Perrotto’s Latest: Twins, Damon, Franklin, Penny, Dye
John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus brings us his latest from around the leagues:
- When they come off the DL, Francisco Liriano and Glen Perkins will be used in relief. So, the Twins are hoping to add a starter who can pitch in the playoffs. This means they have until tomorrow at midnight to do so.
- The Yankees would like to re-sign Johnny Damon to a one year deal and give Austin Jackson a second year to develop at Triple-A, while pursuing Matt Holliday and Jason Bay in the offseason.
- The Marlins and Giants are frontrunners to land Brad Penny.
- The Cardinals expect to exercise Ryan Franklin‘s $2.75MM club option and then sign an extension with their closer for 2011.
- The Royals want to extend G.M. Dayton Moore who is signed through 2010.
- Perrotto says the Cubs are likely to deal Milton Bradley this winter, even if it means eating a large portion of the $21MM owed to him through 2011.
- Jermaine Dye will more than likely not see his $12MM option exercised by the White Sox after a dip in production in tandem with the salary demands of Alex Rios and Jake Peavy.
- For the postseason, the Dodgers are seeking “a left-handed bat with power” for their bench.
- The Nats are auditioning Livan Hernandez as a veteran innings eater for 2010.
- The Diamondbacks may non-tender Conor Jackson.
- Brewers manager Ken Macha said G.M. Doug Melvin “scoured the area for pitching” before the deadline but was unable to add a starter because he refused to trade Mat Gamel or Alcides Escobar.
- After making seven trades this year, the Pirates are the youngest team in the MLB.
Odds & Ends: Twins, Astros, Magglio
Some links for the morning:
- Richard Justice at the Houston Chronicle has a laundry list of ways to make the Astros a more interesting team, including making Jeff Bagwell the manager for the rest of the season.
- Bob Dutton at the Kansas City Star says sources have confirmed discussions involving an extension for GM Dayton Moore, but they caution that nothing is imminent just yet.
- Kelly Thesier at MLB.com gets Twins anchor Joe Nathan's take on the team's recent flurry of moves.
- With the recent claims on Rich Harden and Aaron Heilman, Toni Ginnetti at the Chicago Sun-Times gives a rundown of the decisions ahead for Cubs GM Jim Hendry.
- The Tigers have a decision to make on the future of Magglio Ordonez, whose 2010 option vests with just around 50 more plate appearances this year. Tom Gage at the Detroit News says that it appears the team will let the $18MM option exercise itself, and discusses the ramifications and reasoning.
- George Steinbrenner is on the verge of being sued by one Bob Gutkowski, who claims he came up with the idea for the YES Network, reports Richard Sandomir at the New York Times.
Royals Considering Extension For Moore
8:39pm: The team confirms that there have been talks about an extension for Moore, but insist "no deal is in place or close" according to The KC Star's Bob Dutton.
7:45pm: Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse confirms through a source that the extension for Moore is "done."
10:22am: The Royals are considering a contract extension for GM Dayton Moore, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. Moore's current contract runs through 2010 and the Royals may keep Moore around for even longer.
Moore, who took over control of the team in 2006, has been harshly criticized for some deals, but praised for others. He faced criticism for acquiring Mike Jacobs and Yuniesky Betancourt, but received praise for locking Zack Greinke up affordably.
Crasnick suggests that an extension for Moore would increase manager Trey Hillman's chances of keeping his job after next year, when his contract is set to expire.
Twins Acquire Ron Mahay
1:32pm: The Twins acquired Mahay from the Royals, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney. The Royals will cover most of his salary, and the Twins will pay the pro-rated MLB minimum, which should amount to less than $100k.
1:14pm: The Twins are "on the verge" of acquiring reliever Ron Mahay from the Royals, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Royals designated the lefty for assignment last week. He allowed 55 hits and 19 walks in 41.1 innings, striking out 34. We first heard of the Twins' interest in the 13-year veteran yesterday.
Mahay makes $4MM this year, so there's about $740k remaining on his contract.
Odds And Ends: Royals, Mets, Marquis
More links for the early afternoon…
- ESPN.com's Keith Law argues there's no reason for the Royals to consider extending GM Dayton Moore now. It could impede them in the future, and they're in no apparent danger of losing him to a rival club.
- Author Erin Arvedlund told Ben Klayman of Reuters that the Wilpon family will be forced to sell the Mets.
- The Mets, however, say the author's claim is "false and irrespopnsible," according to Jon Heyman of SI.com.
- EPSN.com's Rob Neyer says MLB should change its draft if it makes sense to do so, but not just to make people feel better.
- Jason Marquis' team has made the playoffs every year of his decade-long career, as Tim Kurkjian of ESPN.com notes. Marquis is in the midst of a career year and about to hit the free agent market this offseason.
Odds And Ends: Mahay, Hudson, Wagner
Some links to distract you from the Brad Penny rumors…
- Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune hears indications that the Twins could consider dealing for Ron Mahay, who the Royals just designated for assignment.
- ESPN passes along an AP report informing us that Tim Hudson will make his 2009 season debut on Monday. It would be a surprise if the Braves turned out to be the team that claimed Rich Harden given their pitching depth.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff points us to an interesting wrinkle in the rulebook. Teams that offer their free agents arbitration don't have to offer them anything close to the salary they made the previous season. So if the Red Sox decide they want to offer Billy Wagner less than $8MM next year, they can do so. This is not the case for players who don't yet have six years of service time.
Stark On Holliday, Lee, Yankees, Hoffman
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports that the Cardinals and Phillies may be better off letting their respective deadline acquisitions walk once they hit free agency. Here are the details and the rest of his rumors:
- We know that Matt Holliday's interested in staying in St. Louis. But one AL exec doubts the Cards can afford to tie up $40-50MM per year in Holliday and Albert Pujols. It could work short-term, but could prevent the Cardinals from keeping Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. Plus, the pair of sluggers may not be worth a combined $50MM in a few years.
- One team official believes Cliff Lee's agent will be looking for a $100MM payday once the lefty hits free agency after next season (assuming the Phils pick up his 2010 option). The official says the Phillies should consider letting Lee walk after next year, instead of committing long-term to him.
- The teams that considered dealing for Johan Santana after the 2007 season aren't surprised to hear that he's having elbow trouble now, though it's not something they anticipated with any sense of certainty. However, Mets assistant GM John Ricco says he doesn't regret the way the team handled its ace.
- There are increasing indications that the Yankees don't plan on being big buyers in the free agent market this offseason. The Yankees seem more likely to keep Johnny Damon and let Austin Jackson grow into a full-time player than pursue Matt Holliday or Jason Bay.
- Stark hears that the Red Sox were the only team to claim Billy Wagner. We heard the Angels had interest, but apparently they never made a claim.
- One executive believes AL teams would have very little interest in Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman has value because of his status as a Type A free agent, which could factor in to teams' claims.
- Rival clubs expect the Blue Jays to try dealing Edwin Encarnacion after the season. He makes $4.75MM in 2010, so it won't be easy.
- The Royals are still trying to deal Ron Mahay and at least one scout expects a team or two to have interest in ther veteran lefty.
Odds And Ends: Perez, Greinke, Matsui, Magglio
More links as another Met hits the shelf…
- Oliver Perez will have season-ending surgery and, as Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post points out, the Mets now have about $100MM sitting on the DL.
- Zack Greinke makes $100k if he wins the Cy Young Award. Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star thinks Greinke deserves it, but doesn't expect him to win it, so he suggests the rest of the Royals chip in to make sure their ace gets rewarded for his big year.
- Magglio Ordonez keeps picking up the plate appearances and he's now just 59 away from assuring himself an $18MM payday in 2010. His option should vest sometime next month.
- Hideki Matsui tells Newsday's Ken Davidoff that he'd consider playing with Ichiro. Davidoff suggests the White Sox and A's are possible fits for Matsui when he becomes a free agent after the season.
- Be sure to become a fan of MLBTR on Facebook, where we're discussing Billy Wagner's future. If you don't already follow us on Twitter, you can start by clicking here.
Royals Rumors: Soria, Gordon, Buck, Jacobs
ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick explores many of the disappointing elements of the Royals' 2009 season and turns up some rumors along the way. Here they are:
- GM Dayton Moore says he tried to build a winner and holds himself accountable for the team's failure.
- Now he wants to build through scouting and player development. The Royals' system has improved as the team has spent more, but there's not an abundance of talent in the upper minors.
- Crasnick says the Royals need a "major overhaul" but suggests no one on the team's roster other than Zack Greinke or Joakim Soria would fetch much in a trade.
- Some believe the Royals would be better off shopping Soria for two or three young players. Moore says he'll be open-minded to that sort of deal if it helps the Royals long-term.
- One AL scout says the Royals rushed Alex Gordon and prevented him from developing fully.
- The Royals may not offer contracts to John Buck and Mike Jacobs after the season.
Royals DFA Ron Mahay
The Royals designated Ron Mahay for assignment to make room for Yasuhiko Yabuta, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. Mahay, a 38-year-old lefty, has allowed 55 hits and 19 walks in 41.1 innings, striking out 34. The 13-year veteran has allowed nine homers already, which have contributed to his 4.79 ERA. Mahay's in the second year of a two-year $8MM deal that he signed before the 2008 season.