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Frank Thomas Signs With A’s

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TODAY: Thomas has signed with the A’s, according to the AP.  Can’t help but like such a low-cost move, though it means Jack Cust can’t be stashed at DH.

WEDNESDAY, :12pm: Brown says Thomas was close with the A’s, but another team jumped in with an offer.  So he’s considering two offers currently.  That mystery team is not Ron Gardenhire’s Twins.

6:49pm: There are not quite 100% but legit-sounding stories bouncing around about the A’s signing Thomas.  One is from WWWT Radio in Washington D.C. via Baseball Digest Daily; another is a now-defunct post from Yahoo’s Tim Brown via RotoWorld.

8:17am: When we last checked in on Frank Thomas, the A’s admitted they’d have an internal discussion about him.  Today, Buster Olney writes that the A’s will have that talk within 48 hours.  They may prefer Thomas to Mike Sweeney.  Manager Bob Geren won’t comment on the situation.

Meanwhile Hank Steinbrenner says the Yankees have "never even talked about" signing Thomas.  He’s not a good fit for their team.  The Yanks still owe Jason Giambi more than $23MM this year. 

Kubel Wants Long Term Deal

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In the wake of many other young talents having their arbitration years bought out, Jason Kubel is hoping for a long-term deal of his own.  Phil Miller of the Pioneer Press notes that Twins Assistant GM Rob Antony is open to it but not about to make any concessions.  Antony points out,

"It’s tough to do a multiyear for guys who haven’t, for whatever reason, established a level of production. How do you go to ownership saying only, ’Our scouting reports say this?’ Now you’re paying for future years based on projections, and that gets a little dangerous."

Kubel was a top hitting prospect with the Twins and had a terrific second half last year; however, his knees have been a cause for concern and limited his playing time and breakout potential.  Evan Longoria got a deal after 6 games, so with the recent rash of young talent signings, Kubel has every right to ask for this; however, it seems the Twins will wisely take a conservative approach to Kubel this year.

By Nat Boyle

Liriano Promotion Could Affect Arbitration

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Francisco Liriano is pitching in his first major league game in 19 months today, and Twins fans have to be excited by that prospect.

However, as pointed out by Joe Christensen of The Star-Tribune, had the Twins waited longer to promote Liriano from the AAA Rochester Red Wings (where his service time clock was on hold), the lefty wouldn’t reach the three-year arbitration benchmark until after the 2009 season.

As it stands now, with two years and 32 days of service, Liriano will see his salary move beyond the $1MM mark at the end of this season.

Posted by Matt Birt

Odds And Ends: Crisp, Spiezio, Lahey, Longoria

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Here are a few notes from the MLBiverse…

  • Terry Francona sounds like a manager that is frustrated and wishes the Red Sox would go ahead and trade Coco Crisp. After starting Crisp for the second straight game, Francona said "The more [Jacoby Ellsbury] plays, the better he’s going to be, and I clearly feel that responsibility…I’m trying to balance [playing time] the best I can."
  • It only took a couple of weeks, but Scott Spiezio managed to mess up his latest opportunity with the Atlanta Braves. After failing to show to his AAA Richmond game "ready to play", Spiezio was released by the Braves.
  • Rule 5 pick Tim Lahey, who was DFA’d by the Phillies, cleared waivers and has been sent back to the Twins for $25K.
  • With Evan Longoria now in the majors, the Rays may be forced to trade Jonny Gomes or Eric Hinske (who is off to a hot start) in the next few weeks.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Odds and Ends: Deeds, Tejada

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Some random tidbits for you; I may add to this post if I find a few more.

  • RotoAuthority analyzes the hottest fantasy baseball pickups from this week.
  • The Twins completed the Craig Monroe deal by sending 25 year-old outfielder Doug Deeds to the Cubs.  He looks like a long shot to make the Majors.  Monroe hasn’t looked like much of a big leaguer lately, either.
  • Richard Justice notes that the Cardinals targeted Miguel Tejada this winter but couldn’t get it done.  As if they needed any more steroid stigma.  It’s interesting to see the Tejada deal looking so good for Baltimore, without Troy Patton factoring in at all.
  • I did a fantasy baseball mailbag over at The Hardball Times.

Odds and Ends: Hosmer, Fossum, Garza

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Some random tidbits for today…

  • USA Today has an in-depth look at high school first baseman Eric Hosmer, who will likely be advised by Scott Boras.  He’s a likely top-ten pick this June unless his asking price causes him to drop.  Baseball America looks at another first-round first baseman, Yonder Alonso.  Here’s a reminder of which teams pick when.
  • The Tigers inked oft-injured pitcher Casey Fossum, who is not likely to help them at the big league level this year.
  • Rays Index wonders whether the Rays might seek compensation from the Twins for Matt Garza’s injury.

Olney’s Latest: Lidge, Shields, Eveland, Lahey

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Here are some trade-rumor-tidbits from Buster Olney this morning:

  • For the first time in his career, Scot Shields was activated from the DL and rookie pitcher Rich Thompson was sent down to Triple A.  The Angels had hoped to keep the kid around but last friday’s 1 inning, 5-run meltdown assured his ticket out.
  • A likely story:  Dana Eveland is making Billy Beane look smart.  He shut down the Indians for 7 innings yesterday, striking out 7.  When Dan Haren was sent to Arizona for 6 prospects, Tim thought the Dbacks won and suggested Eveland could be a back of the rotation starter of the David Wells-variety as was the common consensus around the league.  Eveland hadn’t shown anything at the major league level; however, it seems Eveland might be realizing his potential (413 minor league IP, 8.84 K/9).  Then again, it’s been one start and Olney notes Jhonny Peralta just thinks Eveland got lucky.  Time will tell, but Beane has a funny way of making time work in his favor.
  • As Brad Lidge comes back, reliever Tim Lahey is designated for assignment to make room.  Lahey’s path is a bit of a head-scratcher.  He was selected by the Cubs in the Rule 5 Draft from the Twins before being claimed off waivers by the Phillies.  He’s now back on waivers, and if he clears, he’ll have to be offered back to the Twins who apparently do want him back.  So an imminent Twins/Phillies deal could be in the works.

By Nat Boyle

Phils Designate Lahey For Assignment

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Earlier today, the Phillies activated closer Brad Lidge from the 15-day DL and, to make room for him on the roster, designated young right-handed reliever Tim Lahey for assignment as foreseen. He’ll now be looking for his fifth job in as many months.

The wandering Lahey has already been part of the Cubs, the Rays, and the Twins. He’s still relatively new to pitching, having been converted by the Twins from catching. He posted a 3.45 ERA in 78 and a third innings at AA New Britain last year, and gave up three runs in three innings at AAA Rochester. Clearly, a bit more seasoning is required for the Princeton alum, but there are plenty of teams with shaky bullpens, and Lahey’s fastball sits in the low-to-mid 90s. "The delivery adds some deception," according to Baseball America, while the Cubs also praised his sinker, buddind slider, and ability to induce grounders. He’s 6’6" and 250 lbs. Due to Rule 5 draft rules, first dibs will go to Minnesota after Lahey clears waivers.

Which organization could use him the most? We all know Detroit’s bullpen is a glaring weakness, but it’s not clear that Lahey could be polished enough to help them this year. However, their farm system is pretty depleted right now, so it’s not too far-fetched.  The Indians, Braves, White Sox, and Brewers have also had bullpen meltdowns during this young season, and perhaps one of them would like to have some insurance at the Triple A level.

Sarah Green writes for the Boston Metro and UmpBump.com and can be reached here.

Odds and Ends: Putz, Byrdak, Graves

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Today’s linkage.

Mariners Keep Dickey

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The Mariners have sent Minor League catcher Jair Fernandez to the Twins, allowing them to keep Rule 5 Draft pick R.A. Dickey, who Seattle acquired from Minnesota in the Major League portion of December’s Rule 5 Draft.

Dickey had a hot spring. The knuckleballer went 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in seven spring contests for the Mariners. Now he’s headed for AAA Tacoma.

Fernandez, 21, hit .260 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in 52 games at Class A Wisconsin of the Midwest League last year.

Dickey cleared waivers before the Mariners and Twins worked out the deal, which allowed Seattle to send Dickey to the Minors.

The Seattle Times Mariners Blog explains the transaction, sparing none of the gory details.

Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com. You can contact him here.


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