option on Chris Reitsma with a $0.7MM buyout and apparently some kind of option on Arthur Rhodes. Both were declined. Reitsma, coming off ulnar nerve transposition surgery in ’06, was supposed to be Seattle’s setup man. He tried to pitch this year but the elbow wasn’t fully healed. Rhodes had similar problems in ’06 and went under the knife for TJ in April.
- You may have noticed some of the in-post ads are showing as ugly blank white space or "This page cannot be found" errors…please bear with me as I try to get it back to normal.
More On Bonds
All the sportswriters have had a chance to weigh in on possible destinations for Barry Bonds in 2008. Here’s a summary.
- Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus seems the Padres and A’s as the top two possibilities.
- Fielding guru John Dewan rates Bonds’ defense ahead of Manny Ramirez, Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, and Pat Burrell this year. He’s still bad, but maybe we shouldn’t rule out the NL after all.
- Bruce Jenkins says there’s no market but seems to consider Seattle a possibility. Interesting note: Jenkins also mentions that Bonds cleared waivers in August.
- Jack Curry of the New York Times likes the Angels, A’s, and Rangers.
- Before we start penciling Bonds into the Oakland lineup, Susan Slusser reminds us that Jack Cust is effective and cheap as the team’s DH.
- Rangers manager Ron Washington says he would’ve liked having Bonds on his team this year. However, he sees the A’s as the favorite.
- Kevin Kernan of the New York Post thinks this puts the Giants in the A-Rod sweepstakes. Would Rodriguez want to join a team that is basically rebuilding?
A-Rod And The Angels
With the Yankees starting a series in L.A. on Monday, it was only natural for some Alex Rodriguez to the Angels speculation to surface. Indeed, George King of the New York Post and Ben Villa of the L.A. Daily News mention the topic this morning.
King’s not completely sold that the Yankees will abstain from bidding if Rodriguez opts out. As for Scott Boras, he’s not concerned about Brian Cashman’s assertion regarding the opt-out clause.
Still, King notes that the Angels are one of few teams that can afford a $30MM player. And Arte Moreno would love the marketing boost. Moreno said in June that paying A-Rod $25MM+ would be disrespectful to other Angels players, despite the team’s seven-year, $118MM offer to Alfonso Soriano. Most folks believe Moreno is just posturing, and I’m inclined to agree. I think they’ll be involved if Alex opts out.
Villa simply mentions "whispers in the air" about the Angels pursuing Rodriguez this winter.
Don’t forget the Red Sox, who are expected to make a "huge push" for A-Rod if he opts out.
Do Yanks Have Room For Damon And Giambi?
I think Johnny Damon’s comments yesterday have been overblown – he backed off a few hours after he made them. And when asked point blank if he wanted a trade, he said no. He did hint that a trade might make sense if he couldn’t play regularly, but calmed down after talking to Joe Torre.
Still, the Yankees will face a roster crunch once Jason Giambi returns to the club to act as the regular DH. Damon has lingering injuries that will keep him from starting in center field regularly. Between Giambi and Damon, that’s $34MM in 2007 salary spent on the designated hitter.
It’s not just Damon who could be traded – either player is eligible. Let’s start with Damon though. His name first came up on July 26th, with the Braves slightly interested. Damon’s contract pays him $13MM annually through 2009, so that’s an obstacle. And he’s owed another $4.4MM this year. His partial no-trade clause probably isn’t a big problem, because it sounds like he’d rather go elsewhere to play every day. The Yankees would have to eat some salary to trade Damon, probably around $8-10MM. Damon at $8MM annually through ’09 isn’t a bad risk.
The Angels were reportedly interested in Giambi back in May, though Bill Stoneman denied it. If healthy, he’d still supply the Halos a needed dose of OBP and power. The problem is that he’s still owed about $33MM from now through the 2008 season and has a full no-trade clause. The Yankees could eat half of the money, but that wouldn’t address a concession for waiving the no-trade. The other problem is that the Yankees and Angels could be battling for the wild card this year if the Mariners overtake the Halos.
Giambi would be harder than Damon to trade, and I imagine it’d be a pure salary dump. Chone Figgins was mentioned in the Angels rumor in May, but that’s a stretch and the Yanks have since acquired Wilson Betemit. Damon might net a better player in return with less salary relief. Both players would probably pass through waivers unclaimed, and I imagine the Yankees will at least go that far this month.
Prospects could be acquired, though probably in the form of a player to be named later realized after the season. Getting immediate help back seems unlikely.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Dye, Lamb, Jennings
Ken Rosenthal has a new article up. Let’s see what’s in there beyond the Teixeira stuff.
- The Angels have a few alternatives to Mark Teixeira in Jermaine Dye and Mike Piazza. However, the team isn’t exactly bursting with open outfield/DH spots, especially once Juan Rivera returns. Troy Glaus still makes a ton of sense, but the Blue Jays would want a lot. Probably 2/3 of the Teixeira package.
- Aside from Mark Loretta, the Padres would also like to acquire Mike Lamb from the Astros. Even tossing aside his awful April, Kevin Kouzmanoff has been about average for his position offensively (.271/.328/.476 since May 1). If the Padres instead used Lamb against southpaws and Kouzmanoff against lefties, they’d have a nifty platoon.
- The Mets have inquired on Joe Blanton and Jon Garland but have found the price prohibitive. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that both are just innings eaters. They’re just elevated by a terrible market for starters.
- The Phillies also asked about Blanton, but are more likely to settle for Kyle Lohse or Jason Jennings. Phil Garner decided to offer Jennings’ ERA up for sacrifice today, leaving him in to allow 11 earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. That was a several million-dollar decision, as Jennings is a free agent after the season.
- The Mets seem to have only mild interest in Luis Castillo and Mark Grudzielanek due to salary and injury concerns.