Odds and Ends: Pokey, Lowe, Boss
Before you fire up the grill, check out these links.
- Dayn Perry has an enjoyable series at Baseball Prospectus called Mock Blockbuster. He proposes trades that would benefit both teams. His latest: Greg Maddux and Brian Giles for Jordan Schafer.
- Rays Index wonders whether Eric Hinske or Gabe Gross could be expendable once Willy Aybar returns.
- Joe Capozzi remembers Mike Piazza’s five game stint as a Marlin.
- Pokey Reese sighting!
- Ned Colletti told struggling free-agent-to-be Derek Lowe the Dodgers aren’t slamming the door on him coming back.
- The Red Sox signed an Australian teen named Boss Moanaroa.
- Athletics Nation chats with Billy Beane.
- Jerry Reinsdorf hasn’t ruled out re-signing Joe Crede after the season.
- R.I.P. Geremi Gonzalez. I remember him as a bright spot on the ’97 Cubs. I mailed him a baseball card for an autograph, and it came back signed.
Maddux-Braves Speculation
It’s pure speculation at this point, but MLB.com Braves beat writer Mark Bowman believes the Braves could bring Greg Maddux back for another tour. Braves fans seem to like the idea, based on chat questions I received yesterday.
The Braves’ rotation of Tim Hudson, Jair Jurrjens, Tom Glavine, Jo-Jo Reyes, and Chuck James/Jeff Bennett could seemingly use an innings eater. Maddux is usually good for six decent innings, and he’s healthy at 42. He makes $10MM this year and has no-trade protection. The Padres probably wouldn’t demand any of the Braves’ top five prospects. A Maddux-Smoltz-Glavine reunion seems entirely possible to me.
Odds & Ends: Padres, Maddux, Anthony Reyes
A few Odds & Ends with a San Diego focus:
- Tom Krasovic of the Union Tribune notes that the Padres are close to completing a trade for a reliever with "good stuff" according to Kevin Towers. It does not say who it is, but it should be someone better than LHPs Joe Thatcher, who would be sent down, and Glendon Rusch, who was just outrighted yesterday. Rusch has 3 days to accept his assignment. He most likely will as he signed a minor league deal after missing all of ’07. Stay tuned to see who the Padres acquire. Any guesses?
- "If [Anthony] Reyes enjoys success as a major-league pitcher, it will likely occur elsewhere," writes Joe Stauss of the St. Louis Dispatch. This is old news – two years old actually, if you go back to a March ’06 MLBTR post. We’re just waiting for Cards GM John Mozeliak to lower his price…
- Tim Sullivan brings us a quote from Jake Peavy, "He can help somebody. It sucks that this is probably the last year of his career and he’s got to sit here and be a part of this and have (this be) the last thing he remembers in baseball — if this thing doesn’t turn." Sullivan seems to think he could net a couple prospects in a trade, which seems reasonable. Maddux can certainly reel in some ticket sales, if nothing else – I would love to watch the Professor cap off his legend with my team.
By Nat Boyle
Odds and Ends: Darvish, Maddux
Let’s kick off the day with some random links.
- Baseball America’s Jim Callis profiles young phenom Yu Darvish, currently pitching in Japan. If he were MLB-bound, he’d be the third-best prospect in the game.
- DRays Bay would like to see Edwin Jackson traded rather than Jason Hammel, if there’s a roster squeeze.
- Greg Maddux has told some teammates that this is his last season. That nugget is only a small part of Tim Keown’s fantastic article about the legendary Professor.
Padres Sign Greg Maddux
As expected, the Padres inked third starter Greg Maddux to a fair one-year, $10MM deal. Who says all Scott Boras clients are money-greedy?
The Padres still have more starting pitching on the agenda. They’ve been linked to other ex-Cubs in Matt Clement and Mark Prior. Jayson Stark said recently that the vibe was that Prior would be non-tendered. Josh Towers also may be on the radar.
Failing that, the Padres could always sign Freddy Garcia, as suggested in my 2008 Top 50 Free Agents List.
Padres Rumors: Maddux, Cabrera, Barrett, Bradley
As usual, Tom Krasovic has the scoop with the Padres.
- The Padres expect Greg Maddux back, at a salary near the $10MM he earned in ’07. One way it could happen – Mad Dog declines his $8.75MM player option and the Padres exercise their $11MM club option. Otherwise they’ll just tear it up and figure something out.
- The Padres will pass on available third basemen Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Cabrera. It sounds like a Padres team source is indicating the Marlins plan to shop Cabrera aggressively. As if this offseason wasn’t going to be crazy enough, here’s another marquee player on the market. The Padres have some depth at third base, so they’ll sit out.
- Apparently the Elias rankings have leaked out somewhere, though I haven’t seen the list yet. Michael Barrett and Milton Bradley both earned Type A designation, though it won’t matter if the Padres don’t offer arbitration to either. With either player there’s a decent chance he would accept the offer. Barrett maybe not, as he might be able to find a two-year deal elsewhere. Still, it’d be risky. Unfortunately Mike Cameron and Doug Brocail got the Type B designation (not that that makes sense). Cameron will probably get offered arbitration; it would’ve been nice to get the Braves’ 18th overall pick.
Early Evening Rumors
Rosenthal has dollar amounts for the Greg Maddux deal: the Padres will pay him $10M in 2007, with a player option for 2008. The option starts at $6M, but if Maddux reaches various plateaus, the option could increase in value to another $10M.
The Arlington Daily-Herald speculates that a Kevin Mench for Jon Lieber deal could be evened out by the Brewers sending along Jose Capellan. Capellan hasn’t lived up to his potential yet, but he’s still young enough that he could develop into a top-tier setup man. I’d be very surprised (not to mention disappointed) if Doug Melvin made that deal without getting something else of value in return.
According to Rotoworld, the Mets have offered Julio Lugo $36 million over four years, but Steve Phillips believes the Red Sox will sign him. Theo Epstein was quoted earlier today saying that Dustin Pedroia could be his opening day shortstop, but it’s hard to believe the Red Sox won’t find some way to upgrade at least one of their middle infield spots.
By Jeff Sackmann, Brew Crew Ball
Pettitte back to New York?
The Yankees may have offered Andy Pettitte $15 million for one year. There’s also a deal on the table from Houston, and he could decide within the week. If Pettitte really is mulling retirement, this may be more appealing then a multi-year deal for less money. Personally, I hope Pettitte signs a multi-year deal somewhere; the guy’s only going to be 35 next year, and he’s already started in on the Roger-esque will-I-or-won’t-I business. C’mon Andy, you want to pitch!
In other news, the Greg Maddux contract with the Padres is still almost done, but 2008 may be a player option (perhaps vesting) instead of the club option that Rosenthal reported earlier.
By Jeff Sackmann, Brew Crew Ball
Maddux inching toward San Diego
Rosenthal reports that the Padres and Greg Maddux are about to finalize a one-year deal with a club option for 2008. Just how that ’08 option works (could it be guaranteed with some number of IP in ’07?) seems to be the holdup. There’s no big surprise here that Mad Dog will end up in San Diego, but I’m very curious to see the dollar amount–on a one-year deal, Maddux could end up getting eight figures.
By Jeff Sackmann, Brew Crew Ball
Maddux To Padres Not Finalized
Ken Rosenthal reports that Scott Boras still has Greg Maddux on the market at this point. The hangup is a second guaranteed year. Why, I don’t know. Mad Dog will be fine in 2008, I promise.
Rosenthal mentions the Dodgers and Astros as possible players. A decision should come down later today.