Odds and Ends: Pettitte, Hampton, Tazawa, Blalock
Let’s round ’em up…
- Chat today, 2pm CST.
- Andy Pettitte seems to want to play next year, but Peter Abraham believes he may have to take a pay cut.
- Gerry Fraley writes about the Rockies and Mike Hampton. It’s safe to rule out a return to Colorado for Hampton, who is currently auditioning for his next team.
- The Royals dismissed their scouting director Deric Ladnier, offering him another position in the organization. Craig Brown reflects on Ladnier’s tenure.
- More Royals linkage: Rany Jazayerli defends the Gil Meche signing and implores the team to lock up Zack Greinke this winter. Jazayerli would also like the team to pick up knuckleballer Charlie Haeger, recently designated for assignment by the White Sox.
- Patrick Newman continues to update us on Japanese amateur pitcher Junichi Tazawa, who is coveted by several MLB teams. If Tazawa starts a trend, an interesting debate could follow. Newman also has a running list of Japanese free agents for this winter.
- Bobby Valentine may be clashing with his boss over in Japan.
- Will the Rangers cut Hank Blalock loose, or exercise his $6.2MM option? Blalock’s ability to play third base remains a question mark, but he will try to improve his arm strength this winter.
- Neither the Pirates nor Pedro Alvarez‘s people will be present at today’s hearing. ESPN’s Buster Olney says Alvarez can’t win – he’s either villified in Pittsburgh or forced into next year’s draft. In the latter case, Alvarez could lose money down the line.
Odds and Ends: Indians, Rays, Jays
Time to cobble together today’s links.
- The Dodgers designated Tanyon Sturtze for assignment. The 37 year-old pitched only 2.1 innings for the big club.
- Dejan Kovacevic does not believe the Pedro Alvarez issue will prevent the Pirates from working with Scott Boras in the future.
- RotoAuthority assembles a fantasy team entirely of players who went undrafted in March.
- Dave Cameron wonders if the Indians will make a trade due to their catching surplus.
- Rays Index wants to make it clear that drafting high is only a small factor in the Rays’ success.
- Drunk Jays Fans caught an amusing exchange between a fan and GM J.P. Ricciardi on his radio show.
- Dave O’Brien ponders the possibility of a Mike Hampton trade. In another post, he mentions that reliever Will Ohman was claimed on waivers and pulled back.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Kotsay, Fuentes, Glavine, Smoltz
On August 18th, Rosenthal mentioned Mark Kotsay had cleared waivers, and that Brian Fuentes had not yet been placed. Here’s an update, from today’s Inside Pitch video:
- The Brewers and Red Sox are both showing interest in Kotsay. The Brewers would only pursue a trade if Ryan Braun‘s ribcage injury worsens, and so far he looks more than fine. The Sox made a play for lefty-hitting Brian Giles before Giles vetoed the deal, so it makes sense that they’d exert similar effort toward Kotsay. Even more so now that J.D. Drew has a herniated disc.
- Fuentes is expected to be put on waivers this week, a process that’s not usually made public, let alone announced, so the Rockies must be keen to see if they can do better in a trade than the two first round draft picks they get by keeping Fuentes. According to Rosenthal, as things stand, the Dodgers currently have waiver priority. If they pass for salary reasons, the Phillies could be a roadblock for the Mets.
- Rosenthal also mentions a delicate situation in Atlanta: Tom Glavine and John Smoltz both want to pitch next year, and Glavine only wants to pitch for the Braves. The Braves are faced with re-signing the inevitable Hall of Famers without being as reliant on their health as they were this year, or letting them go despite their long history with the team. Toss Mike Hampton‘s arm into the mix as well.
Odds and Ends: Gallardo, NPB, Braves
Today’s link collection…
- Check out the latest MLB Roundup video. The crew hands out April awards, assesses Billy Beane’s gameplan, and looks at Jeff Ma’s third-place Tout Wars team.
- RotoAuthority helps Yovani Gallardo owners pick up the pieces and find a replacement (he has a torn ACL). The Brewers have guys they can plug in but Gallardo seemed primed for a stellar season. They’ll keep an eye on the trade market.
- Mike Hampton could retire, but it’s highly unlikely that he’ll abandon the rest of his ’08 salary.
- Nippon Professional Baseball might shorten the tenure needed for free agency, except for those looking to go overseas. Players hoping to jump from Japan to MLB would still have to serve nine years or be posted.
- In the sidebar of this article, Ken Rosenthal suggests that Frank Wren will explore the trade market for starting pitching but won’t overpay for mediocrity. Tracy Ringolsby wonders whether the Braves will consider re-acquiring Kevin Millwood.
Braves Notes: Hampton, Lowry, Andruw
Mike Hampton makes $15MM next year, and the Braves aren’t getting any relief from the Rockies or Marlins. However, it turns out the Braves actually spread around those payments so that they’d pay out about $8MM to Hampton in each year of the deal.
This is confirmed by Bill Shanks of Scout.com, for starters. Shanks notes that the Braves owe $8.25MM to Hampton next year because of amortization. I’ve heard that David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said something similar in the comments of one of his blog posts, but it’s been buried somewhere. Bottom line, the Braves have $7MM more than we thought they did. A $95MM payroll would give Atlanta some wiggle room to add a starter.
It’s not a stretch to add Tom Glavine, with this new information. However, O’Brien thinks the Braves need more. While Dan Haren or Joe Blanton may be out of reach, Noah Lowry seems a more realistic target. The point is to find a decent young controllable arm.
O’Brien’s also got some early interested parties in Andruw Jones: the Dodgers, Rangers, Giants, White Sox, Nationals, Phillies, and Mets. Seems like the idea of moving Beltran to right field has been discussed within the Mets organization. The Dodgers, I imagine, would shift Juan Pierre to left field.
Hampton Injury May Force Trade
Mike Hampton injured his side this morning and could miss all of April or more. At the bottom of his article, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman mentions that the injury may prompt the Braves to scour the trade market for a starting pitcher. Right now the front four are Smoltz, Hudson, James, and Davies. Lance Cormier could fill in for Hampton if Schuerholz doesn’t find a reasonable trade.
One available starter might be the Cubs’ Wade Miller, assuming he is healthy but does not win the fifth starter job. I imagine the Phils won’t send Jon Lieber over to the Braves. Brad Penny‘s stock seems down lately, and he could be an option. And don’t forget that the Braves may have had someone on hand to watch Carl Pavano pitch a few days ago.
The Tigers might have a small surplus with Zach Miner apparently pushed out of the rotation by Mike Maroth. The Braves sent Miner to the Tigers for Kyle Farnsworth in July of ’05. Paul Byrd is another former Brave who might be available. And I’m sure Shawn Chacon could be had for a decent-sized bag of peanuts. Plus there’s the Rockies, with Josh Fogg or Byung-Hyun Kim seen as expendable. Finally, as mentioned in the comments, Mark Redman is still a free agent.