Odds & Ends: Twins, Rockies, Yankees
Ed Price at FanHouse.com has some Odds & Ends of his own in the Overheard and Understood section of his column.
- The Twins are looking for a setup man who can provide good control. Internally, it's a big deal for them.
- The Rockies could wind up dumping contracts midseason if they find themselves out of contention. Price quotes one exec saying, "Unless they move ($3.5-million salaried backup catcher Yorvit) Torrealba, they're not taking on any money."
- The Mariners say no player is untouchable. The M's are seeking "athletes" says Price.
- Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill will get the last two spots in Oakland's rotation.
- The Padres are "dying for pitching" and "will claim anybody" on waivers, says Price.
- If Cody Ransom gets exposed by playing on a daily basis, then the Yankees may need a stopgap to fill third base until Alex Rodriguez's mid-may return.
Rosenthal On White Sox, Pedro, Baker
The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…
- The White Sox are still trying to figure out their center field situation, but they are not involved on pricey veterans such as Juan Pierre and Gary Matthews Jr.
- Fantasy alert: Rosenthal names David Aardsma as the likely leader for the Mariners closer job, with Chad Cordero and Brandon Morrow lingering.
- The Dodgers "continue to balk at Pedro Martinez's $5MM asking price."
- Rockies utility man Jeff Baker, who is out of options, is drawing interest from the Phillies, Astros, and Pirates. Rosenthal suggests recently-demoted Kyle Kendrick as a possible target for Colorado, assuming the Phils can move Geoff Jenkins or Matt Stairs to clear a spot. Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post says the Yankees are unlikely to acquire Baker.
- The Blue Jays have been scouting shortstops Chin-Lung Hu, Juan Castro, and others in hopes of finding someone they can stash at Triple A for insurance.
- Was Willy Taveras a bad move for the Reds? Rosenthal says rival executives think so.
Mariners Claim Jesus Delgado
Alden Gonzalez from MLB.com writes that the Mariners have claimed 24-year-old reliever Jesus Delgado from the Marlins.
Delgado pitched two innings for the Marlins last season, allowing one run, but spent most of the year pitching in Double-A Carolina, where he was 5-2 with a 3.45 ERA.
Delgado was a part of the trade that sent Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston, and Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez to Florida. He has allowed four runs in three innings of work this Spring.
Mariners Sign Chad Cordero
FRIDAY, 7:04pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post has Cordero’s contract deals. He gets a base salary of $750K if he reaches the Majors, plus incentives. He can also request his release if he’s not in the bigs by June 15th.
THURSDAY, 9:33pm: According to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times, the Mariners signed reliever Chad Cordero to a minor league deal. He picked the right team, as the Ms have perhaps the least-settled closing situation in baseball. In fact, Cordero’s agent Larry Reynolds told Ken Rosenthal that the pitcher turned down more money elsewhere for the chance to close in Seattle.
Cordero, 26, had surgery in July to repair a torn labrum and biceps tendon. Reynolds told Rosenthal that the typical recovery time would put Cordero on track to pitch in April or May, barring setbacks. Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says the Twins believe Cordero still has a ways to go.
Odds & Ends: Pedro, Boras, Bonds, Fielding
Links for Friday…
- Which players have the biggest differences in fantasy draft position, comparing Yahoo and ESPN?
- Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram does not find it likely that the Rangers will release Frank Catalanotto and eat the $6MM owed to him.
- Gil LeBreton of the Star-Telegram suggests Rangers GM Jon Daniels will have some tough trade decisions to make as the team inches closer to contention.
- Amy Martinez of the Seattle Times examines the economic impact of Ken Griffey Jr.
- Jose Reyes says Pedro Martinez would like to pitch for the Mets, talking to MLB.com’s Marty Noble.
- Amusing article about Scott Boras by Matt Taibbi in Men’s Journal.
- The Twins again made it clear they’ll pass on Barry Bonds. Three other teams have also publicly rejected his agent’s advances.
- Fielding Bible guru John Dewan says defense is worth roughly half as much as offense.
- Hat tip to Baseball Think Factory’s excellent Baseball Newsstand for several of today’s links.
- Sorry about the three double-posts on the site. I am still waiting for TypePad to fix the issue.
Manny History: Almost A Twin Or Mariner?
I’ve been enjoying the new book Becoming Manny by Jean Rhodes and Shawn Boburg. The book is surprisingly objective for an authorized Manny Ramirez biography.
As you know, Manny was drafted 13th overall in 1991 by the Indians. The Yankees, Braves, Twins, Cardinals, Brewers, Astros, Royals, Padres, Orioles, Phillies, Mariners, and Cubs passed on him. Many teams did not view Manny as a first-round pick, partially because he didn’t speak English well and had not graduated high school. The book also suggests that scouts simply did not enjoy driving out to areas like Washington Heights to watch prospects.
Old school Twins scout Herb Stein recommended Manny, though. From the book:
Stein pushed the Twins to take Manny with their third overall pick. But he was rebuffed by his bosses – a source of bitterness even today. The Twins chose Stanford first baseman David McCarty, who wound up hitting 36 career home runs and batting .242 in eleven major league seasons of part-time duty.
The Mariners also made a run:
Manny was playing a Youth Service League doubleheader. In a late show of interest, the Seattle Mariners’ top scout and assistant to the general manager attended. DeLuca [the scout who signed Manny for Cleveland] felt a wave of panic. After the game, Seattle’s reps talked to [Manny’s coach Mel] Zitter for ten minutes on the right-field line. They passed DeLuca on their way to the parking lot, exchanged greetings and said, "Good luck"- shorthand, DeLuca believed, for, "We’re going to pass on Manny. He’s all yours."
Manny wasn’t even a lock for the Indians. They wanted a pitcher:
Indians general manager Hank Peters and director of player development Dan O’Dowd had been pressuring [scouting director Mickey] White all winter to pursue college pitcher Aaron Sele, a six-three right-hander from Washington State.
Eventually, DeLuca and White were able to convince Indians director of baseball operations John Hart to recommend Ramirez. Sele would go to the Red Sox at #23.
Offseason In Review: Seattle Mariners
Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the Mariners. Take a look at what I had to say about them on September 2nd. By the way for subtractions I’ll put anyone who had decent playing time for the team in ’08.
Additions: Ken Griffey Jr., Russell Branyan, Tyler Johnson, Ronny Cedeno, Franklin Gutierrez, Endy Chavez, Garrett Olson, David Aardsma, Tyler Walker, Randy Messenger, Mike Sweeney, Jamie Burke, Reegie Corona, Jason Vargas, Chris Shelton, Jason Phillips, Luis Pena
Subtractions: Raul Ibanez, Jose Vidro, Jeremy Reed, Richie Sexson, Miguel Cairo, Willie Bloomquist, R.A. Dickey, Sean Green, J.J. Putz, Ryan Feierabend (out for season), Cha Seung Baek
I like the direction Jack Zduriencik has taken with the Mariners. He added a couple of cheap potential 20 HR bats in Griffey and Branyan. He declined to spend big money on the bullpen. He quietly added Olson to the starting mix. He brought in Cedeno to push Yuniesky Betancourt. And he improved the outfield defense with Gutierrez and Chavez.
2009 is a weird year for the Mariners – Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista, and Erik Bedard are in their contract years. So we’ll see a lot of turnover in the 2009-10 offseason as well. The ’09 club doesn’t look like a winning team on the surface. It’s light on offense and certain players will be tested as full-timers. But you have to wonder if a pitching and defense-oriented team could sneak into contention if Erik Bedard and Brandon Morrow have big years.
Bottom line: Jack Z. is well on his way toward remaking the Mariners, with a slew of savvy low-cost moves in his first winter as GM.
Mariners Agree To Terms With Four
According to a report by The Sports Network on the Miami Herald’s website the Mariners have agreed to terms with four pre-arbitration players, including Brandon Morrow. David Aardsma, Franklin Gutierrez and Cesar Jimenez are the three other players to agree to terms with the M’s.
Odds and Ends: Smoltz, Crede, Burnett
A few links for Sunday evening…
- Chicago Tribune reporters Todd Lighty and Oscar Avila have more info on the David Wilder bonus-skimming scandal.
- Terence Moore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to John Smoltz recently about players leaving or choosing not to sign with the Braves.
- SI.com’s Pablo S. Torre digs into Ken Griffey Jr.‘s decision.
- Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel learned that Marlins third baseman Dallas McPherson (42 home runs at Triple A last year) would like 500 at-bats, but a bench role is more likely. McPherson is out of options.
- Joe Crede talked about the White Sox going young, but Ozzie Guillen did not agree.
- Newsday’s Kat O’Brien talked to A.J. Burnett, who was leaning toward the Yankees well before he signed. He chatted often with Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon this winter.
- Speaking of Damon, River Ave. Blues points out a passage in Joe Torre’s book about how the Yankees chose Rondell White over him back in ’02.
- Nationals special assistant Jose Rijo is taking a leave of absence, partially because of the Esmailyn Gonzalez scandal. ESPN’s Jorge Arangure Jr. has much more on the situation, after talking to Gonzalez/Lugo’s trainer.
- South Side Sox takes a stab at fixing free agent compensation.
- Orlando Hudson could’ve had $24MM for 2009-11 if he’d taken an offer the D’Backs made before the ’08 season. Nick Piecoro says Hudson’s counteroffer was "so unrealistic that it actually upset people with the Diamondbacks."
Griffey Odds and Ends
A few loose ends on the Griffey signing…
- Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com details the attendance incentives in Junior’s new contract. Ticket sales have picked up since the signing. Knobler also notes that Griffey will once again wear #24 on his Mariners jersey.
- The Chicago Tribune suggests that the chance to play DH tipped the scales in Griffey’s decision between the Mariners and Braves.
- John Hickey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer notes that the Mariners released OF Michael Wilson to make room for Griffey. Drafted in the second round in 2001, Wilson has never seen the majors.
- And finally, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times has video highlights of Griffey’s press conference.