Odds & Ends: Glaus, Carroll, Capps, Fossum
Links to kick off the work week….
- Free agent Troy Glaus prefers a full-time infield corner job over a DH role, and has made his medical records available to all 30 teams reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has Randy Wolf's contract details, courtesy of the AP.
- ESPN's Keith Law provides his take on recent non-tenders Capps, Wang, Ryan Langerhans, Gabe Gross, and Kelly Johnson.
- Jamey Carroll is deciding between multiple two-year offers, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. He notes that the Angels, Dodgers, and A's have shown interest. Perhaps today's Craig Counsell signing will lead to a deal for Carroll.
- Chien-Ming Wang might not sign for months, his agent Alan Nero told ESPN's Buster Olney. Speaking to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cards pitching coach Dave Duncan said Wang would interest him.
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington explained to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday that Kovacevic's December 8th report of a non-tender threat caused Matt Capps to lose all trade value. As if the possibility couldn't have crossed the minds of Capps' suitors otherwise. But note that Huntington took issue with the leak itself rather than Kovacevic printing it.
- The Blue Jays announced on their official Twitter page that they've agreed to terms with Jose Bautista ($2.4MM) and Dustin McGowan ($500K). McGowan gets a raise of about $80K after missing all of '09 with a shoulder injury. Bautista will receive no raise. Perhaps the Jays had told him that they'd only tender him if he took the same salary.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff explains that "the whole notion of an 'offer' is overblown," mainly a publicity move.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times wrote about the emergence of Twitter in baseball coverage, and I contributed a few thoughts.
- The Hanshin Tigers inked lefty Casey Fossum to a one-year deal worth $600K, reports Kyodo News. Fossum, 32 in January, pitched at Triple A for three organizations this year, compiling a 3.55 ERA in 129.3 innings.
- NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman reports that pitcher Colby Lewis will return to MLB after a couple of very effective years starting in Japan.
Blue Jays Sign Joey Gathright, Raul Chavez
The Toronto Blue Jays have signed Joey Gathright and Raul Chavez to minor league deals, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
The Blue Jays just non-tendered Chavez yesterday, so it didn't take long for them to get him back off the market. As for Gathright, his agent denied earlier in the week that the speedy outfielder had signed with the Jays. According to Bastian though, the deal is now in place. Both players will receive spring training invites.
Bastian also tweets that the Jays agreed to terms with arbitration-eligible players Jose Bautista ($2.4MM) and Dustin McGowan ($500K).
Odds & Ends: Chapman, Indians, Dye, Cubs
Let's take a look at the wire…
- Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times talked to Angels scouting director Eddie Bane about his level of interest in Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman. Bane once again stated that he is intrigued by the 21-year-old lefty, but must see him face live batting before considering making an offer.
- A clause in Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell's contract prevents him from accepting an outside managerial position until after the 2010 season, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Farrell, who served as Cleveland's farm director before joining the BoSox, was expected to be a candidate to manage the Indians if Eric Wedge is not brought back.
- More from Ken Rosenthal as he reports that the Brewers are "seemingly on the verge" of retaining Ken Macha and are considering hiring pitching coach Rick Peterson. Macha and Peterson were on the Oakland staff together from 1999-2003. Peterson served under Macha in 2003, his first year as the A's skipper.
- MLB.com's Scott Merkin reports that Ozzie Guillen hopes "it's not the end" for him and Jermaine Dye, as 2010 marks a mutual option year. Dye wants to return but the White Sox are unlikely to pick up the 35-year-old's $12MM option.
- Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports that Lou Piniella doesn't expect the Cubs roster to change too much. "Last year we had about 10 changes here," Piniella said. "If we have half that, that's a nice number. Some changes [last year] were out of necessity. I see us being selective in what we do."
- Toronto's Jose Bautista is improving his stock heading into arbitration, writes MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News writes in his blog that Brian Sabean denied telling season-ticket holders that he would "undoubtedly" look to pick up Freddy Sanchez's option, but said that the Giants want to hang on to him.
Stark On Cameron, Ohman, Jenkins
ESPN's Jayson Stark has a new blog post up.
- The Astros plan to give Chris Johnson a chance to win the third base job, but Stark says Juan Uribe, Jose Bautista, and Jeff Baker "could still show up on their shopping list in the next two weeks."
- Stark heard "rumblings the Yankees are poking around again on Mike Cameron's availability." Back in December, the Yanks and Brewers were pretty close on a deal.
- Eric Milton is looking decent and appears to be the frontrunner for the Dodgers' fifth starter job (given Pedro Martinez's asking price).
- Will Ohman seeks a one-year, $1.75MM deal with easily-reachable incentives for another million. He also prefers the West Coast, and Stark believes the Padres and Giants are more likely than the Dodgers. Like the Dodgers, the Phillies and Marlins have interest at a lesser price. Stark has also heard the Phils connected to Giants lefty Jack Taschner.
- Shawn Camp, Geoff Geary, John Buck, and Geoff Jenkins are currently available. The Phillies would eat almost all of the $8MM owed to Jenkins.
Jays Avoid Arb With Frasor, Bautista
Add two more signings for the Jays: Jason Frasor ($1.45MM) and Jose Bautista ($2.4MM). We mentioned Jeremy Accardo ($900K plus incentives) earlier.
Stark’s Non-Tender Candidates
With midnight on Friday being the deadline to tender a contract to an arbitration-eligible player, ESPN’s Jayson Stark has some predictions on who could be added to the free agent market…
Pitchers: Daniel Cabrera, Chad Gaudin, Jimmy Gobble, Brandon Backe, Takashi Saito, Tyler Yates, Wil Ledezma
Hitters: Marcus Thames, Gabe Gross, John Buck, Jose Bautista, Chris Burke, Willy Taveras, Jonny Gomes
What does everyone out there think? Any other non-tender possibilities? MLBTR posted a speculative list a week ago.
Odds and Ends: Twins, Big Unit, Rockies
Links and tidbits for Wednesday. Remember to check back on this post for updates!
- Dave Cameron notes that the Elias rankings screwed over Damaso Marte by making him a Type A. See also: Doug Brocail, Bob Howry, Darren Oliver.
- Remember to check out the Previous Entries link at the bottom of the website, as stories get buried pretty quickly in times like these.
- Japanese outfielder Saburo Ohmura (link in Japanese) would be fine with a minor league deal.
- Roch Kubatko has info on what it might take to trade for Khalil Greene or Jack Wilson.
- Pirates president Frank Coonelly confirmed the team’s interest in Junichi Tazawa. For what it’s worth, Coonelly wouldn’t rule out Derek Lowe when asked.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times offers his thoughts on the rumor mill.
- Official Elias rankings for the AL and NL.
- Ballplayers are in for a tax bump under the Obama administration. They’ll manage.
- The Twins are looking for righthanded pop.
- The D’Backs have just $3-5MM budgeted for Randy Johnson.
- The Hanshin Tigers are eyeing Nelson Cruz, Kevin Mench, and Jose Bautista. Only Mench is a free agent of the three.
- The Rockies are looking for a lefty reliever, according to Troy Renck and Keith Law. How about Jeremy Affeldt again?
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin doesn’t like his C.C. Sabathia offer being called window dressing.
Odds and Ends: Indians, Livan, Braves, Friedman
Let’s round up today’s random links.
- The Pirates received catcher Robinzon Diaz from the Blue Jays in the Jose Bautista deal. Not too shabby, he should develop into a credible cheap backup.
- Yahoo’s Gordon Edes sees Manny Ramirez playing for the Mets in ’09.
- The point continues to be hammered home – the Indians intend to acquire a proven closer this winter. Brian Fuentes seems a reasonable target.
- RotoAuthority takes a closer look at Cliff Lee.
- Rockies manager Clint Hurdle wants to see if Livan Hernandez fits into their plans for 2009. Hernandez has allowed a remarkable 224 hits in 152 innings – a rate that will rank second in baseball history if he can reach the 162 innings needed to qualify. Even Jose Lima can’t make that claim.
- J.C. Bradbury notes that the Braves’ attempts to extend star players acquired via trade have been largely unsuccessful.
- Outs Per Swing chats with Rays exec Andrew Friedman.
- Danny Knobler surveyed scouts about Francisco Rodriguez‘s stuff.
Week in Review: 8/17 – 8/23
Another week in the books, and we keep seeing big names moved after the July 31 non-waiver deadline. Let’s look back on the past week:
- The Dodgers acquired Greg Maddux from the Padres for two minor league players to be named later. Nice acquisition to bolster their rotation, and does anyone want to place bets on how excited 20-year-old Clayton Kershaw is to get tips from Maddux every day for the rest of the season?
- The Pirates are exploring the idea of trading Jack Wilson this offseason more and more. Given the slim free agent market for shortstops, he would likely gather a lot of interest.
- Nate Robertson’s struggles this season have lost him his spot in the rotation, but have they also lost him a spot with the Tigers after 2008?
- Orlando Hernandez needs surgery on his foot, and that could likely mean that El Duque’s career would be over.
- Lots of speculation lately about where Ben Sheets is going to land after 2008. And while there’s no way to tell right now, Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman have stepped up and said they would like the Astros front office to go out and sign him in the offseason.
- A lot of minor-league deals signed this week: Kip Wells signed with Kansas City, the Mets added Al Reyes, the Astros signed Jose Castillo, the Red Sox signed Dave Ross, and the Braves took a flyer on Rodrigo Lopez following his Tommy John surgery last year. The Jays made a trade to acquire Jose Bautista for a PTBNL as well.
- The Rangers would like Milton Bradley back in 2009, and the feeling is mutual, though negotiations will wait until after the season. Similarly, Frank Thomas would prefer to stay with the A’s in 2009.
- Eric Gagne, David Riske, and David Weathers all cleared waivers this week. The first two make sense to me, but given Weathers’ success this year, his affordable contract for the rest of the season, and all of the teams desperately seeking bullpen help, it seems strange that no one would place a claim on him. Here’s an updated list of all the players who have been confirmed to have cleared waivers this year.
Odds and Ends: Manny, Pavano, Gonzalez
Some Saturday mid-day linkage:
- Hitoki Iwase was lit up in the Olympics, possibly dropping his stock as a prospect. Iwase was one of several Japanese players being scouted by Major League clubs in Beijing.
- Luis Gonzalez reminisces about his trade to the Diamondbacks ten years ago.
- Manny Ramirez is not interested in talking about those old Philadelphia rumors. I’m shocked, shocked.
- J.D. Drew‘s back spasms are actually a herniated disk. According to Nick Cafardo, the Red Sox would love to add another outfielder, but can’t seem to lay their hands on one. No offense to Jason Lane.
- He’s baaaa-aaaack: Free-agent-to-be Carl Pavano is starting tonight for the New York Yankees. Strike up the band and break out the rum punch.
- Recently traded infielder Jose Bautista was at odds with Pirates manager John Russell.
- Thomas Boswell talks about the possibility of Stephen Strasburg becoming a National next year.
Sarah Green writes for UmpBump and the Boston Metro and can be reached here.