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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Mets, Manny, Dunn, Bucs, Peavy, Chipper

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On this day 22 years ago the Cubs traded Ron Cey to the A’s. Cey, a six-time All-Star, would only play 45 games for Oakland. "The Penguin" would retire following the 1987 season. With two weeks to go until pitchers and catchers report, teams are still finalizing their 2009 rosters. Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • Baseball Handyman examines the bench constructed by the Mets this off-season and how unimpressive it is.
  • Jorge Says No! re-examines the market for Manny Ramirez.
  • My Pinstripes takes a look at the current state of the Yankees roster and how it can still change before opening day.
  • River Ave. Blues says Adam Dunn is a "tempting target" for the Yankees and should remain on their radar until he signs.
  • Bucco Blog sees the Pirates giving arbitration-eligible players long-term deals that do not buy out free agency years and feels the team is only attempting to keep payroll as low as possible and not trying to build a competitive team.
  • Astros Country says Jake Peavy being traded to the Cubs would be the worst thing that could happen to the Astros this offseason.
  • Braves Blast says that losing John Smoltz and Chipper Jones in consecutive seasons is not an option for Braves fans.
  • Batter’s Box ranks the GMs statistically with Andrew Friedman coming out on top.
  • UmpBump is wrapping up their "Hot Offseason Action" series looking at what each team did to improve this off-season.
  • MLB Notebook takes a look at a few signings and compares them to the player they replaced.
  • Midwest Sports Fans discusses Rich Hill’s struggles.

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

Chipper Wants To Stay With Braves

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MLB.com’s Mark Bowman talked with Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, who is entering the final year of his contract.  Jones would like a three-year extension, but hasn’t had any talks with the Braves this winter.  He’d prefer not to negotiate during the season.

Jones, 37 in April, hit a massive .364/.470/.574 in 534 plate appearances last year.  His defense came out above average in the plus/minus system.  FanGraphs placed a phenomenal value on Jones’ season: $34.4MM.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Pirates, Hudson, Tigers, Braves, Dunn, Yankees

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On this day 29 years ago, Albert Pujols was born. 2009 will be the sixth year of his eight year, $111MM deal (safe to say Cards will pick up his ’11 option). According to Fangraphs, Pujols has already been worth $151.9MM in the first five years of the contract ($30.4M per season), begging the question: How much will Pujols command following the ’11 season, when he will be 32? Last winter, Alex Rodriguez signed for 10 years and $275MM prior to his age 32 season. With less than a month to go before pitchers and catchers report, many players are still looking for their own new contracts. Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • River Ave. Blues expands on Baseball Prospectus’ case against a salary cap and how small-market teams likely would not be able to support a minimum payroll.
  • Bucco Blog says the value of young talent has kept the Pirates from rebuilding. Instead, the team has spent the last two years restructuring and are now moving on to the next phase.
  • Jorge Says No examines the market for Orlando Hudson and feels the Nationals have to make a play for the second baseman.
  • The Detroit Tigers Weblog takes a look at who is still available to close for the Tigers in ’09.
  • Infield Chatter says the Braves were forced to overpay for Derek Lowe.
  • Braves Blast takes a look at the Braves offseason and what is left to do: adding an outfield bat and extending Chipper Jones’ contract.
  • On Baseball and The Reds takes a look at Adam Dunn’s value, with the numbers suggesting he is not worth much more than $20MM over four years.
  • Pinstripes Published makes a case for the Yankees acquiring Lastings Milledge from the Nats, while The Chuck Knoblog argues for Elijah Dukes.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.  This is by far the best way to get your blog linked on MLBTR.

Jones Has Interest In Returning To Atlanta

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Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andruw Jones has interest in returning to the Atlanta Braves, MyFoxAtlanta.com reports.

In a video on the TV station’s Web site, Jones is shown working out with current Braves Chipper Jones and Brian McCann.

“It would be nice to kind of finish my career here,” Jones told the station from an Atlanta batting cage.

The station also interviews McCann, who said Jones, 31, looks great.

Reporter Buck Lanford notes that the Dodgers are supposed to trade or release Jones by Thursday.

What’s Next For Chipper And Glavine?

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9:22pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman has some related quotes from Glavine from this week.

3:04pm: John Smoltz is gone, even after Bobby Cox’s last-ditch phone call this morning.  What about longtime Braves Chipper Jones and Tom Glavine?

The AJC’s Carroll Rogers talked to Chipper, who wonders whether he could be traded midseason if the Braves aren’t playing well.  He is expecting the Braves to approach him about an extension this winter though.  Jones is quite disappointed about Smoltz’s departure and said "it hasn’t gone unnoticed by me."

Glavine’s first choice is the Braves, but he’s keeping an open mind according to Jerry Crasnick.  Crasnick wonders if the Nationals could be a possibility.

A.J. Burnett Rumors: Thursday

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7:18: Mark Bowman at MLB.com says it’s down to the Braves or the Yankees for Burnett. Interestingly, he notes that A.J. might not necessarily want to be an "ace" of a staff like he would be in Atlanta. He has the Yanks’ offer between $80-85MM.

12:12pm: Rosenthal heard indications the Braves were preparing a final push for Burnett and would guarantee a fifth year.

10:33am: Rosenthal and Fraley see the Yankees as the clear frontrunner for Burnett.  They say Braunecker will contact other clubs today to give them one last chance to beat the Yanks’ five-year, $85MM offer.  Will the Braves counter?  Burnett signing with the Yankees would be undesirable for the Blue Jays in two ways – they’d have to face him fairly often, and they’d (tentatively) get the Yanks’ second-round pick instead of a first-round one.

9:46am: Buster Olney says the Yankees are confident they won’t be overbid for Burnett, at least.

9:19am: Chipper Jones spoke to Burnett about ten days ago, and the pitcher told him that if he does play in the NL, it’ll only be with the Braves.

8:53am: Ken Davidoff and Kat O’Brien wrote that the Yankees "appeared to be closing in on a deal" for Burnett late last night.  They put the offer at about $80MM.

8:32am: Ken Rosenthal and Gerry Fraley say the Braves have not offered Burnett five guaranteed years.  The fifth year is an easily attainable vesting option, though.  Dan Graziano says that this time around, Braunecker is not seeking an opt-out clause for Burnett.

2:19am: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick has been all over the A.J. Burnett talks.  Today he says the Yankees have a five-year deal worth about $85MM on the table.  Burnett’s agent Darek Braunecker isn’t seeking much more than that – he’s eyeing a Carlos Zambrano-influenced $91.5MM payday.  It’s an interesting comparison, given that Z’s deal was signed over a year ago and not on the open market.

Crasnick says discussions continued with the Yankees late Wednesday.  Yankee players have been calling Burnett, lobbying him to choose their team over the Braves.  Crasnick believes a deal could be in place as soon as today.

Yesterday we heard conflicting reports about whether the Braves guaranteed a fifth year in their offer.

A.J. Burnett Rumors: Wednesday

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MLB.com’s Mark Bowman chatted with A.J. Burnett’s agent, Darek Braunecker.  Braunecker is confident he can get a five-year deal for Burnett, though a fifth year is not necessarily a requirement.  A four-year deal is possible if the average annual value is significantly higher.  My feeling: why pay Burnett $72MM over four years if you could get that fifth year for a marginal $8MM?

The Braves and Burnett still have mutual interest, and Braunecker characterized talks as positive.  Bowman also talked to Chipper Jones, who had kind words for Burnett.  Bowman believes Jones will feel more comfortable about finishing his career with the Braves if they sign Burnett.

Braves Rumors: Hampton, Ludwick, Burnett

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Braves GM Frank Wren chatted with fans on MLB.com today and David O’Brien has some new Braves rumors as well.

  • Wren told O’Brien that the Braves have had "a number of conversations" with Mike Hampton about keeping him in Atlanta. In his MLB.com chat, Wren said he thinks Hampton is still a "very good pitcher."
  • O’Brien says that talks with the Cardinals about Ryan Ludwick "aren’t dead." Wren doesn’t comment when asked about Ludwick in the chat, but that is in itself something of a statement.
  • O’Brien says that if Atlanta can’t trade for Ludwick, Raul Ibanez would be an outfield target. Wren said in his chat that he’d like to acquire a "productive bat in the outfield," and that a right-handed hitter would be ideal.
  • Not surprisingly, Wren writes in the chat that he’d like to have A.J. Burnett in the Braves’ rotation next year. Wren adds that the Braves have had discussions about bringing back Paul Byrd for a third time.
  • Wren told O’Brien that he’s going to worry about assembling the 2009 team before working on extensions for players like Chipper Jones.
  • And Brian McCann’s already lost 22 pounds since the end of the season.

Peavy Rumors: Wednesday

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Another day, another batch of Jake Peavy links.

  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post talked to several executives.  They expect Peavy will be traded to the Braves for Tommy Hanson, Jordan Schafer, and one of Kelly Johnson/Yunel Escobar.  This scenario becomes more plausible to me if Johnson/Escobar is replaced with a lesser player.  But, maybe I am misguided.  Buster Olney also talked to execs who envision a Hanson/Schafer/Johnson package.
  • Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune checked with Towers and Peavy’s agent Barry Axelrod, and learned that Peavy has a clean bill of health.  Krasovic also discusses Peavy’s violent delivery and minimal usage of his changeup.
  • Chipper Jones likes the idea of the Braves acquiring Peavy, and also would welcome A.J. Burnett as a teammate.
  • Axelrod agrees that the Braves are the frontrunner and the Astros may not have the goods for Peavy.  He downplayed Peavy’s friendship with Roy Oswalt as a factor in his decision.

Odds and Ends: Manny, Laird, Strasburg, Chipper

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Let’s gather up today’s linkage.

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