Hunter Interested In Nationals, Braves
MLB.com’s Bill Ladson had an exclusive conversation with Torii Hunter tonight. Nicely done Bill!
Ladson learned that Hunter is interested in playing for the Nationals or Braves because of the large African American populations in D.C. and Atlanta. Hunter would like to be a leader in the community. This is an interesting factor to consider when trying to guess Hunter’s next destination. Detroit, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Cleveland have large African American populations as well. However, the Tigers and Indians don’t need a center fielder.
Another reason Hunter likes the Nats is the presence of his buddy Dmitri Young. Dmitri is the gift that just keeps on giving.
Also consider that Hunter said he’s thought about playing for his hometown Rangers "a lot a bit." And the Twins might still make a reasonable four-year offer. But remember that Hunter has expressed a "burning curiosity" to explore the open market. He’s certainly keeping his options open – it’s definitely too early to call this one. A wrinkle for the Braves besides the money would be losing the 18th overall pick next June to the Twins.
Braves Notes: Hampton, Lowry, Andruw
Mike Hampton makes $15MM next year, and the Braves aren’t getting any relief from the Rockies or Marlins. However, it turns out the Braves actually spread around those payments so that they’d pay out about $8MM to Hampton in each year of the deal.
This is confirmed by Bill Shanks of Scout.com, for starters. Shanks notes that the Braves owe $8.25MM to Hampton next year because of amortization. I’ve heard that David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said something similar in the comments of one of his blog posts, but it’s been buried somewhere. Bottom line, the Braves have $7MM more than we thought they did. A $95MM payroll would give Atlanta some wiggle room to add a starter.
It’s not a stretch to add Tom Glavine, with this new information. However, O’Brien thinks the Braves need more. While Dan Haren or Joe Blanton may be out of reach, Noah Lowry seems a more realistic target. The point is to find a decent young controllable arm.
O’Brien’s also got some early interested parties in Andruw Jones: the Dodgers, Rangers, Giants, White Sox, Nationals, Phillies, and Mets. Seems like the idea of moving Beltran to right field has been discussed within the Mets organization. The Dodgers, I imagine, would shift Juan Pierre to left field.
Glavine Declines $13MM Option
As had been talked about, 41 year-old lefty Tom Glavine declined his $13MM player option for 2008. He snags a $3MM buyout in the process. This decision doesn’t seem to be about money; he just wants more time to decide between the Mets, Braves, and retirement. Actually, we might be able to count the previous Nationals speculation as a little more than that – Glavine’s agent revealed today that they won’t be ruled out.
MLB.com’s Marty Noble suggests that the Mets would be pleased to have Glavine return, but will move on and acquire another starter if he doesn’t. I’ve said this before but I wonder if the Mets will eventually be connected to Curt Schilling.
More On Tom Glavine
Let’s catch up on what’s been going on with Tom Glavine.
- SI.com’s Jack Wilkinson quotes Glavine as saying he’ll "most likely" decline his $9MM player option for 2008. This is confusing, because as far as I can tell Glavine’s player option reached $13MM when he hit 200 innings. While I can see Glavine passing on $9MM, $13MM would be hard to top on the open market.
- Also, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick suggests (Insider required) that Glavine’s close relationship with Nationals president Stan Kasten could compel Washington to sign him to a one-year deal to anchor the young staff. This seems like informed speculation to me, if that makes sense.
- My own thought: it would be nice to see Glavine take around $5MM to pitch for the Braves one last time. Seems that discounts these days ain’t what they used to be. Besides Tim Wakefield, I can’t think of a guy who basically flipped off the Player’s Union to stay where he wanted to.
Odds and Ends
Here are some various trade rumors that didn’t quite have enough behind them for individual posts.
- There’s a gossip section in the Boston Herald called Inside Track, written by Gayle Fee, Laura Raposa, and Erin Hayes. They heard that Coco Crisp told fans at the recent Division Champs celebration that he expects to be dealt this winter to make room for Jacoby Ellsbury. By most accounts Crisp has developed into a fine defensive center fielder, and he’s under contract for $4.75MM in ’08, $5.75MM in ’09, and an $8MM club option in ’10. Perhaps Crisp could be used to acquire a third baseman in the event that Mike Lowell leaves and the Red Sox can’t sign A-Rod.
- Phil Wood of the Washington Examiner speculates that the Nationals could get in on Jason Bay. Not the worst idea, but the Nats don’t seem to have the available young pitching for the deal.
- Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution likes the Nate Robertson to Atlanta idea, tossing Joe Blanton and Shaun Marcum into the mix as other options.
- Bob Wickman may quietly retire, bumming out these guys.
- El Lefty Malo dissects recent comments from Giants GM Brian Sabean.
- Peter Abraham suggests the Mets trade Carlos Beltran for pitching.
Andruw Jones and the Nationals
When we last considered the idea of the Nats signing Andruw Jones, it was April and he seemed in line for a six or seven year contract. The idea of bringing in Andruw was to create some goodwill with the fans through some rebuilding years, a la the Gil Meche signing in Kansas City. The consensus of the commenters at MLBTR was that this was a bad idea.
Mark Zuckerman of the Washington Times re-started this conversation yesterday. He notes that center field is still the Nats’ most obvious need. Sorry, Nook. Of course there’s the Stan Kasten connection and the new ballpark.
However there is now one difference from our April discussion: Jones had an awful 2007 season. His .314 OBP and .419 SLG are both his second-worst career marks. Overall in his career he’s at .263/.342/.498. I’d expect something more like that next year.
Andruw will be 31 when the ’07 season starts. Given the decent-sized class of free agent center fielders, Scott Boras may apply an old tactic and get Jones a make-good one-year, $15MM deal to rebuild his value. But many clubs could entertain a low-risk type offer, and maybe someone would cough up $20MM.
We’ve seen one-year deals in the past when clients didn’t get the offers their agents wanted. Examples:
- Ivan Rodriguez isn’t the perfect example I’d originally thought. Back in the winter of 2002-03, Rodriguez was 31 and coming off a strong season – .314/.353/.542 in 408 ABs. His agent was Jeff Moorad at the time. The Cubs and Orioles had interest, with the O’s offering three years at $6MM per. Pudge wanted $11MM annually, and even bluffed about playing in Japan. Eventually he went to the Marlins for one-year, $10MM, and led them to glory. The Fish thought about offering 3/21 after that but Rodriguez switched to Boras and got 4/40 from Detroit.
- Jeff Weaver had a strong 2005 season for the Dodgers, racking up his second consecutive 220 inning season and winning 14 games. Interest was strangely tepid, so Weaver went to the Angels for $8.4MM and one year. At that time it seemed like a nice move for L.A. World Series heroics couldn’t snag Weaver a big contract last offseason, so he signed the same one-year deal with Seattle. He should really try to rebuild his value in the NL.
- The strategy worked perfectly for Kevin Millwood. Elbow issues cut his 2004 season short so he jumped to the Tribe for one year and $7MM in ’05. All he did for the Indians was win the AL ERA title. That earned him a big ol’ 5/60 deal from Texas.
- Bengie Molina was coming off his best year, a .295/.336/.446 performance for the Angels in 2005. The Mets apparently offered him 3/18, but then traded for Paul Lo Duca. Other suitors dropped out and Molina had to sign with Toronto for one year, $5MM in February. He had another good year and the Giants liked him for 3/16 the following offseason.
Nationals Won’t Spend Money On Starters
The Nationals have no pricey long-term commitments to starting pitchers. Because of that, they’ve been able to filter through a multitude of arms to see who sticks. The result hasn’t been pretty; the team’s 5.05 starter ERA is 15th out of 16 in the NL. So far 13 different pitchers have made starts for Washington, and only Matt Chico has a shot at 30 starts.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Imagine a 2007 rotation of Shawn Hill, Tim Redding, Jason Bergmann, John Lannan, and Chico. Others like Joel Hanrahan and prospect Collin Balester will also be trying to break in. Filler like Mike Bascik, Jason Simontacchi, and Jerome Williams can hopefully be avoided. Sure, none of these guys are household names. But if the Washington starters can improve their collective ERA from 5.05 to 4.55, they’ll be firmly in the middle of the pack in the NL.
Why do I bring this up? In part because I wanted to commend the Nationals for not wasting money on bad starting pitchers. But also to note Thom Loverro’s column from the Washington Times. Loverro’s column says Jim Bowden has indicated that at most he’ll sign one veteran on a one-year deal (I’m guessing $3-4MM.) Instead, money spent on free agents or acquired players this winter will focus on adding a big middle-of-the-order hitter.
Here are the free agent options. Adam Dunn’s name jumps to the forefront, but he only becomes a possibility if the Reds decline his $13MM option for 2008. That would be kind of dumb, but we’ll see. Otherwise, how about Barry Bonds? The brand new Nationals Ballpark (naming rights sold separately!) will be opening next year. Maybe Bonds would start the team off on the wrong foot, though he would provide a power boost on a low-risk one-year deal. Any other ideas on big-name hitters the Nats could sign or acquire?
Red Sox To Receive Chris Carter In Pena Deal
UPDATE: Looks like my below tip on Desmond didn’t pan out – Svrluga says pitcher Emiliano Fruto is the player going to Arizona. Fruto was received from Seattle in the Jose Vidro deal.
UPDATE: A source tells me that 22 year-old defensive-minded shortstop Ian Desmond is rumored to be headed to Arizona to complete the deal.
Turns out the Wily Mo Pena trade was a three-team affair. The Nationals received Pena. The Red Sox will receive 25 year-old first baseman Chris Carter from Arizona. Since he’s not on the Diamondbacks’ 40-man roster, I believe the Sox can get Carter now. That leaves a player to be named later going from Washington to Arizona. Barry Svrluga has heard it’s someone not on Washington’s 40-man roster – perhaps Winston Abreu, Arnie Munoz, or Chris Booker. The D’Backs are looking for relief help, but those all look like journeymen to me.
Carter is a respectable return for Pena. According to Baseball America, he’s below average on defense but has the bat speed to become a middle of the order hitter. He’s put up decent numbers in Triple A since 2006, though Tucson Electric Park definitely favors hitters. Baseball Prospectus’s Kevin Goldstein isn’t jazzed with Carter, labeling him a Quad-A type. He’s definitely not appealing to scouts, but could one day make a decent DH. Interestingly, Todd Helton tops Carter’s comparables list but Dan Johnson is second.
Wily Mo Pena Traded To Nationals
UPDATE: The Red Sox traded Pena for cash considerations and a player to be named later, according to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe.
According to Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald, Wily Mo Pena has been traded to the Nationals. Jim Bowden finally got his man again.
Assuming he can stay healthy, it’ll be interesting to see what Pena can do with 550 ABs. For what it’s worth, PECOTA projected a line of .276/.336/.504 heading into this season. Pena still has a one in five chance of becoming a star, according to Baseball Prospectus.
Rowand Linked To Nationals?
This is a tenuous connection, but I’ll take what I can get. MLB.com’s Bill Ladson notes that Aaron Rowand seems intrigued by the Nationals’ bright future and center field opening. It’s possible the Nats could be in the mix for Rowand this winter. It could just be a respectability type signing, which I think is what they were trying to accomplish with Dmitri Young and Ron Belliard.
When the White Sox were last in Philadelphia, speculation ran rampant that Rowand could come back to Chicago. He admitted to having a soft spot for the team he came up with. If the Sox are serious about improving center field in ’08, the main candidates seem to be Rowand, Torii Hunter, and Mike Cameron.
Keep in mind that the Phillies could definitely re-sign Rowand. He’s a fan favorite and would be a solid sign at the Eric Byrnes price (three years, $30MM). However, there have been no extension talks yet.