Giants Like Kotchman And Mathis
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News writes that the Giants recently inquired with the Angels about first baseman Casey Kotchman and catcher Jeff Mathis. Baggarly speculates that the Halos might like the idea of a reunion with Bengie Molina (owed $12MM over the next two seasons).
Of course, the value of the two Angels players far exceeds that of Molina. No deal is close; Angels GM Tony Reagins was frank about that. The Giants don’t have much in the way of valuable trade chips. They’ve got overpriced, undesirable veterans plus a strong core of young pitching that they need to keep.
The Angels theoretically could part with Kotchman if they think Kendry Morales is ready (or if they wanted to shift Garret Anderson or Juan Rivera over to first, though neither has played there). Mathis could be traded now; a separate deal with the Giants could make sense.
Odds and Ends: Rivera, Hamels, Sherrill
Here’s today’s gathering of links.
- John Shea examines the Giants’ roster crunch, which would be greatly relieved by trading Dave Roberts and Steve Kline.
- Adam Rubin implies that the Angels want too much from the Mets for Juan Rivera – Jon Niese or Bobby Parnell. A deal seems unlikely.
- Cole Hamels, accused by a heckler of being a cross between Casey Fossum and Shawn Camp. BURNED!
- Buster Olney is hearing from other teams that the Orioles may shop 30 year-old newly anointed closer George Sherrill this summer.
- Joe Christensen believes that we’ll learn about Joe Nathan‘s future with the Twins by week’s end.
- Brock For Broglio posted an interesting interview with Voros McCracken. This quote from McCracken caught my eye: "One of the things that kind of bugged me with the Red Sox was a somewhat implied expectation that I’d come up with something like DIPS on a regular basis."
No Crede Trade Imminent
Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports that it’s become "increasingly likely" that Joe Crede will get the Opening Day nod at third base for the White Sox, with Josh Fields heading to Triple A. It’s an unfortunate situation for the 25 year-old Fields, who doesn’t have much left to learn in the minors. Gonzales adds that trade talks with the Giants have "all but ceased," and the Dodgers don’t seem all that interested either.
Crede is trying to shake off the rust (his last regular season game was June 4th of last year) and prove he’s an above average third baseman worthy of his $5.1MM salary. It seems that Crede’s audition will extend into April or May. If he plays decently and a few teams suffer injuries or ineffectiveness at the hot corner, maybe Kenny Williams will get the return he wants. Who knows – if Crede has a hot start, maybe the White Sox will decide to let him play out the season and have Fields work on his defense at Charlotte. Or, Ozzie Guillen could pursue an interesting strategy posed by Sox Machine, where Crede is a defensive replacement.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Rule 5 Draftees
Last year the Reds selected Josh Hamilton in the Rule 5 draft despite only 23 games above Single-A and only 15 games anywhere since 2002 (actually the Cubs picked Hamilton and traded him to the Reds the same day). Hamilton went on to hit .292-19-47 in 90 games. This year, 18 players were chosen in the Rule 5 draft (14 pitchers). These players must remain on the 25-man roster all season or be offered back to their original club for $25K. By my count, three players (Sergio Valenzuela, Lincoln Holdzkom, Jose Capellan) have already been offered back to their original clubs (Capellan was picked up on waivers by a third team during the process). Hamilton is the rare case of a position player sticking with his new club as it is far easier to hide a developing pitcher and still get him playing time in the bullpen than it is on the bench.While it is rare for position players to stick, we have already learned that the Cardinals may keep Brian Barton as a fifth outfielder. As opening day rosters begin to take shape, let’s take a look at what is being said in the Blogosphere about the chances for the Rule draftees.
- Tim Lahey (RHP, CHC/MIN): Bleed Cubbie Blue sees the Cubs working out a trade with the Twins that would allow them to send Lahey to AAA. In fact, they speculate that Lahey will be the PTBNL in the Craig Monroe deal.
- Evan Meek (RHP, PIT/TB): Bucs Dugout predicts that Meek will at least start the season with the Pirates before being offered back to the Rays.
- Randor Bierd (RHP, BAL/DET): Bird Brain projects Bierd to make the roster and hopes the O’s give him every chance to stick.
- Jose Capellan (LHP, CIN/BOS): Capellan was originally selected by the Giants but was just placed on waivers. The Reds picked him up (Rule 5 rules still apply) and Obsessive Giants Compulsive is surprised the Giants let him go.
- Sergio Valenzuela (RHP, CIN/ATL): Valenzuela was sold back to the Braves after not making a single appearance in a spring game. The Braves then traded Valenzuela to a team in the Mexican League. Which begs the question…Are "future considerations" from the Mexican League worth the $25K the Braves dropped to bring him back? Talking Chop finds the entire situation funny and is not surprised that Valenzuela did not stick with the Reds.
- Brian Barton (OF, STL/CLE): Cardinals GM is predicting Barton to be on the opening day roster with Juan Gonzalez starting the season in AAA.
- R.A. Dickey (RHP, SEA/MIN): Detect-O-Vision is infatuated with the knuckleballer but notes that Dickey "has a looooooooooong way to go".
- Steven Register (RHP, NYM/COL): Mets Fever thinks Register might actually stick by earning the final spot in the bullpen.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
What To Do With Wes Helms?
In the 2006-07 offseason, Wes Helms had just finished his best year (in terms of rate stats, at least). He hit .329/.390/.575 for the ’06 Marlins, facing a disproportionate number of lefties.
David Bell and Abraham Nunez had combined for an OPS under .700 at the hot corner for the ’06 Phillies, so they figured Helms would be an upgrade even stretched as a full-timer. They gave him a two-year, $5.45MM deal with a $3.75MM club option for ’09. Part of the motivation was to save money for an Alfonso Soriano bid. Plus, Mark DeRosa had already signed with the Cubs.
The signing did not go as planned, as Helms hit just .246/.297/.368 and lost full-time status quickly. The Phils gave third base time to Nunez and Greg Dobbs, once again generating subpar results. They signed Pedro Feliz to a two-year deal this winter.
The Phils would like to trade Helms now, and David Murphy suggests swapping him with Steve Kline could make sense. The Giants aren’t interested though. Baseball Prospectus’ John Perrotto says the Phils indeed desire a southpaw reliever for Helms, who is drawing interest from the Braves and Marlins (both clubs he’s played for previously).
Odds and Ends: Jerome Williams, Linden, Lo Duca
Below you’ll find the day’s random rumors and links.
- Remember Jerome Williams? He’s begging the Giants or any other team to give him a shot, "even if it means in A-ball" according to John Shea. The 26 year-old Hawaiin couldn’t find any success last year with Washington. He started out pretty strong with the Giants back in 2003-04.
- Todd Linden can get out of his minor league deal with Oakland if offered a deal in Japan, which is a possibility.
- Paul Lo Duca has choice words for the Mets, rejecting the notion that they were ever interested or that he demanded three years.
- The Astros still have Mark Loretta on the radar.
- The Brewers don’t seem to have any trades in the works.
- He deems it "pure speculation," but Buster Olney wonders whether the Angels should call the A’s about Joe Blanton.
- Support for my contention that RBI Baseball is better than today’s baseball video games.
Giants Plan To Keep Pitchers
According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants are looking to add a bat without trading pitching. The names mentioned remain Joe Crede and Brandon Inge, but the White Sox and Tigers want hurlers.
The equation doesn’t seem to make sense on the surface – if the Giants won’t trade pitching, and they have no hitters to speak of, how are they going to make an acquisition?
As we learned Thursday, the answer is that the Giants may only be looking to trade undesirable veterans. Names like Scott Williamson, Randy Messenger, and Dave Roberts have been part of Brian Sabean’s offers for Crede. Kenny Williams scoffed at this, inquiring about Jonathan Sanchez. The gap may be too wide to bridge. I have to side with San Francisco on this one – the demand for Crede and Inge quite low, and the Giants don’t have a strong need for either. Aaron Rowand isn’t holding his breath for a Crede-to-San Fran trade.
Gammons’ Latest: Bailey, Crisp, Giants
ESPN’s Peter Gammons posted to his blog yesterday; let’s take a look.
- More negative vibes around the Reds’ Homer Bailey. His apparent availability seems odd given his talent. Bailey was described by an evaluator friend of Buster Olney as "someone who thinks he’s got it all figured out."
- Gammons likes the fit of Barry Bonds in Seattle, but sees Jeff Clement as the team’s DH in the event that Richie Sexson starts to repeat his ’07.
- The A’s still like Coco Crisp, but the Red Sox want young catching and/or pitching that the A’s would prefer to keep. Susan Slusser wrote on Saturday that talks between the two clubs had revived.
- Giants scouts are apparently handing out a list to other teams with almost a dozen available players (basically all the veterans). The Giants currently have nine pitchers vying for three bullpen spots.
Odds and Ends: Inge, Salcedo, Corey, Nathan
I write this odds and ends post with two less wisdom teeth than I had yesterday. Looks like applesauce for dinner.
- Jon Heyman says the Dodgers and Tigers haven’t talked lately, and doesn’t see L.A. taking on Brandon Inge‘s $19.1MM. Aside from the standard Giants suggestion, Heyman puts on his speculation cap and wonders whether Inge could catch for Houston. What is J.R. Towles, chopped liver?
- This is questionable, but hey, it’s a Friday. Hi5 is a popular social networking site in Central America. A reader sent me a link to this page, which may belong to future superstar kid shortstop/Boras client Edward Salcedo. The owner of the page slapped up a big ol’ Indians logo over a month ago with the caption "my team." I have to reiterate that I don’t know if this is really Salcedo’s page. The Tribe said on Tuesday that Salcedo remained unsigned.
- The Orioles are observing 34 year-old journeyman reliever Bryan Corey.
- Joe Nathan, still chatting contract with the Twins. Kelly Thesier noted that it was the Twins reaching out recently. Nathan’s agent will meet with them Tuesday.
- Jacob Jackson goes out on a limb and wonders if Justin Upton could be Oakland’s first $100MM player.
- The new Phils-ville blog is up.
White Sox Not Happy With Crede Offers
We knew that Joe Crede’s name would be an oft-mentioned this spring. Further, we knew that he’d be connected with the Giants, who have infield needs. It appears the two teams have been discussing possible swaps, but the Sox are less than impressed with what’s been offered thus far.
According to Mark Gonzalez of the Chicago Tribune, the Giants have been offering up the likes of recently-cut Scott Williamson, recently-optioned Randy Messenger, and outfielder Dave Roberts, though not all in the same package. On the other end, GM Ken Williams is looking for "one of the Giants’ top prospects and a serviceable young reliever."
The Sox don’t have to trade Crede, since Josh Fields still has options. However, Crede hasn’t looked so hot this spring — or at least that’s the story his batting average tells, as he’s hitting .081. Of course, numbers mean little at this time of year. The White Sox asked about left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, but given the injury to Noah Lowry, that appears less than likely.
The Dodgers are another team mentioned in connection with Crede, as they sent a scout to watch him earlier this week. However, they do have Nomar Garciaparra at the hot corner, with recently-injured Andy LaRoche scheduled to return sometime in May or June.
Posted by Joe, who you can email here, or visit his Yanks blog