Francisco Cordero Drama
There’s been a little drama unfolding the last few days regarding closer Francisco Cordero‘s defection from Milwaukee to Cincinnati for a difference of $4MM.
According to Brewers GM Doug Melvin, the Crew stretched beyond their comfort zone to offer him four years and $42MM. Melvin set a deadline for Cordero and his agent Bean Stringfellow on his offer, as he didn’t want to be played. Stringfellow figured the Brewers were at their limit and never came back to Melvin to see if he’d match the Reds’ $46MM offer.
Cordero himself has a different account; he says Stringfellow did come back to the Brewers to see if they’d match. Melvin might’ve thought Stringfellow was bluffing about it. Cordero added that the Brewers passed on a chance to sign him at a discount (both in years and money) during Spring Training of ’07.
But wait, there’s more! Melvin doesn’t agree with anything Cordero said! Melvin says he did make a spring offer in the range of three years, $30MM. Cordero wasn’t interested. Furthermore, Melvin says Stringfellow suggested that the Reds’ offer was "significantly greater," and that’s why he didn’t try to get ownership to stretch a little beyond $42MM. Two sides to the story; it seems unlikely that Melvin and Stringfellow will be working together anytime soon.
Odds and Ends: Harden, Bonds, Ramon Hernandez
Time to round up today’s linkage.
- Susan Slusser believes Rich Harden and Joe Blanton will both be traded this season. She sees the Yankees and Mets as suitors for Harden, though he’s already having a start pushed back.
- Jim Caple recently made his case for the Mariners to sign Barry Bonds; his logic is sound.
- Our Brian Bannister Q&A got a mention in the KC Star. Nice!
- RotoAuthority has the fantasy take on K-Rod’s ailing ankles.
- Pure speculation, but Ken Rosenthal thinks Ramon Hernandez would be a good fit for the Reds. Not sure if the Reds were looking at Michael Barrett, but that option’s off the table now.
- Who said you can’t go home again? Craig Wilson is back with the Bucs.
- We’ll be doing our third MLBTR chat here at 2pm CST; don’t miss it!
D’Backs Acquire Jon Coutlangus
The Diamondbacks and Reds made a deal yesterday. The D’Backs received 27 year-old southpaw Jon Coutlangus in exchange for 23 year-old outfielder Daniel Perales.
Coutlangus has control issues, but the Reds used him for 41 innings last year. Lefties batted .231/.388/.277 off him. Baseball America liked Coutlangus in ’07, suggesting that the converted outfielder’s deception and cutter might be enough for him to shake off the lefty specialist tag. The D’Backs were lacking in left-handed relievers; the Reds had designated Coutlangus for assignment on Opening Day. They had more than enough lefties.
Perales isn’t much of a prospect, though FutureBacks.com draws a Reed Johnson comparison and had him in Arizona’s top 50 back in December.
Boras Demands For Alvarez, Hosmer Leaked?
Kiley McDaniel reports rumors of Scott Boras’ asking price for ’08 draftees Pedro Alvarez and Eric Hosmer. He’s hearing a $9.5MM big league deal for Alvarez and a $7MM bonus for Hosmer – steep demands.
Hosmer, a high school first baseman, has been compared to Casey Kotchman by Baseball America. He’s a top ten pick. Alvarez, one of the top talents in the draft, plays third base for Vanderbilt but may end up at first. He figures to go within the first four picks (Rays, Pirates, Royals, Orioles) for sure.
By the way, the Reds have the seventh pick, and BA’s Jim Callis thinks they’ll go for a pitcher. He names Shooter Hunt, Tanner Scheppers, and Tim Melville as the main candidates.
Odds and Ends: Signing Johnny Cueto
Cincinnati’s top three prospects garnered so much attention this spring that Johnny Cueto‘s dominant debut on Thursday caught even some well-informed baseball watchers by surprise. The 22-year old Dominican, who began last year in Single A, seemed to explode upon the major leagues as Athena did from the head of Zeus: fully formed, and from a very unexpected place.
If you’re a GM, just how do you get your mitts on a talent like Cueto’s? Courtesy of Reds Insider, we have a peek at the story of the scouting and signing of the Reds rookie (is it still too soon to call him a "phenom"?). Cincinnati’s then-director of international operations, Johnny Almaraz, squeezed in an early-morning look at Cueto before his flight out of the Dominican Republic. Liking what he saw, he signed the 18-year old righty for $3.5K. (For contrast, the following year the Mets signed 16-year old Fernando Martinez for $1.4MM. That’s quite a differential.)
The full story, by John Fay, will appear in tomorrow’s Cincinnati Enquirer.
Sarah Green writes for the Boston Metro and UmpBump.com. She can be reached here.
Rosenthal’s Latest: DeWitt, Murton, Vargas, Hatteberg, Pena, Baek, Piazza
Ken Rosenthal has his latest column up at FoxSports.com. As usual he is not shy about stirring up rumors. Let’s take a look at what the rumor-guru has to say:
- Rosenthal notes that the Dodgers will go with Blake DeWitt at third base who has never played a game above AA. This comes after the Dodgers failed to acquire either the Astros’ Mark Loretta, who was unavailable and the Royals’ Esteban German, who was too expensive. The Royals were asking for the Dodgers’ third best prospect, shortstop Chin-Lung Hu.
- He indicates that the Padres and the Rays are pursuing Matt Murton but the Cubs are holding out for a top pitching prospect in return, knowing Murton will be a starter on another club. Rosenthal quotes one GM as saying that the price "is way too high as of now". As many as five teams have shown interest in Murton.
- The Mets are among a dozen teams that have inquired about Brewers pitcher Claudio Vargas, who will not be in the rotation to begin the season. [Update: Sorry about this one. I had forgotten that the Brewers released Vargas earlier this week]
- The Reds have put Ryan Freel on the market, but more teams appear to be interested in Scott Hatteberg. However, Rosenthal indicates that it is unlikely for the Red to trade Hatteberg even if Joey Votto is named the starter.
- The Tigers, Reds and Orioles all tried to acquire backup catcher Brayan Pena from the Braves, but the Braves do not appear interested in letting him go
- Rosenthal says that Pat Gillick’s history in Seattle may have played a part in the Phillies inability to land M’s reliever Cha Seung Baek, who is out of options but made the roster as a reliever.
- Finally, Rosenthal notes that Mike Piazza is still working out with hopes of landing a gig at some point in ’08. Rosenthal thinks that Piazza may have to come to the realization soon that his career may be over.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Odds And Ends: Lahey, Gibbons, Freel
A couple minor notes this morning…
- The Phillies claimed reliever Tim Lahey off of waivers from the Cubs. Lahey was the top pick in the Rule 5 draft from the Twins’ system. The Cubs had to expose Lahey to waivers prior to offering him back to the Twinkies. Rule 5 rules still apply with the Phillies, so Lahey must remain on their 25-man roster all season or be offered back to Minnesota.
- John Fay notes that after the Reds latest round of cuts the roster sits at 26 which could open the door for a trade. He doesn’t offer any potential names, but Ryan Freel still seems like the most logical choice. By the way, LEN3 notes that the Reds called the Twins about Freel and the Twins weren’t interested.
- Peter Schmuck thinks that the Orioles might be reluctant to cut Jay Gibbons while Major League Baseball continues to renegotiate the league’s drug policy. Gibbons is facing a 15-day suspension for use of PEDs but many believe the suspension will be lifted under the new agreement which ironically is supposed to stiffen penalties. Schmuck feels that if Angelos decides to keep Gibbons, it could undermine Andy MacPhail’s efforts to rebuild the Orioles.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Reds DFA Mike Stanton
Can’t say that I exactly understand this one, but the Reds have informed Mike Stanton that his services are no longer required. It’s not that Stanton is too good to let go — far from it, actually. Rather, the move is puzzling because of the team’s recent decision to option lefty reliever (and former first-rounder) Bill Bray to the minors last night. Jeremy Affeldt stands as the team’s lone lefty reliever.
Stanton was pretty bad for the Reds last year, posting a 5.93 ERA over 57.2 innings. His splits against lefties weren’t that encouraging, either: .306/.333/.429. The Reds will eat the $3 million he’s owed this year, plus the $500K buyout of his 2009 option.
UPDATE: Apparently, I’ve passed over Kent Merker, who is not on the Reds 40-man roster. However, with the jettison of Stanton, a spot now appears free.
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski. Keep the rumors coming.
Reds Shopping Freel?
John Fay, writing on his Reds Insider blog, notes that the reason for the lack of cuts in Reds camp is that they might be looking to move Ryan Freel. He didn’t elaborate much, other than to say he heard talks of Philadelphia, Minnesota, "and others."
Freel is pretty versatile, having handled all three outfield positions, as well as second and third base. The Twins could use his bat in the lineup. But where would he play? Second? Displace recently-acquired Carlos Gomez in center field temporarily? Or just a utility role?
The same situation appears to be in place in Philly. They just signed Pedro Feliz to play third, and have a full infield beyond that. In the outfield, they signed Geoff Jenkins over the off-season to go with Shane Victorino and Pat Burrell. So it appears he’d be headed for a utility role there, too.
The question, then, becomes: What will the Reds do about their outfield? Do they really plan to start Norris Hopper in center? Or does this signal that Jay Bruce could be back soon? Lots of questions to be asked surrounding this rumor.
(Of course, less than three hours after Fay noted the lack of cuts, the Reds re-assigned Andy Phillips, optioned Bill Bray, and returned Jose Capellan to the Red Sox.)
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski
Phils Talking To Giants, Reds About Helms?
THURSDAY: Jim Salisbury says the Helms for Kline idea has fallen through, and Hal McCoy nixes the Helms for Stanton possibility.
WEDNESDAY: The Phillies would like to conclude their offseason by swapping third baseman Wes Helms and the $2.9MM owed to him for a lefty reliever. According to Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News, the Phils are talking to the Giants and Reds about Helms. Steve Kline ($1.75MM) or Mike Stanton ($3.5MM) are the targets. The Reds may deem Stanton too pricey to cut.
The Giants recently picked up Jose Castillo, but they also lost Kevin Frandsen. Moving Kline would make sense, because then they could fit both Merkin Valdez and Erick Threets. The Reds have Jolbert Cabrera and Andy Phillips battling for a bench spot, and don’t seem to have a place for Helms.