Wednesday, November 8, 2006

At his blog for the Journal News, Peter Abraham confirms through Yankees GM Brian Cashman that the Yankees have made an official bid for Japanese RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka.

…the buzz from japan suggests that up to six teams may submit bids, possibly from the mets, cubs, rangers, d’backs, red sox and yankees, who are considered the favorites…the orioles and mariners were once interested, but neither team has or will submit a bid…

The deadline to submit bids to negotiate with Matsuzaka was 5 pm today.

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…i have talked with three different baseball insiders, all of whom know what they talking about, and all three gave different answers when i asked if the marlins are open to trading Dontrelle Willis…

…from what i can gather, if the marlins do trade him this off-season, it will be for a major-league ready, potential all-star-type hitter…also, if he gets traded, it will most likely be to the d’backs or dodgers, since most people believe miami fancies a collection of players from these two organizations – and the marlins are not known for fielding offers in these situations, instead they come to you…

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According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres have traded 2B Josh Barfield to the Indians for Triple-A 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff and Triple-A RHP Andrew Brown.

Barfield hit .280 with 32 doubles, 13 HR with 21 stolen bases this season, his first full year in major-league baseball.

…solid deal…the padres can pick up a second baseman by trade or on the free-agent market, and kouz gives them another shot at producing a top third baseman, which is a lot harder to locate…

…there was buzz from chicago that the padres had interest in White Sox 3B Joe Crede…

…as i mentioned a few hours ago, from what i could gather, if the padres were to trade RHP Jake Peavy it would b for a major-league ready bat, who most likely would play third base…

…i guess they no longer need the third baseman…

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At his blog for Newsday, David Lennon explains that the bid price for Japanese RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka may be dropping.

…hmmm, could it be that potential bidders have heard he will only sign with a team in new york…hmm…

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At ESPN.com, Jerry Crasnick writes that any team willing to trade for OF Pat Burrell will expect the Phillies to take on at least half of his two-year, $27 million contract.

Also, Crasnick points out that Burrell has a no-trade clause that could make moving him more difficult for Phillies GM Pat Gillick.

…i have long suggested that the mets should happily send a minor-leaguer or three to philadelphia if it could help get burrell out of the national league…

In 117 games against the Mets for his career, Burrell has 36 HR and 92 RBI…

…according to my jaded memory, half of those home runs were against Armando Benitez…

Shawn Green, Billy Wagner and Pedro Martinez are the only Mets with no-trade clauses in their contract, notes Crasnick.

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At CBS SportsLine, columnist Gregg Doyel argues against bringing Japanese RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka to Major League Baseball.

Doyel concludes by writing…

“Odds are, whoever wins Matsuzaka has already lost. They’re playing poker with Scott Boras, who’s not only the slickest guy at the table, but the guy dealing the cards.”

…wow, that’s a great line…well done, gregg…

Teams have until 5 p.m. today to submit a sealed bid to the commissioner’s office for the right to negotiate with Matsuzaka.

According to a report from Japan, Matsuzaka’s current team, the Seibu Lions, will have through Tuesday, November 14, to review these bids, at which point they will announce the winning bidder.

…hat tip to hot foot for the cbs link…

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…the buzz around baseball notes that the cubs and devil rays, and maybe the marlins, have interest in acquiring Mets RHP Aaron Heilman, viewing him as a starting pitcher and not a reliever, as the mets do…

Spanning 74 relief appearances this season, Heilman posted a 3.62 ERA while striking out 73 batters in 87 innings. 

On August 1, Heilman was used primarily as a set-up man to Billy Wagner, following a season-ending injury to Duaner Sanchez.  Following August 1, Heilman posted a 1.98 ERA.

Heilman will be arbitration eligible following next season, and eligible for free-agency following 2010.

…the devil rays have been seemingly eyeing heilman since forever, when we stumbled over rumors involving Danys Baez, Aubrey Huff and Julio Lugo…and Manny Ramirez for that matter…man, remember that three-way…thank god that is over with…

…anyway…

…i suspect the mets would look to acquire a young starting pitcher in exchange for heilman, were they inclined to move, which i am not sure they are…the thing is, the situation with Guillermo Mota impacts how the team approaches heilman…had mota been a lock to return, heilman becomes very much expendable…with mota now a question mark, thanks to his suspension for drug use, heilman continues to be a vital part of new york’s bullpen…

…the buzz from tampa bay suggests Omar Minaya and Rick Peterson have long had interest in Devil Rays RHP Edwin Jackson, dating as far back as his days in los angeles…tampa acquired jackson with Jae Seo last season in exchange for baez and lugo…

…forgive me if i’m a bit skeptical about swapping starting pitchers with tampa bay…

Jackson, 23, was a starting pitcher with the Dodgers, but used as a reliever by Tampa Bay last season, in which we posted a 5.45 ERA through 23 appearances.

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Readers,

A friend is looking for a collection of writers to test-drive a new political web site that should be launching soon.  Ideally, he’s looking for people who are interested in politics and have some interest in blogging, but do not already have an established blog with a lot of readers.

If you’re interested, email him at dan.lewis@gmail.com.

Good luck

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…the buzz from san diego points to the padres having a lot of interest in free-agent LHP Barry Zito, as well as free-agent LHP Mark Mulder, both of whom are friends from their days pitching together in oakland…

Towards the end of last week, the Daily News reported that the Mets were one of eight teams to call the agent for free-agent LHP Mark Mulder.

…there have been rumblings through print media that the padres could look to trade RHP Jake Peavy, who is signed through 2008, with an option for 2009……

Though Peavy combined for a 2.60 ERA during 2004 and 2005, he was 11–14 with a 4.09 ERA last season for the NL West Champions.  In five seasons he has struck out 850 batters through 864 innings pitched.

…from what i can gather, if the padres make peavy available it will be to land a major-league ready bat for their lineup, who most likely can play third base…

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Given that former-Redskins QB Heath Shuler (D-NC) won a House seat in North Carolina last night, and that former-Steelers WR Lynn Swann failed in an attempt to represent Pennsylvania, and given that former-SportsCenter anchor Keith Olberman was co-anchor for last night’s MSNBC Election Coverage, Deadspin.com asks, “Do sports and politics mix?”

…i hope so…

…as some of you know, politics, writing and language are my true passions – not sports…however, sports is where i am making a small name for myself…i would like to think i can find a bridge between the two…

…if you have any ideas, let me know…

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In the Philadelphia Inquirer, Todd Zolecki reports that the Phillies are expected to make a five-year, $80–million offer to free-agent 2B-OF Alfonso Soriano when the free market opens on Sunday.

…from what i can gather out of new york, the mets have limited interest in soriano, if any…for starters, it is not wise to have two similar players tied up with two similar long term contracts…also, though he is athletic, the buzz around shea has long been that Willie Randolph is not a fan of soriano’s lack of discipline at the plate or on the base paths…

…the phillies, however, are considered the front-runners to land soriano, who rumor has it is seeking a no-trade clause…

…the Dodgers, Angels, Tigers and Cubs all figure to be interested in soriano…

Towards the end of October, Soriano rejected a five-year, $70–million offer from the Washington Nationals, according to the Baltimore Sun…

…the buzz from d.c. is that soriano is seeking a seven-year, $100 million deal, much like the one given to Carlos Beltran by the mets…

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