Carlos Beltran Not On Trading Block
The idea of trading center fielder Carlos Beltran will not be entertained by the Mets, according to a source of WEEI's Alex Speier. Beltran's knee injury limited him to 357 plate appearances this year, but that doesn't serve as motivation for the Mets to subtract an important piece for 2010. Beltran has a full no-trade clause, also.
Beltran, a Scott Boras client, signed a seven-year, $119MM deal in January of 2005. FanGraphs suggests he's already been worth $95.5MM in his five Mets seasons, with $76MM of that value coming in 2006-08.
Odds & Ends: Rockies, Orioles, Mets
A few more links to peruse while the baseball world waits for tonight's game in the Bronx….
- Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post discusses Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy and GM Dan O'Dowd, and the deals they'll likely sign this week. Renck praises O'Dowd's recent acquisitions and suggests that this winter the GM will be looking for starting pitching and a right-handed bat.
- MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez reports that the Baltimore Orioles' potential corner infielders of the future, Josh Bell and Brandon Snyder, are currently tearing up the Arizona Fall League.
- In the first part of a feature, Viva El Birdos takes a look at the "untradeable" Kyle Lohse.
- Michael Baron at MetsBlog summarizes a few opinion pieces on the Mets from around the internet, including one by Mike Silva of the New York Baseball Digest about inexpensive free agents.
Strong Interest In Aroldis Chapman
SUNDAY, 12:35pm: As suggested by Lennon earlier, Chapman's price tag is too high for the Mets. Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post reports (via Twitter) that the Mets were told Chapman wants up to $60MM to sign.
SATURDAY, 7:23pm: John Stockstill – the Orioles' director of international scouting – has confirmed that the club will meet with Chapman and his agent next week in New York, according to Roch Kubatko of MASN.com. In a piece yesterday, Kubatko wrote that he doesn't think Baltimore will end up signing the 21-year-old.
SATURDAY, 2:38pm: Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports the A's have also had interest in Chapman since he became a free agent. However, they were not among the teams that met the hard-throwing left-hander in New York this week.
FRIDAY, 1:59pm: Lennon says (via Twitter) that the Mets won't bid $40-60MM for Chapman.
FRIDAY, 1:19pm: Add the Blue Jays to the mix of teams interested in Chapman, according to our source. Also, the Orioles have maintained interest and want to meet.
THURSDAY, 2:39pm: MLBTR has learned that the Cubs and White Sox have expressed interest in free agenty lefty Aroldis Chapman. The Cardinals have been more aggressive than those clubs, and plan to meet with Chapman next week. The Yankees and Red Sox, of course, have also been among the aggressive suitors. A meeting with the Mets will come later this week, according to Newsday's David Lennon.
The Chapman tour began yesterday in New York, as the 21-year-old's agency decided not to make MLB clubs come to Andorra. ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. believes Chapman will command a contract in the $40-60MM range.
Odds & Ends: La Russa, Indians, Arguelles
A few links to start your Sunday….
- Tony La Russa didn't officially say he'll be back in St. Louis in 2010, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. But it sounds like he's leaning towards returning, and that an announcement could be made within a couple days.
- Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that Bobby Valentine would be the best choice as an "impact" manager for the Tribe. He thinks that Manny Acta is the favorite though.
- The Plain Dealer's Bud Shaw also gives his two cents on the Indians' managerial hunt, opining that Valentine's "outside-the-box interview strategy figures to backfire."
- At least four teams are very interested in Cuban lefty Noel Arguelles, according to Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus (via Twitter). In the same tweet, McDaniel mentions that Wagner Mateo still looks headed to the San Francisco Giants.
- Michael Baron of MetsBlog agrees with MLB.com's Marty Noble when he says the New York Mets have to address their need for a catcher.
Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Torre, Wang, Wright
A night without baseball just doesn't feel right…
- ESPN's Buster Olney wonders if the "legal wrangling" caused by the McCourts' divorce could affect the Dodgers attempt to land a No. 1 starter this offseason. Within the same piece, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus notes that the prospects traded in deals for Casey Blake and George Sherrill have thinned out LA's system, meaning they might not have the ammo to pull off a major trade.
- Meanwhile, Phil Wood of MASNsports.com writes that a source told him they believe Joe Torre will manage the Dodgers for years to come. "When push comes to shove, he won't want to leave," said the source.
- Tyler Kepner of The NY Times mentions that Chien-Ming Wang isn't sure if the Yankees will tender him a contract this offseason. “Nothing’s sure,” Wang said. Wang has thrown just 137 IP over the last two seasons due to foot and shoulder injuries.
- Dave Cameron at FanGraphs looks at the David Wright–Jose Cruz Jr. non-trade, and says that the Blue Jays messed up by not making the deal, but not because Wright developed into an All-Star. He says J.P. Ricciardi did wrong by not getting any return for Cruz Jr. before he left as a free agent in the offseason.
Odds & Ends: Chapman, Indians, Mulder, Royals
More links for Friday…
- Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News says the Mets are meeting with Aroldis Chapman today in New York. Rubin also passes along the bio Chapman's representatives have prepared.
- The Angels have given the Indians permission to interview bench coach Ron Roenicke for the club's managerial opening, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times.
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney says Don Mattingly is a frontrunner for the Indians job and, as Brian Costello of the New York Post reports, the Nationals have interest in Mattingly, too.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel agrees with Buster Olney. Mark Mulder makes sense for the Brewers, who had interest in the lefty earlier this year.
- Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star assumes the Royals won't bring Tony Pena Jr. back. The shortstop-turned pitcher chose to become a free agent earlier in the week.
- Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox have enough organizational pitching depth to focus on adding a big bat this offseason. Massarotti expects the Red Sox to target Jason Bay and, possibly, Matt Holliday. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the team sign either player. Check the article out to see a breakdown of the club's financial commitments for the next couple years.
Odds & Ends: Chapman, DeRosa, Lackey, Hinske
Some links for Friday morning…
- Roch Kubatko of MASN.com doesn't expect the Orioles to win the bidding for free agent lefty Aroldis Chapman, but the club doesn't have a policy against signing Cuban defectors, according to a high-ranking Orioles official.
- Tyler Hissey of Around the Majors takes a look at this year's class of free agent second basemen. Players like Mark DeRosa and Freddy Sanchez have value, but Hissey doesn't see a true star among the group.
- MLB.com's Carrie Muskat says the Cubs aren't going to sign DeRosa just because he's popular. Jeff Baker is currently the frontrunner to start at second base next year.
- Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog thinks John Lackey, who turns 31 today, would be a fantastic pitcher for Citi Field.
- The Blue Jays are looking for a Canadian scout and, according to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, have received permission from the Phillies to interview a member of their front office for the job.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker compiles a list of players who could spend next season in Japan, including Kenji Johjima and Eric Hinske.
- Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle points out that most of baseball's best-respected managers improved in their second or third stints.
- Felix Perez, the Cuban outfielder who was suspended for lying to the Yankees about his age, has been reinstated, according to Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN.com.
Odds & Ends: McCourt, Manny, Duncan, Blue Jays
A few links to check out between ALCS pitches…
- Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt has fired his wife, Jamie, as CEO of the team. The McCourts are famously going through what will likely be a messy divorce, and Jamie's lawyers maintain that "she owns 50 percent of the team."
- Diamond Leung tweets that the Dodgers and GM Ned Colletti are planning on having Manny Ramirez around next year. Manny has a $20MM player option that he has until shortly after the World Series to exercise.
- Now that they've brought in hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, Mark Potash of The Chicago Sun Times wants to see the Cubs go after pitching coach Dave Duncan. Duncan has said he's going to wait and see what Tony LaRussa does before deciding on his coaching future.
- ESPN's Keith Law, former special assistant to the GM in Toronto, mentioned a few interesting Blue Jays' non-trades in his chat today. He says that the Mets once offered 19-year-old David Wright for Jose Cruz Jr., but J.P. Ricciardi said "I'm not trading a major league player for some guy in the (Low Class-A) Sally League." Klaw also mentions that the Jays had a chance to trade Cruz Jr. for Rafael Soriano, but wouldn't do it unless the Mariners kicked in Clint Nageotte as well. What could have been, Jays fans.
Odds & Ends: Mets, Cameron, Valentine
A few news items to think about while we get ready for Game Five of the NLCS….
- MLB.com's Marty Noble agrees with a reader e-mail that a defensively-sound first baseman would do wonders for the Mets' infield defense and overall performance.
- From that same piece, Noble thinks that Mike Cameron would be a good fit with the Mets due to his ability to cover the vast expanses of Citi Field's outfield. Noble isn't as keen on Chone Figgins since he doesn't fit New York's needs.
- MLB.com's Noah Coslov tweets that the Indians will interview Bobby Valentine on Thursday.
- If Manny Acta isn't hired in Cleveland or Houston, The Globe & Mail's Jeff Blair thinks he could land in Toronto.
- Canadian Business Online looks at the best and worst free agent signings from last year and examines which teams got the most value from their rosters in 2009.
Mets Roundup: Madoff, Catchers, Jauss
The Yankees may be one win from the World Series, but there is a lot going on with New York's other team today.
- Ray Ratto of CBSSports.com writes about the news from court filings this week that the Mets may have gained $48MM in the Bernie Madoff swindle, rather than lost a previously-reported range of $300MM to $700MM. Unfortunately, this isn't necessarily good news. Those who lost money to Madoff are in the process of suing the Madoff winners, and the uncertainty over $48MM could complicate offseason plans for the Mets.
- Metsblog's Matt Cerrone believes the Mets will return Josh Thole to Triple-A for more seasoning, and find a defense-first catcher to split time with Omir Santos. He mentioned Rod Barajas specifically, who seems like the best fit for a team that could use some offense from the position, too.
- Licey Tigers manager Dave Jauss was in New York on Monday to discuss a position with the Mets. Jauss managed in the Montreal system, receiving the honor of Eastern League Manager of the Year in 1994.