Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Royals, Rays, Burrell
On this date 41 years ago, Major League owners unanimously elected Bowie Kuhn to a seven-year term as commissioner. It was under Kuhn that the reserve clause was eliminated, paving the way for free agency as we know it.
We've got a lot of links to get to, so let's dive right in…
- Joe Posnanski tries to determine who the worst everyday player in baseball is.
- Royals Review breaks down all the changes the Royals have gone through since the start of last season.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness congratulates Garret Anderson on the worst offensive season in Dodgers history.
- Bright House Sports Network looks at the Rays' history of waiver trades, plus some names they might target this month.
- The Process Report wonders if this season will be Dan Wheeler's last stand in Tampa.
- DRays Bay tries to figure out if Gabe Kapler should be designated for assignment.
- Disciples of Uecker thinks the Jim Edmonds–Chris Dickerson trade was the best for everyone.
- Around The Majors posted a two part series looking at the events that have brought Andres Torres' career back from the dead (parts one & two).
- Meanwhile, Joe Pawlikowski at FanGraphs examines Pat Burrell's resurgence since joining the Giants.
- The Nats Blog breaks down Stephen Strasburg's first bump in the road.
- Red Sox Beacon re-introduces us to Carlos Delgado.
- U.S.S. Mariner looks at the job security of Major League managers, or the lack thereof.
- Camden Crazies explains the Buck Showalter magic going on in Baltimore.
- Randall On Baseball revisits the trade that sent Brandon Morrow to the Blue Jays for Brandon League.
- Baseball 101 looks at a different way of valuing relievers based on the work of Bill James.
- Baseball Analysts analyzed the Rule 5 Draft.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Beltre, Wolf, Callaspo, Rule 5 Draft
On this date two years ago, the Tigers acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis for six players including Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller. Only one of the other four players, Burke Badenhop has yet to see significant playing time at the big league level. With this year's winter meetings set to begin next week more big players could be on the move. Let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- Jorge Says No! wonders if the smart move for Adrian Belte is to accept arbitration from the Mariners now that the Phillies no longer need a third baseman.
- Around the Majors explains why the Dodgers made a mistake in not offering arbitration to Randy Wolf.
- The Baseball Opinion looks back at how each team did with their '04 free agency compensation draft picks.
- Royals Authority makes a case for trading Alberto Callaspo.
- River Ave Blues wonders who could play left field for the Yankees if they don't land Johnny Damon, Matt Holliday or Mike Cameron.
- UmpBump looks at what the Astros need this off-season.
- MLB Notebook believes Justin Duchscherer would be a good fit for the Pirates.
- Bucco Fans previews the right-handed pitchers in the upcoming Rule 5 draft with Aneury Rodriguez of the Rays listed as one of the top options overall.
- DRaysBay looks at some relief pitchers that are available in the Rule 5 draft.
- We Should Be GMs examines the free agent market for relief pitchers and who might be a good fit for the Phillies.
- The Pinstriper looks back at what might have happened had the Yankees not re-signed Alex Rodriguez in '07.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.
Pirates Notes: Rule 5, Duke, Yates
Dejan Kovacevic has a new column up focusing on a number of Pirates topics:
- After liking what they've found in Rule 5 Draft picks Evan Meek and Donnie Veal, the Pirates are actively scouting available players and have identified some potential targets to use their #2 pick on in this year's Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 10. Meek posted a 3.45 ERA out of the 'pen for the Buccos in 2009. And, while Kovacevic points out that Veal's numbers this season were ugly, he recently dominated the Arizona Fall League. Veal posted a 2.14 ERA through 21 innings, allowing only a .221 opponent average, striking out 22 and walking seven.
- Last offseason, the Pirates locked up Ryan Doumit, Nate McLouth, and Paul Maholm, but Kovacevic says not to expect any long-term deals this time around. That includes Zach Duke, who will be eligible for free agency after the 2011 season.
- Tyler Yates, who underwent Tommy John surgery back in July, is back to playing pain-free long-toss and is discussing a minor league deal to keep him in the Pirates organization.
Rule 5 Draft
2:32pm: Patton, a righty reliever, was traded from the Reds to the Cubs in a prearranged deal. And the Royals immediately send Lugo to the Mariners. Head on over to Baseball America for analysis of the draft.
12:28pm: Baseball America has all the picks.
10:54am: The latest on the Rule 5 draft, to be updated…
- Here is the draft order. Baseball America’s John Manuel suggests 10-12 players will be picked. You can refresh this MLB.com page to get the results as they come in.
- The Nationals took Reds righty Terrell Young with the first pick but may be trading or selling him off.
- The Mariners took Yankees middle infielder Reegie Corona from the Yankees. The Padres took Everth Cabrera of the Rockies.
- The Pirates took Donald Veal from the Cubs. The Orioles took Lou Palmisano from the Brewers and may trade him to the Astros. The Giants took Luis Perdomo.
- Reds take David Patton, Tigers take Kyle Bloom, Royals take Jose Lugo, A’s take Ben Copeland.
- D’Backs take James Skelton, Marlins take Zach Kroenke, Astros take Gilbert de la Vera.
- Mets took Darren O’Day. Twins took Jason Jones. Brewers take Eduardo Morlan. Phillies take Robert Mosebach. Red Sox take Miguel Gonzales. Rays take Derek Rodriguez. That’s it for the Major League phase.
- Gerry Fraley notes that everyone passed on White Sox reliever Mike MacDougal.
Odds and Ends: Rule 5, Beltre, Schmidt, Bako
Stray links I’ve collected over the past few days…
- John Manuel and Jonathan Mayo get us ready for the Rule 5 draft. Manuel has a second post on it here.
- Sarah Green looks at A.J. Burnett‘s possible commutes.
- LEN3 suggests the Twins might be part of Adrian Beltre‘s limited no-trade clause.
- K-Rod signing analysis from Dave Cameron, Jesse Spector, and Keith Law. Also check out the usual solid analysis over at Ken Davidoff’s blog.
- Law also takes on the Edwin Jackson, Ramon Hernandez, J.J. Putz, and C.C. Sabathia moves.
- The Red Sox are likely to non-tender Kevin Cash. Josh Bard is one free agent on their radar. Also, Tony Massarotti learned that the Red Sox are strongly opposed to opt-out clauses.
- UmpBump found some C.C. Sabathia rumors we missed on Monday. Also, the Brewers’ offer to C.C. had unique clauses and two club options.
- The Dodgers knew Jason Schmidt had a partial rotator cuff tear when they signed him.
- Rany Jazayerli on recent Royals rumors, reliever and otherwise.
- Bruce Miles says the Cubs have some interest in bringing Paul Bako back.
- Jason Davis, Raul Chavez, and R.A. Dickey became free agents. Davis may be headed to Japan.
- Nick Piecoro says Junior Spivey is looking for a job.
- Much of the money saved from recent White Sox trades was repurposed for Dayan Viciedo.
Rule 5 Draft Info
Several readers have emailed asking for information about the Rule 5 draft, which takes place on December 7th at the winter meetings. First you should start with Kary Booher’s article at Baseball America explaining how everything works.
Booher also looks at notable additions to the 40-man roster for all 30 teams. Between Booher’s article, Peter Gammons’ latest blog post, and an article from Nick James at Camden Depot, here are some available players (several are injured):
Juan Abreu
Jordan Brown
Bobby Brownlie
Matt Fox
Alan Horne
Kei Igawa
Chuck Lofgren
Daniel Mayora
Eduardo Morlan
Chris Nicoll
Jay Rainville
James Skelton
Tim Stauffer
Wade Townsend
Philippe Valiquette
Donald Veal
Ryan Wagner
Kyle Waldrop