Odds and Ends: Wakefield, Guillen, Lowell
Some random rumorage not quite worthy of individual posts…
- Jeff Goldberg of the Hartford Courant speculates that Tim Wakefield could be making his final start for Boston tonight. With Wakefield, the Red Sox possess one of the most lopsided contracts in baseball history. They have a perpetual $4MM club option with him, one that never goes away until they decline it. But $4MM is nothing to the Sox, and Wakefield was certainly worth that much in ’07. They’ll exercise it.
- The Mariners were once close to an extension for Jose Guillen, but currently it’s on the backburner. Even if the team exercises his $9MM option, Guillen can and probably will void it. He’s going to want at least three years, $30MM. The Mariners could get by without him.
- Mike Lowell has more Philly connections than I realized. The Phils definitely seem like his second choice if the Red Sox let him go. I think the Phillies should just sign Mike Lamb and spend the excess money on pitching.
- Neal Huntington’s first move: a waiver claim of Kevin Thompson. It’s over now.
- Joel Pineiro gets a $500K signing bonus, $5MM in ’08, and $7.5MM in ’09. Originally he wanted to test the market, but he appreciated the Cardinals giving him a chance.
- John Schuerholz found Scott Boras’ suggestions obnoxious and idiotic. Also, Steve Phillips comments on the A-Rod/Mets situation back in 2000.
Cubs, Mariners Interested In Hiroki Kuroda
The Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan had some information regarding Japanese starter Hiroki Kuroda in his column yesterday. Apparently the Cubs and Mariners are leading the pack for his services, should he choose to opt out of his contract. According to Sullivan, Kuroda signed a four-year, $10.4MM deal with the Hiroshima Carps last winter. He would have no problems getting three years, $12MM over here.
Kuroda, a 32 year-old righty, won the Central League ERA title in ’06 with a 1.85 mark. That ballooned to 3.56 this year as the command master saw his home run and hit rates rise. Kuroda could be very successful in the NL Central. If my guess on his price tag is correct, he could be one of few free agent bargains this winter.
More Mariners Info
I just learned that Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune has his own blog. Here’s some recent info from him to complement our Mariners Needs and Luxuries post.
- Regarding that starter they need to add this winter…how about Johan Santana? LaRue had a post a couple of weeks ago indicating the Twins have scouted the Mariners and would start the discussion with Adam Jones. With a negotiating window, it’s something the Ms would have to consider. Santana and Felix Hernandez fronting the rotation would get all of Venezuela tuning in for 40% of Mariners games.
- LaRue seemingly takes a shot at Jayson Stark, saying that Stark’s note about a team claiming Richie Sexson and the Mariners pulling him back was false. LaRue probably did not realize the rumor started with a respected baseball writer.
Needs and Luxuries: Seattle Mariners
Next up in our Needs and Luxuries series, the Mariners.
C – Kenji Johjima
1B – Richie Sexson
2B – Jose Lopez
SS – Yuniesky Betancourt
3B – Adrian Beltre
LF – Raul Ibanez
CF – Ichiro Suzuki
RF – Adam Jones
DH – Jose Vidro
SP – Felix Hernandez
SP – Jarrod Washburn
SP – Miguel Batista
SP – Cha Seung Baek
SP – Ryan Feierabend/Brandon Morrow
Setup: Sean Green/George Sherrill
Closer: J.J. Putz
Needs
Let’s start with the offense. The Ms placed seventh with a .337 OBP and seventh with a .425 SLG. Their offense could not have been more average.
Seems like we can stick a fork in Sexson after his .205/.295/.399 performance. I’ve heard people try to explain why his $14MM salary for ’08 wasn’t dumped on the Tigers when that team claimed him, and haven’t heard a convincing answer. At the least, the Ms shouldn’t feel compelled to play Sexson because of his salary.
That leaves first base open for Ibanez and maybe Vidro. Getting Ibanez out of left improves the outfield defense no matter who replaces him (I wouldn’t re-sign Jose Guillen, who’s got to be asking for more than 3/30). I wouldn’t mind seeing Wladimir Balentien get a shot as a regular, but then there’s the whole "two rookies in the outfield" problem. Maybe if Guillen asks for too much the Ms try to find another bargain outfielder on the free agent market, like Milton Bradley, Cliff Floyd, or Geoff Jenkins. Barry Bonds makes a ton of sense as the DH and part-time LF, but it appears the Mariners will pass.
Lopez just did not hit, and signing a Tadahito Iguchi wouldn’t be a bad move. I’d just hate to see Mark Loretta come in and offer the same subpar production level as Lopez. The Ms wanted to trade for Loretta this summer.
It seems the Mariners need to conjure up one starting pitcher. Their starters ranked 12th with a 5.16 ERA. That should come down with less Jeff Weaver/Horacio Ramirez, who combined for a 6.58 ERA in 244.6 innings. Better defense will help as well. The Ms may venture into the free agent pool again, despite the odds stacked against them. Carlos Silva, anyone? An innings-eater with a sub-5.00 ERA would be nice. Seattle scouted Jason Jennings and Livan Hernandez this summer. Curt Schilling would be a nice signing.
There may be some clamoring for a reliable eighth-inning bridge to get the ball to the game’s best reliever, J.J. Putz. If the money’s there and the other holes have been filled, I’m on board. A flyer on Octavio Dotel or Kerry Wood could work. Wood might want a contract with some incentives for starting, if his shoulder allows it.
Luxuries
The Mariners have two prospects who may not have roles with the ’08 club – Jeff Clement and Wladimir Balentien. If one or both are used in a trade, it’ll be for a decent starter. This year the club has been connected to Kei Igawa, Dontrelle Willis, Jon Garland, and Jose Contreras. A simple Wlad for Contreras swap might work for both teams. The Marlins could use a guy like Clement. The Yanks have no place for Igawa. Trading makes more sense than free agency.
Ibanez could definitely be considered a luxury; the Ms could live without him if Nate Robertson came in return. Ibanez is signed affordably at $5.5MM in the last year of his deal.
Odds and Ends: Aramis, La Russa, A-Rod
A random smattering of links this morning…
- I wrote a postmortem on why the D’Backs beat the Cubs over at The Hardball Times.
- Just a whisper at the moment, but I’m hearing that the Angels could pursue Aramis Ramirez if the Cubs make him available. They were in hard on him last year when he was briefly a free agent.
- Seems that Joe Torre is done as Yankees manager, but Tony La Russa is not interested.
- Another important date to mark down: November 10th. That’s when Alex Rodriguez decides whether to opt out of his contract. Right after the GM meetings.
- The Tigers will stick with Brandon Inge at third base next year, perhaps feeling that his defense justified his .236/.312/.376 line. There is hope for a rebound, since he slugged .463 the previous year. Plus Inge is locked in for $6.2MM in ’08, $6.3MM in ’09, and $6.6MM in ’10.
- The Mariners had a $2.7MM option on Chris Reitsma with a $0.7MM buyout and apparently some kind of option on Arthur Rhodes. Both were declined. Reitsma, coming off ulnar nerve transposition surgery in ’06, was supposed to be Seattle’s setup man. He tried to pitch this year but the elbow wasn’t fully healed. Rhodes had similar problems in ’06 and went under the knife for TJ in April.
- You may have noticed some of the in-post ads are showing as ugly blank white space or "This page cannot be found" errors…please bear with me as I try to get it back to normal.
Tigers Searching For Left-Handed Hitter
According to Jon Paul Morosi, Dave Dombrowski will pursue a left-handed hitter for the Tigers this winter.
Morosi likes the idea of trading for Seattle’s Raul Ibanez and putting him in left field. Ibanez makes $5.5MM in ’08 in the last year of his deal. He hit .291/.351/.480 this year, and is a minus on defense. Morosi thinks the Ms would ask for a big league starter or two (Nate Robertson?), but the folks at U.S.S. Mariner would settle for less.
The Tigers had a very good offense this year, but want a left-handed hitter anyway. More runs are always good, I guess. They may have openings at left field, shortstop, third base, and catcher. Besides Ibanez, who might be available to fit the bill?
Ken Griffey Jr., Jorge Posada, Milton Bradley, Ryan Church, Luis Gonzalez, Barry Bonds, Matt Stairs, Luke Scott, Chris Duncan, Mike Lamb, Chad Tracy, Cliff Floyd, Geoff Jenkins, Brad Wilkerson, and Shawn Green come to mind. Of course Bonds has already been ruled out. Who do you like out of this group? Any candidates missing?
Cross Seattle Off The List For Bonds
Recently, we crossed the Rangers and Tigers off the list of suitors for Barry Bonds. It might be time to add Seattle to the "No Bonds" list. According to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times, "those in a position to know" have said the Ms won’t bid for him.
If Bonds is to land in the American League, there are still approximately six options that haven’t been ruled out (Orioles, Devil Rays, Royals, Twins, Angels, A’s).
Marion Jones already admitted lying to federal investigators; the grand jury will go after Bonds next. Prison time could definitely cut short or eliminate his 2008 season.
More On Bonds
All the sportswriters have had a chance to weigh in on possible destinations for Barry Bonds in 2008. Here’s a summary.
- Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus seems the Padres and A’s as the top two possibilities.
- Fielding guru John Dewan rates Bonds’ defense ahead of Manny Ramirez, Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, and Pat Burrell this year. He’s still bad, but maybe we shouldn’t rule out the NL after all.
- Bruce Jenkins says there’s no market but seems to consider Seattle a possibility. Interesting note: Jenkins also mentions that Bonds cleared waivers in August.
- Jack Curry of the New York Times likes the Angels, A’s, and Rangers.
- Before we start penciling Bonds into the Oakland lineup, Susan Slusser reminds us that Jack Cust is effective and cheap as the team’s DH.
- Rangers manager Ron Washington says he would’ve liked having Bonds on his team this year. However, he sees the A’s as the favorite.
- Kevin Kernan of the New York Post thinks this puts the Giants in the A-Rod sweepstakes. Would Rodriguez want to join a team that is basically rebuilding?
Will Mariners Finally Move Sexson?
Call it educated speculation, but U.S.S. Mariner is wondering whether the Ms will try to trade Richie Sexson this winter. Derek Zumsteg suggests that recent vibes put out by the team’s broadcast crew may portend a future trade of Sexson or even Jose Lopez.
Even more interesting to me is the note that the Mariners "could have let Detroit pick [Sexson] up on waivers." We learned back in August that Sexson was claimed off waivers but withdrawn. It puzzled us at the time, because most GMs would be dying to unload Sexson’s $14MM for 2008. Anyway this is the first indication I’ve seen of which team actually won the claim. The Tigers were apparently willing to take the risk.
Mariners Close To Extension With Guillen
According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Mariners are close to completing a three-year contract extension with right fielder Jose Guillen. The deal would replace Guillen’s ’08 option, running from 2008-10. Guillen’s bounced back from Tommy John surgery to hit .293/.360/.467 with 19 HR and 83 RBIs so far this year.
Geoff Baker said recently that the Eric Byrnes contract might serve as a model, so Guillen might be in line for about $30MM. As I mentioned in this post, Wladimir Balentien seems to be the odd man out in Seattle’s outfield. And in order to give Adam Jones a regular job next year, Raul Ibanez, Jose Vidro, and Richie Sexson would have to rotate between the first base and DH spots. More likely, Jones doesn’t play every day unless someone gets hurt. Remember, the Ms had a chance to dump off Sexson’s contract and chose not to.
U.S.S. Mariner doesn’t like the idea of a Guillen extension.