Rays Rumors

Odds & Ends: Mets, Hardy, Hammel

By Tim Dierkes | October 7, 2009 at 4:42pm CDT

Links for Wednesday…

The Mets favor Matt Holliday over Jason Bay, according to SI's Jon Heyman.
Adam Guttridge of The Hardball Times explains why J.J. Hardy is a prime buy-low opportunity.
Tyler Hissey of Around the Majors notes that Jason Hammel has been a great pickup for the Rockies.
Tommy Rancel of DRays Bay says the Rays should pursue free agent reliever Joaquin Benoit.

Odds & Ends: Rays, Marlins, D’Backs

By Howard Megdal | October 5, 2009 at 8:40pm CDT

You thought the season was over? It's just beginning!

Bobby Cox is stunned that Fredi Gonzalez is on the hot seat in Florida.
Arizona is replacing third base coach Chip Hale and first base coach Lorenzo Bundy.
Steve Henderson is out as Tampa Bay hitting coach, while quality assurance coach Todd Greene was also sent packing, since for the 2009 Rays, quality was most certainly not assured.
Albert Belle doesn't want to manage the Indians, in case they were wondering, which they almost certainly weren't.

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Indians Manager, Johnson, Padres GM, Crawford, Mauer

By Mike Axisa | October 3, 2009 at 5:47pm CDT

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has a new Full Count video up this afternoon, so let's see what he's got for us…

The Indians plan to conduct 8-10 phone interviews for their managerial vacancy, then bring in 3-5 finalists by the third week of October, presumably for formal interviews. Bobby Valentine will be "on the short list," and will almost certainly get an interview. Buck Showalter will not be a candidate.
Cleveland is proceeding with the search as if Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell will not be a candidate, however that could change quickly if Farrell expresses interest in the job. At that point, the three parties involved would need to discuss a way around the clause in the Farrell's contract that prohibits him from seeking a managerial job elsewhere.
Signing Josh Johnson long-term is the Marlins' top priority this offseason. In order to get a deal done, Florida will need to "exceed significantly" the four year, $38MM deal the Royals gave Zack Greinke, who was at a similar service time level last offseason.
If a deal doesn't get done, Johnson will almost certainly not sign an extension next offseason, when he'd be just one year away from free agency. At that point, the Fish would need to trade him.
Who will replace Kevin Towers as Padres GM? Paul DePodesta, a special assistant to Towers and former GM of the Dodgers, is not interested in the job. Pat Gillick doesn't figure to be a candidate either.
The leading candidate might be Diamondbacks' exec Jerry DiPoto, but the Padres would need approval from the commissioner's office to get him. CEO Jeff Moorad left the D-Backs just last December, and the league frowns upon executives raiding their former teams for front office talent.
However, DiPoto has already interviewed for openings with the Nationals and Mariners, so it would be difficult for the D-Backs to make much of a fuss.
Carl Crawford is "well intentioned" when he says he wants to sign a long-term extension with Tampa Bay. The problem is that the team probably won't offer him enough to keep him from becoming a free agent at the end of 2010.
The bigger question is Joe Mauer, who can also hit free agency next winter. Mauer told The NY Times earlier this week that he is not interested in becoming the highest paid player in the game, even though he probably deserves to be. He is represented by Ron Shapiro, the same agent that kept Cal Ripken Jr. in Baltimore and Kirby Puckett in Minnesota. Shapiro clearly understands the value of a player staying with one team his entire career.
Shapiro, father of Indians GM Mark Shapiro, would be "sticking it to his son" a bit by keeping Mauer in the AL Central. That's my phrase, not Rosenthal's.

Zaun Hopes To Return To Rays In 2010

By Mike Axisa | October 3, 2009 at 9:23am CDT

With Dioner Navarro struggling immensely, Tampa Bay hoped to improve its catching situation down the stretch by acquiring Gregg Zaun from Baltimore. Zaun held up his end of the bargain, hitting .286/.323/.495 for the Rays, but the team has faltered, going just 23-29 since the trade.

Regardless of the club's late season struggles, Zaun said he hopes to return to Tampa in 2010, and maybe even beyond, according to Joe Smith of The St. Petersburg Times.

"I'm very interested. I know this team is going to be a competitive group of guys," Zaun, 38, said. "I love the coaching staff. Home is here. I don't see any reason why, if the terms are agreeable, that I would want to go anywhere else."

"Tampa is at the top of my list right now," Zaun said. "I'd love to come back."

The team holds a $2MM option for Zaun next year, but a clause in his contract gives him the right to void that option and forfeit the $500K buyout if he was traded before November 1st of this year, which he obviously was. That doesn't seem like it'll be an issue, though.

A 15-year big league veteran, Zaun has hit .252/.347/.414 in over 1,300 plate appearances over the last three years.

Odds & Ends: Sandberg, Yanks, Padres, Upton

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | October 2, 2009 at 9:02am CDT

Some links to read before the final weekend of the regular season…

Ryne Sandberg tells Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times that his "ideal job" would be managing the Cubs.
Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News says C.C. Sabathia and Mike Mussina are the only two Yankee pitchers of the decade to deliver big seasons right after signing big free agent contracts.
Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune says there's still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Padres GM Kevin Towers.
USA Today's Bob Nightengale says (via Twitter) that the Giants expect Randy Johnson to retire after the season.
Nightengale says teams expect the Rays to deal B.J. Upton this winter.
Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle says the Giants need Bengie Molina and Buster Posey next year.
Justin Masterson tells John Tomase of the Boston Herald that his former pitching coach, John Farrell, would make a good manager.

Crawford Open To Long-Term Deal With Rays

By Tim Dierkes | September 30, 2009 at 7:02pm CDT

7:02pm: As Topkin notes, the Rays sound interested.

“We are very pleased to hear C.C.’s comments,'' executive vice president Andrew Friedman told the St. Petersburg Times just moments ago. "Consistent with our policy, we do not speak publicly about contract negotiations but obviously we have a tremendous amount of respect for Carl both on and off the field. He has been a big part of our past success and I expect he will be a big part of our future success as well.”

6:47pm: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times reports that Crawford is wary of playing next season without a clear future. He either wants to sign an extension this winter or play out the 2010 season with the Rays and then head to free agency.

"I don't like worrying about it," Crawford said Tuesday, "and you can sit there and say you're not worried about it, but to not know what your future's going to be in the next five or six years or so is definitely … it makes you scared at times. I just hope we can do something. It's uncomfortable worrying about it. I don't like playing cautious."

"You'd be a liar if you say you didn't play cautious when you have to go through contracts and stuff like that. I want to just be able to play baseball, don't worry about nothing else."

4:21pm: Carl Crawford would be open to a long-term extension with the Rays, according to Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune. The first order of business will be the Rays picking up Crawford's $10MM option for next year, which seems like a given. That four-year contract was signed in April of 2005. Now that the Rays are a winning ballclub, Crawford appears willing to forgo his shot at free agency.

Crawford, 28, is hitting .307/.367/.450 in 659 plate appearances this year. He's good for 50+ steals a year, and his speed is a big part of his highly-regarded left field defense.

Back on September 3rd, ESPN's Jayson Stark said the Rays "clearly would like to use the money they saved [from trading Scott Kazmir] to help them hang onto Carlos Pena and/or Crawford, both of whom will be a year away from free agency after this season." The question is, what kind of contract would it take to lock up Crawford? Would $15MM a year be appropriate? Will Crawford aim for the maximum term, or would he prefer a two or three-year extension that allows him to test free agency before his skills decline?

Chad Bradford Leaning Toward Retirement

By Tim Dierkes | September 30, 2009 at 3:52pm CDT

Sidearmer Chad Bradford is leaning toward retirement, Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times learned. Bradford told Topkin he'll still leave the door open for next year, and probably decide in January. The 35-year-old had elbow surgery in February and back tightness in July, resulting in only 10.3 big league innings this year. Bradford is finishing up a three-year, $10.5MM deal signed with Baltimore before the '06 season. He joined the Rays via a waiver claim last August.

If he's done, Bradford would finish with a 3.26 ERA over 515.6 career innings. He pitched in the playoffs seven different years, allowing just one earned run in 23.3 innings. He'll have earned just under $15MM for his efforts, according to Baseball Reference. Of course, Bradford is best known for being chronicled in Michael Lewis' 2003 book Moneyball.

Odds & Ends: Gillick, Moronta, Halladay, Rays

By Zachary Links | September 28, 2009 at 4:07pm CDT

Here are some choice links to kick off the afternoon…

Former Phillies and Blue Jays GM Pat Gillick is not interested in a return to Toronto, writes ESPN's Buster Olney. However, the 72-year-old would not rule out handling baseball operations for another team down the road.
Ben Badler of Baseball America reports that Eladio Moronta – one of the toolsiest players in Latin America – is now eligible to be signed, five months after being suspended for lying about his age.
Manager Cito Gaston doesn't see the Blue Jays holding on to Roy Halladay if the team doesn't make other improvements, writes Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun.
Russell Branyan could return to the Mariners in 2010, according to Larry LaRue of The News Tribune. Branyan was raking before the all-star break, posting .280/.382/.573 with 22 HRs before being bogged down in the second half by a back injury that cost him the month of September.
Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times asked and answered questions regarding what the offseason might hold for the Tampa Bay Rays. Amongst other things, Topkin says there is no way that the Rays will trade Carl Crawford, nor will they decline to pick up his $10MM option for 2010. Crawford is still a great value at that price as Fangraphs values his 2009 performance to be much higher than that.
Joe Maddon doesn't expect to make any changes to his coaching staff, writes Marc Lancaster of The Tampa Tribune. Maddon says he'll meet with his coaches at season's end, as they are all up for renewal.
If Dusty Baker has his way, pitching coach Dick Pole and hitting coach Brook Jacoby will return in 2010, says John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Under Pole's instruction, the Reds have seen their team ERA improve from 4.55 a year ago to 4.19 in 2009.
Brewers infielder Craig Counsell recently turned 39-years-old but still intends to play in 2010 according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Pujols, Upton, Astros, Bradley

By Mike Axisa | September 26, 2009 at 5:52pm CDT

FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up, so let's see what he has for us…

Albert Pujols is in no rush to sign a contract extension. A source "with knowledge of his thinking" tells Rosenthal that the chances of Pujols agreeing to an extension this winter are "slim and none."
The reason is that Pujols wants to assess the Cardinals' long-term outlook before deciding on his future. Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa, and Tony LaRussa are all unsigned beyond this season.
Tampa Bay figures to explore the market for B.J. Upton this offseason. The Rays would be selling low, but they have needs behind the plate and in the bullpen, and it's possible a team could offer a package that would satisfy those needs. If they don't get an offer to their liking, Tampa will simply hold onto him.
The Astros managing job might be Jim Fregosi's to lose, but don't be surprised if Red Sox first base coach Tim Bogar "gains momentum." Even though he's relatively inexperienced, Bogar is a former 'Stro who also managed in their minor league system, as well as in Cleveland's. Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio, and Jeff Bagwell all think highly of him.
Teams have already called the Cubs about Milton Bradley. The Giants, Padres, Rangers, Rays, and Mets are among the clubs with possible interest. The Cubs are confident they can deal Bradley without paying the overwhelming majority of the $21MM still owed to him over the next two years. They could either trade Bradley's bad contract for another bad contract, or use the old sliding scale of "the more money we pay, the better the players we get in return."

Odds & Ends: Jays, Zambrano, Harden

By Luke Adams 2 | September 24, 2009 at 8:57pm CDT

A few more evening links….

The Blue Jays have some uncertainty at catcher heading into 2010, according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. With Rod Barajas poised to test the free agent market, Raul Chavez, Kyle Phillips, J.P. Arencibia, and Brian Jeroloman could all be in the mix for time behind the plate. GM J.P. Ricciardi also tells Bastian that Scott Downs and Jason Frasor could split closing duties in Toronto next year.
BP's Christina Kahrl at ESPN.com says so many factors stand in the way of trading Carlos Zambrano that the Cubs would probably have to accept "pennies on the dollar" to move him. She figures if they're looking to deal, the Cubs need to hope they receive interest from a starter-hungry team convinced that Big Z could be their missing piece, like perhaps the Mets.
Rich Harden has been shut down for 2009, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Has Harden thrown his last pitch for Chicago? He says he'd like to return, but Sullivan suggests that the Cubs likely won't offer more than a one-year deal. Check out Tim's rundown of this year's starting pitching free agent class for an idea of how Harden fits into the market.
R.J. Anderson at DRays Bay gets involved in the Felix Hernandez chatter by wondering if the Rays might try acquiring the Mariners ace this winter. It seems unlikely, but they apparently made at least one attempt prior to the trade deadline.
Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune chimes in on Ken Williams' assessment of the 2009 White Sox. Rogers points out that the Chicago GM should be blaming the team's $25MM payroll cut, or even himself for failing to acquire any talent that helped the 2009 team in the Javier Vazquez and Nick Swisher deals.

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