Gleeman: Crede In Play
Aaron Gleeman reports from Orlando that White Sox third baseman Joe Crede "continues to be in play, regardless of whether the Angels remain the destination."
As a Scott Boras client with two years left of service time, now might be the time to cash in for Kenny Williams. The feeling seems to be that Josh Fields is ready to step in at third base after posting an .894 OPS at Triple A as a 23 year-old. Of course, no one knows what kind of overall dropoff the Sox would experience in making that substitution.
Williams, of course, holds other important cards in his starting rotation. It makes sense to deal a pitcher separately rather than package one with Crede.
White Sox Retain Podsednik
The White Sox decided to hang onto Scott Podsednik for the time being, re-signing him for one year and $2.9MM. I think it’s the right choice even with his lackluster 2006. In an environment where Juan Pierre is worth 5/44, Pods should have some trade value for his age 31 season on a cheap one-year deal.
Perhaps the Braves or Nats would have interest at the right price. And, of course, the White Sox could just keep him for one more season. Their offense isn’t hurting for a big bat, and using Podsednik as a fourth outfielder wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Pitchers on the move
Jason Schmidt has been offered $45 million over three years to join the Cubs. If that offer has been leaked already, $60M/4 seems within the realm of possibility. Strangely, Schmidt has already said he’s not interested in the East Coast–you’d think he’d wait until Cashman made an offer and drove up his price before saying no. Once Schmidt signs, it’ll be fun to watch Scott Boras conduct the sure-to-be-insane bidding for Barry Zito.
Some team (to be announced tonight) won the bidding for Kei Igawa for $25 million. Hanshin has accepted. That’s the second largest posting fee ever–somebody must think Igawa is pretty good, definitely on the high side of the typical #3/#4 projection he’s gotten. I’m guessing it’s not the Cubs, or we wouldn’t be hearing so much about the other pitchers they’re after. That leaves plenty of other possibilities, though.
The Baltimore Orioles are continuing their quest to build the most expensive bullpen of all time: Chad Bradford is close to a three-year deal with them. Anybody think it’s a little odd that the O’s traded Chris Britton for a reclamation project and are now probably spending about $8M a year for Bradford and Danys Baez? (Odd? Yes. In character? Absolutely.)
And, this just in: the O’s are also adding Scott Williamson. He’s cheap–only $900K for the year. Oddly enough, he could be the best of their new additions. I’m a little surprised nobody else was willing to go higher for him on a one-year deal.
Many of you have emailed me about a possible Angels-White Sox trade involving Ervin Santana and Chone Figgins for Freddy Garcia and Joe Crede. As Rotoworld points out, this could be a recycled rumor; regardless, Kenny Williams says no. And there’s no way Bill Stoneman deals Santana for Garcia without getting a lot more in return. Five years of a good pitcher under the team’s control for one year of Garcia? Right.
By Jeff Sackmann
Roberts to the Giants, and more
It looks like Dave Roberts is going to be a Giant. This will save San Francisco fans from self-immolation over their front office’s apparent inability to make stupid deals, and ensure that the Giants theme of "oldsters in the outfield" remains intact even with Steve Finley and possibly Barry Bonds on their way out.
In other news: Woody Williams got a two-year deal with the Astros for $12.5M. That seems remarkably sane, though I wouldn’t plan on drafting Woody for your fantasy team. He had an okay year in Petco, but he’s moving to one of the unfriendliest parks in baseball for pitching. If the short porch in left is going to do wonders for Carlos Lee, it’s going to hurt Williams nearly as much.
Phil Rogers offers a plethora of random thoughts: the Cubs want to move Jacque Jones; Jones or Geoff Jenkins would be an improvement for the White Sox (so he says); and the Sox could send Scott Podsednik and Juan Uribe to San Fran for Omar Vizquel (much less likely after the Roberts signing, I’d imagine). Emphasis on "could": he’s obviously just making stuff up.
Speaking of making stuff up: now that most of the center fielders out there have found homes, it’s time for the second basemen to start falling into place. There’s been more news lately of Adam Kennedy, who is likely to land in St. Louis, or possibly Toronto. The market for Kennedy, Ronnie Belliard, and others may depend on whether Julio Lugo and/or Ray Durham end up as outfielders, which would shrink the market for those teams who need second basemen.
By Jeff Sackmann
Assorted updates: Alou, Hudson, Garland, Okajima
Earlier today, we found a report that Moises Alou was about to sign with the Mets. Now Rosenthal is saying that it could be a two-year deal. With Carlos Gomez right behind Lastings Milledge, putting two established vets in the outfield through 2008 would seem to make Milledge expendable.
Yesterday, Phil Rogers speculated that Mark Buehrle could be headed to Texas. Rosenthal says it’s Jon Garland, and hints (as Rogers did) that John Danks and Brian Anderson could be part of the package, especially if the deal gets bigger.
And, Buster Olney is reporting chatter about Tim Hudson heading to the Orioles. If, as Olney speculates, the return could include Adam Loewen or Hayden Penn, it would seem to be ideal for Atlanta: free up payroll for Tom Glavine, and get another (cheap) potentially decent starter in the deal as well.
And here’s something out of nowhere: Hideki Okajima, a lefty reliever, may be coming to the states. Okajima, a longtime Yomiuri Giant and recently a Nippon Ham Fighter, had a great 2006 but a mediocre ’05. Sounds like your typical middle-bullpen fodder.
By Jeff Sackmann
What Kenny Williams isn’t doing
The White Sox rumors have been fast and furious the last few days: here come the denials. Kenny Williams isn’t:
- talking about dealing Freddy Garcia for Ervin Santana
- negotiating with Alex Gonzalez‘s agent
- likely to sign Dave Roberts
In other words, Phil Rogers needs to make up some new stuff.
By Jeff Sackmann
Kenny Williams, Dealmaker
Either Ken Williams is keeping busy at the GM meetings, or the reporters covering the Sox have very fertile imaginations. I’m sure the truth is somewhere in between. In addition to the Andruw Jones deal I mentioned in the previous post, here’s a roundup of possible White Sox moves:
Chris De Luca reports on a possible Freddy Garcia / Ervin Santana swap. Oddly enough, his sources say that the "package" would be built around Santana. Garcia might be a better pitcher right now, but just barely: last year, Garcia was worth 15 win shares, while Santana was worth 13. Santana’s younger, and is under the Angels control for four more years. Bill Stoneman couldn’t covet Garcia that much, could he? South Side Sox chimes in on the improbability of that deal.
De Luca also repeats the thinking that Williams could bring Aaron Rowand back, especially if the Phillies land Alfonso Soriano.
Phil Rogers has a flurry of rumors, some of the recycled variety. He keeps stoking the flames of Javier Vazquez-to-the-Mets, and suggests there’s the makings of a "monster deal" between the Sox and Rangers with Vazquez or Mark Buerhle headed to Texas. Rogers is clearly speculating, but if his source is correct that John Danks is in play, there’s certainly the possibility of something getting done.
By Jeff Sackmann
Braves Rumors
Talking Chop has a nice roundup of trade talks that the Braves could be exploring.
First, the White Sox are interested in Andruw Jones. That seems like a longshot because Andruw has a no-trade and the White Sox hate Scott Boras, but who knows, maybe an extension would get that done. Trading for Jones would make Brian Anderson expendable, and Anderson seems to me like Bobby Cox’s kind of player–young, great defense, could improve at the plate. Maybe Anderson and one of Chicago’s starters would get that deal done.
Second, the Rangers could be looking at Braves pitching. The Rangers could have all sorts of holes depending on how many of their free agents they are able to keep, especially in the rotation. They don’t match up nearly so well with the Braves–this article suggests the Braves would be looking for bullpen help in a deal like that, but after trading away Francisco Cordero last season, the Rangers wouldn’t appear to have the depth to survive losing Akinori Otsuka.
In related news, Vicente Padilla‘s agent doesn’t expect him to sign immediately, but notes that the Rangers are the most interested. I’m not surprised–if both Padilla and Adam Eaton went elsewhere, Jon Daniels would be forced to do a lot of shopping in a very, very expensive store.
By Jeff Sackmann
3/15 Offered To Alex Gonzalez
Free agent shortstop and defensive whiz Alex Gonzalez has received a three year, $15MM offer from an unknown club.
Nick Cafardo’s sources indicate that the teams may be the White Sox or Reds. Though not mentioned in the post, another possibility could include the Royals.
Chicago Crosstown Deal
First the first time since the infamous Garland/Karchner deal, the Chicago teams got together on a trade. The Cubs sent relievers David Aardsma and Carlos Vasquez to the White Sox for Neal Cotts.
Cotts, 27 next season, has had one good season out of three. In 2005 he upped his groundball percentage a bit and displayed fantastic hit and home run prevention.
Here is a downright frightening picture of Aardsma.