Indians Pick Up Options On Byrd, Borowski, Fultz
Mark Shapiro and the Indians had three option decisions to make, and today the team exercised all of them. All of these were pretty much expected to be exercised.
- Closer Joe Borowski gets $4MM rather than a $250K buyout.
- Starter Paul Byrd gets $8MM instead of a $250K buyout.
- Southpaw reliever Aaron Fultz gets $1.5MM instead of a $0.15MM buyout.
So, $13.5MM for the trio of pitchers. Seems reasonable. Of course there’s the HGH stigma with Byrd. But as a baseball decision, it’s fair to expect him to pitch like a back-rotation guy worthy of a one-year, $7.75MM deal.
Cafardo’s Latest: Drew, Pettitte, Lincecum
The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo works his way through all the teams in anticipation of Monday’s GM meetings. Here are some of the rumors we haven’t seen much before.
- The Rays want a defensive-minded shortstop and veteran starter. Maybe they’ll make a play for Cesar Izturis or Omar Vizquel. A rehab guy like Freddy Garcia or Randy Wolf could be interesting.
- The Indians are looking for a power bat for left field. Haven’t seen them mentioned with Barry Bonds at all, could that work?
- Cafardo proposes the idea of the Cubs acquiring J.D. Drew as their OBP-minded right field acquisition. Drew has a limited no-trade clause allowing him to block two unknown teams. I imagine the Red Sox would have to eat some salary.
- Cafardo also speculates that Andy Pettitte could follow Joe Torre to L.A. Pettitte has previously talked about a Yankees or retirement stance.
- The idea of the Giants trading Tim Lincecum seemed crazy at first, right? Cafardo says they may be willing to do so for a "stud outfielder." How about Delmon Young?
- Scott Boras is already busting out mystery teams with A-Rod, who apparently would love to play for the Red Sox.
Rosenthal’s Latest: A-Rod, Glaus, Cordero
Ken Rosenthal’s work is a must for any rumor junkie. Here are some highlights from his latest column.
- Rosenthal gives his take on possible A-Rod destinations, discussing the Mets, Tigers, and Dodgers in depth. He tosses out an idea I hadn’t seen before – moving David Wright to left field and declining Moises Alou‘s option. MetsBlog discusses Scott Boras’ sales pitch to the Mets.
- The Cards want to hire Chris Antonetti, but the Indians don’t want to let him go. Rosenthal says they may have to pay him GM money and/or promise him the post in the future.
- Rosenthal has a new I hadn’t mentioned for the Yankees’ third base vacancy, though I believe several commenters did. That name is Troy Glaus, about whom the Yanks inquired last summer. There are complications aplenty with Glaus: foot problems, $12.75MM owed to him in ’08 and an $11.25MM player option for ’09, a full no-trade clause, and a steroid connection. Sounds like Jason Giambi Part II.
- Francisco Cordero would be priced out of the Brewers’ range if he demands a four or five year deal worth $9-11MM annually. I assume he will, though the Brewers could afford it.
Schilling Names Targets
UPDATE, 10-31-07: Gordon Edes and Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe spoke to a Red Sox source who does not expect Schilling to return to the team. The Red Sox will offer an incentive-based contract. The source added that Tim Wakefield‘s option is likely to be exercised.
FROM 10/30/07:
Interesting. After Boston, Curt Schilling has 12 teams he’d consider pitching for in 2008. Here they are:
Indians
Tigers
Angels
Mets
Phillies
Braves
Dodgers
Padres
Diamondbacks
Cubs
Cardinals
Brewers
Schilling had talked about the idea of going somewhere he could tutor young pitchers, like Tampa Bay. But it sounds like that idea is out and he wants to play for a contender. Not that the Rays can’t contend in ’08. I’m curious as to why the White Sox and Rockies were excluded, but who knows.
That’s a nice extensive list, so it should be fun if Boston passes. At a reasonable one-year commitment, any of the dozen should have interest no matter what their rotation looks like.
Odds and Ends: Abreu, Beckett, Helton, Schilling
Friday afternoon rumor tidbits…
- The Indians will probably let Kenny Lofton leave while exercising Joe Borowski’s $4MM option. No big surprise there.
- Nor is it a surprise that the Yankees are heavily leaning towards exercising Bobby Abreu‘s $16MM option.
- From the what might’ve been department: Red Sox owner John Henry was in favor of signing A.J. Burnett instead of trading for Josh Beckett. One could make a solid argument that the Red Sox would be better off if Henry had gotten his wish. Beckett and Julio Lugo combined for 8.6 wins at $14MM this year while Burnett and Hanley Ramirez combined for 14.8 wins at $12.4MM (according to WARP).
- From that same department – Tom Gage notes that the Tigers once nearly acquired Todd Helton for Tony Clark. There were many Clark rumors from 1999-2001 before the Red Sox claimed him off waivers. I heard Buck and McCarver talking recently about how Helton is not a product of his home park. For the record Helton has hit .368/.474/.668 at home in his career and .304/.409/.515 on the road. He probably belongs in the Hall but it would be a lot tighter if his career OPS was .924 instead of 1.014.
- Nick Cafardo makes his case for the Red Sox to re-sign Curt Schilling.
- A scouting look at Hiroki Kuroda, plus other Japanese pitchers who may come over (hat tip to MetsBlog). Jason Churchill estimates a three-year deal for Kuroda at $9-11MM per.
- How would you like to face a 125 mph fastball?
Odds and Ends
How about some Odds and Ends to kick off Hump Day?
- Peter Abraham doesn’t think it would make sense for the Twins to acquire Chien-Ming Wang (presumably in a Johan Santana trade). His reasoning: Wang’s sinker would suffer on turf, and his salary is due to climb via arbitration.
- The Indians have decisions due on Kenny Lofton, Trot Nixon, Paul Byrd, Joe Borowski, and Aaron Fultz. The first two will probably be gone.
- My projection for Jeremy Guthrie in 2008 is up over at RotoAuthority.
- Say Anything’s new album came out yesterday. Highly recommended.
- We sold our condo! Literally in less than one week after hiring a real estate agent, we had a contract. Maybe they’re not so bad after all.
Indians Still Keen On Byrd’s Option?
A week ago, Paul Byrd‘s $8MM option for 2008 seemed like a no-brainer for the Tribe. He kept his ERA under 5.00, made 31 starts, and won 15 games. $8MM on a low-risk one-year deal would’ve been an easy decision even for the cost-conscious Indians.
But now we’ve got a little HGH controversy on our hands. Ken Rosenthal discusses the situation over at FOX Sports. Rosenthal is correct in that Byrd never acted like someone who had something to hide. He didn’t disguise his purchase of HGH in any way (though MLB didn’t agree with his contention that they’d been informed). Byrd even brings up HGH in his upcoming book, mentioning that he resisted the urge to take more than the prescribed dosage. On the other hand, even at the recommended dosage Byrd was "able to recover quicker from pitching." At what point do we call this cheating? Is Byrd getting generous treatment because he’s a devout white guy?
As Mark Shapiro says, he doesn’t have all the information yet. Nor does the public, of course. Honestly if the HGH situation somehow causes the Indians to decline the option, Byrd stands to make more money on the open market.
Keith Foulke To Return
Last winter, Keith Foulke signed with the Tribe for one year and $5MM. It was supposed to be a battle of the questionable closers with Joe Borowski. Instead, Foulke "retired" with an elbow issue while JoBo went on to post what was easily the worst 40 save season in baseball history. Antonio Alfonseca‘s 2000 is a distant second (he had a 4.24 ERA).
Foulke had a simple elbow procedure in September, and will start throwing in November. He’s coming back for the 2008 season, with the Red Sox first on his list. The Indians and D’Backs may also get special consideration. We first heard about Foulke’s comeback plans back in May. In my opinion, the changeup artist would be best served in the NL. He hasn’t seen the league except for a brief stint as a starter for the Giants ten years ago.
Fortunately here at MLBTR we have a fairly comprehensive archive of last winter’s hot stove dealings. The D’Backs and perhaps four other clubs were in on him. D-Rays Bay says Tampa Bay was one of them.
DiamondView
Just heard of the Indians’ proprietary DiamondView system (hat tip to Will Carroll). The article is from 2003 but it’s really cool to read about the team’s huge confidential database. There’s quite a bit of info concerning the Jim Thome situation, where the Indians would’ve loved to keep him but going to six years just couldn’t work. Four years later, it’s clear they made the right decision.
Renck’s Latest Rockie Rumors
Rockies beat reporter Troy E. Renck had the scoop on all kinds of Rockie rumors yesterday; I’m just now getting to it. Let’s look at some highlights from his column.
- Renck suggests the Rox take a look at Bob Wickman. Meanwhile, the Phillies actually inquired but aren’t expected to work out a deal. The Indians will take a pass.
- Renck mentions that the Rockies have "long coveted" catcher Paul Lo Duca. Lo Duca should be there for the signing this winter.
- The Rockies will have around $45MM tied up in Todd Helton, Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins, Brad Hawpe, Brian Fuentes, and Aaron Cook for 2008. Even if the team raises its $55MM payroll, someone has to go. By the way, locking up Holliday long-term will cost a king’s ransom. He’s a Scott Boras client.
- Given the burden of Todd Helton‘s contract and his no-trade clause, he may be immovable. But a .400 OBP is still valuable any way you slice it, so perhaps the Red Sox or Angels will get re-engaged. Renck believes Atkins and Fuentes are the main trading chips to clear payroll though. The Angels and Twins could still use Atkins while the Phils, Red Sox, and Yankees have inquired on Fuentes in the past. Atkins for a Kevin Slowey or Scott Baker just makes too much sense.