Dontrelle Willis Yankees Rumor
Are we really going to resurrect this one again? We already have the Manny and Clemens storylines repeating themselves; it’s only fitting that silly Dontrelle Willis proposals are bandied about.
George King of the New York Post remarks that the Yankees "could put together a package headed by Melky Cabrera and Humberto Sanchez to lure the Marlins into moving Dontrelle Willis out of Miami."
Those are two pretty good young players, but the Marlins could do better. Sanchez is interesting but untested, and Cabrera doesn’t seem like the center fielder the Marlins covet. At least not at that price. An affordable Willis should net a true stud prospect, a guy with star potential. It’s unclear whether George King is speculating or if this info is based on something.
Yankees win Igawa bid
Looks like the Yankees won the bidding to negotiate with Japanese lefty Kei Igawa for $25 million. It was only a matter of time before Cashman threw some money around.
In other news, the Brewers are closing in on a deal with Craig Counsell. (I’m not a fan: once around was enough for me.) That’s right on the heels of hearing that Counsell was destined for San Diego; now, it would seem that Counsell’s original deal–two years of playing second base for the Padres–now will go to Tony Graffanino, who Doug Melvin had wanted to bring back to Milwaukee as a utility guy. The Brewers also resigned Brian Shouse, who was eligible for arbitration.
By Jeff Sackmann
Turkey Day Tidbits
Happy Thanksgiving from MLB Trade Rumors!
Grab your shopping list — Bucco Blog has posted the Pirates top 10 prospect list.
I initially thought one of the collateral consequences of the increased market value of players this year would be that arbitration values would go up over the next few years, but Jim Callis at Baseball America said he doesn’t think that will happen since arbitration contracts are compared to people with similar service time. Interesting.
Did anyone else see ProTrade’s reaction to the 2006 MVP awards? Talk about blowing out the industry – whew!
USA Today has a couple of nice articles — on the Royals rebuilding plans and the other on the Brewers potential to return to respectability.
Will Steinbrenner’s potential desire to name son-in-law Steve Swindal as the next CEO be sidetracked with Swindal becoming the next operator of the New York’s three major thoroughbred racetracks — Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga?
By Jake
Tuesday tidbits
Nothing in the news that is too breathtaking today, but there have been enough things worthy of mention that I thought I’d throw them all into one thread.
Here’s a fun trade possibility: the Red Sox are interested in Chad Cordero (uh, who wouldn’t be?) and may be dangling Wily Mo Pena, whom Jim Bowden is known to…how should I put this?…really like. Bowden hasn’t acquired a toolsy outfielder for a couple of weeks now, so if the Sox found a way to sweeten the deal, perhaps Trader Jim would take the bait.
The Yankees have been quiet lately, but they may soon make an offer to bring back Ted Lilly. They have also been linked to Shea Hillenbrand and Rich Aurilia to fill a spot at first base.
The Rockies signed Jeff Francis to a four-year deal for $13.25M, which takes him through his arbitration years. He’s still only 25, and if nothing else, he’s proven he can eat innings. He may still turn into more than that. Even if he’s no more than a 5th starter, he’ll be worth close to that amount, and the Rockies will probably want to exercise their ~$7M option for his first year of free agency in 2011.
According to the LA Times, who I would link to if they didn’t require registration, Carlos Lee isn’t interested in the west coast, which would rule out the Dodgers, Angels, and Giants. You gotta admit, it would’ve been pretty funny if El Caballo signed in LA and he and Juan Pierre played side by side for the next five years. By the end of those deals, Vin Scully would’ve said "double to the left-field gap" more times than he did in his first twenty years of broadcasting.
The Reds sent more than half of Jason LaRue‘s salary along with him in yesterday’s trade. I didn’t think it was a horrible deal for the Royals in the first place (though, admittedly, do they really need a mediocre stopgap catcher to help get them to 70 wins?) but this makes it a better one. More coverage at Royals Review. (You didn’t know there was a Royals blog, did you?)
By Jeff Sackmann
Gotham Baseball: Rockies Want Milledge?
One oif the more interesting things I heard in this week’s follow up calls after the GM Meetings was the Colorado Rockies’ interest in Lastings Milledge.
Though I keep hearing from those inside and outside of the team’s inner circle that Milledge is still a player they expect to blossom in New York, I can’t help but think that the Mets are focused on moving forward…without Lastings.
Another very interesting tidbit was a rumor of the Tigers and Reds talking Adam Dunn
Kei Igawa Has Been Posted
Rotoworld lists the potential suitors for Kei Igawa as the "Padres, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, Mets, Cubs and Indians." They rule out the Red Sox and Mariners, though this Tacoma News-Tribune article says the M’s are "likely" to bid. That same article predicts that the posting fee will be about "two-thirds less" than Daisuke Matsuzaka‘s $51.1M: $17M.
That seems high for a guy who David Wright isn’t convinced has MLB-quality stuff. Personally, I wouldn’t want my team spending more than $10M for his rights, but with all those teams involved, $17M seems plausible.
UPDATE: An alert e-mailer points out this article on the Braves official site. According to club officials, Atlanta won’t be involved in this one.
By Jeff Sackmann
Starting Pitching in NYC
Here’s the latest on the Tom Glavine front: the man says he’s 50-50 between the Mets and the Braves. The Braves would have a hard time matching the Mets probable $24M/2y offer unless they dropped some salary in a trade (like some of these possibilities), so it may come down to how much of a hometown discount Glavine is willing to give Atlanta.
Across town, there’s the possibility that Scott Proctor will enter camp as a starter. Proctor was great in his first full year out of the pen, but the Yankees starting corps still has plenty of holes. No one–including Brian Cashman–could possibly think that the Yankees won’t make every effort to add at least one more starter, but as Cashman points out, the move is mostly insurance: it’s easier to prepare to start and end up relieving than to go the other way around. If nothing else, if might make Cashman seem a little less desperate in trade talks.
And back to the Mets for a second: if you’re interested in the next wave of Mets players, like Anderson Hernandez, Carlos Gomez, and Fernando Martinez, you may enjoy this article of mine over at MetsGeek.com, which takes a statistically-minded look at their defense. If Gomez ends up as part of a trade, whoever gets him could do very, very well.
By Jeff Sackmann
The Giants Really Want a Centerfielder
And you know, if I had just given Steve Finley 429 at-bats, I would too!
Apparently the Giants have offered identical 3-year, $30M deals to Juan Pierre and Gary Matthews Jr. Both would appear to be a little young to fit in to the Giants clubhouse, but then again, so is Kevin Frandsen, and they haven’t buried him yet. $10M per year seems to be the market value for Matthews right now, which–to me, anyway–is complete insanity.
It’s true that Matthews had a fantastic season in Arlington–.313/.371/.495, to be precise–but it’s also true that he was 31, and his career numbers are a much more 4th-OF friendly .263/.336/.419. It’s always possible that he really didn’t learn how to play baseball at a new level after his 30th birthday, but…$10 million for a guy with a strong possibility to be below league average? Most amazing to me is this: Rotoworld speculates that Matthews could get some four-year offers.
Pierre may not be worth $10M/year either, but he is a bit younger, and Brian Sabean can’t be deluding himself too much about what he might get. Pierre has been very consistent, largely injury free, and he’ll probably keep stealing lots of bases through the length of that contract.
In other Giants news: Ray Durham wants $18 million over 2 years, and the Giants "haven’t closed the door" on that. However, Frandsen has gone crazy in winter ball, so the Giants could give him the starting job and let Durham look elsehwhere. If they pass on Durham, that makes it more likely they’ll bring back Rich Aurilia; both the Giants and Yankees want Aurilia and are offering multiyear deals. The deal could be done this weekend.
By Jeff Sackmann
Yankees Rumor Roundup
Too many Cub rumors for you, eh? Let’s round up all the Yankee-related happenings in one convenient post.
Carl Pavano: the Rockies would have him, but only at the price of $12-13MM for 2007-08. According to the New York Post, the Yankees will hold off on this one but could revisit it. Back in ’04, Pavano ranked 15th in the NL with a groundball percentage of 48.2. Hard to believe Carl once threw 222 innings in a season. Ah, contract years.
A-Rod: talk of his out clause was strong enough to bring a statement out of him. He said all the right things, but you have to wonder.
After retaining Mike Mussina, the Yankees might turn their focus to Barry Zito (scroll to bottom). Failing that, 28 year-old righty Gil Meche could be the target. And don’t forget Randy Wolf. The Yankees also are expected to bid on Kei Igawa. Finally, the Yankees are interested in Ted Lilly, whose deal will exceed four years and $34MM.
Internally, New York has talked about the possibility of adding Dontrelle Willis. Could they flip Humberto Sanchez and Melky Cabrera to Florida? Would that be enough? Bill James projects Cabrera to hit .285/.351/.411 as a 22 year-old. On top of that, James’s panel of experts ranked him as the fourth best defensive LF in the game. As for Sanchez, George King confirmed his availability. ZiPS projects a 4.42 ERA for him next year.
As the Yanks are looking for a right-handed hitting first baseman, Nomar’s name has surfaced again. James’s experts labeled Nomar the fifth best defensive 1B in baseball. However, Ken Davidoff says that Garciaparra "seems poised to re-sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers." How many right-handed hitting 1Bs are left? Kevin Millar, Phil Nevin, or Chris Shelton could fit the bill.
Finally, Brian Cashman is looking for a backup catcher after failing to sign Henry Blanco. Where’s Sal Fasano‘s mustache when you need it?
By Tim Dierkes
Mussina Back With Yankees
Looks like Mike Mussina has agreed to a 2-year, $22.5 million contract with the Yankees. No big surprise here: there was never much talk that he could’ve been going elsewhere. That gives the Yankees a projected rotation of Chien-Ming Wang, Randy Johnson, Mussina, and some combination of free agents (Gil Meche? a White Sox starter via trade?) and Carl Pavano, Humberto Sanchez, Darrell Rasner, and Jeff Karstens. And, of course, the possibility of Philip Hughes.
By Jeff Sackmann