Rangers Expected To Be Sellers
At 7-15, the Rangers have the worst record in the American League. Team president Nolan Ryan doesn’t seem ready for a fire sale yet, but you have to figure the Rangers will be clear sellers come June.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post recently suggested Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Hank Blalock, Frank Catalanotto, and Milton Bradley as trade candidates. As Sherman says, Millwood could be a hot commodity. He looks healthy and would certainly help a contender. Gerald Laird, Marlon Byrd, Jamey Wright, and Joaquin Benoit could also be dealt.
The Rangers already have the fourth-best farm system in baseball according to Baseball America; Jon Daniels’ team could climb even higher with another bountiful July.
Odds and Ends: Braun, Cueto, Pelfrey
An assortment of links…
- Ryan Braun‘s agent is in town to talk about extension scenarios with the Brewers. Perhaps the Brewers could get him for slightly more than the $30MM Troy Tulowitzki received. As Tom Haudricourt writes, a Prince Fielder extension seems less likely.
- The Blue Jays once offered Frank Catalanotto for Johnny Cueto, when Wayne Krivsky was new on the job. Nice try, J.P.
- Buster Olney believes tonight’s start by Mike Pelfrey might determine the likelihood of the Mets pursuing outside pitching help. Claudio Vargas remains unsigned.
Lee, Williams, Catalanotto, Barajas, and Roberts
Tim sends his best from Cancun and wishes everyone was with him.
Not!
They are still trying to find their honeymoon hotel so he’s not quite sure when he’ll be back. And, no, he didn’t send any Cancun beach shots. Dang..
Speaking about vacations, how about the Astros signing Lee at $100m/6? Wow. My take is this – the power starved Astros obviously felt they were one player away and Lee happened to be available. He’ll probably hit 40 home runs despite all the talk about his lack of power after April last year. Don’t forget Minute Maid is full of hot air.
The Astros also jumped on Woody Williams at $12.5/2. I suppose this is a message to Astros fans that Pupura doesn’t expect the Rocket to resign. Just a guess. At 40-years old, Williams is a huge risk of course.
The Rangers signed Frank Catalanotto to a $13.5m/3 year deal today too. Dan Szymborwski at the Baseball Think Factory believes it is a solid deal for the Rangers, and I agree.
MLBTR’s reader eeleye99 was kind enough to offer up that the Blue Jays are reportedly ready to sign Rod Barajas as their every day receiver around $6m/2. Nice catch eeleye99 – thanks.
Another MLBTR reader – Rayman, found that Dave Roberts is reportedly picking the Giants over the Brewers. Kudo’s for the find Rayman.
At The Plate has started compiling all the teams top 10 prospects by publication. They have done a great job of this for several years now. You might want to bookmark the site.
Bucco Blog has indicated that the most sought out pitcher on the Pirates staff this winter has been southpaw Tom Gorzelanny. There have been rumors that the Braves wanted Gorzelanny and Maholm for LaRoche, and today Tracy Ringolsby, the award winning columnist of the Rocky Mountain News, has indicated that a Rockies Brad Hawpe trade has been discussed with the Pirates who will only give up Maholm. I assume they also want Gorzelanny in any package. I love Tracy’s writing – the guy is flat out kewl.
Interestingly, Ringolsby is also reporting in that article that agents are complaining that the Rockies didn’t offer enough to Francis in his latest $13.5/4 year deal. I suppose the agents had to find a way to say the "C" word this year, despite the soaring value of contracts so far.
Have you ever read the The Carbolic Smoke Ball blog? OMG – it is Hilllll ar ious.
By Jake at Bucco Blog
Frank Catalanotto signs with Rangers
Three years for $13 million. Not crazy in this market, not crazy at all. The key to Catalanotto is that he is just about worthless versus lefties. He managed a great .300/.376/.439 in 432 ABs last year for Toronto, but he was savagely platooned: only 38 of those ABs were against lefties. That’s smart of John Gibbons: only about 10% of Cat’s ABs in the last six years have been against southpaws, and he’s scratched out a .243/.327/.346 line vs. LHP in that time.
With those splits, Catalanotto would be a nice platoon partner for Nelson Cruz, but that still leaves the Rangers two outfielders short. Brian Anderson would be a nice fit in center, but that still leaves the outfield rather thin; a recovered Brad Wilkerson, Victor Diaz, and Freddy Guzman are other in-house options. Only Wilkerson even has a shot at providing league-average offense, and that assume his skills come back with his health. Then again, if any team can manage a weak offensive outfield, it’s the one with Mark Teixiera, Hank Blalock, and Michael Young in the infield.
By Jeff Sackmann
Bucs Considering Catalanotto For 2B?
Word via Bucco Blog is that Dave Littlefield is considering a creative option for second base: Frank Catalanotto. Catalanotto hasn’t played the position since 2002, but it could be a nice fit for a team looking for some left-handed sock.
Catalanotto will be 33 next season. He may have a bit of a platoon split, historically hitting righties much better than lefties.
If Catalanotto truly can play a solid second base, it might open up some opportunities with teams like the Mets or Cardinals.