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Rumor Royalty: Susan Slusser (Athletics)

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As originally described here, Rumor Royalty is an MLBTR series where I name the one journalist for each team who has done the most for us hot stove junkies.  If the writer is up for it, I ask that person questions for publication on the site.  You can see all of the entries in the series here.

Today we present the honor for the Oakland Athletics to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Here’s a link to the newspaper’s A’s page.  Slusser also contributes to their A’s Drumbeat blog.  Slusser has been the A’s beat writer for the Chronicle for over a decade, bringing a refreshing sense of humor to what can be a grueling job.  She has answered three questions for MLBTR, and they’ll be running over the next few days.

Other journalists on tap: La Velle E. Neal III (Twins) and Mike DiGiovanna (Angels).

Mets Still Like Joe Blanton

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Peter Botte of the New York Daily News says the Mets have asked Billy Beane to "keep them in mind" as he’s shopping Joe Blanton.  Blanton could be their fallback plan for Johan Santana.  Botte says the Twinsa are still hung up on Jose Reyes, though La Velle E. Neal III heard otherwise.

On December 20th, Buster Olney said a package of Carlos Gomez, Aaron Heilman, and Kevin Mulvey would probably net Blanton for the Mets.

If the Mets can’t get Santana or Blanton, they may move on to free agent targets such as Kyle Lohse, Livan Hernandez, Jon Lieber, Freddy Garcia, or Matt Morris.  Botte does not mention Bartolo Colon as a free agent on the Mets’ radar.

What’s Next For Oakland?

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What’s Billy Beane’s next move?  He’s already traded his team’s best pitcher and one of his better hitters.  Let’s start with a couple of additional moves brought up by Susan Slusser.

Trade Eric Chavez.  Chavez expects to go, and he was refreshingly candid in his comments.  His contract runs through 2010, and he’s willing to waive his no-trade rights.  He’s had three surgeries this winter, so he has to prove his health before anyone acquires him.  A big first half would go a long way.

Sign Barry Bonds.  Such a move wouldn’t surprise Chavez.  Slusser believes a bargain Bonds chasing 3,000 hits and extending his home run record could be a way to get fans in the park despite a noncompetitive 2008 team.  For $8-10MM, I could see it. 

Other possibilities outside of the two mentioned by Slusser:

Trade Mark Kotsay.  He makes $8MM in ’08 and only managed 56 games last year.  Maybe the Braves would take him on in exchange for a nonprospect, if the A’s kick in $3MM.

Trade Mark Ellis.  He’s signed at $5MM for ’08, plays Gold Glove second base defense, and is an above average hitter for his position.  Too bad for the White Sox he didn’t get thrown in as part of the Swisher trade.  Outside of the Rockies I don’t see many fits for Ellis.

Trade Rich Harden.  Since he has a reasonable $7MM option for 2009, Harden is similar to Chavez and Kotsay in that it makes sense to wait to see if he can build a little value before trading him.

Trade Joe Blanton.  I’d be surprised if this doesn’t happen, with Beane adding three or four more of some team’s top ten prospects.

Trade Huston Street.  Why not?  He’s got three years of service time left, so he should draw a better bounty than Jose Valverde did.  Perhaps Beane can focus on acquiring a good young middle infielder here.

Vets like Bobby Crosby, Alan Embree, and Justin Duchscherer probably shouldn’t get too comfortable either.

Nick Swisher Traded To White Sox

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Baseball Digest Daily is reporting that the A’s have traded Nick Swisher to the White Sox for Gio Gonzalez, Fautino De Los Santos, and Ryan Sweeney.  I’d heard about the Sweeney part but hadn’t been able to confirm it.  This is a fascinating trade – let’s discuss.

I have to imagine the White Sox plan to use Swisher as their center fielder for the next couple of years; he did play 59 games there in ’07.  Kenny Williams stuck to his word about adding OBP to his team, picking up Swisher and Carlos Quentin to fill out his outfield.  Swisher, 27, is signed at a very reasonable price: $3.5MM in ’08, $5.3MM in ’09, $6.75MM in ’10, $9MM in ’11, and a $10.25MM club option for ’12 with a $1MM buyout.  The option gets a $1.75MM bump if Swisher is top five for the MVP voting during the contract.  He has limited no-trade protection for 2011-12.

The White Sox paid a massive price to get their man, however.  Pitchers De Los Santos and Gonzalez were their two best prospects, according to Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein.  De Los Santos is said to have a huge ceiling, whereas Gio is a solid lefty who’s nearly big-league ready.  Goldstein ranked Sweeney eighth on the team, but projects him as more of a fourth-outfielder type (he was once very highly regarded though).

If it wasn’t obvious with the Dan Haren trade, the A’s are in full-fledged rebuilding mode.  Joe Blanton, Huston Street, and Mark Ellis could be next to go.

Gammons Chat: Crisp, Santana, Ramirez

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The Boston Globe ran a chat with Peter Gammons today, and some good hot stove material came about.

  • Gammons believes the Rangers or A’s could go after Coco Crisp if he’s not dealt to the Twins.  He notes that "the A’s think he’s the best CF in the game right now," and that Billy Beane could acquire him to flip him.
  • He says the Mets are currently trying to build up inventory to trade for Johan Santana, and that might be why Bill Smith hasn’t pulled the trigger on anything yet.
  • Gammons believes the Red Sox will exercise Manny Ramirez’s $20MM options for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.  He notes that Manny is getting himself into phenomenal shape this winter.

Mets Pitching Plans

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Many readers have written me asking what the Mets are going to do to upgrade their starting rotation.  Matthew Cerrone as a man in the know, and he’s written a summary over at MetsBlog.

  • Cerrone senses nothing much cooking on the Johan Santana front, yet the Mets remain "oddly confident."
  • Cerrone believes the Mets will probably sign one rehabber – Freddy Garcia or Bartolo Colon.  He says reviews on Colon in the Dominican Winter League have been positive.  Omar Minaya knows Colon well, having traded the farm for him as GM of the Expos.  Garcia may be ready to pitch around June.  Coming off a frayed rotator cuff and labrum he may not contribute much in 2008.
  • Bullpen wise, Cerrone says Octavio Dotel is on the radar, especially if Aaron Heilman is traded.
  • There’s a lack of buzz with the Mets for Kyle Lohse, Livan Hernandez, and Joe Blanton currently.

White Sox Sign Alexei Ramirez

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UPDATE, 12-22-07 at 6:00pm: Ramirez can earn another $3.25MM in incentives.

UPDATE, 12-21-07 at 10:57pm: Ramirez gets a mere $4.75MM over the four-year pact.  That’s an excellent move right there, in my opinion.  Dirt cheap – low risk, decent reward.

FROM 12-21-07 at 5:35pm:

The White Sox made an interesting move today, signing Cuban defector Alexei Ramirez to a four-year contract.  The presence of Jose Contreras should be helpful for him.  Ramirez probably profiles as Chicago’s center fielder, though he could also play second base.  Here’s what Baseball America had to say about him a few months ago.

It’s tough to judge this signing until we hear the money involved.  He was apparently highly sought after, as ESPN says he worked out for the Red Sox, Indians, Reds, Cubs, Mets, Yankees, Twins, and A’s too.  Ramirez is apparently 26 years old.  I think he’s going to need some time in the minors, as Clay Davenport has equated Cuban baseball with our short season A ball.

As a means of comparison, Yuniesky Betancourt signed for four years and $2.826MM in January of 2005.  Kendry Morales signed a four-year deal worth around $10MM in December of 2004.

Olney On Blanton/Mets

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Buster Olney heard that the Mets could acquire starter Joe Blanton from the A’s if they’d agree to surrender Carlos Gomez, Aaron Heilman, and Kevin Mulvey.  I wonder if Oakland would try Heilman in the rotation. 

The A’s would probably go with an outfield nucleus of Travis Buck in left, Gomez in center, and Carlos Gonzalez in right.  That could make Nick Swisher – signed for five years through 2012 – expendable.

Mets fans: would you do it?

Reds Still Searching For A Starter

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John Fay writes of the Reds’ continued search for a starting pitcher.  That’s Wayne Krivsky’s focus; his main limitation is that Jay Bruce is untouchable.

The Reds couldn’t get Dan Haren because they wouldn’t give up young starter Johnny Cueto.  The focus remains on Erik Bedard; the Reds seem willing to offer Homer Bailey as a starting point.  Fay indicates that the Dodgers lead for Bedard, which is odd given their current six-deep rotation.

I have a feeling the hot stove is going to turn to Joe Blanton now.  The Reds may be in the thick of it, especially if they’d give up Bailey for him.  What do you think, would that be a wise move?

Mariners Targeting Blanton?

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So far this winter, we haven’t heard much about the Mariners getting involved for Joe Blanton.  However, Buster Olney says today that "it appears they are in the thick of the trade bidding" for the 27 year-old righty.  Blanton has a career ERA of 4.10 with a below-average K/9 of 5.24 and better-than-average BB/9 of 2.37.

Olney believes Adam Jones would be required for Seattle to acquire Blanton.  Along with Jones, Carlos Gonzalez, Daric Barton, Kurt Suzuki, and Travis Buck could be the makings of a solid, cheap offensive core for Oakland.  Olney believes the Mets and Reds could be other clubs eyeing Blanton.

The Mariners are still scrambling for two starters after missing out on Hiroki Kuroda.  According to Larry Stone, they’re still after Erik Bedard.  Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse might also become targets if the bigger names fall through.

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