Athletics Rumors

Odds & Ends: Hamels, Giants, Yankees

By Tim Dierkes | March 16, 2009 at 9:36am CDT

Links for Monday…

Cole Hamels is flying to Philadelphia to have his sore left elbow examined. Hamels threw 3,914 pitches in total last year, the most in baseball (two more than C.C. Sabathia). Hamels thinks he’s fine and it’s not a big deal.
Julian Tavarez on why he chose the Nationals.
MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says the Marlins returned Rule 5 lefty Zach Kroenke to the Yankees.
Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball looks at postseason ticket revenue over the last decade.
Dan Brown of the San Jose Mercury News talked to John Dewan about the Giants’ defense.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes about the fraternity in the Yankees’ revamped rotation.
Athletics Nation talked to Jason Giambi, who was very close to re-signing with the A’s before he signed with the Yankees.
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker asks if Yankees starter Kei Igawa, owed $12MM over the next three years, is movable.

Beimel Close To Choosing An Offer

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 14, 2009 at 3:44pm CDT

3:44pm: Corey Brock of MLB.com spoke Saturday with Padres GM Kevin Towers, who said plainly that the Friars "are not in the mix" for Beimel. Brock surmises that it’s all "about money."

1:25pm: MLB.com’s Ed Eagle adds the Rockies to the mix of interested teams.

11:15am: According to Buster Olney of ESPN.com Joe Beimel is close to choosing between offers. Oakland and San Diego are apparently in the running for the lefty reliever. The Dodgers were still interested a week ago.

Dennys Reyes, who held lefties to a lower average than Beimel last year, signed a two-year deal worth $3MM with the Cardinals that will likely be comparable to the deal Beimel eventually gets.

Odds And Ends: Pedro, Crosby, Nationals

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 14, 2009 at 10:24am CDT

A few links for Saturday…

Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post reports that Omar Minaya says the Mets won’t sign Pedro Martinez. Buster Olney was on this one earlier in the week, but that was before the Mets had to shut Tim Redding down because of weakness in his pitching shoulder.
According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle Bobby Crosby played third and first yesterday in a Spring Training game. He had never played first before and had to borrow a glove. Playing well at many positions couldn’t hurt his trade value.
We missed this one earlier in the week: Bill Shaikin of the LA Times asked Angels GM Tony Reagins if he has interest in Barry Bonds and heard he has "none."
Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports that acting GM Mike Rizzo signed Julian Tavarez to the Nats because he wants depth and doesn’t want his players feeling too comfortable about their jobs.

A’s Place Rob Bowen On Waivers

By Tim Dierkes | March 13, 2009 at 1:37pm CDT

According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the A’s placed catcher Rob Bowen on revocable waivers. Bowen is out of options, so he’ll have to clear waivers if the A’s are to send him to Triple A. Bowen came to the A’s in July of 2007 as part of the Jason Kendall deal.

Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Pedro, A’s, Padres

By Tim Dierkes | March 11, 2009 at 8:03pm CDT

Links for Wednesday…

Orioles president Andy MacPhail doesn’t seem interested, but Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun quizzed various players on the team about the possibility of signing Pedro Martinez.
MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone says Pedro was hitting 92 yesterday and his fastball had the old-school tail on it.
The AP reports that MLB is investigating the ages of 42 Dominican prospects.
RotoAuthority names 20 undervalued hitters for 2009 fantasy drafts.
Nationals acting GM Mike Rizzo spoke highly of Stephen Strasburg, talking to Ben Goessling of the Washington Times.
ESPN’s Buster Olney learned that the A’s are open-minded to Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, and/or Vin Mazzaro cracking the Opening Day rotation. Jerry Crasnick has more on Oakland’s next Big Three.
Olney also says the Padres will be "scouring the earth for pitching" over the next few weeks. This jives with Tom Krasovic’s recent article.

Offseason In Review: Oakland A’s

By Tim Dierkes | March 10, 2009 at 1:06pm CDT

Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the A’s. Here’s what we wrote about the team on September 16th. Changes for 2009:

Additions: Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera, Russ Springer, Mike Wuertz, Nomar Garciaparra, Edgar Gonzalez, Jerome Williams, Corey Wimberly, Chris Schroder, Ben Copeland, Kevin Cameron. Midseason: Eric Patterson, Sean Gallagher, Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman

Subtractions: Greg Smith, Emil Brown, Alan Embree, Carlos Gonzalez, Huston Street, Frank Thomas, Mike Sweeney, Donnie Murphy, Keith Foulke, Dan Meyer, Kirk Saarloos. Midseason: Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, Chad Gaudin.

The A’s had the worst offense in baseball in 2008, so GM Billy Beane added sluggers Holliday and Giambi. They also upgraded at shortstop with Cabrera. Last year the A’s gave over 2,100 at-bats to Bobby Crosby, Daric Barton, Jack Hannahan, Emil Brown, and Carlos Gonzalez. Brown’s .682 OPS led the group, so subtracting or reducing the playing time of these guys will make a huge difference.

Last year the A’s scored just 4.01 runs per game, worst in the league. I plugged CHONE projections into David Pinto’s lineup analysis tool, and their 2009 estimate is about 5.04 runs per game. Such production would’ve ranked fifth in the AL in 2008.

Last year Oakland’s starters posted a 4.29 ERA, 7th in the AL. From that they subtracted 204 innings of 3.97 ball provided by Joe Blanton and Rich Harden (Blanton was actually at 4.96 though). Oakland starters have typically fared better; here’s how their ERA ranked in the AL in years past: 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 3rd. So this was actually the A’s worst rotation this decade and it was still middle of the pack. Even though the ’09 rotation lacks household names, Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill may emerge and Beane may again find a way to get by.

The bullpen should be solid, with Joey Devine and Brad Ziegler flanked by new additions Springer and Wuertz. The team’s defense was very strong overall last year, and that should be the case again in ’09.

Bottom line: The remade Oakland team now has at least an average offense, and if the pitching and defense hold steady this team should win more than 90 games.

Odds & Ends: Crosby, Vizcaino, Andruw

By Tim Dierkes | March 10, 2009 at 11:12am CDT

Links for Tuesday…

Chat today, 2pm CST.
RotoAuthority sums up the stats you should target in each category for your fantasy league.
The Braves released pitcher Anthony Lerew, according to Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Rany Jazayerli says the Royals will be better just by subtracting Ross Gload, Tony Pena Jr., and Joey Gathright. Here’s my Offseason In Review for the club, if you’re interested.
A’s manager Bob Geren "chuckled and said no" when asked if Bobby Crosby is being showcased at third base for the Yankees, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Crosby is learning third in part because Eric Chavez is injured again.
Speaking of Crosby, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune wonders if the Cubs could work out a deal involving reliever Luis Vizcaino. Despite the $4MM owed to Vizcaino, he’s not a lock for the Cubs’ bullpen. We learned last week that the Cubs do not appear interested in Crosby.
Slusser also has an article about young A’s pitcher Michael Ynoa, who believes he can be in the Majors in two years at age 19.
Andruw Jones apologized to Dodgers fans in this Bill Plaschke article.
Talking to Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel sees Jayson Werth missing no more than 15-20 games this year. Geoff Jenkins, with $8MM left on his contract, looks like the odd man out.

Rosenthal On Pedro, A-Rod, Beimel, Ohman

By Tim Dierkes | March 10, 2009 at 9:12am CDT

Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…

One executive tells Rosenthal Pedro Martinez seeks a contract similar to the one John Smoltz received (a $5.5MM base plus $5.5MM incentives). Rosenthal’s speculative candidates for Pedro include the Dodgers, Marlins, Indians, and Mets. He says the A’s, Orioles, Nationals, and Brewers are out.
Rosenthal does not expect a major acquisition by the Yankees to cover for Alex Rodriguez. He adds that the Yanks will not collect insurance on A-Rod’s salary.
In addition to Orlando Cabrera, Manny Ramirez has a clause in his contract prohibiting his team from offering arbitration if he’s a Type A free agent after the season. Orlando Hudson and Bobby Abreu do not have such clauses.
Two GMs told Rosenthal Joe Beimel wants a one-year, $2.5MM deal, but the pitcher’s agent Joe Sroba says they have’t gotten that specific. Sroba says new teams are in the mix for Beimel and he’s waiting for one to be "aggressive and sincere in their pursuit."
The White Sox and Dodgers are two teams in on free agent lefty Will Ohman.

Cabrera, Garciaparra Contract Details

By Tim Dierkes | March 9, 2009 at 2:04pm CDT

Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post has details on the newly signed contracts for A’s infielders Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra.

Cabrera has a $4MM base salary, and he’ll receive a $250K bonus if traded. Interestingly, the A’s agreed not to offer him arbitration if he’s a Type A free agent after the season. Cabrera is not inclined to let draft pick compensation get in his way the next time around.

Garciaparra gets a $1MM base plus $150K if he gets 300 plate appearances. He can earn additional money for days spent on the 25-man roster.

Heyman On Pudge, Pedro, Catalanotto

By Tim Dierkes | March 9, 2009 at 1:24pm CDT

SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up; let’s take a look.

Heyman says Oakland’s "win now" mandate this winter came from owner Lewis Wolff.
The Astros and Marlins are interested in Ivan Rodriguez, "no matter what they say publicly."
Heyman says Pedro Martinez is "talking up a Dodgers reunion." So far, there’s been no indication the Dodgers are entertaining it.
Edgar Renteria’s agent was initially asking for a three or four-year deal.
It’s no surprise that Frank Catalanotto is available, but the $6MM owed to him is an obvious impediment.
According to Heyman, Andruw Jones told Rangers brass he’s flexible on the March 20th decision date in his contract.
Heyman describes the Josh Hamilton extension talks as "just getting going" and believe the John Lackey discussions have only been preliminary.

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