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Jason Isringhausen

Odds and Ends: Pujols, Isringhausen, K-Rod

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I am going to toss up some links as I come across them, so check back on this post.

  • ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick has an excellent piece on the Pedro Alvarez situation, including quotes from Scott Boras and Max Scherzer.  The grievance will be heard tomorrow, but the entire process could take months.
  • The big news of the day is not hot stove related.  Albert Pujols is considering offseason Tommy John surgery, which would require seven to nine months of recovery time.  It could cause him to miss April of ’09.  UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal’s sources say Pujols does not intend to have the surgery this offseason.
  • In the same article, reliever Jason Isringhausen says he hopes to be ready for spring training after elbow surgery.  He spoke of getting "an incentive-based deal with someone."
  • Joel Sherman doesn’t buy into the speculation that the Mets will be aggressive in pursuing Francisco Rodriguez due to Billy Wagner’s injury.  K-Rod has had 61 save opportunities this year, 14 more than anyone else.  No other pitcher has reached 60 opps this decade.  Rodriguez may pursue a five-year, $75MM deal.
  • SI.com’s Tom Verducci looks at the dumbing down of bullpen roles.
  • Andrew Baggarly offers a possible explanation for Conor Gillaspie’s call-up: a "predraft understanding."  Gillaspie signed for slot as the 37th overall pick.  Adding him to the 40-man roster now is less than ideal.
  • RotoWorld’s Matthew Pouliot predicts destinations and contracts for free agent pitchers.  His article also includes non-tender candidates.
  • Cork Gaines gives a rundown of the Rays’ 2009 commitments.
  • This week’s chat has been moved to Wednesday at 2pm CST.

Odds And Ends: Mets, Embree, Olsen, Hoffman, Izzy, Phillies

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A few notes from around the MLBiverse…

  • Bill Madden says the Mets may be out of luck for a closer, even if Huston Street and Brian Fuentes have cleared waivers and are available. Madden says the price tags are just too high for the Mets.
  • Alan Embree hopes that not being traded is a sign the A’s are going to pick up his $3MM option for next season.
  • Scott Olsen said he prefers to be back with the Marlins in ’09 but conceded that the Marlins may prefer to move him due to his arbitration eligibility.
  • Kevin Towers would not answer questions when asked if the Padres would bring free agent-to-be, Trevor Hoffman, back in ’09. We had heard previously that Towers wants Hoffman to end his career with the Padres.
  • Jason Isringhausen’s agent said that his client’s "desire is to play [next season]," and they will wait to see if he needs surgery before deciding how to make that happen. Isringhausen is a free agent following this season.
  • Jimmy Rollins made comments to reporters that suggested free agents may avoid signing with the Phillies because of the fans.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Odds and Ends: Elias, Izzy, Silva, Colletti

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Linkage for Wednesday…

  • Eddie Bajek over at Detroit Tigers Thoughts has successfully reverse-engineered the Elias Type A/Type B formula.  Today he assigns statuses to the American League catchers.  Jason Varitek clings to Type A, while Ivan Rodriguez has slipped to Type B.  Read more about how free agent compensation works here.
  • Jason Isringhausen’s season, and maybe his career, is over due to a torn flexor tendon in his elbow.
  • J.C. Bradbury puts on his GM hat for the Braves.  Rather than plug in free agent signings, he’d sell off most of the infield.
  • MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone extinguishes a Carlos Silva rumor.
  • ESPN’s Buster Olney grades the deadline deals.  He has Ken Griffey Jr., Kyle Farnsworth, and Damaso Marte bringing up the rear.
  • Tim Brown explains that Ned Colletti’s job is safe.
  • Johnny Damon hopes A.J. Burnett opts out of his deal.  Does he just want Burnett out of the league, or is he hoping the righty joins the Yanks’ rotation next year?
  • Twins reliever Brian Bass may become a free agent, if he refuses a Triple A assignment.

Odds And Ends: Cards’ Bullpen, Fish Extensions, Aubrey Promoted

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  • St. Louis closer Jason Isringhausen is on the DL. But the Cards aren’t going shopping for a replacement. At least, not yet. "Not at this time," Mozeliak said when asked if the club might be tempted to check out the market for relievers. "We’re very fortunate that we have a lot of depth in relief, not only here but at Triple-A [Memphis]. A lot of this can be addressed internally."
  • After today’s press conference announcing Hanley Ramirez’s six-year deal, Marlins officials said the baseball personnel staff has not recommended any other players receive multi-year contract offers. Dan Uggla, Mike Jacobs, Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen will all be arbitration-eligible at season’s end.
  • Cleveland’s Jeremy Sowers, who turned 25 on Saturday, was sent back to Buffalo, where he is 2-2 with a 2.21 ERA in seven starts. Sowers made his second spot start of the season on Friday, giving up three runs and five hits over five innings. His ERA ranks fifth in the International League. Mike Aubrey takes Sowers’ place on Cleveland’s roster. With Akron, Aubrey was batting .277 with nine doubles, two homers and 16 RBIs in 24 games. The oft-injured Aubrey, who was Cleveland’s first pick in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, might only be with the Tribe for a short while, if the team opts to go with seven relievers when it resumes its regular American League schedule on Tuesday.

Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com. You can reach him here.

Isringhausen Wants a Break

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The Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss today reports that there is growing concern about the work of closer Jason Isringhausen, who has already blown five save chances this year. After his most recent blow-up, Izzy said he is sick of embarrassing himself and hurting the team. He suggested a meeting today with manager Tony La Russa, pitching coach Dave Duncan and general manager John Mozeliak to find at least a temporary alternative to using him in the ninth inning.

In the short term, Ryan Franklin or Randy Flores could be called on to close games for the Cards, though neither pitcher strikes out many batters. Ron Villone currently has an ERA under 1.00 and is averaging almost one strikeout per inning, but the last time he finished a season with an ERA under 4.00 was 1997. Still, he might prove a capable option while Izzy works to get his groove back.

If Isringhausen can’t correct his mechanics, St. Louis could be in the market for a closer come July. Closers who could be available include George Sherrill, Matt Capps, Chad Cordero and Huston Street (who has had his own struggles of late). Joakim Soria seems a logical trade candidate, though there is talk he could be converted to a starter.

Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com.  You can contact him here.

Cards Exercise $8MM Option On Isringhausen

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John Mozeliak’s first move as Cardinals interim GM was a no-brainer – he exercised Jason Isringhausen’s $8MM option for 2008.  Always good to throw the new guy a softball.

There was some speculation in early August that Walt Jocketty might consider overwriting the option by extending Izzy for 2008-09.  That move backfired with Jim Edmonds, and Mozeliak apparently has taken the more conservative approach.

As a reminder, the Cardinals have roughly $20MM to burn and hope to acquire a shortstop, a power hitter, and two starters.

Cardinals Face Decisions On Relievers

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It seemed Jason Isringhausen’s career was in jeopardy less than a year ago, but he’s fully returned to form and re-established himself as a successful closer.  He’s been ridiculously hard to hit this year, allowing a career-best 4.85 hits per nine innings. 

The Cardinals hold a very reasonable $8MM club option for 2008, with a $1.25MM buyout attached.  So there’s no doubt Izzy will be donning Cardinal red once again next year.  He’ll probably reach his 300th save, too.  The Cardinals may do that one better, though, giving him a contract to cover 2008-09 as they did Jim Edmonds.  I admit I liked the Edmonds deal at the time, but the Cardinals could’ve minimized risk by simply exercising his ’07 option and leaving waiting on ’08.  The same may apply here.

Additionally, it seems Cards reliever Russ Springer has scrapped retirement plans and would like to come back in 2008.  It’s known that Springer has his son attending a specific school in St. Louis and would like to keep him there.  So look for the Cards to ink him for $3MM or so.  Surely he could get a two-year deal on the open market, so the length will depend on Springer’s plans.

Walt Jocketty already locked up Ryan Franklin, another member of the St. Louis pen having a fine season.  Franklin is signed for 2008-09 for $5MM, with a club option for 2010. 

Coming into the season, who would’ve thought the three righties would form perhaps the best relief trio in the game?  The surprising nature of this speaks to the volatility of bullpens, which makes you wonder whether the Cardinals will want the same three pitchers under more expensive contracts in 2009.      

Isringhausen Would Veto Any Trade

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Several teams have expressed interest in soon-to-be 35 year-old Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen.  However, as a 10-and-5 player, Izzy has earned the right to veto any trade.  He’s prepared to exercise that right.

According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Isringhausen told the Cardinals he would not waive his no-trade clause and wants to finish his career in St. Louis.  He said as much publicly, too.  300 career saves might be a goal; he’s at 269 now.

Isringhausen’s career was nearly left for dead in September of ’06, when he elected to have surgery for his degenerative hip condition.  He’s silenced that talk with a 1.45 ERA and 20 saves so far this year.  It would be absurd if the Cardinals didn’t exercise his $8MM option for ’08.  I could even see them renegotiating and extending as they did with Jim Edmonds (if they haven’t learned their lesson).

Tigers Notes

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Will Carroll has the scoop on which relievers the Tigers may be chasing:

The Tigers are also after a reliever, but they’re not willing to give up much, knowing that Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney are coming back. All rumors involving the Tigers seem to be centered on Kyle Farnsworth, but they’ve also looked at Rauch, and asked about Jason Isringhausen and Al Reyes.

Between getting guys back and being in the catbird seat in the AL Central with postseason odds around 86%, it seems likely to me that the Tigers stand pat.  After all, that seems to be what Jim Leyland thinks, as well.

By Jeff Sackmann
Brew Crew Ball

Rosenthal’s Latest: Dunn, Wheeler, Izzy

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Ken Rosenthal posted a new column last night, and has updated it very recently.  I’ve already spoken about the Teixeira stuff, but there’s other good material in there too.

  • Some of the wilder speculation out there has been that the Twins might trade Torii Hunter or Johan Santana if they decide they’re out of it.  Various Baseball Prospectus reports put the Twins’ playoff chances between 5-10%.  Rosenthal debunks the idea that Minnesota would shop Hunter without first making him an offer, and keeping Santana for at least 2008 makes sense.  Plus, Santana has a no-trade clause. 
  • Rosenthal does have some Twins for us who might be traded: Luis Castillo and Carlos Silva.  Castillo has already been connected to the Mets in rumors, though Silva is a new one.  One could definitely envision Silva’s style working in the National League (I know, I say that a lot).  There was a recent Silva to Atlanta rumor, though Silva’s agent seems to have debunked it.
  • Rosenthal says Dontrelle Willis is not available.  Perhaps he and Tim Brown will engage in fisticuffs over this disagreement. 
  • The Diamondbacks have kicked the tires on Adam Dunn.  He might make sense as a rental – the D’Backs playoff changes sit between 16-27%, worth fighting for.  No doubt they’ve got a stable of young players to offer.
  • Rosenthal says the Astros have yet to receive interest on the Lidge/Wheeler/Qualls troika, while Jayson Stark said yesterday that the Astros hadn’t opened shop on them.  Thunderdome match #2, Rosenthal vs. Stark.  Assuming Ken survives Tim Brown.  Anyway, word is that the Rockies have their eye on Wheeler. 
  • Parties interested in Zack Greinke: Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Braves, and Cubs.  This gels with Dan Graziano’s findings.  Of course, trading a player like Greinke requires an equally talented youngster in return.
  • The Royals may not be able to do better than Cleveland’s Ben Francisco as a bounty for Octavio Dotel.  More on him in a separate post.
  • Trades of Joe Blanton and Huston Street are "highly unlikely."  So you’re saying there’s a chance?
  • The chances of the Cardinals trading Jason Isringhausen are described as "remote."  The Cards would have a hard time replacing him next year; he’s got a reasonable $8MM option.  He also has no-trade protection, so he’d probably want a better extension if he was to accept a trade.
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