Draft Pick Signing Update: Posey, Matusz, Alonso
10:51am: Baggarly has the latest on Posey. He says it’s a "spitting contest" between Scott Boras and Posey’s agency to have the highest-paid draft pick.
7:46am: The latest links involved unsigned first-round draft picks.
- Sam Mellinger explains the decision Eric Hosmer faces. He might have to go against Scott Boras’ advice.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle denies Andrew Baggarly’s Buster Posey report yesterday, calling it "premature Posey-ing." Schulman talked to the Giants’ director of player personnel, who said the deal is not done and the number is not $7.5MM. There is no verbal agreement, either.
- Schulman also heard the Orioles are about to sign Brian Matusz for less than $7.5MM. Most folks believe this will get done as a Major League deal.
- The Pirates are cautiously optimistic about Pedro Alvarez. It’s possible Scott Boras could drag this out to within minutes of the deadline.
- Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein has an update on all unsigned picks. He believes both Yonder Alonso and Justin Smoak will sign. Publicly, Reds GM Walt Jocketty is 50/50 on Alonso.
- MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo gives his take on Matusz, Josh Fields, and Allan Dykstra.
Draft Roundup: Dykstra, Smoak, Alonso
Here’s a collection of links involving unsigned first rounders.
- Kevin Towers expects talks to Allan Dykstra to go down to Friday. The Padres nearly had a deal, buy Dykstra’s physical revealed a hip problem.
- Justin Smoak reportedly wants a big league contract from the Rangers.
- The Reds want to do a minor league deal with Yonder Alonso, which has caused a stalemate. John Fay thinks he wants $7MM. Hal McCoy says the Reds are offering a $2.5MM minor league deal. Fay talked to Alonso, who may join an independent league and move in with Alex Rodriguez if need be.
Odds and Ends: Lowell, Carroll, Saltalamacchia
Time to gather up today’s links.
- With Mike Lowell headed to the DL, Jeff Horrigan wonders if a waiver trade for an infielder could be in order.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney mentioned the Indians’ Jamey Carroll as a possibility for the D’Backs on Monday, though he noted the two teams have not talked.
- Evan Grant suggests the Rangers trade Engel Beltre or Elvis Andrus for pitching this winter. Additionally, he thinks the Rangers might end up trading Jarrod Saltalamacchia rather than Gerald Laird.
- Aaron Gleeman revisits the ’03 trade of Bobby Kielty for Shannon Stewart.
- Patrick Newman runs down some lesser-known Japanese free agents.
- Rany Jazayerli has an interesting post about Royals first base prospect Kila Kaaihue.
- Jeff Passan’s list of this year’s 25 most improbable success stories is a good read.
- MLB.com’s Justice B. Hill has a story about a kid who had Tommy John surgery at age 14.
- ESPN did a bunch of mini-features about this year’s hired guns for their magazine.
Gammons Chat: Lucchino, Lugo, Manny
The Boston Globe has a Peter Gammons chat transcript up on its blog. Let’s take a look at his nuggets of rumor wisdom.
- Gammons heard from someone close to Larry Lucchino that the Red Sox would not let him leave.
- The Red Sox could try to unload Julio Lugo in the offseason, or convince him to accept a super-utility role.
- Gammons says neither Hank Steinbrenner nor Brian Cashman have any interest in Manny Ramirez as a winter signing. He expects the Yankees to chase C.C. Sabathia.
- Manny apparently wants four years and $100MM, but Gammons expects something more in the three years, low $40MM range.
- The Red Sox have been looking for a young catcher, and Gammons guesses that Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Mike Napoli could be targets. Evan Grant suggested today that the Rangers may prefer to deal Salty and keep Gerald Laird.
Gammons’ Latest: Sheffield, Pujols
ESPN’s Peter Gammons has a new blog post up.
- The Tigers called the Rays, shopping perpetually unhappy DH Gary Sheffield. The Rays’ baseball people were not interested.
- Albert Pujols‘ elbow is barking a bit, but he expects to finish the season. I wonder what a healthy Albert could do.
- Gammons notes a failed waiver trade back in ’03. The Cubs acquired Rafael Palmeiro, but Raffy nixed the deal when they wouldn’t add a year to his contract.
Heyman’s Latest: Lucchino, Manny, Rangers
I wanted to let the Dunn trade cool off a bit before diving into Jon Heyman’s latest.
- Heyman "people in high places in baseball" who believe Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino might leave after the season, possibly for the Dodgers. He’s still butting heads with Theo Epstein apparently.
- Heyman doesn’t buy the idea that Scott Boras orchestrated Manny Ramirez‘s departure from Boston. He also doesn’t buy the idea of Ramirez playing in New York.
- Nolan Ryan would like Tom Hicks to sell the Rangers to him, but Hicks has shown no willingness to do so.
- Players such as George Sherrill, Brian Fuentes, and Raul Ibanez are not expected to clear waivers. No surprise there.
Odds and Ends: Kielty, Ellis, Bonds, Poreda
Time to for today’s link collection.
- The Twins signed Bobby Kielty to a minor league deal. The former Twin was released by the Red Sox in July. When he’s going good, he can hit lefties pretty well.
- Peter Magowan is glad the Giants didn’t successfully pull off an attempted trade for Manny Ramirez before the ’07 season. However, as Henry Schulman notes, that might’ve prevented the Barry Zito contract.
- The Reds haven’t talked to the agents for any of their potential free agents, and no decision has been made on Adam Dunn.
- Susan Slusser wonders if the D’Backs will try to acquire second baseman Mark Ellis in the wake of Orlando Hudson‘s season-ending injury, though manager Bob Melvin does not expect an acquisition.
- It’s a moot point since they’re not interested, but Astros manager Cecil Cooper would quit if the team signed Barry Bonds.
- Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune notes that the Rockies asked for ’07 first-rounder Aaron Poreda for Brian Fuentes. Instead, Rogers believes he could get a big-league look.
- Ken Davidoff talks to agent Joe Bick about how Brian Giles went about choosing the teams on his no-trade list.
- The Rangers made their first Korean amateur signing, inking a high school righty named Tae-kyeong Ahn. They also signed Dominican outfielder Esdras Abreu, among others.
Odds and Ends: McLouth, Doumit, Eyre, Bradley
Here’s today’s link roundup.
- Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus rates the best remaining fits for Barry Bonds. The Angels come out on top.
- The Mets seem pessimistic about Ryan Church returning this season.
- MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has the latest buzz on the unsigned draft picks.
- The Astros dug up a pitcher in the independent leagues who is said to touch 100 mph. He’s a 21 year-old righty named Jack Tilghman.
- The Pirates plan to offer long-term contracts to Nate McLouth and Ryan Doumit.
- Sean McAdam says the Red Sox still have some interest in Scott Eyre.
- Dave Cameron can’t figure out what kind of contract Milton Bradley will get. Did you realize Bradley leads the American League in both OBP and SLG?
- Patrick Newman ranks Hitoki Iwase, Kenshin Kawakami, and Koji Uehara as MLB prospects.
At Least 15 Teams Watched Freddy Garcia
9:13pm: Additional teams confirmed in attendance: the Red Sox, Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Marlins, and White Sox. Garcia’s agent says he’d like to sign by this weekend, and plans to sign only for ’08. Troy Renck says the Rockies are a long shot now that they’ve added Livan Hernandez.
WEDNESDAY, 9:28am: Surprisingly, the Phillies were in attendance at Garcia’s audition yesterday. David Murphy finds the idea intriguing, but says the Phils don’t have major interest. The Phillies traded Gavin Floyd to the White Sox for Garcia in December of ’06, but he only gave them 11 starts while earning $10MM.
Also confirmed at the audition: the Tigers, Yankees, Mets, Rays, Rockies, Astros, and Rangers. MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez thinks the Rangers might be the most interested party.
TUESDAY: Today’s the big day…free agent Freddy Garcia will audition for teams in Miami. He’s recovering from labrum surgery.
We’ve compiled reports over the past few months. Teams interested in Garcia at one point: the Mets, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, White Sox, Rangers, Tigers, Rays, Astros, Cubs, Cardinals, Dodgers, Twins, Indians, Mariners, and Royals. That’s 16 of 30 teams, though the non-contenders may have dropped out.
Garcia’s friend and former manager Ozzie Guillen doubted the pitcher’s ability to contribute at the big league level this year. Garcia was upset by the comments.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Price, John Hart, Ibanez
A look at Ken Rosenthal’s latest column…
- Rosenthal notes that the Rays have an ace in the hole with David Price available to boost their pitching staff when they deem him ready. I imagine the Rays won’t end up signing Freddy Garcia. The reports on Garcia are lukewarm, by the way.
- Teams are beginning to value free agent compensation draft picks more than ever. As a result, we’re seeing fewer salary dump trades. Rosenthal notes that it is possible for a team to receive a supplemental pick even without offering arbitration. That is true, but only if the free agent signs elsewhere before December 1st.
- John Hart might want to get back into the general managing game.
- The Rangers discussed acquiring Raul Ibanez, it seems.