Odds and Ends: Cabrera, Schilling, Stewart
Your daily collection of random rumors and links…
- MLB.com’s Free Agent Frenzy has begun. You can win Opening Day tickets by closely predicting where 15 free agents will land. A good strategic move would be to wait until deadline day, November 15th, before submitting. That way you’ll have more info (keep your browser right here for all the latest free agent info). By the way, my Top 50 Free Agents list should be ready around Monday.
- Fielding Bible has their 2007 awards (click the Winners tab). So much for those who say Andruw is slipping!
- Miguel Cabrera is available, according to Peter Gammons. Gammons thinks any package would have to begin with a top pitching prospect such as Phil Hughes, Clay Buchholz, or Clayton Kershaw.
- Sounds like the Rockies want to keep the 2007 club mostly intact by bringing back free agents (Kaz Matsui, Yorvit Torrealba, Matt Herges, LaTroy Hawkins). However Josh Fogg and Jeremy Affeldt may be allowed to leave.
- Though they’re on his list, it doesn’t sound like the D’Backs can afford Curt Schilling.
- The A’s are talking about re-signing Shannon Stewart, but I don’t see it. That would have to cost at least $3-4MM. Meanwhile, Mike Piazza might retire. Susan Slusser talks about how the A’s would receive compensation for Stewart and Piazza, both Type B free agents. But that’s only if they offer them arbitration, which is questionable.
- Comeback time! Matt Mantei is all surgically repaired and wants to get back into action. He feels great! He’d take a minor league contract and/or play for the minimum. Can’t wait til spring, when we can hear about all the guys who are in the best shape of their careers. The Tigers might need him with Joel Zumaya‘s new, odd injury.
- A couple of 40+ southpaws will pitch in ’08 – Tom Glavine and David Wells.
- The O’s will pass on Kris Benson at $7.5MM next year, no surprise. He had rotator cuff surgery last March.
- U.S.S. Mariner’s "reasonable" offseason plan.
Padres Rumors: Maddux, Cabrera, Barrett, Bradley
As usual, Tom Krasovic has the scoop with the Padres.
- The Padres expect Greg Maddux back, at a salary near the $10MM he earned in ’07. One way it could happen – Mad Dog declines his $8.75MM player option and the Padres exercise their $11MM club option. Otherwise they’ll just tear it up and figure something out.
- The Padres will pass on available third basemen Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Cabrera. It sounds like a Padres team source is indicating the Marlins plan to shop Cabrera aggressively. As if this offseason wasn’t going to be crazy enough, here’s another marquee player on the market. The Padres have some depth at third base, so they’ll sit out.
- Apparently the Elias rankings have leaked out somewhere, though I haven’t seen the list yet. Michael Barrett and Milton Bradley both earned Type A designation, though it won’t matter if the Padres don’t offer arbitration to either. With either player there’s a decent chance he would accept the offer. Barrett maybe not, as he might be able to find a two-year deal elsewhere. Still, it’d be risky. Unfortunately Mike Cameron and Doug Brocail got the Type B designation (not that that makes sense). Cameron will probably get offered arbitration; it would’ve been nice to get the Braves’ 18th overall pick.
Yankees Could Pursue Miguel Cabrera
Clark Spencer writes of the possibility of the Yankees going after Miguel Cabrera to fill their third base vacancy (assuming M-Cab can hold up at the position for a few more years).
Cabrera’s salary will jump from $7.4MM past $11MM this year through arbitration. A year from now he could be looking at $15-17MM.
Spencer sees a partial match in center fielder Melky Cabrera; the Marlins have had instability at that position since Juan Pierre was dealt. Add Phil Hughes to the package and I think this could get done. The Yankees seem to favor Joba Chamberlain over Hughes (I don’t have any proof for that) and Chien-Ming Wang will be getting pricey. Ian Kennedy is solid but the Marlins are going to want a front-rotation guy like Hughes.
One consideration is that if Cabrera can’t stay at third base, they might have to move him to first and pass on Mark Teixeira next winter. But as I said earlier, maybe the Yanks will take a break from Boras clients anyway. Hank Steinbrenner seems primed to make all sorts of petty/irrational decisions. That should be fun to watch.
Mets, Marlins Interested In Torrealba
According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, the Mets and Marlins have interest in free agent catcher Yorvit Torrealba. The Rockies would like to bring him back, but otherwise they’ll look at Paul Lo Duca or Michael Barrett.
The 29 year-old Torrealba hit .255/.323/.376 in 396 ABs this year. Typically he hits for a touch more power. Meanwhile the average NL catcher hit .257/.318/.394 in 2007, so Torrealba’s bat is tolerable.
Torrealba was lousy at throwing out baserunners this year, checking in at just 19.7% caught stealing. Only Jason Kendall and Johnny Estrada were worse among qualifiers. Oddly Torrealba threw out 40.4% of baserunners in 2006 and 35.7% the year before. The reason for the decline is most likely a strained shoulder that lingered into the season.
Torrealba earned $1.075MM in ’07, and he might be looking for $3MM or more in ’08. Regarding the Marlins, they’re also interested in Barrett, Kendall, and Ramon Castro if they don’t keep Miguel Olivo.
Posada Could Join Mets, Marlins
George King has some Yankee info for us this morning, much of it involving Jorge Posada.
Mark Feinsand noted yesterday that the Yanks plan to offer a three-year, $40MM contract to Posada. King is on board, indicating that he expects a three-year deal in the $39-44MM range for the catcher. I’m sticking to my guns – I think this requires four guaranteed years in the end. But upping the average annual value to arrive at a 3/45 deal seems plausible.
King also mentions that the Mets and Marlins are both likely to be interested in Posada. The Mets are no surprise. But King indicates that the Fish have been "stockpiling dollars," which is news to me. Mostly we’ve been hearing that they want to make a low-level veteran signing or two but don’t figure to be able to afford both Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera for 2008.
Marlins High On Floyd’s List
We were a little late to the party a few days ago, linking to a September 30th article indicating that Cliff Floyd would like to end his career back in Florida. As we mentioned at the time, Shannon Stewart seems to make more sense for the Fish.
Regardless, Floyd has now gone public with his desire to play for the Marlins. He said he’d love to "come, chill out, and help Fredi win some ballgames." Joe Capozzi notes that Floyd’s agents will reach out to every team this winter, and he’s hunting for a salary similar to the $3MM he earned in 2007. It sounds like he’d prefer to jump to the AL if the Marlins or Cubs won’t have him.
Floyd Could Return To Marlins
Here’s a note I missed from a September 30th Palm Beach Post column:
Cubs outfielder Cliff Floyd, a Marlin from 1997-2002, has told people close to him that he’d like to end his career in Florida. Floyd, a free agent, lives in the Fort Lauderdale area.
Larry Beinfest admitted at that time that he may have underestimated the need for veteran players to round out the roster. However, Floyd has said that he’s looking for regular playing time and it’s hard to see how the Marlins can offer that. Shifting Josh Willingham to first base wouldn’t be a bad idea, but that would only fit if Mike Jacobs is traded. Then you have to ask yourself if you really gain anything by signing Floyd.
A more realistic veteran option for Florida might be Shannon Stewart. They were considering him last January but backed off due to health concerns. Stewart proved himself healthy in ’07, playing in 146 games (his highest total since 2001). Also, he went to high school in Florida.
Dontrelle Willis To Stay?
Take this for what it’s worth. Dontrelle Willis‘ agent, Matt Sosnick, ran into former Marlins GM Larry Beinfest in the supermarket recently. Beinfest basically said that the Marlins plan on Willis remaining with the team, so the two sides should plan to discuss a contract as usual. For Sosnick that means late November talks.
Willis will earn more than $7MM next year, which will probably comprise a fifth or so of the team’s payroll. Most likely new Marlins GM Michael Hill will listen to offers on both Willis and Cabrera and trade one of them.
Marlins Would Benefit Most from A-Rod
Chris Isidore of CNNMoney.com analyzes the viability of a $300MM contract for Alex Rodriguez and the likelihood of him still being in the Bronx. Isidore writes:
"A-Rod could produce $48 million per year in revenue and asset appreciation for the Yankees, allowing the team to pay him $34 million in salary, along with a 40 percent luxury tax, and still break even."
Isidore dispels the notion that the YES Network is actually doing better with A-Rod in pinstripes by pointing out a significant decline in viewership since his acquisition in ’04, and that YES fetches most of its profits from fees assessed to cable/satellite providers. In a most probable scenario, if A-Rod signs elsewhere, YES will lose "only about a 3 percent drop in overall revenue for YES," writes Isidore.
While this isn’t what I refer to as a "substantial rumor," Isidore points out how the one team that would see the greatest economic benefit from signing Rodriguez is the team that resides in his hometown of Miami: The Florida Marlins. Isidore notes:
"…for deep-pocketed successful teams like the Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Red Sox or Angels, there’s a marginal economic benefit from bringing him in, even as fabulous a player as he is. But look at the upside for the Marlins, not just in ticket revenue but also the structure of a new stadium deal.’"
Posted By Nat Boyle
State Of The Marlins
The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson has all sorts of info concerning the state of the Florida Marlins.
- We’ve heard this before – the Fish can’t afford to keep both Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera. Do you trade the cheaper guy, or the more valuable one? As Jackson says, it really just depends on the offers. It wouldn’t be a complete shock to see both traded if the Marlins received separate knockout offers on each.
- The Marlins are likely to non-tender Miguel Olivo, with an eye on bringing Paul Lo Duca back to Florida to provide veteran leadership for the young pitching staff. Other free agents on the radar: Yorvit Torrealba, Michael Barrett, Jason Kendall, and former Marlin Ramon Castro. Several of these are $5MM players, so the team’s owner would have to sign off.
- Some kind of MLB-ready starting pitching is likely to come back in a Willis or Cabrera deal. But otherwise the Fish will try an injury-discounted guy like Kris Benson. The market has no shortage of these types – Matt Clement, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Jason Jennings, Jon Lieber, and Jaret Wright all fit the mold.
- The Marlins will listen on Scott Olsen, but aren’t opposed to keeping him.
- For now, Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera are staying put on the left side of the infield. Good luck improving the defense.
- The Marlins would like to bring Aaron Boone back for ’08.