Mets, Red Sox Complete Billy Wagner Trade
The Mets and Red Sox completed the Billy Wagner trade today, according to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post. Hubbuch says the Mets acquired outfielder Chris Carter and first baseman Eddie Lora to finish the deal. The Red Sox had to wait until the offseason to send Carter to the Mets because of a waiver claim made by the Yankees in August.
Wagner pitched well in his time with Boston, posting a 1.72 ERA, 26 strikeouts, and 8 walks in 15.6 innings. He could also have an impact in the playoffs. The Red Sox agreed to decline Wagner's $8MM option for 2010, but the pitcher expects the team to offer arbitration. He told WEEI's Rob Bradford he'll probably turn it down, which would mean a new team will have to surrender a draft pick to sign him.
Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Halladay, Yankees
Let's take a look around the web after the thrilling conclusion of game #163:
- Vicente Padilla and Ronnie Belliard – acquired (separately) by the Dodgers in August – will start ahead of Chad Billingsley and Orlando Hudson in the postseason, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
- MLB.com's David Ely writes that the Dodgers are in the position they are today in large part because of GM Ned Colletti. The Dodgers agree as they are likely to ink Colletti a new deal soon.
- David Waldstein of the New York Times reports that the Mets will "look into" Roy Halladay if the Blue Jays make him available this winter. However, the article notes that it is unlikely that the Mets have the cash flow to make such a deal or the prospects necessary to entice Toronto.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman deserves credit for the moves he has made, writes Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger.
Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Halladay, Yankees
Let's take a look around the web after the thrilling conclusion of game #163:
- Vicente Padilla and Ronnie Belliard – acquired (separately) by the Dodgers in August – will start ahead of Chad Billingsley and Orlando Hudson in the postseason, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
- MLB.com's David Ely writes that the Dodgers are in the position they are today in large part because of GM Ned Colletti. The Dodgers agree as they are likely to ink Colletti a new deal soon.
- David Waldstein of the New York Times reports that the Mets will "look into" Roy Halladay if the Blue Jays make him available this winter. However, the article notes that it is unlikely that the Mets have the cash flow to make such a deal or the prospects necessary to entice Toronto.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman deserves credit for the moves he has made, writes Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger.
Odds & Ends: Fredi Gonzalez, Giants, Beane
Links for Tuesday…
- Chat today, 2pm CST.
- The Marlins will retain manager Fredi Gonzalez, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post believes the Mets will look to take on overpriced players via trade this winter.
- A must-read from Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: his ten steps to re-boot the Pirates for 2010. Kovacevic again notes that closer Matt Capps will be on the trading block.
- RotoWorld's Matthew Pouliot looks at the performance of a couple of Alex Anthopoulos fantasy teams from ten years ago. My best pick from '99 was definitely Mike Sweeney.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News has a transcript of yesterday's Brian Sabean/Bruce Bochy sit-down. Lots of good stuff in there.
- Tyler Bleszinski of Athletics Nation has part two of his Billy Beane chat. Beane seems interested in retaining free agent infielder Adam Kennedy.
- ESPN's Buster Olney wrote yesterday that "rival executives are already speculating about Kevin Towers' possible connection to the Texas Rangers if — and it's a big if — Dennis Gilbert's group wins the bidding for the team."
Odds & Ends: Pirates, Mets, White Sox
Lots of teams are packing their bags today. But every trip has a destination…
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette chats with readers. Among other moves, he expects the Pirates to shop Matt Capps.
- The incomparable Marty Noble quotes a Mets official as saying, "There's more of an understanding now that we need to fix things on more than the Major League level."
- Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune thinks Carlos Quentin could help himself from "a slight weight loss."
- Nick Piecoro believes the Diamondbacks have no choice but to pick up Brandon Webb's $6.5MM option for 2010, which is actually an $8.5MM option minus a $2.0MM buyout Arizona can exercise.
Odds & Ends: Kikuchi, Dye, Varitek
Links for Monday…
- Yakyu Baka translated a recent Yusei Kikuchi press conference. Kikuchi has yet to decide between the U.S. and Japan. The Mets and Tigers attended the conference.
- Baseball America's Jim Callis has the 2010 draft order, and he also explains which picks are protected from Type A free agent signings.
- Jermaine Dye talking to Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald on possibly finishing his White Sox career: "I don't really have a feeling."
- Talking to WEEI's Alex Speier, Jason Varitek would not address next season (he has a $5MM team option and $3MM player option). Manager Terry Francona made sure Varitek received an ovation yesterday.
- MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan gives one-liners on 35 Rangers players.
- Tyler Bleszinski of Athletics Nation talked to A's GM Billy Beane. Beane chatted about Matt Holliday, stolen bases, and the first base depth chart, among other things.
- Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star tells us about new Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times explains how advanced defensive metrics influenced the team's acquisition of Franklin Gutierrez.
- Outfielder So Taguchi hopes to play in 2010, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Mets To Be Players For Top Free Agents
Mets GM Omar Minaya and COO Jeff Wilpon spoke to reporters today. Notes from the conference:
- Wilpon described the 2010 payroll as "whatever Omar needs," according to MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone. Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post (Twitter) passes along a Wilpon claim that the team will be major players for top free agents. Mets fans are already dreaming of Matt Holliday and John Lackey.
- More tweeting from Hubbuch – the Mets are prioritizing adding power, and they can't commit to Daniel Murphy as the first baseman. Free agent SLG leaders: Jason Bay, Russell Branyan, Holliday, and Hideki Matsui.
- Hubbuch quotes Minaya saying he's "open to changing the core" of the team. My view: it'd still be a huge surprise to see Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, David Wright, or Carlos Beltran traded.
- SI's Jon Heyman senses the Mets will have a $140-150MM payroll in 2010.
Minaya Interested In Hiring Towers, Ricciardi
Mets GM Omar Minaya has interest in hiring two of his former counterparts, Kevin Towers and J.P. Ricciardi. Joel Sherman of the New York Postsays Minaya contacted the ousted GMs "to express his support…and also to lay the groundwork to speak to both soon about possible jobs in the Mets' organization."
Sherman notes that Minaya is on thin ice, and bringing in his potential replacement is a double-edged sword. Plus, Minaya would have to deal with Towers ribbing him about the Heath Bell trade.
In other Mets news, Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse reported on Twitterthis morning that Minaya fired coaches Sandy Alomar Sr. and Luis Alicea while retaining Howard Johnson and Dan Warthen. Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News has a few more details.
Odds & Ends: Blue Jays, Towers, Pirates, Mets
Here are some links to kick off Sunday morning:
- Some Blue Jays players approached CEO and President Paul Beeston with complaints about Cito Gaston, reports Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun. “They raised the issues,” said Beeston. “They were listened to. They have not been addressed at this time. I had my ears open. I kept my mouth shut. I gave them some comments and that’s all I want to say about that.”
- Jordan Bastian of MLB.com writes that newly appointed Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos was emotional in his introductory presser. The article notes that the position of president and CEO will be filled soon, relieving the interim hire, Paul Beeston. Beeston says that while the next president and CEO will have the authority to hire its own staff, he will recommend that Anthopoulos remain as GM.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes that Kevin Towers didn't deserve to get fired considering all the obstacles he has had to work around in San Diego.
- Towers conducted a farewell press conference in San Diego and Craig Elsten of 619sports.net posted some key sound bytes. Towers insisted that the organization maintained a strong focus on scouting and player development under his watch. He also said that he has been contacted by seven or eight other teams to work immediately, but wants to take some time off before jumping into another job. The 47-year-old made it known that he wants the opportunity to be a GM again. Also available are team owner and CEO Jeff Moorad's post-podium comments.
- The Pirates have talked to Andy LaRoche about possibly moving from third base to second next year to make room for Pedro Alvarez, writes Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pirates would like to call-up Alvarez by the middle of the 2010 season, but first he must improve his strength and conditioning. The 22-year-old excelled after his mid-season promotion to AA, posting .333/.419/.590 with 13 HR in 60 games.
- More from Kovacevic as he labels the Pirates' trade of Nate McLouth to the Braves to be the worst personnel move of the year. Kovacevic says the deal hurt the players' trust in Pittsburgh management and was a poor public relations decision.
- Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post tweets, "Jerry Manuel was in meetings all morning and said he expects an announcement tomorrow on changes and the team's offseason plans."
- Jon Heyman reports via Twitter that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria refused to comment on a possible manager change. Recent reports suggest that Fredi Gonzalez could be on the way out and Bobby Valentine could be on the way in.
Odds & Ends: Braves, Blue Jays, Reds, Mets
Time for another round of links…
- David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution wouldn't be surprised if the Braves could get a team to pick up Derek Lowe's contract. The righty has $45MM remaining on the four-year deal he signed last offseason.
- Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star says there's "significant discontent" towards Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston. It's just not as bad as Ken Rosenthal says it is.
- MLB.com's Jordan Bastian says the discontent has been building in the clubhouse all season long.
- From Jeff Blair's Twitter: "Poor Chicago: first they get screwed by [Alex] Rios, then they get screwed by Rio."
- As MLB.com's Mark Sheldon notes, the Reds fired pitching coach Dick Pole.
- Matthew Cerrone and Michael Baron of MetsBlog are divided on whether Carlos Zambrano would be a good addition for the Mets.
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that it will cost about $500MM to buy the Rangers.