Pitchers on the move
Jason Schmidt has been offered $45 million over three years to join the Cubs. If that offer has been leaked already, $60M/4 seems within the realm of possibility. Strangely, Schmidt has already said he’s not interested in the East Coast–you’d think he’d wait until Cashman made an offer and drove up his price before saying no. Once Schmidt signs, it’ll be fun to watch Scott Boras conduct the sure-to-be-insane bidding for Barry Zito.
Some team (to be announced tonight) won the bidding for Kei Igawa for $25 million. Hanshin has accepted. That’s the second largest posting fee ever–somebody must think Igawa is pretty good, definitely on the high side of the typical #3/#4 projection he’s gotten. I’m guessing it’s not the Cubs, or we wouldn’t be hearing so much about the other pitchers they’re after. That leaves plenty of other possibilities, though.
The Baltimore Orioles are continuing their quest to build the most expensive bullpen of all time: Chad Bradford is close to a three-year deal with them. Anybody think it’s a little odd that the O’s traded Chris Britton for a reclamation project and are now probably spending about $8M a year for Bradford and Danys Baez? (Odd? Yes. In character? Absolutely.)
And, this just in: the O’s are also adding Scott Williamson. He’s cheap–only $900K for the year. Oddly enough, he could be the best of their new additions. I’m a little surprised nobody else was willing to go higher for him on a one-year deal.
Many of you have emailed me about a possible Angels-White Sox trade involving Ervin Santana and Chone Figgins for Freddy Garcia and Joe Crede. As Rotoworld points out, this could be a recycled rumor; regardless, Kenny Williams says no. And there’s no way Bill Stoneman deals Santana for Garcia without getting a lot more in return. Five years of a good pitcher under the team’s control for one year of Garcia? Right.
By Jeff Sackmann
Chone Figgins On The Block?
Ah, finally a legitimate trade rumor. The well had been running dry for a while. Doug Padilla of the L.A. Daily News tells us that center fielder/utility man Chone Figgins could be traded this offseason, possibly to the White Sox for Joe Crede.
Crede, who is represented by Scott Boras, has continually inked one-year deals with the Sox. This is his fourth full season, and he’s making a little less than $3MM. Crede’s breakout .298/.331/.535 campaign should bring another hefty raise. Crede should cross or near the 30 HR, 100 RBI plateaus for the first time in his career. He’ll be a very valuable trade commodity if the Sox wish to turn third base over to Josh Fields eventually. This is Crede’s age 28 season. The market for free agent third basemen is bleak unless Aramis Ramirez opts out of his contract.
Figgins, on the other hand, has taken a step backward in his age 28 season. He’s earning $2.25MM in ’06, $3.5MM in ’07, and $4.75MM in ’08. Figgins has been reliant upon a .295 batting average to keep his OBP in an acceptable range, and this year his average dropped to .254. His contact rate is the lowest of his career, though his walk rate is the highest it’s been. 96% of Figgins’s ABs have come from the leadoff spot, which isn’t a great idea when you’re below average at getting on base.
Figgins is very similar to Scott Podsednik, only more versatile. They have almost identical numbers this year. It would be peculiar for the Sox to cut Pods and then trade their star third baseman for Figgins. I really can’t see Kenny Williams doing this, though he did reportedly express interest in late June.
HalosHeaven: White Sox Interested In Figgins
Interesting post by our good friends at Halos Heaven. I can vouch that the author of this site has several solid, independent sources close to the organization.
A lot of interest in utility superstar Chone Figgins, who is hitting just .253/.322/.347 this year. Figgins draws a walk about 9% of the time, which is fine for a leadoff hitter if he can hit .290. Halos Heaven notes that if Ozzie Guillen elects Orlando Cabrera (.305/.364/.436) to the All-Star game, the relationship between the two teams could improve enough to facilitate a trade.
The Angels view Figgins as more expendable than Adam Kennedy, who has become the clubhouse leader. I’m told Kennedy desperately wants to stay in Southern California, and will offer the Padres or Dodgers a huge discount after this season. It does seem that Kennedy could block Howie Kendrick for the rest of the season.
The latest on Jeff Weaver is that he’ll be gone before the All-Star break, possibly back to the Dodgers. The Angels will eat his entire salary to get a decent bat in return.