Latest Mets Rumors: A-Rod, Silva, Blanton
Plenty of action around the Mets lately; Omar Minaya has his work cut out for him. Hat tip to MetsBlog for several of the links.
- The sensational storyline here is that Minaya will meet with Scott Boras to discuss Alex Rodriguez. However, Boras and Minaya might spend more time discussing Kyle Lohse and Eric Gagne than A-Rod – the Mets’ focus is pitching.
- Newsday’s Ken Davidoff reminds us of past trade talks regarding Joe Blanton, Jose Contreras, and Jon Garland. Those talks may be re-opened, though Davidoff notes that the White Sox aren’t enamored of Lastings Milledge. Additionally, the Mets will meet with Carlos Silva‘s people this week.
- Buster Olney discusses the Mets’ pursuit for pitching today in his blog. They need a horse, somebody who can chew up innings. Aside from the aforementioned Silva and Blanton, Olney names Roy Oswalt, Dan Haren, Scott Kazmir, and Dontrelle Willis as possible targets (though Marc Lancaster considers the declaration of Kazmir’s availability to be "dubious at best." Meanwhile one exec thinks the Rays would only make him available if "his arm is about to blow.") Olney’s guess is that the Mets will acquire Blanton. The Mets have some combination of Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber, Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, and Aaron Heilman to offer. There are pros and cons to dealing each.
- There are other concerns besides pitching: second base and catcher. Besides the forthcoming monster offer to Jorge Posada, the Mets are considering Paul Lo Duca and Yorvit Torrealba as fallbacks. Ramon Castro is looking for a two-year deal, and hopes it’s with the Mets. However, the Rockies have their eye on him.
- Pedro Martinez expects to pitch beyond 2008. Whether that will be for the Mets or someone else, who knows.
- Marlon Anderson‘s two-year deal will be announced today, according to Adam Rubin. The Mets will pass on Jose Valentin and Brian Lawrence‘s options.
Astros Hope To Sign Luis Castillo
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Astros are looking to inject some OBP into their leadoff spot by signing second baseman Luis Castillo. He adds that not many teams are looking to fill second base via free agency, so the Mets might be the only team battling for Castillo.
Rosenthal rates Kaz Matsui and David Eckstein as the best second base alternatives behind Castillo. The Rockies are prepared to offer a two-year deal to Matsui but will move on if he wants too much. They can’t be thinking about offering more than $8MM, wouldn’t you say? Rosenthal says Matsui is not on the Mets’ radar because, well, they already gave him a shot.
As for Eckstein – his best bet financially may be to market himself as a shortstop. His estimated take is $6-7MM over two or three years, a figure that would be deemed pricey for second base.
Astros Contact Schilling
Ed Wade saw Curt Schilling’s list on 38pitches.com, and the Astros weren’t on it. He said he felt compelled to call Schilling yesterday anyway.
Schilling pitched for the Astros in ’91 as a 24 year-old, but was traded to the Phillies for Jason Grimsley. Yes, that Jason Grimsley. Nice move, Bill Wood!
Does this mean teams outside of Schilling’s dirty dozen are in play? Who knows…someone offers $17MM, he would have to listen.
Astros Interested In Hunter, Rowand
UPDATE, 10-31-07: A few more notes on the Astros’ interest in Hunter and Rowand. According to Wade, the Astros are looking to add either a center fielder or a right fielder – keeping Hunter Pence in center is an option. Also, he calls the contact with Hunter and Rowand "procedural," noting that the Astros will talk to roughly a third of all free agents.
FROM 10-30-07:
Looks like Ed Wade and the Astros will make a play for a free agent center fielder this winter. They’ve already made initial contact with the agents for Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand.
That didn’t strike me as a major need given the current outfield of Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence, and Luke Scott. I agree with RotoWorld on this – Scott could be a great acquisition if the Astros push him out of the picture. An awful April obscured Scott’s stats – he hit .267/.360/.534 from May forward. Same thing happened with Kevin Kouzmanoff.
On the other hand, Pence is better suited for right field than center. So as long as Wade gets full value in the form of a starting pitcher for Scott. Unfortunately they are not on Curt Schilling‘s list but three other NL Central teams are.
Astros Re-Sign Ausmus
As expected, the Astros inked Brad Ausmus to a one-year deal. It cost $2MM, about the going rate for backup catchers these days.
Hopefully J.R. Towles will get 120 games behind the plate as the starter as Ausmus can teach him a thing or two about handling a big league pitching staff.
Odds and Ends: A-Rod, Boras, Pettitte
Early Monday morning reading material…
- Interesting article in the New York Daily News regarding Scott Boras and Alex Rodriguez. Boras insists that many of his clients have not taken the largest deal offered to them, giving examples. The article also touches upon recent Boras clients connected to performance-enhancing drugs (Rick Ankiel and Scott Schoeneweis). Boras’ agency is known for its obsessive attention to detail for all of its clients, and seeing a few of them busted raises some questions.
- Last winter, we discussed the possibility of Hiroki Kuroda coming over from Japan. Well, he’s a free agent again, and Nick Cafardo is wondering if 2008 will be the year. Cafardo also noted that Daisuke Matsuzaka did not earn the Red Sox nearly as much marketing revenue as Scott Boras suggested.
- Newsday’s Ken Davidoff says Andy Pettitte intends to exercise his $16MM player option for 2008. Davidoff points out that Pettitte has the same deadline for this decision as A-Rod has for his opt-out. Davidoff also mentions that Roger Clemens‘ most likely destination for 2008 appears to be back in Houston, if he plays.
- You’ve probably heard by now that Hank and Hal Steinbrenner will have final say on baseball decisions (especially Hank). Hank will insist Joba Chamberlain be used as a starter in ’08, heightening the need to re-sign Mariano Rivera.
- The Hardball Times tries to place dollar values on some top free agents, plus Adam Dunn.
Astros Make Offer To Ausmus
The Astros hope to bring back Brad Ausmus one more time, recently offering him a one-year, $2MM contract. Ausmus, who will be 39 next season, hasn’t decided what he wants to do yet.
$2MM per year is becoming the going rate for backup catchers, which is probably the role the Astros have in mind for Ausmus next year. In November of last year, the Cubs set the market by giving Henry Blanco $5.25MM over two years. Mike Redmond and Vance Wilson had each signed for two years, $2MM a few months prior. Mike Lieberthal got one year and $1.25MM. The Cubs seem to set the market often.
The Cubs and Astros are in similar situations, with up-and-coming young backstops in Geovany Soto and J.R. Towles. Each is going to need a defensive-minded backup long on experience.
Cecil Cooper Named ‘Stros Manager
ESPN is just reporting that the Astros have named Cecil Cooper as Manager on a permanent basis.
Astros fans, how do you feel about this?
Posted by: Nat Boyle
Padres Acquire Jason Lane
Ed Wade’s first move as Astros GM was something of a favor to his former boss, Kevin Towers. He dealt 30 year-old outfielder Jason Lane to the Padres for a player to be named later or cash considerations. MLB.com’s Alyson Footer expects the Astros to take the cash.
Lane was featured in our non-tender candidate list written back in August. He has a bit more than three years of service time and makes $1.05MM this year. I believe he’ll reach arbitration for the first time this winter.
The Padres apparently want Lane for more than just this week (he won’t be eligible for the postseason should they make it). Towers says Lane will be in the mix with Scott Hairston and Brian Giles for next year’s outfield. They might use Lane in center field.
So far Lane has a .241/.315/.458 line in about 1200 big league at-bats. The average NL center fielder is hitting .273/.336/.427 this year. If Lane can play to his career averages and not embarrass himself defensively the Padres might have something here. He has some interesting comparables in his list, including Jermaine Dye and Eric Byrnes on the optimistic end. This is a typical Towers stathead-type move. There’s really no downside to it.
Ed Wade: Houston’s New Rocket Man
"Houston, you have a problem" was probably the initial reaction anyone who follows the Phillies, or baseball for that matter, had when they heard that the Houston Astros had hired Ed Wade to be their new general manager.
Wade was fired from that same post in Philadelphia two years ago after failing to compose a team to reach the playoffs — and brutally suffering for it publicly — during his eight year tenure in town (1997-2005).
Even a few years out from Wade, the Phillies’ last October appearance dates back to the mullets and beards of 1993.
But that’s another story. The issue at hand is whether or not Wade is a good hire for the Astros. That’s hard to say unless you were one of the lucky fans chosen at random to sit in on the interview process, but it is possible to judge Wade’s history with Philadelphia and then consider if his strengths and weaknesses are suitable to the Astros’ needs.
If you scan the field at the start of a Phillies home game, you’ll see that six of the starting "everyday eight" were acquired under Wade’s watch, and they make up the most potent lineup in the National League
- Pat Burrell was drafted, developed, and, for better or worse, signed to a long-term contract.
- Shane Victorino was acquired in the Rule 5 draft.
- Jimmy Rollins, a strong contender for this year’s MVP award was developed and signed to a bargain of a long term contract.
- Another MVP candidate and the best second baseman in baseball, Chase Utley, was drafted and developed under Wade and signed to a long term contract under Wade’s successor, Pat Gillick.
- First baseman Ryan Howard was drafted and developed well enough under Wade to win a Rookie of the Year award and then an MVP award in the two years since Wade left.
- Rookie starting catcher Carlos Ruiz was signed by Wade as a 19-year old out of Panama.
Wade also drafted the Phillies’ three best pitchers: Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, and Brett Myers, and at one time, traded away their worst, Adam Eaton, only for him to be re-acquired under Gillick’s regime. Let’s not forget, before he was general manager, Wade campaigned hard within the Phillies to trade for Bobby Abreu before anyone knew who he was (Kevin Stocker was the "bait" that eventually landed him). That’s quite a nucleus, no doubt about it. [An aside: Critics will point out that one of Wade’s assistant GM’s, Mike Arbuckle, who’s still an assistant in Philadelphia, was responsible for acquiring that nucleus, not Wade. That might be true, but consider these two points: even if Arbuckle did acquire all of that talent, Wade was smart enough to let him do it, and second, when general manager vacancies arise, Arbuckle is almost never a name that comes up, at least not publicly.]
After that nucleus however, the bullet points in Wade’s resume are a little harder to come by. In ballyhooed off-season moves, Wade acquired Jim Thome, Billy Wagner, David Bell, Eric Milton, Kevin Millwood and Andy Ashby, none of whom were able to get the nucleus over the hump and into the playoffs. Prior to that he got very little in return for Curt Schilling and Scott Rolen, both players having made it clear they wanted out of Philadelphia. The best piece from both of those deals, Placido Polanco [apologies to all of you who still think that some day Vicente Padilla is going to finally "get it"], was eventually dealt to the Detroit Tigers, where he’s flourished, for Ugueth Urbina (currently playing as number 283948 in the Venezuelan Penal League) as a rental in 2005.
Other water that flowed under Wade’s bridge were several trades where the Phillies gave up several forgettable minor leaguers (to name a few: Taylor Bucholz, Eaton, Elizardo Ramirez) for several forgettable relievers (to name a few: Todd Jones, Terry Adams, Mike Timlin) and his penchant for handing out no-trade clauses in contracts, an obstacle Gillick has had to deal with on numerous occasions.
The trend is clear: Wade was able to develop a very fine nucleus, one that is scoring runs for the Phillies in bunches, but was unable to add the necessary supporting pieces, even after he was given an adequate budget to do so in the later years of his tenure.
In other words, Houston, he’s shown he can get you to the launch pad, but don’t hope for the moon.
Tom Goyne is the author of Balls, Sticks, & Stuff ("Phillies, Eagles, golf, and other matters of great importance…") and maintains the Phloggers’ Pheeds page, a source for the latest commentary from around the "phlogosphere"..