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Heyman On Chapman, Mets, Hudson

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The latest hot stove notes from SI's Jon Heyman…

  • Despite interest from several other clubs, Heyman sees the Aroldis Chapman bidding as ultimately a Yankees-Red Sox battle.
  • Heyman says the Mets "don't seem inclined" to pursue free agent starter John Lackey.  Heyman believes Lackey will aim for $100MM+, which is higher than most estimates we've seen.
  • The Mets have no interest in Milton Bradley, despite a September report.  Heyman believes a left fielder will be the team's big-ticket import, with Matt Holliday atop their list.
  • Like many, Heyman does not see Orlando Hudson returning to the Dodgers.  Hudson earned about $8MM this year and will be a Type A free agent once again.
  • Look for a Jed Hoyer announcement today from the Padres.

Odds & Ends: Ricciardi, Sabathia, Chapman

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Links for Monday…

  • Former Padres GM Kevin Towers told Bill Madden of the New York Daily News recently "it's just a matter of when" the team trades first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.
  • The Astros claimed outfielder Jason Bourgeois off waivers from the Brewers, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart via Twitter.  Bourgeois, 28 in January, hit .316/.354/.401 in Triple A while playing all three outfield positions.  In other Brewers-related news, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says the team retained Mike Burns and Adam Stern on minor league deals.
  • Don Mattingly is discussing his future with the Dodgers, according to ESPN's Buster Olney.
  • I missed this October 5th article from Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun.  Elliott talked to former Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey, who was frank in his opinions of ex-GM J.P. Ricciardi.
  • Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times says the Angels bid $140MM for C.C. Sabathia last winter, but Olney says "the Angels bid a firm $100MM and discussed increasing their offer to $120MM."
  • Andy Pettitte admitted to Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times, "I think everybody knows I wasn't real happy with the contract.  But I wanted to take it and come back here and have a chance to do this."  Pettitte ended up earning about $10MM in 2009, but only $5.5MM was guaranteed.
  • ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. says on Twitter that Aroldis Chapman "had good conversations" with Yankees GM Brian Cashman and other team execs at yesterday's game.  Meanwhile, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian says that Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos finds signing Chapman unrealistic for his club.  Logically, the Chapman bidding should heat up after the World Series.  The 21-year-old lefty is meeting with the Cardinals, Orioles, and Red Sox this week.
  • Aaron Gleeman says it's reasonable for fans to call for Twins closer Joe Nathan to be traded, but not because he allowed a postseason home run to Alex Rodriguez.
  • NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman says reliever Scott Atchison hopes to return to MLB in 2009.  Atchison, 34 in March, elected free agency in November of 2007 after posting a 4.11 ERA in 30.6 relief innings for the Giants.
  • Jim Seip of the York Daily Record writes about the beginning of Ken Rosenthal's career.
  • John Bonnes attempted to extract info about Joe Mauer's future with the Twins, talking to GM Bill Smith.

Odds & Ends: Indians, Dodgers, Sizemore

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More links on this Saturday night…

  • The Indians' "trio of managerial candidates" each told the club how they would improve the team's less-than-stellar bullpen.  Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer brings us the ideas of Manny Acta, Bobby Valentine and Torey Lovullo.  Chris Perez was one of the Tribe's bright spots in relief, posting 38 Ks in 33.1 IP after coming over from St. Louis in the Mark DeRosa trade.
  • Hoynes also writes that Jon Nunnally is expected to be a "serious candidate" for the team's hitting coach vacancy, regardless of who the manager is.  Nunnally is currently the hitting coach for the team's triple-A affiliate under the aforementioned Lovullo.
  • Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports that Major League Baseball is monitoring the McCourts' battle in Chavez Ravine.  Bob DuPuy, president and chief operating officer of MLB, says that the commissioner's office has not encouraged the McCourts to sell the team. 
  • Shaikin also says that the Dodgers will not use freed-up cash in free agency, but will instead use those funds to retain their arbitration eligible core players.  Those players include Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, James Loney, Russell Martin, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton and George Sherrill.
  • A broken ankle won't cost Tigers' second baseman Scott Sizemore any time in Spring Training, writes Jason Beck of MLB.com.  Barring any unforeseen setbacks in his recovery, it seems that Detroit can still afford to allow free agent Placido Polanco to walk.

Odds & Ends: Phillies, Dodgers, Swisher

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Thanks to the rain in New York, we're without baseball once again tonight.  No need to panic though because we got you covered with links from around the web:

  • The Phillies will have the opportunity to repeat as world champions but they're already looking beyond this year, writes Jayson Stark of ESPN.com.  Stark compares this Phillies team to the late-90s Yankees and notes that unlike that Yanks lineup, the Phillies position players are all north of 30, with the exception of Shane Victorino.  Keeping Cliff Lee and Ryan Howard after their contracts expire (2010 and 2011, respectively) will also be a challenging task.  Do you think the Phillies are in position to become the next great baseball dynasty?
  • After being fired as the Dodgers' team executive by her estranged husband Frank, Jamie McCourt is now seeking investors to help her buy out her husband and gain sole control of the franchise, writes Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
  • Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger quotes Yankees manager Joe Girardi as saying Nick Swisher is "not a platoon player."  Despite the November acquisition's recent struggles, it's hard to argue with that statement as Swisher has impressed in pinstripes.  Swisher will start in right field over Jerry Hairston Jr. in Game 6 of the ALCS, now slated for 8:20 EST tomorrow night.

Odds & Ends: Duchscherer, Dodgers, Phillies

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A few more links to peruse as MLB officials sift through rainy forecasts in NYC…

  • According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland GM Billy Beane has touched base with free agent right-hander Justin Duchscherer.  It's not yet clear, however, whether the A's will try to retain him.  MLBTR profiled the "Duke of Hurl" about a month ago.
  • Diamond Leung passes along a nice anecdote involving Dodgers assistant GM Kim Ng and Justin Orenduff, the club's 2004 first-round pick.  Orenduff was designated for assignment last year to clear roster space for Manny Ramirez and then retired in March of 2009.
  • As noted by Scott Lauber of the Wilmington News Journal, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. believes putting together a winning organization is about more than simply finding the best talent.  "We have guys who, throughout the lineup and in the rotation and the bullpen, are just good guys, winning-type players who believe in each other," said Amaro. "I would put our clubhouse up against any clubhouse I’ve ever been around or may ever be around."  It's corny, but you can't argue with the results.

Odds & Ends: Tigers, Pedro, Rays, Dodgers

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Some links to peruse while you eagerly await Game Six of the ALCS…

  • Lynn Henning of The Detroit News suggests some salary figures for the Tigers' four key free agents: Fernando Rodney, Brandon Lyon, Placido Polanco, and Adam Everett. He also says there's no way to the team will bring back Aubrey Huff or Jarrod Washburn, nor "is it fathomable that either player will be offered salary arbitration for 2010."
  • The Phillies' braintrust has already met about offseason decisions according to Andy Martino of The Philadelphia Inquirer, and a person familiar with the team's thinking tells him that they haven't ruled out offering Pedro Martinez a contract longer than one year.
  • Steve Slowinski at DRaysBay.com took a look at the Rays' projected payroll for 2010, and concludes that salary escalations and arbitration raises don't leave the team with too much wiggle room next year, even though they have/will shed some expensive contracts.
  • Dodgers' GM Ned Colletti said he "doesn't anticipate any cutbacks in resources" despite the drama between the McCourts, according to the AP (via ESPN).
  • Dylan Hernandez of The LA Times says that impending free agents Orlando Hudson and Randy Wolf are expected to "depart to greener pastures."

Dodgers Unlikely To Acquire An Ace?

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The Dodgers' need for a front-line starting pitcher was evident in the postseason, when they were forced to start Rangers' cast-off Vicente Padilla in an elimination game. Most speculated that acquiring a top of the rotation starter would be the first order of business for GM Ned Colletti, but according to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick, bringing aboard a pitcher of that caliber may be unlikely.

"There's not a long list of guys where you would say, this guy would make a dramatic difference," Colletti said of the upcoming crop of free-agent starters. "It's a thin market. There are pitchers who would make us better. But tremendously better?

"Every club needs an ace and we're not unlike any club. We might have one or two in the making [referring to Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley]. But the likelihood of an ace becoming available by trade is very slim. And this [free-agent] class doesn't have that type of allure to it."

Both Colletti and manager Joe Torre agree on the clubs biggest areas of need – starting pitching depth and second base – but reiterated that they're comfortable with the young core that's in place. Who wouldn't be comfortable with a group of young players like that?

Despite what seems to be a perpetual need for starters, the Dodgers led baseball with a 3.41 ERA in 2009, and their 3.80 FIP was good for second best behind Atlanta.

Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Torre, Wang, Wright

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A night without baseball just doesn't feel right…

  • ESPN's Buster Olney wonders if the "legal wrangling" caused by the McCourts' divorce could affect the Dodgers attempt to land a No. 1 starter this offseason. Within the same piece, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus notes that the prospects traded in deals for Casey Blake and George Sherrill have thinned out LA's system, meaning they might not have the ammo to pull off a major trade.
  • Meanwhile, Phil Wood of MASNsports.com writes that a source told him they believe Joe Torre will manage the Dodgers for years to come. "When push comes to shove, he won't want to leave," said the source.
  • Tyler Kepner of The NY Times mentions that Chien-Ming Wang isn't sure if the Yankees will tender him a contract this offseason. “Nothing’s sure,” Wang said. Wang has thrown just 137 IP over the last two seasons due to foot and shoulder injuries.
  • Dave Cameron at FanGraphs looks at the David Wright–Jose Cruz Jr. non-trade, and says that the Blue Jays messed up by not making the deal, but not because Wright developed into an All-Star. He says J.P. Ricciardi did wrong by not getting any return for Cruz Jr. before he left as a free agent in the offseason.

Heyman On Lee, Sabathia, Mattingly

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Indians GM Mark Shapiro tells Jon Heyman of SI.com that it's "bittersweet" to see Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia excelling in the postseason for other clubs. The former Indians aces could match up in Game 1 of the World Series if the Yankees beat the Angels in six games. Lee tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports it would be a lot of fun and I'm sure thousands of baseball fans agree with him. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors:

  • Shapiro says "the realities of the business" prevented the Indians from retaining either Sabathia or Lee.
  • Heyman says the Indians offered Sabathia $72MM over four years to stay in Cleveland before the 2008 season and Shapiro admits the offer was probably "unrealistic."
  • The Indians never made Lee an offer and traded him and Victor Martinez because they would have had limited payroll flexibility had they held onto both players for 2010.
  • The Indians appear to have chosen four finalists for their managerial opening: Bobby Valentine, Don Mattingly, Manny Acta and Torey Lovullo. 
  • The Dodgers appear to be preparing Mattingly to take over for Joe Torre after next season, so it might make sense for Mattingly to stay in LA.

Odds & Ends: McCourt, Manny, Duncan, Blue Jays

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A few links to check out between ALCS pitches…

  • Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt has fired his wife, Jamie, as CEO of the team. The McCourts are famously going through what will likely be a messy divorce, and Jamie's lawyers maintain that "she owns 50 percent of the team."
  • Diamond Leung tweets that the Dodgers and GM Ned Colletti are planning on having Manny Ramirez around next year. Manny has a $20MM player option that he has until shortly after the World Series to exercise.
  • Now that they've brought in hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, Mark Potash of The Chicago Sun Times wants to see the Cubs go after pitching coach Dave Duncan. Duncan has said he's going to wait and see what Tony LaRussa does before deciding on his coaching future.
  • ESPN's Keith Law, former special assistant to the GM in Toronto, mentioned a few interesting Blue Jays' non-trades in his chat today. He says that the Mets once offered 19-year-old David Wright for Jose Cruz Jr., but J.P. Ricciardi said "I'm not trading a major league player for some guy in the (Low Class-A) Sally League." Klaw also mentions that the Jays had a chance to trade Cruz Jr. for Rafael Soriano, but wouldn't do it unless the Mariners kicked in Clint Nageotte as well. What could have been, Jays fans.
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