By Tim Dierkes | at
MLB.com reports that the A’s have made a one-year offer to 32 year-old first baseman/center fielder Darin Erstad. Oakland needs a solid fourth outfielder for the Jay Payton role, as Milton Bradley and Mark Kotsay are not pictures of health.
RotoWorld reports that the Cubs, Mariners, Rays, and Rockies have interest in Erstad as well. The OC Register throws the Orioles and Cards in the mix too. The Angels are probably out.
By Tim Dierkes | at
UPDATE: Spoke to my Mets source, and he indicated that the below trade possibility could be expanded to include Michael Devaney and Santiago Castilla.
According to a Bay Area official speaking to Gotham Baseball, the Mets and A’s "are finally discussing a deal that could send right-hander Danny Haren to the Mets in return for Aaron Heilman, Lastings Milledge and a minor league pitcher."
Gotham’s source goes on to say that the A’s would prefer to put Joe Blanton in that deal instead but the Mets are holding out for Haren. Can Omar Minaya and Billy Beane find common ground here?
By Tim Dierkes | at
Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle slipped in this nugget:
"The Athletics are likely to also dispatch their winningest pitcher, Joe Blanton, to New York as part of a deal that would fetch one of Billy Beane’s longest-held desirables, outfielder Lastings Milledge."
I’m not sure if Ratto is just making this assumption based on past rumors from this winter, or if this is a brand new rumor. But he seems fairly certain that Blanton will be dealt. That would leave the A’s with a Haren-Loaiza-Harden-Kennedy rotation, with a fifth starter battle between Chad Gaudin, Jason Windsor, Kirk Saarloos, and the like.
A groundballer like Blanton could be a nice fit for the Mets, whose middle infield defense was among the game’s best in 2006.
By Tim Dierkes | at
ESPN’s Buster Olney reports in his blog that the Blue Jays are willing to trade right fielder Alex Rios, who turns 26 in February. The Blue Jays are in search of one more quality starter to pair with Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Gustavo Chacin, and perhaps Casey Janssen or Shaun Marcum. It’s a necessity in the AL East.
Back in 2004, Baseball America ranked Rios sixth among all prospects, between Rickie Weeks and Kaz Matsui. Rios earned a promotion to Toronto without mastering Triple A, and his growth kind of stagnated for two years. He played some center field while Vernon Wells was out, and also served as the leadoff hitter for a while.
Before the breakout, many teams tried to pry Rios away. The Nats talked about a Rios for Nick Johnson deal in December of 2004. You can bet Jim Bowden would love him in CF, but doesn’t have the goods for a trade. In the winter of ’05, the Rangers were offering Kevin Mench for Rios while the Nats countered with Brad Wilkerson.
The much-awaited breakout happened this year, as Rios mashed at .330/.383/.585 for 270 ABs leading up to his June 29th leg injury (staph infection). He returned on July 28th and hit .261/.297/.411 thereafter. It was an ugly couple of months but he did bounce back in September.
Some projections for ’07:
Ron Shandler: .293/.337/.500
Bill James: .286/.336/.442
On his glovework, The Fielding Bible wrote:
"Rios is an excellent defender, a five-tool player with outstanding range and speed and a strong, accurate arm suited for right field. The Jays would love to switch him to center field where he is a better offensive fit, but they have a Gold Glover in Vernon Wells entrenched there."
With Ichiro now in center, Rios may be baseball’s best defensive RF.
Olney mentions a few trade possibilities: to the Dodgers for Brad Penny, to the A’s for Joe Blanton, or to the Mets for a package of young guys. Olney didn’t bring up the White Sox, but there could be an excellent fit. The Sox could use Rios in center in 2007, and perhaps shift him back to right in ’08 if Jermaine Dye leaves.
By Tim Dierkes | at
It’s just one letter, after all. Ken Rosenthal reports that the Mets hope to acquire Dan Haren from the Mets, not Rich Harden. That makes sense.
However, Haren is incredibly valuable as a young stud pitcher signed for cheap. He could be a Cy Young candidate in the NL. I can’t see what the Mets would give the A’s for Haren that would make Oakland better in 2007.
If Haren is truly available, I would imagine all sorts of teams to come knocking. The Angels and Dodgers would be best suited to acquire him because of their top-notch prospects, but neither club needs starting pitching. How ’bout a three-way?
By Tim Dierkes | at
As more sources report it, it seems that the Mets are indeed talking to Oakland about Rich Harden. John Delcos is hearing a slew of pitchers who could be swapped between the two clubs, including Aaron Heilman, Philip Humber, and Joe Blanton. And Lastings Milledge seems likely to go as well. And Delcos just got finished speaking to Omar Minaya directly.
Meanwhile, Matthew Cerrone checks in to indicate that a deal involving Harden seems unlikely. That is reasonable given Harden’s health issues in recent years.
By Tim Dierkes | at
It’s official: the A’s have signed Mike Piazza to be their designated hitter for 2007 at a price of $8.5MM for one year. Not a bad signing at all, as the A’s continue to rotate quality hitters through their DH slot.
Piazza turned 38 in September. He bounced back to a .283/.342/.501 line for the Padres. An even lighter load in the American League could mean an equally solid year.
By Tim Dierkes | at
As has been rumored for a while now, the A’s signed southpaw reliever Alan Embree. According to RotoWorld, he received a two-year deal with a club option for ’09. Embree will be 37 in January; he’s been around.
Embree has good command; he was one of the few free agent relievers with a K/BB ratio over 3. He also had a fine year in terms of ERA and WHIP.
RotoWorld mentions that the signing likely indicates Joe Kennedy will move to the rotation. Kennedy will be 28 next season. The southpaw last had success starting in 2004 with the Rockies, when he posted a 3.66 ERA in 27 starts.
By Tim Dierkes | at
A deal cannot be described as close, but Ken Rosenthal indicates that the A’s appear to be the frontrunners for the services of catcher/possible DH Mike Piazza.
If Oakland could snag him for the speculated price of one year and $7MM, they could have another fine free agent bargain.
In addition, the A’s have spoken to the agents for Alan Embree and Cliff Floyd. An Embree acquisition would allow Joe Kennedy to replace Barry Zito in the rotation.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Now that Frank Thomas is out of the picture, the A’s need a DH again. It’s no surprise that Barry Bonds would be a good fit–after all, the A’s need to find somebody to replace Thomas’s production, and there aren’t many options out there to do that.
Billy Beane has been chatting with Bonds’s agent, so it would appear that the A’s have no objection to taking on Bonds’s baggage. Certainly they managed just fine with their share of "problem" guys last year. As Lew Wolff points out in the linked article, though, Bonds may out of the A’s price range, especially if the Padres make Barry a top target.
By Jeff Sackmann
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