Dodgers Rumors

Gammons On Matthews, Teahen, Harang, Peavy

By Tim Dierkes | March 23, 2009 at 12:07pm CDT

12:07pm: John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer asked Reds GM Walt Jocketty about Gammons' Harang note. Jocketty said, "I'm not going to comment on something when he doesn't know what he's talking about."

9:19am: ESPN's Peter Gammons had a new blog post yesterday discussing available players.

Gammons names Geoff Jenkins ($8MM remaining, limited no-trade), Brian Giles ($9MM remaining, full no-trade), Gary Matthews Jr. ($33.5MM remaining, full no-trade), Marcus Thames ($2.275MM salary), Nick Johnson ($5.5MM salary), Jason Repko, and Jeff Baker as players being dangled. Gammons links Matthews to the Yankees but admits his contract will be an issue.
Mark Teahen has drawn interest from the Astros, Red Sox, and Yankees.
Gammons says the Reds "have let teams know that they will wait and see whether they need to move Aaron Harang during the season." It'd be a shame to see the Reds break up that rotation. Harang has about $36MM coming to him over the next three seasons if his 2011 option is exercised.
Brewers third baseman Bill Hall expects his team to pursue Padres ace Jake Peavy if available this summer. Unlike C.C. Sabathia, Peavy is more than a rental.

Odds & Ends: Gregerson, Hanley, Strasburg

By Tim Dierkes | March 23, 2009 at 11:56am CDT

Links for Monday…

Matt Eddy of Baseball America has the minor league transactions, including the Dodgers' signing of J.D Durbin.
Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune says Rays Rule 5 pick Derek Rodriguez, a reliever, has been returned to the White Sox.
Yahoo's David Brown talked to Carlos Pena about many topics, including his agent Scott Boras.
According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Padres received pitcher Luke Gregerson as the player to be named later in the Khalil Greene deal. The other player the Padres received, the now-injured Mark Worrell, was also a minor league closer. Given the state of the Padres' pen, Gregerson could reach the Majors this year. UPDATE: Here is Paul DePodesta's take on Gregerson.
MLB.com's Ken Gurnick noted yesterday that the Dodgers cut pitcher Shawn Estes, and he's yet to decide whether to accept a Triple A assignment. UPDATE: Estes will head to the minors and attempt to reinvent himself as a lefthanded specialist.
Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald quizzed Hanley Ramirez about Boston's attempt to reacquire him in November.
MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan wonders about Frank Catalanotto's future. Useful player, but the Rangers would have to eat most of his $6MM to move him.
Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post talked to Nationals president Stan Kasten about the six-year, $50MM Stephen Strasburg rumor. We all know how Boras works…if he wants $25MM for Strasburg, he starts at $50MM.
South Side Sox and Sox Machine comment on the Gavin Floyd extension, as well as the offers to John Danks and Carlos Quentin.
Talking to David Lennon of Newsday, Tom Glavine responded to Pedro Martinez's distaste for signing a "Glavine-like" contract.
Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun spoke to Aubrey Huff, who "doesn't even understand the concept of a contract push."
Ivan Rodriguez explained to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez why he didn't sign with the Marlins.

Frank McCourt Comments

By Tim Dierkes | March 20, 2009 at 8:57am CDT

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt spoke at a Town Hall Los Angeles luncheon yesterday, and Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times was in attendance for the quotes.

McCourt expects to sell fewer season tickets and more single game tickets this year due to the economy. However, Shaikin learned from Dodgers chief operating officer Dennis Mannion that the Dodgers will at least be close to last year's season ticket sales.
McCourt wants to "once again have the best player development system in all of baseball." In his recent minor league organizational rankings, Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein dropped the Dodgers down to 21st.
McCourt acknowledged the team's poor free agent signings in recent years, saying, ""We can't do this just by bringing in free agents. I could put up a slide of some of my big, big mistakes with free agents. You're just not sure."
McCourt suggested the team made its offers to Manny Ramirez public to gauge fan feedback. Fan-influenced GM decisions – good idea?

Odds And Ends: Tejada, Manny, White Sox

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 19, 2009 at 7:10pm CDT

A few links for Thursday night…

Good news for the Astros: The AP (via ESPN) reports that a federal prosecutor recommended that Miguel Tejada get probation, but no prison time for his involvement with PEDs.
MLB.com's Ken Gurnick passes along a memorable Manny Ramirez quote: "No more cricket. I'm not signing to play cricket. Well, I can be a free agent after this year, so we'll see. But don't ask me about cricket."
Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald writes that the White Sox need to make a deal for a center fielder who can bat leadoff. He thinks GM Kenny Williams is "probably close" to making a deal. Gregor doesn't like Jim Edmonds or Juan Pierre for the job, but he doesn't rule out Kenny Lofton.
This isn't a rumor, but MLB.com's Mark Sheldon has a quirky anecdote. Micah Owings and Norris Hopper hit home runs with the same bat today. I might be more surprised that Hopper hit one.
Ivan Rodriguez is looking forward to joining the Astros, according to this article in the Detroit Free Press.
Padres CEO Sandy Alderson says it was a huge mistake to let Joakim Soria slip away through the Rule 5 draft in this article by Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Pedro Hopes For Return To Mets?

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 19, 2009 at 5:28pm CDT

According to Newsday's Jim Baumbach a friend of Pedro Martinez's says the righty still hopes to sign a deal with the Mets, though the Dodgers also appeal to him. This afternoon Jon Heyman reported that the Mets have offered Pedro a deal worth $1-2MM, so it appears Pedro can return if he's willing to lower his asking price.

Baumbach adds that Pedro isn't selling the house he owns on the New York-Connecticut border in case he can work out a return to the Mets. Last Tuesday, his return seemed unlikely, but a lot changes in a week.

Stark On Cameron, Ohman, Jenkins

By Tim Dierkes | March 19, 2009 at 3:44pm CDT

ESPN's Jayson Stark has a new blog post up.

The Astros plan to give Chris Johnson a chance to win the third base job, but Stark says Juan Uribe, Jose Bautista, and Jeff Baker "could still show up on their shopping list in the next two weeks."
Stark heard "rumblings the Yankees are poking around again on Mike Cameron's availability." Back in December, the Yanks and Brewers were pretty close on a deal.
Eric Milton is looking decent and appears to be the frontrunner for the Dodgers' fifth starter job (given Pedro Martinez's asking price).
Will Ohman seeks a one-year, $1.75MM deal with easily-reachable incentives for another million. He also prefers the West Coast, and Stark believes the Padres and Giants are more likely than the Dodgers. Like the Dodgers, the Phillies and Marlins have interest at a lesser price. Stark has also heard the Phils connected to Giants lefty Jack Taschner.
Shawn Camp, Geoff Geary, John Buck, and Geoff Jenkins are currently available. The Phillies would eat almost all of the $8MM owed to Jenkins.

Remember Mac Suzuki? According to MLB.com’s Dick Kaegel, the Royals’ first Japanese pitcher worked out for Kansas City and Cleveland and will audition for the Dodgers as well. He’s spent the last three years in the Mexican League.
Carlos Zambrano’s second-favorite team is the White Sox, according to Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times. Big Z’s contract with the Cubs runs through 2012 or 2013.
Nationals acting GM Mike Rizzo told Chico Harlan of the Washington Post he’s received a lot of phone calls about his outfield/first base logjam.
RotoAuthority runs through all 30 closer situations. Print it out and bring it to your draft.
Cole Hamels update: no structural damage to his elbow. ESPN’s Buster Olney says it’s inflammation.
Hal McCoy heard from a scout that the Reds might be shopping pitcher Nick Masset, who is out of options.
Baseball America’s Jim Callis says about 42-44% of first-round draft picks have significant big league careers.
"Only a physical and minor details" remain on Ivan Rodriguez’s one-year, $1.5MM deal with the Astros, according to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle.
Free agent outfielder Luis Gonzalez still hopes to play in 2009. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says the D’Backs’ interest only lies in post-retirement employment.
According to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News, the Mets have begun the process of returning Rule 5 pick Rocky Cherry to the Orioles. UPDATE: Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post says the O’s rejected Cherry and the Mets released him.
This week’s chat has been moved to Thursday at 2pm CST.

Heyman On Pedro, Manny, Crede

By Tim Dierkes | March 16, 2009 at 12:16pm CDT

The latest from SI.com’s Jon Heyman…

Heyman sees the Pedro Martinez sweepstakes as between the Dodgers and Mets, but he might have to come down to the $2.5MM range. The Mets don’t seem thrilled with Tim Redding, who "came to camp with a sore shoulder and 20 pounds overweight."
If Manny Ramirez opts out after the ’09 season, he’ll seek a three-year deal. Heyman suggests Manny may be better off staying in L.A. than signing with a New York team.
Heyman spoke to one White Sox person who questioned Joe Crede’s ability to play on the Minnesota turf.

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