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Odds and Ends: Inge, Salcedo, Corey, Nathan

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I write this odds and ends post with two less wisdom teeth than I had yesterday.  Looks like applesauce for dinner.

  • Jon Heyman says the Dodgers and Tigers haven’t talked lately, and doesn’t see L.A. taking on Brandon Inge’s $19.1MM.  Aside from the standard Giants suggestion, Heyman puts on his speculation cap and wonders whether Inge could catch for Houston.  What is J.R. Towles, chopped liver?
  • This is questionable, but hey, it’s a Friday.  Hi5 is a popular social networking site in Central America.  A reader sent me a link to this page, which may belong to future superstar kid shortstop/Boras client Edward Salcedo.  The owner of the page slapped up a big ol’ Indians logo over a month ago with the caption "my team."  I have to reiterate that I don’t know if this is really Salcedo’s page.  The Tribe said on Tuesday that Salcedo remained unsigned.
  • The Orioles are observing 34 year-old journeyman reliever Bryan Corey.
  • Joe Nathan, still chatting contract with the Twins.  Kelly Thesier noted that it was the Twins reaching out recently.  Nathan’s agent will meet with them Tuesday.
  • Jacob Jackson goes out on a limb and wonders if Justin Upton could be Oakland’s first $100MM player.
  • The new Phils-ville blog is up.

Rangers Were Close To Acquiring Johan

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in with some inside info from the What Might’ve Been file.  He says the Rangers and Twins were close to an agreement on the players involved in a trade that would’ve sent Johan Santana to Texas.  The Twins pulled the plug when Santana was noncommital about whether he’d approve a trade to the Rangers.  They felt that this would’ve decreased his market value (instead the Twins ended up overplaying their hand and accepting the second or third-best offer).

Heyman speculates that the Rangers could’ve offered Eric Hurley and/or Edinson Volquez, for starters.  A Taylor Teagarden and various high-ceiling types could’ve been in there too, I imagine.  Would’ve been interesting to see Minnesota get Teagarden and shift Joe Mauer to third base in ’09.

The Rangers hoped to pair Johan with Torii Hunter, but Hunter couldn’t pass on the Angels’ offer.  Five years, $90MM is the kind of offer he had to pounce on. 

Managers On The Hot Seat

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It is a slow news day, so we are going to venture a bit off the beaten path…As spring training is now in full swing, a number of managers may have their jobs on the line during the ’08 season. Three managers are in the final year of their deals and another 12 managers have two years left on their contracts. This second group will be due either an extension or a pink slip next winter as few teams are willing to play out a season with a lame-duck manager. Therefore, any manager with two years remaining on their contracts (including options) will likely have their fate determined prior to the ’09 season.

Ignoring managers that may be on the hot seat for other reasons (i.e. Willie Randolph), here is a list of managers that could potentially have their jobs on the line in ’08 based on their current contract situations. (Numbers in parentheses represent the number of years remaining on current contract)

  • Cecil Cooper, HOU (2)
  • Bob Geren, OAK (1+1 team option)
  • John Gibbons, TOR (1)
  • Bobby Cox, ATL (1)
  • Ned Yost, MIL (1+1 team option)
  • Tony LaRussa (2)
  • Bruce Bochy (2)
  • John McLaren, SEA (1)
  • Fredi Gonzalez, FLA (2)
  • Dave Trembley, BAL (1+1 team option)
  • Bud Black, SD (1+1 team option)
  • Joe Maddon, TB (2)
  • Clint Hurdle, COL (2)
  • Jim Leyland, DET (2)
  • Ron Gardenhire, MIN (2)

Taking a closer look at the list…Of the managers in the final year of their deal, Cox will be back if he chooses. LaRussa and Leyland may very well enter ’09 without new deals considering their ages. Yost, Gardenhire, Hurdle and Black look like locks for extensions prior to ’09. However, the remaining eight names on the list (Cooper, Geren, Bochy, Gonzalez, Trembley, Maddon, Gibbons, McLaren) may very well be managing for their jobs in ’08.

By Cork Gaines

Rosenthal’s Latest: Lohse, Furcal, Lofton

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FOX’s Ken Rosenthal checks in with the latest buzz from Spring Training.

  • The Mets, Cardinals, and Orioles are listed as possibilities for Kyle Lohse.  However, the Mets may deem him unnecessary, reports are conflicting on the Cards’ interest, and the Orioles are wary of the price.
  • Rosenthal says Rafael Furcal’s agent met with Ned Colletti a few days ago, but the Dodgers would likely want to see Furcal return to form before entertaining an extension.  Click here to see the other shortstops eligible for free agency after the ’08 season.  The Dodgers may have a viable replacement for Furcal in defensive whiz Chin-Lung Hu.
  • Rosenthal notes that the Yankees, in search of a right-handed outfielder, considered Shannon Stewart and Mike Cameron this winter.
  • Kenny Lofton’s chances of a getting the big league deal he wants with the Reds or Twins look slim. 
  • The rumor going around for Corey Patterson is the Marlins, if the price is right.
  • Rosenthal confirms two additions for our 2008 Out Of Options list – Gabe Gross and Clint Barmes.
  • Rosenthal says the Mets need a right-handed hitter who can play left field and first base.  Here are some names I came up with: Ryan Ludwick, Xavier Nady, Matt Murton, Franklin Gutierrez, and Kevin Millar.  Granted, not all those guys know their way around first base.

Odds and Ends: Hughes, Nathan, Pedro

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Here’s today’s collection.

  • Interesting article about Phil Hughes’ blog.  We should see more and more player blogs as the Internet generation reaches the Majors.
  • Jonathan Mayo’s book Facing Clemens has hit shelves.  The MLB.com writer attempts to put you in the batter’s box against the Rocket.
  • Nothin’ doin’ on the Joe Nathan talks.  I thought they’d hammer this one out to restore some Johan goodwill.  Guess not.
  • Like reading about injuries?  Take a look at Baseball Injury Report, by my friend Rick Wilton.  Especially good for fantasy junkies.
  • Pedro isn’t going to approach the Mets about an extension, but he’d listen if they came to him.  The Mets want to see at least part of this season play out before considering it.

Theo Epstein WEEI Interview: Crisp, Santana

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WEEI recently posted an interesting interview with Red Sox GM Theo Epstein.  Epstein was frank with his answers and didn’t duck questions.  A few points of interest:

  • Epstein observed a "horrible free agent market, bereft of talent."  The one surplus he noted was center field, which he feels resulted in the lack of a trade market for Coco Crisp (the best defensive center fielder in the game last year, according to Epstein).  Epstein said he learned his lesson with Jay Payton and does not want to be forced to trade Crisp as he was Payton.  He won’t deal Crisp from a "position of weakness."  Michael Silverman believes a team will have to have its center fielder significantly injured for a market for Crisp to develop.  Or, a prospect like Felix Pie or Colby Rasmus will have to prove not ready or be traded.
  • As for Johan Santana, the Red Sox were "in it, with limits."  Epstein said he left the Twins with two solid offers, but Bill Smith wanted a package that would’ve been "completely irresponsible."  He felt that Boston’s offer was better than that of the Mets.

Odds and Ends: Kelly Johnson, Nathan, Crede

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Time for some early Monday odds and ends.

  • Remember how White Sox GM Ron Schueler embarrassed Cubs GM Ed Lynch in 1998 by acquiring Jon Garland for Matt Karchner?  Rany Jazayerli sees a parallel to that heist with the Royals’ acquisition of Daniel Cortes as part of the July ’06 Mike MacDougal trade.
  • Mike Berardino’s blog continues to entertain; this time with a Dan Miceli story.  Ah, knife fights with siblings.  Who among us can say they haven’t had one or two?
  • Buster Olney learned from Braves GM Frank Wren that Kelly Johnson has been the team’s most asked-for player in trade talks this winter.
  • The look on Kyle Kendrick’s face is priceless.
  • Extension talks with the Twins and Joe Nathan have gone dormant.  Nathan still thinks the gap can be bridged but wants it done before the season begins.
  • Andy Marte and Shin-Soo Choo are both out of options; when Choo comes back from elbow surgery a month into the season one of them could be traded.
  • Henry Schulman says the White Sox may accept prospects from the Giants for Joe Crede.
  • Derek Lowe is entering his walk year, and he hasn’t had any extension talks with the Dodgers yet.

Blanton May Be Traded

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9:14pm: Fay suggests the A’s would want Homer Bailey or Johnny Cueto, Joey Votto, and a third player for Blanton.

1:32pm: Paul Daugherty and John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer report that the Reds and Dodgers are talking to the A’s about Blanton.  Seems to be a disagreement about whether the Dodgers are in on this.

10:31am: Check out this new Ken Rosenthal video (hat tip to MetsBlog).  The video is all about Joe Blanton.

  • One Rosenthal source suggests a 50/50 chance Blanton is traded (presumably before the season starts).
  • Two teams are showing significant interest.  Rosenthal believes the Reds are one, and the Twins or Rays could be another.  He rules out the Dodgers, Yankees, Rockies, and Indians.  The Reds have had preliminary discussions for Blanton already.  How about the Phillies?  They came calling in July.
  • Rosenthal notes that the bounty for Blanton will be less than that of Dan Haren, because Blanton is slightly more expensive and an inferior pitcher.
  • On January 14th, an A’s source suggested to MLB.com’s Jim Molony who expected Blanton to be the A’s Opening Day starter.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Johan Santana

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Unless Omar Minaya fumbles the most important contract negotiation of his career (we can’t see that happening), the biggest story of the 2007-08 off-season now has an ending and the enduring national nightmare is over. Johan Santana is a Met…now we can get back to talking about more important issues like Kyle Lohse and Livan Hernandez. But before we do let’s take a look at reactions to the Santana trade from the blogosphere.

  • Aaron Gleeman is sentimental as his blog has grown up along side Santana’s career. Now he is disappointed in the package the Twins received but hopeful it could still work out in the long run.
  • Twinkie Town believes trading Santana is status-quo for the Twins as the franchise seems to be in a perpetual state of rebuilding. This seems like overreaction considering the Twins have been in the playoffs four of the past six years.
  • Twins Territory is not disappointed in the trade outcome. They believe Bill Smith had his hands tied and four top prospects is a nice haul.
  • Amazin’ Avenue was still smiling hours after the news broke and feels Twins fans must be disappointed in the package they received.
  • Metsgeek doesn’t care what the price was for Santana. He is worth it and they are giddy.
  • The ’Ropolitans are begging the Mets to pay Santana whatever it takes to get him signed. We have to agree. The Mets can’t mess this one up.
  • Fire Brand of the American League (Red Sox) speculates that the Red Sox may have backed off of Santana when they learned the Yankees were no longer interested.
  • My Baseball Bias believes the Yankees won the Santana Sweepstakes by not mortgaging the future for one $150 million player. Normally we would agree, but Santana is not 35 and winning is about pitching and Santana is the best pitcher alive.
  • Was Watching shows that the Mets (and the Red Sox) have done a better job of acquiring pitchers than the Yankees, and Santana is the latest example.

by Cork Gaines

Twins Wanted Wang/Kennedy For Santana?

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According to Buster Olney in his blog today:

The Twins tried to re-engage the Yankees Monday night, calling and asking, again, for Hughes to be in a package. The Yankees said no, and the Twins then asked, instead, for Chien-Ming Wang and Ian Kennedy, and the Yankees said no.

This differs from Bob Klapisch’s take yesterday.  Klapisch said the Twins’ last-ditch proposal to the Yankees was for Ian Kennedy, Melky Cabrera, and a top prospect.  Regardless, the Yankees preferred to enter the ’08 season with Wang, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, and Joba Chamberlain in the rotation.  Kennedy and Mike Mussina will compete for the fifth spot.

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