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John Smoltz

Nationals Interested In John Smoltz

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The Nationals and John Smoltz have "sincere mutual interest," according to a source of Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Current Nats and former Braves president Stan Kasten is said to be a longtime fan.  However, Rosenthal says the Cardinals remain Smoltz's top choice.

Previously, Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi linked the Cardinals, Dodgers, Mets, Mariners, Astros, Rangers, and Orioles to Smoltz, while ESPN's Jayson Stark named the Phillies.

Smoltz had his ups and downs this season, but his offseason popularity makes sense.  He's not coming off surgery this time, but his base salary will almost certainly be south of last year's $5.5MM.

Red Sox Interested In Rich Harden

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Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports are reporting that Boston is "serious about pursuing" free agent starter Rich Harden.  The Canadian right-hander had been rumored to be a target of the Red Sox given — as Rosenthal and Morosi note — the club's recent strategy of signing proven pitchers with health issues to short-term deals in an attempt to find a bargain.  Unlike Boston's signings last season (John Smoltz and Brad Penny), Harden has proven that he can pitch well in the American League, which makes him particularly attractive to the BoSox.

Harden is a Type B free agent who was not offered arbitration by his previous team, the Cubs, earlier today.  Rosenthal and Morosi were told by a source that Boston has yet to formally offer Harden a contract.

Phillies Rumors: Pitching, Park, Eyre

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MLB.com's Todd Zolecki spoke to Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. today; here's the latest.

  • Amaro would like to add starting pitching depth, perhaps a player "who may not be on anybody's radar screen."  He's looking for low-risk, high-reward (who isn't?)  Amaro didn't deny Jayson Stark's John Smoltz rumor, but he downplayed it a bit.
  • Scott Lauber of The News Journal says the Phils haven't ruled out re-signing Pedro Martinez, but Amaro hasn't had any recent discussions with Pedro's agent.
  • Amaro said it's unlikely the Phillies will offer arbitration to Type B relievers Chan Ho Park and Scott Eyre tonight.  Amaro prefers the flexibility, but won't rule out re-signing them.
  • Amaro would be willing to give up the team's #27 draft pick for the right Type A free agent.  So, we can't rule out the various Type A relievers who were offered arbitration today (Jose Valverde, Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano, and Rafael Betancourt so far).

Phillies Eyeing John Smoltz

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The Phillies have kicked the tires on free agent pitcher John Smoltz, according to ESPN's Jayson Stark.  Smoltz could be a fit as a starter or late-inning reliever, assuming he gets past his dislike of Citizens Bank Park.  Smoltz, 43 in May, pitched well for the Cardinals last year, posting 40 strikeouts and nine walks in 38 innings.  His strikeout-walk numbers for Boston were strong as well, though he had problems with hits and home runs.

Stark, by the way, believes the Phillies will not offer arbitration to either of their Type B free agent relievers, Chan Ho Park and Scott Eyre.

Cafardo On Lackey, Sheffield, Pavano

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In his usual Sunday morning column for the Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo passes on some hot stove talk from around the majors. Let's check out the highlights….

  • The fate of John Lackey could potentially affect the offseason plans of each of the AL East powers. Both the Yankees and Red Sox have interest, and Cafardo suggests that landing Lackey would allow the Red Sox to turn around and move Clay Buchholz in a deal for a coveted bat, like Adrian Gonzalez.
  • Cafardo relays this quote from an AL GM: "The Red Sox could be the major player this offseason if certain things fall together for them. They still have enough chips in their farm system to make something big happen."
  • The Yankees, meanwhile, appear willing to part with Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain in the hunt for Roy Halladay, though they'd like to hang on to Austin Jackson.
  • Gary Sheffield will return in 2010 and has softened his stance on DHing since his Tigers days. He now says he'd accept a DH role, though he'd still like to play in the field occasionally. Cafardo names a handful of teams that could find a spot for Sheffield, noting that the 41-year-old would love to return to Atlanta or play in his hometown of Tampa Bay.
  • The Twins and Brewers are "very interested" in Carl Pavano.
  • The Brewers could also be players for John Smoltz, though the Cardinals would like to bring him back.

Odds & Ends: Mulder, Matsui, Smoltz, Rangers

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Some afternoon linkage…

Francona Speaks About Red Sox Offseason Topics

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Red Sox manager Terry Francona was on WEEI's Dale & Holley earlier today (audio here, transcript courtesy of Alex Speier here), and spoke about a variety of Red Sox offseason topics. Let's round it all up…

  • The team is currently interviewing candidates for openings in their coaching staff. Bench coach Brad Mills has since moved on to take over as Astros' skipper.
  • Francona hopes the team re-signs Jason Bay, but he acknowledges that he's going to have other options. "You know we’re going to be a major player. We always are."
  • He also thinks Bay won't drag out his decision until mid January.
  • Francona says he has gone on free agent recruiting trips before, most notably to speak to John Smoltz and Mark Teixeira.
  • Whenever GM Theo Epstein talks to him, Francona always tells him to get a pitcher.
  • The team has met with John Lackey's agent, and Francona considers him "one of the best." He also notes that you're talking about a lot of years when committing to a player like that.
  • Francona acknowledged that Alex Gonzalez stabilized the shortstop position, but "you look at that .310 on-base percentage, for a full year, if that’s what you’re going to go with, you’ve got to recoup that somewhere else."

Francona also spoke about how they mix stats and scouting, and how they "try to look at both and make good decisions."

Cardinals: Bay Not A Priority

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Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has some interesting information concerning the Cardinals and their winter moves.

Matt Holliday is still tops on the agenda, of course, but though many observers figured Jason Bay would be Plan 1A, St. Louis GM John Mozeliak said that wasn't the case.

"We'll see how the market develops," Mozeliak told Strauss. "Is (Jason Bay) a possibility? Sure. But right now it's fair to say he's not one of our top priorities."

According to Strauss, a greater reliance on defensive metrics has redefined St. Louis' interest in Bay, who is a far worse defensive player than Holliday by nearly any statistical measure. Therefore, it isn't a surprise that the Cardinals are reluctant to top the four years and $64MM Strauss says is likely a starting point for bidding on Bay.

In addition to free agent options, the Cardinals retain interest in both Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham of the Nationals.

On the pitching side, Mozeliak has stayed in touch with the agent for John Smoltz, but Strauss says there are other options St. Louis will pursue first.

Odds & Ends: DeRosa, Smoltz, Indians

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Some news and notes from around the majors….

  • It was previously reported that eight teams were interested in veteran utilityman Mark DeRosa.  According to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times, you can add the Mets, Braves and Twins to the list, as well as DeRosa's most recent team, the Cardinals.  With so many interested parties, DeRosa's agent Keith Grunewald believes his client should have no problem getting his desired multi-year contract.
  • In that same article, Hernandez notes that the Dodgers talked to Grunewald about both DeRosa and another of the agent's clients, pitcher John Smoltz.  The Dodgers were previously cited as one of seven clubs looking at Smoltz, with Los Angeles being one of the teams looking at the veteran right-hander as a starter.
  • Speaking of Smoltz, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart (via Twitter) says the Astros aren't interested in the future Hall-of-Famer.
  • Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com breaks down what Cleveland might do with the back-end of their 40-man roster and with some of their top minor-league prospects.
  • Tracy Ringolsby, in a response to a reader's e-mail, doesn't believe the Rockies will pursue a free-agent infielder given the team's satisfaction with Ian Stewart and Clint Barmes.  Ringolsby also thinks that the return of Jeff Francis from injury will preclude Colorado from chasing a free-agent starter.
  • Cardinals GM John Mozeliak all but confirmed that Troy Glaus won't be back in St. Louis next season, says MLB.com's Matthew Leach.  Leach also notes that Mozeliak was non-committal about Jason LaRue returning as the Cards' backup catcher in 2010.

Several Teams Interested In Smoltz

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Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com report that several teams have expressed interest in free agent righty John Smoltz, who is open to starting or relieving. The Cardinals, Dodgers, Mets, Mariners, Astros, Rangers, and Orioles are the among the teams interested in the future Hall of Famer, and some teams inquired about him as a closer.

The 42-year-old Smoltz put up a 4.26 ERA in seven starts with St. Louis after his eight start cameo with Boston. His fastball generally sat in the low-90's, though he did strike out 73 batters in 78 total innings. 

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