Sabean: Giants Will Not Be Sellers In ’08
Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle has some telling quotes from Giants GM Brian Sabean. Despite a 17-24 record and being 8.5 games behind the D-Backs in 3rd place of the NL West, Sabean says the Giants are not going to give up on the ’08 season and will not be trading off their veteran players.
"As long as we’ve got a chance to stay in and around third place, why not?" Sabean said as he stood along the dugout rail and watched his players take batting practice. "Why wouldn’t you want to think that way? These guys think that way"
"You’re seven games under .500. That’s where you don’t want to be, but I really feel good about the energy around the club and I feel good about some of our choices. We’ve now got a solution at first base. We’ve got a solution at third. We’ve gotten Omar (Vizquel) back. Freddie Lewis has come into his own and (Emmanuel) Burriss has been a real factor lately.
"I don’t think we’re going to lose as many games as we did last year. If anything, we’re going to be a second-half team."
These comments seem odd considering that the Giants have several players that would appear to be good candidates to be traded, including Ray Durham (free agent at end of year), Dave Roberts (on DL, $6.5MM in ’09), Omar Vizquel ($5.2MM team option in ’09), Rich Aurilia (free agent at end of year) and Bengie Molina ($6MM in ’09). Of course, even if Sabean did want to move those players, he might have a hard time without eating a good portion of the contracts remaining.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Jacque, Vizquel, Greinke
Today’s linkage…
- An MLBTR chat will take place in this space at 2pm CST – get your questions ready!
- I will also be hopping on ESPN-1580 (Columbia, MO) today at 4:20pm CST.
- Jacque Jones prefers to play for the Marlins…I imagine he will end up there.
- GM bloodlines courtesy of Batter’s Box.
- Omar Vizquel wants to play in ’09, if he has a good offensive year in ’08.
- The White Sox do not intend to overpay their 8th overall pick this June.
- The Royals haven’t had any extension talks yet with Zack Greinke, who would become a free agent after the 2010 season. Greinke says he doesn’t know what he’s worth. The market says about $11MM over the 2009-10 seasons.
- J.P. Ricciardi says he’s done tinkering with his offense.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Lidge, Daniel Cabrera, Bonds, Edmonds
Ken Rosenthal has a new column up. I put the Griffey info in a separate post; let’s discuss the rest.
- Rosenthal suggests that Brad Lidge would be harder to replace than Pat Burrell, and for that reason the Phillies will make a bigger effort to re-sign him. I imagine Phillies fans would prefer that course of action. The problem? The Phillies have little chance of offering four years, according to Jayson Stark.
- The Rangers will face a delicate situation in coming years: moving Michael Young to a different position. The chain reaction could make Hank Blalock available. Blalock has a club option for ’09 at $6.2MM.
- Aside from Rick Porcello replacing Kenny Rogers at some point, the questionable Detroit rotation is set and signed through 2010.
- One scout seems to think Daniel Cabrera has turned the corner and shouldn’t be traded. He’ll become a free agent after the 2010 season and earns $2.875MM this year.
- Though it might be seen as a desperation move, the Tigers don’t have much to lose by signing Barry Bonds. Gary Sheffield endorsed it.
- Rosenthal says the Rays and Jays are teams with "possible interest" in Jim Edmonds but are likely to pass. That leaves the Cubs.
- Will Jason Giambi find a job next year after the Yankees decline his option? He plans to try.
- The Red Sox asked about Mark Loretta during Spring Training as "infield insurance." Rosenthal suggests the Sox consider Omar Vizquel, a defensive upgrade over Julio Lugo.
Wanted: Major League Ready Shortstops
Both the San Francisco Giants and the Cincinnati Reds have lost their starting shortstops to injury recently. Omar Vizquel had surgery to remove torn cartilage from his knee, while Alex Gonzalez‘ ‘sore knee’ turned out to be a broken knee. In both cases, the players are not expected to be ready for opening day and neither team appears to have a major league-ready shortstop ready to step in. The best options for the Giants appear to be Kevin Fransden and Rich Aurilia. Fransden is a natural second baseman while Aurilia has not been a regular shortstop since 2004. The Reds are now stuck with Juan Castro and Jeff Keppinger. Like Fransden, Keppinger is a second baseman by trade and Castro is a journeyman shortstop with a career OPS of .605.
McCovey Chronicles recently suggested that the Giants needed to make a trade and their target should be Ben Zobrist of the Tampa Bay Rays. Zobrist, a switch-hitter, has impressive minor league numbers that have yet to register at the big league level. Zobrist posted a .428 OBP in the minors with a 176:234 strikeout to walk ratio. However, in parts of two seasons with the Rays, Zobrist has seen those numbers drop to .234 and 47:13 respectively. Now Zobrist is stuck behind Jason Bartlett whom the Rays acquired to shore up their defensive deficiencies. In addition super-prospect Reid Brignac may be ready for the big leagues in 2009.
That leads us to two questions: 1) What would it take to land Zobrist from the Rays? For the Giants, Pat Misch might get the deal done. For the Reds, maybe Bill Bray. 2) Are there any better options out there that either the Giants or the Redlegs could land to fill their holes at shortstop? Let us know in the comments.
Odds and Ends: Lowell, Sabathia, Polanco
I’m going to start up a catch-all Odds and Ends post for smaller rumors and notes today. Refresh to see it grow.
- A reader emailed me to tell me that Buster Olney said on XM Radio recently that there are talks of the Twins going after Scott Rolen. These reports can be tough to confirm, but there you go. UPDATE: Joe Christensen squashes this one.
- Mark Feinsand doesn’t think Epstein is keen on giving Mike Lowell even a three-year contract. He might get five on the open market. UPDATE: The Red Sox apparently have a three-year offer out to him, and he’s still mulling it over.
- The White Sox inquired about Bill Hall, but Kenny Williams and Doug Melvin couldn’t find a match.
- Baseball America weighs in on the Brad Lidge trade. BP’s Nate Silver gives his opinion here and here. He thinks the Phillies made a mistake.
- The Astros have contacted Jeremy Affeldt‘s agent. Also, Jim Molony speculates in this piece that speedy Josh Anderson could be expendable because of the Michael Bourn addition.
- Back to where it all began: the Dodgers have signed Chan Ho Park. No need for more starters now!
- Andy Pettitte hopes to tell the Yankees whether he’ll play by the New Year. Also, Ken Davidoff notes that the Yanks would prefer to trade Hideki Matsui over Johnny Damon, but Godzilla’s full no-trade clause would be the problem.
- Theo Epstein let Scott Boras pitch his entire client list last night, A-Rod included. There’s a very slight chance the Red Sox sign Eric Gagne, and a contract extension for Jason Varitek may have been discussed. Also I hear Boras did the hard sell on Bruce Chen. Just kidding. UPDATE: That slight chance for Gagne just went away, as he’ll be closing according to Boras.
- Mark Shapiro is preparing a contract extension offer for C.C. Sabathia; he’ll have to run it by the Dolans first. No surprise there. Paul Hoynes notes that Sabathia gets an extra $2MM for ’08 if he wins the ’07 Cy Young. Shapiro, by the way, would listen to offers on any player. I get the feeling the Indians could come from out of nowhere and do something big this winter.
- Could the Tigers send Placido Polanco to the Mets? Mark Healey suggests it.
- The Giants included a vesting option for 2009 in Omar Vizquel‘s deal. McCovey Chronicles weighs in.
Vizquel Close To Deal With Giants
According to Ken Rosenthal, Omar Vizquel is close to signing with the Giants for one year and $5.5MM. The White Sox had been in on him as well.
I guess the silver lining in this move is that Vizquel’s glove will be beneficial to a young pitching staff. But the 2008 Giants really shouldn’t be playing veterans if they don’t have to.
Giants Rumors: A-Rod, Vizquel, Feliz
Brian Sabean acknowledged today that he’ll kick the tires on Alex Rodriguez but admitted that it could hamstring the team financially. That’s right – he’s considering tying up half of the Giants’ payroll in two players. Signing with the Giants would be A-Rod embracing his mercenary reputation – the team has no chance of competing next year.
Additionally, Sabean mentioned that the Giants hope to re-sign Omar Vizquel and Pedro Feliz for the left side of their infield. Discussions have begun with Vizquel regarding a one-year pact with a vesting option. It’s a very solid defensive tandem, but neither can hit much these days. They don’t make much sense for a rebuilding team, unless the angle is to build confidence for the young pitchers.
Sabean also implies that he’ll seek to upgrade the Giants by shopping Noah Lowry or Jonathan Sanchez. Shopping Lowry for a solid controllable position player actually seems reasonable.
One other tidbit is that Ned Colletti admitted that the Dodgers are also considering A-Rod, though signing him is just one of many scenarios.
Carlos Guillen to Play 1B Next Season
The Tigers anticipated this. Carlos Guillen‘s okay with it. Despite signing Guillen in March to a 4 year deal for $48MM to begin next season, the shortstop is going to be moving across the diamond sooner than expected to play first base. The move is designed to protect his knees from the physical stresses of SS.
Tim argued that 4/48 was a bargain as long as he remained the Tigers’ shortstop. Unfortunately, it appears Manager Jim Leyland has had to talk him into moving to first, despite Guillen’s condition last week that the Tigers had to bring in a gold glove caliber replacement. However, Guillen now believes it’ll be better for the team and the longevity of his career.
Who then will be playing short for the Tigers in 2008? Omar Vizquel, David Eckstein, and Cesar Izturis are free agents that stick out. The Detroit Free Press notes there "could be other shortstops available in trade." Edgar Renteria seems to be a popular choice among MLBTR readers. Or will the Tigers make another attempt at Jack Wilson from Pittsburgh? Or would they stick with the in-house option of Ramon Santiago? The apparent good news is there are many options.
This also confirms the obvious: the Tigers have no plans to bring Sean Casey back.
Posted by: Nat Boyle
Giants Hope To Bring Vizquel Back For ’08
According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, there are "strong indications" that the Giants want Omar Vizquel to man shortstop for them in 2008. Vizquel is earning $4MM this year; perhaps $3MM or so would get it done for next year. Vizquel would like to come back. If his goal is 3,000 hits, though, that will take at least three more seasons.
Retaining Vizquel is not what I suggested in my Giants Needs and Luxuries post a few days ago. I understand that Vizquel’s sparkling defense helps the pitching staff and his veteran leadership can’t be measured. (Though one could make the argument that the pitching staff would be equally if less directly helped by a shortstop with some offensive value).
My ’08 Giants are committed to rebuilding, and that means giving Omar’s 600 plate appearances to a young player. Even if the Giants don’t specifically have a shortstop prospect ready to go, they can get more ABs for Kevin Frandsen if Vizquel isn’t around. I likened it to Ryan Theriot, who also probably doesn’t have the arm for a long-term stint at shortstop but can get it done. Or, the Giants can attempt to trade for their shortstop of the future this winter.
All that said, keeping Vizquel for ’08 wouldn’t be terrible. I wouldn’t do it, but there are sensible reasons to bring him back at a discount for one more season.
Vizquel Claimed Off Waivers, Pulled Back
On August 16th, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark mentioned that Omar Vizquel, among many others, had cleared waivers. Stark’s colleague Buster Olney heard differently, however. According to Olney, Vizquel was indeed claimed but no deal was reached and he was withdrawn. Olney believes the Tigers may have made the claim, or perhaps the Indians as a block.
Vizquel still doesn’t strike out much, but his batting average dipped to .245 this year. He could’ve helped a contender though. I’m not sure whether the Elias Bureau will rate him a Type A or B free agent after this year, as he was solid in 2006.
Here’s a look at the updated Players Who Have Cleared Waivers post; Jack Wilson is out there for whoever missed out on Vizquel.