ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reports that free agent reliever Darren Oliver is close to a deal with the Rangers. It's not yet clear what the contract will be worth or how many years it will cover, but we do know the Rangers have been in touch with Oliver's representatives since the Winter Meetings. The 39-year-old left-hander managed a 2.71 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 65/22 K/BB in 73 innings this past year. He was a member of the Rangers' bullpen from 1993-1998 and again from 2000-2001.
Indians acquired RHP Mitch Talbot from the Rays as the player to be named later for catcher Kelly Shoppach. The 26-year-old is out of minor league options, so he is a heavy favorite to make the Indians opening day roster. Entering 2009, Talbot was rated by Baseball America as the Rays' 16th overall prospect. He was limited to 10 starts this past season while dealing with a right elbow sprain, finishing 4-4 with a 4.47 ERA for Triple-A Durham. In Talbot's minor league career, he is 62-54 with a 3.79 ERA in 165 starts. He has a shot at winning a rotation spot in Cleveland next season, but could also latch on as a long reliever.
Felt the same way....but here are the details to be fair.... According to an MASNsports.com report, the Nationals have signed free agent starter Jason Marquis. The terms of the deal have not yet been released, but Marquis was seeking a multi-year contract. He went 15-13 with a 4.04 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in 2009 for the Rockies. Marquis will front a revamped Nationals rotation in 2010; no doubt also expected to shepherd the club's talented flock of young starters.
Depends on how you define noteworthy. Has Jason Marquis ever been noteworthy besides from being one of the players traded for J.D. Drew back in the day?
According to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com, the Mets have looked into bringing back starter Pedro Martinez. Martinez, however, reportedly wants more money than Brad Penny received from the Cardinals -- one-year, $7.5 million -- and the Mets aren't likely to meet those demands. According to the report, the Mets are zoned in on a group of starters that includes Joel Pineiro, Doug Davis and Jon Garland. According to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick, the Nationals "are making a big push" for free agent reliever Matt Capps. "[Nationals GM] Mike Rizzo has done an unbelievable job," Capps' agent, Paul Kinzer, said Monday. "They've really impressed Matt. The Nationals weren't even on the radar when we started, but now Matt is considering them hard." That's probably because they can offer him a ninth-inning gig and many of the other teams with interest can not. The 26-year-old had a disappointing 2009 season but boasts a 3.61 career ERA and has issued only 50 walks in 271 2/3 career innings. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reports that free agent starter Justin Duchscherer is planning to sign with a new team within a week. The Yankees, Red Sox, Diamondbacks and Pirates have been linked to "The Duke of Hurl" this winter. He missed all of the 2009 season while dealing with injuries and clinical depression but posted a 10-8 record with a 2.54 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 22 starts in 2008.
Bay to Angles???? No news of talks or entreaties, overtures , pleas or even furtive whispers, but ESPN's Rumor Thingy -- which is what I'm going to call it until they start putting up names of the people who write them -- talks to an anonymous executive who thinks that Jason Bay might fit well in Anaheim, should they get rid of Juan Rivera and/or Gary Matthews, Jr. It would have to be Matthews given the dollars, right? I mean the only real talk I've seen about Rivera being shipped out is in some sort of Derek Lowe deal, and that wouldn't exactly help the payroll.
There's a lot of chatter about the Yankees being close to trading for a starting pitcher but nothing on who it is or who they're giving up. The only info right now is that they're targeting 2 or 3 different guys and none of them is Aaron Harrag.
huh...interesting....a trade? hmmmmm. UPDATE: Rosenthal is on it too, though he says it's not Aaron Harang. 8:46 P.M.: Buster Olney tweets "Heard this: Yankees working very hard tonight on deal for starting pitcher. Remember that they came close to deal for Aaron Harang in summer." Not sure why he'd mention Harang if the deal they're working on wasn't for Harang.
They mentioned Harrang because the Yankees were pretty close to getting him at the deadline last year so originally they were thinking it might have been him at first.
Apparently the pitcher isn't a salary dump so I guess you could cross off the Derek Lowe, Bronson Arroyo, Javy Vasquez, Dontrelle Willis, Jeremy Bondermans of the world. Interesting who this is. Watch it be a random nobody like a Doug Davis or Jeff Suppan. OR it could ruin my Christmas again like the Teixeira signing did last year, haha.
Tigers today announced the club has traded catcher Dusty Ryan to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Have you been naughty or nice this past year???? Its a trade, so the real question for me is what will Yanks be giving up???
Not any trade news but the MLB luxury tax figures came out today and since 2003 the Yankees have paid $174,183,419 out of a total of $190,275,477. Funny you don't hear those owners complain about those big market teams when they're cashing those checks.
FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports that the Mariners "have reached a tentative agreement" to trade Brandon Morrow to the Blue Jays for Brandon League and an unnamed prospect. Morrow being on the move is no surprise given that he's been the subject of trade rumors all offseason, but the assumption had been that the Mariners would deal him for a hitter. Instead they'll get League, a fellow right-hander who posted a 4.58 ERA in 74.2 innings out of the Blue Jays' bullpen in 2009.
Buster Olney is reporting that the Yankees have talked to the Pirates in the past about Duke, Maholm and Ohlendorf.
The pitcher is apparently Javier Vasquez. No word on who the Yankees would give up but some people have suggested the Braves like both Nick Swisher and Melky Cabrera. Should be interesting to see if this is true and who the Yankees will give up. Apparently Brian Cashman forgot he once had Vasquez on his team and how he did in NY.
Here's the deal: Melky Cabrera, Michael Dunn and minor league pitcher Arodys Vizcaino for Javy Vasquez and pitcher Boone Logan. My thoughts, good job by Cashman as Cabrera is someone who's easily replaceble as a 4th starter and Michael Dunn might never be able to throw a strike in the MLB and is a reliever, someone who again is easily replaceble. Vasquez, although he won't push the team over the top, as a 3rd or 4th starter isn't the worst option in the world even if he hasn't really pitched well in the AL who's is coming off of a career year in the NL and has been questioned a few times about his toughness in big games. Another negative of Vasquez is that he's a fly ball pitcher so the new YS could cause him some trouble, but he is a work horse and gives teams a lot of innings which is a plus. It should be interesting to see which pitcher out of Joba and Hughes ends up in the rotation and in the pen now. I think getting Vasquez shows that the Yankees aren't comfortable with both of them in the rotation, which is a valid concern. I'd say the Yankees make a splash for Damon, Holliday or Bay now than they have an opening in LF and I doubt they're going to give the job to Gardner. If I were a Braves fan I'd be pissed, surely they could have gotten more for Javy than a 4th OFer and a RP. Then again I guess Brave fans should be happy their GM isn't Dayton Moore.
Javy Vasquez for Melky Cabrera + ? LOL. Seriously, what the hell are the Braves thinking? What an awful trade from their point of view. The only way this trade isn't a steal from the Yankees perspective is if you believe that Vasquez can't pitch in NY for some reason. But considering what they gave up (Melky +, LOL), even if he can't pitch in NY its still a decent trade. Now this move opens the door in LF for resigning Damon or signing Bay/Holliday. And with Vasquez and Granderson already in the fold, the Yankees are just going to piss on teams next year. They're going to win the AL East by 10+ games.
Absolutely a good move by the Yankees, even if Vasquez bombs it's not like Cashman is going to say in 5 years 'Damn I wish I never got rid of Melky'. Seriously what a bad move by the Braves, after a guy has a career year you're suppose to sell high, not low. The only thing I could think of as to why the Braves did the deal is they saw 'M. Cabrera' on the Yankee roster and had a brain fart and thought, hell yeah we'll take Miguel Cabrera.
Yeah, feel with Vazquez its been there done that.....(and frankly it was the worst year ever for Yanks fan - the collapse of 2004 revisited).....I have always liked JV as a pitcher, owned him many times in Fantasy, but he doesnt have a stellar track record in NY for sure. And while last year he did well, I feel he is a NL arm more than an AL arm to survive an entire season consistently, etc. I like the young LHP Logan out of the pen but its somewhat of swap for LHP Dunn. Have no issue with Melky getting the pink slip, expected it....but JV better step up. (my last memory is the GS to Damon.......)
looks like and RHP Arodys Vizcaino. http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=527055
I still can't get over just how bad this trade is from a Braves perspective, Frank Wren is absolutely clueless. This is a heist.
Wow, I just saw this, what the heck was Frank Wren thinking. Is Melky the best offer out there for Vasquez? Did the Braves just move there #1 trading chip for a crappy corner outfielder? When Cashmen got of the phone does he just laugh Dr. Evil style, or just call the Boss and inform him of the news, or both..
I still don't get it. People will say it's just the Yankees buying another player and how big market teams are bad for the game and there should be a cap but I have been saying and still say teams just need smart GMs, clearly the Braves don't have one (especially since they're only saving around 5 million or so with this deal and Melky will cost them around 5 million dollars himself in artibitration). Again Frank Wren sold low when he should have sold high.
For what it's worth Vizcaino is highly regarded among scouts and think he has the potential to be a solid #2 starter, so maybe we'll have to wait for few years before we knock Frank Wren for this. Again the kid is still years away from the MLB so who knows.
Even if Vizcaino is a solid prospect, the Braves didn't tender Ryan Church a contract, instead opting to trade their best arm (and a top #5 NL pitcher last year) for a guy in Melky Cabrera who possesses the exact same skill set as Chruch. The Yankees should sign Church to play LF and watch him outperform Melky next year, while extending a huge middle finger to the entire Braves organization. Frank Wren is an idiot.
Oh I agree I think Frank Wren isn't a very good GM. Pretty much all of his moves have been bad or have made zero sense in both the long and short term. And I also agree that if the Braves wanted a 4th OFer they should have just kept Church. My only point was that this Vizcaino kid isn't a nobody and is a quality arm not that Frank Wren isn't clueless.
wtf @ mariners trading morrow...i heard tho that the prospect is a power hitting catcher and their number one prospect before they traded halladay
Nope you heard wrong it's a 21 year old OFer named Johermyn Chavez who was in A ball last year. He hit .283/.346/.474.
Francisco Cervelli is seemingly the favorite to replace free agent Jose Molina as Jorge Posada's backup, but the Yankees have brought in some veteran competition in the form of Mike Rivera. Rivera spent last season backing up Jason Kendall in Milwaukee, drawing a grand total of just 31 starts while hitting .228/.326/.346. He's shown more pop than that in the past, hitting .276/.338/.465 with nine homers and 14 doubles in 242 plate appearances from 2006-2008, and also averaged 26 homers per 500 at-bats in various stints at Triple-A.
Royals sign OF.....It's Brian Anderson. The centerfielder of the .227/.290/.370 career slash line. He'll go nicely with Jason Kendall and Yuniesky Bentancourt and the rest of the Royals' "attack." Can someone tell me what was wrong with keeping Coco Crisp around?
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports that the Angels "are in serious discussions" with Fernando Rodney, who last week was said to be drawing interest from the Orioles, Phillies, and Mets. Rodney converted 37-of-38 saves for the Tigers last season, but would presumably slide into a setup role in front of closer Brian Fuentes. Or if manager Mike Scioscia wanted to make things really interesting and buck conventional wisdom he could use them as dual closers, mixing and matching the left-handed Fuentes and right-handed Rodney.
Mets make a move! Granderson? Vazquez? Halladay? That's all you got Yankees and Phillies? How about Dickey, babies? As in R.A., the knuckleballer, who the Mets are about to sign. Dickey is a knuckleballer. Knuckleballers rule. Ergo, the Mets are now the favorites to win the NL East, the NL Pennant, the World Series and the forthcoming battles against the Martians. Hurry up and renew your season ticket packages before the lines get too long, Mets fans!
Rangers Sign Free Agent LHP Darren Oliver to One-Year Contract With Option for 2011 Orioles announced they have signed free agent INF GARRETT ATKINS to a one-year contract for 2010, w/ club option for 2011 season.
NATS targeting O-Dog. If the Nats sign Hudson, Cristian Guzman would go back to short. Which would blow my mind just a little bit considering that just over a month ago the Nats made a big point of telling Guzman and Nats fans everywhere that defense is too important with a young pitching staff and that he would no longer be manning short. At the time Jim Riggleman and various other people were talking up Nats' shortstop prospect Ian Desmond as someone who could fill the role if an Adam Everett or Alex Gonzalez could not be had.
