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Odds and Ends: Pokey, Lowe, Boss

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Before you fire up the grill, check out these links.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: 2008 Amateur Draft

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With last year’s top pick, David Price, making his pro debut yesterday, we are now two weeks from the 2008 "Rule 4 Draft" and the top of the draft is not as clear this time around. There are five candidates that could go in the top slot: Buster Posey, the FSU catcher; Vanderbilt’s third baseman Pedro Alvarez; San Diego lefty Brian Matusz; Southern California high school catcher Kyle Skipworth, and Georgia high school shortstop Tim Beckham. Earlier this week we heard that the Rays were leaning towards Posey or Alvarez, while the Pirates were said to be torn between Alvarez and Beckham with the second pick. Recent mock drafts from Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, have Beckham going to the Rays with the top pick.

Let’s take a look at what is being said about the upcoming draft in the Blogosphere…

  • Minor League Ball ranks the top 30 prospects, with Posey and Beckham at the top of the board, while Alvarez’ injury knocks him down to #8.
  • Baseball Mastermind would like to see a push for a little more hype in the baseball draft and feels that baseball fans would benefit from more debate on the merits of the available talent. They also can’t see the Rays taking Alvarez with the top pick now that they have Evan Longoria locked up to a long-term deal.
  • DRays Bay wonders if recent reports of the Rays drafting Beckham or Posey were just smoke-screens to lower the price on Alvarez, who is a Scott Boras client.
  • Rays of Light note that Alvarez would be the ideal choice, but believe signability may be too big of a factor to ignore, making Posey more attractive.
  • Bucs Dugout feels a team should select the best available player with the second pick, but suggests that a team like the Pirates, that is still several years away from contending, may be better off drafting high school talent. The idea is that an Alvarez will not help a Bucs club in ’09 or ’10 while a Beckham will remain under the team’s control for more years.
  • Camden Depot doesn’t sound very excited about the prospect of the Orioles drafting Matusz.
  • McCovey Chronicles is hoping that Alvarez falls to the Giants at #5.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Stark’s Latest: Young Players, Giles, DeJesus

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Jayson Stark’s latest Rumblings and Grumblings column is chock full of information.

  • Stark rattles off Dan Uggla, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, B.J. Upton, Justin Upton, Russell Martin, Zack Greinke, Prince Fielder, Felix Hernandez, Jeff Francoeur, Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, and Dustin Pedroia as youngsters who do not have long-term deals in the works.  With Uggla and Greinke, the opposition seems more on the team’s side.  With Hamels and Howard neither side wants a long-term deal.  With the rest, the player is resisting.
  • The Padres’ top trading chip is probably Brian Giles, though a deal would further deplete a weak offense.
  • The A’s are willing to deal, with pitching considered the surplus.  Billy Beane might be able to snag one good prospect for Rich Harden.
  • There’s some doubt as to whether the Rockies will make Matt Holliday this year’s Mark Teixeira as we approach the deadline.
  • Teams other than the Royals are speculating that center fielder David DeJesus might be available.
  • The Marlins and Hanley Ramirez battled over a no-trade clause…and the Fish won.  He has none.

Rays Leaning Toward Posey Or Alvarez?

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Today from Buster Olney’s blog:

I talked to a couple of folks with rival teams who say that their understanding is that Tampa Bay is leaning toward picking either Florida State catcher Buster Posey or Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez.

Olney apparently hasn’t heard much about the Rays considering shortstop Tim Beckham, though other insiders such as Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo have him in the mix.  Mayo says "it’s still very much in the air" among five candidates for the Rays.

Odds and Ends: Hanley, Salcedo, Torrealba

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Time to round ’em up…

Scott Kazmir Signs Extension With Rays

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5:59pm: Marc Topkin of The St. Pete Times has the details. It is four-year deal for $28.5MM with a team option for 2012 season at $11MM.  It’s a team-friendly contract, as you’d expect.  The Rays are setting themselves up for a run of excellence.

5:47pm: Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus reports that Kazmir has signed and the deal will be announced tonight.

5:45pm: Rays Index transcribes a quote from Rays owner Stuart Sternberg via Mike & The Mad Dog.  Sternberg hinted that the team is exploring a deal with Scott Kazmir.  Kazmir made his season debut on May 4th following a March elbow strain.

Kazmir, just 24, has two more years of arbitration eligibility before he hits free agency after the 2010 season.  The going rate for the last two arb years of a young ace is about $11MM.  The Rays managed to get options on James Shields’ first two years of free agency for $9MM and $12MM, respectively.  For Fausto Carmona, the free agency options are for $7MM, $9MM, and $12MM.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Lidge, Daniel Cabrera, Bonds, Edmonds

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Ken Rosenthal has a new column up.  I put the Griffey info in a separate post; let’s discuss the rest.

  • Rosenthal suggests that Brad Lidge would be harder to replace than Pat Burrell, and for that reason the Phillies will make a bigger effort to re-sign him.  I imagine Phillies fans would prefer that course of action.  The problem?  The Phillies have little chance of offering four years, according to Jayson Stark.
  • The Rangers will face a delicate situation in coming years: moving Michael Young to a different position.  The chain reaction could make Hank Blalock available.  Blalock has a club option for ’09 at $6.2MM.
  • Aside from Rick Porcello replacing Kenny Rogers at some point, the questionable Detroit rotation is set and signed through 2010.
  • One scout seems to think Daniel Cabrera has turned the corner and shouldn’t be traded.  He’ll become a free agent after the 2010 season and earns $2.875MM this year.
  • Though it might be seen as a desperation move, the Tigers don’t have much to lose by signing Barry Bonds.  Gary Sheffield endorsed it.
  • Rosenthal says the Rays and Jays are teams with "possible interest" in Jim Edmonds but are likely to pass.  That leaves the Cubs.
  • Will Jason Giambi find a job next year after the Yankees decline his option?  He plans to try.
  • The Red Sox asked about Mark Loretta during Spring Training as "infield insurance."  Rosenthal suggests the Sox consider Omar Vizquel, a defensive upgrade over Julio Lugo.

Odds and Ends: Millwood, Posey, Igawa

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Here’s the latest link collection.

  • Former Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta is now blogging for the public.  He currently works for the Padres as Special Assistant for Baseball Operations.
  • In his words, Kevin Millwood felt a stabbing pain even though he hadn’t been stabbed.  He’s on the shelf with a groin injury, taking him off the trade market temporarily.
  • Rays Index had some quality draft links yesterday about the Rays and their #1 pick.  Jim Callis of Baseball America says catcher Buster Posey is "the current favorite."
  • Joel Sherman wonders what might’ve been if the Yankees had signed Ted Lilly instead of Kei Igawa.
  • Ken Davidoff reminds us of the Padres’ past claim on Igawa, and also notes Boston’s interest.
  • Giants owner Peter Magowan may move on.
  • This email exchange between Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger and Carlos Delgado’s agent David Sloane is entertaining.
  • Here’s a valuable free agent to consider: Leo Mazzone.

Odds and Ends: Botts, Red Sox, McLouth

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Roundup of links!

  • According to Jamey Newberg, Jason Botts has cleared waivers.  He probably won’t get another chance with the Rangers though.
  • Gordon Edes notes that the Red Sox have five picks in the first three rounds of the June draft.  Even though they don’t start until the 30th pick, the Sox have had much success in recent years.
  • No extension talks have begun with Nate McLouth, but Dejan Kovacevic does expect it to happen.
  • I updated the fantasy baseball closers depth chart over at RotoAuthority.
  • SI.com’s Jon Heyman says Freddy Garcia is "progressing nicely" in rehab and will throw off a mound about a week from now.
  • Marc Topkin wonders if the Rays should consider Jason Michaels (among others) if they aren’t satisfied with their current right field options.

Pirates Hope To Retain Meek

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Dejan Kovacevic fills us in on the Pirates’ attempts to retain 25 year-old reliever Evan Meek.

Meek was a Rule 5 pick who the Bucs just couldn’t hide in their big league pen all year.  Meek was designated for assignment yesterday but the Pirates are trying to make a deal with the Rays rather than return him.

Baseball America says that Meek "uses a low-90s fastball that has good sink and run to pick up strikeouts and groundballs."  As you might guess, control has been an issue.

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