Odds And Ends: Santana, Sano, Zambrano
More links, with less than a week remaining for contenders to add pieces…
- Pete Abraham of the Journal News says the Brian Cashman and the Yankees were smart not to trade for Johan Santana, even though it seems likely that the Mets will get their ace back.
- Matthew Carruth of FanGraphs argues that Santana won't likely be worth the $90MM-plus remaining on his extension.
- Ryan Zimmerman's extension has worked out well for the Nationals, and Tyler Hissey of Around the Majors believes the team deserves some credit.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that talks between the Pirates and Miguel Angel Sano have stalled. The Pirates made a formal offer at the beginning of July, but pulled it back more than a month ago.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says Carlos Zambrano's next meaningful start will come on Opening Day 2010.
- It looks like top Japanese amateur Yusei Kikuchi will play in Japan, as Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker shows.
- Jerry Ford of PerfectGame.org says Bryce Harper has been overhyped. But has his ability been overrated? Not at all – Ford says he has tons of potential. Check out the entire piece for a wide-ranging discussion of the top prospect.
Odds & Ends: Wagner, Red Sox, Kikuchi
I'm proud of you fellas. You all kept your head on a swivel, and that's what you gotta do when you find yourself in a vicious link fight…
- The Boston Herald reports that Bean Stringfellow, agent for reliever Billy Wagner, said his client is willing to waive his no-trade clause to go anywhere that would give him a shot to win a championship. "Certainly, the Red Sox would give him a chance to win a World Series, and this year that’s first and foremost,” Stringfellow said. “From where we sit, that’s all that matters right now. Over the next six weeks he’d have a chance to win, and then we could think about next year.”
- Meanwhile, Alex Speier of WEEI.com says that some Red Sox relievers are puzzled by the Wagner waiver claim. Closer Jonathan Papelbon said it's "kind of like the (Eric) Gagne thing, I guess.”
- Patrick at NPB Tracker passes along a report were Mets GM Omar Minaya commented on having some interest in Japanese high school pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. “I haven’t seen him throw myself, but I’ve heard his name. He wants to come to the majors? If so we’ll continue watching him," said Minaya. Patrick offered up a brief scouting report on Kikuchi earlier in the week.
Odds And Ends: Rizzo, Rangers, Hall
More links for the morning…
- Adam Dunn tells MLB.com's Bill Ladson that it would have been wrong for the Nats to give the GM job to anybody but Mike Rizzo, who will be formally introduced in about four hours.
- Via Twitter, ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr. reports that the Rangers signed Dominican righty David Perez for $425k.
- Bill Hall tells Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times that he put too much pressure on himself after inking a $24MM deal with the Brewers.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff points out that the Mets can watch Jeff Francoeur play 40 more games before they have to decide whether to offer him a contract for next year.
- As Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker shows, Yusei Kikuchi is a Japanese high schooler who can throw 96mph and has attracted at least some interest from MLB teams.
Rangers, Dodgers Eyeing Yusei Kikuchi
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a Nikkan Sports article indicating the Rangers sent two scouts to watch high school lefty Yusei Kikuchi. Newman notes that the Dodgers had Logan White watch Kikuchi practice back in March.
Kikuchi is highly regarded, but how does he compare to Junichi Tazawa? Newman told me:
The way I look at it is, Kikuchi is younger, taller, and lefthanded, whereas Tazawa was a older, more polished and had faced better competition. Kikuchi appears to have similar velocity to Tazawa. Tazawa was definitely closer to the big leagues; you wouldn't sign Kikuchi and have him start the season opener in AA. But Kikuchi is a better prospect than Tazawa was when he was 18. So Kikuchi may have a little more upside, but I don't think he would command the same kind of offers Tazawa got. A key difference is that Tazawa had basically made up his mind to come to America by the time I started writing about him. We don't know what Kikuchi's plans are.