Waiver Claims: Davis, Banks
A couple of waiver claims were made today; let’s discuss.
The A’s picked up 27 year-old outfielder Rajai Davis, designating Kirk Saarloos. Davis had been the Giants’ bounty in the Matt Morris deal (aside from the main benefit of shedding Morris’ contract). Davis is known for his blazing speed, which helps him in the outfield and on the basepaths. It seems unlikely that Davis will ever force his way into a starting role with Oakland.
The Padres snagged 25 year-old pitcher Josh Banks. He’s a starter with superb control, but the Padres will convert him to relief. Certainly a Padres-like project.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Gross, Rios, Perez
The tireless Ken Rosenthal has another column up today. Not a whole ton in the way of trade rumors, but let’s see what we can salvage from the article.
- The A’s could be a team interested in trading for the Brewers’ Gabe Gross, who is the likely casualty once Mike Cameron returns from suspension. Gross can play all three outfield positions, and it’s not clear whether the A’s view him as a roving fourth outfielder, or a replacement for Emil Brown.
- Rosenthal notes that the Blue Jays are following the lead of David Eckstein, hustling like crazy to first base. This, he notes, keeps fielders on their toes and makes them more apt to commit an error. The only one not buying in, apparently, is Alex Rios. How is this significant? Well, Rios just signed a six-year, $64MM contract before this season. Not exactly the impression you want to be making.
- The Mets’ Oliver Perez one a solid year away from cashing in this winter. Young, hard-throwing lefties are always in demand. He’s on his way now, sporting a 2.49 ERA through four starts, striking out just a hair under a batter an inning. Now, if he can only find a pitching coach who can teach him to throw strikes — he has 12 walks in those innings, which is less than a 2:1 ratio.
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski, who writes for River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog.
Odds and Ends: Klesko, Street, Davis
I’ve got a slew of links for you.
- Saberscouting has a mock June draft up.
- Ryan Klesko officially retired. Chipper Jones let the cat out of the bag in February.
- Voros McCracken sees the Evan Longoria contract as a low-risk proposition for the Rays.
- The A’s are still discussing an extension with Huston Street, though nothing appears imminent.
- The Giants DFA’d Rajai Davis. Anyone need an outfield burner?
- Sam Mellinger explains how the Hideo Nomo signing was the type of move the Royals need to make.
- Our Brian Bannister Q&A continues to get mileage, this time snagging a mention in the Seattle Times. I’m trying to line up some more player Q&As, by the way.
Frank Thomas Suitors
The Blue Jays are on the hook for the rest of Frank Thomas‘ salary this year, making him a fine bargain for a team looking for a DH. It seems that the signing team will not be liable for his 2009 vesting option. As an injury-prone DH with clubhouse concerns, Thomas has similarities to Barry Bonds. The Big Hurt will come more cheaply, offering less production but no steroid baggage. As far as suitors:
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi will talk to his scouts about Thomas. Question for Mariners fans: does Thomas offer more at DH than Jeff Clement, who is raking at Triple A?
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels didn’t rule Thomas out but seems to be leaning away from it. The Rangers have plenty of DHs on hand already.
- The A’s will at least have an internal discussion about Thomas, but they aren’t tipping their hand.
- Rays manager Joe Maddon was noncommital when asked about Thomas. They did just add Dan Johnson.
- Could the Mets follow suit and release Carlos Delgado?
Odds And Ends: Lowry, Street, Farnsworth, Roberts
Just a few loose links for Saturday morning.
- Billy Beane has talked to Alan Hendricks, agent for closer Huston Street, about an extension. However, they have been informal talks, with no specifics to mention. Don’t expect much movement on this front until we get deeper into the season and see where the A’s really stand.
- Brian Roberts is relieved now that the trade rumors are dead. "I know where I’m going to be on a nightly basis now, at least," Roberts said. "It is a relief because I think everybody wants stability in their life, but I understand that doesn’t always happen. If it comes up again, I’ll deal with it."
- Brian Sabean talked about the possibility of a six-man rotation once Noah Lowry returns to action in May. The article says that this "ensure that the youngest and most prized starters, Cain and Lincecum, are not overtaxed in a rebuilding season." But you still need them to get their innings in. Lincecum, for instance, pitched 177.1 innings last year. You’d like to get him to 200 this year, which would be difficult in a six-man rotation environment.
- It looks like Kyle Farnsworth will be suspended for throwing at Manny Ramirez the other night. I know it’s not a transaction rumor. But won’t punishing retaliation just mean more preemptive aggression?
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski, who writes for River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog.
Odds and Ends: Pavano, Lima, Sabathia
Today’s link collection contains a trio of awesome pitchers. Enjoy.
- Carl Pavano is talking about five or six more seasons; his new agent calls him a "1-2 starter." You can chuckle, but some team will probably toss him a million bucks this winter.
- The Kia Tigers have already had enough of Jose Lima. Coincidentally here’s a funny quote from Lima regarding his Atlantic League paycheck from ’03.
- Ken Rosenthal discusses C.C. Sabathia‘s situation, noting that the Indians could probably sign him if they’d give five years.
- Rany Jazayerli writes in praise of Dayton Moore.
- Rule V pick Fernando Hernandez is headed back to the White Sox.
Considerations For A’s With 12th Pick
As you know, the A’s have the 12th overall pick in the June draft. Jim Callis’ always-informative Ask BA segment in the latest Baseball America print magazine (issue 0809) discusses some possibilities.
Callis suggests shortstop Gordon Beckham would make sense if available – he’s likely to wind up somewhere in the infield long-term. Callis also rattles off a couple of catchers (Kyle Skipworth and Buster Posey), pitcher Christian Friedrich, and outfielder Aaron Hicks. Friedrich may be a consideration for the Giants at #5, however.
Odds and Ends: Schilling, Piazza, Howard
Tax day roundup…
- Some mild drama over whether Curt Schilling would consider pitching for the Yankees next year. He reiterated that he won’t. It takes two to tango, anyway.
- Pedro Martinez may be out until June. Nelson Figueroa‘s chance continues, with Claudio Vargas as the backup plan. The Mets still have a solid rotation without Pedro.
- Mark Healey has heard rumblings that the Reds and Yankees are looking at Mike Piazza.
- Phillies Nation on why they would trade Ryan Howard.
- Bill Barnwell looks at the four trades Randy Johnson trades. I thought the Unit looked respectable last night, though it’s hard to gauge against the Giants.
- Susan Slusser believes a recent roster move indicates that the A’s are playing to win in ’08. They’re in first place at the moment.
- The Dodgers rolled out the red carpet for bloggers.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In
Bunch of random topics so let’s just get to it and see what it being said in the Blogosphere…
- Big League Stew talks to Bless You Boys about the idea of Barry Bonds signing with the Tigers. BYB argues against signing Bonds noting that the Tigers already have a bunch of slow players (base cloggers?) and what they really need is some more speed in the lineup…Although we keep hearing about collusion and have not heard any numbers bandied about, Bonds has always made it very clear how much he values the almighty dollar. Does anybody else think that Bonds would already be in uniform if he had come out said he would play 2008 for $3-5MM plus incentives? The baggage is what it is, but teams might find it easier to deal with it at a price Bonds is not likely to accept.
- Rockin’ The Red takes a look at the five Cardinals that are most likely to be traded during the season…Chris Duncan is an interesting name on the list. With all the outfielders that the Cards have, Duncan is a solid bat that is likely to be a Super-2 at the end of the year.
- The Yankees: Minors to Majors looks at the pending free agents for the Yankees and concludes that there is plenty of compensation picks to be had giving the Yankees plenty of flexibility to sign a high-end free agent like C.C. Sabathia…Of course, that is assuming the Yankees would let something like draft pick compensation stand in the way of signing a free agent. Not likely.
- Wrigleyville23 has had enough of the Brian Roberts-to-the-Cubs media reports…Who?
- The Bronx Zoo would love to see Nick Johnson back in a Yankees’ uniform but notes that Dmitri Young may not be a dependable replacement for the Nats.
- Mets Fever notes that eight players have moved among the Brewers, Mets and Nats since this offseason…Let’s just say that the Brewers did not get the best of that "three-way trade".
- One writer at DRays Bay is hoping the Rays and M’s can re-engage talks for Edwin Jackson…The M’s may be interested once again after being two-hit by Jackson yesterday, but maybe the price just went up.
- One name that kept popping up recently as a possible trade piece in the near future was Rich Harden. Well, Harden has once again found himself on the DL and Athletics Nation is not taking it well.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Dan Johnson Designated
THURSDAY, 10:00am: The Giants have no interest in Johnson, according to Henry Schulman.
WEDNEDAY, 3:11pm: As expected, Johnson was designated for assignment today.
11:14am: Susan Slusser believes first baseman Dan Johnson‘s Oakland career might be over, as the A’s need a roster spot for rookie starter Greg Smith. Speculation is that Billy Beane could try to trade him to the Giants, where he’d be free to play regularly and bat in the middle of the order.
Johnson, 28, has a .249/.344/.419 career line in 318 games. He was a late bloomer, earning a September call-up in ’04 as a 25 year-old. He didn’t appear in any big league games because of vertigo, though. Yes, vertigo. Baseball America’s 2005 handbook had Johnson sixth among A’s prospects, between Joe Blanton and Huston Street.
Johnson got the call in May of ’05 when DH Erubiel Durazo hit the DL. His rookie season resulted in a solid .806 OPS. He didn’t snag any ROY votes, but Street won it while Nick Swisher and Blanton received votes. It was downhill from there for Johnson.
When the A’s signed Frank Thomas in the offseason, Johnson became the everyday first baseman. He was lousy in every month aside from June, and even started the season 0 for 27. He was demoted to Triple A in July and came back in September. Double vision was later cited as a factor in the poor season.
The Shannon Stewart acquisition before the ’07 season pushed Johnson into a bench role. He then tore hip cartilage in March, missing most of April. He had a very strong May but was otherwise unimpressive.
Johnson lost 15 pounds this past offseason due to an illness, and then the Mike Sweeney acquisition pretty much ended his time in Oakland. A trade to San Francisco might represent his last shot at lasting as a big league regular.