Stark’s Latest: Patterson, Lohse, Lofton, Clemens
Finally, new info regarding some of the remaining free agents. Jayson Stark has the scoop.
- Seems there’s a chance Corey Patterson takes a cheap deal to return to Baltimore. He could be relegated to fourth outfielder duty in that case. Stark says the Marlins have discussed Patterson internally, but aren’t sure if they could afford the Boras client. Patterson would be a nice stopgap for Cameron Maybin, who’d be well-served with some time in Triple A. Ken Rosenthal also mentioned the Florida possibility.
- One of the most surprising free agents at this point is Kyle Lohse. Stark shoots down the notion of Lohse signing with the Met or Phillies on a one-year deal. Rosenthal tossed out the Cards and O’s as slight possibilities. It’s tough to be impressed with Boras’ work with Patterson and Lohse this year. Stark’s colleague Buster Olney even speaks of rumors that Lohse could ditch Boras.
- Kenny Lofton wants a Major League deal, and the offers so far have been minor league (including one from the Reds). I don’t find this an unreasonable demand on Lofton’s part; he’s still a useful player. He’s OK with starting the season late and coming in as a mercenary when a spot opens up.
- Stark talked to a friend of Drayton McLane who believes the Astros’ owner could roll the dice on Roger Clemens at the right price.
Odds and Ends: Spiezio, Pavano, Gross, Jackson
Links, rumors…
- Scott Spiezio is in trouble with the law, and the Cardinals decided to release him for it. Joe Ostermeier notes that the Cards now have about $20MM in dead money on the payroll for ’08.
- Evan Grant believes the Rangers would want Jose Ceda or Donald Veal in a deal for Marlon Byrd.
- Call it informed speculation, but Mike Berardino wonders whether Carl Pavano could end up back with the Marlins eventually.
- Ken Rosenthal recently wrote that the Padres were eyeing Gabe Gross. Tom Haudricourt found out that Kevin Towers never inquired on the Brewers outfielder, but that doesn’t mean the Friars weren’t eyeing him.
- Ken Davidoff makes a case for why the Astros should sign Roger Clemens.
- Sadly, the Rockies pulled the plug on a deal with Neifi Perez at the last minute.
- We hear "best shape of his life" often in Spring Training, but not with the newly signed Bartolo Colon. The Red Sox have some history pursuing Colon, as noted by Rob Bradford.
- Conor Jackson switched agents.
Odds and Ends: Hughes, Nathan, Pedro
Here’s today’s collection.
- Interesting article about Phil Hughes‘ blog. We should see more and more player blogs as the Internet generation reaches the Majors.
- Jonathan Mayo’s book Facing Clemens has hit shelves. The MLB.com writer attempts to put you in the batter’s box against the Rocket.
- Nothin’ doin’ on the Joe Nathan talks. I thought they’d hammer this one out to restore some Johan goodwill. Guess not.
- Like reading about injuries? Take a look at Baseball Injury Report, by my friend Rick Wilton. Especially good for fantasy junkies.
- Pedro isn’t going to approach the Mets about an extension, but he’d listen if they came to him. The Mets want to see at least part of this season play out before considering it.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Roger Clemens
Last week we looked at one face of the steroid era (Barry Bonds) and wondered where he might end up playing in 2008. Today let’s take a look at the newest face of the steroid era, Roger Clemens. Clemens has yet to decide whether to pitch in 2008.
While his friends believe that the Astros are the only option, Buster Olney suggested the Cardinals could also be an option. And while the Yankees and the Red Sox have shown zero interest, we can’t rule out a mid-season return to either team. Both have question marks in their rotations, and if the proposed solutions don’t pan out, they will be in the market for a proven pitcher in July, no matter what Hank Steinbrenner says now. Another team that could be a darkhorse after the All-Star break is the New York Mets. We learned yesterday that they have tried trading Orlando Hernandez, as there appear to be serious concerns about his health. And if the Mets are fighting for a playoff spot in July, memories of last year’s collapse with the added pressure of having added Johan Santana will fuel the effort to win "at any cost." Let’s also not forget that 11 more wins would put Rocket into the Top 5 all-time and 20 wins (2009?) would make Clemens the third winningest pitcher ever, behind only Cy Young and Walter Johnson. Let’s take a look at what some are thinking about Clemens in the Blogosphere.
If there is a topic you would like to see covered in "Baseball Blogs Weigh In" please let me know HERE.
- The Redbird Blog does not see Clemens as a difference-maker for the Cardinals, and wonder if it is worth signing him.
- C70 At The Bat does not think that the Cardinals pitching situation is as dire as some have portrayed, so the need for Clemens may be minimal.
- My Baseball Bias reiterates what Hank Steinbrenner stated…Clemens will not pitch for the Yankees. They also think that the Astros are the only logical destination for Clemens.
- Center Field feels that the Phillies would be a good match based on an actual letter sent from PETA to Clemens urging him to become a vegetarian.
And that’s it from the Blogosphere. Is Roger Clemens pitching in ’08 a non-story? Is there a team out there that we are not considering that the Rocket could help this season? Let us know in the comments.
David Wells Denied By Cardinals
David Wells‘ agent, Gregg Clifton, reached out to the Cardinals recently to see if his client could assist them with their early season rotation uncertainty. It’s been said that Boomer, 44, is looking to make about 20 starts this year. He earned $3MM in ’07.
Derrick Goold says the Cardinals prefer their in-house options over Wells. What does PECOTA have to say about this?
David Wells – 4.55 ERA
Anthony Reyes – 4.32 ERA
Brad Thompson – 4.29 ERA
Todd Wellemeyer – 4.39 ERA
Seems the Cardinals are on track with this one. I’m sure they’d be ecstatic to get those ERAs out of that trio. Goold says the Cards will continue to track free agents. Kyle Lohse and Jeff Weaver are two who are healthy right now, if nothing else. As for Roger Clemens, the Cards aren’t terribly interested given Clemens’ probable late start.
Will Clemens Play In ’08?
The tolerance for Roger Clemens‘ annual "will he, won’t he" saga will be much lower this year in the wake of the steroid mess. But the fact remains that we still don’t know whether he’ll try to play.
Buster Olney devotes a portion of today’s blog to this question. He thinks it’s in Clemens’ nature to defiantly keep pitching. Olney says Clemens’ friends indicate he’d only pitch for Houston. Olney speculates that the Cardinals might be one other club that would consider it. He could certainly help either team if he came with a price tag below $10MM.
In case you were wondering, Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA system sees the Rocket posting a 4.43 ERA in 107 innings this year (in the AL East it seems). Somewhat related fact: Clemens appears in Joba Chamberlain‘s comparables list.
Mayo On Fernando Martinez and Johan Santana
Jonathan Mayo is a prominent writer on MLB.com, focusing on the minor leagues more recently. Mayo recently wrote a book called Facing Clemens, which "puts you right in the batter’s box against the Rocket Man." Mayo finished the book before the steroid allegations surfaced, but it sounds like an interesting read regardless. I asked Mayo some questions for publication on MLBTR.
MLBTR: Where do you stand on Fernando Martinez? Would the Mets regret trading him and a few other prospects for one year of Johan Santana?
Mayo: There’s always the risk when you trade a young player with so much upside potential that you’ll regret trading him, just like the Astros probably regret leaving Santana unprotected in the Rule 5 draft several years back. But I think that things work a little differently in a market like New York. There’s such pressure to win immediately and there’s the financial ability to fix things via free agency or trading for high-priced players in the future.
I think Martinez has the chance to be a very special player, but it could take several years for him to reach that potential. I’d love to see him become a star in New York, but I think the Mets would have to consider dealing him if they felt that Santana is the piece they need to get over the hump and back to the World Series. Besides, who says it’d be for just one year of Santana. I think that any of the teams who have been rumored to be in the Santana hunt would make a serious run at re-upping Johan for several years after 2008.
Jonathan Mayo Discusses Bruce For Bedard
You’ve probably heard of Jonathan Mayo. He’s a prominent writer on MLB.com, focusing on the minor leagues more recently. Mayo recently wrote a book called Facing Clemens, which "puts you right in the batter’s box against the Rocket Man." Mayo finished the book before the steroid allegations surfaced, but it sounds like an interesting read regardless.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that if you click the above Amazon link and buy the book, I’ll get 46 cents. Hopefully Mayo gets a better cut than that from his publisher!
Anyway, I asked Mayo a handful of questions for publication on MLBTR.
MLBTR: If you were Wayne Krivsky, would you trade Jay Bruce for Erik Bedard straight up? What players would you compare Bruce to? How does Bruce compare to Adam Jones?
Mayo: In a word, no. I wouldn’t trade Bruce for Bedard straight up. Frankly, and maybe I’m a little prospect-slanted, there’s not much I would trade Jay Bruce for. Not only is the guy going to be one of the game’s great hitters, he’s an outstanding individual who’ll represent the organization extremely well. I know that’s not the be-all, end-all, but Bruce is going to be a true ambassador for the game. He’s going to hit for average, get on base, hit for a ton of power, play good OF (eventually RF, but fine in CF for now), throw runners out, maybe even steal a few bases. It’s hard to come up with a good comparable, but I’ll go with Larry Walker. Maybe not quite as much speed, but it’s pretty close.
Jones is more of a prototypical five-tooler, who won’t hit for as much power right away. I think Bruce has more power potential than Jones, while Jones is likely a bit faster and will stay in CF.
Odds and Ends: Cameron, Inge, Bay
Here are some random rumors and links I’ve cobbled together today.
- The Fish officially signed Jorge Cantu to a minor-league deal worth $500K with $100K in incentives.
- The Cardinals re-upped Aaron Miles for $1.4 mil. This team needs some good middle infielders.
- According to Tyler Kepner, Alex Rodriguez has been "privately endorsing" Mike Cameron. Well, it’s not private anymore! The Yankees could entertain such a signing if they trade Melky Cabrera but don’t want to move Johnny Damon back to center. Kepner’s article also discusses the internal struggle between Hank and Hal Steinbrenner. Hank wants Johan Santana, Hal wants to show a little financial restraint.
- Lynn Henning digs into the Brandon Inge situation, with help from the always-insightful Keith Law. Henning believes Inge would view a shift back to catcher "with contempt."
- Scott Wuerz runs through various possible Cardinals targets. He notes that the Pirates had considered the White Sox their best possible trade partner for Jason Bay, and are disappointed by Chicago’s Nick Swisher acquisition.
- Seems that Bartolo Colon has yet to crack 90 mph in the Dominican Winter League.
- There are rumblings that the Astros are considering bringing Freddy Garcia back.
- R.J. Anderson snagged an interesting interview with Paul DePodesta.
- Minor League guru and MLB.com senior writer Jonathan Mayo has a new book coming out about what it’s like to face Roger Clemens. I’m going to do a Q&A with Jonathan next week; if you have any good question ideas leave ’em in the comments. By the way, Mayo finished his book before the Mitchell Report came out.
- Yankees fans – Ray Istorico has an illustrated history of the early Yankees coming out in a few months.
- I will be appearing on XM Radio’s MLB Home Plate show on Sunday around 2:25 CST.
Yankees Won’t Re-Sign Clemens
Anthony McCarron got another tidbit out of Hank Steinbrenner in his interview yesterday. He learned that the Yankees will not consider re-signing Roger Clemens, if he does play in 2008.
Hank feels that Andy Pettitte will provide all the veteran leadership his staff needs, and he doesn’t expect Roger back anyway. Back on December 15th, Ken Davidoff suggested that Clemens was leaning toward coming back, with his sights on the Red Sox or Astros.
Clemens will address Brian McNamee’s steroid claims Sunday on 60 Minutes.