Cafardo On Gonzalez, Oswalt, Crawford, Granderson
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is now on Twitter, under the handle @nickcafardo, so be sure to follow him. In the meantime, Cafardo also has a new column up for the Globe, in which he addresses the possibility of an Adrian Gonzalez trade and touches on a few other hot stove topics. Let's check out the highlights….
- Cafardo isn't bullish on the Red Sox' chances of acquiring Gonzalez, noting that a trade would deplete Boston's farm system. Plus, they should face stiff competition from teams like the Mariners and Orioles.
- The consensus among a few baseball people who spoke to Cafardo is that Padres GM Jed Hoyer will field trade offers for Gonzalez but won't necessarily deal the slugger. The situation could be similar to the Jays shopping Roy Halladay at last year's deadline, when Toronto wasn't sufficiently blown away by any offer.
- The Padres are more likely to move Chris Young and Heath Bell.
- Assuming the Sox don't land Gonzalez, Cafardo wonders if Carlos Pena might be an offseason target for Theo Epstein.
- Roy Oswalt could be an attractive trade chip for the Astros, given the lack of top starting pitchers that will be available during the season. Cafardo thinks Houston will move their ace if they have to, adding that "it looks like they may have to."
- The Brewers' extension of Yovani Gallardo is a good sign that they'll be aggressive in attempting to lock up Prince Fielder, though it will likely take a Mark Teixeira-esque contract to get it done.
- Cafardo's "dark horse candidate" in this winter's Carl Crawford sweepstakes? The Angels.
- The Red Sox looked into acquiring Curtis Granderson to replace Jason Bay, but were outbid by the Yankees.
Yanks Could Be Shopping For Outfielder Soon
Some in the industry are already wondering if the Yankees could be in the market for outfield help soon, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Both Randy Winn and Marcus Thames have struggled this spring, though Thames officially made the club's Opening Day roster today. The club may find themselves uneasy with the two veterans as starting left fielder Brett Gardner is not yet an established major league hitter. They would be especially thin in the outfield if Curtis Granderson or Nick Swisher are bitten by the injury bug.
Rosenthal writes that the Yankees figure to be more patient with Winn as he is more than four years removed from playing in the AL.
The Yankees investment in Winn and Thames amounts to just $2MM combined. Rosenthal writes that if one or both struggle, and Gardner also stumbles out of the gate, then the team could be seeking an outfielder quickly.
Odds & Ends: Ortiz, Brewers, Salcedo, Miller
Links for Saturday…
- David Ortiz said he isn't letting his contract situation get to him, writes ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes. Big Papi will earn $12.5MM this year, and the Red Sox hold an option at the same salary for 2011 with no buyout. Tough to see them picking that one up.
- An interesting point raised by MLB.com's Adam McCalvy: The Brewers essentially traded Hernan Iribarren to the Rangers for Joe Inglett. Milwaukee picked up Inglett in January after he was waived by Texas. Mat Gamel and Inglett are now in the mix for the Brewers' final bench spot.
- Edward Salcedo was officially introduced to Braves reporters this morning, writes Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The 18-year-old Dominican shortstop said that Atlanta was the only organization to show significant interest in him over the past two years.
- Jim Edmonds may be playing his way into a role with the Brewers, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
- Both the Diamondbacks and Mariners had interest in Dana Eveland before he was acquired by the Blue Jays, tweets MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com spoke to a scout who wouldn't be surprised if the Marlins traded lefty Andrew Miller (link goes to Twitter).
- David Murphy is just biding his time on Texas' bench, writes Anthony Andro of The Star-Telegram. Murphy is a .278/.336/.465 career hitter, but he might get too expensive for a bench job as he enters his first arbitration year after 2010.
- Ben Shpigel of The New York Times reports that Yankees' hitting coach Kevin Long was analyzing videotape of Curtis Granderson to help him improve against lefthanders way back in November, a month before the team traded for him.
Odds & Ends: Clark, Twins, Granderson, Sizemore
Some links for Wednesday…
- Former big leaguer Tony Clark has been named the MLBPA's director of player relations, reports MLB.com's Bailey Stephens. Clark hasn't played since being released by the Diamondbacks last July, and his duties with the union are "expected to play a large part in future collective bargaining discussions."
- FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says one of the Marlins' many non-roster relievers could become a low-priced option for the Twins if Joe Nathan ends up needing surgery. That group includes Jose Veras, Mike MacDougal, Derrick Turnbow, and Seth McClung.
- In an interview with John Lowe of The Detroit Free Press, Curtis Granderson said he never wondered why the Tigers traded him only to sign Johnny Damon less than three months later.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com writes that even though the Indians are in full rebuilding mode, the front office is adamant Grady Sizemore isn't going anywhere. Sizemore is under contract for the next two years, and Cleveland holds a $9MM option for 2012.
- Baseball America's Ben Badler goes back five years to look at how successful each team has been at developing players from outside the United States.
- In response to Milton Bradley's interview with ESPN's Colleen Dominguez about his time in Chicago, GM Jim Hendry and former teammates basically said that Bradley had to look in the mirror, according to The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan and ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine.
Discussion: Best Move Of The Offseason
With Felipe Lopez finally catching on with the Cardinals, essentially every big name free agent is off the market (no disrespect to Jermaine Dye and Jarrod Washburn). That allows us to sit back and reflect on all of the offseason's moves, and try to figure out which one was the very best.
Here are some candidates…
- Mets sign Jason Bay to a four-year, $66MM contract.
- Yankees acquire Curtis Granderson for three prospects.
- Phillies acquire Roy Halladay for three prospects.
- Red Sox sign John Lackey to a five-year, $82.5MM contract.
- Mariners acquire Cliff Lee for three prospects.
- Rays acquire Rafael Soriano for Jesse Chavez.
There's certainly no shortage of candidates, but one has to be the best of the best, right? What do you think it is?
Heyman On Yankees, Park, Lincecum
Jon Heyman of SI.com expects the Yankees to reach resolution with Joe Girardi, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter without much fanfare after the season. Heyman imagines a three or four year deal for Jeter at $20-25MM per season. Here are the rest of his rumors:
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman says he's confident in Curtis Granderson's defense. "We still have him as a plus defender," Cashman said.
- The Yankees could add Chan Ho Park, who the Cubs and Rays are eyeing, too.
- If the Rays add Park, they would likely be done and Russell Branyan could be out of luck. A Rays person tells Heyman the club has enough money for one signing only.
- The Giants never offered Tim Lincecum anything more than a three-year deal. Heyman hears that the club offered Lincecum $36MM, not $37MM, as we heard earlier.
Odds & Ends: Cubs, Lowell, Mauer, Adrian
Links for Wednesday…
- I recently did an Orioles-centric phone interview with Tom Sedlacek of the Bowie Baysox website.
- The Cubs signed 18-year-old Korean righty Kim Jin-yeong for $1.2MM, reports Matt DeWoskin of True Stories Of Korean Baseball. I have heard that this is not official yet, however.
- Ted Lilly would like to remain with the Cubs beyond 2010, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, but the lefty doesn't want to be a distraction.
- WEEI's Rob Bradford chatted with Mike Lowell about his near-trade to the Rangers and his future with the Red Sox.
- Bob Nightengale of USA Today examines the Joe Mauer extension situation, drawing a parallel to Cal Ripken in 1992.
- This time, Padres CEO Jeff Moorad talked about hope and optimism regarding an extension for Adrian Gonzalez (Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune reporting).
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that the Nationals, Reds, and Indians made big league offers to Chien-Ming Wang, while the Dodgers and Rays showed interest but did not make offers.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders if the Tigers traded Curtis Granderson because they soured on him as a player.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball has the numbers on the five remaining arbitration cases.
Odds & Ends: Maya, Sheffield, Rays, Yankees
Monday night linkage..
- Jon Heyman of SI writes that the Dodgers and Rockies have watched Eric Gagne throw and both teams have shown the willingness to take a chance. A few weeks ago we learned that Colorado was thinking about extending a non-roster invite to the 34-year-old.
- The Red Sox might not be close to signing Cuban pitcher Yuniesky Maya, a source familiar with the negotiations tells Rob Bradford of WEEI. There's a good chance that Maya will instead choose a team that offers a better opportunity to immediately enter its starting rotation.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson writes that Gary Sheffield would not be a good fit for the Nationals as he wants to play every day. Ladson spoke to a major league source who believes that Sheffield will not accept a role as a backup.
- Jason Beck of MLB.com fielded a question from a reader, asking why the Tigers dealt Curtis Granderson, only to pursue Johnny Damon instead. Beck says that the Granderson trade brought Detroit financial flexibility and prospects. He also credits agent Scott Boras for helping to create an opportunity for Damon.
- Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg told 620-AM WDAE that the club's payroll will drop below $60MM in 2011, despite having a payroll north of $70MM this season. Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times points out that while the club didn't plan to make any big additions this year, they found room for Rafael Soriano after dealing Scott Kazmir and Akinori Iwamura.
- If Mike Jacobs doesn't make the Mets major league roster, Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News doesn't expect him to play for the club's Triple-A affiliate. Even though his minor league deal doesn't have an out-clause, Rubin is "virtually positive" that the Mets would accommodate him with a trade or release.
- In his latest mailbag, MLB.com's Bryan Hoch supports Yankees GM Brian Cashman's decision to wait to negotiate with upcoming free agents Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Hoch believes that both players should be confident that they'll both be taken care of eventually.
Davidoff On Damon, Draft Picks, Pavano, O’s
Newsday's Ken Davidoff has his Baseball Insider column up (subscription required); let's take a look at the highlights:
- The Yankees would love to have Johnny Damon back. The catch there is that they'd love to have him back for $2MM, which Davidoff doesn't see happening. I agree Damon doesn't seem likely to take that drastic of a pay cut, but his options are dwindling.
- Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says the club acquired Curtis Granderson to be their center fielder, though some scouts have said Granderson struggles in center and is better suited for left field. The Yankees could use Brett Gardner in center, who doesn't profile as much of a corner outfielder offensively anyway.
- MLB and the MLBPA are actively working to alter draft pick compensation for relievers. Davidoff writes that the Elias Ranking system fails Type-A setup men in particular. Most teams are unwilling to sacrifice a draft pick for an eighth inning role, leaving Type-A setup men with little choice but to accept arbitration. The current goal is for the rankings to favor saves more and wins less.
- Tom O'Connell, the agent for Carl Pavano, did well to accept arbitration from the Twins and guarantee Pavano $7MM. As Davidoff points out, O'Connell guaranteed his client more money than a free agent such as Doug Davis, who signed for one year and $5.25MM with Milwaukee.
- In this separate piece, Davidoff praises the work the Orioles have done this offseason, bringing in Kevin Millwood, Mike Gonzalez, Garrett Atkins, and most recently, Miguel Tejada.
Odds & Ends: Braves, Yankees, Encarnacion
A few Saturday night links to peruse….
- The Braves' outfield trio pales in comparison to those of their division rivals, according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). O'Brien says the team is still trying to add another outfield bat.
- LoHud.com's Chad Jennings wonders if the Yankees' lineup would seem better if Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner swapped positions, since Granderson has the power of a corner outfielder and Gardner has the speed of a center fielder. Jennings isn't suggesting they should swap, but calling attention to traditional expectations for offensive production at certain positions.
- MLB.com has posted a series of articles highlighting burning questions that each team must answer as they head into the 2010 season.
- Shi Davidi of the Canadian Press tweets an encouraging update on Edwin Encarnacion, following a fireworks accident. Paul Kinzer, Encarnacion's agent, says the third baseman is "doing really great" after an initial scare.