Odds & Ends: Heyward, Yankees, Astros
Some more afternoon links…
- Jason Heyward – probably the game's best prospect - looks great so far in the Arizona Fall League, according to Jason Grey of ESPN.com.
- MLB.com's Mike Bauman says so far the Yankees' decision to commit hundreds of millions to C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett looks good.
- As Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports, Ned Yost stressed his experience during his interview for the Astros' managerial opening.
- James Schmehl of MLive.com suggests the Tigers should at least consider replacing hitting coach Lloyd McClendon with Rudy Jaramillo or another top batting instructor.
- MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports that the Rangers promoted four members of their front office.
Odds & Ends: Sabathia, Leyland, Astros
Some links to start the day off…
- Marc Carig of the Star Ledger says the Yankees hit the jackpot when they signed C.C. Sabathia to a $161MM deal last offseason.
- As Yankees manager Joe Girardi tells Filip Bondy of the New York Daily News, they acquired the lefty for big games like last night's ALDS opener against the Twins.
- Tigers fans are rightfully frustrated after a devastating week, but Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press says firing manager Jim Leyland wouldn't solve a thing.
- Former Astros manager Phil Garner tells Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle that candidates for the Houston managerial job have to be honest with owner Drayton McLane and GM Ed Wade.
- Now that Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez knows his job is secure, he's clearing his head in Georgia for a few days, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer agrees with Tyler Hissey: the Rockies deserve a lot of credit for acquiring Jason Hammel.
- Hissey says the Rays appear to have won the deal that sent Delmon Young and Brendan Harris to the Twins for Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza.
Odds & Ends: Sandberg, Yanks, Padres, Upton
Some links to read before the final weekend of the regular season…
- Ryne Sandberg tells Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times that his "ideal job" would be managing the Cubs.
- Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News says C.C. Sabathia and Mike Mussina are the only two Yankee pitchers of the decade to deliver big seasons right after signing big free agent contracts.
- Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune says there's still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Padres GM Kevin Towers.
- USA Today's Bob Nightengale says (via Twitter) that the Giants expect Randy Johnson to retire after the season.
- Nightengale says teams expect the Rays to deal B.J. Upton this winter.
- Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle says the Giants need Bengie Molina and Buster Posey next year.
- Justin Masterson tells John Tomase of the Boston Herald that his former pitching coach, John Farrell, would make a good manager.
Discussion: Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a series of contradictions, as Thomas Boswell points out in this terrific Washington Post piece. They are a large market, but spend like a small-market team. They have great young talent and more than 100 losses. The future is bright (Stephen Strasburg) and not-so-bright (if they don't put talent around him).
"We are tremendously excited. The next big step is right there to be taken," President Stan Kasten, who speaks for the team, told Boswell. "This is not a great year if you want a [free agent like CC] Sabathia or Mark Teixeira. But the players who are available are just what we need: a veteran starter in the rotation, two more arms in the bullpen and a middle infielder who helps our defense."
So who should Washington look to acquire? How close are they, really, to that next step? And if the team has more than 100 losses, isn't the next step more like 90 losses?
Discussion: New York Yankees’ 2010 Rotation
So let's say you're the New York Yankees. You've got to be feeling pretty good right now. The Yankees have the best record in baseball, a 6.5 game lead over the Boston Red Sox, and all but have a ticket punched to the postseason.
But what to make of the 2010 outlook in the starting rotation? There's a lot of uncertainty there.
The top is set in stone, of course, with C.C. Sabathia signed for another six years of his seven-year, $161MM deal. And, like it or not, the mercurial A.J. Burnett has another four seasons left on his five-year, $82MM deal.
Who's next? Well, assuming he returns to longer outings without any problem, Joba Chamberlain should be good to pitch a full season, finally, in 2010. No Joba rules, no pitch counts, just full-out Joba.
That's only three of five pitchers, however.
So what's to be done for slots four and five? Andy Pettitte has been solid this season, with a typical Pettitte season, 178 1/3 innings of a 4.14 ERA. He'll be a free agent in a winter with very little frontline starting pitching. Will the Yankees want to give Pettitte a multi-year deal if necessary? He'll be 38 next June.
For the fifth spot, Sergio Mitre is the answer, but only if the question is, "How do we improve the American League batting average next season?"
Phil Hughes is the most talented option, but he's thrown only 79 1/3 innings this season (98 2/3 including the minor leagues), and no more than 146 in a season (and that was in 2006).
So how should they fill out the rotation in The Bronx?
Odds & Ends: Uggla, Royals, New Blood
Here's some links to start off a gorgeous Sunday (at least around these parts)…
- After calling out teammate Hanley Ramirez, Bill Shaikin of The LA Times wonders if Dan Uggla might get a ticket out of Florida. If so, he says Uggla could be a fit for the Dodgers, who he says "are not expected to engage in a bidding war to retain second baseman Orlando Hudson."
- Sam Mellinger of The KC Star presents a few ways to improve the Royals for 2010. In addition to not handing out albatross contracts to players like Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Guillen, Mellinger suggests the team trade Alberto Callaspo, nontender Mike Jacobs, and resign Coco Crisp.
- Joel Sherman of The NY Post rates which teams "succeeded and failed in bringing new blood to their organizations" over the last year. The Yankees take home top honors thanks to additions of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira, and Nick Swisher. The Mets … well they come in last.
- Make sure you follow MLBTR on Twitter for the fastest rumor updates around.
Productive Free Agent Pickups
Manny Ramirez, C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira have all produced since headlining last offseason's free agent class, but they're far from the only free agents to make meaningful contributions this season. Here are the five free agents who have been worth most this year according to FanGraphs. I've included the player's worth, as calculated by FanGraphs, his contract info and some more traditional stats:
- Raul Ibanez, Phillies – He's been worth $16.1MM this year, but the Phillies are paying him just $6.5MM (plus incentives) in the first year of a deal worth $31.5MM. Ibanez has 26 homers, 75 RBI and an OPS just shy of 1.000.
- C.C. Sabathia, Yankees - Sabathia has been worth $15.6MM this year, making a $14MM salary in the first year of a deal that could pay him $161MM. Despite a drop in his K-rate, Sabathia has an ERA below 4.00 in the AL East and leads the league in starts.
- Mark Teixeira, Yankees – He's been worth $15.1MM so far, so he's on pace to earn the first $20MM of his $180MM deal. He's added 26 homers, 80 RBI and 56 walks to the Yankees' offense.
- Bobby Abreu, Angels – He's been worth $13.8MM this year and he's making a base salary of just $5MM. What a deal for the Angels, who get an .869 OPS, nearly as many walks as strikeouts and 22 steals.
- Juan Rivera, Angels - Another unheralded signing by the Angels. Rivera and Abreu have both approached Teixeira's production this year and the Yanks pay Tex more in one season than the Angels will pay Abreu and Rivera in total over the course of their current deals. Rivera makes a base salary of $3.25MM this year and will make at least $12.75MM on his new deal. He's batting .311 with 18 homers.
Odds And Ends: Red Sox, Mateo, Sano
More links for the afternoon…
- The Pirates signed Victor Black, their supplemental round pick, according to Mike Vukovcan of KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh.
- Alex Speier of WEEI.com reports that the Red Sox are set to sign their second round pick, righty Alex Wilson, for about $475k. He turned down $600k from the Cubs last year.
- ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure says the Nats will work Wagner Mateo out, but aren't likely to sign him.
- Arangure says the Mariners, Cardinals, Dodgers, Giants, Yankees and Cubs could sign Mateo.
- Arangure still expects Miguel Angel Sano to sign with the Pirates.
- Peter Abraham of the Journal News suggests the Yankees should release Brett Tomko and Angel Berroa. He also suggests five other ways the Yankees could improve without making a trade.
- Peter Gammons says C.C. Sabathia could use some extra rest in this ESPN Radio discussion. Gammons also believes Daisuke Matsuzaka's injury is "pretty serious."
- MLB.com's Rustin Dodd looks back at the deal that sent Carlos Beltran to the Astros. Five years ago Wednesday, the Royals acquired Mike Wood, Mark Teahen and John Buck for their center fielder.
- Click here to take another look at the MLBTR glossary post on the international signing period. It now explains how some players born in early September, 1993 can sign this year.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Sano, Pedro, Sabathia, Lopez
On this date 14 years ago, Darryl Strawberry signed a one-year deal with the Yankees for $675K, four months after being released by the Giants and five years after leaving New York to sign with the Dodgers as a free agent. Interestingly, this would be the most lucrative season of his career as it marked the final year of his Dodgers contract that would pay him $5.3MM in '95. Straw was never traded, but we are a little over one month from this year's trade deadline. Let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- Around the Majors spoke with Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus about Miguel Sano and the international signing period.
- River Ave. Blues doesn't feel the Yankees will be able to find a spot for Pedro Martinez and doubts he could still be effective in the AL East.
- Bleacher Nation finds the Cubs' interest in Pedro Martinez "strange," noting that they have no money to spend and that the Cubs need bats, not arms.
- Jorge Says No! puts together a list of the teams that could be sellers over the next six weeks.
- MLB Notebook looks at when it may be best for teams to deal specific players, including Erik Bedard, Juan Pierre and Matt Holliday.
- Capitol Avenue Club goes back and reevaluates the C.C. Sabathia trade now that the Brewers have used the draft picks acquired for losing Sabathia as a free agent.
- Goat Riders of the Apocalypse feels that Felipe Lopez would be a "cheap and quick upgrade" for the Cubs offense.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.
News From Twitter: Red Sox, Corey Hart, Victor Martinez, Cardinals
A few of tonight's trade tidbits from baseball writers on Twitter:
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal: "GM Doug Melvin told me any talk of the Brewers shopping RF Corey Hart is pure nonsense."
Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated: "Red Sox looking hard for a hitter. Victor Martinez would be perfect. but [C.C.] Sabathia told me no way Tribe trades V-Mart."
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote that Troy Glaus is ready to resume baseball activities and noted that the Cardinals are "expanding [a] wide net for possible help."
You can follow MLB Trade Rumors on Twitter here.