Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Penny, Harden, Lidge
Rumor machine Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count Video up at FoxSports.com. Let's dive on in…
- The outcome of this weekend's games could determine which team the recently released Brad Penny signs with. The Giants and Marlins are the two teams pursuing him the most, but the Giants are in a better position in the NL Wildcard standings.
- The Yankees, Twins, and A's are also expressing interest in the righthander, but "what pitcher in his right mind would want to stay in the American League?"
- The A's and Padres have even "floated the idea" of signing Penny beyond the rest of this season, but Penny's best bet might be to go to a team like the Giants and reestablish himself in a pennant race, then go back into the free agent pool this winter on a high note.
- The Cubs are more open to dealing Rich Harden to the Twins than you might think. The Cubs could receive two high draft picks if they offer Harden arbitration after the season and he signs elsewhere, but that's a risky strategy. Given his injury history, the club might not want to take a $10MM or so hit if he accepts, even for only one year.
- The bigger question with Harden may be how aggressive the Twins will be in trying to deal for him. Remember that stars Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan have said the team needs more to contend, with Morneau mentioning that the team needs to impress Joe Mauer since he's due to become a free agent after next season.
- Yes, the Yankees were messing with the Red Sox when they claimed Chris Carter off waivers, but Boston's 40-man roster only has 38 players on it at the moment. Daisuke Matsuzaka will assume one of those spots when he comes off the 60-day DL, and the other is reserved for Paul Byrd.
- People might need to relax when it comes to Brad Lidge's struggles. His recent blown save against the Pirates might be the result of overuse, as Lidge was pitching for the fourth straight day. He had done it twice before this season, but he entered game three of that stretch with a four-run lead. Manager Charlie Manuel may need to be more careful with how he uses his closer down the stretch.
Don’t Expect Phillies to Pick Up a Bat
There are two factors working against the Philadelphia Phillies picking up a bat, even with Raul Ibanez sidelined with a groin injury, Jimmy Rollins languishing in the low .200s, and a three-game sweep by the Blue Jays now complete.
First is that the Phils may have that replacement bat during Ibanez's recovery in John Mayberry Jr., who homered Thursday afternoon. Mayberry posted an .808 OPS during 210 Triple-A plate appearances in 2009, suggesting he can be an adequate bat in Ibanez's absence.
But the bigger issue is the Phillies will need to save their prospects for a deal or deals for arms. Joe Blanton, after Thursday's start, has a 5.28 ERA. Considering he is Philadelphia's de facto number two starter, that won't get it done.
Worse still is the bullpen situation. Brad Lidge is sidelined with a knee injury, and now Ryan Madson, who had been dominant, has hit a rough patch at exactly the wrong time, blowing up in two of the three games against Toronto.
So which should be the priority right now for Philadelphia: starter or reliever?
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Peavy, Giants, Rays, M’s, Lidge, Beltre
On this date seven years ago, the A's traded Jeremy Giambi to the Phillies for John Mabry. At the time of the deal, Giambi was hitting .274/.390/.471 with 8 home runs and Mabry was essentially a pinch-hitter. Giambi would go on to hit 12 more home runs for the Phils but would play only one more season in the big leagues. As rumors start to fly in the '09 season, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- Fire Ned Colletti Now would be happy to see a team other than the Dodgers trade for Jake Peavy.
- Jorge Says No! says the Brewers should look into trading for Jake Peavy.
- McCovey Chronicles takes a look at some deadline deal possibilities for the Giants, including Matt Holliday, Carl Crawford and Ichiro.
- The Rays Party notes that Jason Isringhausen makes for a crowded bullpen which may indicate that the Devil Rays ($29) are about to make a deal.
- Phlavio's Corner takes a look at some options to replace Carlos Delgado.
- Around the Majors takes a look back at the Brad Lidge extension and wonders if it was a mistake.
- Bleeding Blue and Teal would like to see the Mariners make a deal for Ben Zobrist.
- The Detroit Tigers Weblog now admits that the Edwin Jackson-Matt Joyce trade may have been good for the Tigers.
- MLB Notebook sees a few possible trade destinations for Adrian Beltre including both Chicago franchises.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and on Twitter here.
Odds and Ends: Selig, Wrigley, Ordonez, Wade, Macha
A few links for your Saturday night enjoyment:
- Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times details Bud Selig’s concern about how the state of the economy will effect baseball. Selig says that he "used to think we were recession-proof" but that "this is different."
- The economy might also effect the business of selling rooftop seats near Wrigley Field, writes Nancy Armour of the Associated Press.
- Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated writes about the political stance that has Magglio Ordonez getting booed at the WBC.
- Scott Lauber of the Wilmington News Journal has excerpts from a press conference with Astros GM Ed Wade. Wade, the former Phillies GM, talks about last year’s World Series and discusses the Brad Lidge trade.
- John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Ken Macha’s challenge with the Brewers is reminiscent of one he faced with the A’s in 2005.
Odds and Ends: Jacobs, Howard, Renteria
Links for Friday…
- The A’s claimed infielder Joe Dillon off waivers from the Brewers.
- Dave Cameron criticizes the Royals’ acquisition of Mike Jacobs. ESPN’s Keith Law also panned the move, suggesting Jacobs was a non-tender candidate for the Marlins.
- Peter Abraham breaks down the different types of hot stove stories and sources.
- Derrick Goold looks at Ryan Howard‘s arbitration case.
- MLB.com’s Chris Haft talked to various scouts about Matt Cain‘s trade value.
- Edgar Renteria hopes to remain in Detroit, saying "Next year, we are going to win everything."
- ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian names his top ten offseason storylines.
- Ken Davidoff says the Mets were interested in Brad Lidge last year, but the Astros’ asking price was too high.
- Joel Sherman debates the merits of a Luis Castillo–Andruw Jones swap while stressing that no such deal is actually being discussed.
- The 2008 Fielding Bible awards are out.
Odds and Ends: Schilling, Manny, Mateo
Links for Thursday…
- If Curt Schilling does a half-season next year, he apparently will not model it after Roger Clemens‘ approach.
- Drunk Jays Fans discusses Ken Rosenthal’s recent chat with J.P. Ricciardi.
- Richard Justice says some GMs complained privately that Ed Wade didn’t do a good job letting teams know Brad Lidge was available last year.
- The Adam Dunn trade pushed the D’Backs a little over budget. They don’t have much to spend this winter. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic elaborates on the topic.
- Dave Cameron looks at some free agent landmines, led by Manny Ramirez.
- The Giants voided their $625K contract with Dominican righty Luis Mateo after finding bone chips in his elbow.
Fuentes Unlikely To Re-Sign With Rockies
Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post takes a look at Brian Fuentes‘ impending free agency. The 33 year-old closer would prefer to return to the Rockies, but he hasn’t heard from the team and expects to explore the open market.
Renck says Fuentes’ agent views Brad Lidge as a comparable. Lidge signed a three-year, $37.5MM extension in July. He’s a bit younger than Fuentes, but the comparision seems reasonable. Fuentes is in a great position this winter as the best alternative to Francisco Rodriguez, who will receive a record-breaking deal for a reliever.
Fuentes intends to sign with a team that will allow him to close, and has a slight preference for the West Coast. Both L.A. teams could consider him, though both have good internal options. Fuentes also acknowledged that Billy Wagner‘s injury could affect his situation.
Odds and Ends: Jack Wilson, Victor Zambrano, Bedard
Time to round up some non-Sabathia links.
- The Dodgers are restructuring their offer for Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson, according to Ken Rosenthal.
- Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times has sources who believe at least one general manager is under suspicion as part of the Dominican player bonus-skimming investigation. Additionally, MLB might look into the Michel Inoa signing on the Rangers’ behalf.
- The Yankees plan to scout starter Victor Zambrano. He’ll be 33 soon, and has a 9.45 ERA in 40 Triple A innings.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times talks about Erik Bedard, who is now the best available southpaw starter.
- The Brad Lidge extension means Brett Myers will not close for the Phillies again.
Week In Review
Continuing with Tim’s new tradition, here’s my take on some of the top rumors of the week from June 29 – July 6:
- The C.C. Sabathia sweepstakes is nearing an end, with the Brewers’ Matt LaPorta package being the frontrunner. We’ll let everyone know the full story as soon as possible.
- The Phillies extended Brad Lidge to a three-year contract. Lidge looks like his old self – great deal for Philadelphia. Looks like this means Brett Myers will remain in the rotation if he can get back on track.
- We heard a lot about the Rays’ growing interest for Colorado closer Brian Fuentes. They could be preparing an offer. Troy Percival has been good, but injury prone, and you almost hate to move Dan Wheeler from the eighth inning where he’s been so good all year.
- The shortstop market is hot, as the Dodgers, Orioles, and Jays would all like to upgrade. The Dodgers are interested in Jack Wilson, while the Orioles are looking at David Eckstein and possibly Juan Uribe or Felipe Lopez. The Jays could look to move A.J. Burnett and his contract for an upgrade there as well. Interesting that Toronto wants an upgrade over Eckstein, while Baltimore looks at him as an upgrade…
- The Indians finally cut Joe Borowski loose, designating him for assignment. Was this too little too late? They tried to sneak Craig Breslow through waivers earlier this year. I’m guessing they’d rather have the 1.42 ERA he’s posted this season than Borowski’s 7.56, but the Twins are enjoying Breslow’s benefits.
- Could the Angels add Matt Holliday? Seems unlikely with the stockpile of large contracts they already have in their outfield if you ask me.
- The A’s signed Michel Inoa for $4.25MM on Thursday.
- The Padres will be sellers this July. The onslaught of injuries have made this a frustrating season for San Diego. If you’d been able to see Adrian Gonzalez‘s monster numbers through July 1 before the season started, who would’ve believed this team wasn’t contending? Wow.
- For those who are interested, Tim looked at this past years’ offseason moves and compiled an All-Star lineup of free agent hitters signed prior to the 2008 season. That’d be a heck of a team to try to beat right now…
Phillies Extend Lidge
10:12am: Ken Mandel of MLB.com reports the extension is for 3-years, $37.5MM with a club option for 2012 and performance incentives. A good deal for both sides considering the going rate for elite closers and that Lidge may have been able to get 4-5 years in free agency. Lidge has yet to blow a save this year while making $6.35MM.
10:00am: Todd Zolecki and Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer are reporting the Phillies will be announcing a contract extension for closer Brad Lidge any moment now.