Odds & Ends: Smoltz, Cubs, Melky, Lima
Links for Monday…
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes about the Giants' lack of interest in Adam Melhuse and considers other players who could help.
- Alex Speier of WEEI looks back at the Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz trade of 1987. According to former Tigers GM Bill Lajoie, the Braves would have taken Steve Searcy instead of Smoltz.
- Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald says the Cubs "appear to be getting some trade feelers" on out of options relievers Chad Gaudin and Angel Guzman. Moving one could create space for Rule 5 pick David Patton.
- Tyler Hissey of Around The Majors looks back at the Delmon Young/Matt Garza swap. What did MLBTR commenters think when the deal went down on November 28th, 2007? Click here to find out. Garza will face the Twins for the first time today.
- Eddie Bajek of Detroit Tigers Thoughts says the Tigers are apparently trying to recreate the bullpen of the 2007 Rays.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post believes Melky Cabrera would be best served as an NL bench player.
- T.J. Simers of the L.A. Times discusses the Dodgers' $47MM bust, Jason Schmidt.
- Aaron Shinsano of East Windup Chronicle has more Korean prospect news: the Royals signed catcher Shin Jin-ho, while the Mariners signed catcher Choi Ji-man.
- Jose Lima is back playing baseball in the U.S., according to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times.
- Will Sommer of Mets Fans Forever talked to GM Omar Minaya.
- Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post looks at the Marlins' decision to non-tender reliever Joe Nelson. It would've made a lot of sense to bring him back.
Tigers, Mets Deal Fell Through
According to Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers have had serious talks recently with the Mets about reliever Brian Stokes; however, any deal fell apart when Stokes became likely to make their roster.
Morosi mentions Tigers infielder/outfielder Ryan Raburn would've been a part of the deal.
With Joel Zumaya heading to the disabled list to start the season, the Tigers are looking for relief help with just over one week to go until the start of the season, says Morosi. Along with Rayburn, the Tigers have put outfielder Marcus Thames on the trading block
Odds & Ends: Wieters, Padres, Peavy, Price
LInks for Thursday…
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post says the Nationals will honor a handshake agreement Dmitri Young made with Jim Bowden, and put the first baseman back on the 40-man roster.
- Catcher Matt Wieters has been told by the Orioles that he'll be optioned to Triple A on Monday, according to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun. Will the Orioles wait until late May to try to avoid Super Two status?
- Reds assistant GM Bob Miller talked to fans in an MLB.com Q&A.
- Check out an entertaining chat transcript with Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times over at Halos Heaven.
- Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star interviewed Zack Greinke.
- Rangers owner Tom Hicks told Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News that the team has not reduced its budget for 2010. The Rangers have yet to set next year's budget, but it's known that some big salaries will be coming off the books. Meanwhile, MLB.com's Barry Bloom notes that Hicks intends to sell a minority share of the team.
- Rays exec Andrew Friedman said the team's demotion of David Price was entirely for baseball reasons, talking to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. R.J. Anderson of DRays Bay supports the decision. Bart Given agrees.
- Tom Haudricourt and Adam McCalvy write about Brewers GM Doug Melvin's irritation with the bogus Jake Peavy rumor.
- Purely speculative, but Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wonders if Dontrelle Willis could get his career back on track with the Marlins.
- Rockies infielder Jeff Baker, unaffected by the trade rumors, homered twice yesterday.
- John Moores says the Padres sale to Jeff Moorad is "awfully close," talking to MLB.com's Barry Bloom. As you know, Sandy Alderson will step down as CEO when the deal closes (possibly today).
- Padres pitcher Shawn Hill had offers from six teams, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock.
- The Red Sox signed reliever Rocky Cherry to a minor league deal.
- MLB.com's Alyson Footer says reliever Danny Graves asked for and received his release from the Astros.
Odds & Ends: Beckham, Taschner, Red Sox
Links for Wednesday…
- Chat today, 2pm CST.
- The White Sox sent last year's first-round pick Gordon Beckham to Double A to play shortstop, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
- Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle talked to Astros GM Ed Wade about the difference between guaranteed and non-guaranteed contracts.
- El Lefty Malo expects the Giants to trade lefty Jack Taschner and go after free agent Will Ohman. Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News dismissed an internet rumor about Taschner and the Tigers. Not sure where that came from.
- Alex Speier of WEEI projects Boston's Opening Day payroll to be under $120MM, its lowest since '03. Speier suggests this could allow midseason financial flexibility.
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post asks whether the Nationals will try to avoid an eventual Super Two status for Jordan Zimmermann.
- Bart Given says Shawn Hill made the right decision in signing with San Diego.
- Oil Can Boyd hopes to pitch in Ottawa in the Cam-Am Baseball League.
- The Royals Authority 2009 Annual is on sale now – check it out.
Tigers Talking Trade
Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press has articles here and here about the possibility of a Tigers trade before the season begins. GM Dave Dombrowski admitted that trade discussions have intensified lately.
One possible need is a second lefty reliever, but the Tigers could potentially fill that role with Nate Robertson or Dontrelle Willis. Morosi adds that a need at catcher could surface if Matt Treanor's current injury is serious. And he notes that the team always needs young pitching.
As far as trade candidates, Marcus Thames ($2.275MM salary) leads the pack. Thames has big power and not much else, but the Tigers chose to tender him a contract for '09. Morosi wonders if the Reds could be a match, though their outfield picture seems set with Jonny Gomes taking on the right-handed slugger role. Other trade candidates: Mike Hessman, Ryan Raburn, or Brent Clevlen.
Gammons On Matthews, Teahen, Harang, Peavy
12:07pm: John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer asked Reds GM Walt Jocketty about Gammons' Harang note. Jocketty said, "I'm not going to comment on something when he doesn't know what he's talking about."
9:19am: ESPN's Peter Gammons had a new blog post yesterday discussing available players.
- Gammons names Geoff Jenkins ($8MM remaining, limited no-trade), Brian Giles ($9MM remaining, full no-trade), Gary Matthews Jr. ($33.5MM remaining, full no-trade), Marcus Thames ($2.275MM salary), Nick Johnson ($5.5MM salary), Jason Repko, and Jeff Baker as players being dangled. Gammons links Matthews to the Yankees but admits his contract will be an issue.
- Mark Teahen has drawn interest from the Astros, Red Sox, and Yankees.
- Gammons says the Reds "have let teams know that they will wait and see whether they need to move Aaron Harang during the season." It'd be a shame to see the Reds break up that rotation. Harang has about $36MM coming to him over the next three seasons if his 2011 option is exercised.
- Brewers third baseman Bill Hall expects his team to pursue Padres ace Jake Peavy if available this summer. Unlike C.C. Sabathia, Peavy is more than a rental.
Olney’s Latest: Willis, Zito
Buster Olney touches on Dontrelle Willis and Barry Zito, two lefties long-struggling to make a comeback.
- Willis may not make the Tigers rotation. Instead, "rival talent evaluators" believe he will either be sent to the minors to continue to work, or be released. Willis hasn't impressed this spring, allowing 17 H, 7 BB, and 12 ER over 8.1 IP. Olney says scouts can't think of an example of a pitcher who has regressed as much as Willis and made a successful comeback.
- Zito is receiving mixed reviews with a fastball either in the range of either 80-82mph or 83-85mph. Says Olney, "… if he were to just give the Giants a chance to win games over the last five years of his deal, the club would be thrilled. Give Zito credit for this: He is trying like heck to make this work."
Gammons On Sheffield, Tazawa, Kearns
ESPN’s Peter Gammons posted a new blog entry last night. Let’s take a look.
- Gammons sees Gary Sheffield as a "serious comeback player of the year candidate."
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels told Gammons his team bid $7MM for Junichi Tazawa, but the Red Sox signed him for $3MM due to their presence in Japan. According to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times, the Rangers also offered more money to reliever Chad Cordero but he preferred the West Coast.
- Kicking Jim Bowden while he’s down: Gammons says Nationals outfielder Austin Kearns was claimed on waivers last summer but the Nationals pulled him back.
Offseason In Review: Detroit Tigers
Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the Tigers. Here’s what I wrote about them on September 18th.
Additions: Edwin Jackson, Brandon Lyon, Gerald Laird, Matt Treanor, Adam Everett, Juan Rincon, Scott Williamson, Alexis Gomez, Timo Perez
Subtractions: Edgar Renteria, Matt Joyce, Kenny Rogers, Aquilino Lopez, Todd Jones, Casey Fossum, Gary Glover, Kyle Farnsworth. Midseason: Ivan Rodriguez
In September we were talking about the Tigers slashing payroll drastically, but they’re in the $125MM range to start ’09. The club remains saddled with multiple bad contracts.
While the Tigers’ offense last year didn’t quite meet expectations, the team did rank fourth in the AL with 5.07 runs per game. The ’09 lineup has new regulars Laird and Everett and will be without Joyce at the outfield corners. Using CHONE projections and Baseball Musings’ lineup analysis tool, it seems that this crew can match last year’s performance.
The question mark remains on the runs allowed side of things. Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski took steps to improve the team’s defense (8th in the AL last year according to the Fielding Bible II) by bringing in Everett and Laird. Using Inge at third base all year will help as well.
The Tigers had lousy pitching last year, in both the rotation and bullpen. Jackson is an improvement over Kenny Rogers, while Justin Verlander and Nate Robertson should bounce back to some extent (though Armando Galarraga should regress). 30 healthy starts from Jeremy Bonderman would go a long way toward solidifying this group, but it almost has to be better than the ’08 rotation.
I feel similarly about the bullpen. Lyon is better than Todd Jones, and Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney are hopefully healthy. The pen should be better, we can say that much. It’s hard to predict, but if the Tigers are able to get to around 775 runs allowed they should be on track for 85-86 wins.
Bottom line: Dombrowski trimmed payroll but still made improvements to the Tigers’ defense and pitching. If a few of the many wild cards in the rotation come through they’ll be in contention.
Tough Decisions For Tigers
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes about the tough decisions faced by the Tigers this spring.
First, they have to decide whether to let 20 year-old phenom Rick Porcello break camp with the team, even though he has yet to pitch above A ball. GM Dave Dombrowski seems open to it. He says the issue of delaying Porcello’s arbitration will not come into play.
The Tigers also have to decide what to do with veterans Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson, and Gary Sheffield. Will their contracts lead to roster spots? Robertson (4 ER in 4 IP) is owed $17MM through 2010. Willis (4 ER in 3 IP) will make $22MM in that time. And Sheffield (.167/.423/.500 in 18 ABs) earns $14MM in ’09. Spring Training stats don’t mean much anyway, but these samples are especially small. And Rosenthal says Willis and/or Robertson could be sent to the minors or bullpen if necessary.