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Phillies’ Offseason Agenda

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12:47pm: Scott Lauber has the latest from the Amaro press conference. 

  • Manny Ramirez seems unlikely as a left field solution.  Execs surveyed by Jerry Crasnick felt the same.
  • Burrell switched to a Philly-based agent, and talks will begin soon with the Phillies.
  • Pat Gillick will remain with the Phillies as a paid consultant.

11:13am: The Phillies locked up Ruben Amaro Jr. as their GM through 2011.  Items on his to-do list:

  • Left fielder Pat Burrell could be back if he accepts a two-year deal.  Otherwise, the Phils will kick the tires on Manny Ramirez, Matt Holliday, and Magglio Ordonez.  Jim Salisbury also notes that the Phillies have long liked Rocco Baldelli.  They’ve also been linked to Garrett Atkins.
  • Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard are in for large raises through arbitration; Amaro may attempt to sign them long-term.
  • Salisbury sees free agent lefties Jamie Moyer and Scott Eyre re-signing.  Scott Lauber suggests the Phils don’t want to go beyond one year for Moyer, though.
  • The team had a $104MM payroll in ’08, and that is expected to increase.
  • The Phillies (along with the Tigers and Nationals) have interest in free agent utility man Pete Orr.

Rays Hope To Talk Contract With Baldelli

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According to MLB.com’s Bill Chastain, Rays executive VP of baseball operations hopes to talk to Rocco Baldelli’s agent about a contract soon.  Baldelli may be viewed as a free agent bargain, but he’s a lifelong Ray with a special relationship to the club.  Dealing with a rare mitochondrial disorder, Baldelli hit .263/.344/.475 in 90 plate appearances and nailed two home runs in the playoffs.

Cafardo’s Latest: Hot Stove, Twins, Gordon, Pedro

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Nick Cafardo from the Boston Globe has a nice article up catching up on some Hot Stove news, with a few other odds and ends tied in. Let’s hit the highlights here:

  • Cafardo seems to think the Yankees could entice C.C. Sabathia to pitch on the East Coast, and that the Angels would be crazy not to re-sign Mark Teixeira at whatever the cost. He also points out Joe Maddon’s connection to Francisco Rodriguez from his days as a coach with the Angels, and covers other top names such as Jake Peavy, A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe, Manny Ramirez, Pat Burrell, Matt Holliday, and Garrett Atkins.
  • The Minnesota Twins were ranked as the #1 team in young talent by the 2009 Bill James Handbook. Minnesota had ten players in the top 150: Joe Mauer, Delmon Young, Justin Morneau, Kevin Slowey, Scott Baker, Carlos Gomez, Nick Blackburn, Jason Kubel, Denard Span, and Glen Perkins.
  • The article includes a Q&A with Tom Gordon, who has high praise for the Phillies, particularly Brad Lidge. Gordon says that having avoided Tommy John Surgery, he feels he can continue his career, and would love to pitch in Philadelphia next year. Gordon will understand if his option is declined, but is emphatic in saying he’s "going to pitch somewhere." Plenty of teams need bullpen help, and even with his injury, I can’t imagine him having a hard time finding work.
  • Cafardo likes the idea of either Rocco Baldelli or Gabe Kapler as a fourth outfielder for the Red Sox.
  • Would Pedro Martinez consider an incentive-laden contract to be Boston’s fifth starter next season?
  • Red Sox catching prospect Mark Wagner has shown improvement the Arizona Fall League. This only adds to the Jason Varitek dilemma that Boston is faced with.

Jayson Stark’s Latest: Rays

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Jayson Stark touches on a few rumors circling around the Tampa Bay Rays…

  • The Rays and the Phillies both made multiplayer offers to the Indians for Casey Blake, but neither was willing to offer a top prospect and a second prospect close to the big leagues.
  • With Blake and Xavier Nady both traded, the Rays are leaning towards eventually filling their need for a right-handed outfielder with Rocco Baldelli who played in the outfield this week on a rehab assignment. It was his first outfield action since May of ’07 and will play 5 more innings today.
  • After discussing Mark Teixeira, the Rays have decided to pass, not wanting to move Carlos Pena to DH.
  • While the Rays would still like to acquire a relief pitcher, they feel the price is too high for Brian Fuentes and they have little interest in Huston Street. Stark notes that last year’s top pick, David Price, could be called up to provide insurance for the bullpen.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Trade Deadline

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Some random links as we head toward the trade deadline, from the Blogosphere…

  • One writer at Bugs and Cranks thinks that the Rockies should not lower their demand for Brian Fuentes and feels that the Cardinals are the most likely team to land the closer.
  • UmpBump wants the Rockies to keep Matt Holliday and would prefer moving Garrett Atkins, allowing Ian Stewart to play third.
  • Meanwhile, another writer at Bugs and Cranks wants the Cardinals to pass on Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, but think St. Louis should go after George Sherrill and/or Fuentes.
  • Outs Per Swing does not feel that the Rays need to add a player like Xavier Nady, but they are also skeptical that Rocco Baldelli can be the right-handed bat the team needs.
  • MetsBlog does not see the Mets landing George Sherrill or Huston Street, noting the O’s are asking for too much and the Mets will not meet the A’s demands. MetsBlog also feels the Mets have more obvious holes than relief pitcher.
  • River Ave. Blues says the recent success of Ian Kennedy in Triple A has given the Yankees a very big chip in the trade market.
  • Drunk Jays Fans says Roy Halladay will not be traded, despite recent reports that the Jays were secretly shopping him.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex and can be reached here.

Sherman’s Latest: Bay, Nady, Holliday, Fuentes, Blake

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The New York Post’s Joel Sherman is working hard today, filing blog posts here and here.

  • Multiple teams are in the hunt for a right-handed hitting outfielder: the Mets, Rays, and maybe the Yankees.  The Pirates are asking for too much for Jason Bay and Xavier Nady, while the Rockies are waiting to see what Bay costs so they can ask for more for Matt Holliday.  The Rays’ might find their solution internally, with Rocco Baldelli.
  • Holliday as a replacement for Manny Ramirez this winter?  Right now it’s just a couple of execs speculating to Sherman.
  • The Rockies want either Jon Niese from the Mets or Ian Kennedy from the Yankees for Brian Fuentes, but the two New York clubs aren’t having that.
  • Nolan Ryan doesn’t want to punt on ’08 with the Rangers.
  • Sherman wonders if the Marlins could match up with Texas on a catcher.
  • Juan Rivera is not available at this point.
  • Casey Blake is likely to be traded, partially because the Indians probably wouldn’t offer him arbitration after the season.  The Mets and Yankees are said to have "at least mild interest."

Odds And Ends: Baldelli, Rincon, Clemens

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  • The Tampa Tribune is reporting that Rays OF Rocco Baldelli (60-day DL, mitochondrial disorder) is close to joining a minor-league team for a 20-day rehabilitation assignment. Baldelli thinks he can return to the Rays this season, but he has yet to hold any workouts in the outfield and hinted he could return as a DH. "Obviously, I’d like to be playing the field," Baldelli said. "But realistically, I’m trying not to look too far ahead."
  • Juan Rincon has declined the Twins’ offer of an assignment to Class AAA Rochester, and the team formally designated him for assignment. In all likelihood, that means Rincon will become a free agent in 10 days. Rincon has been with the Twins for his entire career and had a couple of good years in 2003-2006, but he’s fallen on hard times lately.
  • If anybody out there harbored hopes that Roger Clemens would return to pitch this season, here’s some cold water to splash on your face. A former federal prosecutor tells the New York Daily News that the evidence against Roger Clemens – testimony from Andy Pettitte and Brian McNamee, as well as the bloody gauze pads, used syringes and steroid vials McNamee turned over to authorities in January – is more than enough to indict Clemens.

Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com and can be reached here.

Rays To Stay Flexible

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Some Rays notes to report on from Marc Lancaster:

  • A quote from Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg:  "We have room to cut payroll, we have room to grow payroll.  We’ll be opportunistic. I know you guys have heard it, but we’re never going to take our eye off of that. If somebody happens to want a high-priced talent of ours and we can get low-priced talent, great. And if they want a low-priced talent and we get high-priced talent that we think is very additive, that’s fine, too."
  • According to Lancaster, just because the Rays didn’t pick up Rocco Baldelli’s option doesn’t mean they’re not committed to the player.  Rays Executive VP Andrew Friedman says, "We’ll do anything in our power to keep him in a Rays uniform as long as possible." If Baldelli can recover and get back on track, he could possess the same relative injury risk and upside at a fraction of the cost.

By Nat Boyle

Rays Notes: Crawford, Baldelli, Wheeler

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Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times has the latest on the Rays’ moves today.  The first two were expected.

  • Carl Crawford’s $8.25MM option for ’09 was exercised.  The Rays still have a $10MM club option for ’10 that is highly likely to be exercised.  After that, it’s anyone’s guess.
  • The Rays chose Rocco Baldelli’s $4MM buyout over his $6MM option.  It’s a sad situation but it had to be done.
  • Dan Wheeler was signed to an extension.  His ’08 contract was replaced; the new three-year deal runs through 2010 and is worth $10.5MM.  He would’ve been a free agent after the season; think of it as a two-year, $6.7MM extension.  It’s not a bargain for the 30 year-old, whose 5.30 ERA in ’07 was worse than his 3.5 K/BB would indicate.  He’ll need to return to his 2005-06 level to be worth the money.   

Odds and Ends: Dan Johnson, Baldelli, Soria

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Let’s round up some linkage.

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