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Pirates Rumors: Bay, Nady, Capps

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Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a few new Pirates tidbits today.

  • Jason Bay expressed displeasure with the Pirates’ lack of activity, but his comments were respectful.  He hopes to stay with the Bucs and win. Bay says he "found a whole different level of being in shape" this winter, which bodes well for a bounceback. 
  • Kovacevic says Neal Huntington and Kevin Towers have been in touch this week regarding Xavier Nady but nothing is close.  Towers admitted publicly that he was looking at Nady and Matt Murton.
  • There’s been "little progress" on a multiyear deal for Matt Capps. The Pirates approached Capps earlier this month with three or four-year scenarios in mind.

Marlon Byrd/Matt Murton Rumors

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Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News has the latest on the Marlon Byrd/Cubs rumors.

Byrd has been informed that the Cubs have interest in him.  Grant says the Rangers reportedly turned down an offer of Matt Murton for Byrd, requiring one or two pitching prospects be added by the Cubs.  So for those who think Murton is worth more than Byrd – the Rangers apparently do not agree.

Meanwhile, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick runs down three possible destinations for Murton: Texas, Baltimore, and San Diego.  It seems that the Cubs would prefer to resolve the Baltimore trade talks before they’d ship Murton to one of the other two clubs.  Talks for Erik Bedard and/or Brian Roberts are ongoing, according to Crasnick.

Odds and Ends: Zimmerman, Tulo, Hawpe, Wang

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Some bits and pieces from today…

Odds and Ends: Foulke, Ordonez, Feliz, Phillips

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All sorts of odds and ends to discuss this morning.

Kevin Towers To Receive Extension

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FROM 1-22-08 at 10:20pm: The new deal for Towers will run through 2010.

FROM 1-22-08 at 2:17pm:

According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, Padres GM Kevin Towers is signed through 2007 with a 2008 club option.  MLB.com’s Corey Brock wrote today that Towers is set to receive an extension this week.

I haven’t done any rankings but I think Towers might be the game’s best GM.  Maybe I’ll do an MLBTR poll on that.

Odds and Ends: Howard, Cormier, Gerut

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I am currently evaluating Phil Hughes’ playlist.  Some of it is solid.  Let’s get on to the odds and ends…

  • Bill Conlin thinks it’s a mistake for the Phillies to pay Ryan Howard at a rate commensurate with his service time.  It’s a slippery slope – shouldn’t Cole Hamels be earning $15MM instead of $500K, then?  The system may be broken but it doesn’t make sense for the Phillies to start ignoring service time.
  • John Mozeliak is not done yet.  Meanwhile, Albert Pujols continued to direct his ire at KTVI-TV of St. Louis. 
  • The Orioles agreed to a minor league deal with 27 year-old righty Lance Cormier worth around $450K.  Cormier doesn’t have much to show for his 244 big league innings, whether starting or relieving.  He has a decent groundball rate, at least.
  • The Padres signed Jody Gerut to a minor league pact that could be worth as much as $910K.  He’s 30 now; his best season was an .830 OPS for Cleveland at age 25.  Since then he’s had all sorts of knee problems and even had a grievance with the Pirates.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Boras, Murton, Marquis, Clark

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Ken Rosenthal is here to hopefully rescue what’s been a slow day for rumors.

  • Rosenthal points out that it seems Scott Boras has been more flexible with his clients’ contracts this year, perhaps even as the result of his "failures" with Alex Rodriguez and Kenny Rogers.  A new, gentler Boras?  Wait til Mark Teixeira, Matt Holliday, and Prince Fielder reach free agency.
  • The Padres are targeting Matt Murton for left field, a notion that gels with Kevin Towers’ stated quest to acquire a corner outfielder via trade.  Plus, Towers gets along well with Cubs GM Jim Hendry.  Not sure how the teams would match up, unless things expand to include Khalil Greene.  The Cubs would have to be sure they don’t need Murton for other deals or because of other deals.
  • Rosenthal agrees with the recent rumor that the Orioles will decide whether to trade Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts by month’s end.  He notes that Cubs starter Jason Marquis actually does have trade value, and could be part of a package for Roberts.  Other teams are interested in him too – go figure.  Innings are innings I guess.  Marquis, 29, is owed $16.25MM over the 2008-09 seasons.
  • An MLBTR commenter questioned the other day why Troy Tulowitzki’s deal was said to top Grady Sizemore’s as the record holder for a player with less than two years service time.  The commenter wondered why Brian McCann wasn’t part of the discussion – he signed for more than Sizemore ($26.8MM) in March of ’07 with about a season and a half under his belt.  Anyone know why McCann’s name doesn’t come up in this discussion?
  • One of Rosenthal’s sources believes progress has been made on a long-term pact with Holliday, and the recent two-year deal is a positive sign.
  • Teams inquiring on Tony Clark: Mariners, Giants, and Red Sox.  Clark has been mentioned as a Giants target before.

Khalil Greene’s Future

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Padres beat writer Corey Brock sums up the Khalil Greene situation on his blog.  Greene is due for free agency after the 2009 season, and it does not look like he wants to stay in San Diego longer than that.  Despite his Spicoli-like appearance he might prefer to play on the East Coast and/or in a more hitter friendly park.  He’s 28, plays strong defense, and has a lot of power.  He has been a bit OBP-challenged, whether due to low batting averages, lack of walks, or both.  He’s set to earn $4-5MM in ’08.

Plenty of teams could use a shortstop like Greene: the Orioles, Royals, Angels, Nationals, Cubs, and Cardinals come to mind.  However the Padres have no replacement for him.  Erick Aybar, Felipe Lopez, and Ronny Cedeno are three possibilities where Towers could get a young shortstop in return (Lopez, less so).  Are any of those three a sufficient bounty for two years of Greene?  Pitching might have to be added to make it viable for San Diego.  Towers will be a lot less limited if he can acquire a good young shortstop in a separate deal.

Odds and Ends: Hinske, Doumit, Colon, Greene

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It’s up to an impressive 5.7 degrees where I am, but I still don’t think I’ll be going outside much today.  Hence, some odds and ends.

  • Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald believes Eric Hinske might sign with the Diamondbacks this week.  The 30 year-old former ROY has a career line of .255/.336/.434, with much better work against righties.
  • John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus says the Red Sox are interested in the Pirates’ Ryan Doumit.  However Perrotto says the Bucs are reluctant to trade the versatile Doumit, who turns 27 in April.  Only past Doumit rumor I can find was from Will Carroll in May of ’06, saying he and Oliver Perez were being dangled to the Phillies.
  • Perrotto believes the Royals could sign Bartolo Colon if he’ll take a one-year deal; that may be true for several clubs.  Paul Hoynes reports that the Indians watched Colon pitch, but weren’t impressed with his sub-90 velocity.  Hoynes says Kris Benson will have another throwing session and the Tribe will be in attendance.
  • According to Marc Topkin, the Rays are talking with lefty reliever Trever Miller.  The two sides haven’t agreed on the term yet.
  • Padres GM Kevin Towers commented about the team’s rejected long-term overtures toward shortstop Khalil Greene.  Towers brought a three or four year proposal to Greene but does not expect anything to get done.  He stated Greene’s possible desire to be on the East Coast as a factor.
  • Vince Gennaro does an economic analysis of the Johan Santana rumors, indicating that the acquisition makes the most sense for the Mets.

Reggie Sanders Ponders Future

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According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, free agent outfielder Reggie Sanders is looking at several options for 2008.  He could continue his playing career; he’s discussed backup roles with the Padres and Dodgers.  The Dodgers don’t seem to need more outfielders, while the Padres are looking to trade for a corner outfielder.

Other options for Sanders include retirement and/or a foray into a TV analyst career.

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