Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Jays, Mets, Red Sox, Nats, Yankees
On this date 32 years ago, commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended Braves owner Ted Turner for one year for tampering. Turner had announced publicly that the Braves would sign free agent-to-be Gary Matthews. Unfortunately, 30 years later, nobody was disciplined when the Angels signed free agent Gary Matthews Jr. to a $50MM contract. In the first two years of the deal, Matthews has been paid $15MM and his play has been worth -$600K (yes, that is negative) according to Fangraphs. With several big free agents still looking for new teams, will any of them be the next Matthews Jr? Only time will tell. In the meantime, let’s see what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- The Eddie Kranepool Society is not worried about Derek Lowe, feeling the deal will get done once the Mets add a fourth option year and sweeten the pot just a tad. They are also putting the Mets front office on notice about the possibility of letting Manny Ramirez slip through their fingers.
- Mets Geek feels the Mets still need to add one more piece to their revamped bullpen and suggest Wil Ohman or Joe Beimel are better options as a lefty specialist than what is already in-house.
- The Southpaw takes a look at some young players the Jays should try to target in the trade market, with Chin-Lung Hu at the top of the list.
- My Baseball Bias is not satisfied with just Mark Teixeira and wants to see the Yankees sign Manny Ramirez.
- Fire Brand of the American League makes a case for three players to be the Red Sox fourth outfielder, including Rocco Baldelli, Brad Wilkerson and Eric Byrnes.
- MLB Notebook takes a look at how the Nationals could spend the $20MM that would have gone to Mark Teixeira.
- River Ave. Blues says this offseason is proving to be a test of just how good Scott Boras can be.
- Sully Baseball is running a series of posts breaking down each team’s all-time home grown versus all-time acquired teams. Here he looks at the Astros.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Nelson, Quentin, Penny
Links for Tuesday…
- Baseball America has the recent minor league transactions. A few I hadn’t seen before – Reggie Abercrombie back to the Astros, Jesse Foppert re-signed with the Giants, the Rangers signed Casey Daigle.
- Nothing is imminent in the Rays’ discussions with free agent hitters, but they did finalize their deal with reliever Joe Nelson.
- Carlos Quentin in the third round of a fantasy draft: good idea?
- Fred Claire talks about the 2009-10 free agent class, and we got a mention.
- Keith Law likes Boston’s Brad Penny signing, but wonders why they weren’t able to get a 2010 option.
- Richard Justice discusses Drayton McLane’s salary cap recommendation.
- Peter Abraham says the Yankees are still a bit short in the rotation.
Odds and Ends: Teixeira, Pujols, McLane
Links for Monday…
- Daniel Cabrera passed his physical for the Nationals.
- Tony Massarotti writes that the Red Sox had a shot at Mark Teixeira. The Scott Boras camp was proposing $176MM guaranteed for eight years with vesting options that could’ve brought the total to $220MM over ten years. Ultimately the Yankees beat Boston’s offer by $10MM, with no options and a full no-trade clause.
- Viva El Birdos looks at what the Teixeira contract means for Albert Pujols. Will Albert seek the largest contract in baseball history? The Cardinals have him through the 2011 season.
- RotoAuthority looks at the power/speed shortstop options for fantasy baseball leagues.
- Astros owner Drayton McLane is the second owner to publicly admit he wants a salary cap (Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said it right after the Teixeira signing). Interesting take on the salary cap by Dan Symborski at Baseball Think Factory.
- The best of Big League Stew’s Answer Man series.
Astros Done Dealing For Awhile
Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle spoke with Houston Astros general manager Ed Wade about the possibilities of signing one of the “big-time free agents” anytime soon, to which Wade said no.
That includes starting pitcher Ben Sheets. Wade laughed when McTaggart asked if he expected Sheets to be under the Christmas Tree.
Astros Sign Clay Hensley
According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, the Astros signed pitcher Clay Hensley to a minor league deal worth $550K. Hensley, 29, posted a 3.94 ERA in Triple A and a 5.31 mark in the Majors this year after recovering from labrum surgery. The Padres chose to non-tender him.
Hensley had success back in ’06, tossing up a 3.71 ERA in 187 innings on the strength of a 54% groundball rate.
Astros Sign Aaron Boone
According to MLB.com’s Alyson Footer, the Astros signed third baseman Aaron Boone to a one-year deal today. Boone may get a chance to platoon with Geoff Blum at third base.
Odds and Ends: Cabrera, Tejada, Teixeira
A few random notes from around the MLBiverse…
- The Cardinals signed infielder Joe Thurston and catcher Justin Knoedler to minor league deals with spring training invites. Thurston appeared in four games for the Red Sox in ’08, while Knoedler last appeared in the majors with the Giants in ’06.
- Jordan Bastian says the Blue Jays are not one of the teams that have offered a contract to Daniel Cabrera. The Jays are interested, but want to see Cabrera pitch in the Dominican Winter League before making an offer…Cabrera’s agent says eleven teams have shown interest and Cabrera has received two contract offers.
- Jon Heyman is reporting that the FBI is still investigating Miguel Tejada, which will hinder any attempts to trade the shortstop…We previously heard that the Astros were trying hard to move Tejada but had yet to find any suitors.
- Mike Bauman believes the Red Sox offer to Mark Teixeira could be a direct reaction to the recent signings of C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett by the Yankees. Bauman says the Red Sox "cannot sit idly by and watch the Yanks make dramatic, if incredibly expensive, improvements."
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Astros, Saito, Yankees
Links for Monday night…
- Astros GM Ed Wade is "kicking the tires" on players to share time with Geoff Blum at third next year. It seems unlikely that they can afford Ty Wigginton.
- The Marlins haven’t yet inquired on Takashi Saito, a recent non-tender.
- It’s "very unlikely" though "not impossible" that Mark Teixeira or Manny Ramirez becomes a Yankee according to Tyler Kepner. He also thinks that the longer Andy Pettitte waits, the lower the chances are of a return to the Yankees.
- Adam Everett thinks the Tigers are a great fit for him. Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said Everett’s in line to get most of the starts at shortstop.
- Felipe Lopez could be a positive for the D’Backs in spite of his questionable effort and unspectacular defense, writes Keith Law.
- Rob Neyer thinks that the Yankees "pretty obviously overpaid" for A.J. Burnett.
- Here’s a video clip of Bronx Banter authors and Anthony McCarron debating the pros and cons of the Burnett signing.
- Sarah D. Morris weighs in on the Dodgers’ offseason moves.
- Tony Massarotti ranks the five worst current pitching contracts.
Odds and Ends: Teixeira, Hunsicker, Burrell
Links for Monday…
- According to the Newberg Report mailing list and CBSSports.com, the Rangers re-signed pitcher Doug Mathis to a minor league deal.
- Joe Nelson‘s been popular since being non-tendered – he’s heard from "at least 12-14 teams." Ruben Amaro Jr. said today the Phillies inquired on "20 or so" non-tendered players.
- Adam Everett‘s deal with the Tigers is official – $1MM plus incentives.
- MLB.com’s Barry Bloom spoke to Padres owner John Moores.
- Richard Justice doesn’t think Drayton McLane would ask Ed Wade to trade Roy Oswalt, but he could see Oswalt requesting a trade.
- Dave Sheinin says nothing has happened with Mark Teixeira since the Winter Meetings ended, and it’s no coincidence that we haven’t heard much about offers from the Red Sox or Yankees. Michael Silverman says Boston’s eventual offer to Tex will easily be a record for this ownership group. He guesses eight years in the $145-175MM range, noting that the Red Sox do not like to have players signed beyond age 36.
- Buster Olney says the Orioles and Nationals bidding on Tex is "nothing less than lunacy."
- Gerry Hunsicker has signed an extension to stay with the Rays.
- RotoAuthority takes a look at Jonathan Sanchez.
- George King says Kenny Lofton attempted to dissuade C.C. Sabathia from signing with the Yankees.
- Ken Davidoff says it seems that the Yankees will avoid Scott Boras this offseason.
- Steve Serby did a Q&A with Omar Minaya, learning details of Minaya’s Winter Meetings dealings.
- Pat Burrell says he never received a formal offer from the Phillies. His replacement, Raul Ibanez, will receive three years and $31.5MM.
Astros Sign Jason Michaels
According to MLB.com’s Alyson Footer, the Astros signed outfielder Jason Michaels to a one-year deal worth $750K. Michaels, 33 in May, hit .228/.300/.382 in 254 plate appearances for the Pirates this year while earning $2.15MM.