Rosenthal’s Latest: Hardy, Flowers, Wolf
Another day, another column from Ken Rosenthal.
- With multiple vacancies in the rotation and bullpen, the Brewers may need to see what kind of pitching Mike Cameron and/or J.J. Hardy can bring in return. GM Doug Melvin is not ready to shop Hardy. He’s received interest, but most teams have not given names (one team suggested swapping him for a pitcher Melvin termed, "a fifth starter.")
- The Padres have asked the Braves to substitute catcher Tyler Flowers for center fielder Gorkys Hernandez in their Jake Peavy offer. Dave O’Brien sees this as unlikely.
- If they can’t sign Mark Teixeira, the Angels are ready to shift gears to C.C. Sabathia, Francisco Rodriguez, or other players. The idea of a Manny Ramirez pursuit was "tabled rather quickly."
- The Cardinals plan to add one or two lefthanded relievers, probably free agents.
- In his quest for righthanded power, Reds GM Walt Jocketty inquired on Matt Holliday and Josh Willingham before they were traded. Purely speculative – Jermaine Dye could be a nice fit.
- At least half a dozen teams have expressed interest in free agent starter Randy Wolf.
Olsen/Willingham Trade Roundup
It’s official – the Marlins traded Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham to the Nationals for Emilio Bonifacio, Jake Smolinksi, and P.J. Dean. Let’s round up commentary on the surprising deal.
- Jim Bowden says he acquired Willingham as an outfielder, not a first baseman.
- MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro has Larry Beinfest saying the Marlins will move forward with both Jeremy Hermida and Dan Uggla.
- Mike Berardino and Juan C. Rodriguez also believe Uggla will stay put this winter.
- Olsen talked to Frisaro and the Palm Beach Post’s Joe Capozzi about the trade. He’s happy it’s over, but doesn’t sound bitter.
- Also at MLB.com, Jonathan Mayo evaluates the prospects the Marlins received.
- ESPN’s Keith Law calls it an "easy win for Washington." He notes that Olsen’s velocity rebounded in September.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post reminds us that the Marlins excel at evaluating young talent. He says Nick Johnson, if healthy, figures to be trade bait now that the Nats have Willingham.
- Dave Cameron weighs in. He says the neither Olsen nor Willingham are as good as their reputations, but the Nats didn’t give up much.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Johnson, Peavy, Dempster
Here’s a look at the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- It doesn’t seem likely that Randy Johnson re-signs with the Diamondbacks, though Johnson is holding out filing for free agency until the possibility is exhausted. The D’Backs hope he will take a significant hometown discount; they have roughly $10MM to spend for Johnson and a second baseman. If a Mark Loretta type takes $2MM, will Johnson take $8MM after earning $15.1MM for a fine ’08 season?
- The Braves are frustrated with the progress on the Jake Peavy talks, and will explore other options (especially once the free agent market opens Friday). Rosenthal says the Padres sent revised proposals to the Cubs and Braves yesterday, but those teams intend to stick with their offers. Will the Padres crack and make a deal before Friday?
- Rosenthal criticizes the Padres for the classless farewell to Trevor Hoffman. They pulled their reduced offer, and didn’t agree to the meeting with ownership he requested.
- Suddenly there may be more solid free agent closers than teams seeking one. The Mets have their pick. To me this is a sign that K-Rod will fall short of five years, $75MM.
- Rosenthal believes Kevin Gregg is next up on the trading block for the Marlins, with Jeremy Hermida another possibility.
- Casey Blake doesn’t have any geographic leanings regarding his next destination. His agent feels a three-year deal is reasonable. The Twins and Indians are among seven teams eyeing Blake.
- The Cubs offered Ryan Dempster something in the range of Kyle Lohse‘s four years, $41MM. Teams don’t like to use the Carlos Silva deal as a benchmark, because it was such a clear mistake.
Nats Trade For Olsen, Willingham
9:44pm: Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel was assured this evening that Dan Uggla will not be traded this winter. Additonally, Mike Berardino says the Marlins won’t be signing Ivan Rodriguez for a second stint.
6:34pm: According to ESPN’s Peter Gammons, the Nationals acquired Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham from the Marlins for second baseman Emilio Bonifacio and two minor league players, pitcher P.J. Dean and shortstop Jake Smolinski.
Bonifacio was the prospect the Diamondbacks traded straight up for Jon Rauch. He fits into the "speed and defense" plan. Smolinski was ranked 11th among Nationals prospects heading into the season according to Baseball America. They consider him a polished hitter with gap power. Dean was ranked 30th, but he projects well and could become a mid-rotation starter according to BA.
I have to say, I thought the Marlins would get more for these two players. There’s not really a sure thing in the bunch. Did Jim Bowden pull a heist, or was this the true market value of these two players? Olsen’s peripheral stats weren’t great this year, while Willingham has back problems.
Tim Dierkes also contributed to this post.
Odds and Ends, Prospects Edition: Kendry Morales, Dayan Viciedo, Logan Morrison
Some news from the winter leagues and beyond:
- Kendry Morales homered and doubled in Dominican Winter League play yesterday. "Morales is 9-for-23 and has homered in four of his six games in the Dominican Republic," reports Rotoworld. "He’s trying to force the Angels to open up either first base or DH for him next year." Of course, if the Angels can’t re-sign Mark Teixeira, Morales may not have to do much forcing (as the Angels have known all along).
- Seen as the future "Babe Ruth of Cuba" until he defected, Dayan Viciedo has been cleared by MLB to be a free agent. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times has the White Sox ready to snap up the third-base prospect, who is still just 19.
- First-baseman Justin Smoak, the Rangers’ first-round pick this year, is hitting .389 in the Arizona Fall League. The AFL is quite a ways from MLB, but even so, I can’t help but think that the last thing the Rangers really need in their pipeline is more offense…
- Another first-base prospect, the Marlins’ Logan Morrison, is leading the AFL in batting average (.457), currently has a 12-game hit streak and has 5 homers through 17 games. Morrison was a 22nd-round pick in 2005, but has come a long way, writes ESPN.com’s Jason Grey, who sees in him the man to anchor Florida’s ‘initial sack’ in the future.
- A little more on those two Indian pitching prospects, Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel — 19 years old, they pitched in front of 30 scouts in Arizona on Thursday. Patel hit 90 mph on the radar gun during a 30-pitch session, Singh 84 mph. The two former javelin throwers managed a few breaking balls, as well, and agent Jeff Borris said he expected "multiple offers." No word on whether those offers have come in.
Odds and Ends: Tazawa, Young, Kouzmanoff
Links for Friday. As always, I’ll update this post with more stuff so refresh later if you’re interested.
- Nick Piecoro suggests catcher Miguel Montero could be the D’Backs’ best trade chip. Their needs will be second base and perhaps starting pitching.
- The Marlins’ top priority is improving their defense.
- Dave Cameron takes apart Scott Boras’ claim about Oliver Perez. If more of these client books leak out, Boras is going to have to hire Cameron to keep him quiet.
- White Sox GM Ken Williams talked about adding speed from within, though Williams is notoriously unpredictable.
- Two 19 year-old Indian men named Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel will try out in front of Major League scouts today after winning the Million Dollar Arm contest. The idea of the contest was to find raw talent among India’s huge population, kids who could hit 85mph consistently. The Red Sox and Indians are among the clubs in attendance.
- The Phillies may be interested in Junichi Tazawa, though Ruben Amaro’s "We know of him" comment isn’t exactly an endorsement. The Indians, Yankees, and D’Backs will pass on Tazawa, who could command $7MM.
- Also at NPB Tracker, a second Japanese club hopes to convince the Rangers to trade Nelson Cruz. Doesn’t make much sense for Texas.
- Amaro is figuring out his front office; Chuck LaMar has been promoted to assistant GM.
- Chris De Luca’s sources close to Bud Selig say there’s "zero chance" Bud and the owners let Mark Cuban buy the Cubs.
- Baseball America has the full list of 561 minor league free agents. See anyone you like?
- Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire looks at the notable waiver claims of the past few years.
- Baseball Prospectus’ John Perrotto says the Twins are reportedly willing to trade Delmon Young to the Padres for Kevin Kouzmanoff.
Miller’s Latest: Olsen, Willis, Blake
Here’s a look at the latest from Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.
- The Braves and Rangers have talked to the Marlins about lefty Scott Olsen.
- The Red Sox have done background work on Dontrelle Willis, stirring up the Willis for Julio Lugo rumors.
- The Twins, Dodgers, and Indians have expressed interest in Casey Blake. Blake’s agent said he anticipates offers ranging from one to three years.
Mets Revamping The Bullpen
The Mets’ primary focus this winter is to completely revamp their bullpen. Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman outline Plan A: free agents. Names in the mix: Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, Kerry Wood, Joe Beimel, Juan Cruz, and Chad Cordero. Sherman figures the Mets are in a good position because most of the other big-market teams aren’t looking for a closer.
Plan B: trades. The Mets have already discussed Bobby Jenks with the White Sox. J.J. Putz, Huston Street, and Kevin Gregg are the other names. It all depends on how much young talent Omar Minaya wants to sacrifice.
As a corollary to Plan B, the Mets want to ship out Pedro Feliciano, Aaron Heilman, and Scott Schoeneweis. They hope to clear payroll and/or bring in other relievers in these trades. Davidoff says Heilman has plenty of admirers.
Another note from Sherman – the Mets "could be interested" in Jason Varitek if the price comes down but Varitek doesn’t re-sign with Boston. In another article, Davidoff lays out Plans A, B, and C for both the Mets and Yankees.
Rangers Rumors: Blalock, Blake, Catchers
Next up we’ll dig into the latest Rangers rumors, courtesy of Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
- The Rangers are expected to pick up their $6.2MM option on Hank Blalock today. It doesn’t seem that Blalock will spend much time at third base if he’s with the Rangers in 2009. Instead, he’d play first and DH. Of course, a trade is possible.
- The Rangers may look at outside options for third base, and they’ve been in touch with Casey Blake‘s agent. The Rangers have an eye on defense, which might rule out Garrett Atkins. Grant finds Joe Crede questionable, though he might be a decent fit given his glovework.
- The focus of the GM meetings for Texas has been shopping catching for pitching. The main suitors are the Red Sox and Marlins, with the Tigers a fallback. Names in the mix could include Scott Olsen, Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, and Justin Masterson. Over at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Jeff Wilson profiles the Rangers’ four catchers.
Tigers Rumors: Gregg, Putz, Ordonez
Tigers beat writer Jon Paul Morosi has been doing a fine job, with new articles here, here, and here. Let’s discuss.
- Morosi reasons that the Tigers’ 2009 closer will come from outside of the organization, probably via trade. His top three candidates: Kevin Gregg, Huston Street, and J.J. Putz. As a free agent after ’09, Gregg would fit nicely with the Tigers’ long-term plans. The Tigers and Marlins have matched up often on trades. However, Morosi notes that Gregg had critical words for Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera, who would become his teammates again.
- Putz would make for a great story, as he grew up in Michigan.
- As you know, Scott Boras doesn’t see a Magglio Ordonez trade as likely. Still, Morosi notes that the Angels would be a fine fit if Mark Teixeira leaves – they could fill all of the Tigers’ needs. Surely Boras would ask for concessions to waive Ordonez’s no-trade clause.