Odds and Ends: Kendall, Laird, Giles, Manny
Today’s linkage…
- A friend pointed out to me how strange it is that the Twins were willing to take on Jarrod Washburn‘s salary and give up Boof Bonser but chose to trade Johan Santana before the season. If Bill Smith could go back in time, would he still make that deal?
- A Gary Sheffield acquisition by the Rays is "unlikely but not impossible," according to one Buster Olney source.
- As expected, Jason Kendall‘s option for ’09 vested. He’s off the list!
- The Rangers were willing to trade Gerald Laird and a solid prospect to the Marlins for Chris Volstad.
- The Padres are wavering on Brian Giles‘ 2009 option. Scott Miller also wonders if they’ll be able to take on Trevor Hoffman for another year.
- Miller says the Marlins had a deal for Manny Ramirez worked out, but the commissioner’s office killed it because the Marlins would’ve been getting draft picks rather than a second player. Manny would’ve vetoed it anyway.
- Rob Neyer thinks the Yankees will exceed a $200MM payroll if need be next year.
- There seems a good chance Randy Johnson pitches next year.
- Randy Winn and Bengie Molina may be traded this winter.
- Missed this one from Monday – the White Sox acquired reliever Franklyn German from the Pirates for a player to be named later.
Odds and Ends: Heyman, Vidro, Glavine, Falkenborg
Let’s round up today’s links.
- Great interview with SI.com’s Jon Heyman at The Big Lead. He talks about scoops, Buster Olney, and his wife helping him do his job, among other things.
- Aaron Gleeman doesn’t understand why the Twins claimed Alan Embree but not Chad Bradford.
- Unsurprisingly, the Mariners weren’t able to find a trade partner for Jose Vidro.
- Richard Justice on what he’d have done as Astros GM.
- Tom Glavine‘s next six weeks will determine whether he’ll pitch in ’09.
- The Padres claimed reliever Brian Falkenborg from the Dodgers. Paul DePodesta likes his stuff.
- Danny Knobler writes about the Tigers’ numerous offseason needs.
- Tim Marchman doesn’t think the Yankees will have the money for multiple big-time free agent signings.
- The White Sox have signed seventh round OF Jordan Danks, brother of lefty pitcher John. Jordan hit .321/.444/.564 for the Texas Longhorns this year. The bonus is reportedly just north of $500K.
Draft Roundup: Dykstra, Smoak, Alonso
Here’s a collection of links involving unsigned first rounders.
- Kevin Towers expects talks to Allan Dykstra to go down to Friday. The Padres nearly had a deal, buy Dykstra’s physical revealed a hip problem.
- Justin Smoak reportedly wants a big league contract from the Rangers.
- The Reds want to do a minor league deal with Yonder Alonso, which has caused a stalemate. John Fay thinks he wants $7MM. Hal McCoy says the Reds are offering a $2.5MM minor league deal. Fay talked to Alonso, who may join an independent league and move in with Alex Rodriguez if need be.
Heyman’s Latest: Washburn, Cashman, Garcia, Lofton
SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in with a new column.
- Jarrod Washburn reportedly cleared waivers, though Heyman’s use of the word "reportedly" makes me think the statement came from one of the shaky reports floating about. We’ll wait for definitive word on that one.
- Heyman’s sources say the Yankees plan to offer a new contract to GM Brian Cashman after the season. Hank Steinbrenner has apparently warmed to Cashman. Additionally, "club higherups" expect Cashman will want to stay rather than jump to the Seattle job.
- Heyman loves the Freddy Garcia acquisition; he wonders if Garcia will be motivated by Ozzie Guillen’s comments. The White Sox weren’t interested; Guillen doesn’t think Garcia will be ready for the playoffs. There’s a chance Garcia could return to the Tigers in ’09.
- Heyman says it was a 2-2 vote whether to keep Manny Ramirez in Boston – Theo Epstein and Tom Werner advocating a trade, and Larry Lucchino and John Henry preferring to keep him. Henry changed his mind and the deal was made. Lucchino recently denied Heyman’s speculation that he might leave after the season.
- The Rays made an offer to Kenny Lofton in spring and even gave Barry Bonds consideration. But now a signing of either is "highly unlikely." Giants GM Brian Sabean thinks the Rays should sign Bonds.
- Heyman continues to speculate that Jim Bowden could be fired.
- One GM expects the Padres to pick up Brian Giles‘ $9MM option for ’09. It’s an easy decision since it has a $3MM buyout. However, Peter Gammons says it will be declined.
Gammons Chat: Lucchino, Lugo, Manny
The Boston Globe has a Peter Gammons chat transcript up on its blog. Let’s take a look at his nuggets of rumor wisdom.
- Gammons heard from someone close to Larry Lucchino that the Red Sox would not let him leave.
- The Red Sox could try to unload Julio Lugo in the offseason, or convince him to accept a super-utility role.
- Gammons says neither Hank Steinbrenner nor Brian Cashman have any interest in Manny Ramirez as a winter signing. He expects the Yankees to chase C.C. Sabathia.
- Manny apparently wants four years and $100MM, but Gammons expects something more in the three years, low $40MM range.
- The Red Sox have been looking for a young catcher, and Gammons guesses that Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Mike Napoli could be targets. Evan Grant suggested today that the Rangers may prefer to deal Salty and keep Gerald Laird.
Hank Willing To Sign Top Starter For ’09
I am not a fan of the way all of Hank Steinbrenner’s public comments are considered newsworthy. However, it’s a slow morning so I’ll dutifully link to his comments to the AP yesterday.
Hank seems focused on ’09, which is reasonable given the Yankees’ slim chance of making the playoffs this year. He expressed his willingness to sign a "top veteran pitcher." Based on chats with fans, I get the impression they’re expecting C.C. Sabathia or Ben Sheets, plus new contracts for Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina. If Brian Cashman sticks around, I think he will have to get on board with this idea. It also wouldn’t be surprising to see Ian Kennedy traded this winter, if he really is turning into Kei Igawa.
Odds and Ends: Ibanez, Dunn, Blake, Stewart
Let’s kick off the morning with some random links.
- Live chat here today at 2pm CST.
- Brian Matusz is hopeful about striking a deal with the Orioles by Friday’s deadline. Roch Kubatko has a source saying it’s likely.
- Baseball America’s Jim Callis warns us not to listen to the posturing – he still expects all the first-round draft picks to sign with the possible exception of Allan Dykstra.
- Should the Mariners offer Raul Ibanez a three-year deal at $10-11MM per?
- No word yet on possible Rays acquisitions in wake of the Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria injuries. Marc Lancaster wonders if Kenny Lofton or…don’t say it…Barry Bonds would make sense.
- The Mets had no interest in Adam Dunn. They wonder about his passion, according to Joel Sherman. Did you know he doesn’t like baseball?
- The Phillies were more interested in Casey Blake than Manny Ramirez.
- Athletics Nation looks at some free agent options for ’09.
- Shannon Stewart didn’t understand his latest Blue Jay Experience.
- The Yankees, Mets, Angels, and Padres have scouts at the Olympics to watch Hitoki Iwase, Koji Uehara, Kenshin Kawakami, Yu Darvish, and Kyuji Fujikawa.
White Sox Not Pursuing Washburn
TUESDAY, 9:30am: De Luca’s latest article confirms Chicago’s lack of interest in Washburn. De Luca says Washburn has "passed through waivers," by the way.
MONDAY, 10:22pm: Kenny Williams’ comments to MLB.com’s Scott Merkin seem to indicate a lack of interest in Washburn.
9:48am: According to Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times, the White Sox are pursuing Mariners starter Jarrod Washburn as a replacement for Jose Contreras. Contreras may be out for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times heard from team sources on Saturday that Washburn cleared waivers. Based on the Yankees rumors last month, it appears the Mariners are unwilling to unload Washburn solely for salary relief ($10.35MM in ’09).
ESPN’s Buster Olney had a conflicting report in yesterday’s blog. Olney heard the claiming window remains open on Washburn until 12:30pm CST today, and the White Sox are considering putting one in. Additionally, Ken Rosenthal said on Saturday that the Yankees will put a claim in for Washburn. The Yanks have a worse record, so they’d win such a battle.
Olney also mentioned that Paul Byrd might make sense for the Sox. Byrd has already cleared waivers. Phil Rogers believes Aaron Poreda could be an option.
Perrotto’s Latest: Waivers, Extensions, Garcia, Braves
John Perrotto over at Baseball Prospectus has his Every Given Sunday column up:
- Perrotto lists off several people which he believes are the most likely to be made available if and when they clear waivers. While the list is comprised of a lot of the usual suspects this August (Greg Maddux, Jarrod Washburn, Paul Byrd, Randy Winn), Perrotto lists some other names that we haven’t seen as much: Francisco Cordero, Tyler Walker, Todd Jones, Jose Bautista, and Doug Mientkiewicz. Perrotto also says that he feels Aubrey Huff has the best chance to be traded of any impact bat available.
- Perrotto states that the Rockies would like to sign both Garrett Atkins and Matt Holliday long-term. If unsuccessful, they will both be on the trading block this offseason.
- The Pirates would like to sign Nate McLouth and Ryan Doumit long-term as well, buying out their arbitration years.
- Perrotto lists the Yankees as the front-runners to sign Freddy Garcia. The Mets and Rays are also suitors for Garcia, though I personally don’t think Garcia makes sense for the Rays.
- The Yankees have "little interest" in pursuing Manny Ramirez this offseason, despite possible reports that Manny would like to play for them.
- The Twins would still like to add a late-inning reliever this season to boost their bullpen as the AL Central race winds down.
- The Braves’ top priority this offseason is pursuing a front-line starter, Perrotto says. He lists possible candidates as: C.C. Sabathia, Ben Sheets, Ryan Dempster, Derek Lowe, and Jon Garland. Seems a bit odd to consider the last three "front-line," though Dempster has certainly been impressive this season.
Manny in Pinstripes in 09?
4:22pm: Rob Neyer has an interesting take on this tidbit. "You think Manny’s too old for a long-term contract?" he asks rhetorically, before running through Gary Sheffield’s late-30s contracts and pointing out that he’ll earn $14 million next year at the age of 40. But wait! "That hasn’t worked out too well for anyone except Sheffield and his agent…Players like Manny Ramirez and Gary Sheffield are exactly what keep teams like the Red Sox, the Mets, the Dodgers, and (especially) the Yankees from winning 100 games every year."
1:58pm: I promised myself no Manny Ramirez posts today, but…George King is reporting that "a close friend" of the slugger’s told him that Manny "wants to play for the Yankees so he can get at the Red Sox." And of course, Ramirez went to high school in the Bronx [correction: upper Manhattan].
The Yankees well know what Ramirez can do with a bat. Only two players—Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams—have more bombs against the Yankees than Ramirez does, and the New York papers greeted news of his departure from rival Boston with unrestrained glee. In 83 at-bats in Yankee Stadium over the past three years, Ramirez has hit .325/.411/.530.
But would the Yankees actually sign him? They can certainly afford him…but my hunch is that they’d prefer to keep working on their youth movement. And if it’s true, as agent Scott Boras has been saying, that Manny wanted to get out of the media-saturated fishbowl of Boston, a move to New York would be completely illogical. On the other hand, this is Manny we’re talking about…not Spock.