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White Sox To Reacquire Rowand?

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The White Sox surely don’t regret using Aaron Rowand to help them obtain Jim Thome last winter.  But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t like to have their scrappy CF back in the fold.

According to Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald:

"According to multiple reports out of Philadelphia, Phillies GM Pat Gillick would be willing to deal Rowand and a pitcher – either reliever Ryan Madson or starter Gavin Floyd – to the White Sox in exchange for starting pitcher Freddy Garcia."

Ultimately I think the White Sox would win such a deal.  The Phils would then have the surplus of starters instead of Chicago.

Phils Deal With JoBo Nixed

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The Phillies were about to seal a multiyear deal with Joe Borowski, but they are reconsidering after giving him a physical.  That Borowski may have been pitching with some shoulder issues does not surprise me; he always seemed to have a "tough it out" mentality with the Cubs.

Borowski will be 36 next season.  A rotator cuff surfaced in his right shoulder way back in the summer of 2004, but Dr. Lewis Yocum suggested rehab at that time.  A three-year, $12MM deal or something similar could be bad news.

Lots of signings

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Adam Eaton is going to the Phillies for $24M over three years.  It’s an interesting harbinger of the contracts to come–that isn’t far out of line of all the $21/3 contracts that have been signed in the last couple of years.  Eaton is a bit of an injury risk, I suppose, but there’s nothing else keeping his value down.  Aside from the obvious cases–Barry Zito, Andy Pettitte, and Jason Schmidt–the only pitchers on the market who may get bigger deals that Eaton are Gil Meche and Ted Lilly.  It would be fascinating if the market for pitching remained as people predicted, while the market for hitters exploded.

David Dellucci signed a similarly sane deal to go to Cleveland: he’s getting $11.5M over three years.  Given Casey Blake’s versatility, Eric Wedge can play the hot hand with a number of players, including Dellucci, Blake, Jason Michaels, Shin-Soo Choo, and Ryan Garko.

It looks like it’ll be Gregg Zaun, and not Rod Barajas, who serves as the Blue Jays catcher next year.  Apparently the Barajas talks hit a snag, and Zaun stepped right back in.  That means Barajas may be headed to one of Zaun’s earlier targets: San Francisco, or a backup job in New York or Boston.

Speaking of catchers, I’m sure you’re all relieved to know that Chad Moeller found a job for 2007.  He got a major-league deal to join the Cincinnati Reds, which is Wayne Krivsky’s way of saying, "Jason LaRue, you suck!"  Interesting how Brewers backup catchers stick around in the division: if Gary Bennett stays with the Cardinals, two of the worst backup catchers in baseball will be former Brewers in the NL Central.

By Jeff Sackmann

Carlos Lee Sweepstakes

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The Houston Chronicle provides the latest update on the chase for Carlos Lee.  It suggests that Tim Purpura could ultimately decide to give El Caballo an Aramis Ramirez-type contract–5 years, $73 million.  Right now, the deal the Astros have offered Lee is believed to be 5 years for $60 million.

The Chron has a source saying that an AL team (gotta be the Orioles) has floated a $70M/5 deal.  It sounds like the Phillies haven’t made an offer; maybe Pat Gillick will realize that signing Lee just to replace Pat Burrell would be a bizarre waste of time.  As it is, it seems like the Astros are banking on getting some kind of hometown discount, while the Orioles are hoping that Carlos wants to play for a mediocre team for the remainder of his productive career.

Then again, it’s always possible that the Cubs will sweep in and sign Lee and Julio Lugo this weekend.  Once you spend $200M, what’s another $70M?

UPDATE: Roch Kubatko reports that the Orioles are willing to go six years, for between $80 and $90 million.  Carlos loves his cattle ranch, but the gap between the O’s and the ’Stros seems to be widening.

By Jeff Sackmann

Phils Sign Wes Helms

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Yet another third baseman is off the market, as the Phillies acted quickly today to sign Wes Helms to a two-year deal with a club option for the third.  Ken Rosenthal scooped another one.  Helms is guaranteed $5.5MM for 2007-08.

Helms will be 31 next season.  He was a full-timer for the Brewers in ’03, hitting .261/.330/.450 in 476 ABs.  He’s faced a disproportionate amount of lefties in his career, as he hits them significantly better. 

Helms probably can’t hit as well as the average NL 3B (.826 OPS).  Defensively, he’s got a strong arm but his footwork doesn’t impress.

Phils Make Offer To Soriano?

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According to Jim Street of MLB.com, the Phillies have made a five-year, $73MM offer to Alfonso Soriano.  Unfortunately, Street was quoting a Philadelphia Daily News article from today that I could not find.  Not sure what to make of it right now.

Here is a link to the Phillies section of that newspaper.  I’ve emailed Street in hopes of clarification.

Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that Sori will do better than that.

Pat Burrell Is Not A Bad Player

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After reading Jerry Crasnick’s article, I felt the need to point that out.

In the NL, the average left fielder hit .277/.359/.478 in 2006.  In the AL it was .280/.347/.449.

Pat Burrell hit .258/.388/.502 this season and .281/.389/.504 in 2005.  The guy posts an .890 OPS.  That’s very good.  It’s comfortably above average for a left fielder.  His OPS was 21st in the NL this year.  That’s better than Scott Rolen, Todd Helton, or Nomar Garciaparra.  Not far behind Alfonso Soriano or Carlos Delgado.

"But Tim!" you’ll say.  "He can’t hit in the clutch!"  Yes, I acknowledge that Burrell hit just .222/.376/.346 with runners in scoring position.  That’s a 153 AB sample.  It means nothing.  Just one year earlier Burrell hit .313./.429/.598 with runners in scoring position. 

This is a solid 5-6 win player.  He may not age well and he’s certainly not worth his salary, but he’s still a good hitter.  Better than most free agents on the market.

Oh, and while I’m on my soapbox – Daisuke Matsuzaka doesn’t throw the gyroball.  We have established this.  Prior to March 13, 2006, it was OK to speculate that perhaps Matsuzaka threw this pitch.  It seemed that way kind of.  But eight months ago, Jeff Passan blew the lid on the whole thing.  Sportswriters should know this by now!  I’ve read two articles in the past two days claiming he throws this pitch. 

Philly Daily News: Burrell/Benitez Swap?

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I think Giants fans have been pondering this trade for a while: Pat Burrell to the Giants for Armando Benitez.  But now Marcus Hayes tells us that Burrell would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to play for San Francisco.  Hayes indicates that Burrell could move back to first base for the Giants.  Benitez would go to the Phillies as "bullpen help."

If it were just a true swap of these two players and their inflated salaries, it’s a big win for the Giants.  They weren’t counting on much from Benitez anyway, so if you subtract his salary you are essentially getting Burrell for two years, $20MM.  As maligned as Burrell is, he’s only 30 and he’s posted an .890 OPS for two years running.  Yes, Burrell was bad with RISP this season (153 AB sample).  Why you shouldn’t read too much into that sample: he hit .313/.429/.598 with RISP in 2005.

Benitez, I don’t think will bounce back.  His top comparables, Scott Sullivan and Jose DeLeon, didn’t make it much past age 34.  Still, if payroll flexibility is what Pat Gillick is after, one year and $7.6MM sounds a lot better than two years and $27MM.

Phillies, Indians Interested In Akinori Iwamura

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27 year-old Japanese third baseman Akinori Iwamura is being pursued by both the Phillies and the Indians.

Pat Gillick mentioned today that he has a lot of interest in Iwamura to play third for the Phils.  You may recall that Gillick imported Ichiro back when he was GM of the Mariners.  Another convenient factor is that manager Charlie Manuel has played in Japan before. 

The Tribe is showing interest as well, but are committed to Andy Marte at third base.  They would ask Iwamura to convert to second base.

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