Athletics Rumors

Phillies Rumors: Will Ohman, Dennys Reyes

By Tim Dierkes | February 10, 2009 at 10:50am CDT

Cameron Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer has the latest on the Phillies’ pursuit of a reliever.

Will Ohman’s agent Page Odle spoke of a "real good positive conversation" with the Phillies over the past week, but GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said the dollars would have to be "extremely modest." Odle said Ohman is open to a one-year deal with a contender. The Mets are the other main suitor, but they are also in bargain mode.

Smith spoke to Dennys Reyes, who said his agent has been talking to the Dodgers and A’s. But Reyes did talk to the Phillies back in December. He is also focused on signing with a contender.

The Phils do have in-house options, plus Amaro suggested he could find a righthanded reliever with the ability to retire lefties.

Athletics Sign Edgar Gonzalez

By Tim Dierkes | February 9, 2009 at 4:46pm CDT

According to the AP, the Athletics signed pitcher Edgar Gonzalez to a minor league deal today. Gonzalez, 26 in a few weeks, posted a 6.00 ERA in 48 innings for Arizona last year. A strained elbow ended his season in July. On the plus side, he’s flashed superb control in many recent stints.

Odds and Ends: Wigginton, Prior, Andruw

By Tim Dierkes | February 9, 2009 at 1:42pm CDT

Links for Monday…

Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun says the Orioles are "bringing Ty Wigginton back for further examination this week."
Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune snagged this Mark Prior quote: "If Kurt Warner can disappear for five years, I can disappear for three."
Dave Cameron of FanGraphs points out that a Jermaine Dye career path is Andruw Jones’ best case scenario.
Baseball America has a run-down of all the minor league transactions between January 31 and February 6.
Athletics Nation wonders if the A’s could bring Mark Mulder in to fill a lefty reliever role.
I did a Q&A with We Should Be GMs.

Odds and Ends: Hudson, Twins, Sisco, Dunn

By Tim Dierkes | February 6, 2009 at 1:50pm CDT

Links for Friday…

Tim Hudson wants the Braves to pick up his 2010 option for $12MM, though he has the right to void it if they do.
Indians GM Mark Shapiro has no regrets about signing Kerry Wood for $20.5MM in early December.
Twins CEO Jim Pohlad says the team is not done, in talking to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He believes signing Joe Crede makes sense, but his baseball people have the final decision.
Michael Fleming of Variety says Brad Pitt continues to "circle" the Moneyball movie, in which he could play Billy Beane.
Athletics Nation takes a good look at free agent lefty Andy Sisco.
Austin Kearns commented on his friend Adam Dunn, in talking with Chico Harlan of the Washington Post.
An amusing "25 facts about 25 random Yankees" from Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.
The Rays signed pitcher Winston Abreu to a minor league deal; he spent last year in Japan.
RotoAuthority ranks the shortstops for fantasy baseball.
Deals for Jason Varitek, Brad Wilkerson, and Ken Takahashi were finalized today. Jeff Bailey was shuffled to Triple A to make room for Varitek, says Dan Barbarisi.

Odds and Ends: Sisco, Murton, Thigpen

By Tim Dierkes | February 5, 2009 at 12:31pm CDT

Links for Thursday…

Lot of people tossing around the number of unsigned free agents…I have it at about 80, at least if we draw the line at players that are remotely useful. Here’s my list.
Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues would like to see the Yankees sign Mark Grudzielanek.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says the A’s will attend Andy Sisco’s Friday workout.
Scott Miller of CBSSports.com takes a stab at the All-Free Agent team.
The Rockies did not acquire Matt Murton as a precursor to another deal, Troy Renck learned.
The Blue Jays designated catcher Curtis Thigpen for assignment to make room for Brian Burres.
Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star shows that MLB has done a nice job of keeping player salaries at 40-45% of the game’s revenue in recent years (as opposed to 62% in the NFL).
RotoAuthority looks at how you can combine a Rich Harden type with a Randy Wolf type to create a top ten fantasy baseball starting pitcher.

Rockies Acquire Matt Murton

By Tim Dierkes | February 4, 2009 at 12:10pm CDT

According to a press release, the Rockies acquired outfielder Matt Murton from the A’s for infielder Corey Wimberly.

Murton, 27, has a career line of .288/.354/.438 in 1002 plate appearances. He’s been involved in two big trades – the Nomar Garciaparra deal in ’04 and the Rich Harden trade last year. Murton spent most of ’08 in the minors and did not show much power.

Wimberly, 25, ranked as the Rockies’ 26th-best prospect in the ’09 Baseball America Handbook. He went unclaimed in the Rule 5 draft in December after hitting .291/.370/.345 in Double A. The speedster is said to be in the Bip Roberts mold, according to BA.

A’s Could Take Shot At Orlando Cabrera

By Tim Dierkes | February 3, 2009 at 10:08am CDT

According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the A’s have saved "a little spending money and could still take a final shot at free agent shortstop Orlando Cabrera — if he’s willing to take a deep discount."

Cabrera is a Type A free agent who declined an offer of arbitration. Unlike Jason Varitek, however, Cabrera does not have the option of re-signing with his former team. The loss of a draft pick by the signing team is a given, and Cabrera may have to compensate for the Elias curse by taking a low salary for ’09. Waiting until after the June draft could make sense for Cabrera – he’d wipe out the draft pick problem, probably still get $2MM, and won’t get Type A status again. UPDATE: Eddie Bajek tested my statement about Cabrera not getting Type A status again if he sits out two months, finding that it might only hold true if he signs with an NL team.

Odds and Ends: Hearings, Anderson, Selig

By Tim Dierkes | February 2, 2009 at 2:23pm CDT

Links for Monday…

MLB.com’s Tom Singer looks at the effects of arbitration hearings on players. He found that most players don’t experience a post-hearing performance decline, but they do change teams at the first opportunity.
MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer says the Angels and Ervin Santana are $725K apart with a hearing scheduled for later this month and "no progress" according to GM Tony Reagins.
The Tigers are hopeful about bridging the $950K gap with Justin Verlander.
Athletics Nation’s conversation with MLB.com’s Mychael Urban, Part 2.
Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald wouldn’t be surprised to see the White Sox trade Brian Anderson.
Murray Chass reflects on the Homestead camp for unsigned players heading into the 1995 season.
Commissioner Bud Selig earned $18.35MM in the last fiscal year, according to Eric Fisher of Sports Business Journal.
The latest minor league transactions from Baseball America, including the Nationals’ signing of Alex Cintron and the Rockies’ addition of Scott Munter.
Even with a new stadium, the Marlins will continue to prefer going year-to-year with most players.

Athletics Acquire Michael Wuertz

By Tim Dierkes | February 2, 2009 at 1:05pm CDT

1:05pm: Bruce Miles notes that Wuertz is out of options, and the Cubs saved over $2MM with their recent roster-cleaning. Meanwhile, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle talked to an NL advance scout for his opinion on Wuertz.

12:32pm: According to a press release from the Cubs, they’ve sent Wuertz to the A’s for minor leaguers Richie Robnett and Justin Sellers. Given all the additions to Oakland’s farm system, neither player ranked in their Baseball America top 30 list this year.

In BA’s 2008 Handbook, Robnett, a 25 year-old outfielder, ranked 15th among A’s prospects. He was said to have "huge raw power," but that hasn’t come through in his minor league numbers.

Sellers, a 23 year-old infielder, ranked 14th in the ’08 Handbook. He was described as "a solid-average defender who’ll hit at the bottom of a lineup."

12:18pm: According to Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio:

The Cubs continue to get inquiries regarding Michael Wuertz. I expect the team to trade him today or tomorrow, with Oakland the team most likely to send young players back to the Cubs.

Wuertz, 30, posted a 3.63 ERA in 44.6 innings for the Cubs this year with a 6.04 K/9. He’s signed at $1.1MM for ’09 and will eligible for free agency after the 2011 season.

Perrotto’s Latest: Position Battles, Roberts, Pudge

By Steve Adams | February 1, 2009 at 1:50pm CDT

John Perrotto’s Every Given Sunday column is up over at Baseball Prospectus. This week, he takes a look at some of the position battles teams will face entering Spring Training. And, as always, there’s some interesting items in his Rumors & Rumblings section. Let’s take a look:

Some of the more interesting position battles mentioned: 1B/DH/RF in Oakland (Daric Barton, Jack Cust, Jason Giambi, Aaron Cunningham, and Travis Buck all in the mix), Tampa’s closer if Troy Percival gets hurt or falters (Dan Wheeler, J.P. Howell, Grant Balfour), and the White Sox rotation behind John Danks, Mark Buerhle, and Gavin Floyd (Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Bartolo Colon, Jeff Marquez).
Brian Roberts still wants a four-year deal before Spring Training starts up, or he’ll cut off negotiations. Does Roberts make more sense as a cornerstone in Baltimore or as a trade chip?
Perrotto feels Tom Glavine will inevitably re-sign with the Braves.
The White Sox have minor interest in signing Ivan Rodriguez as a backup for A.J. Pierzynski. I’m sure Pudge would prefer a starting gig, but at this point, it’s tough to be picky.
We’ve heard a lot about the Orioles having interest in Rich Hill lately, but Perrotto reminds us that the Mariners are interested in the 28-year-old lefty as well.

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