Rosenthal On Blue Jays, Maddon, Nix
The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…
- Rosenthal praises Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi for all the successful home-grown pitching this year. Surprisingly, the Jays are second in the AL with a 3.85 ERA despite losing most of last year's rotation.
- Why no extension for Rays manager Joe Maddon? He's unsigned beyond this year.
- Rosenthal gives props to Reds left fielder Laynce Nix, one of the best minor league signees so far.
- The Around The Horn section of the column is packed with amusing tidbits; be sure to check it out.
Reds Sign Laynce Nix
A minor move to start the day – the Reds have signed outfielder Laynce Nix to a minor league deal, according to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Ken Rosenthal says Nix will earn $600K if he makes the Reds’ roster, with incentives that could push the total to $1.1MM. Nix, 28, hit .284/.348/.539 in 103 Triple A games this year in the Brewers organization. He came to Milwaukee in the big Carlos Lee deal of ’06. The Reds are short on outfield depth, and Nix might help.
Ringolsby’s Latest: Fuentes, Atkins, Holliday
Let’s take a look at the latest column from Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News.
- Rockies "closer of the future" Casey Weathers will miss the ’09 season due to elbow surgery. However, the Rox are still not likely to re-sign Brian Fuentes. Joel Sherman expects Fuentes to sign for three years, $36-39MM. Brad Lidge signed for three years, $37.5MM in July, but that was not on the open market. The Mets will be in on Fuentes.
- The Rockies are expected to trade one of Garrett Atkins or Matt Holliday this winter. The Phillies will inquire on both (they tried to acquire Holliday this summer). Ringolsby says the Red Sox have discussed Holliday internally and considers the Angels a match for Atkins. The Red Sox, however, are set at the corners with Jason Bay and J.D. Drew.
- Brothers Jayson and Laynce Nix are both free agents. Jayson, 26, hit .303/.373/.591 in Triple A. Laynce, 28, hit .284/.348/.539. Jayson plays second base, Laynce plays outfield.
Brewers Claim Todd Coffey
WEDNESDAY: According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Brewers claimed Coffey off waivers and designated Laynce Nix for assignment. With the Nix move, the Brewers’ summer ’06 bounty for Carlos Lee is all pretty much gone. They do have pitcher Jake Odorizzi, picked 32nd overall as compensation for Cordero.
TUESDAY: According to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds designated reliever Todd Coffey for assignment today. On his 28th birthday, no less. Coffey did a fine job in ’06 (even closing for a brief period), but has struggled since.
Coffey was known for his sprint in from the bullpen, but apparently he abandoned the practice last year. This year, Coffey dropped 25 pounds in the offseason but subsequently lost a mile per hour off his fastball.
ESPN: Carlos Lee To Rangers
Breaking news from ESPN’s Keith Law:
"The Milwaukee Brewers are trading slugger Carlos Lee to the Texas Rangers as part of a multi-player deal, ESPN.com learned Friday.
The Brewers are sending Lee, minor-league outfield prospect Nelson Cruz and a player to be named later to the Rangers for relief pitcher Francisco Cordero and outfielders Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix."
Initial opinion: Jon Daniels got the best of Doug Melvin here. Daniels gets a player comparable to Mench in Cruz, only cheaper. He adds a huge addition to the middle of the lineup for the stretch run in Lee. Mench is at a crossroads, Cordero is really just an OK 31 year-old reliever with saves under his belt, and Nix has been long on promise but short on results. It seems that Melvin is trying to stay competitive and get some players for the future for Lee at the same time, so Brewers fans have to respect that.
Interesting side note: according to Baseball Prospectus, Kevin Mench‘s most comparable player is Carlos Lee. I wonder how often a player has been traded for the player most similar to him?
I’ll have fantasy analysis of the trade on RotoAuthority sometime this afternoon.