Odds and Ends: Bernazard, Sexson, Rangers
Time for another link roundup.
- I hadn’t realized this – the Royals offered Billy Butler for Yuniesky Betancourt a few years back.
- The Jays acquired pitcher Jonah Bayliss for a player to be named later.
- Buster Olney heard that Brian Sabean doesn’t like the idea of the Giants bringing in Rick Peterson. Wouldn’t be fair to Dave Righetti.
- Ken Davidoff of Newsday says Mets VP of Development Tony Bernazard has a bad reputation.
- David Andriesen of the Seattle PI has a source saying the Mariners are not ready to pull the trigger Richie Sexson‘s release. Still seems likely though.
- I did a Q&A on the Rangers with Uwe Blog.
- Speaking of the Rangers, I’m high on Chris Davis as a fantasy baseball pickup.
Odds and Ends: Astros, Reds, Mariners, Mets
Light day for baseball today, with only five games on the docket. Perhaps these links can fill the void.
- Despite the recent MLB.com article about the Astros’ hunt for starting pitching, two Houston Chronicle writers (Richard Justice and Brian McTaggart) are wondering whether the ‘Stros should wave the white flag.
- Interesting post from Larry Stone – he quotes John McLaren calling Erik Bedard a "100-pitch pitcher."
- Tim Lincecum on his birthday dinner plans: "Give me McDonald’s or Pizza Hut." Both fine choices.
- Joel Sherman busts out a few speculative paragraphs on potential trades for the Mets if they become sellers.
- Walt Jocketty denies Sherman’s report that he wants to clean house.
- RotoAuthority discusses expected win totals for starting pitchers.
Odds and Ends: Wolf, Indians, Ensberg
Random items for today…
- MLBTR live chat, today at 2pm CST. Right after I finish my corned beef sandwich.
- RotoAuthority takes a look at the fantasy value of Randy Wolf.
- On Sunday I joined the guys from Drunk Jays Fans for part of their podcast. A button to listen to the show can be found here.
- Paul Hoynes says the Indians’ Mark Shapiro will need "at least a month to narrow the field of suitors for players such as C.C. Sabathia and Paul Byrd to see if he really wants to trade them."
- RotoWorld says the Yankees have released Morgan Ensberg.
Odds and Ends: Lane, Dodgers, Huntington
A collection of links to browse on this fine Monday.
- Jason Lane can exercise an out clause if he’s not promoted to the bigs today. The 31 year-old outfielder is hitting .248/.340/.485 with 11 home runs in 202 Triple A at-bats.
- The Dodgers hope to acquire a veteran utility infielder as an insurance policy for Rafael Furcal. Any suggestions?
- The Hardball Times’ Mike Lee did an enjoyable interview with Pirates GM Neal Huntington. I have a feeling we’ll get a better grasp on Huntington’s trading abilities within the next few months.
- CBSSports.com added Danny Knobler to their team. He’s always been a good source for inside info on the Tigers.
- RotoAuthority has waiver wire advice at every position.
Odds and Ends: Kershaw, Medders, Tavarez
Hopefully they’ll let you leave work early today in anticipation of the holiday weekend. Before you go, here are some random links.
- RotoAuthority takes a look at Clayton Kershaw, who may be called up soon.
- Brandon Medders was DFA’d to make room for Doug Davis. Not to be mean, but the 28 year-old reliever doesn’t do anything particularly well.
- The Glendon Rusch signing takes the Rockies out of the Julian Tavarez sweepstakes. Jayson Stark said the Brewers made a run at Tavarez a week ago.
- Paul Sullivan suggests that Jim Edmonds may be on a short leash in Chicago.
- Jon Heyman grades last winter’s trades.
- We’ve filled the Sunday afternoon writing gig…many thanks to all who applied.
Odds and Ends: Griffey, Baek, German, Wells
Here’s today’s link collection.
- Hal McCoy seems fairly certain that Ken Griffey Jr. will play out the season with the Reds.
- Dejan Kovacevic has heard that the Pirates are torn between Pedro Alvarez and Tim Beckham at #2.
- Cha Seung Baek has been DFA’d, and this time he might be claimed. He could have a career as a fifth starter somewhere.
- John Brattain explains why he feels teams are colluding against Barry Bonds.
- The Rangers DFA’d reliever Franklyn German; Evan Grant explains why.
- The Indians claimed reliever Oneli Perez from the White Sox. Baseball America says the six-fingered pitcher has attitude questions.
- According to Buster Olney, David Wells is still waiting by the phone hoping for a team to call.
- RotoAuthority examines Daniel Cabrera‘s hot start.
Odds and Ends: Botts, Red Sox, McLouth
Roundup of links!
- According to Jamey Newberg, Jason Botts has cleared waivers. He probably won’t get another chance with the Rangers though.
- Gordon Edes notes that the Red Sox have five picks in the first three rounds of the June draft. Even though they don’t start until the 30th pick, the Sox have had much success in recent years.
- No extension talks have begun with Nate McLouth, but Dejan Kovacevic does expect it to happen.
- I updated the fantasy baseball closers depth chart over at RotoAuthority.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman says Freddy Garcia is "progressing nicely" in rehab and will throw off a mound about a week from now.
- Marc Topkin wonders if the Rays should consider Jason Michaels (among others) if they aren’t satisfied with their current right field options.
Odds and Ends: Burrell, Pedro, Fukudome
Today’s link collection.
- Jon Heyman notes that Pat Burrell only wanted to go to the Yankees or Red Sox when the Phillies tried to trade him a few years ago. They’re not great fits, but perhaps Burrell will have those two clubs at the top of his list when he hits free agency.
- Ross Newhan looks at the Dodgers’ trade of Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields. He rates it the worst in franchise history. He also names the Brad Penny acquisition as the fourth-worst.
- Josh Kalk takes a look at Kosuke Fukudome‘s hot start for RotoAuthority.
- The Dodgers and Juan Castro have mutual interest.
Odds and Ends: Harden, Bonds, Ramon Hernandez
Time to round up today’s linkage.
- Susan Slusser believes Rich Harden and Joe Blanton will both be traded this season. She sees the Yankees and Mets as suitors for Harden, though he’s already having a start pushed back.
- Jim Caple recently made his case for the Mariners to sign Barry Bonds; his logic is sound.
- Our Brian Bannister Q&A got a mention in the KC Star. Nice!
- RotoAuthority has the fantasy take on K-Rod’s ailing ankles.
- Pure speculation, but Ken Rosenthal thinks Ramon Hernandez would be a good fit for the Reds. Not sure if the Reds were looking at Michael Barrett, but that option’s off the table now.
- Who said you can’t go home again? Craig Wilson is back with the Bucs.
- We’ll be doing our third MLBTR chat here at 2pm CST; don’t miss it!
Odds and Ends: Putz, Byrdak, Graves
Today’s linkage.
- J.J. Putz is out for at least a few weeks; the fantasy baseball world reacts.
- The Astros inked Tim Byrdak, selling him on an easy path to the big leagues. The 34 year-old southpaw had a 3.20 ERA last year, albeit with poor control.
- The Twins added former closer Danny Graves to their Triple A club. He’s also 34. His peripherals weren’t too impressive last year for the Long Island Ducks despite 33 saves.
- I did a Q&A with Dexter Sports.
- Unfortunately Corey Koskie doesn’t seem anywhere close to coming back.
- Joe Sports Fan looks at baseball’s "bespectacled heroes."
- Correcting an SI.com report from yesterday, MetsBlog says there’s been no contact between the Mets and Edgardo Alfonzo.