Tomko Not Close To Signing With Padres
The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Tom Krasovic reported today that Padres GM Kevin Towers expects to sign Brett Tomko for a relief role. Tomko was quoted as saying "Of course, we’re interested."
To clear things up, ESPN’s Amy Nelson spoke to Tomko today. He’s not close to signing with the Padres. In an ideal world he’d get a multiyear deal and a chance to start. The Padres offered one year and a bullpen job. Said Tomko: "It’s not like I’m looking to be the highest-paid 4-12 pitcher ever. But I don’t feel like I’m desperate. I’m willing to wait for a couple of other guys to sign." Nelson adds that more than six teams have inquired on Tomko, including the Nationals, Rockies, Astros, and Marlins. He’s an intriguing bargain buy.
But this begs the question: who was the highest paid 4-12 pitcher ever? Tomko made $4.1MM this year, $5.1MM if you count his buyout. Since 1901, 27 pitchers have gone 4-12. Since 1990, only Tomko, Mark Gubicza, and Darryl Kile have done it. Gubicza earned $1.6MM in ’96, while Kile earned $1.272MM in ’95. So Tomko technically already is the highest paid 4-12 pitcher ever.
Padres Near Extension With Peavy
This comes as a surprise – the Padres and Jake Peavy are making progress on a three-year contract extension. Peavy is already set to earn $6.5MM in ’08 and $11MM in ’09. Peavy’s extension would cover the 2010-12 seasons and be worth $17-17.5MM annually. You have to commend Peavy for taking a discount.
Edmonds Would Waive No-Trade
Joe Strauss has a new article up at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, discussing John Mozeliak’s pursuit of a starting pitcher as well as the availability of two veterans.
Nothing new on Scott Rolen, but Strauss did have an interesting tidbit on Jim Edmonds. Edmonds has a full no-trade clause, and his latest stance is that he’d waive it for a Southern California team only. Since the Dodgers and Angels don’t need outfielders, the Padres are the one possibility. The Padres are interested if the Cards throw in some cash. Edmonds makes $8MM in ’08 in the last year of his deal.
Also, Strauss contends that center field prospect Colby Rasmus is untouchable, while the Cards would be reluctant to include Chris Duncan in a deal.
Kosuke Fukudome Rumors
Kosuke Fukudome is expected to make an official announcement soon on whether he will come to the Major Leagues for the 2008 season. Per Fukudome’s agent, it’s highly unlikely he stays in Japan. He wants only a three-year contract, no more. So who’s after him?
- Cubs: They’re still after him, and Lou Piniella doesn’t see why the failure to sign his acquaintance Kaz Matsui would have any bearing on it. The Cubs have a vacancy in right field plus perhaps a need to spell Felix Pie in center. They also could use a nice dose of OBP. Fukudome is a perfect fit.
- White Sox: The Sox have openings in left and center and a strong need for OBP. Aaron Rowand and Torii Hunter are out of the picture, leaving Fukudome as a prime target. It’s been said that the Cubs are prepared for a crosstown bidding war.
- Padres: The Friars have already contacted Fukudome’s agent. Kevin Towers has publicly expressed his interest. Fukudome could play left or center for the Padres.
- Rangers: With a center field spot up for grabs, the Rangers have "serious interest."
- Giants: In late October, it was said that they were "seriously interested."
- Yankees, Red Sox: They’ve both scouted him, for what it’s worth. Little doubt he could play a better center field than Johnny Damon, but it’s hard to see where he could fit in with Boston since they’ve already got four starting outfielders.
- Mets: They have a right field vacancy, but I haven’t seen too many published reports indicating they’re after him (as of now, I can’t find any). Wouldn’t surprise me to see Omar jump in here though.
Did I miss anyone?
Padres Sign Randy Wolf
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Padres have a preliminary agreement in place with starter Randy Wolf. It’ll be final once Wolf passes a physical. The Phillies and Astros had been in on him as well.
Wolf had Tommy John surgery in July of 2005. He found his way back to a big league mound a year later. He struggled through 12 starts in ’06 to finish off a solid Phillies career. That winter the Blue Jays and D’Backs had interest, but Wolf opted to give the Dodgers a hometown discount by signing for $7.5MM in ’07 plus a $9MM club option for ’08.
Wolf felt good to start off 2007. After stumbling through a mediocre April, he was phenomenal in May with a 1.48 ERA. However he was knocked around in June and hit the DL in early July for shoulder soreness. He had a cortisone shot and started rehabbing, but had a setback and wasn’t able to return. He had shoulder surgery in late August. There hadn’t been structural damage so it must’ve been minor. He expects to be ready for Spring Training. The Dodgers opted for his $500K buyout rather than his $9MM option. The 31 year-old lefty seems a good value signing for the Friars.
Today’s Arbitration Decisions
The decision whether to offer your own free agent arbitration can affect your team in two ways: you may end up retaining a player you didn’t want, or you may score a draft pick or two as compensation. With that in mind let’s run down the rumors regarding some Type A and B free agents.
- The Red Sox plan on offering arbitration to Type B Eric Gagne. Worst case scenario, they hang onto him for one more year. Best case, they get a sandwich pick.
- The Astros have to decide on Trever Miller and Mark Loretta. Both are Type Bs, but the Astros might not want them back. Richard Justice notes that the old Astro regime made a mistake not offering arbitration to Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.
- The Angels decided not to offer arby to Bartolo Colon, because the most they could give him would be a 20% pay cut. So best case scenario they could get him for one year, $11.2MM. Colon is not a Type A or B, so there’s no compensation regardless.
- The Phils will offer arb to Aaron Rowand but not Freddy Garcia. Rowand is a Type A, Garcia a Type B. It’s a no-brainer with Rowand, who will hopefully net them a first-round pick plus a supplemental depending on who he signs with. With Garcia they risked getting burned as he might’ve accepted.
- The D’Backs will offer arbitration to Livan Hernandez, who will likely decline it to pursue a three-year deal. He’s a Type B so they’ll snag a sandwich pick.
- The Padres will offer arbitration to Michael Barrett, and Kevin Towers actually hopes he accepts. No worries if he doesn’t – Barrett is a Type A. The Friars will also offer arby to Mike Cameron and Doug Brocail. Brocail nets them a sandwich pick for sure; Cameron still has a slight chance of accepting.
- The Braves did not offer arb to Andruw Jones but did for Ron Mahay. Both are Type Bs; I’m surprised they didn’t want to risk Andruw returning on a one-year deal.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Peavy, Guillen, Barrett
Ken Rosenthal checks in with another fine rumor-filled column.
- Johan Santana doesn’t seem a great fit for the Angels, partly because he’ll be very expensive and the Halos actually do have a payroll limit.
- Jake Peavy knows he’d have to take a discount to stay in San Diego…but even a $15MM per year type deal would be unprecedented for them. He’s under the Padres’ control through ’09.
- Rosenthal’s sources are divided on whether the Mets will go after Jose Guillen. Such a scenario is possible if Lastings Milledge and/or Carlos Gomez are dealt. It’s said that the Mets are still very interested in Livan Hernandez.
- Chase Headley is very popular. Rosenthal confirms Scott Miller’s rumored offer of Xavier Nady and Nate McLouth for him, not that the Padres would consider it. Otherwise the Red Sox are asking for him for Coco Crisp.
- The Padres will probably offer arbitration to both Mike Cameron and Michael Barrett. That brings the risk that Barrett accepts, which wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
- We already knew the Padres and Rays were in on Geoff Jenkins; add the Phils to the mix. The Cubs, Giants, Rangers, and Royals have also been linked to him.
Stark’s Latest: Edmonds, Pierre, Guillen, Santana
ESPN’s Jayson Stark always cranks out a bunch of new rumors when he writes a column. This week is no exception.
- Jose Reyes: going nowhere.
- Probably since they hope to include him in a Johan Santana deal, the Red Sox won’t trade Coco Crisp until that situation is resolved. The Rangers liked Crisp, but are considering interesting alternatives: Rocco Baldelli, Jim Edmonds, and Juan Pierre. If only Ned Colletti could get someone to take his Pierre contract. Then he could sign another one almost equally as bad. Then he could trade Aaron Rowand a year from now and repeat the process.
- The Braves also liked Crisp, so they’ll move on for now. Stark speculates a stopgap like Dave Roberts could work.
- More speculation: Andruw Jones as a darkhorse signing for the Royals. I guess that would push David DeJesus out of center field.
- Is there an unmentioned Mystery Team in on Johan Santana? Stark’s sources suggest the Mariners, but those guys must not read Jon Heyman’s column. I’ll go with the Reds as my guess on the Mystery Team, if there is one.
- Speaking of guesses, Stark surmises that the Padres and Mets could be interested in Jose Guillen, aside from the Royals.
- More rumblings that Vicente Padilla could be traded this winter. Funny quote about how Padilla doesn’t have baggage – he has luggage. In fact his luggage cannot be carried, rather it requires a mid-sized cart.
Padres Rumors: Cameron, Jenkins, Colon
UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 10pm: Krasovic has an update on the Union-Tribune’s sports blog. Cameron’s agent said tonight that he would decline the Padres’ offer of arbitration. That doesn’t mean the Padres still can’t sign him, but it seems unlikely. Krasovic also notes that the Friars are pursuing Japanese reliever Kazuo Fukumori. As you know, they brought him in for a workout previously. The Rockies and Red Sox have been linked to him in the past.
FROM 11-28-07 at 10:40am:
Tim Sullivan and Tom Krasovic make are a productive tandem for Padres rumors. Sullivan and Krasovic both posted new articles today.
- Sullivan says the Padres will probably offer arbitration to Mike Cameron. Cameron will then decide whether to accept by December 7th. It wouldn’t make sense for the Padres to move on a center fielder until that is resolved. It’s also possible that the Padres just sign Cameron to a two-year deal – they’re sitting on a counteroffer from Cameron’s camp.
- The Padres admit to interest in Andruw Jones, but it seems like a longshot. They probably won’t go past one year, and even if Jones accepts that it’s not a good ballpark to rebuild value.
- Sullivan names other center field possibilities: Aaron Rowand, Gary Matthews Jr., Reggie Willits, and Coco Crisp.
- As for left field, Krasovic notes that the Padres met with Geoff Jenkins yesterday. That might allow Scott Hairston to move to center if all of the above options fail.
- On the pitchiing front, Buster Olney notes that the Padres have expressed interest in Randy Wolf, Bartolo Colon, and Mark Prior.
Nady and McLouth For Headley?
CBS Sportsline’s Scott Miller reports that the Pirates are discussing sending Xavier Nady and Nate McLouth to the Padres for third baseman Chase Headley. Nady came up through the Padres’ system before being sent to the Mets for Mike Cameron in November of ’05.
If the Bucs and Neal Huntington actually have this opportunity, I think they should take it. By Kevin Goldstein’s count, Headley is the third-best third base prospect in the game (behind Evan Longoria and Andy LaRoche). The 23 year-old hit very well at Double A and should be big-league ready sometime in ’08.
Jake at Bucco Blog leans against such a trade, partially because the Pirates want to try Neil Walker at third base. Walker ranks fifth on Goldstein’s list. I say bring in the possible star-caliber talent and sort out the positions later. If the Pirates trade Jason Bay they’ll have an opening in left field anyway.
Nady is definitely someone the Bucs should be shopping. With four years of service time, his salary will be rising rapidly. He’s a solid if not spectacular player and should generate interest. McLouth had an intriguing last two months of ’07, and he deserves a full-time shot at center in 2008. But I’d rather have Headley than Nady and McLouth if I’m the Pirates.