Brian Bannister Q&A, Part 1
We’ve done some Q&As with players before – Curtis Granderson, Jason Hirsh, and Michael Barrett. This time, for our Brian Bannister Q&A, we had readers submit the questions. Brian really went the extra mile to accomodate, providing thoughtful and elaborate answers. Great stuff – many thanks to him for participating. We’ll break this up into several parts. (UPDATE: Read Part 2 and Part 3).
Odds and Ends: Velocity, Santana, Teixeira
Make sure to check out these links.
- Baseball America admits that fastball velocity is important, and does a Where Are They Now with all those who had reached 98 mph from the ’02 prospect handbook. The success rate was solid. They have an even bigger list of guys who topped 98 from their upcoming ’08 handbook, some of whom will be aces one day. Did you know Felipe Paulino reached 102? Hat tip to Depressed Fan on the link.
- Joe Posnanski writes about how the Royals are leading the Johan Santana race. Funny stuff. Would be refreshing to see the Royals in there.
- White Sox outfielder Brian Anderson busts out the ol’ "best shape of my life" cliche. He’s trying to ditch the negative attitude, but still wants out of Chicago so he can have a shot at a full-time role.
- Not sure what to make of this…did Mark Teixeira buy a house in north suburban Atlanta? If so does it mean anything? Hat tip to Braves Love for the discovery.
Questions For Brian Bannister?
I first became a Brian Bannister fan when I read about how he prepares for AL vs. NL lineups (scroll to the bottom of this post). The 26 year-old Royals starter definitely seems like an intellectual pitcher.
Brian has kindly agreed to do a Q&A for MLBTR. Hit me with your questions for him in the comments and I’ll choose the best five or six.
Royals Sign Tomko
According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Royals have signed Brett Tomko to a one-year, $3MM deal. He can earn another $1.5MM in incentives. Tomko seems likely to get an initial shot at starting. The odds are stacked against 30 league average starts, but Tomko is regarded as one of those enigma guys who has decent stuff. So he has slightly more upside than some of the other free agent starters.
It could make sense to look at Tomko for the closer job and switch Joakim Soria to the rotation. Tomko’s flexibility might come in handy. Fun subplot: Tomko will see a whole lot of A.J. Pierzynski now, his former Giant teammate who he called a "cancer" several years ago. As far as I can tell Tomko has never pitched to him.
Crasnick names the Athletics, Astros, Rockies, Nationals, and Reds as other interested parties in Tomko. As an MLBTR commenter mentioned, the Royals are probably out of the hunt for Bartolo Colon now. The Reds are probably done after the Affeldt signing. But the Astros and Nats might still be looking for a starter.
Odds and Ends: Hinske, Doumit, Colon, Greene
It’s up to an impressive 5.7 degrees where I am, but I still don’t think I’ll be going outside much today. Hence, some odds and ends.
- Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald believes Eric Hinske might sign with the Diamondbacks this week. The 30 year-old former ROY has a career line of .255/.336/.434, with much better work against righties.
- John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus says the Red Sox are interested in the Pirates’ Ryan Doumit. However Perrotto says the Bucs are reluctant to trade the versatile Doumit, who turns 27 in April. Only past Doumit rumor I can find was from Will Carroll in May of ’06, saying he and Oliver Perez were being dangled to the Phillies.
- Perrotto believes the Royals could sign Bartolo Colon if he’ll take a one-year deal; that may be true for several clubs. Paul Hoynes reports that the Indians watched Colon pitch, but weren’t impressed with his sub-90 velocity. Hoynes says Kris Benson will have another throwing session and the Tribe will be in attendance.
- According to Marc Topkin, the Rays are talking with lefty reliever Trever Miller. The two sides haven’t agreed on the term yet.
- Padres GM Kevin Towers commented about the team’s rejected long-term overtures toward shortstop Khalil Greene. Towers brought a three or four year proposal to Greene but does not expect anything to get done. He stated Greene’s possible desire to be on the East Coast as a factor.
- Vince Gennaro does an economic analysis of the Johan Santana rumors, indicating that the acquisition makes the most sense for the Mets.
Odds and Ends: Colon, Byrd, Sosa, Wilkerson
Some random links and whatnot for Saturday…
- Joe Cowley says the White Sox have backed off on Bartolo Colon because he wants a two-year deal. He believes the Royals are the frontrunner.
- Rangers guru Jamey Newberg doesn’t think Marlon Byrd would be enough to get Matt Murton from the Cubs.
- The Rangers might’ve entertained Sammy Sosa in a limited role, but he’s looking for 400-500 plate appearances. Good luck with that!
- Heard an unconfirmed whisper that the Red Sox may have some interest in Brad Wilkerson.
- RotoAuthority takes a fantasy baseball look at Yovani Gallardo and Tim Lincecum.
Odds and Ends: Gregg, Howard, Shingo, Valentin, Ankiel
Some loose ends and links from today…
- Closer Kevin Gregg is the highest-paid Marlin at $2.5MM. Quick! Trade him!
- Ryan Howard and the Phillies submitted salary figures: Howard wants $10MM, the Phillies want to pay him $7MM. If they can’t meet in the middle then an independent arbitrator will pick one of the two amounts next month. MLB.com has a handy table showing all the figures submitted today by players and teams.
- Fun fact, the Cubs signed Shingo Takatsu. He’s 39 now; he saved 19 games for the ’04 White Sox. He had a 6.17 ERA in 23 innings in Japan last year though. Mr. Zero is the all-time saves leader in Japan.
- Jose Valentin‘s minor league deal was announced today. The free agent market is pretty much barren of middle infielders now.
- The Cardinals and Rick Ankiel agreed on $900K plus another $100K in incentives for ’08. He was an oddball case without comparables given his career progression.
- The Royals appear to be done this offseason.
Odds and Ends: Hendrickson, Soria, Sherrill
Here’s today’s random collection of links.
- The Marlins signed Mark Hendrickson as the veteran leadership guy for ’08, at a cost of $1.5MM. He was knocked around in 15 starts for the Dodgers in ’07 but was solid in the pen. The Marlins will put him in the rotation, perhaps to tutor fellow southpaws Andrew Miller and Scott Olsen.
- Craig Brown would like to see the Royals use Joakim Soria as a starter.
- There is a theory that the Mariners’ signing of Arthur Rhodes will allow them to trade George Sherrill in an Erik Bedard deal. Seems a half-baked theory, wherever it originated. I don’t think Sherrill is holding this deal up.
- An argument for the Nate Robertson extension from Danny Knobler, and one against from J.C. Bradbury. Also, Peter Abraham thinks Chien Ming-Wang‘s agent will use Robertson as a comparable.
- The White Sox are still considering Bartolo Colon, according to ESPN Radio’s Bruce Levine.
- Pat Burrell would love to re-sign with the Phillies after this season. Pat, by the way, doesn’t have a computer and owes his second half success to "more hits."
- Phil Hughes has a computer, and even a new blog. Not much going on over there yet though.
Odds and Ends: Adam Jones, Weaver, Jocketty
You know how it works…random rumors and links to clear out my inbox.
- Adam Jones left winter ball early, perhaps as a prelude to a trade.
- The Cardinals’ interest in Jeff Weaver is "at best, tepid" according to Derrick Goold. However, Goold thinks they should bring him back.
- Walt Jocketty said on XM Radio: "I don’t want to be a GM again." I guess that settles that, Wayne Krivsky can rest easy.
- This is kind of funny. Mark Teahen on meeting Jose Guillen: "For the most part he didn’t rub me the wrong way – he seemed like a good guy." Hmmm….for the most part?
Brewers Rumors: DeJesus, Lofton
Tom Haudricourt recently spoke with Brewers’ GM Doug Melvin.
He learned that Melvin spoke with the Royals about David DeJesus at the Winter Meetings, but the Royals have backed off on those talks after signing Jose Guillen. Melvin doesn’t expect DeJesus to be traded. I talked to the Kansas City Star’s Bob Dutton recently about DeJesus’ trade value, if you’re interested.
Meanwhile the Brewers are still considering Kenny Lofton. They’re just debating whether they want to use him in left or move Bill Hall, neither of which appeals to them.