A’s Sign Shannon Stewart
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the A’s have signed outfielder Shannon Stewart to a one-year deal that could reach $2.5MM with incentives. If Stewart can overcome plantar fasciitis in both feet, he can fill Jay Payton‘s role as Oakland’s fourth outfielder. It’s a strong need given the fragility of Mark Kotsay and Milton Bradley.
Stewart, who turns 33 later this month, earned $6.5MM in 2006. PECOTA sees him hitting .276/.332/.383 in 335 plate appearances this year, finding him most similar to the 1987 version of Gary Ward. Another good comp is Brady Clark. ZiPS expects .275/.341/.392 from Stewart in 373 PAs.
Reds Acquire Kirk Saarloos
I personally didn’t deem this one worthy of a post, but what the hell. The Reds acquired 27 year-old groundballer Kirk Saarloos for minor leaguer David Shafer. Saarloos will battle Matt Belisle and Homer Bailey for the fifth starter job. Bailey should prevent Saarloos from getting more than ten starts in ’07.
Shafer’s work at Double A equates to a tolerable relief performance in the bigs (something like a 3.50 ERA and 1.35 WHIP with a strong groundball rate).
Jim Callis of Baseball America offers his take on Saarloos and Shafer.
The weird thing is that I already had a category for Saarloos on this site. He was rumored in a Milton Bradley trade a year ago.
Mets Still Discussing Joe Blanton
John Delcos of the Journal News mentions in his blog that the Mets are still talking to Oakland about Joe Blanton. Would it require Lastings Milledge? Ray Ratto seemed to think so back at the end of December.
Blanton would probably fare well in the NL, though not significantly better than John Maine. The Mets are still lacking a front-rotation type pitcher.
A’s Make Offer To Erstad
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.
Mets Still Trying For Dan Haren?
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?
Milledge-Blanton Swap?
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.
Alex Rios On The Block
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.
Mets Covet Dan Haren
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?
Mets Like Harden
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.
A’s Sign Mike Piazza
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.