Pettitte To Pitch In 2007
Well, the fire is still there for Andy Pettitte. He’ll play next season, and will choose between Houston and New York. He’ll also take his sweet time deciding.
Peter Abraham seemed to indicate a while back that Pettitte’s wife was not altogether thrilled with the idea of a return to New York.
This morning, Will Carroll reported that Pettitte was "reportedly close to signing with the Yankees, but close isn’t done."
Pettitte back to New York?
The Yankees may have offered Andy Pettitte $15 million for one year. There’s also a deal on the table from Houston, and he could decide within the week. If Pettitte really is mulling retirement, this may be more appealing then a multi-year deal for less money. Personally, I hope Pettitte signs a multi-year deal somewhere; the guy’s only going to be 35 next year, and he’s already started in on the Roger-esque will-I-or-won’t-I business. C’mon Andy, you want to pitch!
In other news, the Greg Maddux contract with the Padres is still almost done, but 2008 may be a player option (perhaps vesting) instead of the club option that Rosenthal reported earlier.
By Jeff Sackmann, Brew Crew Ball
Astros Interested In Peavy, Jennings
The Houston Chronicle informs us that Astros GM Tim Purpura has inquired about the availability of pitchers Jake Peavy and Jason Jennings. Peavy has the same agent, Barry Axelrod, as Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. According to Axelrod:
"I know there have been inquiries about Peavy," Axelrod said. "I can’t say for sure, but I think Houston was one of the teams."
Of course, they are still waiting on a decision from Andy Pettitte.
Astros, Rockies Interested In Juan Rincon
Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press writes that the Astros and Rockies are talking to the Twins about righty reliever Juan Rincon. The Venezuelan will be 28 this January. Rincon has always shown good command and kept the ball in the park; he’s seemingly a lock for 75 innings and an ERA around 3.
Struggling with a groin injury, Rincon posted a 1.60 WHIP in the second half and lost his job as the eighth inning setup man in September. Also, he had surgery to remove bone chips in his pitching elbow in October of 2005 and soreness lingered into the start of the season. Back in May of ’05, Rincon earned a 10 game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. He lost an appeal of the suspension.
Rincon made about $700,000 in 2006; he’ll be a free agent after the 2008 season. As RotoWorld mentioned, a fine fit would be third baseman Morgan Ensberg.
Roberts to the Giants, and more
It looks like Dave Roberts is going to be a Giant. This will save San Francisco fans from self-immolation over their front office’s apparent inability to make stupid deals, and ensure that the Giants theme of "oldsters in the outfield" remains intact even with Steve Finley and possibly Barry Bonds on their way out.
In other news: Woody Williams got a two-year deal with the Astros for $12.5M. That seems remarkably sane, though I wouldn’t plan on drafting Woody for your fantasy team. He had an okay year in Petco, but he’s moving to one of the unfriendliest parks in baseball for pitching. If the short porch in left is going to do wonders for Carlos Lee, it’s going to hurt Williams nearly as much.
Phil Rogers offers a plethora of random thoughts: the Cubs want to move Jacque Jones; Jones or Geoff Jenkins would be an improvement for the White Sox (so he says); and the Sox could send Scott Podsednik and Juan Uribe to San Fran for Omar Vizquel (much less likely after the Roberts signing, I’d imagine). Emphasis on "could": he’s obviously just making stuff up.
Speaking of making stuff up: now that most of the center fielders out there have found homes, it’s time for the second basemen to start falling into place. There’s been more news lately of Adam Kennedy, who is likely to land in St. Louis, or possibly Toronto. The market for Kennedy, Ronnie Belliard, and others may depend on whether Julio Lugo and/or Ray Durham end up as outfielders, which would shrink the market for those teams who need second basemen.
By Jeff Sackmann
Carlos Lee to Houston
Baseball Digest Daily is reporting that Carlos Lee has agreed to a six-year deal with the Astros. The last dollar amount I saw for this deal was $73M, and that was a five-year deal. I figure we must be up to at least $85M now. Back in July, it seemed ridiculous that Lee would reject a four-year, $48M deal out of hand. Back then, I was glad the Brewers didn’t spend that much on him! But after the Juan Pierre and Gary Matthews Jr. signings, this deal doesn’t look that crazy.
Now the market for bats is a much slimmer one. Among free-agents, Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza and Cliff Floyd are among the only guys who could legitimately bat in the middle of the order, and all of them come with major question marks. The A’s, who probably can’t afford Bonds, are reported to be talking about Piazza and Floyd, while several people have emailed me about reports that Floyd is about to sign with the Cubs.
In other words, if you want an impact bat, you should consider trading for one. Sean McAdam has a piece about who might be available, including familiar trade-bait names such as Manny Ramirez, Carl Crawford, and Pat Burrell. And one bizarre name who doesn’t belong.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the TV station reporting the Lee deal; Carlos is on the front page, at least for now.
By Jeff Sackmann
Carlos Lee Sweepstakes
The Houston Chronicle provides the latest update on the chase for Carlos Lee. It suggests that Tim Purpura could ultimately decide to give El Caballo an Aramis Ramirez-type contract–5 years, $73 million. Right now, the deal the Astros have offered Lee is believed to be 5 years for $60 million.
The Chron has a source saying that an AL team (gotta be the Orioles) has floated a $70M/5 deal. It sounds like the Phillies haven’t made an offer; maybe Pat Gillick will realize that signing Lee just to replace Pat Burrell would be a bizarre waste of time. As it is, it seems like the Astros are banking on getting some kind of hometown discount, while the Orioles are hoping that Carlos wants to play for a mediocre team for the remainder of his productive career.
Then again, it’s always possible that the Cubs will sweep in and sign Lee and Julio Lugo this weekend. Once you spend $200M, what’s another $70M?
UPDATE: Roch Kubatko reports that the Orioles are willing to go six years, for between $80 and $90 million. Carlos loves his cattle ranch, but the gap between the O’s and the ‘Stros seems to be widening.
By Jeff Sackmann
Astros Offer Deals to Lee and Soriano
The Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros have offered multi-year deals to Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Lee. Houston has been viewed by many as the frontrunner for El Caballo, but I hadn’t heard anything about their interest in Soriano.
The article also notes that the Astros "are in serious discussions" with Woody Williams. I suppose if they aren’t counting on getting Roger Clemens back for another year, they may feel the need to add a different 40 year old in the rotation.
By Jeff Sackmann
Biggio Re-Signs, Huff Close?
A reader reports in with some info from Sports Radio 610 out of Houston.
Apparently the Craig Biggio deal is done, at a price of $4MM plus incentives. Is a .700 OPS from a 41 year-old worth that money? That might be what the Astros are getting here. Unfortunately loyalty and goodwill do not translate to wins.
In addition, Sports Radio 610 mentioned that Aubrey Huff was "close" to re-signing as well. Reportedly the deal is for three years with an option for the fourth.
Justice: Astros To Sign Carlos Lee?
On his SportsJustice blog, Houston Chronicle writer Richard Justice seems pretty adamant that the Astros are going to sign slugger Carlos Lee.
My Astros team outlook has the team with roughly $30MM to spend. If Luke Scott can play right field, I wouldn’t disagree with a Lee signing. This will leave Tim Purpura with about $15MM to spread amongst two starting pitchers and perhaps a catcher. I could see Pettitte for $10MM and Woody Williams for $5MMish. Trade Willy Taveras for something useful, and I think the Astros will be in decent shape for 2007.