Rockies Could Trade Holliday
In Ken Rosenthal’s latest column, he sees Matt Holliday as a prime candidate to be traded this summer. Rosenthal notes that the Rockies are already ten games back and have very little chance of signing Holliday to an extension. Holliday is signed through ’09 with $13MM due next season.
Previously, Rosenthal speculated that the Rockies might be willing to go to six years and $96MM to keep last year’s NL MVP runner-up. However, all we know of Holliday’s demands are that he wants more than a four-year deal. Rosenthal sees the Indians, Cardinals, Yankees, A’s, Tigers, Blue Jays, Mariners, and Mets as potential suitors. This should provide an interesting new storyline for July.
Rosenthal thinks that the Rockies could also seek to move Brian Fuentes and Garrett Atkins. Fuentes is eligible for free agency after this season and Atkins will be in his second year of arbitration eligibility and is not eligible for free agency until after next season.
Rosenthal also suggests that the Rockies may be willing to accept low-level, high-ceiling prospects in return as they are deep in prospects at Double and Triple A.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Wells, Griffey, Olney, Tavarez, Edmonds
A lot of links today, so let’s get to what is being said about some trade and signing possibilities in the Blogosphere…
- The Darth Boss George Brigade wants Hank Steinbrenner to sign David Wells to prove that Hank is indeed his father’s son.
- River Ave. Blues says the Yankees are too smart to sign Wells and then goes on to list about 87 pitchers that should be given a shot in the Highlanders’ rotation before Wells.
- Redlegs Rant feels that Ken Griffey Jr. is behind the recent stories that speculate on him being traded.
- Mariners Central speculates on some of the names that it might take to land Ken Griffey Jr., noting that the M’s are not likely to part with either of their top two prospects, Wladimir Balentien and Jeff Clement.
- The Tribe Time Report sees plenty of holes in Buster Olney’s recent theory that Garret Atkins would be a good fit for the Indians.
- Brewers Nation agrees with Olney that the Brewers should trade Ben Sheets.
- Sox & Pinstripes doesn’t want to just give away Julian Tavarez but they also note that the bullpen needs help and Tavarez isn’t the answer.
- Batter’s Box says Brad Wilkerson should fit in well with the rest of the Jays lineup, which also lacks the ability to hit for average or power.
- One writer at Fanhouse doesn’t understand why Kevin Towers is so disappointed in the play of Jim Edmonds. They feel it was pretty obvious that the Pads were getting a player well past his prime.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Olney Speculation: Atkins A Fit For Indians?
ESPN’s Buster Olney makes a point to say that this trade idea is pure speculation rather than anything he’s heard. Still worth discussing. Here it is:
If Colorado eventually turns the page on 2008, the Indians and the Rockies could match up well in a deal built around Garrett Atkins. The Rockies have a third baseman waiting in the wings, in Ian Stewart — although he is not faring well so far — and the Indians, as they look for ways to improve their offense, are flexible at first and third base.
Back in March, Ken Rosenthal suggested that Atkins was one player the Rox may not try to sign long-term. There were no talks in the 2007-08 offseason.
Atkins, 28, is a .274/.344/.446 career hitter away from Coors. Dismissing him as an average hitter is unfair – he’s at .289/.363/.496 on the road since the start of the ’06 season. Hard to say exactly where he’d settle in as an American Leaguer, but he’d probably be above average. Atkins’ glovework does leave something to be desired though.
Atkins is under team control through the 2010 season. He could earn close to $20MM during his last two years of arbitration eligibility.
What would it take for the Indians to acquire Atkins? Adam Miller would be too much. Would Aaron Laffey and Josh Barfield be enough?
Rosenthal’s Latest: Thames, Konerko, Ellis, Atkins
Ken Rosenthal has a new column up; let’s take a look.
- Rosenthal dissects the outfield options for the Mets, many of the names we’ve been speculating. He notes that the Mets’ talks for Marcus Thames fizzled during the Winter Meetings.
- He says Paul Konerko "remains quietly available," and expresses the opinion that the Mets or Yankees could both use him. Rosenthal believes Chicago’s biggest need is starting pitching.
- Rosenthal speculates that six years at $18MM per might be the Rockies’ limit for Matt Holliday. Will the Scott Boras client demand full market value? Also, Colorado doesn’t seem to have any plans to lock up Garrett Atkins.
- Signing Mark Ellis to an extension rather than trading him is a possibility for the A’s. Three or four years at $5MM per would be the going rate.
- Though Dylan Hernandez wrote that the Dodgers "don’t appear to be interested in Brandon Inge," Rosenthal says they’re "indeed intrigued."
Atkins, Holliday Wait For Big Payday
With yesterday’s signing of Brad Hawpe the Rockies have now locked up five young players through at least 2010 over the past 14 months. Impressive. The Denver Post says Garrett Atkins would be "the next logical candidate" for a deal, but that his situation continues to be complicated by Ian Stewart, who the Rockies are attempting to move over to second to avoid a logjam.
Naturally Matt Holliday‘s name came up in light of the Hawpe signing, but owner Dick Monfort tried to keep that at bay, calling the situation "a different animal, not related to these contracts."
This spring training is Stewart’s third with the team. He started and played four innings at second today, but didn’t have anything hit his way. He’s battling Jeff Baker, Omar Quintanilla, Jayson Nix, Clint Barmes, and Marcus Giles for the starting job in what should be one of the more interesting position battles this spring. Nix may have the edge, but the team would love for Stewart to help them avoid the Atkins question altogether by making a smooth transition.
Aaron Shinsano writes for East Windup Chronicle.
Odds and Ends: Colon, Koskie, Atkins
We take a break from your regularly scheduled Erik Bedard drama to bring you some random links.
- The White Sox made an incentive-laden offer to Bartolo Colon, but Colon apparently physically disappeared at the thought of it. There’s a joke here, somewhere. Kenny Williams also almost kind of hinted at implying that he made some kind of effort to acquire Bedard.
- A brief note from the Sun-Times – outfielder Brian Anderson may be traded to an NL team (Marlins?).
- It’s possible that Corey Koskie makes another comeback attempt. He’s gone through a postconcussion syndrome nightmare.
- The Denver Post’s Troy Renck is always going over to Rockies players’ houses and chilling in their living rooms. This time, it was Garrett Atkins. Atkins says the Rox made a multiyear offer to him a year ago more similar to Jeff Francis‘ (4/13.25) than that of Aaron Cook (3/30) or Troy Tulowitzki (6/31). That offer was to cover Atkins’ three arbitration years and have a club option for his first of free agency.
- I recently did a Q&A with Science Fiction Baseball.
- Website note: I am leaning toward doing a full redesign. New logo, widen this baby, brighten her up, increase the font size, and yes, do away with the white on black type. Lots of room for improvement with this clunky old design, we all know it.
Odds and Ends: Dotel, Valverde, Wilkerson
Some Saturday odds and ends to mull over…
- The Yankees considered bringing Octavio Dotel back, but wouldn’t go two years on him.
- Richard Justice thinks Astros GM Ed Wade is making a mistake by setting a deadline and going to arbitration hearings with Jose Valverde and Mark Loretta. I doubt the Astros wanted Loretta to accept their offer of arbitration in the first place, but they took the $4-5MM gamble hoping to get a draft pick. But they actively sought out Valverde, and this might not bode well for him staying past 2009.
- Can’t promise anything, but my source is saying Brad Wilkerson is likely to become a Mariner on a one-year deal. Put this in the unconfirmed category for now.
- Did the Rangers DFA Armando Galarraga in anticipation of including him in a trade?
- Troy Tulowitzki explanation: he can opt out of his $15MM club option for 2014 if he’s traded. Tracy Ringolsby also reports that Garrett Atkins had unfruitful extension talks with the Rox last year and would still like to stay.
- "No substantive negotiations" on a multiyear deal for Ryan Zimmerman.
- Casey Blake‘s agent put in a counteroffer but hasn’t heard back from the Indians yet; the two sides are $1.5MM apart on his ’08 salary.
Holliday Discusses Future
The Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck recently visited Matt Holliday at his home and discussed all sorts of things. Holliday is signed through the 2009 season, and his future beyond that was a theme.
The Rockies were said to be considering a four-year offer that would’ve bought out two years of free agency, before signing Holliday for 2008-09. Holliday said that it wouldn’t be fair for the Rockies to expect him to take a four-year deal.
As Renck points out, there is a huge gap between the Rockies buying out two years of free agency and the nine years they gave to Todd Helton. The length of the deal is the central issue, but Holliday is willing to make concessions if the Rockies do the same. My guess is that he’d be up for a six-year extension, possibly five. Holliday added that if Garrett Atkins were traded it would obviously influence his decision on whether to stay in Colorado.
Rockies May Head To Arbitration Hearings
According to Troy E. Renck, the Rockies have only had two arbitration hearings in franchise history. I dug around and found that they beat Sun-Woo Kim over a $200K difference in ’06 and lost to Dennys Reyes over a $200K difference in 2002.
This year, the Rockies will be prepared for the possibility of multiple hearings. They’ve got to deal with Matt Holliday, Brian Fuentes, Garrett Atkins, Brad Hawpe, and Willy Taveras. Renck notes that "significant gaps exist with Atkins and Fuentes." Since we saw the Rox go to their only two hearings over $200K, we know it doesn’t take much of a disagreement sometimes. If no contracts are reached by Friday each side must submit a salary for ’08 and an arbitrator will pick one later. Teams typically like to avoid hearings partially because they can create some hard feelings.
The Rockies’ 2008 payroll should rise more than $10MM just to accomodate the five mentioned above.
Rockies Rumors: Atkins, Holliday, Giles
Let’s see what’s going on with the Rockies this morning.
The Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck writes about the Rockies’ rising payroll. They’re going to have to cough up over $10MM extra in 2008 just to retain current arbitration-eligible players like Garrett Atkins, Matt Holliday, Brian Fuentes, and Brad Hawpe. Holliday might get the biggest bump, around a $5MM increase. As far as team control, the Rox have Atkins through 2010, Holliday through 2009, Fuentes through 2008, and Hawpe through 2010. There’s no rush but many of these guys might be trade considerations down the road.
Also, Tracy Ringolsby reports that the Rockies have agreed to a nonguaranteed deal with Marcus Giles. He’s just insurance though – Jayson Nix is the favorite to play second base. Nix’s Triple A performance in ’07 was equivalent to a .252/.290/.387 line in the bigs.