* MLB Investigating Betting, Bonus-Skimming Scandals http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3483972 Cheers to MLB for following George Mitchell's suggestion and creating an investigative unit. It's already helping to crack down on a couple of serious scandals, along with the FBI. I also like ESPN's hiring of Mark Fainaru-Wada and T.J. Quinn. If I had something to hide, I wouldn't want these guys on the case. First we had several White Sox employees canned in May for possibly skimming bonuses intended for Dominican prospects. Then a week ago the L.A. Times said at least one GM "has already come under suspicion." On Saturday, the Fainaru-Wade/Quinn team broke the news that Nationals GM Jim Bowden and special assistant Jose Rijo are under investigation for possible roles in the scandal. Bowden says he had no role and is not under suspicion, though. Rijo says he and Bowden are both "clean as a whistle" and "clean as Irish Spring soap." Meanwhile SI.com's Jon Heyman discovered that Orioles scout Alan Marr was fired for ties to sports betting. Other scouts may be implicated, but there's no indication of game-fixing. Heyman believes Marr was tied to a bookmaking operation.
WOW is all I would say if that deal went down. I wonder if the Sox asked about Tex and Atl said "This is what it will take", or if Atl was shopping Tex and the Sox threw Youk's name in the fray...
* THURSDAY: Barry Bonds' agent Jeff Borris makes it clear that none of the 30 teams are interested in his client: "I am not talking to any club about Barry Bonds, because they all made it very clear to me they are not interested in him. Every club. I can't believe he doesn't have a job. No one has offered even the minimum salary. He made the All-Star team last year, and there's no reason to believe he wouldn't have a repeat performance in 2008, except for the conspiracy against him." Borris says Bonds could be ready in ten days. Contenders such as the Angels, Rays, Tigers, and A's have gotten subpar performance out of the DH spot but they've all decided to pass on Bonds for various reasons. Borris would have to admit that even some of these clubs would have trouble fitting Bonds onto the roster.
From what Gammon's stated, ATL approached the Sox and said, if you want Tex, we want Youk, and Hansen. Sox said no way. Hard to blame either party for expressing their respective views of worth vs. not worth it. The biggest fear with Tex, is the 2-3 month rental price.
* Ken Rosenthal's Full Count video Saturday covered many interesting topics; yesterday he put the info into column form and added even more. http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...Home-Run-Derby-?CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=3498 http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&tab...s:ns:MSNVideo_Top_Cat:ps:10:sd:-1:ind:1:ff:8A Same old story with Adam Dunn - he's just not drawing much interest. Even with the whiffs and ugly defense, this is surprising to me. Rosenthal says the Reds "will take a considerable risk" if they offer Dunn arbitration after the season and he accepts. Would having Dunn on a one-year deal at market price really be so bad? Rosenthal says "it remains to be seen whether Jim Bowden's authority will be compromised" in the wake of his involvement in the FBI's bonus-skimming investigation. The Nationals have a couple of mildly interesting starters to shop in Tim Redding and Odalis Perez, plus perhaps the top righty reliever in Jon Rauch. Maybe Rauch will be packaged with a starter. The Angels will try to retain Francisco Rodriguez after the season. The Blue Jays started A.J. Burnett on three days rest in an attempt to maximize his starts before the trade deadline. He responded well against the Yankees. Rosenthal wonders whether Burnett would abandon his opt-out clause if his contract was extended through 2011 upon a trade. The D'Backs apparently do not see Raul Ibanez as much of an upgrade over Chad Tracy. The Dodgers are still interested in Jack Wilson. Rosenthal says some teams are skeptical that the Pirates would offer Damaso Marte arbitration after this season. Why wouldn't they? The Red Sox are interested in the lefty.
* State Of The Astros The Astros are currently 12.5 games out in the NL Central and 8.5 games back in the wild card race. However, they won't be throwing in the towel yet. Said owner Drayton McLane: "I don't like to give up, and I think it's too soon to give up on this season...The Astros have been for several years a second-half team, and we're optimistic we can start playing much better baseball." I am not a fan of this logic, that something about putting on an Astro uniform makes a team play poorly in the first half and incredibly in the second. Even if the Astros had the exact same players from 2004-05, I still wouldn't buy the logic. Similarly, I hate it when announcers talk about a veteran pitcher's career performance against a certain team. It means nothing, given the roster turnover. Moving on, the above-linked article from Brian McTaggart suggests the Astros are unlikely to trade any high-priced veterans. It sounds like Ed Wade might have to rely heavily on free agency to build a winner in '09. I could see a big-ticket starting pitcher - here's the '09 free agents list. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/12/2009-mlb-free-a.html
2009 MLB Free Agents By Tim Dierkes [December 20 at 4:15pm CST] Presenting...your 2009 free agent class. It's fun to look ahead, even if many of these guys will be off the market a year from now. Just to clarify, the players below are eligible for free agency after the 2008 season. I've categorized them by position; the player's 2009 age is in parentheses. If I saw someone as a possibility at more than one position I put them at both. Updated 7-6-08 Catchers Rod Barajas (33) Michael Barrett (32) Johnny Estrada (33) Jason Kendall (35) - club option for '09; vests with 110 games played in '08 Paul Lo Duca (37) Miguel Olivo (30) - $2.7MM club option for '09 with a $0.1MM buyout Ivan Rodriguez (37) David Ross (32) Jason Varitek (37) Gregg Zaun (38) First basemen Ben Broussard (32) Sean Casey (34) Tony Clark (37) Carlos Delgado (37) - $16MM mutual option for '09 with a $4MM buyout Nomar Garciaparra (35) Jason Giambi (38) - $22MM club option for '09 with a $5MM buyout Scott Hatteberg (39) Eric Hinske (31) Doug Mientkiewicz (35) Kevin Millar (37) Richie Sexson (34) Mark Teixeira (29) Second basemen Ray Durham (37) Mark Ellis (32) Marcus Giles (31) Mark Grudzielanek (39) Orlando Hudson (31) Tadahito Iguchi (34) Jeff Kent (41) Felipe Lopez (29) Mark Loretta (37) Aaron Miles (32) Jose Valentin (39) Shortstops Orlando Cabrera (34) David Eckstein (34) Adam Everett (32) Rafael Furcal (31) Cristian Guzman (31) Cesar Izturis (29) Felipe Lopez (29) Edgar Renteria (33) - $11MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout Juan Uribe (30) Omar Vizquel (42) - $5.2MM club option for '09 with a $0.3MM buyout Third basemen Casey Blake (35) Hank Blalock (28) - $6.2MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout Joe Crede (31) Morgan Ensberg (33) Nomar Garciaparra (35) Wes Helms (33) - $3.75MM club option for '09 Chipper Jones (37) - $8-11MM vesting option for '09 Dallas McPherson (27) Left fielders Moises Alou (42) Garret Anderson (37) - $14MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout Milton Bradley (31) Emil Brown (34) Pat Burrell (32) Adam Dunn (29) Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout Luis Gonzalez (41) Raul Ibanez (37) Jacque Jones (34) Kevin Mench (31) Jason Michaels (33) - $2.6MM club option for '09 Craig Monroe (32) Jay Payton (36) Wily Mo Pena (27) - $5MM club option or $2MM player option for '09 Manny Ramirez (37) - $20MM club option for '09 Juan Rivera (30) Center fielders Rocco Baldelli (27) Mike Cameron (36) - $10MM club option for '09 with a $750K buyout Jim Edmonds (39) Jacque Jones (34) Mark Kotsay (33) Corey Patterson (29) Right fielders Bobby Abreu (35) Casey Blake (35) Milton Bradley (31) Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout Brian Giles (38) - $9MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout Ken Griffey Jr. (39) - $16.5MM club option for '09 with a $4MM buyout Vladimir Guerrero (33) - $15MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout Jacque Jones (34) Bobby Kielty (32) Brad Wilkerson (32) DHs Milton Bradley (31) Pat Burrell (32) Adam Dunn (29) Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout Jason Giambi (38) - $22MM club option for '09 with $5MM buyout Vladimir Guerrero (33) - $15MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout Raul Ibanez (37) Manny Ramirez (37) - $20MM club option for '09 Juan Rivera (30) Mike Sweeney (35) Frank Thomas (41) - $10MM option for '09; vests with 376 PAs in '08 Jim Thome (38) - $13MM club option for '09 with $3MM buyout Jose Vidro (34) - vesting option for '09 Starting pitchers Jeremy Affeldt (30) Tony Armas Jr. (31) Kris Benson (33) A.J. Burnett (32) - can opt out after '08 season Paul Byrd (38) Roger Clemens (46) Matt Clement (33) - $8.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout Ryan Dempster (32) Chad Durbin (31) Josh Fogg (32) Jon Garland (29) Tom Glavine (43) Mike Hampton (36) Mark Hendrickson (35) Livan Hernandez (34) Orlando Hernandez (43) Jason Jennings (30) Randy Johnson (45) John Lackey (30) - $9MM club option for '09 with a $0.5MM buyout Jon Lieber (39) Esteban Loaiza (37) - $7.5MM club option for '09 with a $0.375MM buyout Braden Looper (34) Derek Lowe (36) Greg Maddux (43) Pedro Martinez (37) Jamie Moyer (46) Mark Mulder (31) - $11MM club option for '09 with a $1.5MM buyout Mike Mussina (40) Carl Pavano (33) - $13MM club option for '09 with a $1.95MM buyout Brad Penny (31) - $8.75MM club option for '09 with a $2MM buyout Odalis Perez (32) Oliver Perez (27) Andy Pettitte (37) Mark Prior (27) Kenny Rogers (44) C.C. Sabathia (28) Curt Schilling (42) Ben Sheets (30) John Smoltz (42) - $12MM club option for '09 Brett Tomko (36) Josh Towers (32) Steve Trachsel (38) Tim Wakefield (42) - perpetual $4MM club option Kip Wells (32) Woody Williams (42) Randy Wolf (32) Closers Joe Borowski (38) Brian Fuentes (33) Eric Gagne (33) Trevor Hoffman (41) Jason Isringhausen (36) Todd Jones (41) Brandon Lyon (29) Francisco Rodriguez (27) Kerry Wood (32) Middle relievers Jeremy Affeldt (30) Doug Brocail (42) - club option for '09 Shawn Chacon (31) Juan Cruz (28) Alan Embree (39) - $3MM club option for '09 Scott Eyre (37) Kyle Farnsworth (33) Keith Foulke (35) Aaron Fultz (35) Tom Gordon (41) - $4.5MM club option for '09 with a $1MM buyout Eddie Guardado (38) LaTroy Hawkins (36) Matt Herges (39) - club option for '09 Bob Howry (35) Steve Kline (36) Damaso Marte (34) - $6MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout Trever Miller (36) - $2MM club option for '09 with a $0.4MM buyout Guillermo Mota (35) Will Ohman (31) Darren Oliver (38) Al Reyes (38) Dennys Reyes (32) Juan Rincon (30) Russ Springer (40) Mike Stanton (42) Mike Timlin (43) Salomon Torres (37) - $3.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.3MM buyout David Weathers (39) Dan Wheeler (31) Matt Wise (33)
as a Brave fan i would obviously done that in a heartbeat. heck i would do Youk for Tex straight up. smart of the Braves to throw that out there, since if Boston doesn't trade for Tex and tie him down to a long term extension, they can pretty much count on facing him for the next several years in pinstripes, starting next season.
Thats a pretty bad list of FA's with the exception of maybe 1-2 at each position. Only Lf and Sp offer any kind of quality depth....
* Francisco Rodriguez Will Test The Market Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez plans to file for free agency, though he didn't rule out re-signing with the Halos. Kurt Streeter named several contracts that might be used as comparables for K-Rod: Mariano Rivera: three years, $45MM ($15MM per year) Francisco Cordero: four years, $46MM, fifth year club option ($11.5MM per year) Joe Nathan: four years, $47MM, fifth year club option ($11.75MM per year) It seems clear that K-Rod will set a new record for relievers in terms of total contract value. He'll probably want $13-15MM per year over four or five seasons. Will the Angels pay up? Will his price be artificially high if he sets a new saves record?
* Cubs Inquired On Khalil Greene? According to Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union Tribune, the Cubs recently inquired on Padres shortstop Khalil Greene. The Padres prefer not to sell low on Greene, however. The Cubs have been linked to Greene in the past, and the Padres were asking about Felix Pie about a year ago. Perhaps Pie has lost the untouchable label with his .264/.315/.442 performance at Triple A. He's hitting better lately, though. Greene is on the first year of a two-year, $11MM deal. He's said he wants to stay in San Diego, though Kevin Towers once suggested he might prefer to be on the East Coast near his family. Greene's had a rough year with a .216/.264/.329 line in 375 plate appearances.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post has been digging up rumors left and right in recent days. Let's discuss. The Angels have "hinted at a willingness to build a deal around pitching prospect Nick Adenhart." This would apparently involve Mark Teixeira or Matt Holliday. The Phillies made an initial offer last week for A.J. Burnett, and the Jays were thoroughly unimpressed. The Phillies won't discuss prospects Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, or Greg Golson in trades. The Yankees have zero interest in Burnett. The A's are willing to move Joe Blanton. He's not perfect, but he can eat innings and is under team control through 2010. Six games out of the wild card with a league-best offense, the Rangers don't look like sellers. At least ten teams watched Mets' Double A starter Jon Niese pitch Saturday. He's their top trade chip given the unavailability of Fernando Martinez. The Pirates have their eye on the Yankees' Ross Ohlendorf, if the Yanks become buyers for players like Damaso Marte or Xavier Nady. Three Raul Ibanez suitors are named: the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Red Sox. At least nine teams are monitoring Freddy Garcia: the Yankees, Mets, Astros, Rangers, Royals, Red Sox, Phillies, Tigers, and White Sox. We've seen the Braves, Rays, and Cubs mentioned too. Garcia's agent isn't up for an '09 option with his client. A-Rod is said to be pushing for the Yankees to sign him. Sherman notes a rumor around the game that has Pat Gillick becoming Mariners president next year, and Brian Cashman coming on as his GM.
The Mark Teixiera trade rumors are out in full force. I just hope we get something decent for the guy after the talent we gave up to acquire him.
Tony Clark from San Diego back to Arizona. Deal not announced officially yet but trade is for a single A pitcher from Arizona.
Yankees To Sign Richie Sexson According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Yankees reached a tentative agreement with first baseman Richie Sexson. The idea is that Sexson will improve the team's performance against left-handed pitching. There's little risk, so you can't blame Brian Cashman for the move. However, it should be noted that Sexson didn't hit lefties much in 2006-07 and only faced them 70 times this year.
D'Backs Acquire Tony Clark 1:41pm: ESPN's Buster Olney says it's a done deal. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3493542&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines 12:04pm: According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the D'Backs "appear to be closing in" on a trade for first baseman/pinch-hitter Tony Clark. It would be for a Double A pitching prospect, and could get done today. Piecoro says Clark will apparently waive the $500K bonus he was to receive upon a trade. Clark almost re-signed with Arizona last winter. He was known as a clubhouse leader in his previous stint with the D'Backs.
Braves Still Undecided On Teixeira Braves third baseman Chipper Jones expects the team to shop Mark Teixeira if they fall out of contention. However, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman, that decision hasn't been made yet. Bowman says the early offers for Teixeira have been inferior to the two draft picks the Braves could receive if Tex walks as a free agent. Bowman adds that GM Frank Wren hasn't reached a buy/sell decision with his team, which is 6.5 games out in the NL East. Wren would like to add an outfielder he controls beyond '08, but doesn't like the price for Jason Bay or Xavier Nady.
What's this talk about Matt Holliday to the A's? Doesnt seem to make much sense to me. They've unloaded a lot of talent to build up their farm system and now they're going to deplete it some for a 1 and a half rent a player?
YEs yes yes yes yes... Clark easily won 1/2 dozen games for us last year. Won't find a better club-house guy, already knows most of the roster very well. Solid at 1st base...the only thing bugging me the D-backs still very much to pick up an Outfielder since Eric Byrnes is done for the season...and this also creates a log-jam at first with Conor Jackson and Chad Tracy. Guess Tracy can go back to third and switch off with Mark Reynolds.
Francisco Liriano Frustrated Ken Rosenthal spoke to Francisco Liriano's agent, Greg Genske. The 24 year-old lefty is frustrated that he's still at Triple A, and Genske has contacted the Players' Association about filing a grievance. The union will investigate. Liriano is now dominating in the minors. Rosenthal says Liriano's arbitration year has already been pushed back by his time in the minors. Twins GM Bill Smith denies any shady money-saving tactics, saying "our starters are all doing the job." Most likely, the Twins would be an improved team by replacing Livan Hernandez in the rotation with Liriano. But this isn't the first time the Twins have chosen veteran mediocrity or worse over promising young players.
Cubs Rumors: Fuentes, Greene Cubs beat writer Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald has a new blog post up. Miles' Cubs sources "emphatically" denied interest in Padres shortstop Khalil Greene. And as we noted Monday, the San Diego Union-Tribune killed that rumor several hours after they posted it. Jim Hendry is in the market for a reliever, and Miles expects him to be one of many GMs inquiring on Colorado's Brian Fuentes. Roughly a dozen teams are eyeing the lefty, so the Rox should get something good. Miles mentions the possibility of the Cubs pursuing an extra bat, presumably of the bench variety.
I don't blame Liriano for being mad, he's been pitching very well the past month. Clearly the Twins are trying to limit his service time so they can keep him from being a FA longer.
All Hernandez has done is post a 7+ era in his last 8 starts. Certainly makes sense to keep him in the rotation over a young fireballing lefty....
Absolutely agree on both counts. Liriano is like 8-0 with 2.39 ERA over his last 10 minor league starts, and the FO wants to claim that Hernandez has done the job....what job are they asking him to do exactly?
I personally don't have an issue with dealing Blanton. The guy is an innings eater. He ALWAYS loses his concentration for a little while every start and it leads to big innings. They sold high on a guy who's value was low IMO. It's a good deal. Billy Beane is going crazy. He's looking at 2010 with the club he's putting together. The farm system, barren 12 months ago, is now loaded. I would not be surprised to see him ship out one more pitcher. Huston Street's name has been in play for 2 months and with Beane that usually means he's looking to move him. He could be shipped out at the non waiver deadline to someone desperate for a closer or a good 8th inning guy. The A's will probably go with a "closer by committee" thing until 2009 or give the job to either Brad Ziegler or Joey Devine (when he's off the DL). Moving Blanton gives the youngsters a spot in the rotation. Dan Meyer has been good the last little while at AAA. They could also give Gio Gonzalez (the center piece of the Nick Swisher trade) a look. Either way someone with a real future with the team will get a look. To be honest, they can't be much worse then Blanton. He was on pace for 20 losses.
I would be over the MOON if they went after Holliday. Dude is exactly what the team has needed for years. A power hitting, right handed corner outfielder. The thing with Billy Beane is he's always thinking ahead. He's made deals to improve the farm while staying in contention (amazingly). In some ways, he's gone overboard. They have about 103 infielders in the system but after Sweeney, Gonzalez and Travis Buck they have nothing in the outfield. He could be looking to add a guy like Holliday, giving up some of the prospects they have and signing him to big money, long term. Make him the franchise player until Carlos Gonzalez is an All Star. They have a laughable payroll and money to spend right now.
Seems like he got a good deal to me as well. Blanton's stock is definitely down, but he still got some good prospects out of it. Another nice move by Beane.
BDH and Boik, your answer lies above. The only possible rationale for this is to push back Liriano's arbitration year, so they can keep him a year longer, and presumably when they'll be a better team. It makes sense from that point of view, but if it comes at the cost of alienating Liriano, it might bite them in the ***.
Actually, the time to sell on Blanton was before the season, when his value was even higher. His HR and BB numbers had been trending downward through last season, and both have taken a turn for the worse this year. And in a related note, Blanton has an ERA just under 5. Historically, his HR rate is fairly low, and while he's not an extreme ground ball pitcher, he doesn't have an extreme fly ball rate, either. However, his ERA is historically much higher away from Oakland, so one wonders if he'll struggle in Philly's tiny ballpark. All in all, he's a good choice for an innings-eating #4 starter, and he'll take some load off the Phillies bullpen, but this isn't a pennant-winning move by any stretch.
Speaking of Devine, what a dissapointment that guy has been. I know he was pitching pretty well for you guys before he went down, but I really thought coming out of college he was going to be great for Atlanta. He was supposed to be an answer to our closer woes after Smoltz came back into the rotation, but his inability to do so has lead to a slew of other candidates for the job.
Joey was pitching really well before he got hurt. He'll definitely be in the conversation as closer if Beane deals Huston Street. ANYBODY but Alan ****ing Embree. That dude brings his gas can and book of matches to the mound every damn time.
True. I think Beane wanted to deal Blanton before the season but was asking for too much. He wanted a package back for Joe like the one he got for Danny Haren.
I am not surprised he is now doing well in Oakland. The Braves pick him, Smotlz gets hurt and they rushed Devine into the spotlight when he wasn't ready (q Craig Hansen of the Sox). I have no doubt he is gonna be good he just wasn't ready at that time for Atlanta and looked like Dan Kolb out there.
* Brewers Eyeing Huston Street? 11:34pm: Haudricourt says the Brewers dispatched their top special assistant to watch the A's play the Yankees. Haudricourt speculates that the Brewers might have an eye on Huston Street, who is under team control through 2010. Street's had an off-year, mainly due to a rising home run rate. 4:38pm: As usual, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has the latest Brewers hot stove chatter. GM Doug Melvin is calling around about relief help, but as you might imagine prices are high. Melvin would not confirm Ken Rosenthal's rumor that the Brewers are interested in the Giants' Jack Taschner and Ray Durham. Melvin is always honest with Haudricourt, so it's worth noting that he didn't deny it either. Melvin seemingly has a little room in the payroll to make a reasonable addition.
* Angels Balk At Price For Holliday http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/angels/la-sp-bbcol20-2008jul20,0,215110.story?track=rss Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times does not expect the Angels to swing a deal for Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday. Trading young pitching is generally against the Angels' philosophy. Shaikin says the Rockies would demand prospect Nick Adenhart for starters, and the Angels might consider that. However, the Rockies also want Howie Kendrick and one of Ervin Santana or Joe Saunders. The Angels wouldn't give up that type of package for Miguel Cabrera last winter, and they won't give in for Holliday. I've defended Holliday, I think he is capable of a .900 OPS away from Coors Field. But based on the rumors, the Rockies are asking for way too much for a year and two months of him.
* Heyman's Latest: Street, Durham, Holliday SI.com's Jon Heyman just posted a new column. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20.../07/19/saturday.scoop/index.html?eref=writers The Brewers and White Sox inquired on A's closer Huston Street. However, A's GM Billy Beane said "there is nothing going on" in regards to Street. The Sox were linked to both Street and Jon Rauch today, so Kenny Williams is clearly monitoring the relief market. Heyman says the Rays have not discussed Street with the A's, and the Dodgers "aren't believed to be heavily involved." Heyman is on board with the recent rumors about Ray Durham and Jack Taschner possibly heading to Milwaukee. Heyman also confirms Ken Rosenthal's report of the Phillies' interest in Matt Holliday. He agrees that these talks have cooled, but notes a good relationship between GMs Dan O'Dowd and Pat Gillick. Gillick and O'Dowd have matched up for three deals, two occuring while Gillick worked for the Mariners. The Dodgers continue to consider shortstop a priority. Heyman wonders if Cristian Guzman would be a fit, especially if extension talks sour. Jack Wilson and David Eckstein are other possibilities.
