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Heyman’s Latest: Manny, K-Rod, Cashman

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Lets discuss the latest column from SI.com’s Jon Heyman.

  • The Mets are "disinclined" to go after Manny Ramirez or break up the Jose Reyes–David Wright–Carlos Beltran core.
  • Heyman, like Ken Davidoff, feels the Mets can’t afford to sit out the Francisco Rodriguez sweepstakes.  If not him, then at least Brian Fuentes.
  • Heyman says Brian Cashman "appears likely" to return as Yankees GM.  He notes that Cashman wouldn’t have ended up in Seattle anyway because of the return of Mariners chairman Howard Lincoln.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Mariners GM, Burnett

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Check out Ken Rosenthal’s Full Count video from last weekend.  Some highlights:

  • The Mariners are looking for fresh blood in their GM search.  A few names in the mix: Kim Ng, Jerry DiPoto, and Tony LaCava.  If the Mariners opt for experience they could try to lure Brian Cashman or even Brian Sabean.
  • Rosenthal notes that an offer of essentially four years, $54MM from the Jays won’t cut it for A.J. Burnett.  Instead of $13.5MM a year, he’ll receive $15-20MM per according to Rosenthal.  Ken sees the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets in the mix if C.C. Sabathia winds up on the West Coast. 
  • Jeff Blair muses on Burnett in the Globe and Mail today.  He sees Burnett getting between $15-18MM per year, and more than the four years the Jays are willing to give.  Interesting note from Buster Olney last weekend – he says the Braves have been scouting Burnett closely.

Week In Review: 9/21 – 9/27

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Here’s your weekly look back at some of the biggest stories we’ve covered on MLBTR!

  • The Pedro Alvarez drama may finally be behind us. The Pirates’ first-round pick agreed to terms with the organization on a new four-year, $6.355MM major league contract. Jim Callis and Dejan Kovacevic have some more insight to offer on the signing here. The contract was officially signed later in the week, and the grievance was resolved. Royals fans and Eric Hosmer are also both relieved that this is over I’m sure.
  • The Blue Jays began talking extension with A.J. Burnett this week. Later on, we learned that the Jays would offer a two-year, $30MM extension onto the remaining two years of his contract, bringing the total remaining value to four years, $54MM. Burnett seemed pleasantly surprised with the amount of money the Jays were said to offer. He expected they’d offer less. You’re always going to be wondering just how many innings he can give you in a season, but in a world where Carlos Silva makes $12MM per season, if Burnett is healthy he’d be a steal at this price.
  • Lots of question marks for another AL East team’s rotation, with the Yankees trying to figure out just what exactly Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina are planning for 2009. Pettitte has said that he’ll play for the Yankees or retire. Bringing Pettitte back only makes sense if he’s willing to take a much smaller contract. I think around $10MM would make sense; someone also suggested a $7-8MM deal with incentives. That seems fair as well. As for Mussina, he initially said that he didn’t think he’d pitch in 2009, but later at least discussed the possibility of pitching for 300 wins. His first preference would be to pitch for the Yankees again. Congrats to Moose on picking up win number 20 today, by the way. Another milestone in a great career.
  • Erik Bedard’s injury and operation weren’t as serious as thought, and the Mariners now face more of a decision on bringing him back. If he’s healthy enough to pitch, I can’t see a reason not to bring him back. Maybe they can at least get a few months of the pitcher they initially thought they were getting, and get something in return in July.
  • Curious about what it will take for your club to reel in that free agent you’re craving? Buster Olney took a look at the market earlier this week that might shed some light on the issue.
  • One player who will be in that free agent pool is Orlando Cabrera. He openly criticized his teammates, saying that none of them wanted to win enough, and that "they were the problem," not him. Cabera’s hitting a very weak shortstop market; he should draw a lot of interest from numerous clubs. Interestingly, that article suggests Chicago’s biggest rival – Minnesota – as a possible landing place for Cabrera.
  • Two players officially called it quits this week. Todd Jones retired, notching 319 saves in his career. Elsewhere, J.T. Snow signed a one-day contract with San Francisco, so he could officially retire as a Giant.
  • Tim updated the Offseason Outlook series with entries for the Reds, Rockies, and Rangers.
  • Has anyone seen Brad Penny recently? No? Apparently, neither have the Dodgers.

Odds And Ends: Mientkiewicz, Michaels, Greinke, Soria, Scheppers

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Some links for Saturday lunch, I’ll add some more as the day progresses:

Alejandro A. Leal writes for UmpBump.com and can be reached here: alexo05 (at) umpbump [dot] com.

M’s Unsure About Bedard

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The Tacoma News-Tribune’s Ryan Divish is keeping us up-to-date on the status of Erik Bedard’s shoulder. The lefty had told reporters he felt he had a torn labrum or extensive damage, but after undergoing surgery to remove a cyst, the Mariner’s said there’s no such thing:

Dr. Lewis Yocum removed the cyst from the shoulder and performed a minor minor labral debridement (clean-up of some fraying). But in the search for any major structural damage, none was found.

With the news, Divish thinks Bedard may get to pitch next year and may do so in a Mariners uniform.

Team president Chuck Armstrong, however, wasn’t too enthusiastic about Bedard’s possible return. Speaking to the Seattle Times, he was "deliberately vague:"

"It’s like trying to invest in the stock market," Armstrong said. "If you make a bad stock pick, you don’t go back and … well, some people do, but you have to teach yourself. You don’t hold on to it hoping it’s going to come back. If it’s a bad one, you move on."

According to the Times, it is widely assumed the M’s will tender Bedard a contract, and if he is heatlhy enough to pitch next year they could trade him midseason for prospects.

Alejandro A. Leal writes for UmpBump.com and can be reached here: alexo05 [at] umpbump (dot) com.

Mariners Rumors: Ibanez, Beltre, Ichiro

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More fine work from Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times as he takes a look at the future of the Mariners.  A few notes:

  • Raul Ibanez names winning as his top priority, like most players.  He’ll still entertain a possible return to Seattle, but it seems likely a more competitive team will make a solid offer.
  • Adrian Beltre doesn’t like the idea of playing for a rebuilding club in ’09, but he’s under contract with the Ms at a reasonable $12MM.  Does it make sense to trade him and let Ibanez walk, opting for a full-out rebuild?  Or do the Mariners need to keep Beltre around to avoid further embarrassment?
  • Ichiro Suzuki is not well-liked in the clubhouse.  Is he a selfish player, or is he being treated unfairly because of the language barrier?
  • The Mariners have questions about their middle-infield tandem of Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt.  Lopez has defensive issues; Betancourt isn’t much with the bat.  Actually Betancourt may have defensive problems as well, in particular going to his left.

Odds and Ends: Patterson, Lowry, Alvarez

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Today’s linkage…

Mariners Rumors: Johjima, Washburn, Ibanez

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Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times has all sorts of good Mariners info today.

  • Kenji Johjima’s three-year, $24MM extension was mandated by Japanese ownership.  Johjima has an opt-out clause after the ’09 season, but only in the event of a serious family issue.  The extension looks like a sunk cost for Seattle before it even begins.
  • Backup catcher Jamie Burke is a free agent after the season.  He would like to return but needs to discuss playing time with the Ms.
  • The Mariners’ direction remains unclear – is 2009 a rebuilding year?  If so, why didn’t they swap Jarrod Washburn and his contract for a young Twins pitcher? Even if ’09 isn’t a rebuilding year that would’ve made sense.
  • The Mariners still have interest in re-signing Raul Ibanez.  He may prefer to sign with a contender, leaving the Mariners with even less power.
  • Baker believes that with Erik Bedard’s injury (and possible non-tender), the team should focus on contending around 2011.  After the ’11 season, Felix Hernandez will reach free agency.

Odds and Ends: Hawkins, Pettitte, Strasburg

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Rounding up the day’s links…

  • Jack Etkin of the Rocky Mountain News talks about the future of Garrett Atkins.  We discussed the possibility of an Atkins trade in this post.
  • MLB.com’s Jim Molony says the Astros would like to re-sign reliever LaTroy Hawkins.  Amazingly, Hawkins has thrown 17 scoreless innings as an Astro.
  • This is a popular link lately…Vegas Watch examines April predictions from various analysts.  Meanwhile, Scott Long digs in deeper on PECOTA’s American League predictions.  Personally I am more interested in the logic behind projections.  Did anyone predict Rays starters to post a 3.88 ERA?  Did anyone peg Dioner Navarro and Carl Crawford’s seasons?
  • Viva El Birdos hopes the Cardinals do not sign Jon Garland this winter.
  • Sam Mellinger wonders how the Royals would replace David DeJesus if they traded him.
  • Andy Pettitte remains undecided on 2009.  He’s hinted a desire to come back, but it’s unknown whether the Yankees want him.  Houston could make sense.
  • The Mariners are currently in line to have first crack at drafting Stephen Strasburg.  They could even use Erik Bedard’s money to sign him.
  • Javier Valentin hasn’t heard from the Reds regarding 2009.

Odds and Ends: Sabathia, Price, Reds, Mariners, Cardinals

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Ken Rosenthal says that the Brewers’ decision to start CC Sabathia on three days’ rest could hurt the free-agent hurler right before he hits the open market. And he says David Price, coming out of the bullpen, could do for the Rays this posteason what Francisco Rodriguez did for the Angels in 2002.

Dusty Baker likes the Reds’ chances in 2009. Even though they’ve got nine free agents, Baker likes their "young nucleus" and speed.

Mariners’ watchers are looking forward to the day 19-year old prospects Phillippe Aumont and Michael Pineda join the rotation—but according to that article, they may still have to wait two or three years. Three years seems excessive to me, considering that Aumont already has four pitches and that Pineda, who admittedly is still working on his third pitch, possesses an excellent command of the strike zone.

The Cardinals are dealing with some pitching uncertainty: 40-year old Russ Springer is thinking of retiring, and they’re still waiting for the results of Chris Carpenter’s MRI.

Lou Piniella says every team is built to win the World Series: "some get a chance to, and some don’t."

Sarah Green writes for the Boston Metro and UmpBump.

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