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Takashi Saito

Rosenthal On Saito, Rangers, Hardy

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Red Sox discussed a trade that would have sent Takashi Saito to Texas for Hank Blalock. The idea lost traction once Josh Hamilton underwent surgery and David Ortiz began hitting better and it's not likely to be revived. However, "several" teams have interest in Saito, who the Red Sox might prefer to deal for a prospect. Here are more details from Rosenthal's column:

  • The Rangers remain the leading contenders to sign Ben Sheets.
  • They also considered going after Nick Johnson, but are more likely to replace Chris Davis internally if they decide he's not contributing enough at the plate.  
  • One scout has noticed the Brewers following Erik Bedard and believes they'll make a "strong play" for him. 
  • J.J. Hardy remains appealing to teams around the league and the Brewers are "constantly" asked about shortstop prospect Alcides Escobar.  
  • The Red Sox "sniffed around" on a Hardy-Brad Penny swap, but that deal wouldn't work for Milwaukee.
  • The Orioles are increasingly willing to deal George Sherrill and Danys Baez.  

Stark On Red Sox Offseason Moves

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In his latest column, Jayson Stark weighs in on the moves the Red Sox made this off-season. While Boston did not spend nearly as much as the Yankees, their moves have a ton of upside potential and that no team "had a more underrated offseason than the Red Sox."

  • Stark spoke to one scout that thinks the Red Sox did a better job than the Yankees at filling their needs through free agency.
  • Stark notes that the amount of guaranteed dollars for the Red Sox four free agents (John Smoltz, Brad Penny, Takashi Saito, Rocco Baldelli) is less than what the Yankees will pay AJ Burnett this season.
  • The Red Sox moves also did not leave the team with "long-term inflexibility."
  • One scout believes Smoltz will come back healthy at some point and compares the signing to trading for an impact pitcher at the trade deadline. Stark says the Sox believe $5.5MM for Smoltz is a better gamble than a five- or seven-year deal for "any free-agent pitcher."
  • Stark notes that Penny did not need off-season surgery and one scout says pitching coach John Farrell is the one person that should be able to get the best out of Penny.
  • One scout says that if Saito is healthy, the Red Sox got a steal.
  • Stark says the Red Sox rotation is more "October-ready" than the Yankees, even if the Yankees have the better long-term outlook.

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

Red Sox Sign Takashi Saito

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TUESDAY, 12:30pm: Dylan Hernandez says Saito’s deal could be worth as much as $15MM over two years, although he is guaranteed just $1.5MM.

SATURDAY, 2:23pm: It appears the Dodgers weren’t ready to offer the contract terms needed to bring Takashi Saito back. As Tony Jackson reports: "[the Dodgers] weren’t about to give him anything close to this much money."

8:41am: Ken Rosenthal reports that the Red Sox have signed Takashi Saito to a one-year contract with a club option for 2010. The deal’s worth between $1.5 and $2.5MM in 2009, but Saito could earn up to $7MM if he pitches well, according to Rosenthal’s sources.

Saito passed his physical yesterday.

Odds and Ends: Saito, Teixeira, LaRoche

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More Tuesday links…

  • Over at RotoAuthority, David Chase examines more of the optimistic Spring Training reports of ’08.  Particularly interesting: did pitchers follow up on their intention to use a new pitch?
  • The Marlins’ Scott Proctor signing is official.  Also, Chan Ho Park with the Phillies.
  • Carl Pohlad’s three sons will take over for their father.
  • McCovey Chronicles trade idea: Randy Winn for Xavier Nady.
  • Add Randy Choate to the minor league deals for the Rays.
  • Economist J.C. Bradbury says "the economic downturn cannot explain the magnitude of Pat Burrell’s discount."  He believes teams are exaggerating the recession effect.
  • Keith Law says the risk in giving Milton Bradley a three-year deal "seems excessive" but notes that Bradley is an excellent hitter and above-average defender.
  • Patrick Newman learned that Takashi Saito received almost ten offers last month, including proposals from the Cardinals and Red Sox.  Newman also has new reports of various minor league-level Japanese players who want to join MLB organizations.
  • Tony Massarotti has all kinds of questions about Boston’s failure to sign Mark Teixeira.  Craig Calcaterra offers analysis on the team’s Boras relationship.  Check out stuff from today’s Yankees press conference here and here.
  • Sox Machine on how Jim Thome staying healthy messed up Ken Williams’ plans.
  • Dejan Kovacevic says Adam LaRoche would like to stay in Pittsburgh past ’09, but the team is not considering an extension.

Cafardo’s Latest: Quota, Saito, Mulder

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The column is from Sunday, but we missed a lot of good stuff from Nick Cafardo’s latest.

  • Finally an answer!  Cafardo learned that teams can sign as many as nine Type A or B free agents this year.  So to all those who emailed: yes, the Yankees can technically sign Manny Ramirez.  I tried to decipher the quota section of the Basic Agreement in October, but didn’t come up with nine.
  • At some point this winter, the Red Sox made an offer to Takashi Saito.
  • Cafardo says Boston does not have interest in Michael Young.
  • The Brewers and A’s "are big on" Mark Mulder.  The Red Sox will also watch him throw this month.
  • Luis Gonzalez is likely to sign somewhere as a fourth outfielder.

Cardinals Rumors: Smoltz, Carpenter, Lyon

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11:53pm: More from Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Strauss suggests GM John Mozeliak hopes to swap an outfielder for a closer-quality arm.  Any suggestions?

Strauss adds that the Cardinals inquired on John Smoltz.  At least seven teams have shown some level of interest in Smoltz, who most expect to return to Atlanta.

8:20pm: The Associated Press has a slightly different take on the Cardinals’ approach to a closer. La Russa told the AP that Chris Carpenter could return to the bullpen if the club deems that move will be the best scenario for both parties:

"We want Chris pitching for us, and if I was told he couldn’t be healthy throwing 100 pitches every five days and he could be a reliever, I’d take him as a reliever."

6:36pm: St. Louis Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa told Matthew Leach of MLB.com that the Cardinals will likely look at Chris Perez or Jason Motte to close games in 2009, but La Russa also hinted that the team could sign a starter with the thoughts of moving the addition to a ninth-inning role.

La Russa said he’d like to give Perez and Motte more time to mature in the minor leagues before moving them into the role of closer for the Cardinals.

La Russa also mentioned that the list of starters who could be converted into a closer’s role is short, Leach writes. La Russa noted that the Cardinals do not want to convert one of their current starters into the closer.

La Russa said that Jason Isringhausen will not probably return to the Cardinals.  The Cardinals could sign a free-agent reliever such as Juan Cruz or Brandon Lyon.  Cruz is unlikely due to his Type A status, however. The Cards remain cool to the possibility of signing Trevor Hoffman.

La Russa did not shut the door on a closer with health issues, such as Takashi Saito or Chad Cordero. Leach also noted that club’s front office has expressed significant reservations about signing any players who are health risks.

Dodgers Rumors: Manny, Andruw, Saito

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Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times has the latest on the Dodgers, as well as free agent pitcher Pedro Martinez.

  • Nothing much to report with Manny Ramirez – there has been no new offer from the Dodgers yet but the two sides are still talking.  That two-year $45MM offer Scott Boras dissed isn’t looking too bad anymore.
  • Boras is "just looking for a situation" for Andruw Jones.  I see.  Boras had a meeting in November with Ned Colletti and Joe Torre and the three decided to rework the contract and get him out of L.A.
  • Hernandez says Trevor Hoffman remains a possibility but the Dodgers haven’t heard back from Takashi Saito.
  • The Dodgers are not pursuing Pedro, but he’s narrowed his choices to two teams in each league according to his agent.
  • Diamond Leung tells us the Dodgers signed infielder Juan Castro to a minor league deal.

Twins Rumors: Kawakami, Lyon, Saito, Mota

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La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has the latest hot stove info on the Twins.

  • The Twins don’t appear to be currently negotiating with Kenshin Kawakami – starting pitching isn’t top priority currently.  Neal says that could change if they need to package a starter in a trade.
  • Reliever names on the radar: Brandon Lyon, Takashi Saito, and Guillermo Mota.  Lyon may be out of their price range.

Cardinals Rumors: Fuentes, Saito, Kawakami, Uehara

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Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has the latest on the Cardinals’ hunt for pitching.

GM John Mozeliak is getting impatient with Brian Fuentes’ agents, who are waiting for the market to develop.  They might be waiting for the Angels to jump in, but that won’t happen until the Mark Teixeira situation is resolved.  Strauss says the Cardinals have offered two years and $16-18MM, and the ball is in Fuentes’ court.  Fuentes, of course, wants three years and more than $30MM.  The Cardinals are reluctant to give him the third year.

Strauss says the Cards "may investigate the availability" of Takashi Saito, though the Dodgers hope to re-sign him.  Strauss also learned that Mozeliak met with the agents for Kenshin Kawakami and Koji Uehara at the Winter Meetings.

Odds and Ends: Astros, Saito, Yankees

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Links for Monday night…

  • Astros GM Ed Wade is "kicking the tires" on players to share time with Geoff Blum at third next year. It seems unlikely that they can afford Ty Wigginton.
  • The Marlins haven’t yet inquired on Takashi Saito, a recent non-tender.
  • It’s "very unlikely" though "not impossible" that Mark Teixeira or Manny Ramirez becomes a Yankee according to Tyler Kepner. He also thinks that the longer Andy Pettitte waits, the lower the chances are of a return to the Yankees.
  • Adam Everett thinks the Tigers are a great fit for him. Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said Everett’s in line to get most of the starts at shortstop.
  • Felipe Lopez could be a positive for the D’Backs in spite of his questionable effort and unspectacular defense, writes Keith Law.
  • Rob Neyer thinks that the Yankees "pretty obviously overpaid" for A.J. Burnett.
  • Here’s a video clip of Bronx Banter authors and Anthony McCarron debating the pros and cons of the Burnett signing.
  • Sarah D. Morris weighs in on the Dodgers’ offseason moves.
  • Tony Massarotti ranks the five worst current pitching contracts.
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