Odds and Ends: Glavine, Kent, Kuroda
Picking up some rumors and tidbits that haven’t been otherwise posted during this busy day…
- An Atlanta TV station states that Tom Glavine would take a lot less money to play for the Braves. Also, the Astros have reportedly been in touch with him.
- Joe Torre senses that Jeff Kent will return in 2008. The Dodgers certainly hope so; he led the team with 20 home runs in ’07.
- Trey Hillman took a parting shot at Japanese reporters (hat tip to JapanBall).
- Reliever Masafumi Hirai might come over to MLB. I’ll have to learn more about him.
- Hiroki Kuroda prefers to play on the West Coast because he doesn’t like cold weather. Hmmm, Chicago might not work for him. Kuroda has declared free agency, and the Mariners are interested. There is word here that the Rangers have scouted him as well.
- The Braves are interested in Masahide Kobayashi to close, while the Mariners like him as a middle reliever (link in Japanese).
- There will be no Mike Lowell + A-Rod combo in Boston.
- Luis Gonzalez would like to return to the Tigers, while the team is interested in Cliff Floyd and Shannon Stewart for left field. Ben Broussard may also be on the radar.
- The Rangers also like Broussard, and they’ve contacted Mike Lamb as well regarding their first base vacancy. Lamb could play third if they trade Hank Blalock. Jon Daniels also has Kerry Wood in his sights.
- The Rockies like Shawn Chacon, but only as a reliever.
- Derrick Goold breaks down the options for the Cardinals at shortstop.
- Don’t forget to make an entry in our Hot Stove Hysteria contest. The deadline is November 12th. If you feel the need to edit your entry, just post a new one. They’re time-stamped; your latest entry will be used. A new prize has been added: a fantasy draft kit from Big Dawg Baseball.
Latest D’Backs Rumors: Bonderman, Ervin Santana
Nick Piecoro has the scoop regarding all things Diamondbacks. Let’s dive in.
- It had slipped my mind that the D’Backs don’t do incentive-laden contracts when I suggested they’d sign Randy Wolf. Bad prediction on my part.
- The team’s best trade chip: outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. The 22 year-old hit .286/.330/.476 in Double A last year, and has star potential. Kevin Goldstein recently ranked Gonzalez third among corner outfield prospects behind Travis Snider and Chris Marrero. Gonzalez could bring a coveted starter in a trade. Carlos Quentin is also talked about as a trade candidate, but he needs to get healthy and hit a little first.
- Conor Jackson is also a trade candidate, more so if the D’Backs can sign Tony Clark. They’re thinking something close to the two years, $3.25 Matt Stairs received. Meanwhile Clark’s agent is thinking he could get a near full-time role elsewhere.
- Piecoro brings up the intriguing idea of shopping Jose Valverde. He’s getting pricey soon, and could be at peak value. I like it. A safer trade option from the team’s strong pen is Juan Cruz.
- All these great young players to trade, but who to target? Piecoro tantalizes by telling us Ervin Santana and even Jeremy Bonderman are in the D’Backs’ sights. Santana is known to be available for a bat. Bonderman would be attractive to many teams if not for his late-season elbow woes. He’s signed through 2010.
- I could see the A’s poking their head in on all of this, with Joe Blanton and even Dan Haren to offer.
Heyman’s Latest: A-Rod, Atkins, Gagne
SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up. Let’s discuss.
- Alex Rodriguez‘s five possible destinations: Angels, Red Sox, Mets, Giants, Dodgers. That sounds about right. Heyman notes that the Dodgers do not have an advantage because of Joe Torre; he says star players don’t consider managers as a criteria when deciding where to sign.
- Though not mentioned as one of A-Rod’s five potential landing spots, Heyman says the buzz is growing that Mike Ilitch and the Tigers could go after him.
- Heyman says the Rockies will hang on to Garrett Atkins and follow through with the plan to try Ian Stewart at second base. That could mean the end of Kaz Matsui in Colorado.
- How about Eric Gagne to the Tigers? If they are interested, that bodes well for me getting at least 1 of 50 right.
- Johnny Damon for Joe Crede first mentioned in the Chicago Tribune??!! That trade speculation, sir, is MLBTR’s baby. Anyway, Heyman’s source thinks the Yankees could do better for Damon.
Tigers Rumors: Rogers, Jones, Jenkins
Lynn Henning of the Detroit News has some Tigers tidbits today.
- The Tigers want to bring Kenny Rogers back, who has said Detroit is the only place he’ll play if he doesn’t retire.
- The team will finally go with Joel Zumaya in the closer role next year, but they’d like Todd Jones around as a backup. Jones’ first pick is Atlanta but it’s not known if they’re interested. The mustachioed closer earned $5MM this year.
- Henning indicates that the acquisition of Edgar Renteria will allow the Tigers to be content with a Marcus Thames/Timo Perez/Ryan Raburn combo in left field, instead of signing Geoff Jenkins. Maybe the Tigers don’t want to appear too desperate for Jenkins, or maybe they’re serious.
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.
Tigers Acquire Edgar Renteria
Big news! The Tigers made an early strike to improve the shortstop position by acquiring Edgar Renteria for youngsters Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez.
The Tigers will owe Renteria roughly $6.3MM in ’08 and have a good chance of exercising his $11MM option for ’09. They’ve added a five-win shortstop in Renteria.
The price was reasonable. Jurrjens turns 22 in January and can probably jump into the Braves’ rotation. He throws in the 90-93 with good control. Kevin Goldstein projected him as a future middle-rotation guy. The one concern is that shoulder inflammation surfaced in August of this year.
Hernandez is the potential star in the deal. He turned 20 in September and should man center field in Atlanta for a long time once he’s ready. He’s a burner with solid defense, but he’s yet to grow into his power. He’s still a ways from the bigs though. Goldstein recently ranked him the game’s 10th best CF prospect, behind the Braves’ own Jordan Schafer and others like Jay Bruce, Colby Rasmus, Andrew McCutchen, and Jacoby Ellsbury.
All in all, I think the Tigers did quite well here. I’d like the deal a bit more for Atlanta if I felt that Jurrjens could provide 180 solid innings in ’08. Will Carroll and the aforementioned Goldstein contribute some additional analysis at BP. Sounds like this one began under John Schuerholz.
A-Rod Aftermath
Lost in the shuffle of Alex Rodriguez‘s opt-out media frenzy – the Yankees should be able to snag some nice draft picks for him. They’ll undoubtedly offer him arbitration, and he’ll decline that offer. If that does happen and he’s signed by the Cubs, Tigers, Mets, Angels, or Red Sox, the Yankees will get that team’s first-round pick. The Giants and Dodgers’ first round picks are protected however.
Joel Sherman names the Angels, Dodgers, Cubs, Mets, Red Sox, and Tigers as teams to watch in this bidding war. Kat O’Brien adds the White Sox to the mix, while Peter Abraham adds the Giants. My best guess is the Halos. Another thought – does it have to be Lowell or A-Rod for Boston? Couldn’t it be both if they believe Rodriguez can play a capable shortstop?
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?
Tigers Hot Stove Talk
Lynn Henning of the Detroit News runs down all of the big names rumored to be possibilities for the Tigers this winter and assesses the likelihood of each. It’s a well-written article so be sure to read it. Here are the players, ranked by the percent chance of playing for Detroit next year:
Kenny Rogers – 90%
Todd Jones – 80%
Geoff Jenkins – 75%
Edgar Renteria – 50%
Jack Wilson – 30%
Francisco Cordero – 5%
Alex Rodriguez – 3%
Mariano Rivera – 3%
Raul Ibanez – 0.5%
Torii Hunter – 0%
Andruw Jones – 0%
- Henning believes Jenkins is quite likely to become a Tiger on a two-year deal. He only costs money, as the Brewers won’t be offering him arbitration if they decline his option. The Twins may be in the mix for him as well.
- Henning notes that new Braves GM Frank Wren and current Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski have a connection and could easily work together on a Renteria trade. Pitching would be the requirement. Jeremy Bonderman seems like too much; Nate Robertson perhaps too little.
- The Tigers badly want to bring Rogers back; that seems very likely.
- Henning expects Jones back unless he receives an offer from the Braves, located somewhat near his home. That’s not expected.
More Mariners Info
I just learned that Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune has his own blog. Here’s some recent info from him to complement our Mariners Needs and Luxuries post.
- Regarding that starter they need to add this winter…how about Johan Santana? LaRue had a post a couple of weeks ago indicating the Twins have scouted the Mariners and would start the discussion with Adam Jones. With a negotiating window, it’s something the Ms would have to consider. Santana and Felix Hernandez fronting the rotation would get all of Venezuela tuning in for 40% of Mariners games.
- LaRue seemingly takes a shot at Jayson Stark, saying that Stark’s note about a team claiming Richie Sexson and the Mariners pulling him back was false. LaRue probably did not realize the rumor started with a respected baseball writer.