Gammons’ Latest: Martin, Dunn, Quentin
Here’s the latest blog post from ESPN’s Peter Gammons…
- Takashi Saito is mentioned as a free agent this winter, but I believe it’s a situation where he can only re-sign, return to Japan, or retire.
- Gammons heard talk that Russell Martin could be switched permanently to third base. In that scenario, the Dodgers would sign a pitching-oriented catcher such as Jason Varitek. Would that be a good move?
- Adam Dunn knows it’s cliche, but he intends to prioritize winning over money when he hits free agency.
- The D’Backs were asking a lot for Carlos Quentin last winter, with the White Sox, Red Sox, and Indians interested. Josh Byrnes was not able to get Michael Bowden, Jed Lowrie, or Cliff Lee. Arizona ended up getting Chris Carter from Chicago and flipping him to Oakland in the Dan Haren deal. Carter mashed 39 home runs in A ball this year. You can’t say the Diamondbacks gave Quentin away for nothing, since they acquired a crucial component for the Haren trade.
- A year ago, Yankees GM Brian Cashman asked Joe Torre and his coaches their opinion on a Robinson Cano for Orlando Hudson swap. Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa were heavily in favor of keeping Cano.
Odds and Ends: Indians, Livan, Braves, Friedman
Let’s round up today’s random links.
- The Pirates received catcher Robinzon Diaz from the Blue Jays in the Jose Bautista deal. Not too shabby, he should develop into a credible cheap backup.
- Yahoo’s Gordon Edes sees Manny Ramirez playing for the Mets in ’09.
- The point continues to be hammered home – the Indians intend to acquire a proven closer this winter. Brian Fuentes seems a reasonable target.
- RotoAuthority takes a closer look at Cliff Lee.
- Rockies manager Clint Hurdle wants to see if Livan Hernandez fits into their plans for 2009. Hernandez has allowed a remarkable 224 hits in 152 innings – a rate that will rank second in baseball history if he can reach the 162 innings needed to qualify. Even Jose Lima can’t make that claim.
- J.C. Bradbury notes that the Braves’ attempts to extend star players acquired via trade have been largely unsuccessful.
- Outs Per Swing chats with Rays exec Andrew Friedman.
- Danny Knobler surveyed scouts about Francisco Rodriguez‘s stuff.
Should Rockies Deal Holliday?
The Denver Post has split opinions on whether or not the Rockies should deal Matt Holliday this season. Columnist Troy E. Renck says the Rockies have been bad "from top to bottom." He cites the rotation, situational hitting, leaky bullpen, and dealing with pressure as problem spots and that they would need to go "70-36 in their final 106 games" to be in contention.
As MLBTR has covered here, Woody Paige reports that the Rockies can’t tie up $40MM in three position players and that Scott Boras won’t accept a hometown discount. Paige proposes:
Holliday would be a significant addition for Cleveland, and the Rockies also could send best friend Garrett Atkins or Brad Hawpe… [for] starting pitcher Cliff Lee (8-1, 1.88 ERA and four superb pitches), a middle reliever and an outfield prospect. The Rox, depending on the second player in the deal, play Ian Stewart at third or in left, and Ryan Spilborghs becomes a full-time starting outfielder who could be the next Holliday.
Alternatively, Mark Kiszla believes trading him would not bring enough back to justify not re-signing him and that trading him would send the wrong message to players and fans. Instead, they should actively work to re-sign the slugger through negotiations. Kiszla’s argument:
"When the Texas Rangers decided it could not pay to keep powerful young first baseman Mark Teixeira a year ago, the offer the Rangers finally accepted from Atlanta was for a rookie catcher and four minor-league prospects."
Interestingly, Jon Heyman thinks the Rockies won’t be able to get as good a deal as the Rangers got for Teixeira, a deal that’s not good enough for Mark Kiszla.
By Nat Boyle
Odds and Ends: Bay, Roberts, Cliff Lee
And here we have some random links I’ve collected over the past day or so.
- The Bucs will try to fill their open 40-man spots through low profile moves, not unlike the Jason Michaels one. They won’t move Jason Bay or Xavier Nady until they’re truly out of it. 4.5 games out of the wild card, they still have a prayer here on May 9th.
- Keith Law’s top 60 prospects list for the June draft has been published. Shortstop Tim Beckham heads the list.
- Gordon Wittenmyer looks back on the Cubs players rumored to be traded for Brian Roberts.
- Juan Uribe, partially on the strength of a great takeout slide, still has life with the White Sox.
- Nick Piecoro reminds us that the D’Backs were close to acquiring Cliff Lee in a deal for Carlos Quentin this winter. That would just be unfair, Lee as a part of that rotation. Ken Davidoff notes that the Mets discussed Lee as well.
- So…did the Yankees really have a shot at Micah Owings in the Randy Johnson deal?
Ocker On Blake, Marte, Dellucci, Borowski And Lee
Sheldon Ocker of the Akron Beacon Journal does some speculating on the Indians’ third base, left field, and closer situations.
- Casey Blake’s contract expires at the end of the season, and at age 35, Ocker doesn’t believe that Indians’ GM Mark Shapiro will re-up for him. Ocker points to two reasons why Andy Marte probably won’t work out as the in-house solution to Blake’s potential absence: he could be lost on waivers if he doesn’t make the team as a utility man coming out of Spring Training, and he shows no sign of figuring things out and becoming an impact player. Check out his Dominican Winter League performance if you need further proof that the 24 year-old Marte is regressing: .198/.213/.260 with seven errors. Small sample size? Yes, but wowza!
- Who from the available 2009 free agent list could be had to man third base? Could Asdrubal Cabrera be shifted to shortstop, and Jhonny Peralta moved to third? If so, who could move in to play second in place of Cabrera?
- Ocker also speculates that Shapiro will allow Jason Michaels of the Michaels/David Dellucci platoon walk unless their productivity rises substantially. Michaels is slated to make $2.15MM this season, and the club has an option for $2.6MM in 2009. What about Ben Francisco? Could he be an option to take over for Michaels in the platoon?
- This could also be Joe Borowski’s last year as closer in Cleveland, Ocker says. Borowski will be 37 in 2009, and it has long been speculated that Borowski is on the cusp of losing his job. Ocker points out that it is always tough to find a closer on the free agent market, but remarks that it’s "questionable" that the role could be filled in-house. I still don’t understand the reluctance to place Rafael Betancourt in the role. Anyone?
- Finally, Ocker wonders how Cliff Lee would handle losing the number five slot in the rotation to Aaron Laffey or Jeremy Sowers. Relying on Lee’s response to last year’s demotion — which was one of surprise at a player with a multi-year contract being sent to the minors ($3.75MM this year) — Ocker says that Lee has a sense of entitlement regarding the number five slot. Ocker says that is "fine as long as he holds up his end of the bargain."
Rolen For Glaus Finalized
UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 5:44pm: And it’s official, news conference Wednesday.
UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 2:15pm: Both players passed their physicals, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This could be officially a done deal later today. By the way, the Belleville News-Democrat discusses some of the failed Rolen scenarios here (including one that involved Jhonny Peralta, Cliff Lee, and Anthony Reyes).
UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 10:57am: A small amount of money will change hands – the Jays will send $1.8MM to the Cards, pending commissioner approval. Given that Rolen has more money on his contract, it’s surprising to see the Jays sending money.
UPDATE, 1-13-08 at 12:12pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says the agreement has been reached; the deal will be done if both third basemen pass physicals on Monday. The Cardinals required that Glaus exercise his $11.25MM player option for ’09 as part of the trade – they didn’t want him to have a big ’08 and then opt for free agency. No money changed hands, which makes the deal look like a win for St. Louis.
FROM 1-12-08 at 11:00am:
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Blue Jays and Cardinals are "closing in" on a trade of Troy Glaus for Scott Rolen. Both would have to pass physicals first. Rosenthal adds that both players agreed to waive their no-trade clauses and the Cardinals might need to cough up some cash as well.
Glaus, 31, hit .262/.366/.473 in an abbreviated 2007 season. He had nerve decompression surgery for his foot in September, which will hopefully relieve his plantar fasciitis. Also that month, Sports Illustrated reported that Glaus received multiple shipments of steroids as a member of the Angels. Glaus is set to earn $12.75MM in ’08 and $11.25MM in ’09.
Rolen, who will turn 33 in April, hit .265/.331/.398 in a similarly abbreviated season. He also had September surgery, a shoulder cleaning that involved removing scar tissue. Rolen also had shoulder surgery in ’05, but did show good power for the first five months of ’06. His other wart is a strained relationship with Tony La Russa. He’ll earn $12MM in ’08, ’09, and ’10.
It’s hard to say which team won the swap, though I lean towards the Cardinals. They get a younger player with a less serious health issue and a shorter commitment. The reason I think it’s close is that Rolen is a superior defender. Can you imagine hitting a groundball to the left side when Rolen and John McDonald are both on the field?
Pirates Pulled Out Of Bay To Cleveland Deal
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has some new information for us regarding an aborted Jason Bay deal. Kovacevic says the Bucs made a decision through the entire chain of command that Franklin Gutierrez, Kelly Shoppach, Cliff Lee, and a minor league pitcher wasn’t enough for Bay and Ronny Paulino.
This situation has been confusing to follow from the start, with plenty of conflicting information floating about. For instance, the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes said on Wednesday that Lee and Shoppach were never involved in these talks – the Bucs wanted three to five of the Indians’ top prospects. Before that there was that whole business about whether talks had occurred at the Winter Meetings and been revived.
Indians Rumors: Haren, Blanton, Bedard, Inge
Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer gets the Indians rumor mill churning.
- As we mentioned earlier today, the Indians have spoken to the A’s about Dan Haren and Joe Blanton. They’ve also inquired on Erik Bedard. The Tribe is quietly looking to pair C.C. Sabathia with another ace. Such an acquisition would soften the blow if Sabathia leaves after the ’08 season. Hoynes says a Haren acquisition might require one player from the Indians’ 25-man roster plus at least one near MLB-ready guy.
- The Tribe had brief talks with Detroit about Brandon Inge, but they’ve moved on. Doesn’t seem to be much interest in Inge.
- Cliff Lee and Kelly Shoppach weren’t part of the Jason Bay discussions. Instead, the Pirates were looking for a slew of the Indians’ best prospects. It seems the Bay talks have since cooled.
Bay To Indians Talks Revived, Then Dead Again?
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 2:24pm: The Indians and Pirates haven’t even talked about Bay since the Meetings began.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 10:58am: Buster Olney says these talks are dead.
FROM 12-5-07 at 7:35am:
According to Dejan Kovacevic, the Indians felt pressured when they saw the division-rival Tigers trade for Miguel Cabrera. Their response was to restart their conversations with the Pirates for outfielder Jason Bay.
A five-player trade is being discussed, apparently expanding upon the rumor originally reported by ESPN’s Steve Phillips. The Bucs would send Bay and catcher Ronny Paulino for Franklin Gutierrez, Kelly Shoppach, and Cliff Lee. Looks like the Pirates are seeking MLB-ready guys, though they wanted prospects from the Rangers yesterday. Late last night it was also said that the Padres had jumped into the fray for Bay.
It’s decent value for Bay, who should really only be traded this winter if the Pirates feel his decline is for real. It’s not surprising to see the Tribe in on Bay, since the Pirates’ GM came from their organization.
Cardinals Rumors: Rolen, Fogg, Lee, Millwood
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 1:55pm: Heyman says the impasse between the Cards and Brewers in the Rolen talks was the second player coming over with Chris Capuano. He thinks the two teams will revisit these discussions in the future.
FROM 12-5-07 at 7:29am:
As usual, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has all the insight into the Cardinals’ situation.
- It doesn’t look like Scott Rolen is going anywhere before the Meetings end, and GM John Mozeliak may have to start the season with him. The talks with the Brewers were disheartening, apparently. The Cards don’t think there should be a discount. There is a glimmer of hope in that Mozeliak may talk again with the Dodgers about Rolen today.
- On the starting pitching front, the Cardinals are being realistic. That means they’re looking into signing Josh Fogg. Fogg will probably get a three-year, $21MM deal or so. Other starters on the radar include Cliff Lee and a new name, Kevin Millwood. Millwood will earn $8.5MM in ’08, $11MM in ’09, and $12MM in ’10. He has a limited no-trade clause, and the club may be able to void the deal after ’09 if he misses certain innings targets.
- Seems odd that the Cards are pursuing guys like the above but are willing to deal Anthony Reyes. As we learned yesterday, the Indians and Padres like the young hurler. The Phillies have coveted him for a while as well.