Olney On Pedro, Mets, Holliday, DeRosa
ESPN.com's Buster Olney has the latest on some of baseball's biggest names:
- Pedro Martinez's stuff hasn't been good enough to tempt GMs to meet his salary demands, especially since few teams can spend. However, Olney says Pedro could attract more serious interest if he lowered his price.
- The Mets have $5MM or so in payroll flexibility.
- The A's may have to contribute towards Matt Holliday's salary if he's dealt.
- Some executives believe the Indians are about to begin marketing Mark DeRosa more seriously.
- He could fit on the Cubs, Cardinals and Mets. Olney guesses DeRosa ends up in St. Louis.
Glavine Won’t Pitch In 2009
Breaking news out of Atlanta: Tom Glavine told Buck Lanford of Fox 5 Atlanta that he won't pitch in 2009.
“I’m not going to pitch or do anything in baseball until at least next year.” Glavine stopped short, according to Fox 5, of announcing his retirement, saying he plans to be “a full-time dad.”
The decision leaves Pedro Martinez as the surefire Hall of Fame pitcher remaining in the free agent market. Glavine did not announce his retirement, though it is hard to imagine him returning after taking the rest of the season off.
The decision is surprising for a number of reasons. For one thing, Glavine had been so adamant about objecting to his treatment by the Braves, who released him following his final rehab start.
For another, who knew people Tom Glavine's age knew how to text?
Odds And Ends: Pedro, Padres, Sano
More links for the afternoon…
- ESPN.com's Keith Law believes Bryce Harper has done all he can in high school and is making the "right move" for his career by moving on to junior college.
- Ted Berg of SNY.tv points out that the one thing the Mets have "no shortage of is shortages" and believes they should sign Pedro Martinez.
- ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure hears from a "good source" that the Yankees will not sign Miguel Angel Sano.
- Paul DePodesta says the Padres' decision to target the college hitters in last year's draft has been a success so far.
- ESPN.com relays an AP report confirming that Chris Young will join Jake Peavy on the Padres' DL.
- Remember to follow MLBTR on Twitter and on Facebook, where we've picked up this morning's discussion about the game's best GMs.
Pedro Too Expensive For Rays, Cubs?
1:28pm: Yahoo's Gordon Edes hears the Cubs are serious about Pedro, even though they don't like his demands. "We wouldn't be [watching him] just to waste our time," a Cubs source said.
12:37pm: Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald says Lou Piniella has not discussed Pedro with GM Jim Hendry. Miles adds that the righty's likely too expensive for the Cubs, anyways.
11:13am: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times reports that the Rays are a long way from completing a deal with Pedro. Andrew Friedman did not comment on the Rays' interest.
10:15am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Rays were eyeing Pedro Martinez as a reliever, but cannot meet his salary demands. Sherman says Pedro seeks a "significant amount of money" and the Rays can't afford a pricey addition to their team.
Meanwhile, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times says it's "doubtful" the Cubs have the payroll flexibility to add Pedro, even if he's asking for $5MM prorated. Cubs GM Jim Hendry says he has "a lot of respect" for the three-time Cy Young Award winner. Wittenmyer says an injury to a Cubs starter would add urgency to the team's interest in Pedro.
Yankees And Angels Will Watch Pedro Too
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Cubs, Rays, Yankees and Angels will watch Pedro Martinez pitch in the Dominican Republic tomorrow. However, all four clubs are downplaying their interest in signing the pitcher and none of them would address their biggest need by adding a starter.
Pedro still wants a major league deal worth about $3MM and he has indicated he won't lower his price. His demands make him less appealing; teams would show more interest if Pedro were willing to sign a minor league deal. As Rosenthal points out, the Angels and Yankees need relievers, the Cubs need offense and the Rays have a full rotation.
Pedro In Talks With Cubs, Rays?
The Associated Press talked to Pedro Martinez, who says he has had discussions with the Cubs and Rays.
"There's a good chance I'll be signing soon, but there still isn't anything firm," Martinez said.
This fits in with reports last week that Pedro had worked out with the teams, though Marc Topkin at the St. Petersburg Times talked with a Rays official who said it was "very unlikely" anything would come of it. Martinez also said he wants to pitch for a contender, because he needs the "emotion of competition."
Where will he land? Keep up with all the latest coverage of Pedro Martinez here.
Odds And Ends: Sosa, Harper, Pedro, Ibanez
Links for Tuesday evening…
- Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times reports that lawyers with knowledge of MLB's 2003 drug tests say Sammy Sosa tested positive for PEDs that year. Not our domain here at MLBTR, but easily the biggest baseball story of the day.
- Tom Verducci of SI.com reports that Bryce Harper has been flooded with interview requests since being profiled on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
- Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star believes the Jays should pursue Pedro Martinez.
- ESPN.com's Jayson Stark profiles Raul Ibanez and the hot start to the 37-year-old's season.
- Not only did the Rockies agree to terms with Tim Wheeler, they made progress with Rex Brothers and signed 27 players in total, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
Odds & Ends: Izzy, Baez, Nationals
Some links to peruse as you realize how lame it is when your favorite team has a scheduled off day…
- Joe Smith of The St. Petersburg Times spoke to agent Dan Horwits, who says his client Jason Isringhausen plans to come back and pitch in the big leagues again. Izzy will miss the rest of the year due to Tommy John surgery.
- The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec writes that the Orioles have a valuable trade chip in reliever Danys Baez.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson reiterated that the Nationals are not going to bring Pedro Martinez or Tom Glavine aboard as players. The team would be interested in Glavine as a coach, though.
- Pete McElroy of of MASNsports.com lists the 16 draft picks the Nationals have signed.
- The Yankees signed catcher Buck Afenir as an undrafted free agent out of Kansas according to KUsports.com.
Pedro’s Working Out, Hopes To Play Until 2011
Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald heard from a source close to Pedro Martinez that the pitcher is working out six days a week in hopes of playing for a contender in 2009 and beyond. Apparently Pedro would like to sign before the end of the month, go on a short minor league assignment and return to pitch after the All Star break. He doesn't want this season to be his last, either. Pedro would like to pitch through 2011.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Strasburg, Pedro, McLouth
On this date 70 years ago, Lou Gehrig played his last game with the Yankees. Gehrig would retire with a career batting average of .340, 493 home runs and a 179 OPS+. For comparison, Albert Pujols has a career batting average of .334, 337 home runs and a 171 OPS+. More than a third of the way through the '09 season, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- Josh Q. Public takes a look at what Stephen Strasburg would have to accomplish statistically to justify a 6-year, $50MM contract.
- Federal Baseball spoke with Lee Jenkins about Strasburg and Jenkins' research of dominant amateur pitchers.
- Nationals Park wonders if the Nats can sign Strasburg.
- Ladies… say that Strasburg is destined to break down.
- Bareknucks makes the case that Strasburg will be the next Mark Prior and baseball's version of Tony Mandarich.
- Fanhouse has a pool going on how much Strasburg will ultimately sign for.
- MLB Notebook argues that Pedro Martinez makes sense for the Rays.
- Operation Shutdown makes a case that the Pirates did well in the Nate McLouth trade.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.