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Nationals Rumors: Zimmerman, Dunn, Bowden

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Chico Harlan of the Washington Post has all kinds of observations from NatsFest.

  • Nationals president Stan Kasten expressed his distaste for free agent pitching contracts, but might consider it if the team is closer to contention.
  • A quote from Kasten regarding the Ryan Zimmerman extension talks: "I know it’s just a coincidence that [Zimmerman and Ryan Howard] have the same agent who doesn’t seem to like to do long-term contracts before free agency."  That’s a reference to Casey Close.  Currently the two sides have a $1.15MM gap on Zimmerman’s ’09 salary.
  • Zimmerman is friends with Adam Dunn, who would love to play for the Nationals.
  • GM Jim Bowden expects the free agent market to get moving within the next ten days.  Bowden still hopes to add a left-handed middle of the order bat as well as starting pitching.

Heyman’s Latest: Manny, Holliday, Peavy

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new rumor-packed article up.

  • Heyman suggests the battle for the three elite free agents – Mark Teixeira, Manny Ramirez, and C.C. Sabathia – will mostly be fought by the New York and Los Angeles clubs.  Heyman talked to one GM who believes the country’s economic situation will not affect the big names but could be bad for the lower-tier guys.
  • Heyman’s potential Manny suitors: the Mets, Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles, and Phillies.  The Phillies’ interest will depend on whether Pat Burrell stays.  I’m not sure why the Orioles would be in the mix.
  • The Rockies are "very likely" to trade Matt Holliday. The Rox would be willing to sign Holliday for five years and $100MM, but that won’t cut it.  The team’s focus in a trade will be a young starter.  Heyman echoes a Ken Rosenthal thought from a few months ago: surprising small-market teams may enter the Holliday bidding.
  • Heyman has the Mets, Rangers, and Indians as teams looking at Brian Fuentes.  The Mets are the favorite to sign him in the three-year, $36MM range.
  • Jake Peavy has already turned down one American League team.  Heyman believes hes particularly opposed to the Rangers and has mixed feelings about the Yankees.  Peavy is reeling from the Padres’ decision to shop him. 
  • Heyman has unkind words for Luis Gonzalez, who may not be welcomed back to the D’Backs based on his "uneasy relationship" with Stephen Drew and Chris Young.
  • Heyman does not think MLB has any evidence against Nationals GM Jim Bowden in the scout skimming scandal.
  • Heyman gives Ruben Amaro a slight edge over Mike Arbuckle to replace Pat Gillick as Phillies GM.
  • George W. Bush as baseball’s next commissioner?  "Many have long believed" that Bush would like to be Bud Selig’s successor.

Odds and Ends: Bowden, Cain, Young

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Links for Tuesday…

  • Chat today!  2pm CST.
  • Joe Pawlikowski at River Ave. Blues looks at some under-the-radar free agents.
  • MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy crunches the numbers and determines that it would be difficult to fit C.C. Sabathia into the Brewers’ payroll.  I think they could retain Mike Cameron and sign Sabathia, but only if they’re willing to take payroll into the mid-$90MM range and forgo other improvements.  Or, they could save $17-19MM by declining Cameron’s option and trading Fielder.
  • Reds beat writer John Fay muses on the team’s offseason needs.
  • Nationals GM Jim Bowden was diagnosed with a form of skin cancer this summer, but delayed surgery until after the season (a decision he regrets).  He’s OK now and back to work.
  • I get this question all the time: if the Yankees sign C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira, do the Brewers or the Angels get the Yanks’ first-round pick?  Baseball America’s Jim Callis explains that it’s determined by which player has the higher Elias rating.  In this case it might be Tex by a hair, but the official rankings are not out yet.
  • MLB.com’s Chris Haft heard the Twins covet Matt Cain and would be willing to trade Delmon Young for him.  Haft does not believe the Giants would make the one-for-one swap.
  • As of Monday night, the Mariners had not decided on their new GM.  They are not supposed to make an announcement during the World Series, so today remains an option.  It’s also been suggested they announce it tomorrow before the Series begins or get a waiver and do it on Friday (an off-day). 

Olney’s Latest: Cardinals, Snell, Milledge, Maine, Fuentes

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Buster Olney’s latest offering is packed full of links:

  • Bernie Miklasz notes that the Cardinals have only three starting pitchers (Adam Wainwright, Todd Wellemeyer, and Joel Pineiro) locked up for next year (he’s not expecting Chris Carpenter to contribute in 2009), and no prospects waiting in the wings. His solution? Pry open owner Bill DeWitt’s wallet, "and please, no el cheapo deals for rehabbing pitchers, medically risky pitchers, broken-down pitchers."
  • The Pirates have it a little bit tougher. According to pitching coach Jeff Andrews, it consists of Paul Maholm and "a blank sheet." Here’s one vote for adding Ian Snell, "on the verge of becoming the best right-handed pitcher to come from Delaware since World War I," according to DelwareBaseball.com, who sponsors his Baseball Reference page.
  • According to GM Jim Bowden, the Nationals will explore ways to upgrade their defense for 2009, including the possibility of moving Lastings Milledge from center field back to a corner spot. Left fielder Elijah Dukes could move to center.
  • Despite going through a difficult divorce, Padres’ owner John Moores is not planning on selling the team—which he bought because of his soon-to-be ex.
  • The Mets seem to be rushing John Maine back from the DL in an attempt to keep their playoff hopes alive.
  • Dave Krieger is amazed that the Rockies aren’t doing anything to try and keep free-agent closer Brian Fuentes.

Sarah Green writes for the Boston Metro and Umpbump.

Heyman’s Latest: Bowden, Helton, Maddux, K-Rod

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Let’s take a look at the latest from SI.com’s Jon Heyman.

  • Despite the headline "Nats GM in trouble," Heyman says Jim Bowden has the support of his bosses.  They do not blame him for Aaron Crow and are not concerned with his possible connection to the scout skimming scandal.
  • Heyman suggests the Rockies could shop first baseman Todd Helton this winter if he demonstrates a healthy back in September.  Here’s the thing – if Helton was a free agent and you had to give him a three-year deal, what would you pay?  $5MM a year maybe?  Are the Rockies going to eat $40MM?  Helton might have to be swapped for another bad contract.
  • Heyman sees Ryan Dempster getting four years and $48MM, and Oliver Perez snagging $60MM over five.  Are they worth that?
  • People close to Greg Maddux are saying he wants to pitch next year.  Heyman also sees John Smoltz and Tom Glavine back in ’09.
  • "Some are expecting" the Reds to be big players in free agency this year.  The Reds figure to be in the market for catching and outfield help.  Manny Ramirez would be interesting.
  • Heyman wonders if the Mets will be players for Francisco Rodriguez this winter.

Draft Reactions: Nationals

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The dust has settled on the 2008 amateur draft.  The Nationals, Pirates, and Royals had storylines worthy of a closer look. 

The Nationals failed to sign their first round pick, college righty Aaron Crow.  Crow might’ve completely skipped the minors had he signed.  ESPN’s Keith Law considers the Crow situation a major blunder for the organization.  The Washington Post learned the details via a lengthy Q&A with GM Jim Bowden.  Here are some highlights:

  • Crow is represented by Randy and Alan Hendricks, and much of the discussion occurred over email.  Last Tuesday the Nats were told it’d take a $9MM big league deal.  Bowden wanted the Hendricks brothers to explain the rationale behind that figure, but the Hendricks brothers did not provide it. 
  • Law blames the Nationals for not properly gauging Crow’s signability before the draft.  That point comes up in the Q&A but Bowden does not provide a clear answer on how he gauges signability.  He mentions that they knew they couldn’t afford Rick Porcello last year, but doesn’t explain why they thought they could afford Crow.
  • The Nats were offering $2.25MM on a minor league deal until Brian Matusz signed Friday, six hours before the deadline.  Matusz got a $3.5MM Major League deal.  Bowden called and said he’d do a deal within that framework, but the Hendricks were not interested. 
  • At one point Bowden gave in and offered a Major League deal, but this offer was by the boards at 6:30pm on deadline day.  That’s because the Nats would not have had enough time to give Crow a physical, and a big league contract can’t be voided.  Both sides seemed to understand this.
  • 15 minutes before the deadline, Crow’s agents dropped their demand to $4.4MM on a minor league deal.  In the last few minutes the Nats offered $3.3MM, and then went to $3.5MM over the phone at the buzzer.  Needless to say the offer was not accepted, and the Nats lost Crow over $900K.
  • I agree with Bowden’s implication that the Hendricks brothers didn’t do a great job here – their client now has to play for the Fort Worth Cats for a year when he could’ve been in the Major Leagues.  This looks ugly for both sides, and neither agents nor teams seem happy with the idea of a midnight deadline. 
  • It’s fair to consider Bowden on thin ice.  The FBI investigation, public mention of his plan to non-tender Chad Cordero, and many of his contract extensions form a poor resume coupled with the Crow situation.

Odds and Ends: Manny, McDonald, Bradford, Bowden

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Collection o’ links…

Odds and Ends: Happ, Igawa, Hawkins, Lowe

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Rounding up rumors and links from the weekend…

Heyman’s Latest: Yankees, Manny, Bowden, Pudge

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up.

  • Given Richie Sexson’s expected part-time role, the Yankees are in the market for an everyday outfielder to replace Hideki Matsui’s bat.  Barry Bonds is not under consideration.  Heyman tosses out names such as Matt Holliday, Xavier Nady, Jason Bay, and Adam Dunn, while noting that the price on most is too high (the Pirates deny this).
  • Heyman is still saying the Cardinals will consider trading Colby Rasmus, despite various denials.
  • The Yanks are also looking to add a #3-4 starter type.  Here’s a look at the market.
  • Manny Ramirez probably isn’t going to get what he wants – free agency, an extension, or a trade. 
  • The Nationals are supporting GM Jim Bowden despite his recent problems.  Heyman reported rumblings last month that Bowden "could be in trouble."
  • Despite the Marlins’ interest, the Tigers are unlikely to trade Ivan Rodriguez.  Jon Paul Morosi agrees, while noting that Pudge’s salary might be too high for Florida anyway.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Dunn, Burnett, Ibanez

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Ken Rosenthal’s Full Count video Saturday covered many interesting topics; yesterday he put the info into column form and added even more.

  • Same old story with Adam Dunn – he’s just not drawing much interest.  Even with the whiffs and ugly defense, this is surprising to me.  Rosenthal says the Reds "will take a considerable risk" if they offer Dunn arbitration after the season and he accepts.  Would having Dunn on a one-year deal at market price really be so bad?
  • Rosenthal says "it remains to be seen whether Jim Bowden’s authority will be compromised" in the wake of his involvement in the FBI’s bonus-skimming investigation.  The Nationals have a couple of mildly interesting starters to shop in Tim Redding and Odalis Perez, plus perhaps the top righty reliever in Jon Rauch.  Maybe Rauch will be packaged with a starter.
  • The Angels will try to retain Francisco Rodriguez after the season.
  • The Blue Jays started A.J. Burnett on three days rest in an attempt to maximize his starts before the trade deadline, though the J.P. denies it. Burnett responded well against the Yankees.  Rosenthal wonders whether he would abandon his opt-out clause if his contract was extended through 2011 upon a trade.  A dissenting opinion – Jon Heyman talked to one GM who does not expect Burnett to opt out.
  • The D’Backs apparently do not see Raul Ibanez as much of an upgrade over Chad Tracy. However, Jack Magruder wrote Saturday that the Mariners and D’Backs had discussions on Ibanez.
  • The Dodgers are still interested in Jack Wilson.
  • Rosenthal says some teams are skeptical that the Pirates would offer Damaso Marte arbitration after this season.   Why wouldn’t they?  The Red Sox are interested in the lefty.
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