By Tim Dierkes | at
According to David Lennon of Newsday, Mets GM Omar Minaya announced that reliever Duaner Sanchez has been released. The Mets did not feel Sanchez could be effective in the Majors. I believe the Mets only have to pay him about $281K now since his contract was not guaranteed. Sanchez, 29, posted a 4.32 ERA in 58.1 innings last year. His fastball was down about 3.5 mph from 2005-06 levels.
Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post says the Nationals may have interest in Sanchez.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes about the Padres’ intention to add pitching to the organization. He learned that the Nationals inquired about Padres first base prospect Kyle Blanks, but were not willing to trade their own top prospect Jordan Zimmermann. Would’ve been interesting to see.
Krasovic says the Padres are focused on out of options pitchers, and in particular inquired on Arizona’s Juan Gutierrez. Krasovic tosses out names of other out of options hurlers on the D’Backs and Angels: Jason Bulger, Shane Loux, Dustin Moseley, Yusmeiro Petit, and Travis Blackley. Two more possibilities: Giants Rule 5 pick Luis Perdomo and Rangers veteran Jason Jennings. I don’t know whether the Padres are interested, but a few more out of options pitchers include David Pauley, Hayden Penn, Dustin Nippert, Jeff Niemann, and Jason Hammel.
According to Krasovic, GM Kevin Towers is focused exclusively on pitching this month. Krasovic adds:
Some Padres evaluators have become dismayed, according to other clubs, by a perceived dearth of power arms high in the organization and are wondering if the club’s four-year emphasis on “pitchability” got overdone.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Links for Monday…
By Tim Dierkes | at
Sunday night linkage…
By Tim Dierkes | at
By our count, Jim Bowden made over 168 trades as GM of the Reds and Nationals over the years. MLBTR contributor Brendan Bianowicz compiled all of Bowden’s deals in this spreadsheet. Click here to see the other entries in the GM Trade History series.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…
By Tim Dierkes | at
Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the Nationals. Click here to read what I wrote about the team on September 10th.
Additions: Adam Dunn, Scott Olsen, Josh Willingham, Daniel Cabrera, Javier Valentin, Alex Cintron, Wil Ledezma, Josh Towers, Freddie Bynum, Brad Eldred, Joel Guzman, Terrell Young, Gary Glover, Gustavo Chacin, Jorge Sosa, Jose Castillo, Corey Patterson
Subtractions: Jim Bowden, Tim Redding, Odalis Perez, Luis Ayala, Jon Rauch (midseason) Emilio Bonifacio, Felipe Lopez, Aaron Boone, Paul Lo Duca (midseason), Charlie Manning
Nationals starters tossed 880.6 innings last year, with Redding and Perez accounting for nearly 40% of that. The Nats paid those veterans $1.85MM. This year, they’ll spend $5.4MM on Olsen and Cabrera, younger hurlers with upside. It’s a solid swap. With the return of John Lannan and the emerging Jordan Zimmermann, it’s a younger, more interesting rotation.
I wrote in September:
Hopefully Jim Bowden won’t become too obsessed with Adam Dunn this winter (assuming Bowden keeps his job). Dunn doesn’t fit on this team. They’re in the beginning of a long rebuilding process.
It turns out Bowden kept his job just long enough to sign Dunn, who probably won’t be a part of the next good Nationals team. The money would’ve been better spent on the June draft – the Nats have the #1 and #10 picks. The Nationals’ new GM will have to hit a home run with that draft, and may also be charged with trading Nick Johnson and signing Ryan Zimmerman long-term.
If a $20MM commitment to Dunn was Bowden’s worst winter move, though, that’s not too bad in the grand scheme of things. And Bowden does deserve a parting gift for his acquisition of Olsen and Willingham.
Bottom line: Bowden’s out; 2009 is about finding the right GM and stocking the farm system.
By Tim Dierkes | at
On Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote that Braves president John Schuerholz was a subject of speculation for the Nationals GM job. Rosenthal added:
Schuerholz, 68, is from Baltimore, about 45 miles north of Washington, but might only leave the Braves if the Nationals offered him a percentage of ownership. Even then, he probably would be reluctant to make a career change; he has worked for the Braves since Oct. 1990.
Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked Schuerholz about the possibility today; here’s what he said:
"Other than the fact that it had no element of fact to it, I don’t know where he came up with it. It was completely baseless as it relates to me. Obviously it was his judgment or guess that it might be so because I happen to have been born in Baltimore and I worked for Stan (Kasten). Those two things are true. Other than that, end of story."
By Tim Dierkes | at
Yesterday Bob Nightengale of USA Today talked to Barry Bonds’ agent Jeff Borris, learning that Borris will contact all 30 teams in hopes of landing a job for his client. Borris is not optimistic. In case it becomes a trend, we’ll use this post to note which teams have rejected the agent’s overtures.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Links for Wednesday as we enter the short post-Manny phase of the offseason…
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