Pirates Rumors: Snell, Estrada, Villone
John Perrotto had some new Pirates’ rumblings in yesterday morning’s column.
- Don’t be so quick to dismiss the Ian Snell to Seattle rumor. Perrotto acknowledges it, noting that the Mariners would offer Jeff Clement but the Pirates would probably require Adam Jones.
- Perrotto believes the Pirates have backed off their pursuit of Johnny Estrada, though Dejan Kovacevic hasn’t heard this. I never thought Estrada made much sense for them.
- Perrotto says the Pirates have an eye on free agent lefty Ron Villone, who pitched for them back in ’02.
Odds and Ends: Livan, Bartlett, Willis, Webb
Random pieces of rumorage…
- The Mets have expressed interest in Livan Hernandez, though he appears to be their Plan C or D.
- Jim Bowden and the Nats will be active in the trade market, perhaps finally pulling the trigger on deals for Chad Cordero and/or Jon Rauch.
- The Rays and Twins have had discussions about shortstop Jason Bartlett. Would a 1 for 1 trade for Rocco Baldelli make sense? Buster Olney believes the Rays should consider trading for the Nats’ Cristian Guzman.
- Update on the Rockies’ reliever situation. They’re probably going to pass on Ron Mahay and Jeremy Affeldt, while they should hear Matt Herges‘ decision today. Ron Villone is also in their sights.
- The D’Backs will no longer look at annual payroll. Instead, they have a three-year budget to spend. This may allow for a higher payroll in 2008 than 2009. Jack Magruder guesses the number is around $230-240MM for 2008-10.
- Speaking of Arizona, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic believes some kind of Carlos Gonzalez for Dontrelle Willis swap could make sense. Another D’Back note – they offered an extension to Brandon Webb for 2011-13, but he turned down their offer.
- The Scott Linebrink signing is done, and he gets some kind of no-trade protection.
Free Ron Villone
Sure, Barry Bonds is chasing the all-time home run mark set by Hank Aaron, and yes, the Brewers of all teams have the best record in the National League. Those are all interesting stories, but today, the baseball-world’s attention will be focused on… Ron Villone?!?
It seems as if the 37-year old veteran left-hander has a clause in his contract that calls for the Yankees to grant him free agency if he is not on the big-league roster as of today. Given his handedness and the fact that he has a 1.90 ERA, 10.72 K/9 and a 0.00 HR/9 in 22 2/3 innings of work in AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he is sure to draw some interest. It is possible that the Yankees could simply release him or, they could wisely try to trade him rather than just letting him walk for nothing in return.
Any number of teams could use Villone’s services, and naturally, the Phillies are expected to be among them. Speaking on condition of anonymity in order to avoid tampering issues, one "Phillies baseball man" said, "Would he make us better? I sure think he would."
The Phillies relief situation has been desperate all season, but of particular importance right now is someone who can pitch with his left arm and actually get people out. Manager Charlie Manuel is committed to the idea that the only way to get a left-handed batter out is to use a left-handed pitcher, however, Matt Smith and Fabio Castro have both failed miserably.
If you listen closely here in Philly, you can just barely hear the chants in South Philly… "Free Ron Villone, Free Ron Villone!"
Perhaps the Yankees would take C.J. Henry and Matt Smith back [written with tongue inserted firmly into cheek].
Tom Goyne is the author of Balls, Sticks, & Stuff, a Phillies-centric site, and maintains the Phloggers’ Pheeds page, a source for the latest commentary from around the "phlogosphere". Recently, he teamed up with his brother to launch Roto Front Office.