Odds and Ends: Cabrera, Sabathia, Gillick
Your hot stove links for Thursday…
- Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun thinks the Blue Jays should consider Rafael Furcal. I concur. But even after missing most of ’08, Furcal probably won’t have to take a one-year deal unless he wants to.
- Phillies GM Pat Gillick didn’t rule out the possibility of returning to Toronto as the team president.
- River Ave. Blues doesn’t see the Yankees or Red Sox acquiring Matt Holliday.
- The Mariners are down to 10-12 names in their GM seach, before conducting a single interview.
- David Steele of the Baltimore Sun wants the Orioles to give Daniel Cabrera one more chance. Cabrera is arbitration-eligible and should earn at least $3MM in 2009.
- Jim Baumbach of Newsday looks at free agent considerations for the Yankees and Mets.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says there are indications the Giants will gauge C.C. Sabathia‘s interest in signing with them. I would be surprised to see the Giants win the bidding.
- Angels owner Arte Moreno seems willing to stretch payroll past $124MM for the right players. The Angels’ postseason performance will be a big factor.
- Central Maine Sports Blog talked to Gary Carter, Buster Olney, Brad Wilkerson, and others about the Montreal Expos.
Heyman’s Latest: Gillick, Pedro, Dempster, McLouth
Here’s a look at the latest column from SI.com’s Jon Heyman.
- Heyman is hearing "scuttlebutt" that GM Pat Gillick may not leave the Phillies after all.
- Theo Epstein’s new deal is worth about $7MM over three years, which might be highest among GMs.
- Pedro Martinez‘s agent insists Pedro will pitch next year. In May, Martinez said he wanted to pitch two or three more years a couple days after suggesting retirement was an option.
- Moises Alou is undecided on 2009.
- Cubs GM Jim Hendry expects to re-sign Ryan Dempster after the season.
- Heyman says the Yankees "will likely make a big play" for Nate McLouth. The Pirates center fielder is arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter, meaning he’s under team control for three more seasons. McLouth’s defense does not rate well (-21) under the previously discussed plus/minus system. Carlos Gomez is tops among CFs at +16. Rumored Yankees target Matt Kemp is a +1.
Several Teams Could Have New GMs In ’09
A few articles today take a look at some GM positions in ’09 that will have new faces…
- Michael Radano takes a look at who might fill the GM post for the Phillies in ’09. Based on the Phillies current success, Radano wonders if they should just promote from within. That would mean one of the team’s assistant GMs, Mike Arbuckle and Ruben Amaro Jr. Both Arbuckle and Amaro have interviewed with other teams for open GM positions in the past.
- Rick Freeman takes a look at the names most likely to end up as the GM in Seattle (John Hart, Gerry Hunsicker, Kevin Towers, Kim Ng) and the Phillies (Hunsicker, Arbuckle, Amaro Jr) noting that Hunsicker was the leading candidate for the same post three years ago prior to the hiring of Pat Gillick. He also notes that Kevin Towers will not likely be kept from interviewing with other teams this time around and Ned Colletti could be gone if the Dodgers miss the playoffs. Among the GMs that Freeman believes will remain with their current teams are Brian Sabean, Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein, the latter two of whom are in the final year of their respective contracts.
- A blogger interviewed Paul DePodesta. The Padres assistant General Manager sounds like somebody that has no interest in becoming a GM for another organization, saying "I think I’ve moved around enough and when you land in a place like San Diego there isn’t much incentive to leave. The reality is that I came here for a number of reasons, both professional (the people who work here) and personal (my wife’s family), so unless those things change I would like to stay here as long as they’ll have me." DePodesta may be waiting for Towers to move to another organization.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Hart, Ellis, Mientkiewicz, Varitek
Today’s random links…
- Ken Rosenthal discusses possible changes at various GM positions. Jon Heyman says Pat Gillick could take a high-ranking role with the Blue Jays if not the Mariners.
- Former Indians and Rangers GM John Hart is interested in the Mariners job. The Mariners hope to have their permanent GM hired by the end of October.
- A Japanese pitcher invented a new pitch called the shake.
- Eddie Bajek wonders if Mark Ellis could handle shortstop. It’s good to think out of the box given the free agent market at the position.
- Doug Mientkiewicz would like to spend another season as a Pirates clubhouse leader, but he’d also like more playing time.
- The trio of Blue Jays middle infielders react to the Angels rumor.
- DraftInfo chatted with MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo.
- Amalie Benjamin believes there’s a good chance the Red Sox re-sign Jason Varitek.
Heyman’s Latest: Holliday, Teixeira, Burnett, Blake
10:19pm: Angels GM Tony Reagins laughed at Charley Walters’ Teixeira rumor, blaming it on…"those bloggers."
11:16am: The latest from SI.com’s Jon Heyman.
- The Rockies and Braves will wait until right before the July 31st deadline to decide whether to trade Matt Holliday and Mark Teixeira. The Rox have been more active calling around about Holliday, though. Heyman notes that Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd has spoken to the Mets, Angels, Phillies, and other teams about him. The Rockies are seven games out, while the Braves are six back.
- The Braves are reportedly making a list of trading partners for Tex, including the Red Sox, Angels, Rays, and D’Backs.
- Charley Walters has a rumor: Teixeira to the Angels for Robb Quinlan and Brandon Wood.
- The Yankees haven’t even considered signing Barry Bonds, despite the Hideki Matsui injury.
- Heyman spoke to a "Yankees person" who is fearful of A.J. Burnett‘s contract. I could see an acquiring team pushing for more certainty by buying out or guaranteeing the contract.
- Heyman considers Manny Ramirez‘s $20MM option for ’09 a bargain. For me, it’s not nearly as clear-cut.
- Omar Minaya is "especially" a fan of Cleveland’s Casey Blake. He would be a great fit for the Mets.
- Heyman is still hearing the rumor about the Mariners trying to lure Pat Gillick for an upper management position next year.
Pat Gillick – GM Trade History
Next up in our GM Trade History series, the Phillies’ Pat Gillick. Thanks to Brendan Bianowicz for putting these spreadsheets together. Download Gillick’s here.