Odds and Ends: Lowe, Redmond, Timlin
Linkage for Friday…
- River Ave. Blues discovered that Mike Mussina‘s wife may be a bigger factor than we thought in regard to his retirement decision.
- David O’Brien tosses out some names for the Braves to consider: Derek Lowe, Matt Cain, Roy Oswalt, and Josh Willingham. Everyone likes Lowe…Anthony McCarron says the Yankees and Mets should consider him. Those clubs could also enter a bidding war for C.C. Sabathia, says Bob Klapisch. Will C.C.’s postseason record diminish his contract? I don’t think so.
- Greg Couch doesn’t want Javier Vazquez pitching for the White Sox again. Maybe Ozzie is right, Vazquez is not a big-game pitcher. But why say that publicly?
- Joe Christensen seems certain the Twins will exercise Mike Redmond‘s $950K option.
- Chris Carpenter‘s shoulder injury is unprecedented among pitchers. Do the Cardinals need to add veteran rotation insurance? Speaking of unprecedented procedures…Takashi Saito had platelet-rich plasma injected into his elbow in July.
- Joe Starkey thinks the Pirates should…non-tender Adam LaRoche?
- Mike Timlin could retire.
- Huge E-Ticket Manny Ramirez feature from Bill Simmons, wherein Scott Boras is blamed for his Boston exit. Good read.
Odds and Ends: LaCava, Colletti, Andruw
Links for Wednesday…
- I did a Q&A with the Roselle Press. The article includes a sweet picture of me hacking the Internet.
- Greg Cote of the Miami Herald speculates on the new-look 2009 Marlins. If defense is a goal, they could look to acquire Adrian Beltre and try Jorge Cantu at first base. Randy Winn could improve the defense in right.
- John Fay runs through the Reds’ nine free agents. He believes Jerry Hairston Jr. wants to return.
- Brian Cashman wants to acquire a real first baseman, rather than have Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui spend time there.
- The Mariners received permission to interview Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava, according to Geoff Baker.
- It’s still not known whether the Dodgers will bring GM Ned Colletti back for the final year of his contract. Interesting note from ESPN’s Buster Olney – the Andruw Jones signing was engineered by owner Frank McCourt rather than Colletti.
- Olney feels Brian Cashman is more likely to pursue Derek Lowe than Mark Teixeira.
- Will Joe Girardi’s presence discourage free agents from signing with the Yankees?
- McCovey Chronicles sees the Giants trading for a second or third baseman this winter. I tossed out a bunch of names in my Offseason Outlook.
- Pedro Alvarez clammed up when asked precisely what time he accepted the original deal from the Pirates.
- MetsBlog tries to figure out whether Ryan Church loves or hates New York.
- Oliver Perez predicts a tough offseason following the Mets’ final-day elimination. On the bright side, he stands to earn a ridiculous amount of money as a free agent.
Possible Manny Destinations
Manny Ramirez ranked fourth in all of baseball with a .430 OBP, and second with a .601 SLG. This makes him a very attractive free agent, and he won’t require the massive term of a Mark Teixeira. However it’s possible questions about Ramirez’s Boston departure will limit suitors.
Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire tried to determine possible destinations for Manny next year, talking to an MLB manager, a leading agent, and a national baseball writer. The results of this survey:
- All three mentioned the Mets. On Monday, SI.com’s Jon Heyman wrote the Mets appear "disinclined" to go after Ramirez. Yesterday, however, Heyman said on WFAN that Manny was a "real option" and the Mets are "thinking about it."
- The agent named the Giants and Phillies as other possibilities. The Phils had interest in Manny this summer, but didn’t make the best offer. They could give Pat Burrell‘s money to Ramirez, but it could cost an additional $10MM. Meanwhile Giants GM Brian Sabean says Fred Lewis is his left fielder.
- The agent and the writer both expect the Dodgers to make a play to re-sign Ramirez. GM Ned Colletti says he’ll give it a shot, but will the Dodgers pay top dollar? Question for commenters – can you think of any other reasonable destinations for Ramirez?
Maddux Trade Completed
According to MLB.com’s Corey Brock, the Dodgers’ playoff berth resulted in the Padres receiving better prospects from the August Greg Maddux trade. Brock says the Padres received southpaw Michael Watt and righty Eduardo Perez from the Dodgers. Paul DePodesta describes the prospects on his blog.
Yankees Rumors: Jeter, Sabathia, Hudson
Let’s talk Yankees.
- Ken Davidoff makes recommendations for the ’09 Yankees. He would sign Derek Lowe and Andy Pettitte, and offer arbitration to Damaso Marte and Bobby Abreu.
- Jim Baumbach explains a tricky situation coming up: re-signing Derek Jeter.
- Peter Abraham takes a look at various free agents on the minds’ of Yankees fans.
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times says first priority for the Yankees is to re-sign Brian Cashman. I imagine they already have a Plan B in place, but recent reports lean toward Cashman returning.
- Kepner says the Indians were aggressive in pursuing a deadline deal involving Phil Hughes and C.C. Sabathia. Now, Kepner says the Yankees are skeptical they’ll be able to sign Sabathia. For Plan B, the Yanks seem to prefer pitchers with American League experience. They’ll probably stand pat on the bullpen, though a decision must be made on Damaso Marte‘s option.
- If the Yankees can engineer a Robinson Cano–Matt Kemp swap (unlikely), they could then sign free agents Mark Teixeira and Orlando Hudson. The right-side infield defense would be drastically improved.
- Bill Madden of the New York Daily News is more pessimistic – he doesn’t see the team’s internal center field options working out, nor does he consider the free agent signings wise.
Odds and Ends: Manny, Laird, Strasburg, Chipper
Let’s gather up today’s linkage.
- Andy Pettitte will probably pitch next year, but Mike Mussina remains an unknown.
- Reader Peter H. reminds us that the Brewers’ playoff berth means the Indians get to choose the player to be named later in the C.C. Sabathia deal.
- Ross Newhan finds it indisputable that the Dodgers and Angels have to re-sign Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira at any cost. Manny generated an estimated $7.6MM in extra revenue for the Dodgers. T.J. Simers snagged all kinds of quotes from Manny in recent articles, including one about Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick dissing Manny in front of his teammates prior to the shoving incident.
- Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News names some possible fits for Gerald Laird this winter – the Tigers, Brewers, Reds, and Red Sox.
- The Nationals will pick first in the 2009 draft. Will they go for Stephen Strasburg?
- Kerry Wood felt bad about his three-year, $32.5MM deal, and basically signed a blank check after the ’07 season.
- Ron Villone would like to return to the Cardinals rather than attempt to tie Mike Morgan‘s record of playing for 12 different teams.
- Leo Mazzone or Rick Peterson for next Tigers pitching coach?
- Athletics Nation puts together a plan to compete in ’09 without sacrificing the future.
- Chipper Jones wants to retire a Brave. But if he doesn’t sign an extension beyond ’09 and the Braves want to trade him next summer, he’s got a short list of teams to which he’d accept a trade.
Week In Review: 9/21 – 9/27
Here’s your weekly look back at some of the biggest stories we’ve covered on MLBTR!
- The Pedro Alvarez drama may finally be behind us. The Pirates’ first-round pick agreed to terms with the organization on a new four-year, $6.355MM major league contract. Jim Callis and Dejan Kovacevic have some more insight to offer on the signing here. The contract was officially signed later in the week, and the grievance was resolved. Royals fans and Eric Hosmer are also both relieved that this is over I’m sure.
- The Blue Jays began talking extension with A.J. Burnett this week. Later on, we learned that the Jays would offer a two-year, $30MM extension onto the remaining two years of his contract, bringing the total remaining value to four years, $54MM. Burnett seemed pleasantly surprised with the amount of money the Jays were said to offer. He expected they’d offer less. You’re always going to be wondering just how many innings he can give you in a season, but in a world where Carlos Silva makes $12MM per season, if Burnett is healthy he’d be a steal at this price.
- Lots of question marks for another AL East team’s rotation, with the Yankees trying to figure out just what exactly Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina are planning for 2009. Pettitte has said that he’ll play for the Yankees or retire. Bringing Pettitte back only makes sense if he’s willing to take a much smaller contract. I think around $10MM would make sense; someone also suggested a $7-8MM deal with incentives. That seems fair as well. As for Mussina, he initially said that he didn’t think he’d pitch in 2009, but later at least discussed the possibility of pitching for 300 wins. His first preference would be to pitch for the Yankees again. Congrats to Moose on picking up win number 20 today, by the way. Another milestone in a great career.
- Erik Bedard’s injury and operation weren’t as serious as thought, and the Mariners now face more of a decision on bringing him back. If he’s healthy enough to pitch, I can’t see a reason not to bring him back. Maybe they can at least get a few months of the pitcher they initially thought they were getting, and get something in return in July.
- Curious about what it will take for your club to reel in that free agent you’re craving? Buster Olney took a look at the market earlier this week that might shed some light on the issue.
- One player who will be in that free agent pool is Orlando Cabrera. He openly criticized his teammates, saying that none of them wanted to win enough, and that "they were the problem," not him. Cabera’s hitting a very weak shortstop market; he should draw a lot of interest from numerous clubs. Interestingly, that article suggests Chicago’s biggest rival – Minnesota – as a possible landing place for Cabrera.
- Two players officially called it quits this week. Todd Jones retired, notching 319 saves in his career. Elsewhere, J.T. Snow signed a one-day contract with San Francisco, so he could officially retire as a Giant.
- Tim updated the Offseason Outlook series with entries for the Reds, Rockies, and Rangers.
- Has anyone seen Brad Penny recently? No? Apparently, neither have the Dodgers.
Brad Penny Nowhere To Be Found
Joe Torre says injured pitcher Brad Penny disappeared without saying goodbye (no note either apparently). Penny recently expressed displeasure with the Dodgers’ wise decision not to exercise his ’09 option this spring.
Penny has a $9.25MM option for next year with a $2MM buyout. Is he worth $7.25MM on a one-year deal? Probably not – his shoulder bothered him all year and he has a long injury history. Toss in the comments and the unceremonious departure, and it’s likely Penny’s Dodgers career is over.
Olney On The Free Agent Market
ESPN’s Buster Olney has a great blog post up today with his musings about this winter’s free agent market. Let’s take a look.
- Industry people believe the current state of the economy might temper offseason spending. We’ve already heard the rumblings that typically high-spending teams like the Angels, Tigers and Mariners backing off or holding the line on payroll.
- Olney feels C.C. Sabathia could draw a $140MM offer from the Yankees, but something more in the $90-100MM range from the Angels or Dodgers. So he may have to decide whether playing close to home is worth $30-50MM.
- Olney extols the virtues of Derek Lowe, who could get a deal comparable to Jason Schmidt‘s three years/$47MM. That was two years, ago though…I think Scott Boras gets Lowe $18MM a year.
- Olney considers this a strong market for starting pitching. Maybe so, but we might see a lot of multiyear deals for injury-risk hurlers after Sabathia and Lowe sign.
- Olney likes the match between the Cardinals and Brian Fuentes. Other teams that could consider Fuentes: the Rays, Indians, and Brewers.
- Olney is convinced the Yankees will offer Bobby Abreu arbitration but nothing more. Abreu is comfortably set to earn Type A status. If the Yanks offer arbitration, they’ll either get Abreu for one year and $16MM or so or they’ll get two draft picks. In contrast, Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman have said they expect the Yankees to let Abreu leave.
- Olney guesses the Red Sox will offer Jason Varitek two guaranteed years with a vesting option for 2011. The Boston Globe’s Amalie Benjamin wrote in August that she expects Varitek to re-sign.
Odds and Ends: Patterson, Lowry, Alvarez
Today’s linkage…
- Brewers fans, act quickly to snag free tickets to tonight’s game courtesy of Eric Gagne. Nice gesture.
- Of course Ned Colletti wants to re-sign Manny Ramirez. It’s just a question of dollars and years. Does Manny get the rumored 4/100 he might desire?
- The Jays locked manager Cito Gaston up through 2010.
- Richard Griffin says the Blue Jays will be better for it if they lose A.J. Burnett. Meanwhile, River Ave. Blues is open to the idea of the Yankees signing him.
- No, Corey Patterson is not dating Dusty Baker’s daughter. And Baker says he wasn’t behind the signing, either.
- The Reds might not be in the market for a catcher this winter, if they go with Ryan Hanigan as the starter in ’09.
- The Mariners officially founded the 100/100 club.
- Peter Abraham sees the Yankees going with Brett Gardner as the center fielder in 2009. Peter Gammons is "convinced he is going to be an everyday center fielder."
- Sam Mellinger discusses a way to drastically shake up the Royals: trade both Zack Greinke and Joakim Soria for loads of young, cheap players. As he notes, the strategy could work out but might cause a fan revolt.
- Andrew Baggarly wonders if Noah Lowry‘s injury problems could prevent a Matt Cain trade. Also, Baggarly sees a non-tender in Kevin Correia‘s future.
- Frank Coonelly suggested Pedro Alvarez‘s new deal is comparable in value to the original. Scott Boras then jumped on the conference call to say it was a favorable change, and much different from the original. Additionally, Coonelly contacted Baseball America’s Jim Callis to dispute the idea of a premeditated plan to negotiate with Alvarez after the deadline.
- The Marlins will focus on improving their defense this winter.