Odds and Ends: Soto, Joba, Colletti, Tazawa
Let’s dig in with today’s links!
- As you know, the Steinbrenners want Brian Cashman back for ’09. Now it’s up to him.
- Geovany Soto was discussed as a throw-in on the trade that ultimately sent Sammy Sosa to Baltimore back in ’05. One that did get away that year: Ricky Nolasco (in the Juan Pierre deal).
- Michael Gluckstadt interviewed ESPN’s Buster Olney.
- CBSSports.com’s Danny Knobler takes a look at the deep free agent class of starting pitchers. Dave Cameron considers this "the greatest collection of free agent arms to hit free agency at the same time in the history of the game."
- Joel Sherman disagrees with the ’09 Joba Rules.
- Ned Colletti, the game’s best GM? It’s hard to tell if T.J. Simers is being entirely serious here.
- Nick Piecoro gives a scout’s take on Chad Beck, who the D’Backs sent to Toronto for David Eckstein.
- The Red Sox, Braves, and Mets are eyeing Japanese amateur pitcher Junichi Tazawa, and Patrick Newman has more details.
- John Perrotto says Pedro Alvarez is coming across as a punk.
Crasnick On Remaining Free Agents
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick examines the status of nine free agents: Sammy Sosa, Kenny Lofton, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Cirillo, Royce Clayton, Steve Finley, Freddy Garcia, David Wells, and Damian Miller.
- Lofton is likely to find a job; he’s healthy and played reasonably well last year. The Cubs still might be a fit.
- Seems that Garcia probably won’t reach a big league mound until September; auditioning for teams may take place in July.
- Miller received calls from the Yankees and Padres, but he’s still taking a Brewers or nothing stance.
Sammy Sosa To Retire After WBC?
ESPN’s Enrique Rojas, quoting the Dominican paper Hoy, writes that Sammy Sosa intends to retire after playing in the next World Baseball Classic (to be held in March ’09).
Sosa’s quotes are confusing:
"There’s something that I wish to state very clearly: I’m not looking for a job. In fact, I have told my agent that he should stop offering my services to MLB teams. I’m not retired. I remain highly focused and not begging for a contract."
I think Sosa’s point is that he is still willing to play for an MLB team, but only if they come to him.
Sammy Sosa Considering Retirement
According to Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune, Sammy Sosa is considering retirement if he doesn’t get an offer soon. Sosa passed the 600 HR plateau last year, so there’s no statistical reason to hang around.
Sosa drove in 92 runs in 114 games in his comeback season for the Rangers, but struggled against right-handed pitching. Apparently he has looking for regular playing time and/or decent money to play in ’08; the Royals passed on his offer to play for them. Ken Rosenthal noted back in February that the 2013 Hall of Fame voting could be mighty interesting.
Olney On Bonds And The Mets
ESPN’s Buster Olney makes a pretty strong case for the Mets signing Barry Bonds. Bonds is a lot like Moises Alou, only a better hitter with more baggage. Jeff Sackmann only saw six teams as possible fits for Bonds; the Alou injury might make the Mets the seventh (although Alou missing a month of the regular season was a given). The Mets could get a ton of value from left field if they somehow kept these two from being injured simultaneously.
Olney argues that Bonds is the one available impact bat who can be acquired for only money. And the Mets haven’t been terribly concerned with a few steroid-linked players coming through town. I agree with everything he’s saying, and I think New York fans wouldn’t mind so much if Bonds helped them win a World Series. However, Omar Minaya mostly dismissed the idea of signing Bonds or Sammy Sosa.
A more likely option is Marcus Thames, though Jon Paul Morosi believes Jim Leyland’s fondness for him might preclude a trade.
Royals Not Interested In Sosa
TODAY: Royals GM Dayton Moore denies interest in Sosa, saying he’s not looking to acquire any free agents currently.
THURSDAY: According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes, the Royals’ talks for Sammy Sosa have some life again. However, a Royals official told ESPN last week that the team prefers to go young. Meanwhile, Jose Guillen is campaigning for Sosa.
Really, Sammy taking away ABs from any current Royal doesn’t seem to make any sense. You’d hate to see Billy Butler affected, and even a trickle down minor loss of opportunity for Joey Gathright, Ross Gload, Mark Teahen, or Ryan Shealy would be counterproductive. It’s time for Sosa to settle in as a bench player who can mash lefties, rather than shoot for 400+ ABs.
Who Wants Sammy?
Jon Heyman talked to Sammy Sosa‘s agent, who indicated that Sosa is intent on finding a near full-time offer. Sammy hit .252/.311/.468 last year, earning $1.85MM. Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA system sees a .256/.327/.470 line in 282 plate appearances this year, worth about $3MM.
Sosa’s splits indicate he should be playing part time: .328/.410/.613 against lefties, .222/.267/.410 against righties. Plus, who has an open full-time DH job? Many of the 14 spots are occupied with no flexibility. Actually Sosa in a strict platoon with Jack Cust would be interesting.
Odds and Ends: Colon, Byrd, Sosa, Wilkerson
Some random links and whatnot for Saturday…
- Joe Cowley says the White Sox have backed off on Bartolo Colon because he wants a two-year deal. He believes the Royals are the frontrunner.
- Rangers guru Jamey Newberg doesn’t think Marlon Byrd would be enough to get Matt Murton from the Cubs.
- The Rangers might’ve entertained Sammy Sosa in a limited role, but he’s looking for 400-500 plate appearances. Good luck with that!
- Heard an unconfirmed whisper that the Red Sox may have some interest in Brad Wilkerson.
- RotoAuthority takes a fantasy baseball look at Yovani Gallardo and Tim Lincecum.
ESPN’s Latest: Sosa, Prior, Kuroda, Reyes
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:19pm: Ah, the truth comes out. Sammy Sosa‘s people approached the Royals, but they weren’t interested.
FROM 12-4-07 at 3:17pm:
ESPN has a huge team at the Meetings; here are some tidbits that haven’t appeared elsewhere on MLBTR.
- Enrique Rojas says the Royals have interest in Sammy Sosa. Could that indicate a Mark Teahen trade is in the works also? Teahen is expected to move to first base to accomodate Jose Guillen, which would push Billy Butler to DH. But Sammy can only DH.
- Buster Olney says the Rangers and Padres are in on Mark Prior.
- The Padres also like lefties Glendon Rusch and Shawn Estes, and may sign both after the Rule 5 as a means of adding starting depth.
- Jayson Stark says the Mariners made an offer to Hiroki Kuroda in the range of four years, $45MM.
- Jerry Crasnick says Anthony Reyes is generating a lot of interest. The Cards, by the way, are open to trading Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan, or Jim Edmonds.
- The Rockies have gotten in touch with Marcus Giles‘ agent.
- The Astros aren’t interested in Jon Lieber, despite previous reports. They liked Matt Clement a bit among the injury guys but are over him now.
- Ryan Howard‘s agent and the Phillies will sit down soon to talk about a long-term deal.
Royals Interested In Guillen, Jenkins, Hunter
I was waiting for someone to name a few players of interest to the Royals, and Bob Dutton came through tonight with some names.
Specifically, the team is after a run-producer, ideally a right-handed hitter. That puts Jose Guillen atop their list. Dayton Moore might need to go a little north of three years, $30MM to get him.
Failing that, the left-handed hitting Geoff Jenkins is on the radar. He’d probably go for a one-year, $6-7MM contract in my estimation.
Dutton notes that the Royals have interest in Torii Hunter, but he’s likely to be priced out of their range.
Dutton also hints that Sammy Sosa could be a consideration for the Royals, as he does have pop if nothing else. They are one of a handful of teams with an open DH spot.