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Odds & Ends: Headley, D’Backs, Angels, Cardinals

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Links for Sunday….

  • Dan Hayes of The North County Times says that Chase Headley's impending raise as a Super Two player is giving the Padres some payroll-related headaches. He adds that GM Jed Hoyer mentioned that this offseason will be similar to last, in that most of the team's signings will occur in January and February.
  • MLB.com's John Schlegel looks ahead to some of the big trades we might see this winter.
  • Yahoo's Tim Brown tweets that the Diamondbacks are expected to hire Billy Ryan from the commissioner's office to be Kevin Towers' second in command.
  • The Angels' catching depth will likely be a hot topic at the upcoming GM meetings, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
  • While the Cardinals have a few positions that could be addressed, John Mozeliak will likely prioritize a shortstop upgrade this winter, writes Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  • In his latest ESPN.com blog entry (Insider required), Buster Olney explains why Scott Downs' Type A status shouldn't limit his opportunities.
  • Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe provides an extensive list of possible trade candidates in his preview of the offseason market.
  • There are a few red flags to consider when weighing the Mets' managerial candidates, says Bill Madden of the New York Daily News.
  • DEA agents intercepted a package containing "nearly 50" pre-loaded syringes of HGH that was sent to Jose Guillen's San Francisco address in September, according to a New York Daily News report. The writers' sources say that MLB is "actively pursuing information about the shipment," since a violation of the league's drug policy could result in discipline for Guillen.

Terry Collins Favorite To Manage Mets?

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1:35pm: In this series of tweets, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News tweets that there's no clear favorite between Collins and Melvin, but that Tim Teufel could fit as a first base coach. If Collins is hired as the manager, Melvin could still fit as a bench coach, according to Martino. Chip Hale will likely be retained regardless of the managerial decision, and the Mets may go outside the organization for their hitting coach.

In a second tweet, Rubin seems to agree as he offers up his prediction for the Mets' coaching staff: Collins managing, Melvin as the bench coach, Teufel at first base, Hale at third base, and Dan Warthen as the pitching coach.

12:51pm: When the Pirates hired Clint Hurdle, it left the Mets as baseball's only team without a manager and reduced their list of candidates by one. While the team has yet to finish conducting interviews, Terry Collins has emerged as the favorite to land the job, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.

Collins and Hurdle, along with Bob Melvin, were rumored to be the leading candidates for the Mets' job, with a handful of other names also in the mix. Rubin tweeted yesterday that he keeps hearing Collins mentioned as the team's most likely choice, and today confirmed Collins' front-runner status with a club source. The former Astros and Angels skipper has many supporters in the Mets organization, including Jeff Wilpon and Paul DePodesta.

Pirates Hire Clint Hurdle

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The Pirates have hired Clint Hurdle to fill their managerial opening, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter). The deal is for three years, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch (Twitter link) adds that the team will hold a press conference on Monday to make the official announcement.

Hurdle managed the Rockies from April 2002 to May of 2009, before being hired as the Rangers' hitting coach last offseason. During his time in Colorado, Hurdle compiled a 534-625 (.457) record, leading the club to the World Series once, in 2007.

Earlier this month, Pittsburgh narrowed their managerial search to two finalists – Hurdle and internal candidate Jeff Banister. Yesterday, Rosenthal reported that the Pirates had ramped up their efforts to land Hurdle.

With the hiring, Hurdle is of course out of the running for the Mets' managerial opening. In a separate tweet, Heyman suggests that New York's list of finalists will include Terry Collins, Bob Melvin, and perhaps Chip Hale, with Jose Oquendo to be interviewed tomorrow.

Manager Rumors: Mets, Pirates

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Here's the latest on the managerial searches in New York and Pittsburgh..

Mets

Jose Oquendo will be the last of the first round interviews when he meets with the Mets on Monday, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.  The second round of interviews, he says, could begin this week in Orlando.

Meanwhile, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter) keeps hearing that Terry Collins is the most likely to land the job.  We learned yesterday that Collins, Clint Hurdle, and Bob Melvin are all expected to receive second interviews. 

Pirates

Speaking of Hurdle, the Pirates have ramped up their efforts to land him, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com.  Along with in-house candidate Jeff Banister, Hurdle is believed to be one of the finalists for the job.

Odds & Ends: Royals, Pena, Alderson, De La Rosa

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Happy 133rd birthday to Archie "Moonlight" Graham.  Arguably baseball's most famous one-game player (Eddie Gaedel also has a great case for this distinction), Moonlight Graham's only taste of the majors was one half-inning as a defensive replacement for the 1905 New York Giants.  That half-inning grew into immortality thanks to his characterization in W.P. Kinsella's novel Shoeless Joe and its film adaptation Field Of Dreams.  Graham, who passed away in 1965, went on to become a doctor in Chisholm, Minnesota following his brief playing career.

Onto some news items…

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Cox, Crawford, DeJesus

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Two years ago today the Athletics acquired Matt Holliday from the Rockies in exchange for Carlos Gonzalez, Huston Street, and Greg Smith. Holliday hit .286/.378/.454 in exactly 400 plate appearances with Oakland before being dealt to the Cardinals for a package led by Brett Wallace at the 2009 trade deadline.

Street has battled injuries but has been solid when on the mound for Colorado, pitching to a 3.30 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 109 innings. Smith has appeared in just eight games for the Rox (all starts), putting up a 6.23 ERA. The real get was CarGo, who will certainly be in the MVP mix after a .336/.376/.598 season with 34 doubles, 34 homers, 26 stolen bases, and a batting title.

The hot stove league will certainly bring us more blockbuster trades, but for now you'll have to settle for this long collection of links, the best the blogosphere had to offer this week…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Collins, Hurdle, Melvin Leading Candidates For Mets

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Terry Collins, Clint Hurdle and Bob Melvin are the leading candidates to become the Mets’ next manager, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. The three former big league skippers will all likely get second interviews for the position. Mets third base coach Chip Hale may also advance to the next stage of interviews and GM Sandy Alderson may interview former Met Jose Oquendo as an additional candidate.

Mets bench coach Dave Jauss, Blue Jays bench coach Don Wakamatsu, Red Sox bench coach DeMarlo Hale and Class A manager Wally Backman have already had first round interviews, according to Rubin. Multiple sources tell Rubin that they don’t expect former Mets infielder Tim Teufel to become a candidate for the job.

New York Rumors: Beltran, Lee, Jeter, Santos

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Rangers officials have told friends that they expect the Yankees to offer Cliff Lee so many years that other teams will have to back off, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. But team president Nolan Ryan is expected to push aggressively for Lee's return, so it's far too early to rule Texas out. Here's the latest on the Yankees and the Mets:

  • Carlos Beltran says he'd prefer to play center field, but is open to playing right, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo (on Twitter). Beltran also told reporters he would consider waiving his no-trade clause.
  • Sherman predicts the Yankees will sign Lee to a five-year $125MM deal. The imagined contract would pay Lee $23MM for five seasons with a sixth year option for $25MM ($10MM buyout).
  • The Yankees say they're extremely unlikely to pursue a free agent catcher, since they want to give their young catching a real chance to emerge in 2011 as Jorge Posada transitions to DH.
  • Mark Simon of ESPNNewYork.com looks back at some recent contracts to prove that locking up pitchers to long-term deals is risky.
  • The Yankees don't want to surrender a draft pick to sign a Type A free agent like Scott Downs, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff (on Twitter).
  • It's unlikely that the Yankees will agree to a deal with Derek Jeter next week, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com.
  • There's been a lot of Moneyball talk about the Mets front office, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports believes Sandy Alderson, J.P. Ricciardi and Paul DePodesta are not about ideology. "This is about picking the right players and all of the different ways it can be done."
  • Alderson interviewed Clint Hurdle and Don Wakamatsu at Citi Field yesterday, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.  Next up, the GM will interview Mets Triple-A manager Ken Oberkfell in the Dominican Republic.
  • Omir Santos and Mike Hessman are free agents after refusing minor league assignments, according to Rubin (on Twitter).

Red Sox Rumors: DeJesus, Matsuzaka, Crawford

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There's been lots of chatter about the Red Sox and Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth, but Boston isn't necessarily committed to acquiring an outfielder through free agency. Here's the latest:

Heyman On Cliff Lee, Mets, Penny

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SI's Jon Heyman dishes the latest on the hot stove…

  • Heyman provides reasons why he sees the Yankees as the favorite to sign Cliff Lee: their revenue, rotation question marks, and lack of a backup plan chief among them.  He also talked to Lee's agent Darek Braunecker about the story about Lee's wife being harassed by Yankees fans at a game.  Braunecker said, "That story was blown out of proportion.  It's not like she's hypersensitive. She's been with him in Philadelphia and all over, been with him from the get-go. It really was that one time, just a couple clowns…probably intoxicated. I don't know if that will have any bearing on (the decision)."
  • Heyman predicts destinations for 15 of the top free agents; nothing crazy.
  • Padres GM Jed Hoyer draws praise for being upfront about not being able to sign Adrian Gonzalez.
  • New Mets GM Sandy Alderson will be paid close to $3MM, while Paul DePodesta will get close to $1MM.  With J.P. Ricciardi, Wayne Krivsky, and Omar Minaya also on the ledger, Heyman figures this is baseball's most expensive front office.
  • Heyman feels that the Mets "would likely avoid" allowing Francisco Rodriguez to finish 55 games in 2011, which would trigger his $17.5MM option for '12.  He also notes that the Mets "will wait to see Jose Reyes play a large chunk of this coming season before getting serious about a long-term deal."  That approach might work, but from Reyes' point of view if he's having a great year and is months away from free agency he might as well go to the open market.
  • It's a little early for "best shape of his life" reports, but that's the word on free agent righty Brad Penny.  The 32-year-old was limited to nine starts this year due to a lat muscle injury.
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