Odds and Ends: Kelly Johnson, Nathan, Crede
Time for some early Monday odds and ends.
- Remember how White Sox GM Ron Schueler embarrassed Cubs GM Ed Lynch in 1998 by acquiring Jon Garland for Matt Karchner? Rany Jazayerli sees a parallel to that heist with the Royals’ acquisition of Daniel Cortes as part of the July ’06 Mike MacDougal trade.
- Mike Berardino’s blog continues to entertain; this time with a Dan Miceli story. Ah, knife fights with siblings. Who among us can say they haven’t had one or two?
- Buster Olney learned from Braves GM Frank Wren that Kelly Johnson has been the team’s most asked-for player in trade talks this winter.
- The look on Kyle Kendrick‘s face is priceless.
- Extension talks with the Twins and Joe Nathan have gone dormant. Nathan still thinks the gap can be bridged but wants it done before the season begins.
- Andy Marte and Shin-Soo Choo are both out of options; when Choo comes back from elbow surgery a month into the season one of them could be traded.
- Henry Schulman says the White Sox may accept prospects from the Giants for Joe Crede.
- Derek Lowe is entering his walk year, and he hasn’t had any extension talks with the Dodgers yet.
Odds and Ends: Howard, Aardsma, Odalis
Here we go, another random collection of links.
- The Red Sox inked a couple of former closers to minor league deals: Dan Kolb and Dan Miceli. No need to run out and pick them up for your fantasy team. I think Papelbon is secure.
- Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox are hunting for a lefty bench bat. Tony Clark emailed him to say he’d love a return to Boston, but Cafardo says he’s not on the top of the list. Clark hit .207/.265/.291 for the ’02 Sox.
- A few comments from Pat Gillick on the Ryan Howard situation. He says the Phillies are "open to anything." Gillick also claimed arbitration hearings really aren’t all that contentious. I guess that could be true, I’ve never been in the room for one.
- The official acquisition of Octavio Dotel meant the White Sox DFA’d David Aardsma. Aardsma, 26, has whiffed about a batter per inning over his last two seasons. He has to have a little bit of trade value.
- Impacto Deportivo says the Mets will meet with Odalis Perez. Two left-handed O. Perez’s might confuse opponents, giving the Mets an advantage. Really though it’s a good idea for Omar to stockpile some arms even if Odalis doesn’t have much left. One thing’s for sure, he won’t be earning $7.75MM again. (Hat tip to MetsBlog).
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