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Cliff Lee

Cliff Lee’s Availability And Roy Oswalt’s Value

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If Cliff Lee becomes available, the Astros will have a harder time obtaining value for Roy Oswalt, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Lee is younger, pitched better in 2008-09, makes less money, has succeeded in both leagues and could help a team obtain picks in next year’s draft.

Rosenthal’s sources say the Yankees are among the teams that would rather pursue Lee when he becomes a free agent after 2010 than part with prospects for Oswalt. The Yankees spent on Lee's former teammate, free agent C.C. Sabathia after passing on the chance to deal for Johan Santana and that decision has worked out well.

In theory, the Astros could take on salary to shrink the gap between the two aces’ salaries, but Rosenthal hears that Astros owner Drayton McLane would probably not cover a substantial amount of the $29MM or so Oswalt will earn before his contract expires.

High-revenue clubs could afford Lee’s $8MM contract and some mid-revenue teams could become involved, too. If the 18-28 Mariners, who rallied to beat the Tigers today, do not become sellers, the point is moot. If the Mariners start playing better, Oswalt remains the most attractive arm around, though it doesn't appear that the Astros are looking to deal him at this point.

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Oswalt, Lowell, Griffey

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With FOX airing Saturday evening games this weekend rather than afternoon games, Ken Rosenthal's new Full Count video showed up on their website a little later in the day too. Now that it's been posted, let's recap Rosenthal's latest hot stove tidbits….

  • Roy Oswalt is making $15MM this year and $16MM next year, which will make it difficult to trade him. Making it even trickier, owner Drayton McLane won't want to include money in a deal, even if it means getting better prospects in return.
  • If the Mariners become sellers, that would further diminish the chances of an Oswalt deal, since the M's could make Cliff Lee available. Lee is the much more affordable ace, earning only $9MM this season.
  • The Red Sox don't want to release Mike Lowell, since he provides injury protection at both corner infield spots, and can DH against left-handers. Additionally, if the Sox were to release Lowell, many of their AL rivals, such as the Angels, Rays, and Twins, could have interest in him.
  • Ken Griffey's current role of pinch-hitter, occasional DH, and clubhouse mentor is exactly what the Mariners were hoping for when they re-signed the 40-year-old this winter. For now, the club has no desire for Griffey to retire.
  • Carlos Zambrano appears to be headed back to the Cubs' rotation, even though he may currently be their sixth-best starter. The team could attempt to trade Tom Gorzelanny or move him to the bullpen, but Rosenthal opines that it would make their pitching staff weaker.

Odds & Ends: Kearns, Lowell, Dye, Strasburg

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Links for Tuesday, as Hanley Ramirez digs himself into an even bigger hole after last night's jog…

Stark On Mariners, Lee, Werth, Berkman, Zambrano

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Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark that Ken Griffey Jr. will always get "the respect and dignity he deserves" in Seattle, so don't expect the Mariners to push Junior out of the way now that it seems convenient to do so. As one executive tells Stark, that's not an easy thing to tell a player like Griffey. Here are the rest of Stark's hot stove-related notes from Seattle and around the major leagues:

  • Zduriencik says talk that the Mariners are trying to deal for a bat is "overblown" though he concedes that he's always "making phone calls" to other clubs.
  • The Mariners will "wait and see what happens" with Cliff Lee, Zduriencik says. Lee becomes a free agent after the season and expects to get paid like an ace.
  • The man who traded for Lee last summer, Ruben Amaro Jr., says the Phillies aren't as well-equipped to make a blockbuster move in 2010. "To be frank, I don't know if we have the resources to trade people to get that kind of guy," the GM said.
  • Another GM believes one of Amaro's current players, Jayson Werth, may benefit from a relative shortage of right-handed power outfielders this offseason.
  • A friend of Lance Berkman's thinks the first baseman would be prepared to accept a trade and leave Houston for a couple months. But the friend is less certain that Berkman would accept a deal if his new club was sure to exercise his 2011 option. At $15MM, there's no guarantee that will happen, in spite of Berkman's recent hot streak.
  • Executives on other teams see Carlos Zambrano as a guy who "hasn't pitched like a top-of-the-rotation starter for two years."

Odds & Ends: Jenkins, Orioles, Molina, Lee, Konerko

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Links for Saturday…

Odds & Ends: Crawford, Raynor, Lackey, Strasburg

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Links for Tuesday, as Tim Lincecum reclaims the MLB strikeout lead…

  • Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times spoke to Crawford, who said he was misquoted in the upcoming Sports Illustrated piece mentioned below. "Nothing's changed, no decisions," he said. "I don't know what Carlos [Pena] is doing.''
  • Pirates' GM Neil Huntington told Chuck Finder of The Pittsburgh Post Gazette that he tried to made a deal with the Marlins that would allow Rule 5 pick John Raynor to remain with the Pirates, but to no avail. Raynor was returned to Florida today.
  • John Lackey said he wasn't surprised when the Angels let him depart as a free agent given their trade record with letting home grown players leave, according to Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. "It's different," said Lackey. "The way they preach the team game and giving it up for the team. That's a little suspect. You're supposed to give it up for the team. When the time comes, they might not want to give it up for you. But I totally knew that was a possibility. I was prepared for that. That's the nature of the game today."
  • Stephen Strasburg has been promoted and will make his Triple A debut Friday against Freddie Freeman and the Gwinnett Braves, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson.  ESPN's Rob Neyer notes that Strasburg seems to be on the Mark Prior path to the bigs, perhaps delayed a few weeks for cost savings.
  • MASN's Ben Goessling says Nats 2006 first-round pick Colton Willems has decided to retire.  The team has the pitcher on the restricted list in case he changes his mind.
  • An upcoming Sports lllustrated piece on Carlos Pena features this quote from Carl Crawford: "This core group is going to still be together, me and Carlos are the only two guys that are going to be leaving."
  • The Royals granted reliever Roman Colon his release so he can sign with the Kia Tigers of Korea, according to the team.  Just three months ago, Colon and Juan Cruz were in the mix to be Joakim Soria's primary setup man.  The Royals' bullpen sports an AL-worst 5.56 ERA in 81 innings.
  • White Sox GM Kenny Williams wouldn't rule out a fire sale at a later date, but said the team's aggressive nature will probably prevent it (Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reporting).
  • ESPN's Buster Olney explains that his Saturday story about Cliff Lee being likely to reach free agency was prompted by a call Olney made to Lee's agent.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Blue Jays attempted to sign Kelly Johnson to play left field during the offseason, offering more than the $2.35MM Johnson received from Arizona.  Johnson told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic in March that he strongly considered offers from the Blue Jays, Pirates, and Indians.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out that the upon acquiring Javier Vazquez, the Yankees considered two 2011 draft picks part of the deal.  Already, Vazquez's Type A status and arbitration offer are in question.  We'll be able to give you Vazquez's exact Elias standing later this month, when Eddie Bajek makes his first pass at 2009-10 rankings.
  • Dejan Kovacevic's latest article for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests the Pirates were overly optimistic about Akinori Iwamura, currently their highest-paid player.
  • Click here to listen to my radio appearance on KFNS St. Louis from earlier today.

Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Adrian, Strasburg, Mets, Zito

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Links for Saturday…

Cliff Lee Likely Headed To Free Agency

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Cliff Lee made his 2010 season debut last night, but at this point his agent appears to be looking ahead to the offseason. ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to Lee's agent Darek Braunecker, who indicated that his client is likely going to test the free agent waters after the season.

"We're five months away from free agency," said Braunecker, "so I think that's the most likely scenario at this point."

"We've not really had any significant discussions with Seattle. I wouldn't anticipate a deal [with the Mariners]."

With Josh Beckett signing an extension with the Red Sox, Lee is inarguably the top starter available on the free agent market next year. Back in March we heard that the lefty was likely to wait until after the season to discuss any kind of long-term deal with Seattle, so this latest news isn't really anything new. 

If he repeats his 2008 and 2009 effort this season (2.89 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 1.5 BB/9), Lee would have a good chance of eclipsing the five year, $82.5MM contracts signed by A.J. Burnett and John Lackey in the last two offseasons, but it's unlikely he'll match CC Sabathia's seven year, $161MM pact.

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Orioles, Griffey, Braves

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FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up, so let's see what he has for us…

  • The Orioles will almost certainly be the first team to fire their manager this season, and both Bob Melvin and Bobby Valentine came up in past internal discussions. Bigger jobs are in store for Valentine, but Buck Showalter might also be a candidate. Rosenthal reminds us that the team doesn't have anyone in-house with prior big league managing experience. 
  • The Mariners expect Cliff Lee back on Friday and Erik Bedard back in four weeks, but the focus will remain on the offense and Ken Griffey Jr.'s .238/.289/.262 performance. Rosenthal says not to expect anything to happen with him anytime soon; Seattle has five Griffey-centric promotions scheduled for the first half.
  • The Braves are a logical landing spot for Adrian Gonzalez, but they're also very high on first base prospect Freddie Freeman. The last time they traded for a first baseman with a year-plus left on his contract, they basically rebuilt the Texas Rangers.
  • The Nationals made a run at Jermaine Dye and had more than one conversation with Gary Sheffield's agent, but GM Mike Rizzo said those talks were just to gauge interest. For now, they're happy with the a platoon of Willie Harris and Justin Maxwell because of their defensive abilities, and Rizzo says that will remain a point of emphasis as the team moves forward. 
  • Rosenthal expects the Nats to get better as the season progresses. They'll be adding Stephen Strasburg, Drew Storen, Chien-Ming Wang, Ross Detwiler, and Jordan Zimmermann to their pitching staff at various points this year.

Odds & Ends: Embree, Rizzo, Votto, Rollins, Huffman

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Links for Thursday…

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