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Kyle Farnsworth

Graziano’s Latest: Schoeneweis, Rhodes, Pavano

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Here’s a look at the fresh rumors from Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger.

  • The Yankees, Tigers, Rangers, and Rays have talked to the Mets about Scott Schoeneweis.  The Mets might prefer to acquire a replacement if they move Schoeneweis.  Arthur Rhodes is one possibility if he doesn’t end up in Florida.  Geoff Baker believes it’s down to the Marlins and Brewers for Rhodes, with the other getting Eddie Guardado.
  • The Yanks might have to acquire a reliever now that they’ve dealt Kyle Farnsworth.  Rhodes isn’t on their radar though.
  • The Ivan Rodriguez trade could kick off other trades for catchers.
  • The Yankees have been getting calls on Carl Pavano.  One unconfirmed rumor has the Mets interested.

Odds And Ends: Lowry, Street, Farnsworth, Roberts

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Just a few loose links for Saturday morning.

  • Billy Beane has talked to Alan Hendricks, agent for closer Huston Street, about an extension. However, they have been informal talks, with no specifics to mention. Don’t expect much movement on this front until we get deeper into the season and see where the A’s really stand.
  • Brian Roberts is relieved now that the trade rumors are dead. "I know where I’m going to be on a nightly basis now, at least," Roberts said. "It is a relief because I think everybody wants stability in their life, but I understand that doesn’t always happen. If it comes up again, I’ll deal with it."
  • Brian Sabean talked about the possibility of a six-man rotation once Noah Lowry returns to action in May. The article says that this "ensure that the youngest and most prized starters, Cain and Lincecum, are not overtaxed in a rebuilding season." But you still need them to get their innings in. Lincecum, for instance, pitched 177.1 innings last year. You’d like to get him to 200 this year, which would be difficult in a six-man rotation environment.
  • It looks like Kyle Farnsworth will be suspended for throwing at Manny Ramirez the other night. I know it’s not a transaction rumor. But won’t punishing retaliation just mean more preemptive aggression?

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski, who writes for River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog.

Odds and Ends: Cabrera, Blanton, Haren, Sabathia

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Let’s round ’em up.

  • Indians GM Mark Shapiro will soon get a contract extension offer for C.C. Sabathia approved by ownership.  Then he’ll put that in front of Sabathia’s agent, with an eye on resolving the situation one way or another before Spring Training.  Shapiro’s model will not be Johan Santana’s upcoming deal but rather Jake Peavy’s three-year, $50MMish extension.
  • White Sox outfielders Ryan Sweeney and Brian Anderson might be on the fringe.  The Marlins, if I recall correctly, once had interest in Anderson as a center field option.
  • Miguel Cabrera is out to prove he’s a good athlete and can stay at third base – he’s beginning a rigorous workout program like nothing he’s ever done before.
  • The D’Backs could pursue Joe Blanton or Dan Haren, while the Yankees may turn to Haren if they fail to acquire Johan.
  • The Yankees are receiving a lot of interest in The Farnz, according to Brian Cashman.

Orioles Notes: Crisp, Burnett

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The always-informed Jeff Zrebiec has a few Orioles tidbits for us.

  • The Orioles didn’t engage in conversations with agents for any free agents during the GM meetings – just trade talks with other teams (about 15 total).
  • President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said that he’s open to trading with other teams in the AL East.  He just wants the best deal. 
  • With that in mind, two Yankees who interest the Orioles are Melky Cabrera and Kyle Farnsworth.  The Yankees could employ Miguel Tejada at third base, if he’s willing.
  • The O’s could have some interest in Coco Crisp, though he’s not atop their list.  But they do need some kind of center fielder.
  • The team’s ears perked up at the availability of A.J. Burnett, even though he makes no sense for them.

Yanks Have Interest In Tejada

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The Orioles may have two third basemen to offer up this winter: Miguel Tejada and Melvin Mora.

Tejada’s mind would need to be changed – he still doesn’t want to move to third.  But the Yankees do have interest, and I can think of 13 million reasons Tejada would change his stance.  Tejada came up as part of the inclusive list I came up with the night A-Rod opted out.  The Orioles’ focus would be to acquire position players, so you’d have to think Melky Cabrera or Robinson Cano would be targeted.  Tyler Kepner adds that the Orioles would like to acquire Kyle Farnsworth in a Tejada deal.  I doubt the Yankees would have a problem with that.  The Yanks would have to make a very strong offer to convince the O’s to help their division rival.

One third baseman I didn’t include on my list was Melvin Mora.  While Mora wants to remain with Baltimore, he said yesterday that he’d consider waiving his full no-trade clause if the Orioles asked him.  They haven’t yet.  Mora’s a below average offensive third baseman, hitting .274/.341/.418 last year.  Mora will make roughly $17MM from 2008-09.  He doesn’t figure to be a hot commodity.

Failed Trades

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Let’s take a look at some deals that almost happened yesterday.

Kyle Farnsworth for Bob Wickman.  This would’ve been fun, reunions with former teams for both players.  However, the Braves wanted the Yankees to pick up all of Farnsworth’s salary, apparently.  Brian Cashman didn’t want to make him go away that badly, and Wickman would probably be a nonfactor back in the AL.

Mariners acquire Mark Loretta.  Eh.  Let’s not overstate the abilities of Loretta.  It sounds like Tim Purpura wanted some kind of legitimate prospect for him.

Rockies send Jeff Baker and others to Tampa Bay for Dan Wheeler.  We can’t really evaluate this one without knowing who else would’ve been involved.  And the Rays don’t really have a place to play Baker; they’re already squeezed finding playing time for Jonny Gomes.  If Rocco Baldelli ever gets healthy they’ll really have a pickle.  I mentioned in a recent interview at D-Rays Bay – Wheeler would probably be one of the ten best relievers available if he was a free agent after the season.  The Rays can pump up his value and get a promising young pitcher next year, as the Royals did with Octavio Dotel.    

Brewers send Tony Gwynn Jr., Zach Jackson, and another minor league for Eric Gagne.  This could’ve been the difference-maker that Scott Linebrink ain’t in a tight NL Central race.  But it doesn’t seem like Doug Melvin got a chance to counter the Red Sox offer, so you can’t really fault him.

Red Sox send Wily Mo Pena and Craig Hansen to White Sox for Jermaine Dye.  Well, there has to be some statistical way to evaluate whether this pair beats two draft picks.  You’d have to know the attrition rates of first/second rounders, and get some scouts on Pena and Hansen to see if they can ever reach their potential.  If I was the Kenny Williams I probably would’ve made the deal.  I think Pena gets docked in value from where he was two years ago, but still has pretty much the same upside if you manage him right.  Who knows, maybe Williams will go after Pena again this winter.

Farnsworth’s Trade Value Slips Further?

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The Yankees brought Kyle Farnsworth in for a junk appearance yesterday against Baltimore.  They were up 10-6 and probably wanted to get him out there for scouts one last time (A Tigers scout was indeed watching).  He was working around 93-94 but touched 96.  He threw only a handful of sliders.  Farnsworth allowed a two-run home run to Brian Roberts in the inning.

But an incident took place that may further decrease his trade value, according to George King.  King describes it:

Brought into yesterday’s game against the Orioles at Camden Yards with a six-run bulge in the eighth inning, Farnsworth not only walked the first batter and gave up a two-run homer, he crossed up Jorge Posada and then had the audacity to walk off the mound when the catcher went to talk to him about why he threw a fastball that hit Posada in the arm when Posada called for a slider. Things became so heated Alex Rodriguez played peacemaker on the mound.

I just watched the incident in question twice.  The New York cameramen either did a lousy job capturing the incident or purposely decided not to show it.  Posada definitely glared at Farnsworth after the cross-up; he took a 95 mph heater off the wrist because the pitcher missed the sign.  Then the catcher was shown calling time-out but the broadcast cut to replay until Posada returned to his position.  So the entire confrontation on the mound was missed.  Farnsworth was shown swearing to himself and muttering before he threw the next pitch.

When asked afterward if he and Posada were OK, Farnsworth simply said, "We’ll see."  He also complained about not pitching enough.

As I’ve said before, the Yankees would seemingly have to eat half of Farnsworth’s $5.5MM for 2008 in order to move him.  His velocity is down, his attitude is up – his value is pretty low right now even with relievers a hot commodity.  Jim Leyland may elect to keep this type of player out of his clubhouse.  Plus, those glasses Farnsworth wears are kind of weird.

Heyman On Eric Gagne

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman had a new post in the wee hours of the morning today.  The Yankees seem to be the frontrunner for Eric Gagne, while simultaneously trying to unload Kyle Farnsworth.

Gagne would set up Mariano Rivera in New York.  Gagne can’t veto this trade, even though working as a setup man would cause him to miss some of his incentives.  Heyman talks about the Yankees accomodating this problem, although they are under no obligation to do so.

The Yankees are being very possessive about their pitching prospects.  Beyond Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, they’ve deemed Ian Kennedy and Alan Horne off-limits.  Jeff Marquez and Tyler Clippard are two who could go to Texas for Gagne.  Not bad, but not the big names we’ve been expecting.

The Mets might pay some mind to Gagne, whose price couldn’t be higher than Chad Cordero’s.  The Mets are the other contender to can trade for Gagne without his approval.

As for Farnsworth, we’ve already heard the Tigers and Rockies have some interest.  Heyman adds the Dodgers to the mix; they inquired on him as a Plan B if they can’t get Octavio Dotel.

Tigers Notes

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Will Carroll has the scoop on which relievers the Tigers may be chasing:

The Tigers are also after a reliever, but they’re not willing to give up much, knowing that Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney are coming back. All rumors involving the Tigers seem to be centered on Kyle Farnsworth, but they’ve also looked at Rauch, and asked about Jason Isringhausen and Al Reyes.

Between getting guys back and being in the catbird seat in the AL Central with postseason odds around 86%, it seems likely to me that the Tigers stand pat.  After all, that seems to be what Jim Leyland thinks, as well.

By Jeff Sackmann
Brew Crew Ball

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