Odds and Ends: Michaels, Greene, Prior
Links for Saturday…
- Jason Michaels is confused by the lack of interest from the Pirates, who have said they want him back.
- Khalil Greene says he’s frustrated to have let the Padres down and Tim Sullivan writes that it wasn’t for lack of intensity. The Padres still won’t be dropping their grievance against Greene.
- Buster Olney expects Mark Prior to sign a minor-league deal with the Padres.
- Jason Beck writes that the Tigers could afford to trade either Jeff Larish or Matt Joyce in a deal for Jack Wilson. Detroit has other weaknesses to address though, so Beck thinks they could hold onto their trade chips and sign a player like Adam Everett.
- Arbitration could work for both Jason Varitek and the Red Sox, suggests Sean McAdam.
- Tony Massarotti has five reasons to keep Justin Masterson in the bullpen.
- The Angels signed South Korean righty Pil Joon Jang to a minor league contract.
- Jay Jaffe plays Yankees GM at Baseball Prospectus.
- MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo ranks the best Rule 5 Draft selections since 1990.
- Tom Verducci looks back at the career Greg Maddux had.
Greg Maddux To Announce Retirement
The AP passes along a message from Scott Boras’ office: Greg Maddux will announce his retirement Monday at the Winter Meetings. 5008.1 innings, 3.16 ERA, 355 wins.
Dodgers Offer Arb Only To Manny, Lowe, Blake
The Dodgers’ numerous arb decisions are in, courtesy of MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick. Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe, and Casey Blake get offers. Joe Beimel, Brad Penny, Jeff Kent, and Greg Maddux (all Type Bs) don’t. The only real surprise here is Beimel, who earned less than $2MM this year and seemed worth the risk.
Odds And Ends: Tazawa, Hoffman, Halladay
Links for Saturday…
- Junichi Tazawa is expected to announce early next week that he will sign with the Red Sox. He turned down offers from the Rangers, Mariners and Braves.
- The Padres recently offered to talk with Trevor Hoffman, but he hasn’t responded. Tom Krasovic also has a Sandy Alderson quote that the Padres are "highly unlikely" to offer Hoffman arbitration.
- Robert MacLeod talked to Blue Jays insiders who believe trading ace Roy Halladay would send "the wrong signal" to fans since the Jays want to compete in 2009.
- Rob Neyer wonders how C.C. Sabathia‘s weight will affect his performance going forward.
- Joba Chamberlain tops Peter Abraham’s list of the 20 most important people to the Yankees organization.
- Peter Gammons asks five post-Thanksgiving questions about free agents and trades. Also within that blog post, Gammons mentions that Kevin Towers went to Sunday’s Chargers game with Brad Ausmus and hopes to sign him.
- Larry LaRue writes that the Mariners could use a couple good outfielders to go along with Ichiro.
- Bob Verdi expects a quiet retirement accouncement from Greg Maddux.
Odds and Ends: Maddux, Krivsky, Maroth
Links for Wednesday…
- Greg Maddux says he hasn’t officially decided about retirement yet, but he’ll "try to figure it out in the next couple of days."
- David Newhan is now a free agent.
- Marc Hulet looks at interesting names for the Rule 5 draft over at Baseball Analysts.
- Roch Kubatko reports that the Orioles hired former Reds GM Wayne Krivsky as a special assistant to Andy MacPhail.
- Lefty Mike Maroth is feeling good following May shoulder surgery and intends to pitch in 2009.
- South Side Sox believes the White Sox are trimming payroll.
- Minor league free agent shortstop Luis Hernandez signed with the Royals.
- SoxProspects.com says the Red Sox inked Billy Traber, Marcus McBeth, and Gil Velazquez to minor league deals.
- The Dodgers re-signed Luis Maza to a minor league contract. Also at that link, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt hinted that the team may be unwilling to increase its two-year, $45MM offer to Manny Ramirez.
Dodgers Keep Door Open For Maddux
MLB.com’s Barry Bloom talked to Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, who said the team would welcome Greg Maddux back in 2009 if he decides not to retire. Scott Boras seems pretty sure Maddux will hang ’em up, but the decision is not official.
In mid-October, it was revealed that the Padres talked to Maddux about serving as a player/coach next year.
Maddux Likely To Retire
Joel Sherman of the New York Post spoke to Scott Boras, who says it is doubtful that Greg Maddux will play again. He’s almost certain to retire, but the decision is not yet official. If 2008 was his final season, it was a pretty solid effort (4.22 ERA in 194 innings).
Cafardo’s Latest: Lowe, Maddux, Peavy
Here’s a look at the latest column from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- Interestingly, the Red Sox are reportedly Derek Lowe‘s preferred destination. It’s unknown whether the Sox intend to add a starter this winter, but they may lose free agent Paul Byrd (and will have to decide on Tim Wakefield‘s $4MM option). Cafardo names a dozen other clubs interested in Lowe: the Yankees, Mets, Tigers, Indians, Cardinals, Cubs, Angels, Braves, Phillies, Rangers, Astros, and Blue Jays.
- Bill Mueller, 38 in March, admits he’d like to play again. Medically, it’s a long shot because he’d need to regrow cartilage in his knees.
- One of Greg Maddux‘s teammates feels he’ll retire. Maddux could return to the Padres as a player/coach (specifically, he’d prefer a bench coach gig).
- The Brewers as a sleeper for Jake Peavy? They’re not on his list, but he’s named other midwest clubs.
- Cafardo believes catchers Bengie Molina and Ramon Hernandez will be available this winter. Makes sense, given the weak free agent market at the position.
Player-Coach Role For Maddux?
Interesting note from Mel Antonen and Bob Nightengale at USA Today, found via Shysterball:
The San Diego Padres have talked to Greg Maddux about of becoming a player-coach in the organization, general manager Kevin Towers said Thursday. Yet Towers anticipates that Maddux might retire instead.
Maddux seems to already serve that type of role, making his 32 starts while tutoring young pitchers. Might as well make it official if he sticks around in 2009. The Padres might have a hard time fitting Maddux in the budget, but the Dodgers or Giants could be alternatives if the Professor wants to make a run at fifth all-time in wins.
He’ll have to get past Pud Galvin. The game hasn’t changed much since Pud’s day. Did you know he pitched 656.3 innings in 75 starts as a 26 year-old in 1883?
Maddux Trade Completed
According to MLB.com’s Corey Brock, the Dodgers’ playoff berth resulted in the Padres receiving better prospects from the August Greg Maddux trade. Brock says the Padres received southpaw Michael Watt and righty Eduardo Perez from the Dodgers. Paul DePodesta describes the prospects on his blog.