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Odds And Ends: White Sox, Royals, Jays, Crede, Hosmer

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A few notes from the MLBiverse…

  • Ken Williams says the White Sox are in a position where they could either add more young players to develop or add some veteran pieces to the group. Williams says whichever road they choose, the team is "in a pretty good position."
  • Joe Posnanski, on his blog, takes a look at some recent rumors surrounding the Royals. He feels that is the rumors have any truth to them, they are scary, noting that it would lead to an OBP-deprived lineup. Posnanski feels Dayton Moore is a "smart baseball man" and won’t make the moves being rumored.
  • Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star looks at the Jays roster and dreams about the free agents that could fill in the holes.
  • Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says Joe Crede will not return to the White Sox.
  • DraftInfo talked to Eric Hosmer about his first year as a pro. Hosmer discussed the Pedro Alvarez situation, noting that he was never worried with Scott Boras as his agent.

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

Rangers Rumors: Blalock, Blake, Catchers

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Next up we’ll dig into the latest Rangers rumors, courtesy of Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

  • The Rangers are expected to pick up their $6.2MM option on Hank Blalock today.  It doesn’t seem that Blalock will spend much time at third base if he’s with the Rangers in 2009.  Instead, he’d play first and DH.  Of course, a trade is possible.
  • The Rangers may look at outside options for third base, and they’ve been in touch with Casey Blake’s agent.  The Rangers have an eye on defense, which might rule out Garrett Atkins.  Grant finds Joe Crede questionable, though he might be a decent fit given his glovework.
  • The focus of the GM meetings for Texas has been shopping catching for pitching.  The main suitors are the Red Sox and Marlins, with the Tigers a fallback.  Names in the mix could include Scott Olsen, Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, and Justin Masterson.  Over at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Jeff Wilson profiles the Rangers’ four catchers.

Brown’s Latest: Teixeira, Crede, Friedman

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Yahoo’s Tim Brown filed a column late last night; let’s take a look.

  • Scott Boras doesn’t know of any kind of contingency where the Dodgers would have to unload Andruw Jones’ contract before signing Manny Ramirez.
  • The Angels have not yet made an offer to Mark Teixeira, but they’ll deal with that situation before moving on to other needs.  Boras is suggesting Teixeira pays for himself.
  • Boras compared Joe Crede to Magglio Ordonez.  I think he is implying that he may seek big money for Crede but allow a team to opt out after a year if he hits the DL for back problems.
  • Ken Williams spoke up manufacturing runs, while Billy Beane still prefers walks and homers.
  • Rays GM Andrew Friedman doesn’t have a contract, but he isn’t concerned.

Heyman’s Latest: Sabathia, Burnett, Matsui

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Here’s a look at the latest column from SI.com’s Jon Heyman.

  • C.C. Sabathia is the Yankees’ top offseason target, and they’ll make him an offer beyond Johan Santana’s $137.5MM.  Heyman also sees the Yanks pursuing A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe, and Oliver Perez (with Ben Sheets a less likely target).  Heyman’s sources believe the Yanks could even attempt to sign three free agent starters.
  • The Yankees aren’t counting on Mike Mussina, and may wait on him before considering Andy Pettitte.
  • Contradictory note from Heyman: the White Sox have no plans to try to keep Joe Crede or Juan Uribe, but might consider bringing Uribe back as a utility man.
  • Heyman dismisses vague rumors about Hideki Matsui trade talks.

Odds and Ends: Myers, Crede, Giants

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Links for Wednesday…

White Sox Offseason Possibilities

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I did a White Sox Offseason Outlook earlier this month, rattling off available speedy players and also suggesting a Bobby Jenks trade be explored.  Today, Chicago Tribune beat writer Mark Gonzales offers his take on the Sox.

Gonzales sees Juan Uribe and Toby Hall as two players the White Sox hope to re-sign, with Hall at a lower salary than his $2.25MM option.  Orlando Cabrera, Ken Griffey Jr., and Joe Crede will be gone.  Cabrera is good for two draft picks if the Sox offer arbitration and he signs elsewhere.

Gonzales wonders if a Paul Konerko for Chone Figgins trade could take shape, but only if the White Sox add players.  Konerko is owed $24MM for 2009-10, with full no-trade rights. Figgins should earn $5MM+ in ’09 before he hits free agency for the first time.  It may be hard to get the Angels interested – Figgins fits their club, and they’ll try to re-sign Mark Teixeira.  Kendry Morales may be the backup plan at first.

Gonzales sees the Rockies as another potential trade partner for Sox GM Ken Williams, naming Garrett Atkins and Willy Taveras as potential matches. Taveras may be had for a song, but Atkins should require young pitching.

A few free agents to consider: Orlando Hudson, Dennys Reyes, and Alex Cora.

Perrotto’s Latest: GMs, Angels, Offseason Moves

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John Perrotto at Baseball Prospectus has his Every Given Sunday column up, let’s take a look at what he has to say:

  • Perrotto believes that there’s a good chance that the only GM change baseball will see this offseason may be the one we already know about, as Pat Gillick has already announced his retirement. Perrotto cites Assitant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. as a likely replacement. The most likely other change is in Seattle, and cites Dodgers’ Assistant GM Kim Ng as a possible replacement, which would make her the first female general manager in the game’s history. Perrotto believes Cashman and the Yankees will work something out, though notes that if Cashman leaves, he will ascend to the top of both the Mariners’ and Phillies’ lists.
  • Angels’ owner Arte Moreno says that the 2009 club will not exceed the current $123MM payroll. This leaves the Angels with hard decisions on Mark Teixeira, Francisco Rodriguez, Garrett Anderson, Juan Rivera, and Jon Garland. Of all those options, I see Teixeira as the top priority, as well as the most likely to return. Garland and Rivera seem like certainties to be gone, with Garland being one of the more appealing starters on the free agent market.
  • The Robinson Cano trade rumors continue, as Perrotto expects the Yankees to make a run at Orlando Hudson. Giving up on Cano seems like a mistake to me, but he certainly hasn’t lived up to the expectations he set when he nearly won a batting title in 2006. The Yankees are also not likely to re-sign Jason Giambi or Bobby Abreu.
  • The Tigers feel they have a good chance at re-signing Freddy Garcia for 2009. Garcia could potentially be a nice rebound candidate in a rotation that desperately needs help. Perrotto mentions that Detroit has considered Derek Lowe as a possibility, but I don’t see how that could work with the Tigers trying to cut payroll at the same time. One thing seems certain: Kenny Rogers will not be pitching for Detroit in 2009.
  • The White Sox have removed the nameplate from Joe Crede’s locker. Doesn’t seem like he’ll be back in 2009, not that that’s necessarily a new revelation.
  • The Royals/Jeff Francouer rumors continue in Perrotto’s column. It’s been written all over the site, but doesn’t it seem like the Royals should actually be pursuing people who have a career OBP that isn’t lower than several good hitters’ career average?
  • The Giants are willing to trade Matt Cain for a solid power hitter in return. Again, I think keeping a rotation headed by Cain and Tim Lincecum for the next few years is a far better option than trading Cain.
  • The Pirates have said that the only guarantee for their rotation next season is Paul Maholm. It’s been a rough season for Ian Snell, but I don’t see why he wouldn’t be guaranteed a spot as well, unless they’re not positive he’ll still be with the club.
  • The Mariners will likely non-tender Erik Bedard, completing the downward spiral on what has been one of the worst trades in recent history. Bedard will have shoulder surgery and likely miss a good portion of 2009.
  • Speaking of disappointing moves: Both Greg Maddux and Kosuke Fukudome are in danger of being left off their respective teams’ postseason rosters.

Crede’s White Sox Career Likely Over

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According to Timothy Wolfmeyer of the Northwest Herald, the White Sox have cleaned out Joe Crede’s locker (hat tip to South Side Sox).  Wolfmeyer heard the Sox are fed up with Crede’s Boras-influenced drawn-out rehab from another back injury.  It seems the Sox will either use Josh Fields at third base next year or explore the market.  Fields had a disappointing year at Triple A.  Another option would be to re-sign Juan Uribe.

Crede, 30, played very little in August and September due to his back injury.  He had surgery in June of last year.  The White Sox were unable to trade him during spring training after agreeing to a $5.1MM salary for ’08.  Boras could recommend a one-year deal to allow Crede to establish his health and re-enter the market.

Odds and Ends: Pokey, Lowe, Boss

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Before you fire up the grill, check out these links.

White Sox Interested In Figgins?

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THURSDAY: Angels GM Tony Reagins says he hasn’t talked to Williams and has no interest in trading Figgins at this time.  It may be true that Figgins is on Williams’ wish list, but perhaps that’s where it ended.

WEDNESDAY: Joe Cowley lights up the rumor mill with some rumblings about the White Sox.  His source says Kenny Williams is inquiring about leadoff hitters who can play second base, aside from the apparently overpriced Brian Roberts.  Williams’ main target may be Chone Figgins; he called Figgins "an interesting name."

Figgins, 30, is hitting .306/.421/.355 in 145 plate appearances.  He’s a free agent after the ’09 season.  Despite Chicago’s interest, it’s hard to picture the first-place Angels parting with him.  Figgins is expected to be activated from the disabled list today after a hamstring strain.  The team’s other third basemen have not hit well in his absence.

I’m not sure how well he plays second these days, but Ryan Freel could fit as a Plan B.  Freddy Sanchez, Cristian Guzman, Felipe Lopez, David Eckstein are other possibilities (pure speculation on my part).

One other note from Cowley – he’s heard whispers that the Angels will be making a push for Joe Crede this winter.  Crede is pretty much the only credible free agent option at third base.

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