Padres Eyeing Mike Sweeney
The Padres "have expressed mild interest" in Mike Sweeney, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. The problem would be finding a fit for Sweeney. First base or left field would be the logical choices but between the presence of Adrian Gonzalez and Sweeney’s fragility, both seem a long shot. And there’s no fit at catcher either, if you really want to stretch your imagination.
Crasnick notes that Padres GM Kevin Towers has found the talks for Xavier Nady or Matt Murton to be "slow going," so maybe he’s trying to get creative.
Sweeney, 35, has been a Royal his entire career. He hasn’t topped 100 games or an .800 OPS since ’05. It was said in mid-December that Sweeney’s agent had been in touch with the Royals and two other teams.
Odds and Ends: Johan, Hudson, A-Rod, Dallas
Collection o’ links…
- LENIII has a Johan Santana update…nothing groundbreaking going on, pretty much looks like the Yanks and Red Sox are still both involved.
- The Brewers were apparently pretty deep in discussions for Miguel Tejada during the Winter Meetings.
- After a year out of baseball Javy Lopez is back with the Braves on a minor-league deal. Remember when he slugged .687 with 43 home runs in 457 ABs? Good times.
- Nick Piecoro has some chatter about Orlando Hudson, who hits free agency after the ’08 season. The most interesting part is that Hudson refers to Bob Melvin as "Bo-Mel." It’s the same story with Hudson – he’d like an extension, the D’Backs are noncommittal. You never know – I certainly didn’t expect them to re-up Eric Byrnes. But as of right now it seems like Hudson will walk.
- Alex Rodriguez is not on speaking terms with Scott Boras…let’s all hope they reconcile, they were a great couple.
- Barry Jackson says the Marlins have their eye on Dallas McPherson. The Giants are known to be interested as well.
- Mike Sweeney‘s agent has been in touch with the Royals as well as two other clubs. I think he might have to accept a bench role this year.
Odds and Ends: Cook, Benoit, Griffey, Riske
Some random tidbits that didn’t get their own posts today…
- The Rockies picked up Aaron Cook‘s $4.5MM option as expected. The bigger question is whether they can sign him long-term, maybe for three years. They also passed on LaTroy Hawkins for $3.75MM but may still sign him.
- The Rangers agreed to a two-year contract with reliever Joaquin Benoit for two years and $6MM. He would’ve hit free agency after 2008. Smart move would be to let him rack up 10-15 saves next season and then trade him for something good.
- The Braves aren’t expected to get their next center fielder through free agency, and Terence Moore suggests trading for Ken Griffey Jr. to fill the position. More reasonable targets might be David DeJesus or Coco Crisp.
- The Royals may yet retain David Riske, who wants a multiyear deal and would like to stay. They’ll definitely offer him arbitration, since he’s a Type B free agent. Also, longtime Royal Mike Sweeney might finally play elsewhere.
- Free agent Shawn Chacon is looking to start in 2008, and he’ll make over $4MM.
- Charley Walters says the Twins won’t pursue Barry Bonds. If Bonds is to land in the AL, the Orioles, Devil Rays, Royals, Angels, and A’s may be his only options.
- McCovey Chronicles suggests a Noah Lowry for Bill Hall swap.
Royals Considering Re-Signing Sweeney
The Royals are considering re-signing designated hitter and former face of the franchise Mike Sweeney for 2008. Sweeney, one of baseball’s nice guys, had this to say:
"I think this team is going to turn into a winning team real soon, and I definitely want to be here when it happens. Next year, rather than being tagged with being the $11 million man, I’ll be the guy who is getting $11 over the minimum."
If his back will allow it, Sweeney might try to play another couple of seasons in hopes of reaching the playoffs as a Royal. He tried yoga last winter and had the usual quotes about feeling great. In May he even talked about moving back behind the plate for ’08. But he was again sidelined, this time with a knee injury that required surgery.
The Royals may try to eke a little bit of defensive value out of young Billy Butler by using him at first base next year. That’d allow them to sign Sweeney for half a million bucks or so. It’s not like Butler would be putting in 150 games at first anyway; even 100 healthy games from Sweeney would be a surprise. There’s a myth that Sweeney hits when he’s out there, but a .252/.329/.423 line in 421 ABs since the start of ’06 says otherwise. The average DH is hitting .264/.350/.433 this year. If the Royals retain Sweeney, it’d be purely for his clubhouse qualities. They could easily find a DH to match Sweeney, even by calling up their own free talent guy in Craig Brazell.
Bob Dutton’s article notes that the Royals have a good $30MM to burn this winter, but want to focus on adding a starting pitcher. Here’s another look at the list. There are a number of interesting plays the Royals should consider – Freddy Garcia, Matt Clement, Bartolo Colon, Kyle Lohse, and even Curt Schilling (if he’d do Tampa Bay, why not KC.) If they’re looking to go young as they did with Gil Meche, I could see Lohse or Carlos Silva on a somewhat overpriced three or four-year deal. Yeah…I think Silva’s getting four years. And Lohse is represented by Scott Boras.
Will Royals Trade Mike Sweeney?
For years, Mike Sweeney may have been the only Royal a casual fan was able to name. Gil Meche, Alex Gordon, and others are changing that these days. Sweeney is on his last leg, finally reaching the contract year of his painful five-year, $55MM deal. (I’m surprised the Royals didn’t do 5/54 with Meche just to block out the Sweeney contract).
Sweeney is earning $11MM this year to DH for the Royals. This time around, he’s all about yoga and the health vibe remains positive. It’s all his back. He’s spent about 30% of the last three seasons on the disabled list. I’m sure the Royals would love to keep him relatively healthy and effective leading up to the break and send him packing. There was some talk of the Angels acquiring him in seasons past but it never went too far, mostly because the Royals were asking for too much.
Let’s say Sweeney was a free agent this year instead of next. I think the most he could command is $4MM guaranteed as someone’s DH. That would make him worth $2MM tops at the deadline, so the Royals would have to eat $9MM. Might be worth it to allow Billy Butler (BA’s #25 prospect) a half-season trial in the bigs and get a prospect back. Of course, the more likely scenario is that Butler is granted his chance when Sweeney hits the DL.
Tim’s take: Chance of a midseason trade of Mike Sweeney – 20%.