Odds & Ends: Matsui, Cardinals, Arb Offers
Links for Monday…
- MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan wonders if Bobby Crosby could be a match for the Rangers as a utility infielder.
- MLB.com's Mychael Urban has an update on free agent lefty Mark Mulder.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball analyzes Tim Lincecum's possible 2010 salary, and predicts the pitcher might submit $16.8MM against the Giants' $8MM figure.
- ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that Hideki Matsui's marketability is not a factor for the Yankees.
- Alex Speier of WEEI examines the chances of Roy Halladay remaining a workhorse over the next several seasons.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch doesn't see geography as a big factor for Matt Holliday. Meanwhile, Bernie Miklasz of the P-D doesn't understand Albert Pujols' reasoning as to why he needs to wait to discuss an extension.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart asks readers to predict the Astros' arbitration decisions for free agents. Jose Valverde and LaTroy Hawkins are tough calls in that it makes sense but we're not sure if the Astros will. We'll have predictions on all Type A/B free agents later today.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel explains why he feels only Felipe Lopez will get an arbitration offer from the Brewers.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says the Marlins are leaning against offering arbitration to Type B free agents Kiko Calero and Nick Johnson. Calero might be worth it.
- Jon Weisman of Dodgers Thoughts says the Dodgers' arbitration decisions won't necessarily be influenced by the McCourts' divorce.
- Staying with this theme, FanGraphs' Dave Cameron looks at the factors that should influence a team's arbitration-offer decision.
- Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports look at the market for Miguel Tejada.
- Morosi suggests ten teams that should talk to the Tigers about Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, and Edwin Jackson.
- Jacob Jackson of Athletics Nation has a detailed offseason plan for the A's.
- Righty Miguel Batista told Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times that he has a few contenders interested in his services.
- Notes from NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman: the Orioles are eyeing pitcher Hisanori Takahashi, and Hideki Okajima would like a contract extension (he's under team control through 2012 as an arbitration-eligible player).
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the fates of Jeff Karstens, Robinzon Diaz, and Justin Thomas will be decided today.
- Elmer Dessens doesn't have a contract with the Mets quite yet, writes Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News.
Odds & Ends: Jaramillo, Varitek, D’Backs
Links for Wednesday…
- Longtime Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo turned down a one-year offer from the team and will explore free agency, according to Evan Grant. Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune thinks Jaramillo would be a perfect addition to the Cubs.
- According to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, the Royals re-signed three players eligible for minor league free agency: Scott Thorman, Kelvin Villa, and Carlos Rivas.
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says this year's free agent class is pretty darn interesting, even if it lacks top-level talent.
- Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald considers free agent alternatives should the Red Sox fail to sign Jason Bay.
- McAdam's colleague Michael Silverman talked to agent Scott Boras, who had this to say about Jason Varitek's future: "Theo and I will be talking about Tek whenever he deems the time appropriate."
- The Giants don't have much money to spend this winter unless they raise payroll, says Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says the Diamondbacks aren't likely to change their core, but the clubhouse could use a dose of veteran leadership.
- The Rays ought to target free agent reliever Kiko Calero, in the opinion of Tommy Rancel of DRays Bay.
- Padres third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff has no control over his future, but wants to stay in San Diego according to Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
- Dodgers manager Joe Torre doesn't anticipate working past his current contract, which runs through 2010 (according to the AP).
- Jose Cruz was shocked to be dismissed from his coaching job with the Astros, according to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle.
Odds & Ends: Chen, Mets, White Sox
An action-packed set of links for Wednesday…
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a report about MLB teams, the Cubs included, watching Chunichi Dragons pitcher Wei-Yin Chen's last start. It's possible Chen will be a free agent after the season. The Taiwanese southpaw has a 1.45 ERA this year and would be in high demand.
- MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone does not believe the team will non-tender starter John Maine after the season. Maine, coming back from a shoulder injury, may start Sunday.
- SNY's Ted Berg says this is a terrible time to trade Jose Reyes.
- R.J. Anderson of DRays Bay sees a trade more likely than a non-tender for catcher Dioner Navarro.
- Over at FanGraphs, Anderson notes that Kiko Calero (10.8 K/9) is a "nice sleeper candidate" among free agent relievers. Calero's strikeout rate ranks behind only Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, Rich Harden, and Octavio Dotel among free agent pitchers with at least 40 innings.
- Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told MLB.com's Jason Beck the Magglio Ordonez vesting option situation "speaks for itself." 23 more plate appearances for Maggs, and the Tigers have him at $18MM for 2010.
- Among the topics in Mark Gonzales' Chicago Tribune White Sox mailbag: the Brandon Allen–Tony Pena swap and the possibility of the Sox pursuing Chone Figgins. In another article, Gonzales notes that Ozzie Guillen wants Freddy Garcia ($1MM club option) as his fifth starter next year.
- Jack Curry of the New York Times has the story on the Newark Bears, and independent league club that has chosen to stock its roster with recognizable former big leaguers trying to claw their way back to the Show.
- An AL scout told Tom Krasovic "Oakland got smoked" in the Scott Hairston trade. The Padres received pitchers Sean Gallagher, Ryan Webb, and Craig Italiano in the July 5th trade (Gallagher was named later).
- WEEI's Alex Speier says the Red Sox announced the signing of Cuban shortstop Jose Iglesias to a four-year Major League deal beginning next year (it's worth $8.25MM).
Marlins Sign Kiko Calero, Jason Standridge
According to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald, the Marlins signed pitchers Kiko Calero and Jason Standridge to minor league deals.
Calero, 34, was last useful in 2006 when he logged 58 innings of 3.41 ball for the A’s. He dealt with a torn rotator cuff in 2008. Calero was part of the 2004 trade that Daric Barton and Dan Haren to Oakland for Mark Mulder.
Standridge, 30, pitched in Japan last year. He’s logged 127 innings in the Majors at various stops. He was the Rays’ first round pick in ’97 (#31 overall).
Odds and Ends: LaRoche, Bonds, Salazar
As America collectively recovers from yesterday’s festivities, here are some odds and ends from the world of baseball.
- The Rangers signed 33 year-old reliever Kiko Calero to a minor league deal. Calero is currently pitching with a torn rotator cuff.
- The Dodgers’ Andy LaRoche commented to XM Radio on the idea of a C.C. Sabathia acquisition. He doesn’t seem to acknowledge that he could be part of such a deal.
- Larry King chatted with Barry Bonds a couple of weeks ago. His impression is that Bonds would like to play but doesn’t expect an offer. King also mentions an interesting unsubstantiated Boston rumor.
- Joe Frisaro of MLB.com thinks newly-DFA’ed Joe Borowski could be an option for the Marlins.
- The D-Backs DFA’d Jeff Salazar. The 27 year-old outfielder hit .202/.319/.333 in 117 plate appearances this year.
- With his salary due to more than double next year, Bronson Arroyo knows that this is "the prime year for me to be traded."
Paul Moro writes for UmpBump.com and can be reached here. Tim Dierkes also contributed to this post.
Oakland Designates Calero For Assignment
To make room for RHP Santiago Casilla, the Oakland A’s have designated reliever Kiko Calero for assignment.
The 33-year old Calero began the season on the disabled list with a torn rotator cuff and finally returned on May 30th. Since then, the righty reliever was used very sparingly, only pitching 4 2/3 innings in five appearances in 2008 and had a 3.86 ERA over this span. Last year, Calero’s season ended in early September due to the rotator cuff injury and he had also missed three weeks in July with a sore shoulder.
Oakland now has ten days to waive, trade, or release him.
Paul Moro is a writer for UmpBump.com and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Rowand, A-Rod, Calero, Clemens
Some odds and ends floating about…
- Andrew Baggarly has the structure of Aaron Rowand‘s new deal. It’s quite backloaded and has partial no-trade protection after the first year.
- The Yankees made A-Rod’s ten-year deal official.
- The A’s quickly moved to sign Kiko Calero to a one-year deal the day after non-tendering him. I mentioned here that he was a solid reliever for four years prior to 2007.
- The Rocket denies the steroid allegations. Thoughts?
Today’s Non-tenders: Towers, Prior, Everett, Durbin
Tim’s out for the night, so we’ve got a fresh post started for the non-tenders. MLB.com has a running list as well.
These guys are the officials as of now:
- As expected, the Marlins non-tendered catcher Miguel Olivo. Johnny Estrada was another casualty; these two make up the market for starting catchers.
- The Blue Jays non-tendered Josh Towers, a surprising move. Some NL team could offer him two years and get league average work out of him.
- Mark Prior has been non-tendered. Honestly if I were the Cubs, I would’ve tossed the $3.5MM his way just to see.
- Aaron Miles is now a free agent.
- The A’s cut Kiko Calero loose.
- The Padres have non-tendered four: Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, and pitchers Jack Cassell and Ryan Ketchner. RotoWorld speculates that the latter two, not arbitration eligible, could be offered minor league deals.
- The Royals cut the cord on Emil Brown. He turns 33 soon; he hit an ugly .257/.300/.347 in 2007. Brown earned $3.45MM in ’07.
- The Tigers non-tendered Chad Durbin, toss him into the free agent pool. Guess those trade talks with the Bucs didn’t work out.
- The Twins have let go Jason Tyner.
- The Nats have cut bait with Nook Logan and LHP Michael O’Connor.
- The Dodgers wave goodbye to Mark Hendrickson.
- The White Sox have non-tendered Andy Gonzalez and LHP Heath Phillips. Joe Crede sticks with the Pale Hose for now.
- Adam Everett has lost his job with the Astros. It’d be kind of funny if the Orioles signed him.
- Per RotoWorld, the Angels have non-tendered Dallas McPherson. He’s full of potential, but he’s never come through. He’s only 27, though, so he could still catch on somewhere. Unless, RotoWorld notes, he has an agreement in place with the Angels.
- The Braves have non-tendered Willie Harris, though he had already been DFA’d.
–Joe and Tim
Joel Sherman’s Ten Trade Candidates
Joel Sherman of the New York Post has an article today regarding ten veterans who may be traded this month. He’s packed the column full of insider info beyond the ten players highlighted; check it out.
- Mark Teixeira is now more likely to be dealt than Eric Gagne. Sherman sees the Angels as perhaps the best possibility here; they’d have to include Casey Kotchman. I imagine Ervin Santana‘s stock is down far enough that the Rangers would not settle for the two.
- The Indians appear to be out on Gagne but the Tigers still make sense for all parties. Would Todd Jones graciously step down from his closer post? Detroit’s bullpen has actually been doing well lately.
- The Royals want a righthanded-hitting center fielder in return for Octavio Dotel. Now that’s a tall order. Sherman names Lastings Milledge and Carlos Gomez as two who fit the bill, but such a trade would require young talent like Zack Greinke coming back to the Mets. Just speculating, but Melky Cabrera and Reggie Willits also fit the Royals’ need.
- Apparently the Mariners and Braves are "very interested’ in Dmitri Young. That’s the first I’ve heard of a team besides Atlanta inquiring.
- Oddly, the Devil Rays appear to have some interest in Kyle Farnsworth if the money can be worked out. They like Scott Proctor as well, so keep an eye on that Ty Wigginton rumor. Sherman mentions that the market is heavy with available role players, so look for a lot of boring deals with that type of player. Just kidding, trade rumors are never boring. Sherman tosses out Tadahito Iguchi to the Padres; that’s a fresh one.
- Sherman runs down all of the available relievers we already know about. Throw Kiko Calero in there as a new name.