Rays Notes: Crawford, Baldelli, Wheeler
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
Let’s round up some linkage.
- Last Thursday I appeared on WVOX 1460 out of New York with Russell Mafes. You can download the file here (it’s about 12 mb and 16 minutes long).
- Jim Hendry is very candid about the Cubs’ desire to add a right-handed hitting outfielder who can handle center.
- Mike Sweeney‘s success and good health could mean Dan Johnson is on his way out of Oakland.
- Jim Salisbury says the Phillies might have taken Rocco Baldelli 15th in the 2000 draft instead of Chase Utley, if they’d had the chance. Would the Mets or Dodgers have taken Utley, then?
- Rany Jazayerli takes an in-depth look at Joakim Soria. Should the Royals give him a shot in the rotation later this year?
- On my fantasy baseball blog RotoAuthority I talk about the dropoff after the first five catchers.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Roberts, Horacio, Willits
Rumor guru and baseball insider Ken Rosenthal has a new column at FOX Sports. Let’s discuss.
- Rosenthal does not see the Cubs taking on the salaries of both Brian Roberts and Coco Crisp, even if they shed their Jason Marquis commitment. Roberts remains the focus.
- Horacio Ramirez‘s agent says seven clubs have already expressed interest in his client. Perhaps he meant to say 0.7.
- Rosenthal runs through many Rocco Baldelli replacement options for the Rays: Reggie Willits, Kenny Lofton, Gabe Gross, and Reed Johnson. Only Willits seems the perfect fit, and the Angels aren’t making him available. Willits and his .393 career OBP could be headed to Triple A.
- The Phillies are looking for middle relief help; Rosenthal suggests a possible match with Arizona. Or, how ’bout signing Bob Wickman? Is he officially retired?
Odds and Ends: Baldelli, Salcedo, Piazza, Rivera
Time for today’s linkage.
- RotoAuthority looks for some fantasy baseball sleepers at second base.
- Rocco Baldelli has a rare muscle condition that does not allow his body to recover after a short workout. He’ll hit the DL but won’t retire. The Rays will likely decline his option but maybe they’ll re-sign him at a lower price.
- The Indians are in the running for 16 year-old shortstop Edward Salcedo, but the Boras client remains unsigned.
- IGN has their own What Might’ve Been type series, and recently they took a look at the Mike Piazza trades of 1998. Haven’t heard much on Piazza these last few weeks.
- The Angels seem likely to keep Juan Rivera, as he could be their left fielder in ’09 and ’10.
- I’m been devouring The Worst Team Money Could Buy, a book by Bob Klapisch and John Harper chronicling the ’92 Mets. I am a bit too young to remember that team. It’s a hilarious look at that trainwreck, with all sorts of off-the-record quotes. You really get a feel for what it’s like following the Mets beat, too.
Odds and Ends: Loretta, German, Belliard, Baldelli
- An update to the Ken Rosenthal article discussed earlier suggests that either Esteban German or Ron Belliard would be better, cheaper alternatives for the Dodgers than Joe Crede or Brandon Inge. It would take less to get Belliard or German, they’re paid less, and either of them could back up Jeff Kent, 40, at second base in addition to playing third. Both players are "attracting the Dodgers’ interest" according to Rosenthal.
- The Baltimore Sun is now reporting that the Orioles have an interest in Mark Loretta. Hopefully this is a sign that the Brian Roberts-to-Chicago saga will soon mercifully come to a conclusion. Loretta apparently isn’t slated for regular duty in a Houston infield that now features Miguel Tejada, Kaz Matsui and Ty Wigginton, which is why he might be in play. The Astros sent a scout to watch the O’s on Sunday.
- Rocco Baldelli spoke with Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal about his myriad health problems, and dispelled some of the more creative speculation about him. He didn’t, however, address the big decision on his future that the Rays will be forced to make in the coming weeks. As discussed here a couple of days ago, and again in Sunday’s St. Petersburg Times, the decision on whether the team will pick up Baldelli’s 2009 option has to be made by April 1st. The Times suggests the Rays will pass, meaning a $4MM buyout.
Posted by Andrew Stoeten of Drunk Jays Fans.
Baldelli’s Hamstrings May Open Door For Lofton
With Rocco Baldelli appearing only twice in spring games this year, the Rays may consider reviving talks with free agent outfielder Kenny Lofton. Tampa Bay’s right field and fourth outfielder depth is light enough that they’ve begun to look at infielders Joel Guzman and Ben Zobrist at left and right field, respectively.
Ray’s manager Joe Maddon won’t even guess when Baldelli will return to full-time play. Baldelli is nursing sore hamstrings this spring. He’s expected to play right field, if he can run, and will split time with Cliff Floyd and Jonny Gomes at DH.
Given Floyd’s fragility, the Rays will be taking quite a chance if they depend on that combination. Floyd has appeared in 150 games once in the last ten years. Baldelli appeared in 150 games in his rookie year but hasn’t in the three years since.
Decision Time On Baldelli
Back on December 23rd, I asked Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times what kind of trade value Rocco Baldelli had. Of course, Topkin told me his trade value was miniscule. Topkin also said:
An interesting sidenote is that the Rays have to decide by April 1 on his 2009 option, picking between a $4MM buyout or a $6MM salary AND then being on the hook for his combined 2010-11 option or a $2MM buyout.
Quite a pickle, and I think the fact that this decision must be made in three weeks was lost in the shuffle. MLBTR contributor Cork Gaines took a look at the Baldelli situation on his blog today. As Cork suggests, perhaps some kind of renegotiation is in order.
Topkin On Rocco Baldelli
I recently named the St. Petersburg Times’ Marc Topkin as Rumor Royalty for the Rays. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for the site.
MLBTR: Do you expect Rocco Baldelli to be with the Rays on Opening Day? What kind of trade value does he have right now?
Topkin: I definitely expect him to be there, as much because the Rays need him badly the way the team is presently constructed as because his trade value is so low because of his lack of playing time due to a series of injuries. I can’t imagine the Rays getting anywhere near enough value for him now compared to what his peak value was/could be. An interesting sidenote is that the Rays have to decide by April 1 on his 2009 option, picking between a $4-million buyout or a $6-million salary AND then being on the hook for his combined 2010-11 option or a $2-million buyout.
Stark’s Latest: Edmonds, Pierre, Guillen, Santana
ESPN’s Jayson Stark always cranks out a bunch of new rumors when he writes a column. This week is no exception.
- Jose Reyes: going nowhere.
- Probably since they hope to include him in a Johan Santana deal, the Red Sox won’t trade Coco Crisp until that situation is resolved. The Rangers liked Crisp, but are considering interesting alternatives: Rocco Baldelli, Jim Edmonds, and Juan Pierre. If only Ned Colletti could get someone to take his Pierre contract. Then he could sign another one almost equally as bad. Then he could trade Aaron Rowand a year from now and repeat the process.
- The Braves also liked Crisp, so they’ll move on for now. Stark speculates a stopgap like Dave Roberts could work.
- More speculation: Andruw Jones as a darkhorse signing for the Royals. I guess that would push David DeJesus out of center field.
- Is there an unmentioned Mystery Team in on Johan Santana? Stark’s sources suggest the Mariners, but those guys must not read Jon Heyman’s column. I’ll go with the Reds as my guess on the Mystery Team, if there is one.
- Speaking of guesses, Stark surmises that the Padres and Mets could be interested in Jose Guillen, aside from the Royals.
- More rumblings that Vicente Padilla could be traded this winter. Funny quote about how Padilla doesn’t have baggage – he has luggage. In fact his luggage cannot be carried, rather it requires a mid-sized cart.
Twins Willing To Trade Garza
Terry Ryan hung on to his fine corral of young pitchers, and it’s hard to find fault with that. However, new GM Bill Smith is open to dealing one of them for a high impact young hitter.
Specifically, Joe Christensen says the Twins are willing to move 24 year-old Matt Garza, who posted a 3.69 ERA this year. The price would be huge – the names the Twins have in mind are Delmon Young, B.J. Upton, and Carlos Gomez. Upton, a favorite of theirs, seems like the least available of the three. Marc Topkin agrees that a Young-Garza rumor has been floating around.
If the Twins want to make a lesser deal, teams have also been asking about Kevin Slowey and Scott Baker. But those two aren’t chopped liver, and Rocco Baldelli doesn’t seem like enough. The Padres want in on the young pitchers, but aren’t willing to give up third baseman Chase Headley.
There’s also word in Christensen’s article that the Twins haven’t heard back from Torii Hunter and Carlos Silva regarding their weak offers. A more legitimate effort will be made to re-sign Johan Santana.