Odds & Ends: Hillman, White Sox, Japanese Pitchers
Let's start the evening off by rounding up a few spare links…
- According to The Associated Press (via ESPN), Royals manager Trey Hillman will return to the team next season. Kansas City GM Dayton Moore, who originally hired Hillman, had his contract extended through 2014 earlier this week.
- White Sox GM Kenny Williams was asked if the Jim Thome and Jose Contreras trades indicate that he was throwing in the towel according to Scot Gregor of The Daily Herald, and Williams replied "Hell no. We're still in it to win it.”
- Patrick at NPB Tracker passes along a report saying that the Yokohama BayStars are looking to import Japanese pitchers currently playing in the States. The article mentions that players like Tomo Ohka, Yasuhiko Yabuta, and Masahide Kobayashi could interest the BayStars, while Patrick throws the names of Kei Igawa and Takashi Saito into the ring.
- ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. writes that Miguel Angel Sano is not the only big name Latin American free agent stuck in age investigation limbo. Venezuelan pitcher Daniel Sanchez, considered one of the best pitchers available this year, is stuck in the same boat after the Brewers put in a formal request to MLB to investigate his age. An age investigation is a prerequisite to signing any player from Latin America.
Williams Discusses Thome and Contreras Trades
ESPN's Peter Gammons has a long-awaited interview with White Sox GM Ken Williams about the trades that sent Jim Thome and Jose Contreras packing. Williams argues that the trades did not amount to "a raising of the white flag" and says he was trying "to do right by players who certainly did right by us."
Williams says that he assured Thome that he would not be traded against his wishes. "He told me he was more interested in winning another ring than hitting 600 homers," the GM said. "We wanted to accomodate [him] so that he could finish the season the way he wanted."
Regarding Contreras, Williams says that manager Ozzie Guillen was not planning to start the pitcher down the stretch. "I thought this was a way to give him the opportunity to start and rebuild his value in the free-agent market," Williams said.
According to Gammons, Rockies manager Jim Tracy, who "dealt with" Brad Penny when both were with the Dodgers, did not want the veteran starter on his staff although GM Dan O'Dowd had interest. So, O'Dowd turned to the White Sox for the starter he needed.
Olney On White Sox, Rangers, Yankees
ESPN.com's Buster Olney says Giants catching prospect Buster Posey is probably more likely to be on the team's Opening Day roster, now that they club started his service time clock. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors:
- Olney says Kenny Williams has a responsibility to publicly discuss the moves that sent Jim Thome and Jose Contreras elsewhere.
- Olney hears that the Rangers will likely consider various infielders now that Michael Young is hurt. A player like Jamey Carroll could help the Rangers, but Olney doubts they'll make a move.
- Here's a suggestion for the Yankees from Olney: offer both Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui one-year deals after the season, but say "we'll keep whoever takes our offer first."
Odds & Ends: Penny, Hardy, Hoffmann
Some links to check out while you try to figure out what's for dinner…
- ESPN's Keith Law says that both Jim Thome and Jon Garland have value to Dodgers in the roles they were acquired to fill, pinch hitter and innings eater. KLaw also notes that Jose Contreras is better option than anyone currently in the Rockies' organization, and that he might benefit from a move to the NL.
- R.J. Anderson of FanGraphs says that people should be focusing more on the draft picks the White Sox gave away (Thome projects to be a Type-A free agent) than the fact that they're throwing in the towel on the season.
- Brad Penny said he'd be willing to return to the AL East in the future, according to CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler. "I think if I make my pitches against anyone, I'll do fine…Sometimes you don't get breaks. I was making some bad pitches, and leaving some balls up. In the AL East, you can't really do that," said Penny.
- MLB.com's Adam McCalvy spoke to Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy about whether he'll be traded this offseason or not, and got this response: "It makes sense, not that I want to be traded."
- Diamond Leung reports that the Dodgers have designated outfielder Jamie Hoffmann for assignment. The 25-yr old hit just .182/.167/.409 in his brief stint with LA earlier this year. It's always fun when a guy has a higher batting average than on-base percentage.
- Matt Eddy of Baseball America posted last week's minor league transactions. The Brewers signed two former big leaguers – outfielders Jon Knott and Tike Redman – out of the independent Atlantic League.
- Make sure you follow MLBTR on Twitter for the fastest rumor updates on the web.
Garland, Contreras Trade Reactions
A couple of heroes of the 2005 postseason, Jon Garland and Jose Contreras, were acquired by NL West teams yesterday. Let's round up reaction links.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports likes the stability Garland provides the Dodgers, and wonders if they should exercise his $10MM option for 2010. The Rockies and Rangers both had interest in Garland, who turns 30 this month. His contract states that he cannot be offered arbitration if he's a Type A free agent, but that's irrelevant since Garland is currently battling just for Type B status. ESPN's Buster Olney says the D'Backs are paying the entire freight for Garland, so the Dodgers will give up a decent player (we don't know who yet).
- Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post says the Rockies acquired Contreras as a reaction to Aaron Cook's injury. Contreras was the consolation prize after the Rox were unable to meet the D'Backs' demands for Garland. The Sox will pay most of Contreras' remaining $2.7MM, compelling the Rockies to send pitching prospect Brandon Hynick to Chicago. Hynick talked to Jack Etkin of Inside The Rockies about the trade. Baseball America says he profiles as a back of the rotation innings eater, in their latest Handbook.
- How do you rank the recent NL West rotation additions, weighing these two moves and the Giants' signing of Brad Penny? Most folks would probably be inclined to say Garland, Penny, Contreras, but in one month's time anything can happen. All three pitchers have free agency as extra motivation.
Rockies Acquire Jose Contreras
Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun Times reports that the White Sox have traded Jose Contreras to the Rockies. Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune says the ChiSox are also sending cash to Colorado, and will receive righthander Brandon Hynick in return.
Contreras has put up a 5.42 ERA in 21 starts for Chicago this year, but has been particularly dreadful in August, allowing 30 runs in 24.2 IP covering six starts. He is in the final year of the three-year, $29MM extension he signed in 2006. Assuming the deal was completed before midnight ET on August 31st, Contreras is eligible for the Rockies' postseason roster.
Hynick, 24, was the Rockies 8th round pick in the 2006 draft, and has put up a 3.83 ERA in 26 starts for Colorado's Triple-A affiliate this year. He threw a perfect game earlier in July, and was rated the 22nd best prospect in the Rockies' system earlier this year by Baseball America.
White Sox Willing To Deal Veterans
11:11pm: Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune notes that the White Sox writers have been told "to sit tight here in (the Metro)Dome pressbox."
10:39pm: Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune says "Thome looks headed somewhere, declined to comment after the game." Stay tuned to MLBTR for updates.
10:31pm: Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun Times says that "Thome might be on the move, or at least thinking about waiving the no-trade clause." Teams would have to acquire players within the next 30 minutes or so for them to eligible for postseason rosters.
10:28pm: FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal adds Scott Podsednik and Jose Contreras to the pool of available Pale Hose veterans. He notes that Contreras "he has negligible trade value."
6:42pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman adds a few more names to list: Paul Konerko and Octavio Dotel. The 33-yr old Konerko is hitting .278-.351-.490 this season with $12MM coming to him next year. Dotel, 35, has a 3.33 ERA in 53 relief appearances and will be a free agent this winter.
6:09pm: ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the White Sox have "distributed a memo to a number of teams in the league informing them that a number of Chicago veterans are available in trade." Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, and Scott Linebrink were among the players listed in memo. The ChiSox are currently 5.5 games back of the Tigers in the AL Central and 12.5 games back in the Wildcard chase, so they're waving the white flag.
Thome, 39, is hitting .252-.375-.499 on the year, while the 35-yr old Dye is hitting .262-.343-.480. Thome is scheduled to become a free agent after the season, while Dye has a $12MM mutual option for next year. Linebrink, 33, has a 3.94 ERA in 48 relief appearances and is owed $10.5MM over the next two seasons.
The club took on over $100MM in future obligations when they acquired Jake Peavy and Alex Rios within the last month. If any teams move on any of the White Sox's veterans, they would have to acquire them by midnight tonight for them to be eligible for the postseason roster.
Odds And Ends: Mets, Mora, Peavy, Pirates
Some links to start the week off…
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post believes the Mets are more likely to trade for a number two starter than sign a free agent like John Lackey or Jarrod Washburn this offseason. Sherman can see the Mets pursuing Jose Contreras, who will also be a free agent after the season.
- Steve Melewski of MASN.com suggests it's time for the Orioles to move on from Melvin Mora, who has become unhappy in Baltimore.
- Mora told Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun that he'll play for "somebody else" next year.
- Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune says it's "not in the best interest of baseball" that the Padres had to trade Jake Peavy.
- There's a $7.3MM difference between what the Pirates will spend this year and what they expected to spend at the beginning of the season, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Odds & Ends: Contreras, Wedge, Izzy
This day in MLBTR history: On June 25, 2007, there was speculation that the Yankees might have interest in either Mark Buehrle or Jermaine Dye, and the sports world first got word that Ken Griffey Jr. wanted to retire as a Mariner. Oh, and we were still rocking the white-on-black layout. On to some links…
- Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that right-hander Jose Contreras is drawing interest among some scouts. The White Sox are not in selling mode just yet, but things could change between now and the July 31 trade deadline.
- According to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince, Indians manager Eric Wedge is well aware that his job is on the line. "[General manager] Mark [Shapiro] and I continue to talk daily, as we always have," Wedge told reporters Wednesday. "We've had conversations about everything. I don't think there are ever any guarantees in this game."
- Jason Isringhausen hasn't ruled out a return to baseball, according to MLB.com's Zach Schonbrun. After undergoing Tommy John surgery last week, however, he probably won't be ready to contribute until July of 2010.
Odds & Ends: Proctor, Dunn, Contreras
Links for Tuesday…
- According to Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Marlins reliever Scott Proctor is out for the season with Tommy John surgery. So that's $750K down the tubes, though Rodriguez wonders if they might re-sign him to an incentive-laden deal after the season.
- New blog post at Live to Play, Play to Live chronicling Miguel Angel Sano's 16th birthday party. His day began with a tryout for the Giants.
- Sports Illustrated names the game's best and worst owners.
- WEEI's Alex Speier says that if Daniel Bard never returns to the minors, he'll eventually be the second player to achieve Super Two status under Theo Epstein.
- Sam Miller of the OC Register asks who hangs up on a Jonathan Sanchez for Brandon Wood swap.
- I noticed that Preston Wilson surfaced with the Long Island Ducks. Brad Halsey, Dan Miceli, Ken Ray, and Lew Ford are also on the team, which is managed by Gary Carter.
- Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle has a bunch of new info on the Moneyball movie, which comes out in 2011.
- Adam Dunn told John Shea of the Chronicle that he was open to signing with the Giants but did not hear from them.
- Jose Contreras cleared waivers, which is not a surprise given the $8MM+ left on his contract.