Giants Rumors: Lincecum, Tejada, Molina, Fukudome
Another MLB.com article for you, this time about the Giants from Chris Haft.
- Brian Sabean is getting a bit annoyed with teams thinking Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain are available. They’re pretty much not, but since the door is open a crack it may be inhibiting other deals. Sabean did admit that one team made an "interesting" offer for Lincecum. Any guesses?
- The Giants had talks with the Orioles about Miguel Tejada, as has been reported elsewhere. The Giants aren’t thrilled with Miggy though because of his age, salary, and the position switch thing.
- A team asked about Bengie Molina. Any guesses on that? The Marlins don’t seem right. Rays maybe?
- Nothing much going on regarding free agents Andruw Jones and Kosuke Fukudome.
Reds Interested In Tim Lincecum
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 9:10pm: MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon debunks this rumor, even though three different industry guys were pimping it. The MLB.com team is doing a lot of debunking this evening. Hmm, that sounded dirty for some reason.
FROM 12-3-07 at 3:51pm:
According to MLB.com’s Jim Molony, the Reds are interested in the Giants’ Tim Lincecum (who isn’t). Molony says the Reds won’t include Jay Bruce in any deal, however. Why inquire then? Why would the Giants give up their best player for anything less than the Reds’ top prospect? I guess it didn’t hurt to ask.
At any rate, it’s cool to see teams actually talking about even swaps of young players to fill their needs. So many trades these days are really just poor teams dumping off expensive stars to the rich ones.
Giants Rumors: Cabrera, Rolen, Walker
Finally some Giants rumors! I know a few fans have been clamoring for the team to join the hot stove rumblings. Andrew Baggarly has an article here and Henry Schulman has one here. Let’s discuss.
- The Giants have no one to play third base. Kevin Frandsen could technically do it but they prefer him at second. Thankfully, they will pass on Pedro Feliz. Feliz – get this – wants a three year deal. He’s on the Brewers’ radar, by the way.
- Miguel Cabrera is one option, though Baggarly doesn’t see the Giants offering up Tim Lincecum to jump into the fray. However Schulman’s source says the Giants have been "one of the most aggressive teams" after Cabrera. Who to believe?
- Baggarly’s team source doesn’t expect to go after the available Scott Rolen, given his health questions and contract. Free agents Morgan Ensberg and Mike Lamb seem more likely options at third base.
- Brian Wilson and the newly signed Tyler Walker will mix it up for the closer job. Brian Sabean doesn’t anticipate dropping big bucks/losing a draft pick for Scott Linebrink. Nor are the Giants likely to hit up the Japanese market.
Rays’ Kazmir May Be Available
The week in hot stove kicks off with a bang: Joel Sherman of the New York Post has a source saying the Devil Rays might listen to offers for ace lefty Scott Kazmir. Kazmir turns 24 in January and carries a 3.64 career ERA despite pitching in the AL East. He’s been particularly tough on the Red Sox (2.66 ERA in 101 innings). You have to think that if the Yankees are entertaining making an offer for Johan Santana, they’d consider Kazmir as well if the Rays would deal within the division.
Sherman notes that Kazmir is under contract for three years as opposed to just one for Santana, which could equate the two pitchers in the marketplace. Erik Bedard, under control for two years, has to be in that group of elite, possibly available southpaws as well. Sherman believes the Rays would seek "multiple high-end pitchers" for Kazmir, who is entering arbitration for the first time this winter. The Yankees could offer a package starting with Phil Hughes, but the Mets don’t seem to have the goods. It would take a pitcher of that nature – Hughes, Yovani Gallardo, Clay Buchholz. Otherwise, why would the Rays consider it?
Sherman also echoes the surprising notion that Tim Lincecum could be had for the right bat. He speculates that the Giants could pursue Carl Crawford or Delmon Young as the return. Hey, our Delmon speculation is catching on!
Sherman indicates that the Twins may be compelled to hold onto Santana, afraid of fan backlash if they also lose Torii Hunter. Meanwhile, another Santana, Ervin, might be had for a bat if the Angels can’t sign Alex Rodriguez. Sherman’s sources say any club in the A-Rod sweepstakes will move slowly in the market because his contract would dictate the team’s available budget.
Also notable from Sherman’s rumor-packed column: teams may wait for the Mitchell Report to come out before engaging in serious talks for Miguel Tejada. I’ve read speculation that MLB could release this report soon as a way of limiting free agent spending. Also, isn’t it about time for Jose Canseco’s next book, which supposedly has "other stuff" on Alex Rodriguez?
Cafardo’s Latest: Drew, Pettitte, Lincecum
The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo works his way through all the teams in anticipation of Monday’s GM meetings. Here are some of the rumors we haven’t seen much before.
- The Rays want a defensive-minded shortstop and veteran starter. Maybe they’ll make a play for Cesar Izturis or Omar Vizquel. A rehab guy like Freddy Garcia or Randy Wolf could be interesting.
- The Indians are looking for a power bat for left field. Haven’t seen them mentioned with Barry Bonds at all, could that work?
- Cafardo proposes the idea of the Cubs acquiring J.D. Drew as their OBP-minded right field acquisition. Drew has a limited no-trade clause allowing him to block two unknown teams. I imagine the Red Sox would have to eat some salary.
- Cafardo also speculates that Andy Pettitte could follow Joe Torre to L.A. Pettitte has previously talked about a Yankees or retirement stance.
- The idea of the Giants trading Tim Lincecum seemed crazy at first, right? Cafardo says they may be willing to do so for a "stud outfielder." How about Delmon Young?
- Scott Boras is already busting out mystery teams with A-Rod, who apparently would love to play for the Red Sox.
Odds and Ends: Lincecum, Wakefield, Schilling
More random rumors. You know you love it.
- Tracy Ringolsby has some hot stove musings. It’s a fairly sloppy article with one new tidbit: "Tim Lincecum can be had for a quality bat." Either Ringolsby is misinformed, or Brian Sabean has lost it. Lincecum has Cy Young potential.
- A couple of Red Sox mainstays will stay for ’08 – Tim Wakefield and Julian Tavarez. Wake was a no-brainer at his perpetual $4MM, while Tavarez was debatable at $3.85MM. Tavarez expected it to be declined, since the team left him off the World Series roster.
- The Ms will decide very soon whether to exercise Jose Guillen‘s $9MM option. Even if they do, Guillen then can decline it and forfeit a buyout. He most certainly will pass since he can get a two or three-year pact on the open market, mercurial nature and all.
- Re-signing Tony Clark is appearing more difficult than the D’Backs anticipated.
- Reliever Masahide Kobayashi filed for free agency and is interested in MLB offers. He’d prefer to close but it’s not a dealbreaker.
- The Cardinals contacted Curt Schilling today to express interest, apparently after hearing him on a St. Louis radio show. Schilling has a minor update on his blog. Also, he posted the recruiting letter the Red Sox sent to him in 2003.
- Scott Boras client Eric Gagne may return to the Rangers; there’s mutual interest according to Evan Grant.
- Buster Olney points out that Jorge Posada could finish his next contract as the Yankees’ DH, and would probably thrive in that role.
- Don Burke speculates that Tom Glavine might be interested in finishing his career in Boston.
Readin’ Material
If you’re looking for some fantasy pickups, check out my Waiver Wired column at RotoWorld.
The hot topic in fantasy and real baseball: Tim Lincecum vs. Cole Hamels on ESPN Sunday night. It will be hard to match the Felix Hernandez–Daisuke Matsuzaka contest, but baseball fans everywhere will be tuned in. Hop on over to RotoAuthority – the closest to guess Lincecum’s line wins a free fantasy guide.
Check out the recent MetsBlog Talk Radio transcript – Buster Olney discusses Rich Harden and Carlos Zambrano trade possibilities.
Couple of blogs to check out: We Love Daisuke! and Starting Aces (a Red Sox blog).
Clear A Path For Lincecum?
Tim Lincecum is doing everything he can to prove he’s ready for the Majors – he posted a 14K, zero walk effort yesterday. His stats are off the charts after five starts.
Whether or not there’s an open spot in the Giants’ rotation, it’s clear that Lincecum is one of their 12 best pitchers. He needs to be helping the big club right now, though I believe waiting until June to promote him could delay his free agency by a year.
The Giants’ rotation consists of Matt Cain, Barry Zito, Matt Morris, Noah Lowry, and Russ Ortiz. All have ERAs at 4.50 or below, so it’d be tough to replace one of them with Lincecum right now. Zito and Cain aren’t going anywhere, and Ortiz looks like a possible decent bargain as a fifth starter/innings eater.
The two trade candidates in my eyes are Lowry and Morris. Lowry, a 26 year-old southpaw, still hasn’t rediscovered his strikeout rate from ’05. He’s young enough to find it, but a sub-4 ERA isn’t in the cards unless he does. Morris, 32, has a 3.34 ERA in five starts and some say he’s returned to form. The numbers don’t lie, though – more walks than strikeouts, plenty of hits. He’s going to make $20MM over 2007-08. He’s the one to sell high if at all possible.
Even with Bonds in the lineup, the Giants can’t get on base to save their lives. Some players are just slumping, but there’s plenty of room for upgrade at first, third, and right field. Morris or Lowry might be able to bring in a decent bat to complement Bonds.
More likely, of course: the Giants just stand pat and wait to see if one of the starters really flounders or gets hurt. After another dominant start or two they could bring Lincecum up to get his feet wet in the pen, a la Francisco Liriano. But whatever the route, this kid needs to be starting for the Giants by June.