Rincon On His Way Out?
Long time Twin reliever Juan Rincon may be the odd man out when the Twins reduce their pitching staff from 13 to 12 – this from Kelsie Smith of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Rincon is sporting a 5.19 ERA through 23 games, comparable to last years 5.13 ERA and a far cry from his career 3.63.
Rincon could still finish strong and hit his PECOTA projected ERA of 3.92. After being busted for steroids in 2006, Rincon went on to post a 2.91 ERA; however, he became hittable in 2007 and that trend continues. His H/9, BB/9, and K/9 have all been declining. Still, Rincon is only 29 so he may just need a change of scenery, not uncommon for relievers and setup men.
Says Manager Ron Gardenhire, "All we can do is keep running them out there until some other decision is made where we can’t." If they can’t, Rincon will most likely be designated for assignment. The righty is making $2.475MM on a 1-year contract this season and his stock is at an all time low. There should be interest abound.
By Nat Boyle
Draft Roundup
Today’s draft links.
- Rany Jazayerli looks at possibilities for the Royals at #3. He hopes they don’t take Eric Hosmer.
- MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has new projections for the top 30. He’s switched the Orioles from Brian Matusz to Aaron Crow at #4, among other changes.
- Keith Law has tons of good stuff…the Giants are eyeing Gordon Beckham, the Reds are considering Brett Lawrie, Jason Castro could go to the White Sox, the Dodgers like Zach Collier, and much more.
- Ken Davidoff is hearing that the Padres are in on Brett Wallace and the Twins like Christian Friedrich.
- Pedro Alvarez would be honored to be picked by the Pirates. Dejan Kovacevic continues to say they’re leaning that way.
- I am considering live-blogging Thursday’s draft, posting each pick here as soon as it’s announced (you would not have to refresh). Would that be helpful?
Twins Add Breslow
According to Joe Christensen, the Twins claimed lefty reliever Craig Breslow off waivers from the Indians.
Breslow, a 27 year-old Yale graduate, has bounced around and only compiled 36.2 innings in the bigs. His control needs some work, but he may be useful.
Could Livan Hernandez Become Available?
Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press doesn’t exactly say that the Twins are willing to trade Livan Hernandez. Here’s what he wrote:
It’s too early, with the Twins still in contention. But starter Livan Hernandez‘s trade value probably won’t be higher than it is now, and it will be interesting to see whether the right-hander, 33, is dealt for some power by the All-Star Game in July.
Hernandez has interesting numbers. He has the second-lowest strikeout rate in baseball, coupled with the fifth-worst hit rate. To counter that, Hernandez has the 10th-best walk rate. Walter’s suggestion that Hernandez is at peak value seems accurate.
Could Hernandez bring back a decent power bat? Buster Olney names the Braves and Astros as two teams that might be looking for a pitcher like Livan. The Twins are only two games out, however.
Odds and Ends: Crisp, King, Sweeney
Here’s today’s linkage.
- Bobby Kielty‘s hand injury drastically reduces the chance of a Coco Crisp trade within the next month.
- Who needs a lefty reliever? The Nationals’ Ray King would like to be traded rather than head to Triple A.
- Mike Sweeney was excited about signing with the Twins last winter, but the Craig Monroe trade ended that possibility. Susan Slusser doesn’t expect the A’s to keep both Frank Thomas and Sweeney for very long.
- Joe Sports Fan ranks the seven best long-term contracts. Any additions? How about Dan Haren at four years and $12.65MM?
Frank Thomas Signs With A’s
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
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
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.
Odds And Ends: Crisp, Spiezio, Lahey, Longoria
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
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.