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Rosenthal On Rockies, Cain, Pirates

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Another column from Ken Rosenthal at FOX Sports?  Sure, why not.

  • The Rockies, 12 games out in the NL West, "appear headed for a selloff."  Garrett Atkins isn't popular (although deep in today's chat, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggested there could be a match with the Cardinals), and Todd Helton is too pricey.  But Brad Hawpe, who has $12MM coming to him from now through 2010, could be an appealing trade chip.  Hawpe has a 2011 club option for $10MM, but he can void it if traded.  Rosenthal likes the Rays; the Braves would also be a nice fit for Hawpe in my opinion.
  • Rosenthal believes it would be hard for the Giants to find a young slugger who would be equal value for Matt Cain, who can be controlled cheaply through 2011.  We learned earlier this week that Cain is not being dangled.
  • The Pirates have no financial need to dump veteran contracts, an idea we've read in the past.  They're getting calls on Jack Wilson, but teams are reluctant to take on all the $5.8MM he still has coming.  They have the same problem for Adam LaRoche.  And Rosenthal says the Bucs are "philosophically opposed to the idea of a low-revenue team sending money to a high-revenue team to secure better prospects in a trade, the way the Indians did last season when they moved third baseman Casey Blake to the Dodgers."

No Extension Offers For Pirates’ Veterans

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According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have not approached Adam LaRoche, John Grabow, and Jack Wilson about contract extensions.  All three are eligible for free agency after the season, and could be on the trading block in July.  More details:

  • LaRoche, 29, is hitting .222/.309/.449 in 178 plate appearances while earning $7.05MM.  He avoided his typical slow April but has been awful in May.  It seems excessive for the Mets to rent him for two months, in my opinion.
  • Grabow, 30, has a 4.95 ERA in 20 innings while earning $2.3MM.  He's not shutting down southpaws.  The market may be weak for him.
  • Wilson, 31, is at .260/.294/.385 in 103 plate appearances.  Kovacevic says the Pirates have not formally responded to Wilson's offer to renegotiate his $8.4MM 2010 club option at a lower rate.  He'd make sense for a contender seeking a defensive upgrade at shortstop.

Odds & Ends: Sano, Kieschnick, Strasburg

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A few links for Thursday night:

  • In a Q&A, Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette discusses the Pirates' chances of signing Dominican prospect Miguel Angel Sano, how they might replace Adam LaRoche at 1B if he is traded, and whether they might seek frontline starting pitching via trade. 
  • Todd Coppernoll at Brewersfan.net has an interview with former major leaguer Brooks Kieschnick, the first player to hit a home run as a pitcher, a pinch hitter, and as a DH. This is a fascinating account of the rise and fall of a ballplayer. Key quote: "I knew my career was in trouble the minute the Cubs drafted me." 
  • Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com makes his predictions for the top 10 picks in June's First-Year Player Draft. Not surprisingly, Stephen Strasburg tops the list.
  • Jim Callis at Baseball America says that Strasburg leaving Wednesday's game with back cramps is not cause for alarm. 
  • Callis also offers his predictions for which players will fall in the draft due to signability concerns. He puts OF Donavan Tate, RHP Jacob Turner, and LHP Matthew Purke on the top of the list. Tate and Turner are Scott Boras clients and Purke is advised by Select Sports Group.

Adam LaRoche: A Pirate For Life?

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As reported by MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch, 29-year-old first baseman Adam LaRoche said Tuesday that he wouldn’t mind sticking with the Pirates until retirement.

"I’m not opposed to playing here for the rest of my career, if it can work it out," LaRoche said. "If they were to approach me, I would take it very seriously. I would take a long look at it to stay here. … Especially with my brother [Andy] being here.  I want to play with him as long as I can. And I love the group of guys. I like the staff that we have. My family likes Pittsburgh, and I don’t want to leave that."

GM Neal Huntington said he prefers to shy away from in-season contract negotiations.  Even if he was open to it, as Langosch writes, "LaRoche is in line to make $7 million this year, which means the Pirates are probably nearing — if not there already — the point where LaRoche does not financially fit."

A five-year MLB veteran, he hit .270/.341/.500 with 25 home runs and 85 RBI last season.  If the Pirates don’t lock him up, LaRoche would make for a fairly attractive in-season trade candidate.  He’ll be a free agent after the 2009 season.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Pirates, Rays, Pettitte, Cubs, Dodgers, Gomes, Mauer, Cruz

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On this date 28 years ago, the Red Sox traded Fred Lynn to the California Angels for Frank Tanana and Joe Rudi. After six seasons that included an MVP and six all-star appearances, the Red Sox were forced to trade Lynn when the front office failed to mail a new contract to Lynn by the mandated deadline. Without the new contract, Boston was faced with the possibility that Lynn would be declared a free agent (Carlton Fisk was declared a free agent for the same reason). The player’s association dropped their case when Lynn agreed to a contract extension with the Angels. With many of this year’s free agent class still waiting for contracts to be mailed, let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • Bucco Blog sees an Adam LaRoche-Jonathan Sanchez trade as a "win-win deal."
  • DRays Bay would like to see the Tigers take either Troy Percival or Dan Wheeler off the Rays’ hands.
  • Mets Geek makes a case for the Mets signing Andy Pettitte.
  • Goat Riders of the Apocalypse are not worried that the Cubs have traded away yet another former top prospect.
  • Center Field isn’t buying that Jason Varitek didn’t know about the draft pick compensation as a result of his refusing arbitration.
  • Her Rays isn’t taking the loss of Rocco Baldelli well at all.
  • Dodger Thoughts doesn’t understand why the Dodgers keep spending money on veteran, offensively-challenged backup catchers that will never play.
  • Anaheim Angels all the way says the Reds replaced "90% of Adam Dunn" with Jonny Gomes and a very favorable contract. On Baseball and the Reds is not sure Gomes’ offense will offset his horrible defense and sees him as a decent platoon option.
  • UmpBump grades the Rays offseason favorably.
  • El Lefty Malo laments the contract of Dave Roberts and feels he is the type of player that would be forced to retire if he were a free agent this off-season.
  • Twins Geek speculates on what it would take to sign Joe Mauer to a long-term deal.
  • Bullpen Call sees only the Mets and Yankees as options for Juan Cruz.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.

Pirates Sign LaRoche, Duke, Grabow, Yates

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1:21pm: Kovacevic says the Bucs also avoided arb with Zach Duke ($2.2MM plus $100K in incentives), John Grabow ($2.3MM plus $75K in incentives), and Tyler Yates ($1.3MM plus $25K in incentives).

9:28am: According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Pirates avoided arbitration with first baseman Adam LaRoche by signing him for $7.05MM for ’09.  He can make another $100K based on plate appearances.  Dejan Kovacevic reports the same.

LaRoche will be eligible for free agency after the season.  2009 would be a fine time to overcome his April/May inadequacies.

Odds and Ends: Saito, Teixeira, LaRoche

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More Tuesday links…

  • Over at RotoAuthority, David Chase examines more of the optimistic Spring Training reports of ’08.  Particularly interesting: did pitchers follow up on their intention to use a new pitch?
  • The Marlins’ Scott Proctor signing is official.  Also, Chan Ho Park with the Phillies.
  • Carl Pohlad’s three sons will take over for their father.
  • McCovey Chronicles trade idea: Randy Winn for Xavier Nady.
  • Add Randy Choate to the minor league deals for the Rays.
  • Economist J.C. Bradbury says "the economic downturn cannot explain the magnitude of Pat Burrell’s discount."  He believes teams are exaggerating the recession effect.
  • Keith Law says the risk in giving Milton Bradley a three-year deal "seems excessive" but notes that Bradley is an excellent hitter and above-average defender.
  • Patrick Newman learned that Takashi Saito received almost ten offers last month, including proposals from the Cardinals and Red Sox.  Newman also has new reports of various minor league-level Japanese players who want to join MLB organizations.
  • Tony Massarotti has all kinds of questions about Boston’s failure to sign Mark Teixeira.  Craig Calcaterra offers analysis on the team’s Boras relationship.  Check out stuff from today’s Yankees press conference here and here.
  • Sox Machine on how Jim Thome staying healthy messed up Ken Williams’ plans.
  • Dejan Kovacevic says Adam LaRoche would like to stay in Pittsburgh past ’09, but the team is not considering an extension.

Pirates Rumors: Wilson, Millar, Bautista

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Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette checks in from Vegas with the latest Pirates rumors.

  • At some point during the Meetings, the Pirates and Tigers will meet to discuss Jack Wilson.  It has been suggested that the Tigers are backing off on Wilson; they worked out Adam Everett last week.  The Dodgers are also in the mix, with recent discussions involving the possible restructuring of Wilson’s contract.
  • Other trade candidates: John Grabow, Ronny Paulino, Freddy Sanchez, and Adam LaRoche.
  • The Pirates’ "power bat" addition could be Kevin Millar, muses Kovacevic.
  • Reliever Denny Bautista is a non-tender candidate.  We’ll add him to the list.
  • The Pirates have not yet made extension offers to Ryan Doumit, Nate McLouth, or Paul Maholm.

Pirates Rumors: Wilson, Paulino, Byrd

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Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is back on the scene to get us up to speed with the latest Pirates rumors.  Let’s start with the team’s five veteran trade candidates:

  • Jack Wilson: The Tigers and Dodgers are said to be the main suitors.  The problem is that neither team wants to send the Pirates top prospects while paying all of the $7.85MM Wilson has coming.  Additionally, the Pirates do not view Dodgers shortstop prospect Chin-Lung Hu as a possible trade centerpiece.  The Bucs have spoken to at least two other clubs about Wilson, but Kovacevic rejects the previously reported three-team scenario.  It seems that some of the top free agent shortstops will need to sign to create a better market for Wilson.
  • Freddy Sanchez, Adam LaRoche:  The Pirates have received "mere inquiries" on these two.
  • John Grabow, Ronny Paulino: Grabow is a free agent after ’09, so his trade value may never be higher.  The Pirates are apparently pushing Paulino, but don’t want to sell low on him.
  • Ryan Doumit, Nate McLouth, Paul Maholm, Matt Capps: These four are described as "as close to untouchable as it gets" for the Pirates.
  • On the free agent front, the Pirates have made contact with Paul Byrd.  However, GM Neal Huntington implied he’s not finding the starting pitching bargains he expected.  The Pirates haven’t made offers to Doug Mientkiewicz or Jason Michaels; those players are considering proposals from other teams.
  • Kovacevic adds: "The Pirates also had discussed acquiring a right-handed power bat for the outfield through free agency, but there has been no known movement on that front."  Just looking at who’s out there, I imagine this could be referring to Pat Burrell.  Still, that’s entirely speculative and he’s probably out of their price range.

Odds and Ends: Lowe, Redmond, Timlin

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Linkage for Friday…

  • River Ave. Blues discovered that Mike Mussina’s wife may be a bigger factor than we thought in regard to his retirement decision.
  • David O’Brien tosses out some names for the Braves to consider: Derek Lowe, Matt Cain, Roy Oswalt, and Josh Willingham.  Everyone likes Lowe…Anthony McCarron says the Yankees and Mets should consider him.  Those clubs could also enter a bidding war for C.C. Sabathia, says Bob Klapisch.  Will C.C.’s postseason record diminish his contract?  I don’t think so.
  • Greg Couch doesn’t want Javier Vazquez pitching for the White Sox again.  Maybe Ozzie is right, Vazquez is not a big-game pitcher.  But why say that publicly?
  • Joe Christensen seems certain the Twins will exercise Mike Redmond’s $950K option.
  • Chris Carpenter’s shoulder injury is unprecedented among pitchers.  Do the Cardinals need to add veteran rotation insurance?  Speaking of unprecedented procedures…Takashi Saito had platelet-rich plasma injected into his elbow in July.
  • Joe Starkey thinks the Pirates should…non-tender Adam LaRoche?
  • Mike Timlin could retire.
  • Huge E-Ticket Manny Ramirez feature from Bill Simmons, wherein Scott Boras is blamed for his Boston exit.  Good read.
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