Odds and Ends: Manny, Johan, Saarloos
Here are some links I’ve rounded up for today. I like the analogy that the Odds and Ends posts are like a pack of baseball cards. You never know what you’ll get, and sometimes there’s gum.
- UmpBump explains why they expect Manny Ramirez to retire a Red Sox.
- Matthew Cerrone provides some new Johan Santana musings.
- RotoAuthority (which I write) ranks the 78 starting pitchers you should consider in your fantasy baseball mixed league.
- The A’s, admitting they need bodies, will bring Kirk Saarloos back on a minor league invite. He’ll be 29 in May; his claim to fame is winning ten games for the ’05 A’s.
- The Rangers will need to make roster space for Jason Jennings; could Jason Botts be DFA’d?
Gammons Chat: Crisp, Santana, Ramirez
The Boston Globe ran a chat with Peter Gammons today, and some good hot stove material came about.
- Gammons believes the Rangers or A’s could go after Coco Crisp if he’s not dealt to the Twins. He notes that "the A’s think he’s the best CF in the game right now," and that Billy Beane could acquire him to flip him.
- He says the Mets are currently trying to build up inventory to trade for Johan Santana, and that might be why Bill Smith hasn’t pulled the trigger on anything yet.
- Gammons believes the Red Sox will exercise Manny Ramirez‘s $20MM options for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He notes that Manny is getting himself into phenomenal shape this winter.
Will’s Mill
Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus is at the Winter Meetings, and filing reports daily. Best of all, his notes today are free:
The specific Manny Ramirez deal offered by the Dodgers that the Red Sox turned down was for Jonathan Broxton and Andy LaRoche. Sounds like it would take one more player (or an equivalent starter instead of Broxton) to get the deal done. Either that, or the Sox are just showing Manny how valuable he is, and how much they love him. I get the feeling that the Red Sox and Manny are like a Hollywood couple–let’s say Pam Anderson and Kid Rock–and all the troubles aren’t real, they’re just a way of keeping everybody’s name in the newspaper. All the time.
The Rangers are in on Mike Piazza. Anybody else think that Jon Daniels’s strategy is to bid on every single player Billy Beane shows interest in, driving up the price and making it impossible for Billy to acquire players? He did it with Frank Thomas before Thomas signed with the Blue Jays; maybe he’ll jump into the Alan Embree negotiations next.
Will also prints the idea that Barry Bonds would be well-served by waiting until May to start playing. Like Roger Clemens did last year, he could pick the team that looks best, and he wouldn’t suffer through a month of intensive coverage in March.
By Jeff Sackmann, Brew Crew Ball
Edes On The Manny Meetings
Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe is all over the Manny Ramirez dealings.
The Angels will meet with the Red Sox tonight, but would have to bite the bullet and part with Scot Shields to get the deal done. Why are they so reluctant to do this? Come on. Its Manny. Boston is also interested in Orlando Cabrera, Ervin Santana, and Jered Weaver. You can count Weaver out. That’s silly.
The Giants might get in on it instead. The buzz is that the Nats could wedge their way into a three-way trade involving the following players: Chad Cordero, Noah Lowry, J.J. Putz, and/or Rafael Soriano, and Jimmie J.J. Walker.
Earlier this afternoon Edes talked to a Dodger official who rated the team’s chances of acquiring Manny at 5% at best. So you’re saying there’s a chance.
Dodgers, Red Sox Meet On Manny
Ken Rosenthal reports that the Red Sox and Dodgers met late last night to discuss a possible Manny Ramirez trade. Rosenthal speculates that a package of Brad Penny, Andy LaRoche, and James Loney could get it done.
Rosenthal also mentions that Jacque Jones could be available and Brian Cashman is meeting with Ted Lilly‘s agent.
Latest On Manny Ramirez
Found via RotoWorld – Curt Schilling yesterday confirmed that Manny Ramirez "wants out of Boston." So that’s one roadblock out of the way – at least the does in fact desire a trade.
Meanwhile, Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe has a full update. He expects that Manny is going to want more money whether via his options exercised or just a contract extension. Theo Epstein is mum, but Edes says that the Sox have not spoken to the Dodgers on the topic. Edes mentions that the Padres are interested.
Murray Chass at the New York Times brings up the Mets, Giants, Padres, Rangers, Phillies, and Orioles as the suitors, naming Baltimore as a good fit. He says that last year the Orioles tried getting Jon Papelbon in a Manny deal and couldn’t pull it off.
Finally, from Buster Olney this morning in his blog:
"Heard that the Red Sox are kicking around specific names in their trade talks for Manny Ramirez, and that they feel they are going to get a good deal for Ramirez — if a deal is completed. To reiterate: If the Dodgers decide they want Ramirez, they will almost certainly get him because they have the most to offer."
Manny on the move?
For real, this time! Or not.
First off, Buster Olney thinks that Manny could be moved this week. Maybe for a less-than-perfect package. The team that keeps coming up is the Giants, but…how? I can’t imagine the Red Sox would be very interested in the Bay Area chapter of the AARP.
I’ve heard speculation that the Giants rumors persist because the Red Sox want to up the bidding from the Dodgers, but I haven’t seen or heard any details about that deal. I’d imagine it would include either James Loney or Andre Ethier, as one of those guys would end up on the bench if Manny came to L.A. (And, of course, the Red Sox would want something of quality in return.)
A Cubs source e-mailed that Chicago has offered Matt Murton, Bob Howry, Sean Gallagher and Donald Veal, and that Felix Pie hasn’t come up. That sounds like not quite enough, but if the Red Sox trade Manny, then turn around and sign J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo, the need for impact-quality major-league talent (say, Michael Young) is lessened. The same source indicates that the Mets and Braves are also interested.
Olney says, "you get the sense that the Red Sox are increasingly comfortable with the idea of moving Ramirez even if they aren’t offered a perfect package in return." If that’s true, it seems that the likelihood of a deal getting done is higher than ever. If Drew is ready to sign with the Red Sox, teams that want a big bat have very few options, and most of them are expensive. Manny’s contract has never looked better, and if the Red Sox aren’t asking for the moon, a trade looks very realistic.
By Jeff Sackmann
Much Ado About Manny
Buster Olney refers to Manny Ramirez‘s commitment thusly:
"Three years and $42 million because in the end, Ramirez, who has a full no-trade clause in his contract, will probably want a year added to the end of his current deal to make this happen. And the Red Sox will probably eat some of his salary — but not nearly as much as would have been required to make a trade happen even two months ago."
A host of teams would not balk at that relatively short-term commitment. And you can be damn sure Manny would far exceed 3/42 on the open market. What’s it gonna take?
Olney mentions Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman from the Mets. I think the Mets would jump on that one. Their NL East rival, the Phillies, will take a pass apparently.
Buster also threw out the Cubs and Astros as possibilities. The Cubs have promising young players like Donald Veal, Felix Pie, Carlos Marmol, and Sean Gallagher to offer. The Astros might offer players such as Jason Hirsh, Brad Lidge, Chris Burke, Luke Scott, or Willy Taveras. Certainly seems like Houston could offer a better package.
I doubt they’re interested, but could you imagine Manny on the White Sox?
Healey: Red Sox Like Heilman, Milledge
Mark Healey of Gotham Baseball has a new but familiar trade rumor for us: it appears that the Red Sox would like to acquire Aaron Heilman to be their closer next year. In addition, Theo Epstein and Co. may have their eye on Lastings Milledge. It could be the makings of a Manny Ramirez trade, if the Mets want to pay Ramirez’s $39MM salary over the next two seasons.
Healey was not able to confirm this info from multiple sources, but has faith in his Boston source here.
Manny’s contract may be slightly less daunting than it looks. That’s because $8MM of the $31MM is deferred and will be paid out in $1.94MM doses over 2011-2026. I believe that is the first time MLBTradeRumors has referenced the year 2026.
Angels Buzz
All sorts of good info coming from my Angels guy:
The Halos were recently close to a fairly big trade, but pulled back at the last minute. It may have been the much discussed Adam Kennedy for Shea Hillenbrand deal, but another one that was rumored to be close was Alfonso Soriano for Erick Aybar and Joe Saunders. The Soriano deal included a component where Jose Molina ended up a Yankee.
Now that Kendry Morales heated up and is holding his own in the middle of the L.A. lineup, the team plans on waiting until the All-Star break to make their move.
Also, word is that Arte Moreno has greenlighted Bill Stoneman for more salary room. Moreno craves Manny Ramirez or Miguel Tejada, someone who can truly make a difference of several wins for the Angels.
Finally, I’m told that Darin Erstad is "probably done for the season."