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Pirates Interested In Brad Thompson?

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Scott Wuerz of the Belleville News-Democrat suggests that Cardinals pitcher Brad Thompson is a rumored target for the Pirates.  He could be part of a larger package, where players such as Jack Wilson, Matt Morris, and/or Jason Bay could be involved.

Thompson turns 26 soon.  The Cardinals tried him as a starter last year, and he posted a 4.66 ERA in that role.  He was at 4.91 in relief, but for his career he’s been better coming out of the pen.  Thompson lost his groundball mojo a bit in ’07, and as a result his HR rate rose dramatically.

At one point, the Cards and Bucs discussed a Wilson-for-Chris Duncan deal.  About a month ago Dejan Kovacevic said he expected Wilson to stay put this winter.  Morris was a Cardinals’ target at various times in ’07.   There hasn’t been much buzz about the Pirates trading Bay to St. Louis.

Cardinals Rumors: Ankiel, Molina

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Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a new column up this morning regarding the Cardinals’ arbitration-eligible players.  This year they have Rick Ankiel, Yadier Molina, and Todd Wellemeyer.

Goold spoke to Scott Boras regarding Ankiel’s situation, which is definitely a unique one.  Salaries for arb-eligible players are often determined by looking at comparables, but Ankiel doesn’t really have any (Babe Ruth doesn’t quite fit).  Ankiel has four years of service time; he’ll be a free agent after the 2009 season.

Molina has three years of service time, so he’s under team control through 2010.  Goold says a multiyear deal for Molina is likely to be discussed.

Odds and Ends: Cameron, Inge, Bay

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Here are some random rumors and links I’ve cobbled together today.

  • The Fish officially signed Jorge Cantu to a minor-league deal worth $500K with $100K in incentives.
  • The Cardinals re-upped Aaron Miles for $1.4 mil.  This team needs some good middle infielders.
  • According to Tyler Kepner, Alex Rodriguez has been "privately endorsing" Mike Cameron.  Well, it’s not private anymore!  The Yankees could entertain such a signing if they trade Melky Cabrera but don’t want to move Johnny Damon back to center.  Kepner’s article also discusses the internal struggle between Hank and Hal Steinbrenner.  Hank wants Johan Santana, Hal wants to show a little financial restraint.

  • Lynn Henning digs into the Brandon Inge situation, with help from the always-insightful Keith Law.  Henning believes Inge would view a shift back to catcher "with contempt."
  • Scott Wuerz runs through various possible Cardinals targets.  He notes that the Pirates had considered the White Sox their best possible trade partner for Jason Bay, and are disappointed by Chicago’s Nick Swisher acquisition.
  • Seems that Bartolo Colon has yet to crack 90 mph in the Dominican Winter League.
  • There are rumblings that the Astros are considering bringing Freddy Garcia back.
  • R.J. Anderson snagged an interesting interview with Paul DePodesta.
  • Minor League guru and MLB.com senior writer Jonathan Mayo has a new book coming out about what it’s like to face Roger Clemens.  I’m going to do a Q&A with Jonathan next week; if you have any good question ideas leave ’em in the comments.  By the way, Mayo finished his book before the Mitchell Report came out.
  • Yankees fans – Ray Istorico has an illustrated history of the early Yankees coming out in a few months.
  • I will be appearing on XM Radio’s MLB Home Plate show on Sunday around 2:25 CST.

Matt Clement Signs With Cardinals

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UPDATE, 1-3-08 at 6:20pm: Clement gets a $1.25MM base with another $5.25MM in incentives for ’08.  The ’09 option is for $8.75MM, an amount that can increase based on innings pitched.  Seems a low-risk deal for the Cards. 

UPDATE, 1-3-08 at 3:21pm: The deal includes a club option for ’09 and as you’d expect is heavy on incentives.  The base salary is not known yet.

FROM 1-3-08 at 2:27pm:

According to Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have signed Matt Clement to a Major League deal.

Clement, 33, jumps back to the NL Central after spending 2002-04 with the Cubs.  He had rotator cuff surgery in September of ’06, so he’s a complete unknown at this point.  He joins Adam Wainwright, Joel Pineiro, and Braden Looper in the Cards’ rotation, with Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder due at various points during the season.  They still might have money for one more starter.

Matt Clement Rumors

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FROM 12-31-07 at 11:20am: Wuerz says Clement balked at the idea of a minor league deal with the Cardinals.

FROM 12-30-07 at 12:26pm: John Perrotto believes Clement is leaning towards the Pirates or Indians, partly because of a new home he built in Butler, PA (same place he was born).

FROM 12-30-07 at 2:10am:

Here’s a rumor I missed from a couple of days ago.  Scott Wuerz of the Belleville News-Democrat, a Southern Illinois newspaper, indicated in his blog that the Cardinals were close to signing Matt Clement.  Haven’t seen recent buzz about this in the Post-Dispatch, but maybe Wuerz has the scoop.

Other teams previously linked to Clement: the Royals, Mariners, Blue Jays, Rockies, Pirates, Indians, and Phillies.  The Astros pulled out and the Padres seem full.  Clement underwent rotator cuff surgery in September of 2006, with his agent comparing the procedure to that of Drew Brees.

More Prior Details

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Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune has more details on Mark Prior’s contract and suitors.

Prior cited the Astros, Cardinals, Mets, and Rangers as the most aggressive; about half the teams in baseball contacted his agent.

Contract details: it has a $1MM base with another possible $3.5MM in incentives.  However, much of the incentive money is tied to the number of starts he makes, so he’ll probably end up earning $3MM or less in 2008.

How bad was the shoulder injury?  How far along is Prior in his rehab?  I’ve talked to some people and read published reports and am unable to draw any consistent conclusion.  Rick Wilton of Baseball Injury Report thinks the chance of a meaningful contribution from Prior in ’08 is close to zero.  Others are a bit more optimistic, but we’ll just have to wait and see.   

The Mark Prior Derby

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Let’s do a recap on the Mark Prior Derby, which is getting more confusing each day.  Jerry Crasnick has added some good info this afternoon.  Prior wants a one-year deal and hopes to be on a big league mound before the end of May.

  • Yankees – They’ll probably pass, per Hank Steinbrenner.
  • Red Sox – Named only by Jayson Stark.
  • White Sox – Named only by Stark.
  • Mariners – Named by Stark, denied by Jim Street.
  • Mets – Named by Stark, Crasnick, Ken Rosenthal, Ed Price
  • Cardinals – Named by Stark, Crasnick, Rosenthal, Matthew Leach
  • Padres – Named by many, made an offer according to Crasnick. Prior went to USC but would have to take less money to play in San Diego
  • Astros – Named by many, made an offer according to Alyson Footer
  • Giants – Named only by Stark
  • Reds – Named by Stark, Crasnick. Prior previously played under Dusty Baker
  • Nationals – Named by Stark, Crasnick, Bill Ladson
  • Rangers – Named by Crasnick but not Stark, aggressively pursuing according to Rosenthal
  • Marlins – Named only by Crasnick
  • Indians – Named only by Crasnick

One more and we’re at half of all baseball teams linked at some point.  The Phillies and Pirates are not interested, and it’s probably safe to count the Cubs out.

Odds and Ends: Barrett, Koufax, Santana

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A few notes from this evening…

  • Michael Barrett and the Padres avoided arbitration, arriving at a $3.5MM deal.  A little less than I expected given his $4.6MM salary in ’07.  If some team acquires Barrett on the cheap he could bounce back if he’s comfortable.  Wasn’t long ago he was one of the better-hitting catchers in the game.  Is there even a slight chance he wouldn’t embarrass himself back at the hot corner?
  • Great ShysterBall post in reference to Curt Schilling’s attempt to call out Roger Clemens.
  • Sandy Koufax did not do steroids.
  • Derrick Goold looks at how David Eckstein ended up leaving the Cardinals despite his desire to stay.
  • LENIII says it’s possible nothing has happened on the Johan Santana front since the Meetings ended.  Neal also names Kris Benson as a pitcher on the Twins’ radar.  They were one of many teams watching his recent session.  Plus they were eyeing Glendon Rusch before he signed with the Padres.

Stark’s Latest: Prior, Lofton, Otsuka

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ESPN’s Jayson Stark dishes some good rumorage in his latest column.

  • Stark dug around to find all the Mark Prior suitors and came up with this list: Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, Mets, Cardinals, Padres, Astros, Giants, Reds, Nationals (11 teams).  Let’s compare notes.  MLBTR readers have seen the Yankees, Mets, Cards, Padres, Astros, Reds, and Nats linked to Prior already.  So Stark has added the Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, and Giants.  The idea of the Mariners runs contrary to this MLB.com article.  Stark did not name the Rangers, who are said to be aggressively pursuing Prior.  Prior is dead set on a one-year deal and would take a big league mound in May in the best case.
  • The Phils are focused on Geoff Jenkins and Mike Cameron, offering two year deals to each.  They might just take the first one to accept.  Stark says Kenny Lofton could be an option if both decline.  Lofton batted a career-best .335 for the Phils in ’05.
  • Stark rattles off a laundry list of pitchers the Phillies are interested in: Akinori Otsuka, Byung-Hyun Kim, Roberto Hernandez, Kris Benson, John Parrish, Sidney Ponson, Chad Durbin, Kyle Lohse, and Jeremy Affeldt.  Given Stark’s 21 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, I imagine he has a connection or two.  Most of those are new names besides Benson, Lohse, Ponson, and Affeldt.
  • A source of Stark picks the Yankees as the favorite for Johan, but it should be noted that they’re having internal debates about pulling Phil Hughes off the table.
  • For all the crazy Cubs fans we’ve got here: Stark says they’ve talked to the Orioles about both Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard, but couldn’t pull off a deal for both.  They favor Roberts even though they need Bedard much more.

Odds and Ends: Giles, Chacon, Durbin

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Here are today’s random rumor tidbits.

  • The Rox are interested in Marcus Giles for their second base opening.  Giles was awful last year, they should just try something internal.  Other Rockies notes: contracts with Kip Wells and Luis Vizcaino aren’t quite finalized, and they may ink Victor Zambrano to a minor league deal.  UPDATE: Wells, plus Mark Redman, are done deals.
  • The Pirates still have their eye on Shawn Chacon and Chad Durbin.  That”ll put butts in the seats.  Also, Jake of Bucco Blog weighs in on a new Pirates hire.
  • Speaking of Durbin, did he comment on this blog and suggest he’s headed to the NL?  I’m not sure.
  • Drays Bay talked to Gerry Hunsicker.  Seth Speaks talked to Pat Neshek.
  • New prize added to our Hot Stove Hysteria contest – three months free of Scout.com access.
  • Things are mostly quiet with the Brewers, but this Tom Haudricourt blog post notes tepid discussions for Scott Rolen, Hank Blalock, and Andre Ethier.

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