Rosenthal’s Latest: Hunter, Santana, Quentin
It’s Sunday again, so we’ve got some tidbits from Ken Rosenthal’s Full Count video:
- Torii Hunter was courted by the White Sox and Rangers before signing with the Angels this past offseason; however, according to Hunter, he had a meeting scheduled with the Dodgers to discuss taking the spot that Andruw Jones would come to occupy. The Angels signed him, preventing the meeting.
- As we enter June, the sky is falling in Seattle…
- Rosenthal doesn’t think there’s a lot of regret in the Yankee organization for not acquiring Johan Santana. One executive notes Santana’s throwing with increased effort this season yet without increased results.
- In this piece, Rosenthal commends the White Sox for their deal for Carlos Quentin. Writes Rosenthal, "’I give Kenny credit — he was on Quentin for a while,’ Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes said. ‘He believed that the same Carlos Quentin would return now that his shoulder is fixed.’"
By Nat Boyle
Stark’s Latest: Young Players, Giles, DeJesus
Jayson Stark’s latest Rumblings and Grumblings column is chock full of information.
- Stark rattles off Dan Uggla, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, B.J. Upton, Justin Upton, Russell Martin, Zack Greinke, Prince Fielder, Felix Hernandez, Jeff Francoeur, Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, and Dustin Pedroia as youngsters who do not have long-term deals in the works. With Uggla and Greinke, the opposition seems more on the team’s side. With Hamels and Howard neither side wants a long-term deal. With the rest, the player is resisting.
- The Padres’ top trading chip is probably Brian Giles, though a deal would further deplete a weak offense.
- The A’s are willing to deal, with pitching considered the surplus. Billy Beane might be able to snag one good prospect for Rich Harden.
- There’s some doubt as to whether the Rockies will make Matt Holliday this year’s Mark Teixeira as we approach the deadline.
- Teams other than the Royals are speculating that center fielder David DeJesus might be available.
- The Marlins and Hanley Ramirez battled over a no-trade clause…and the Fish won. He has none.
Odds and Ends: Griffey, Baek, German, Wells
Here’s today’s link collection.
- Hal McCoy seems fairly certain that Ken Griffey Jr. will play out the season with the Reds.
- Dejan Kovacevic has heard that the Pirates are torn between Pedro Alvarez and Tim Beckham at #2.
- Cha Seung Baek has been DFA’d, and this time he might be claimed. He could have a career as a fifth starter somewhere.
- John Brattain explains why he feels teams are colluding against Barry Bonds.
- The Rangers DFA’d reliever Franklyn German; Evan Grant explains why.
- The Indians claimed reliever Oneli Perez from the White Sox. Baseball America says the six-fingered pitcher has attitude questions.
- According to Buster Olney, David Wells is still waiting by the phone hoping for a team to call.
- RotoAuthority examines Daniel Cabrera‘s hot start.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Delgado, Sexson, Crisp, Byrd
Ken Rosenthal has some items worth discussing in his latest Full Count video:
- Trade Carlos Delgado for Richie Sexson? Rosenthal doesn’t see why not. They’re both in walk years, neither have a no-trade-clause, and they’re both making roughly the same amount. I’ll add to that by noting both have arguably met more success hitting in each other’s league.
- The Indians may put Paul Byrd on the block in an effort to acquire pieces that could eventually lead to an upgrade at 2B or 3B later this season. The Indians currently have 7 capable starters in Sabathia, Carmona, Lee, Byrd, Westbrook, Sowers, and Laffey.
- Crisp’s Latest: It may be in the best interest of the Red Sox to wait to deal Coco Crisp in the offseason when the demand increases. The Padres could use him now but the 2009 Free Agent class is thin at centerfield. Coco could be maintained for $5.75MM in ’09 and a club option in 2010 for $8MM, or a $0.5MM buyout.
- Two Byrds in one post! Marlon Byrd‘s return from the DL could mean more time at DH for Josh Hamilton in an effort to keep him rested throughout the season. Hamilton only played 90 games last year after missing about 4 years due to drug suspensions and injury. If Byrd performs then this would take the Rangers out of the DH market. So far, so good.
By Nat Boyle
Seven Teams Have Monitored Freddy Garcia
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, at least seven clubs have monitored Freddy Garcia‘s progress: the Mets, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, White Sox, Rangers, and Mariners. It wouldn’t be surprising if even more clubs show up to watch Garcia throw when he is able to audition. A midseason free agent has major appeal. The Indians are one additional club rumored to have interest.
Garcia remains a mystery – we don’t know when he’ll be ready, how much money he’ll want, or how effective he’ll be.
Odds and Ends: Hanley, Salcedo, Torrealba
Time to round ’em up…
- Rob Neyer guesses B.J. Upton is the next to get a long-term deal from the Rays. Back on April 24th, Jayson Stark wrote that the Upton family "has its own ideas about the market value of both brothers."
- Expect a Hanley Ramirez press conference today, or this weekend at the latest.
- Tribe Report walks us through the Edward Salcedo confusion.
- Yorvit Torrealba‘s agent has filed a grievance against the Mets over their nearly-signed three-year deal.
- Jon Heyman says nothing’s imminent with Ken Griffey Jr. Buster Olney wrote today that the Mariners are "not especially gung-ho" about trading for Junior.
- The Indians DFA’d Jason Tyner.
- A.J. Pierzynski attempts to dispel all those negative stories about his time with the Giants.
Jocketty: No Talks To Trade Griffey
In a new twist to the Ken Griffey Jr saga, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Reds may have no interest in trading Griffey. When asked about the subject, GM Walt Jocketty said that he has had no discussions with other teams about trading Griffey and that Griffey does not want to be traded.
"I’ve had no trade discussions," Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said. "I’ve talked with him…Not knowing Junior that well, I wanted to make sure we had a line of communication open. He assured me that he’d like to play here and hopefully win a championship."
Griffey is a "10 and 5" player (10 years exp. and 5 years with current club) and would have to approve any trade.
This seems to contradict recent reports of the Mariners interest in Griffey. Hal McCoy reported that the M’s sent an executive (not a scout) to watch Griffey play last week. And it was later reported that Seattle had no problems with acquiring Griffey’s ’09 option at $16MM with a $4MM buyout. It is hard to imagine the M’s would express this much public interest in Griffey without at least preliminary discussions with the Reds.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Mariners OK With Griffey’s Salary
According to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, Ken Griffey Jr.‘s remaining $8MM this year and his $16MM option/$4MM buyout next year will not deter the Mariners. The revelation that Junior may not require his ’09 option exercised and the chunk of deferred money could indeed make the money a non-issue.
One question is whether the Reds will treat this as a salary dump or if they’ll want a decent prospect in return. The other is whether Griffey would want to join the last place Mariners.
Mariners Send Exec To Scout Griffey
According to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, the Mariners sent consultant to the GM Duane Schafer to Shea Stadium this weekend to watch Ken Griffey Jr. Junior finds himself with a .254/.333/.384 line in 156 plate appearances. He’s three homers shy of 600.
There are plenty of complications with the Griffey-to-Seattle scenario:
- The Mariners are eight games back, seven out in the Wild Card, and in last place with a .385 winning percentage. The Reds are doing about the same, making it tough to say the Ms will offer a better chance at a ring.
- Raul Ibanez would probably have to move to DH to open up an outfield spot for Griffey.
- Griffey needs a big May to prove he can actually help a team’s offense.
- Griffey would be moving farther away from home to play for the Mariners.
- It’s not known whether Griffey would ask that his $16.5MM option for ’09 be exercised upon a trade. Even with the hefty $4MM buyout and salary deferral, the option would be hard for any team to stomach.
On The Hot Seat: Giambi, Hafner, Sexson, Timlin
I love lists, and here’s one from Peter Abraham at The Journal News that details who he thinks is in the hot seat. In other words, who might be traded or released if current trends continue. There are a number of managers and GMs on the list, but we like to focus on players here. I’m going to go through the list and take stabs-in-the-dark whether a player is likely to be dealt or if they’re just fluff for Mr. Abraham’s article – and then we can discuss in the comments.
Jason Giambi – An announcer this year said that Giambi’s defensive range extended from his right knee to his left knee. As a fielder, he’s decent with no range; however, as a hitter Giambi has never been considered a slow starter, as Abraham notes he is a career .281 hitter in April. Still, like Carlos Delgado, Giambi has shown some recent spurts of life in his bat, and he does have 7 HR (one shy of the league leading 8) and 20 RBI. PECOTA projects .230-24-73 with a .362 OBP. If he can bring his average up, he’ll be roughly on target for that projection. If he can’t, Abraham thinks the Yankees "might as well give someone else a chance." So far, Joe Girardi’s been supportive and patient calling the slump a product of bad luck. Prediction: Staying put.
Travis Hafner – Abraham sees .256 with 27 HR in almost 700 ABs and wonders if the Indians would rather trade him to a team who believes he can turn it around than risk eating the remaining $56MM on Hafner’s contract. At 31, Hafner is an oddity. Last year the slumping behemoth of a man saw his power drop by almost 20 HR. He’s currently continuing that trend with his OPS at a mere 640 and w/o a homerun since April 17 (!). During an ESPN game, they were discussing how his timing – particularly with his front foot-plant – is off making it hard for him to get ahead of pitches. So his problem seems both perceptual and mechanical – but why can’t Pronk seem to correct this? I’d be worried because his contract is slowly going from bothersome to disastrous. PECOTA is not a believer, projecting .275-28-98 – hardly a rebound. He’s making $6.3MM this year and is on the books for another $70MM until 2013 (with a $2.75MM buyout in his last year). Is there a batting coach out there on a big-market team that can fix this? Wouldn’t count on it. Prediction: Staying put.
Richie Sexson – In the Year of the Slumping First Basemen, Richie Sexson is not at all unlike Giambi or Delgado. Abraham pulls no punches with Richie, calling him "one of the worst hitters in baseball during the last two seasons and shows no signs of coming around." He’s making $14MM this year, owed approx. $11.2MM more, and then he’s surely done in Seattle. I agree with Abraham that $11.2MM will "buy him another month or two" but the Mariners have options and I’d expect them to explore them by trading Sexson and eating some of the contract – maybe sooner rather than later as cutting your losses is (almost) acceptable practice this season. Sexson has never been the hitter Delgado, Giambi, or Hafner have been and has been intolerably bad for just too long. Prediction: Shipping off.
Mike Timlin – Making $3MM this year, Abraham notes Timlin has allowed 9 runs in 7 1/3 IP and with a small contract would be an easy piece to move. But I ask why? Relief pitching is a commodity, and Timlin – known to the Red Sox as the captain of the bullpen – brings to the team a fair deal of intangible value, particularly as they integrate Craig Hansen and Justin Masterson into their relief corps. 7.1 IP is hardly a sample worth examining as he’s basically still in spring-training-form. Last year he had a 3.42 ERA in 50 IP and while he’s not the 2.24 ERA Timlin that saved 13 games when Keith Foulke went down, he’s serviceable. If he fails to progress and becomes a liability then maybe the Red Sox will move him from mop up duty to another team. Still, I doubt it. Prediction: Staying put.
Let’s hear your thoughts. Who did Abraham forget? Who disagrees?
By Nat Boyle