MLB Trade Rumors: Astros Sign Kaz Matsui
Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 reports had it first: the Astros have signed second baseman Kaz Matsui to a three year deal worth $15-16MM. Ed Wade saved Jim Hendry from himself. Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald and Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle confirm the signing. Richard Justice speculates that the ‘Stros could shop Chris Burke now, and maybe even package him with Luke Scott.
Matsui is the early favorite for worst free agent signing of the winter. He is probably not worth half the money, and a three-year commitment for him is insane. Since he joined the Rockies in August of 2006, Matsui hit .256/.305/.370 away from Coors Field.
Not that Matsui is a legitimate starting second baseman, but the signing clearly leaves Tadahito Iguchi as the one free agent starter at the position. That is, unless David Eckstein opts to market himself as a second baseman.
Astros Sign Doug Brocail
Fox 26 Sports out of Houston is reporting that the Astros have agreed to a contract with free agent reliever Doug Brocail. Terms are unknown; but an announcement is expected Tuesday.
Brocail turns 40 in May. He pitched for the Astros in 1995-96 before his inclusion in a huge multiplayer deal with the Tigers. He had a nice 2007 for the Padres with a 3.05 ERA in 76 innings. However his strikeout rate was quite low at 5.05 per nine innings. He seems likely to fill the seventh inning role for Houston.
I am OK with the move for one year and $2-3MM, if Ed Wade got something similar.
Rockies Rumors: Herges, Torrealba
Troy E. Renck has the Rockies hot stove buzz, as usual.
- The Rockies are close with reliever Matt Herges, but other teams remain in the mix. It’s known that Herges wants a two-year deal and the Brewers are interested.
- The Rockies are also making progress on a deal with catcher Yorvit Torrealba. The Mets saw something they didn’t like in Torrealba, so he’s come back to the Rockies to talk. Renck says the Rockies had previously offered two years and $7MM with a vesting option for 2010 (seems reasonable). Now they might be able to get him without guaranteeing that third year.
- Renck says Kaz Matsui may sign with the Cubs or Astros next week. Matsui has priced himself out of the Rockies’ range.
Odds and Ends: Fukudome, Eckstein, Lowell
Ah yes, the odds and ends post, where I cobble together the day’s random links.
- The Rangers have mild interest Scott Podsednik. Pods had two separate stints in the Rangers organization but never reached the bigs with them.
- The Big Lead has an interesting interview with Yahoo baseball guy Jeff Passan, wherein a run-in with Jose Lima is recounted. Passan also takes on Fire Joe Morgan a bit.
- Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog is hearing that Kosuke Fukudome is looking for three years and $30MM. Sounds fair.
- The Angels are considering signing David Eckstein and/or Darin Erstad, for some reason.
- Bob Dutton reports that the Royals can be patient with their offer to Torii Hunter, while the White Sox want a quick resolution. Bonus: a rather large, but not too pixellated picture of Hunter at the Dutton link. Hunter, by the way, could save $750K per year if he signs with the Rangers because Texas has no state income tax. Hunter is also considering the Las Vegas 51s for that same reason, I heard.
- Per Buster Olney, the Dodgers put in a three-year offer to Mike Lowell. He takes this as a sign they weren’t serious, but Ned Colletti has shown a tendency to offer fewer years and more per year. He did this with Rafael Furcal and Jason Schmidt. So maybe the Dodgers put out a 3/45 offer or something.
- The Phils picked up oft-injured outfielder Chris Snelling from the Rays for cash. He’s yet to accumulate 100 big league at-bats in a season, but maybe that’ll change in 2008.
- Ed Wade + relievers = trouble. Doug Brocail is on the radar.
- McCovey Chronicles lists some realistic position player targets for the Giants, including Jeff Clement, Andy Marte, and Adam Lind.
Yankees, Brewers, Giants, Astros, Rays After Percival
Buster Olney sums up the known Troy Percival suitors thusly: Yankees, Brewers, Giants, Astros, and Rays. He obviously wouldn’t close for the Yankees, but might be able to pitch the ninth for the other clubs Olney named.
The 38 year-old Percival is a fascinating story. He missed all of 2006 and joined the Cardinals this year and posted phenomenal numbers – 1.80 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 3.6 K/BB. Suddenly he’s primed to snag a closer gig again, if he wants it.
Olney named five clubs, but it’s been said that ten teams are in on Percival. Teams that were confirmed to be involved last summer: Dodgers, Indians, Cardinals, Braves, Athletics, Phillies, Tigers, and Marlins. I think it’s safe to assume the Phillies are one of the ten.
Astros Close To Kaz Matsui Deal?
UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal notes that the Astros are close to a deal with Geoff Blum, and believes the Astros are behind both the Rockies and Cubs for Matsui.
Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News is reporting that Kaz Matsui "appears headed to the Astros." Maybe Ed Wade will save the Cubs from themselves. The Cubs were reportedly going to offer Matsui a three-year pact.
Ringolsby adds an interesting twist: the Astros and Rockies could swap second basemen. The Rockies like Chris Burke, and he will probably be deemed expendable if Matsui is signed. Seems to me there’s a decent chance Burke matches Matsui in production next year at a much cheaper price.
Ringoslby also notes that Jason Kendall is "finalizing a deal with Milwaukee." Tom Haudricourt confirms the deep stages of the talks. To me this seems to be another case of change for the sake of change. Maybe the Brewers weren’t pleased with Johnny Estrada, but Kendall has his own glaring deficiences as a starter.
Odds and Ends: Kendall, Crisp, Gagne
I’m back in the swing of things, kind of. We’re still living out of boxes, but I’ve got a laptop and I’m digging into all the rumors I missed. Joe did a great job the last couple of days. Be sure to visit his Yankees blog, River Ave. Blues. On to today’s random rumors…
- I’m hearing that Jason Kendall could be a fallback for the Mets if they can’t pry Ramon Hernandez loose from the Orioles.
- The Blue Jays have about $4MM to spend, and J.P. Ricciardi likes the idea of Michael Barrett splitting time behind the plate with Gregg Zaun. It seems unlikely, though, because the Padres would have to not offer arbitration to Barrett. And Barrett would have to take a one-year, $4MM deal.
- Jamey Newberg discusses the idea of a Coco Crisp for Gerald Laird swap. He notes that the market for Laird should be picking up, but the Red Sox might prefer to wait to trade Crisp.
- Haven’t heard this one much yet…how about Eric Gagne for the Houston closer vacancy? Would Scott Boras present a problem?
- David Wells could be an option for the Mets, if he doesn’t retire or end up on the West Coast.
- One free agent from Japan who hasn’t gotten much press is Marc Kroon. He didn’t catch on in MLB but has been doing well for Yokohama the past few years. Kroon holds the record for the fastest pitch ever thrown in a Japanese game (161 km/h, which is about 100 mph). You can see that in this video (the second pitch he throws, the crowd loves it). Kroon is considering trying the Majors again; he says so on his website (note that his site plays music when you visit).
Blum Reportedly Agrees With ‘Stros
Fox 29 in Houston is reporting that Geoff Blum and the Astros have agreed on a deal. No word on the details at the moment. Neither Ed Wade nor Geoff Blum have commented on this story. This will return him to the team on which he played in 2002 and 2003.
The ‘Stros have an opening at second with the retirement of Craig Biggio, but Blum doesn’t figure to start…at least I don’t think so. His .319 OBP in 330 at bats last year was the third highest in his career (in a season where he put up 200 or more at bats). His best year, seemingly an anomaly, was a .283/.367/.440 effort for Houston in 2002. That was also the last year he cracked the .400 mark in slugging percentage.
Does this signal that Mark Loretta won’t be back?
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog.
Brewers, Padres, Angels, Rockies, Astros After Iguchi
In some ways, Tadahito Iguchi might be a better buy at second base than Luis Castillo. He’s getting half the press, but that doesn’t mean he’s getting half the interest. Iguchi’s agent said today that the Astros, Brewers, Padres, Angels, and Rockies have expressed interest. Keep in mind that the Phillies asked Iguchi about playing third base several weeks ago and he said he’d rather sign elsewhere at a second baseman.
I wonder if Iguchi may have relaxed that stance. The Brewers and Angels have third base vacancies. They have Rickie Weeks and Howie Kendrick at second base, respectively. Weeks could be an interesting option in center, and Kendrick has been rumored as part of a Miguel Cabrera package. So Iguchi could theoretically still play second for either club.
The Padres and Rockies just have good old-fashioned vacancies at second base. Both clubs could still fill the spot internally – the Padres with Matt Antonelli and the Rockies with Ian Stewart.
As for the ‘Stros, well, Ed Wade has contacted half the free agent class.
Astros Acquire Oscar Villarreal For Josh Anderson
New GMs Frank Wren and Ed Wade struck a deal today. The Braves sent middle reliever Oscar Villarreal over to the Astros for outfielder Josh Anderson.
It had been known that Wade was pursuing relief help. He created a bit of a void by trading Brad Lidge, not that Villarreal fills that. The ‘Stros currently have an offer out to Scott Linebrink, and have expressed interest in Jeremy Affeldt, Francisco Cordero, and Troy Percival as well. Villarreal is not a closer type, so look for Wade to sign one of Linebrink, Cordero, or Percival to handle the ninth inning. Chad Qualls would then take the eighth.
Villarreal has been a respectable reliever when healthy. The 26 year-old righty has a 3.71 career ERA. I imagine the Astros view him as their seventh inning guy. Wade was able to part with Anderson because he has a better version in Michael Bourn. Wade also oddly gave a Major League deal to a defensive-minded minor league free agent center fielder named Yordany Ramirez. Quite a commitment.
The 25 year-old Anderson is a burner who doesn’t hit much. Most view him as a future fourth outfielder. I imagine the Braves acquired him to use a stopgap solution in center field for a year or two.
I’d give a slight edge to Wade here, as we’re going to see teams locking in relievers similar to Villarreal for three years and $10MM+.