Nationals Rumors

Odds & Ends: Hamels, Giants, Yankees

By Tim Dierkes | March 16, 2009 at 9:36am CDT

Links for Monday…

Cole Hamels is flying to Philadelphia to have his sore left elbow examined. Hamels threw 3,914 pitches in total last year, the most in baseball (two more than C.C. Sabathia). Hamels thinks he’s fine and it’s not a big deal.
Julian Tavarez on why he chose the Nationals.
MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says the Marlins returned Rule 5 lefty Zach Kroenke to the Yankees.
Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball looks at postseason ticket revenue over the last decade.
Dan Brown of the San Jose Mercury News talked to John Dewan about the Giants’ defense.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes about the fraternity in the Yankees’ revamped rotation.
Athletics Nation talked to Jason Giambi, who was very close to re-signing with the A’s before he signed with the Yankees.
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker asks if Yankees starter Kei Igawa, owed $12MM over the next three years, is movable.

Gammons On Sheffield, Tazawa, Kearns

By Tim Dierkes | March 16, 2009 at 7:42am CDT

ESPN’s Peter Gammons posted a new blog entry last night. Let’s take a look.

Gammons sees Gary Sheffield as a "serious comeback player of the year candidate."
Rangers GM Jon Daniels told Gammons his team bid $7MM for Junichi Tazawa, but the Red Sox signed him for $3MM due to their presence in Japan. According to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times, the Rangers also offered more money to reliever Chad Cordero but he preferred the West Coast.
Kicking Jim Bowden while he’s down: Gammons says Nationals outfielder Austin Kearns was claimed on waivers last summer but the Nationals pulled him back.

Odds And Ends: Pedro, Crosby, Nationals

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 14, 2009 at 10:24am CDT

A few links for Saturday…

Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post reports that Omar Minaya says the Mets won’t sign Pedro Martinez. Buster Olney was on this one earlier in the week, but that was before the Mets had to shut Tim Redding down because of weakness in his pitching shoulder.
According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle Bobby Crosby played third and first yesterday in a Spring Training game. He had never played first before and had to borrow a glove. Playing well at many positions couldn’t hurt his trade value.
We missed this one earlier in the week: Bill Shaikin of the LA Times asked Angels GM Tony Reagins if he has interest in Barry Bonds and heard he has "none."
Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports that acting GM Mike Rizzo signed Julian Tavarez to the Nats because he wants depth and doesn’t want his players feeling too comfortable about their jobs.

Nationals Sign Julian Tavarez

By Tim Dierkes | March 13, 2009 at 7:07pm CDT

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Nationals signed pitcher Julian Tavarez to a minor league deal. Tavarez, 36 in May, posted a 5.10 ERA, 8.4 K/9, and 4.6 BB/9 in 54.6 innings for the Brewers and Braves last year.

Sherman also has three pre-arbitration signings: Jeremy Guthrie ($650K), Kevin Kouzmanoff ($432K) and Ross Ohlendorf ($414K).

Odds & Ends: Darvish, Rockies, Angels, Nats

By Tim Dierkes | March 13, 2009 at 5:19pm CDT

Odds & Ends: Manny, Papelbon, Pudge, Peavy

By Tim Dierkes | March 12, 2009 at 9:51am CDT

Links for Thursday…

The Nationals remain interested in Duaner Sanchez, says Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post.
Yahoo’s Jeff Passan talked to Mark Prior.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post heard Manny Ramirez and Scott Boras consider the contract with the Dodgers a one-year deal with a safety net. Sherman wonders if the Yankees and/or Mets could get involved depending on how Manny’s 2009 season plays out.
Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon commented about Manny to Chris Jones in the April issue of Esquire. It’s a good article and there’s a lot more to it than the Manny comments.
Free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez is working out at first base, according to Will Gonzalez of MLB.com.
The Padres have the third pick in the June draft. Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune asks whether they’ll finally take a player with big upside.
Jake Peavy’s agent Barry Axelrod seems to be writing off the Padres, in comments to Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune: "It’s tough with the Padres’ situation. They are not very good and it looks like it is going to be another long year for them."
Marlins shortstop Robert Andino is out of options, so Mike Phillips of the Miami Herald says this is his audition.
ESPN’s Buster Olney says Mark Mulder’s audition is drawing closer and he’s throwing well. Olney also says Luis Gonzalez is waiting by the phone. For a look at the other remaining free agents, click here.

Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Pedro, A’s, Padres

By Tim Dierkes | March 11, 2009 at 8:03pm CDT

Links for Wednesday…

Orioles president Andy MacPhail doesn’t seem interested, but Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun quizzed various players on the team about the possibility of signing Pedro Martinez.
MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone says Pedro was hitting 92 yesterday and his fastball had the old-school tail on it.
The AP reports that MLB is investigating the ages of 42 Dominican prospects.
RotoAuthority names 20 undervalued hitters for 2009 fantasy drafts.
Nationals acting GM Mike Rizzo spoke highly of Stephen Strasburg, talking to Ben Goessling of the Washington Times.
ESPN’s Buster Olney learned that the A’s are open-minded to Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, and/or Vin Mazzaro cracking the Opening Day rotation. Jerry Crasnick has more on Oakland’s next Big Three.
Olney also says the Padres will be "scouring the earth for pitching" over the next few weeks. This jives with Tom Krasovic’s recent article.

Nationals Sign Kip Wells

By Tim Dierkes | March 11, 2009 at 4:56pm CDT

According to Pete McElroy of MASN, the Nationals signed righty Kip Wells to a minor league deal. Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post says he can earn $500K if he makes the team. Wells, 32 in April, posted a 6.21 ERA, 7.41 K/9, and 7.17 BB/9 in 37.2 innings for the Royals and Rockies last year while earning $3.1MM. He also tossed 25 innings in the minors for Colorado. He dealt with blood clots in his pitching hand during the season.

No Starting Job For Willingham?

By Tim Dierkes | March 11, 2009 at 3:37pm CDT

Nationals outfielder Josh Willingham hit a respectable .254/.364/.470 last year, which is very similar to his career line. His defense isn’t too bad, either. FanGraphs suggests he was worth $10.3MM last year, and he’ll earn $2.95MM in ’09. All in all, pretty good player. So how come he doesn’t have a starting job?

According to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson, Willingham may be the odd man out in the Nationals outfield if everyone is healthy. They’re set to employ an Adam Dunn/Lastings Milledge/Elijah Dukes starting outfield, with Willie Harris and Austin Kearns also looking for playing time out there.

Willingham thinks the situation will work itself out, and he’s smart not to get worked up. Maybe Mike Rizzo can move Nick Johnson and open up first base. Failing that, someone figures to hit the DL sooner or later.

Rosenthal On Pedro, A-Rod, Beimel, Ohman

By Tim Dierkes | March 10, 2009 at 9:12am CDT

Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…

One executive tells Rosenthal Pedro Martinez seeks a contract similar to the one John Smoltz received (a $5.5MM base plus $5.5MM incentives). Rosenthal’s speculative candidates for Pedro include the Dodgers, Marlins, Indians, and Mets. He says the A’s, Orioles, Nationals, and Brewers are out.
Rosenthal does not expect a major acquisition by the Yankees to cover for Alex Rodriguez. He adds that the Yanks will not collect insurance on A-Rod’s salary.
In addition to Orlando Cabrera, Manny Ramirez has a clause in his contract prohibiting his team from offering arbitration if he’s a Type A free agent after the season. Orlando Hudson and Bobby Abreu do not have such clauses.
Two GMs told Rosenthal Joe Beimel wants a one-year, $2.5MM deal, but the pitcher’s agent Joe Sroba says they have’t gotten that specific. Sroba says new teams are in the mix for Beimel and he’s waiting for one to be "aggressive and sincere in their pursuit."
The White Sox and Dodgers are two teams in on free agent lefty Will Ohman.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Nationals Rumors

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect