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Stark On Padres, Jose Guillen, Derrek Lee

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ESPN's Jayson Stark kicks off today's column with a look at which teams' starts he considers reality and illusion.  Beyond that, a look at his hot stove rumblings…

  • One club official who "felt out" the Padres over the winter believes they'll hold on to their top players if they're in contention in July.  As Stark says, the market would look a lot worse without Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell.
  • Stark names six sluggers who "might be in play" this summer: Josh Hamilton, Adam Dunn, Adam LaRoche, Rick Ankiel, Paul Konerko, and Manny Ramirez.  Hamilton and Manny are longer shots, but they'd certainly get the hot stove burning.
  • As for Jose Guillen – executives Stark talked to just aren't interested, despite his .377/.406/.738 start.
  • In search of new stadiums, where could the Rays and A's legitimately threaten to move?  Stark and his sources run through ideas and can't find a viable city.
  • A friend of Cal Ripken's tells Stark "there's a lot of mutual respect" between Ripken and Orioles owner Peter Angelos.  Ripken seeks a difference-making job, rather than just a title.  It doesn't necessarily have to be with the Orioles.
  • The Cubs told Derrek Lee's agent Casey Close they'd prefer to let the season play out before talking extension.  Lee discussed the situation during Spring Training. 
  • Stark's sources consider Brett Anderson's four-year, $12.5MM deal a very team-friendly contract.  To the A's credit, most young pitchers are not willing to give two club options.  Playing devil's advocate –  did the potential cost savings justify committing four years to Anderson after just one year of service?  You can find multiple clubs that do not share Oakland's enthusiasm for locking up good young pitchers.

Heyman, Rosenthal On Cubs, Rays, Giants

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SI's Jon Heyman and FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal posted new columns this morning.  A few hot stove highlights…

  • Heyman received indications that Tom Gorzelanny will remain in the Cubs' rotation when Ted Lilly returns Saturday.  That would mean Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Randy Wells, or Carlos Silva heads to the bullpen.  Given his past experience in the Cubs' pen, Heyman finds Dempster the most logical choice.  I respectfully disagree, as Dempster is the Cubs' best starter.  I'd make Silva the long man and continue to scour the trade and free agent markets for relief help.  Promoting Andrew Cashner merits consideration, if the Cubs don't think a temporary move back to relief would stunt his development.  UPDATE: Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune tweets that Zambrano will go to the pen. 
  • Rosenthal finds a Rays sell-off unlikely, instead envisioning them as bullpen buyers.  He notes that the Rays have attempted to trade for various star players the last two Julys.
  • Rosenthal believes the Giants' biggest need is "a strong two-way threat in right field."  He says potentially available players like David DeJesus and Corey Hart don't quite fit the mold.  I'm just throwing it out there…could Elijah Dukes be a fit? 

Top Trade Chips: AL East

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Let's finish off our series with the toughest division in baseball…

  • Blue Jays: The Jays already traded away most of their top pieces, but they still have three desirable relievers in Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, and Kevin Gregg. All three can become free agents after the season. There might be some interest in first baseman Lyle Overbay, who will also hit the open market after the season. 
  • Orioles: Considering how poorly he pitched before landing on the DL, I'm sure a large part of the Baltimore faithful wouldn't mind seeing Mike Gonzalez go. Alas, that won't happen anytime soon. There always seems to be interest in Luke Scott, who still has two more years of team control left. If they decide to sell at mid-season, Kevin Millwood and Jeremy Guthrie could find their way onto the block. 
  • Rays: The Rays are a player development machine, and they have enough young players to get get pretty much anyone they want. They have enough depth that they could trade one of Reid Brignac or Sean Rodriguez plus one of Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis, or Jeremy Hellickson and not miss a beat. If they fall out of it and decide to sell, it doesn't get much better than Carl Crawford, Rafael Soriano, and Carlos Pena. I believe the term is "stacked."
  • Red Sox: Boston has held onto Clay Buchholz for this long, but with his name appearing so frequently on the rumor circuit, it really wouldn't be surprising if they moved him for a big time player. They might still be able to find a taker for Mike Lowell, and there would be interest in Manny Delcarmen if he were made available. They did lose a valuable chip when Junichi Tazawa went down with Tommy John surgery. 
  • Yankees: They seem unwilling to trade either Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain, so their best chip is the semi-blocked Jesus Montero. Of course, the Yankees have the ability to absorb even the ugliest of contracts, so maybe we should consider that their biggest trade chip.

Largest Contracts In Team History

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We've already looked at the largest contracts by service time and position, so let's now dig up the largest contracts ever given out by each of the 30 teams. These are in terms of guaranteed money only, but some could end up being even larger because of incentives and option years.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Rays Announce Leslie Anderson Signing

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It's Cuban defector day here at MLBTR, as the Rays officially announced their signing of Leslie Anderson an hour after the Blue Jays made their Adeiny Hechavarria announcement.  Anderson's four-year, $3.75MM agreement was first reported on March 11th.

The press release notes Anderson's athleticism and ability to play all three outfield positions and first base.  When Anderson defected in September, his agent Jaime Torres drew a comparison to Alexei Ramirez.

Rosenthal On Bullpens, Marcum, Crawford

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a few hot stove offerings…

  • Rosenthal names the Cubs, Cardinals, Rays, Phillies, and Marlins as teams with bullpen question marks.  I'm thinking the Blue Jays might be able to extract something useful for their veteran relievers in a few months.
  • Rosenthal speculates that Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum would be attractive on the trade market.  Marcum is under team control through 2012.  It's not known whether the Jays would entertain trading Marcum for even younger and cheaper players.
  • Carl Crawford should command at least $12-14MM per year and at least a seven-year contract as free agent, opines Rosenthal.

Could Rays Release Pat Burrell?

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Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times writes that the Rays will have to consider cutting Pat Burrell loose if their designated hitter doesn't start producing. Although Tampa Bay management maintains that they have confidence in Burrell's ability, Topkin speculates that by mid-May or early-June, the club may run out of patience.

Burrell hit .221/.315/.367 in 2009 and is off to another slow start in 2010, the final season of his two-year contract. He'll make $9MM this year, a figure which will likely make him unmovable. Topkin thinks that at some point the Rays "will just have to accept their mistake and cut him loose."

If they were to cut ties with Burrell, the Rays would have other options available. Hank Blalock is currently in Triple A, waiting for an opportunity to earn Major League playing time. Additionally, Topkin points out that Rocco Baldelli has been taking regular batting practice at Tropicana Field and would like to play again. The long-time Ray would be a cheap right-handed alternative, and, as this Rays Index article suggests, Tampa fans would have more patience with him than they've had with Pat the Bat.

Burrell's $9MM salary would be a huge cost for the budget-conscious Rays to eat, so expect them to give the 33-year-old every chance to succeed. However, if his struggles continue and compromise the club's chances of contending, they could be forced to make a change.

Rays Sign Logan Kensing

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The Rays signed righty Logan Kensing to a minor league deal, reports Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times.  Kensing was designated for assignment twice during the '09 season, by the Marlins and Nationals.  He re-signed on a minor league deal with Washington in December, but was released in March.

Kensing, 27, posted an 8.92 ERA, 4.8 K/9, and 4.3 BB/9 in 35.3 innings for the Nats and Marlins last year but was impressive in 33.3 minor league frames.  Five years ago, Baseball America praised Kensing's makeup and described his repertoire as "a 91-94 mph fastball, solid-average slider, and developing changeup."  Last year as a reliever, he averaged 93.4 mph on his fastball.

Odds & Ends: Embree, Rizzo, Votto, Rollins, Huffman

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Links for Thursday…

Odds & Ends: Lerew, Cuba, Coonelly, Hechavarria

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Links for Wednesday…

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