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Odds & Ends: Holliday, White Sox, Giants

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Some more links to close out the evening:

Heyman On Damon, Minaya, Wagner

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Jon Heyman of SI.com would like to see an Angels-Dodgers World Series. He breaks down lots of great possible matchups and, as always, provides some rumors:

  • The Yankees plan on bringing back Johnny Damon and they figure to make him an opening offer worth $6-8MM. It would be a big paycut from the $13MM he's currently making, but Damon seems to want to return to the Yanks.
  • As much as the Yankees like Hideki Matsui, they probably need the DH spot for players like Damon and Jorge Posada. Check out some possible destinations for Matsui right here.
  • It looks and sounds as though the Mets plan on keeping Omar Minaya around as GM, and the $3.5MM remaining on his contract definitely has something to do with their stance. As Heyman says, one of the best deals Minaya made was his own.
  • One GM believes Billy Wagner's a "difference maker" and suggested the Mets should seek a decent prospect in return for him.
  • The Cubs don't appear likely to fire Lou Piniella, Heyman hears.
  • Heyman guesses Tony La Russa will return when his contract with the Cardinals is up after the season.

Odds & Ends: Cardinals, Perez, Pedro

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A few items to peruse as the Red Sox and Yankees grind it out on Sunday Night Baseball…

  • Matthew Pouliot of NBCSports.com continues his "Restoring the Rosters" series with a look at the Cardinals. "Producing the game's best player and one of the top five pitchers only goes so far," writes Pouliot. "The Cardinals' lack of pitching depth leaves them right in the middle of these rankings."
  • As Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, reliever Chris Perez has now thrown 15 consecutive scoreless innings out of the Tribe's bullpen.  He was acquired from the Cardinals in early July (along with Jess Todd) for third baseman Mark DeRosa, who is batting .234/.303/.445 with eight home runs and 15 RBI in 128 at-bats for St. Louis.
  • Pedro Martinez allowed four earned runs over six innings Sunday in his return to Flushing, New York, but escaped with his second victory in three starts with the Phillies.  Interestingly, he was given a standing ovation when he first took the mound.  “The ovation, that’s exactly the response I expected because of the mutual bond I have here,” Martinez said. “I respect them and I love them."  (Quote courtesy of the Associated Press).

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Wagner, Holliday, Brewers

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Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has a new Full Count video up. Let's dive in…

  • Don't expect the Mets to just give away Billy Wagner as a salary dump. He'll have "actual trade value" this winter, and his $8MM club option would not be outrageous money on a one year deal if he's healthy.
  • Even if his team declines the option, they could offer him arbitration and receive two high draft picks if he signs elsewhere since he projects to be a Type-A free agent. Wagner would be much more than a six-week rent in that case.
  • Matt Holliday's performance with the Cardinals has undoubtedly boosted his stock as an impending free agent. One GM still thinks Jason Bay is a comparable player on the open market, but Holliday is better defensively, younger, and better at hitting breaking balls than Bay.
  • The real question is how each player will age, which is impossible to say at this point.
  • The Brewers have yet to place veterans like Mike Cameron and Trevor Hoffman on trade waivers, but with the team now out of contention, Rosenthal asks "why not?"
  • GM Doug Melvin is disinclined to make such deals because he knows the return may not be significant, but Hoffman in particular would be attractive. The Rockies have already discussed him internally.
  • Craig Counsell, Braden Looper, and Jason Kendall could have value as well.
  • Earlier this season there was talk that Mark Mulder and Ben Sheets could help teams in the second half, but that hasn't happened. Sheets has decided that the risk of a setback isn't worth the reward of an accelerated return, but he should be healthy for next season.
  • Mulder has only thrown 12.2 IP over the last two seasons, but he's been working with his former pitching coach Rick Peterson and supposedly wants to pitch this season.

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Odds & Ends: Duncan, Draft, A’s

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A couple of links as we head toward an afternoon of baseball…

  • As Matthew Leach of MLB.com reports, manager Tony La Russa doesn't believe Chris Duncan, who was recently released from the Red Sox, will want to rejoin the Cards. "That's his call," the skipper said Friday. "It's not ours. My guess is he's not real pleased with us."
  • Maury Brown of "The Biz of Baseball" has a review of MLB's draft slot recommendation system.  His conclusion?  It needs fixing.
  • Matthew Pouliot of NBCSports.com continues his "Restoring the Rosters" series with a look at the Oakland A's. It's a must-read for all of you Moneyball fans.
  • MLBTR's own Mike Axisa takes a closer look at the Dustin Pedroia–Robinson Cano debate over at River Ave. Blues.  Joel Sherman first drummed up the discussion with this piece in the New York Post, in which he asked seven MLB executives to choose between the two second basemen.

Odds And Ends: Padres, Jays, Pineiro

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More links for Friday…

  • Padres beat writer Tom Krasovic hears that the Padres agreed to sign Fabel Filpo, a 16-year-old Dominican outfielder, for $450k.
  • Padres GM Kevin Towers says the Padres have now spent over $10MM on amateur talent this year.
  • Commissioner Bud Selig tells Shi Davidi of the Canadian Press that he'd like to see Paul Beeston stay on as the Blue Jays' CEO on a long-term basis (via the Toronto Sun).
  • Dave Cameron of FanGraphs wonders if anyone will offer Joel Pineiro a four-year deal as a free agent. He's in the midst of a career-year, but will teams believe in it?
  • Here's a look at the upcoming class of free agent pitchers. Other than John Lackey and Brandon Webb (who may not hit free agency) Pineiro figures to be among the most coveted starters out there.

Stark On Wagner, Padres, Crawford

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ESPN.com's Jayson Stark shows that a number of contenders have vulnerable-looking closers. The Cubs and Phillies two of many teams with shaky arms at the back of the 'pen. Here are the details and the rest of Stark's rumors:

  • At least one scout believes John Smoltz would have been the perfect arm for the Marlins to add to their 'pen.
  • However, clubs pursuing Smoltz heard that he wanted to start, at least for now.    
  • A scout who watched Billy Wagner throw has "no doubt" that Wagner could help a team win. The Rays and Marlins are thought to have interest in Wagner, but neither team would be likely to give up much of a prospect unless the Mets picked up salary.  
  • Stark hears that the Padres pulled Heath Bell and Adrian Gonzalez back off waivers after multiple teams claimed them.
  • Mark Hendrickson cleared waivers, and can now be traded to any team. The Rockies were interested before the deadline, but they may decide to see where the Billy Wagner bidding goes before pursuing Hendrickson again.
  • One rival GM considers the Cards "the best team in the league right now."  
  • The Royals don't seem interested in trading their top pitchers. They pulled Brian Bannister back from waivers and though Joakim Soria and Gil Meche are on waivers now, they aren't likely to be dealt.
  • Clubs eyeing Carl Crawford believe the Rays are becoming less likely to deal him. Desmond Jennings could become the Rays' left fielder, but they'd probably have to be overwhelmed to part with Crawford.
  • It's possible that Jamie Moyer could draw interest as a trade candidate after the season. 
  • One AL exec isn't sure Bryce Harper's the guarantee people perceive him to be.  
  • Stark points out that the Astros traded Ivan Rodriguez just as his incentives were about to start kicking in.
  • An official of a team that inquired about Stephen Strasburg before the draft says that Scott Boras invoked Daisuke Matsuzaka's name without specifically saying he wanted $50MM for his client.

Odds & Ends: Tejada, Rays, Yankees

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A roundup of links before the evening comes to a close:

Odds And Ends: Tejada, Varitek, Smoltz

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Some afternoon links…

Smoltz Clears Waivers, Reaches Deal With Cards

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The Cardinals continued a summer-long streak of big-name acquisitions this afternoon, agreeing to a deal with the recently-released John Smoltz, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cards, who have already added Mark DeRosa and Matt Holliday, are exptected to slot Smoltz into their rotation. They'll only be responsible for the pro-rated portion of the major league minimum, a total of about $100k at this point.

As Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shows, the Cards' rotation will be imposing if Smoltz can recover from an ugly stint with the Red Sox. Nick Steiner of the Hardball Times says such a recovery is possible and David Golebiewski of FanGraphs agrees.
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