AL East Notes: Red Sox, Upton, Snider
Adrian Gonzalez won the AL Player of the Week Award for last week after homering five times in seven days. Here's the latest from a division that includes a number of prominent MVP candidates, including Gonzalez…
- Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com argues that Red Sox manager Terry Francona deserves more credit. The skipper has never won AL Manager of the Year, but Edes says he deserves it this year for the work he has done leading the Red Sox to an AL-best 82-51 record.
- B.J. Upton told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that he's happy the Rays chose to hold onto him instead of trading him. The outfielder, who will be arbitration eligible for the final time this offseason, says he'd "love" to be back in Tampa Bay in 2012.
- Travis Snider acknowledged to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca that his position in the Blue Jays organization has changed in recent years. The Jays demoted the former first rounder twice this season and he has lost ground on the depth chart to Eric Thames and others. Snider's resting his right wrist now and looking forward to the 2012 campaign.
B.J. Upton Claimed; No Deal
MONDAY: The deadline to trade Upton has passed, notes Topkin, so he's staying with the Rays.
SATURDAY: B.J. Upton has been claimed off trade waivers by an unknown team, reports Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times. The Rays have until Monday to work out a trade with the claiming team or pull their center fielder back, and Topkin says a deal seems unlikely as of right now.
Upton, who just turned 27, was a popular name before the trade deadline as teams looked for alternatives to the pricier Hunter Pence and Carlos Beltran. The Braves, Indians, Phillies, Giants, Pirates, and Nationals all had interest in July, though the first five teams ended up with other outfielders. The Nats may still have interest, though again we don't know which team actually made the claim.
Scheduled to become a free agent after 2012, Upton is being paid $4.825MM this season and will be arbitration-eligible again this winter. He's hitting just .224/.304/.390 with 17 homers in 495 plate appearances this year, but as always a big chunk of his value comes from his legs (26 steals) and defense (fourth best UZR among all center fielders since 2009).
NL Central Links: McCutchen, Cubs, Ramirez, Crane
After Yovani Gallardo struck out ten Cubs en route to another Milwaukee victory, the club's division lead reached double digits for the first time this season, with the Cardinals now 10.5 games back. The Brewers will send Zack Greinke to the hill today as they look to sweep the Cubs and continue chipping away at their magic number (19). Let's check out the rest of the morning's updates from the NL Central….
- Although the Pirates and Andrew McCutchen were discussing a possible extension earlier this year, talks remain at a standstill for now. The outfielder's agent, Steve Hammond, told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that "it's time to focus on playing baseball and winning games" and that further extension discussions could happen later.
- A raise and increased payroll flexibility wouldn't necessarily convince Andrew Friedman to leave the Rays for the Cubs, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. "Don't think because this is a glamorous situation he's going to want to jump to it," said manager Joe Maddon. "That's not true."
- Aramis Ramirez tells Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune that, having never reached free agency before, he's unsure what to expect if it happens this winter.
- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle wonders if the delay in approving new Astros ownership is the league's way of saying it has "lingering doubts" about Jim Crane.
Quick Hits: Red Sox, Indians
A couple notes regarding the Red Sox and Indians, who both won on Saturday night (in Boston's case, twice) …
- The Red Sox wanted to trade for both Erik Bedard and Rich Harden once their attempt to acquire Hiroki Kuroda from the Dodgers fell through, tweets Peter Gammons. Bedard, of course, ended up in Boston, while the acquisition of Harden was nixed by Red Sox medical staff.
- It's unclear whether the Indians were the team that placed a waiver claim on the Rays' B.J. Upton, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, but it'd make sense for the Tribe to do so. Outfielders Michael Brantley and Shin-Soo Choo are banged up, and the Indians were one of the teams interested in Upton prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, according to Hoynes.
- Lost in the shuffle of Jim Thome's first homer since rejoining the Indians was the Major League debut of reliever Nick Hagadone, writes Hoynes. Hagadone, a lefty, was acquired along with Justin Masterson in the deal that sent Victor Martinez to Boston in 2009. That doesn't look like such a bad swap in retrospect, especially if Hagadone turns out to be a solid member of the Tribe's bullpen.
Quick Hits: Kubel, Bell, Marlins, Upton
Hurricane Irene has resulted in the cancellation of five Saturday games, but we still have plenty of news for your to pore over..
- The Indians and Twins did exchange names on a potential Jason Kubel deal but Minnesota wanted more than the Tribe was willing to give for a short-term rental, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
- More from Rosenthal (via Twitter) as he says that the talks between the Padres and Giants on Heath Bell never got very far. The claim was more than just a block, but the Giants didn't want to give up real value for the closer.
- The Marlins preference is to hire a manager who they believe will hold that job for years to come rather than keep Jack McKeon, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com. McKeon will celebrate his 81st birthday this fall.
- No surprise here but Olney tweets that it's unlikely that we'll see B.J. Upton traded following the waiver claim. The Rays would probably be benefit from listening to multiple teams this winter.
Upton Feels He Won’t Be Back With Rays Next Season
Rays centerfielder B.J. Upton told reporters that he doesn't expect to be back with the club in 2012, according to Roger Mooney of The Tampa Tribune.
“I hope not, but I don’t see why I wouldn’t be with all the talks at the deadline, and with this [waiver claim], I don’t see why there wouldn’t be that possibility,” the 27-year-old said. “I don’t want to go anywhere, but if that’s what they want to do it’s out of my hands.”
This morning it was reported that Upton was claimed off of trade waivers by an unknown team. Upon hearing the news, Upton said that he wasn't concerned about it and appropriately termed the move "business as usual". Rays Executive Vice President Andrew Friedman would neither confirm nor deny the report.
Cubs Interested In Friedman, Colletti, Cashman
Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts has been gathering information about Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Cubs, who are on the hunt for a new general manager, also appear to have interest in Rick Hahn of the White Sox and Josh Byrnes of the Padres.
The Cubs are drawn to Colletti, a Chicago native and former Cubs employee, since they believe he could bring Hall of Fame second baseman turned minor league manager Ryne Sandberg back as the team’s Major League skipper. Sandberg has said he’d return to the Cubs now that former GM Jim Hendry has been fired, according to Wittenmyer.
Ricketts has also discussed the possibility of trying to lure Yankees GM Brian Cashman to Chicago along with New York manager Joe Girardi. Cashman’s contract expires after the season, but Girardi, a Peoria, Illinois native, is under contract with the Yankees through 2013.
Wittenmyer hears from associates of Friedman that the Rays executive isn’t likely to leave Tampa Bay for Chicago.
AL East Notes: Red Sox, Yankees, Maddon
Links from the AL East before some of the division's top pitchers – Josh Beckett, C.C. Sabathia and Ricky Romero – start for their respective teams…
- Red Sox owner John Henry told John Tomase of the Boston Herald that chatter about GM Theo Epstein and the Cubs shows "how highly regarded Theo is by the media and baseball in general.”
- Prospective free agent David Ortiz tells Yahoo’s Jeff Passan that his ability to tune criticism out helps him perform on the field. “I’m not a five-tool player. I may be a two-tool player. But one of them tools is this one right here,” he said, pointing to his head.
- Bartolo Colon has slowed down, so the Yankees figure to rely on Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova more than ever, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes.
- MLB players consider Joe Maddon of the Rays the manager they'd most like to play for, according to a recent Sports Illustrated poll. Red Sox manager Terry Francona placed second in the poll and Yankees manager Joe Girardi placed seventh. Having a popular manager in place no doubt helps teams trying to attract free agents or sign players to long-term extensions.
Quick Hits: Davis, Marlins, Draft
The Rangers beat the Orioles 30-3 on this date four years ago. In one of the most bizarre statistical quirks in recent memory, Rangers reliever Wes Littleton actually picked up a save in the game. Here are today's links, starting with an update on Texas and Baltimore…
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels reached out to Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail when he heard about Chris Davis' strained shoulder, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. The Orioles, who obtained Davis from Texas in a trade late last month, haven't had serious talks about reworking the deal, according to Sullivan. Daniels says the sides could revisit the trade at some point, though.
- Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says it's doubtful that the Marlins would allow president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest to interview for the Cubs' GM opening (Twitter link).
- The Nationals, D'Backs, Red Sox, Pirates and Rays had the best drafts this year, Jim Callis writes at Baseball America.
Cubs Notes: GM Search, Ramirez, Dempster
The search for a general manager will likely dominate Cubs headlines for the rest of the regular season, but don't count on the hunt continuing past that point. According to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Insider-only link), the team would like to name Jim Hendry's replacement by October 1st, in preparation for the offseason. Here's the latest from Chicago's north side:
- Within the same blog post, Olney discusses the candidacy of Rays GM Andrew Friedman for the Cubs' opening, concluding that this could be Friedman's opportunity to play on a "relatively level playing field in the years ahead."
- Ex-Ray Matt Garza had high praise for Friedman, telling Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune that the man who traded him to the Cubs would "do great" in Chicago.
- SI.com's Jon Heyman tweets that the new Cubs GM will be given the opportunity to choose his manager, leaving Mike Quade's job very much in jeopardy.
- Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune wonders if Tom Ricketts' recent comments suggest a reluctance to hire a current assistant GM.
- Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times examines the likelihood of Ned Colletti becoming the next Cubs general manager.
- You can criticize his moves and decisions in Chicago, but Hendry's work ethic and experience will land him another job as soon as he wants one, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- The Cubs' problems go higher up than the GM, according to Tracy Ringolsby at FOX Sports.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff takes a look at a few team and player options for 2012, predicting whether or not they will be exercised. Aramis Ramirez and Ryan Dempster are two names Davidoff mentions.