Odds and Ends: Kazmir, Thomas, Sweeney
We’ll kick it off with a few links today and add more bullets periodically.
- Cole Hamels feels that he handled his contract renewal last year immaturely.
- Over at The Hardball Times, Geoff Young looks at the best compensation picks of the 20th century.
- Geoff Blum‘s ’09 option vests with one more plate appearance.
- Bronson Arroyo has a plan to make the Reds competitive.
- Matthew Cerrone explains Carlos Delgado‘s ’09 option.
- Jeff Passan on the Cardinals’ brilliant signing of Ryan Ludwick.
- Baseball Prospectus profiles #26-50 on their list of players to build a team around.
- Twins reliever Brian Bass accepted a Triple A assignment, so he won’t become a free agent.
- MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo takes a preliminary look at the ’09 draft order.
- Jamey Newberg wonders if the Rangers could pry Scott Kazmir loose this winter. It’s hard to see the Rays trading him.
- Susan Slusser expects the A’s to add an impact bat this winter, but free agent DHs Frank Thomas and Mike Sweeney will probably be let go. In a related note, ESPN’s Buster Olney says the A’s had a chance earlier this year to acquire Jason Bay for a package including pitching prospect Vin Mazzaro.
Astros Sign Jose Castillo
According to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros claimed infielder Jose Castillo off waivers today. Castillo will be Astros property for ’09 as well, if they want him (he’s still arbitration-eligible).
The 27 year-old hit .244/.290/.381 in 420 plate appearances for the Giants while seeing time at second base, shortstop, and third base.
Astros Players Hope To Recruit Sheets
According to Jose de Jesus Ortiz, Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt plans to make a recruiting pitch to Ben Sheets. Sheets will be a free agent after the season. Lance Berkman would love to see Sheets sign with the Astros as well.
Pairing Sheets with Oswalt would certainly change the look of the Astros, who could slot Wandy Rodriguez at #3 or #4 and sign an additional free agent starter. As with most free agent signings, Sheets carries plenty of risk. He’s already thrown 162 innings this year, his best since ’04. Has he shaken off the injury bug?
Sheets should get at least three years, and four is feasible. $16-17MM per year sounds about right.
Odds and Ends: Pavano, Dunn, Brocail, Washburn
Random links for the day…
- Joel Sherman notes that Carl Pavano has a chance to help his own cause if he can be mildly useful in September. Pavano will be a free agent after the season when the Yankees buy out his $13MM option.
- The Reds will free up about $30MM in payroll, and Walt Jocketty plans to be active.
- Ben Bolch notes that the Dodgers could’ve blocked the D’Backs’ waiver claim of Adam Dunn. Bolch cites the risk that caused the Dodgers to pass – Dunn’s salary and their outfield logjam. But as readers of this site have pointed out, why not claim Dunn and offer a player of no value? Would Walt Jocketty have chosen salary relief over two draft picks?
- Multiple teams put in claims on reliever Doug Brocail, but the Astros did not want to trade him. The ‘Stros are playing for a miracle, as they’re assigned less than a 1% chance of making the playoffs.
- Geoff Baker supported the Mariners’ decision not to trade Jarrod Washburn in July, but now they’ve overplayed their hand.
Cafardo’s Latest: Ausmus, Towles, Mariners, Giants, Sheffield, Salty
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has a few items in his Sunday column…
- Cafardo says that the Red Sox, despite being in the market for a catcher, are not interested in Brad Ausmus. They did inquire with the Astros about J.R. Towles, who is currently in Triple A, but were told he is unavailable.
- One executive told Cafardo that the Mariners continue to demand other teams take entire contracts and give up prospects for players like Raul Ibanez, Jarrod Washburn and Adrian Beltre. In the cases of Ibanez and Beltre, that position is defensible.
- Cafardo interviewed Brian Sabean about several topics: 1) When asked about trading veteran players, Sabean responded "There’s still time"; 2) When asked whether the Giants would "go young" or target free agents in the offseason, Sabean was noncommital but said they will look for free agents and trade pieces to fix problems, specifically mentioning the bullpen and first base; 3) When asked if he was tempted to sign Barry Bonds, Sabean would not answer.
- Cafardo was just musing on a few players, but feels that Gary Sheffield could help the Rays, but only if the Tigers pay some of the salary. He also thinks Jarrod Saltalamacchia would be a nice fit in Boston next season.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here .
Rockies Sign Villarreal
According to Jack Etkin of the Rocky Mountain News, the Rockies signed reliever Oscar Villarreal to a minor league deal today. The Rox will have Villarreal under contract for ’09, mostly paid for by the Astros. I hadn’t realized Villarreal signed with the Mariners after being designated by Houston. He opted out of that contract when the Ms didn’t bring him to the Majors by August 8th.
Villarreal’s strikeout and groundball rates slipped this year, leading to a 5.02 ERA in 37.2 innings. He’s been worked pretty hard at times in his career.
Waiver Trade Possibilities For Red Sox, Rays
The Red Sox, three games behind the Rays in the standings, have the advantage when it comes to waiver claims. Both teams are dealing with injured third basemen for the next few weeks, and may choose to bring in some veteran assistance.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe names four players who may be of interest to the Red Sox and Rays: Rich Aurilia, Mark Loretta, Gary Sheffield, and Kevin Millar.
Even after he clears waivers, a deal for Sheffield seems unlikely. The Rays have already expressed their disinterest. Sheffield doesn’t expect a deal, noting that he’s been put on waivers many times. Cafardo says the Rays do have interest in Aurilia, while the other names are speculation for both teams.
Odds and Ends: Kielty, Ellis, Bonds, Poreda
Time to for today’s link collection.
- The Twins signed Bobby Kielty to a minor league deal. The former Twin was released by the Red Sox in July. When he’s going good, he can hit lefties pretty well.
- Peter Magowan is glad the Giants didn’t successfully pull off an attempted trade for Manny Ramirez before the ’07 season. However, as Henry Schulman notes, that might’ve prevented the Barry Zito contract.
- The Reds haven’t talked to the agents for any of their potential free agents, and no decision has been made on Adam Dunn.
- Susan Slusser wonders if the D’Backs will try to acquire second baseman Mark Ellis in the wake of Orlando Hudson‘s season-ending injury, though manager Bob Melvin does not expect an acquisition.
- It’s a moot point since they’re not interested, but Astros manager Cecil Cooper would quit if the team signed Barry Bonds.
- Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune notes that the Rockies asked for ’07 first-rounder Aaron Poreda for Brian Fuentes. Instead, Rogers believes he could get a big-league look.
- Ken Davidoff talks to agent Joe Bick about how Brian Giles went about choosing the teams on his no-trade list.
- The Rangers made their first Korean amateur signing, inking a high school righty named Tae-kyeong Ahn. They also signed Dominican outfielder Esdras Abreu, among others.
Wade Says Bonds Not An Option
Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle writes that Astros general manager Ed Wade is not interested in signing Barry Bonds as a replacement for the injured Carlos Lee. Manager Cecil Cooper echoed the statement. Lance Berkman, however, would like to have Bonds as a teammate:
"That would certainly sell tickets. I’d love to have him on the team. I think he would be great if he could perform at a level we’re accustomed to seeing. If he’ll play for the minimum (league salary), I would certainly take a flier on that."
Wade has not ruled out acquiring another outfielder, though he doesn’t feel that it is an absolutely necessary move. For his part, Bonds insists he’s not retired.
Making a move for an outfielder doesn’t seem entirely logical, with Houston being eight games out of the wild card race in the National League, but we’ve seen them be surprisingly aggressive in July, making acquisitions of both Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins.
Odds And Ends: Guerrero, Sheffield, Wells, Lincecum
Here are a few tidbits from around the ‘Net this morning.
- Vlad Guerrero wants to spend the rest of his days with the Angels. The question is, will the Halos pony up for a deal for the slugger’s latter years? They hold a $15 million club option ($3 million buyout) for next year, Vlad’s age-33 season. Will they work out an extension this off-season, or will they let Future Vlad and Future Reagins figure it out after ’09?
- Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe mentions a player who wouldn’t mind being traded: Gary Sheffield. The 39-year-old hasn’t enjoyed his time at DH, saying that he needs to play the field to be a vocal leader. A few obstacles stand in the way, including his limited no-trade clause, his chronically ailing shoulder, and the $19 million owed to him over the next two years. He’d easily clear waivers, though, and might have already. Tampa Bay, anyone?
- The Rockies have DFA’d Kip Wells to make room for Livan Hernandez. Wells had a 5.27 ERA over 27.1 innings for the Rockies.
- Looks like Tim Lincecum is content going with year to year contracts, according to his agent. The Giants have a monopoly on his services through the 2013 season.
- With Carlos Lee likely out for the season, Richard Justice urges the Astros to sign Barry Bonds.
- With the August 15th draftee signing deadling approaching, the Pirates have a major league deal on the table for first round pick Pedro Alvarez.