Odds and Ends: Darvish, Maddux
Let’s kick off the day with some random links.
- Baseball America’s Jim Callis profiles young phenom Yu Darvish, currently pitching in Japan. If he were MLB-bound, he’d be the third-best prospect in the game.
- DRays Bay would like to see Edwin Jackson traded rather than Jason Hammel, if there’s a roster squeeze.
- Greg Maddux has told some teammates that this is his last season. That nugget is only a small part of Tim Keown’s fantastic article about the legendary Professor.
Odds And Ends: Crisp, Spiezio, Lahey, Longoria
Here are a few notes from the MLBiverse…
- Terry Francona sounds like a manager that is frustrated and wishes the Red Sox would go ahead and trade Coco Crisp. After starting Crisp for the second straight game, Francona said "The more [Jacoby Ellsbury] plays, the better he’s going to be, and I clearly feel that responsibility…I’m trying to balance [playing time] the best I can."
- It only took a couple of weeks, but Scott Spiezio managed to mess up his latest opportunity with the Atlanta Braves. After failing to show to his AAA Richmond game "ready to play", Spiezio was released by the Braves.
- Rule 5 pick Tim Lahey, who was DFA’d by the Phillies, cleared waivers and has been sent back to the Twins for $25K.
- With Evan Longoria now in the majors, the Rays may be forced to trade Jonny Gomes or Eric Hinske (who is off to a hot start) in the next few weeks.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In
Bunch of random topics so let’s just get to it and see what it being said in the Blogosphere…
- Big League Stew talks to Bless You Boys about the idea of Barry Bonds signing with the Tigers. BYB argues against signing Bonds noting that the Tigers already have a bunch of slow players (base cloggers?) and what they really need is some more speed in the lineup…Although we keep hearing about collusion and have not heard any numbers bandied about, Bonds has always made it very clear how much he values the almighty dollar. Does anybody else think that Bonds would already be in uniform if he had come out said he would play 2008 for $3-5MM plus incentives? The baggage is what it is, but teams might find it easier to deal with it at a price Bonds is not likely to accept.
- Rockin’ The Red takes a look at the five Cardinals that are most likely to be traded during the season…Chris Duncan is an interesting name on the list. With all the outfielders that the Cards have, Duncan is a solid bat that is likely to be a Super-2 at the end of the year.
- The Yankees: Minors to Majors looks at the pending free agents for the Yankees and concludes that there is plenty of compensation picks to be had giving the Yankees plenty of flexibility to sign a high-end free agent like C.C. Sabathia…Of course, that is assuming the Yankees would let something like draft pick compensation stand in the way of signing a free agent. Not likely.
- Wrigleyville23 has had enough of the Brian Roberts-to-the-Cubs media reports…Who?
- The Bronx Zoo would love to see Nick Johnson back in a Yankees’ uniform but notes that Dmitri Young may not be a dependable replacement for the Nats.
- Mets Fever notes that eight players have moved among the Brewers, Mets and Nats since this offseason…Let’s just say that the Brewers did not get the best of that "three-way trade".
- One writer at DRays Bay is hoping the Rays and M’s can re-engage talks for Edwin Jackson…The M’s may be interested once again after being two-hit by Jackson yesterday, but maybe the price just went up.
- One name that kept popping up recently as a possible trade piece in the near future was Rich Harden. Well, Harden has once again found himself on the DL and Athletics Nation is not taking it well.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Hosmer, Fossum, Garza
Some random tidbits for today…
- USA Today has an in-depth look at high school first baseman Eric Hosmer, who will likely be advised by Scott Boras. He’s a likely top-ten pick this June unless his asking price causes him to drop. Baseball America looks at another first-round first baseman, Yonder Alonso. Here’s a reminder of which teams pick when.
- The Tigers inked oft-injured pitcher Casey Fossum, who is not likely to help them at the big league level this year.
- Rays Index wonders whether the Rays might seek compensation from the Twins for Matt Garza‘s injury.
Rays To Stay Flexible
Some Rays notes to report on from Marc Lancaster:
- A quote from Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg: "We have room to cut payroll, we have room to grow payroll. We’ll be opportunistic. I know you guys have heard it, but we’re never going to take our eye off of that. If somebody happens to want a high-priced talent of ours and we can get low-priced talent, great. And if they want a low-priced talent and we get high-priced talent that we think is very additive, that’s fine, too."
- According to Lancaster, just because the Rays didn’t pick up Rocco Baldelli‘s option doesn’t mean they’re not committed to the player. Rays Executive VP Andrew Friedman says, "We’ll do anything in our power to keep him in a Rays uniform as long as possible." If Baldelli can recover and get back on track, he could possess the same relative injury risk and upside at a fraction of the cost.
By Nat Boyle
Phils Designate Lahey For Assignment
Earlier today, the Phillies activated closer Brad Lidge from the 15-day DL and, to make room for him on the roster, designated young right-handed reliever Tim Lahey for assignment as foreseen. He’ll now be looking for his fifth job in as many months.
The wandering Lahey has already been part of the Cubs, the Rays, and the Twins. He’s still relatively new to pitching, having been converted by the Twins from catching. He posted a 3.45 ERA in 78 and a third innings at AA New Britain last year, and gave up three runs in three innings at AAA Rochester. Clearly, a bit more seasoning is required for the Princeton alum, but there are plenty of teams with shaky bullpens, and Lahey’s fastball sits in the low-to-mid 90s. "The delivery adds some deception," according to Baseball America, while the Cubs also praised his sinker, buddind slider, and ability to induce grounders. He’s 6’6" and 250 lbs. Due to Rule 5 draft rules, first dibs will go to Minnesota after Lahey clears waivers.
Which organization could use him the most? We all know Detroit’s bullpen is a glaring weakness, but it’s not clear that Lahey could be polished enough to help them this year. However, their farm system is pretty depleted right now, so it’s not too far-fetched. The Indians, Braves, White Sox, and Brewers have also had bullpen meltdowns during this young season, and perhaps one of them would like to have some insurance at the Triple A level.
Sarah Green writes for the Boston Metro and UmpBump.com and can be reached here.
Crawford Wants To Stay
Last week Rays outfielder Carl Crawford made some ambiguous comments. One person might say Crawford was hinting he’d leave the Rays after the 2010 season; another might see no such implication.
Yesterday, Crawford clarified, saying he "couldn’t imagine" playing with a team other than the Rays. He wants to stay, and knows the best is yet to come for the organization. There haven’t been any extension talks, but he’d listen if the Rays came to him.
I admit this isn’t much of a story. Who knows how he and the Rays will feel three seasons from now. Crawford’s a bargain through 2010, but after that his value will be tough to quantify. How do you value top-notch left field defense, tons of speed, and a bat that may only be slightly above average for his position?
Rays Notes: Crawford, Baldelli, Wheeler
Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times has the latest on the Rays’ moves today. The first two were expected.
- Carl Crawford‘s $8.25MM option for ’09 was exercised. The Rays still have a $10MM club option for ’10 that is highly likely to be exercised. After that, it’s anyone’s guess.
- The Rays chose Rocco Baldelli‘s $4MM buyout over his $6MM option. It’s a sad situation but it had to be done.
- Dan Wheeler was signed to an extension. His ’08 contract was replaced; the new three-year deal runs through 2010 and is worth $10.5MM. He would’ve been a free agent after the season; think of it as a two-year, $6.7MM extension. It’s not a bargain for the 30 year-old, whose 5.30 ERA in ’07 was worse than his 3.5 K/BB would indicate. He’ll need to return to his 2005-06 level to be worth the money.
Rangers DFA Tejeda, Cruz
As expected the Rangers DFA’d outfielder Nelson Cruz and pitcher Robinson Tejeda over the weekend. Tejeda is a casualty of the Rangers’ Friday deal for Dustin Nippert, and has been undergoing a thus far unsuccessful transition to the bullpen. He went 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA during the spring, but did manage to run a streak of four scoreless appearances prior to giving up a game-ending RBI triple to Felix Pie last week.
Cruz’s release was expected. There was some light talk of him possibly being moved to Tampa last week, but that evaporated when the Rays acquired former Angels prospect Nathan Haynes. Ironically, according to Lone Star Ball, Haynes was once offered to Texas along with Casey Kotchman in a proposed deal for Mark Teixeira. Sands through the hourglass…
Control problems have always plagued Tejeda (67/60 K/BB in 2007), but he’s got a live fastball that touches the upper 90s and a decent change to compliment it. Plus he owns Orlando Cabrera (1 for 10 lifetime). It seems likely someone might give the 6′ 3" Dominican another shot.
Aaron Shinsano writes for East Windup Chronicle.
Odds And Ends: Quintero, Rios, Pierre
A few random notes from around the MLBiverse…
- Henry Schulman says the Giants are in need of a backup catcher and a logical choice may be Astros backup Humberto Quintero, whom Bruce Bochy is familiar with from his days with the Padres. He also notes that the Rays have two experienced catchers that were just reassigned to the minor leagues in Josh Paul and Mike DiFelice.
- The Jays and Alex Rios are closer today to an agreement on a long-term extension than they were yesterday. That according to Rios’ agent, Paul Kinzer. Yesterday it was reported that the Jays had offered a six-year, $65MM deal. No word yet on what any new offers might look like. Kinzer reasserted that a deal needs to be done by tonight or negotiations will be put off until after the season.
- Bobby Kielty initially accepted his demotion to Pawtucket, but he is now having second-thoughts and will wait a few days to see if any other teams are interested in a switch-hitting outfielder. With all the rumors swirling recently about teams in need of outfield help, I have to believe that Kielty will land a major league gig. PECOTA projects a line of .253/.331/.418 based on 159 plate appearances and Kielty can play all three outfield spots.
- The Dodgers made it official today, giving Andre Ethier the left field job. This puts one more nail in the coffin of one of the worst free agent signings in recent memory. The move means that Juan Pierre will be a reserve, one year after signing a five-year, $44MM deal. The Dodgers will certainly look to trade Pierre, but will have to swallow a good portion of the $36.5MM remaining on the deal.
- A couple of big names have made major league rosters after only earning non-roster spring training invites prior to spring training. The Rockies have given a job to Scott Podsednik, while the Rays did the same with former Rookie-of-the-Year Eric Hinske. In fact, Hinske will start on Opening Day and will be the Rays’ right fielder against right handers to begin the season.
- Phil Sheriden notes that Adam Eaton was named the Phillies’ fifth starter, but that may not last long as Pat Gillick will certainly be looking for a better option. Sheriden feels that Gillick is much better at making moves in-season than during the offseason.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.