Odds and Ends: Lowell, Sabathia, Polanco
I’m going to start up a catch-all Odds and Ends post for smaller rumors and notes today. Refresh to see it grow.
- A reader emailed me to tell me that Buster Olney said on XM Radio recently that there are talks of the Twins going after Scott Rolen. These reports can be tough to confirm, but there you go. UPDATE: Joe Christensen squashes this one.
- Mark Feinsand doesn’t think Epstein is keen on giving Mike Lowell even a three-year contract. He might get five on the open market. UPDATE: The Red Sox apparently have a three-year offer out to him, and he’s still mulling it over.
- The White Sox inquired about Bill Hall, but Kenny Williams and Doug Melvin couldn’t find a match.
- Baseball America weighs in on the Brad Lidge trade. BP’s Nate Silver gives his opinion here and here. He thinks the Phillies made a mistake.
- The Astros have contacted Jeremy Affeldt‘s agent. Also, Jim Molony speculates in this piece that speedy Josh Anderson could be expendable because of the Michael Bourn addition.
- Back to where it all began: the Dodgers have signed Chan Ho Park. No need for more starters now!
- Andy Pettitte hopes to tell the Yankees whether he’ll play by the New Year. Also, Ken Davidoff notes that the Yanks would prefer to trade Hideki Matsui over Johnny Damon, but Godzilla’s full no-trade clause would be the problem.
- Theo Epstein let Scott Boras pitch his entire client list last night, A-Rod included. There’s a very slight chance the Red Sox sign Eric Gagne, and a contract extension for Jason Varitek may have been discussed. Also I hear Boras did the hard sell on Bruce Chen. Just kidding. UPDATE: That slight chance for Gagne just went away, as he’ll be closing according to Boras.
- Mark Shapiro is preparing a contract extension offer for C.C. Sabathia; he’ll have to run it by the Dolans first. No surprise there. Paul Hoynes notes that Sabathia gets an extra $2MM for ’08 if he wins the ’07 Cy Young. Shapiro, by the way, would listen to offers on any player. I get the feeling the Indians could come from out of nowhere and do something big this winter.
- Could the Tigers send Placido Polanco to the Mets? Mark Healey suggests it.
- The Giants included a vesting option for 2009 in Omar Vizquel‘s deal. McCovey Chronicles weighs in.
Report: Affeldt, Bautista Dealt For Shealy
Reportedly, a Royals TV affiliate in Kansas City is saying that Jeremy Affeldt has gone through the clubhouse to say goodbyes. Word from MLB Radio is that Affeldt was sent to Colorado along with Denny Bautista for Ryan Shealy and Scott Dohmann.
This one’s been in the works for a while now, dating back to July 19th.
Royals Rumors: Ryan Shealy
According to my Royals source, Dayton Moore has finished evaluating his roster and the team is about to become quite active in the trade market.
You saw the Mark Redman rumor yesterday. Today MLBTradeRumors has learned of a possible deal in the works between the Rockies and Royals. The Rox are looking for relievers, and the Royals have Elmer Dessens and Jeremy Affeldt available. Mike MacDougal also has a chance to be dealt. The Royals would prefer to unload shortstop Angel Berroa and just one reliever to get first baseman Ryan Shealy. That way other relievers could snag more value in separate deals.
Shealy has had all kinds of suitors over the last few months, and he is likely to be dealt for relief help this month.
Royal Rumblings
Today’s KC Star reports this morning that the Royals, with the first waiver wire claim, will probably snag Tony Graffanino to plug into a utility role once again. They have a spare $4-5MM with which to do so. Take that, Mets!
Furthermore, a new Royals source of mine (yes, they do exist) mentions that lefties Jimmy Gobble and Jeremy Affeldt are currently on the trading block. Mike Wood may also be available. According to the source, a deal might happen before the end of the week.
Affeldt is probably the most intriguing of the bunch. The 26 year-old has a 4.53 career ERA and 6.9 K/9 in 329 innings. He’s currently slotted in as the Royals’ fourth starter after relieving exclusively in 2005. According to RotoWire, the return of Mark Redman and Zach Greinke may push him back out of the rotation.
Back in November, Affeldt’s name was tossed around in Kevin Mench rumors. The Rangers could still use a starter, especially one with Affeldt’s extreme groundball tendencies. Although they already have a host of injury-prone starters in the current rotation. The Royals seem fairly committed to Emil Brown and his atrocious left field defense, but you have to figure they’d want Mench if at all possible. He could hit twice as many homers as Brown. Mench’s $2.8MM salary could probably be squeezed into the payroll for 2006.
Gobble? Well he’s fairly young and he won nine games once. He looked kind of promising when he was called up in 2003. Wood? It was nothing short of a miracle that he managed a 4.46 ERA with a 1.57 WHIP. Maybe he can keep it under 5 this year but I doubt it.