Odds and Ends: Hunter, A-Rod, Bedard
Sunday morning minor rumor collection…
- There’s always some skepticism from readers regarding Charley Walters rumors. Nonetheless I’ll report that he names the Nationals, White Sox, Braves, Yankees, and Dodgers as teams that will bid for Torii Hunter. I don’t see the Braves getting involved at $15MM per. And are the Dodgers ready to move Juan Pierre to left field already? The other clubs named seem reasonable.
- As expected, the Cardinals interviewed Chris Antonetti for their open GM position. No doubt it’s an attractive position but you have to wonder what kind of autonomy he’d have with Tony La Russa around.
- Larry LaRue makes the case for the Mariners tendering a contract to Horacio Ramirez. He also notes that Jose Guillen is as good as gone and the Ms won’t consider A-Rod.
- Speaking of that guy, Bill Price suggests the Mets should sign him and move David Wright to first base. Carlos Delgado I suppose would be a very expensive pinch-hitter in 2008.
- Nick Cafardo expects the Orioles to shop Miguel Tejada this winter, which would surprise no one. But he’s also hearing that Erik Bedard could be available. Trades of either might be unpopular with the fanbase. The trade market for starters could be hopping if Johan Santana, Bedard, and C.C. Sabathia are made available.
- Joel Sherman says Koji Uehara is a free agent, but we have heard differently. Anyway, the success of Hideki Okajima may create a minor bidding war for Hitoki Iwase.
Posada Could Join Mets, Marlins
George King has some Yankee info for us this morning, much of it involving Jorge Posada.
Mark Feinsand noted yesterday that the Yanks plan to offer a three-year, $40MM contract to Posada. King is on board, indicating that he expects a three-year deal in the $39-44MM range for the catcher. I’m sticking to my guns – I think this requires four guaranteed years in the end. But upping the average annual value to arrive at a 3/45 deal seems plausible.
King also mentions that the Mets and Marlins are both likely to be interested in Posada. The Mets are no surprise. But King indicates that the Fish have been "stockpiling dollars," which is news to me. Mostly we’ve been hearing that they want to make a low-level veteran signing or two but don’t figure to be able to afford both Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera for 2008.
Glavine Interested In Cards?
Sounds like Tom Glavine is considering more options than just the Mets, Braves, and retirement.
According to Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Glavine has interest in finishing his career as a Cardinal. While he might not be the "ace" the team is looking for, he might be the next best thing.
We also noted earlier this month that the Washington Nationals might be in the mix.
All that said, the Braves are probably still the favorite for Glavine. David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently expressed near certainty that the Braves would sign him.
Needs and Luxuries: New York Mets
Next up in our Needs and Luxuries series, the Mets.
C –
1B – Carlos Delgado
2B – Ruben Gotay
SS – Jose Reyes
3B – David Wright
LF – Carlos Gomez
CF – Carlos Beltran
RF – Lastings Milledge
SP – Pedro Martinez
SP – Orlando Hernandez
SP – Oliver Perez
SP – John Maine
SP – Mike Pelfrey/Philip Humber
Setup: Aaron Heilman/Duaner Sanchez
Closer: Billy Wagner
The Mets had a strong offense in ’07, basically the third best in the NL. Their starting pitching was above average, and their bullpen was roughly in the middle. They ranked second in the league in defensive efficiency.
Needs
As you can see above, the Mets have vacancies at catcher, second base, left field, and perhaps in the rotation. That’s because Paul Lo Duca, Ramon Castro, Luis Castillo, Moises Alou, and Tom Glavine could all be playing for different teams in 2008.
It’s probably time to move on from Lo Duca, who stopped hitting. The viable free agent options are Jorge Posada, Castro, Michael Barrett, and Miguel Olivo, in that order. Overpaying to lure Posada is an interesting idea. Otherwise, you go for a bargain with one of the others. Trade options include Gerald Laird, Kelly Shoppach, Bengie Molina, and Ramon Hernandez. The latter two would be salary dumps, so the price in players might be negligible.
I discussed the Castillo situation here. I’d probably bring him back, but I’d first learn the asking price for Orlando Hudson, Mark Ellis, and Freddy Sanchez. The first two are free agents after the ’08 season.
Left field, you gotta exercise Mo at $7.5MM (effectively $6.5MM). Easy choice, and Endy Chavez is a nice fourth outfielder. Right field is Milledge’s, no questions asked. I wouldn’t go after a center fielder and then try to shift Beltran over. That sets the outfield in my mind, though Mike Nichols of MetsBlog advocates an Adam Dunn trade.
A starting pitcher is a must, as no one in the ’08 rotation pitched 200 innings. Glavine is OK, but he already declined a $13MM option to stay. He’s probably not worth much more than $10MM. I think the goal is a big, grand starting pitcher acquisition like Johan Santana. I imagine Milledge, Maine, or Gomez would have to be part of such a deal, and the Mets would require a window for an extension.
A solid alternative would be to sign Curt Schilling, though that is a fairly brittle rotation. I’m recommending Schilling for a lot of teams, because he’s still effective and comes on a one-year deal. Not too many guys fit that description (Clemens might be the other, but I don’t like him for the Mets). Otherwise, it’s the usual suspects from the free agent market. And we’ve discussed the trade candidates many times before: Garland, Blanton, Lowry, Willis, Burnett, Igawa, Robertson. Can’t see the Astros making Oswalt available.
Some have advocated the Mets signing a Francisco Cordero type to anchor the pen and succeed Wagner. Signing Cordero or Mariano Rivera seems extravagant; the team has bigger needs. Maybe Omar can dip his feet in with a Troy Percival or someone like that. Good pens are usually built on the cheap. Plus, Duaner Sanchez should be back.
Luxuries
The Mets’ biggest luxury is probably money. Thing is, the free agent market doesn’t offer many star players to suit their needs. Posada and Schilling might be the only "star" players the Mets can acquire without giving up players.
The other luxury is prospects. Gomez’s star is still bright, while those of Pelfrey, Humber, Mike Carp, and Fernando Martinez have faded a touch. Gomez in particular might become a star, and could fetch one of the better players listed above. Omar Minaya’s been in a bit of a slump; can he spin some magic this winter?
Odds and Ends: Wakefield, Guillen, Lowell
Some random rumorage not quite worthy of individual posts…
- Jeff Goldberg of the Hartford Courant speculates that Tim Wakefield could be making his final start for Boston tonight. With Wakefield, the Red Sox possess one of the most lopsided contracts in baseball history. They have a perpetual $4MM club option with him, one that never goes away until they decline it. But $4MM is nothing to the Sox, and Wakefield was certainly worth that much in ’07. They’ll exercise it.
- The Mariners were once close to an extension for Jose Guillen, but currently it’s on the backburner. Even if the team exercises his $9MM option, Guillen can and probably will void it. He’s going to want at least three years, $30MM. The Mariners could get by without him.
- Mike Lowell has more Philly connections than I realized. The Phils definitely seem like his second choice if the Red Sox let him go. I think the Phillies should just sign Mike Lamb and spend the excess money on pitching.
- Neal Huntington’s first move: a waiver claim of Kevin Thompson. It’s over now.
- Joel Pineiro gets a $500K signing bonus, $5MM in ’08, and $7.5MM in ’09. Originally he wanted to test the market, but he appreciated the Cardinals giving him a chance.
- John Schuerholz found Scott Boras’ suggestions obnoxious and idiotic. Also, Steve Phillips comments on the A-Rod/Mets situation back in 2000.
Luis Castillo Hopes To Stay With Mets
Luis Castillo had wanted to play for the Mets for some time before they brought him aboard in a summer trade. By most accounts he fulfilled his obligations: he got on base, played sound defense, and did those #2 hitter things that always draw praise. John Delcos of The Journal News quotes Castillo as saying he wants to come back in 2008.
Presumably the deal would be for something like two years, $10MM. It would add a little stability to second base for the Mets. Delcos says the only other free agent 2B who might rival Castillo is Kaz Matsui, and the Mets won’t be trying that again. I also think Tadahito Iguchi would be comparable to Castillo in many ways. In-house, Ruben Gotay would be the choice.
Don’t forget the trade market though. Orlando Hudson, Freddy Sanchez, Mark Ellis, Jose Lopez, Ray Durham, and Mark Grudzielanek might be available this winter.
Heyman’s Latest
SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up, with some minor info.
- Heyman’s sources describe a Jose Reyes for Johan Santana rumor as "pure fantasy." Well…who said it was ever anything more? Buster Olney was clearly just playing Let’s Make A Deal when he devised it. Things get twisted around easily.
- Most of us already figured this, but Heyman says the White Sox will go after either Aaron Rowand or Torii Hunter this winter.
- Heyman puts the Angels, Dodgers, Red Sox, Giants, Cubs, Mets, and Phillies into the A-Rod derby if the Yanks don’t keep him.
- No offense to Jon but this column really lacked any kind of new info.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Bonds, Nathan, Barrett
Ken Rosenthal has a new rumor column up. Feels like it’s been a while.
- Rosenthal thinks it’s a sign of desperation that the Angels would entertain signing Barry Bonds, who doesn’t fit in with their club. His OBP would fit in anywhere, but he would tie up the DH spot at the expense of Juan Rivera and Vladimir Guerrero.
- The Cubs are expected to bring Daryle Ward back at $1.2MM (makes sense) and Steve Trachsel at $4.75MM (questionable). Cubs fans can only hope Trachsel would be considered a tradeable asset, as Rosenthal opines. Rosenthal also quashes the idea of trading Aramis Ramirez, both because of his full no-trade clause and the team’s impending sale.
- David Eckstein is expected to leave the Cardinals, no big surprise. Rosenthal reiterates recent rumors connecting him to the White Sox, Tigers, and Mets.
- Rosenthal’s idea for Bill Smith and the Twins: keep Johan Santana this winter, and instead trade the $6MM super-closer Joe Nathan. Teams would line up for him, and Pat Neshek wouldn’t be a bad replacement.
- Do you think Michael Barrett could be a free agent bargain? Rosenthal talked to one exec who feels this way, and it is a good point if he can bounce back to .280/.350/.480 for five million bucks.
Braves Notes: Hampton, Lowry, Andruw
Mike Hampton makes $15MM next year, and the Braves aren’t getting any relief from the Rockies or Marlins. However, it turns out the Braves actually spread around those payments so that they’d pay out about $8MM to Hampton in each year of the deal.
This is confirmed by Bill Shanks of Scout.com, for starters. Shanks notes that the Braves owe $8.25MM to Hampton next year because of amortization. I’ve heard that David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said something similar in the comments of one of his blog posts, but it’s been buried somewhere. Bottom line, the Braves have $7MM more than we thought they did. A $95MM payroll would give Atlanta some wiggle room to add a starter.
It’s not a stretch to add Tom Glavine, with this new information. However, O’Brien thinks the Braves need more. While Dan Haren or Joe Blanton may be out of reach, Noah Lowry seems a more realistic target. The point is to find a decent young controllable arm.
O’Brien’s also got some early interested parties in Andruw Jones: the Dodgers, Rangers, Giants, White Sox, Nationals, Phillies, and Mets. Seems like the idea of moving Beltran to right field has been discussed within the Mets organization. The Dodgers, I imagine, would shift Juan Pierre to left field.
Should Mets Pursue Rowand, Eckstein?
When I first saw the subheading of Joel Sherman’s most recent column – "Mets Would Get Much-Needed Jolt From Rowand And Eckstein" – I had the knee-jerk stathead reaction. That is: Eckstein’s overrated, Rowand’s coming off a career year, and the grinder element either doesn’t exist or doesn’t add wins.
But Sherman doesn’t seem blind to the numbers and his plan to move Carlos Beltran to right field and use Eckstein at second base seems reasonable. Who am I to say that adding two guys who play with such enthusiasm wouldn’t have an intangible effect? Sometimes the pendulum swings too far the other way with stats people (I am guilty of this). Rowand and Eckstein are above average players, even if their attitudes earn them too much media extra credit. There are immeasurable but valuable traits in baseball.
Rowand might end up costing $60MM over five years at the high end. Eckstein, $10MM over two years. Should the Mets make this investment? Sherman’s plan also calls for using Lastings Milledge/Carlos Gomez/Fernando Martinez to acquire a workhorse arm like Jon Garland, Nate Robertson, Joe Blanton, Bronson Arroyo, or Dontrelle Willis. Thoughts on that?
Meanwhile, John Delcos of The Journal News wants Glavine, Lo Duca, Castillo, Easley, and Alou back plus trades for Adam Dunn and Chad Cordero.