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Rocco Baldelli

Odds and Ends: Burrell, Bradley, Abreu

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Links for Tuesday…

  • RotoAuthority asks for your #1 fantasy baseball bust for 2009.
  • Keith Law calls the Pat Burrell signing a "major bargain," panning the Raul Ibanez contract by comparison.  River Ave. Blues says the recent Burrell and Milton Bradley deals prove that Brian Cashman was wise not to offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu.
  • Will the Rays have enough money to re-sign Rocco Baldelli now?  Buster Olney still thinks he will land with Boston.
  • Gordon Edes says Jim Hendry had a stealth dinner with Bradley during the November GM Meetings.  Edes adds that the Cubs believe Derek Lowe is too expensive.
  • Cool story about a guy trying to get an autograph on each card in the 1983 Fleer baseball card set.
  • Baseball America’s Jim Callis has the updated ’09 draft order.  Callis also weighs in on the broken free agent compensation system, which is up for discussion after the 2011 season.

Reds Still Looking At Baldelli, Hairston Jr.

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The Cincinnati Reds remain interested in free agents Rocco Baldelli and Jerry Hairston Jr., MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports.

Reds general manager Walt Jocketty told Sheldon that he has talked with their agent, Casey Close, during the weekend.

Jocketty said that he expects something to happen this week with regard to Hairston Jr.

The Reds have had no talks with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Andruw Jones and appear not to be interested, Sheldon notes.

The Cincinnati Enquirer’s John Fay also spoke with Jocketty. In addition to the Reds’ stance on Baldelli, Hairston Jr. and Jones, Fay notes that the Reds won’t be trading first baseman Joey Votto.

Jocketty also told Fay that Votto (Canada), Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto (Dominican Republic) might play in the World Baseball Classic.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Jays, Mets, Red Sox, Nats, Yankees

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On this date 32 years ago, commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended Braves owner Ted Turner for one year for tampering. Turner had announced publicly that the Braves would sign free agent-to-be Gary Matthews. Unfortunately, 30 years later, nobody was disciplined when the Angels signed free agent Gary Matthews Jr. to a $50MM contract. In the first two years of the deal, Matthews has been paid $15MM and his play has been worth -$600K (yes, that is negative) according to Fangraphs. With several big free agents still looking for new teams, will any of them be the next Matthews Jr? Only time will tell. In the meantime, let’s see what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • The Eddie Kranepool Society is not worried about Derek Lowe, feeling the deal will get done once the Mets add a fourth option year and sweeten the pot just a tad. They are also putting the Mets front office on notice about the possibility of letting Manny Ramirez slip through their fingers.
  • Mets Geek feels the Mets still need to add one more piece to their revamped bullpen and suggest Wil Ohman or Joe Beimel are better options as a lefty specialist than what is already in-house.
  • The Southpaw takes a look at some young players the Jays should try to target in the trade market, with Chin-Lung Hu at the top of the list.
  • My Baseball Bias is not satisfied with just Mark Teixeira and wants to see the Yankees sign Manny Ramirez.
  • Fire Brand of the American League makes a case for three players to be the Red Sox fourth outfielder, including Rocco Baldelli, Brad Wilkerson and Eric Byrnes.
  • MLB Notebook takes a look at how the Nationals could spend the $20MM that would have gone to Mark Teixeira.
  • River Ave. Blues says this offseason is proving to be a test of just how good Scott Boras can be.
  • Sully Baseball is running a series of posts breaking down each team’s all-time home grown versus all-time acquired teams. Here he looks at the Astros.

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

More Jocketty Talk On The Reds

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C. Trent Rosecrans of TheLotD.com also talked with Cincinnati Reds general manager Walt Jocketty today. Here are some conversation highlights:

  • The Reds are still talking to Jerry Hairston Jr. to play left field. “We’re still trying to get Hairston,” Jocketty told Rosecrans. “We’ll have a different look on our club, but we still have guys like (Joey) Votto, (Jay) Bruce, (Brandon) Phillips, (Edwin) Encarnacion and even (Ramon) Hernandez with power.”
  • Jocketty hasn’t spoken with Pat Burrell in awhile. They are holding back on that one right now.
  • Health remains a serious issue with Rocco Baldelli, Jocketty said.
  • The Reds have been in discussion with the New York Yankees about their extra outfielders, but no deals are close.
  • No Barry Bonds; no Sammy Sosa.

Jocketty On Taveras, Hairston, Baldelli

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John Fay has a quick update following a discussion with Walt Jocketty, providing us with some interesting quotes from the Reds GM.

Regarding Willy Taveras, Jocketty likes his solid defensive ability in center field, as well as his potential to lead off. That "potential" depends on Tavares’ ability to replicate his 2007 offensive numbers, featuring an on-base percentage of .367, as opposed to a repeat of 2008, in which he posted a .308 OBP.

Jerry Hairston Jr. remains a possibility for the Reds. Says Jocketty: "He could end up being the left fielder if we can’t get that RBI man, which might be hard to do at this point."

Rocco Baldelli is also on the Reds’ radar. "We’re looking into the medical a little more," Jocketty said.

Alex Walsh can be reached at alexwalshatmlbtr@gmail.com

Odds and Ends: Boras, Wigginton, Burrell

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Tuesday linkage…

  • Changed my mind on the chat…we will not be holding it at 2pm today.  The time/day of the chat is TBD.
  • Here’s a list of the largest contracts in baseball history.  You can see why Scott Boras would want Teixeira to reach $190MM.
  • Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times notes that aside from Felipe Lopez, all of Boras’ free agent clients are unsigned.
  • Peter Abraham explains the Yankees’ large luxury tax.
  • The Reds have yet to open talks with Aaron Miles, Ty Wigginton, and Pat Burrell.  Talks are ongoing with Jerry Hairston Jr. and Willy Taveras, though Walt Jocketty is not making much progress with Rocco Baldelli.

Pirates Pursuing Rocco Baldelli

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Pirates rumors from the tireless Dejan Kovacevic…

  • Kovacevic says the Pirates are in pursuit of free agent outfielder Rocco Baldelli.  The Bucs are serious about him, having spoken to his agents several times.  The Reds, Phillies, Red Sox, and Yankees are considered other suitors.
  • The team’s interest in Ty Wigginton has dropped off.
  • Doug Mientkiewicz remains on the radar, but no offer has been made.
  • Nothing cooking on the Jack Wilson front; he’s likely to remain the Pirates’ shortstop.
  • The Pirates offered slightly more than the $2.6MM Daniel Cabrera signed for with the Nationals.  D-Cab wanted to remain in the area.  The Pirates may choose not to pursue any other free agent starters.
  • We knew extension talks with Nate McLouth had fizzled; turns out nothing is close with Paul Maholm either.  Pirates president Frank Coonelly described the disconnect at Ryan Doumit’s press conference.

Reds Rumors: Baldelli, Hairston, Bradley, Rivera

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The Reds’ search for a right-handed hitting bat continues.  The latest from John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer:

  • GM Walt Jocketty suggested that the positive news regarding Rocco Baldelli’s condition could change the way the Reds see him.
  • The Reds are waiting to hear back regarding a counterproposal made to Jerry Hairston Jr.
  • The Reds discussed Milton Bradley internally, but haven’t contacted his agent.  In a recent article, Ken Rosenthal named the Cubs, Rays, Reds, Angels, and Nationals as suitors for Bradley.
  • Talks with Juan Rivera are ongoing.

Updated Diagnosis For Rocco Baldelli

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WEDNESDAY: Baldelli told Marc Topkin that more sophisticated tests have revealed "his condition is a less-severe and treatable channelopathy."

TUESDAY: From Ken Bell of ABC6 out of Rhode Island:

Great news for Rocco Baldelli.  A visit to the Cleveland Clinic last week revealed that doctors had misdiagnosed his illness.  Baldelli missed much of last season, and when he did play, he was limited because of extreme fatigue.  Doctors thought it was mitochondrial disorder, which can be fatal.  The Baldelli family told me tonight that the Cleveland Clinic diagnosed his condition as channelopathy, a non-progressive, highly treatable disease.

Bell adds that the Red Sox have not contacted Baldelli, who is a free agent.  The story is also being reported by WPRI 12 out of Rhode Island.

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