Rays Rumors

Odds and Ends: Reitsma, Affeldt

By Tim Dierkes | January 10, 2008 at 11:57pm CDT

Some late night odds and ends to digest…

The Mariners re-signed Chris Reitsma; he hopes to be ready for Spring Training following August elbow surgery (not Tommy John, of course). Reitsma hopes to return to his groundballing, healthy form of 2005. On a related note, Bleeding Blue and Teal speculates that the Mariners could target Jeremy Affeldt if they trade George Sherrill. At one point Affeldt was said to be seeking five years. His agent has already pitched him to the Mariners as a possible starter.
Eduardo Encina reports that the Rays seek a superutility player and lefty reliever, and would prefer to get both via trade. Affeldt could be a possibility here as well.
East Windup Chronicle analyzes Japanese stadiums.

Odds and Ends: Lima, Clemens, Pagan

By Tim Dierkes | January 6, 2008 at 8:30pm CDT

Some links of interest this evening…

RotoAuthority ranks the top 24 catchers for fantasy baseball.
Eduardo Encina says the Edwin Jackson to Seattle rumor won’t go away, but he’s still not buying it.
Sox Machine notes that most of Kenny Williams’ trades come without warning.
Jose Lima has signed on as a top of the rotation starter.
Roger Clemens, Mike Wallace, blah blah blah. This is officially not interesting.
Are the Cards looking for a lefty reliever? Does this mean Tyler Johnson is on his way out? Viva El Birdos suggests that Mark Hendrickson could be the acquisition.
The Cubs shipped fifth outfielder Angel Pagan back to the Mets for a couple of minor leaguers. I tried to ignore this one for lack of interest, but the emails keep comin’ in.

Kazmir Too Pricey For Rays?

By Tim Dierkes | December 31, 2007 at 11:35am CDT

According to Eduardo A. Encina, the Rays explored a contract extension for ace Scott Kazmir last year. Nothing came of it, and now Encina says "there’s already talk that Kazmir’s days as a Ray are numbered."

The dominant lefty, who turns just 24 in January, has three years left before free agency. His monster second half in ’07 (2.39 ERA) may indicate an upward trend that could result in Cy votes in ’08. It seems that Kazmir is represented by Brian Peters (rather than Scott Boras as I previously stated). If he does decide to go year to year with the Rays, he’d be in line for a massive free agent payday preceding his age 27 season in 2011.

Back on November 5th, Joel Sherman of the New York Post said the Rays were even considering shopping Kazmir this winter, depending on the bounty for Johan Santana. Marc Lancaster suggested the following day that the declaration of Kazmir’s availability was "dubious at best."

Odds and Ends: Villarreal, Cano, Rowand

By Tim Dierkes | December 28, 2007 at 11:44am CDT

Alright let’s round ’em up.

This was one I was going to pass on posting, but it’s pretty dead right now. The Astros signed newly acquired reliever Oscar Villarreal to a two-year deal. He was already under team control through 2008. The MLB.com article adds that Ed Wade’s interest in Livan Hernandez and Bartolo Colon is low, and talks with Jon Lieber pretty much died.
The Yankees pulled Robinson Cano out of Winter Ball. The word is that he doesn’t want to aggravate a calf injury. You could read into it and speculate he’s a part of trade talks. Seems like a stretch though. I believe the Yanks also pulled Melky Cabrera from Winter Ball; we know he’s in trade talks.
R.J. Anderson’s book about the Devil Rays and Chuck LaMar is now available for free download.
J.C. Bradbury says the Aaron Rowand signing is the best free agent signing of the offseason. Personally, I don’t hate it. I don’t like it too much either though.

Topkin On Percival

By Tim Dierkes | December 26, 2007 at 9:19am CDT

I recently named the St. Petersburg Times’ Marc Topkin as Rumor Royalty for the Rays. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for the site.

MLBTR: Who gets more saves in ’08, Troy Percival or Al Reyes? Is there any chance the Rays shop Reyes now?

Topkin: Percival will get most of the save opportunities, probably all except when he needs a day off. Reyes could be traded, but I think Wheeler is more likely to go. (Unless one of them learns how to pitch lefthanded!)

Topkin On Rocco Baldelli

By Tim Dierkes | December 23, 2007 at 3:50pm CDT

I recently named the St. Petersburg Times’ Marc Topkin as Rumor Royalty for the Rays. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for the site.

MLBTR: Do you expect Rocco Baldelli to be with the Rays on Opening Day? What kind of trade value does he have right now?

Topkin: I definitely expect him to be there, as much because the Rays need him badly the way the team is presently constructed as because his trade value is so low because of his lack of playing time due to a series of injuries. I can’t imagine the Rays getting anywhere near enough value for him now compared to what his peak value was/could be. An interesting sidenote is that the Rays have to decide by April 1 on his 2009 option, picking between a $4-million buyout or a $6-million salary AND then being on the hook for his combined 2010-11 option or a $2-million buyout.

Topkin On The Delmon/Garza Trade

By Tim Dierkes | December 22, 2007 at 1:16pm CDT

I recently named the St. Petersburg Times’ Marc Topkin as Rumor Royalty for the Rays. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for the site.

MLBTR: In your opinion, which club got the better end of the Delmon for Garza swap?

Topkin: My immediate reaction is that the Twins did because Delmon established himself as a potential impact player for a long time, a guy who could be a ten-season All-Star and hit in the middle of a lineup for fifteen years, while Garza still has to make that leap and Bartlett has to become more than a "steady" shortstop.

Rumor Royalty: Marc Topkin (Rays)

By Tim Dierkes | December 22, 2007 at 1:10pm CDT

As originally described here, Rumor Royalty is an MLBTR series where I name the one journalist for each team who has done the most for us hot stove junkies. If the writer is up for it, I ask that person three questions for publication on the site. You can see all of the entries in the series here.

Please join me in honoring Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times as the top rumormongering talent for the Rays. Topkin contributes to a blog for the paper called The Heater. I asked him three questions, which will be posted separately over the next few days.

Odds and Ends: Giles, Chacon, Durbin

By Tim Dierkes | December 19, 2007 at 2:17pm CDT

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.

Rangers Signing Fukumori

By Tim Dierkes | December 13, 2007 at 10:21am CDT

UPDATE, 12-13-07 at 10:20am: Rosenthal confirms this signing; it kind of flew under the radar. Pretty cheap at $1.5MM per year.

UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 1:57pm: My Japanese-speaking friend says that this article indicates Fukumori signed with Texas for two years and $3MM. The $1.5MM salary is about twice what he made in ’07. Fukumori also had offers from the Pirates and Rays.

FROM 12-12-07 at 9:08am:

According to Evan Grant, the Rangers are "on the verge" of signing Japanese reliever Kazuo Fukumori. It would be a two-year deal.

As many as 10 teams were said to be interested in Fukumori, including the Yankees, Nationals, Royals, and Red Sox. Ken Davidoff recently spoke to a scout who described Fukumori as "not bad."

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