Daily Archives: November 29, 2006
The agent for Tom Glavine has told the Associated Press that the Atlanta Braves have yet to make an official offer to his client.
The report includes a variety of first-hand quotes by Glavine’s agent, Gregg Clifton, including the following…
“As time has gone on, I think it’s actually been the potential pull and the desire to go back to New York and be a Met that has delayed this process and further complicated his decision-making.”
…this sounds like back-peddling to me…in the last few days we were fed the idea that glavine wanted nothing more than to return to atlanta…this quote, however, makes it sounds like glavine may have once preferred a reunion in atlanta, but has now come to his senses and realizes he should re-sign in new york…
…of course, i’m guessing this may have more to do with the buzz from atlanta last night, which suggested the Braves will only offer him one-year at $7 million, than it is about his love for the mets…
…regardless, earlier in the week, the buzz around new york had been that word on glavine’s future would likely come out on or around thursday…based on this quote by clifton, that timeframe is feeling pretty accurate…
…yes, it’s a rant, which is rare for me, i know…
In a column at FOXSports.com, Dayn Perry lists Omar Minaya’s acquisition of Moises Alou as the only good signing a team has made all off-season.
…and i agree…
…for some reason, a lot of people in baseball, especially in the new york media, and a lot of fans, have focused on alou’s age…last i checked, mlb does not card people at the door when post-season begins…
…i mean, if the guy can hit, he can hit…who cares about his age…
…what’s more, what were minaya’s other options…
…i know i tend to come off as an omar-apologist all of the time, but i swear people do not take in to account the big picture when criticizing his moves…
…Gary Matthews Jr had one good year and plays center, as does Juan Pierre…meanwhile, Carlos Lee left $14 million on the table to play in his hometown of Houston, so clearly he was never an option, not that i would have condoned that signing anyways, and please do not get me started on Alfonso Soriano, who got eight-years, a full no-trade clause and may in fact be the next editor-in-chief of the Chicago Tribune in his deal with the Cubs…
…to those of you who are unhappy with alou, simply because you want the team to ‘get younger,’ would you have rather signed Aubrey Huff or Frank Catalanotto to a three-year deal, or would you rather gamble on the 21–year-old Lastings Milledge and his 166 career at-bats, or would you rather remove Endy Chavez from the bench, a role he has proven to be perfect for…if you want to acquire Rocco Baldelli, or Carl Crawford, or Brad Hawpe, assuming they are even available, first you’ll have to get in line, and next you’ll have to part with at least Mike Pelfrey, and most certainly milledge, among other talent…
…while were speaking of age, the same goes for Damion Easley…yes, he played in the league when Rickey Henderson was still good…so be it…again, what were the other options, especially considering Mark DeRosa signed a three-year deal with the Cubs…yes, i too would prefer to see Craig Counsell, even for two-years, assuming he would have played in New York, which i do not get the sense he would have…not for nothing, though, as i once recall bashing Jose Valentin last off-season in the same manner, only to champion him for Comeback Player of the Year a few months later…point is, i think omar has proven he has a way with making obscure signings work for him…
…i understand that we all hope to see the team get younger, but it is not wise to get younger simply for the sake of getting younger, in fact it is very short-sighted, especially when hoping to get the best from inexperience, which has not proven very successful in baseball of late…lastly, if signing over-the-hill stop-gaps will keep the team from getting bogged down in bad contracts, like it did just a few years ago, then i am all for it…
…also, last i checked, he also made trades to bring in Xavier Nady, Oliver Perez, John Maine, Jason Vargas, Adam Bostick and Ben Johnson, among others, all guys who are not exactly applying for an AARP card…
…as i see it, omar would rather not make an acquisition then make one he may come to regret…
…signing alou and easley to one-year deals, even signing Orlando Hernandez and valentin to two-year deals, are far from moves he will regret, all while being moves he can easily upgrade from should an opportunity present itself down the road…
…give the guy a little credit…it’s a long off-season, the winter meetings haven’t even started yet…let’s wait to see what omar has up his sleeve first before jumping off the ship that waves a 2006 NL East Championship banner, ok…
…well, i spent the majority of today trying to get an idea of what on earth the Mets are doing with their bullpen, which looks like a package of swiss cheese at this point…
…and after a variety of phone calls, quick conversations, chats, e-mails, and so on, i am only a tad less confused than i was at the start of the day…
…first off, from what i can gather, Juan Padilla, who had Tommy John Surgery last spring, is in the team’s plans, but is not expected to return to action until midseason…
…also, do not forget about Steve Schmoll, who was acquired from the dodgers last season, as well as Jon Adkins, who was recently acquired from the padres, and Jason Standridge, who was picked up off of waivers a few weeks ago…not that these guys are the magic-bullpen bullet, but they should be discussed when thinking about the bullpen…also, double-a relief-pitcher Joe Smith has made a nice name for himself, though he may not be a major-league option until midseason…
…the sense i get is that while we, the fans, get a bit wrapped up in names and stats, most baseball executives do not like giving long-term deals to middle-relief pitchers, no matter who they are, because it is quite rare that a given middle-reliever will have back-to-back good seasons, let alone back-to-back-to-back good seasons…in short, as good as Chad Bradford was, which he has been almost all of his career, the only team to offer him a three-year deal was apparently baltimore, and he took it, which should tell you how the league as a whole is viewing the market for a sixth-inning, right-handed specialist…put it this way, if the league is so desperate for pitching, and bradford is so good, how come no team matched baltimore’s offer…it’s because the league sees signing a middle-reliever to a three-year deal as bad business, and apparently omar agrees…
…as the Daily News reported this morning, the team is not pursuing Darren Oliver or Roberto Hernandez…and from what i can gather, they have yet to decide whether to bring back free-agent Guillermo Mota, who will miss the first 50 games of next season due to a drug suspension…my sense is that if he latches on elsewhere, nobody in new york will lose sleep, but if they can bring him back with a minimal commitment they may do it…
…their ace in the hole is Aaron Heilman, because he is a right-handed pitcher who dominates left-handed hitters, which is an outstanding commodity in a league where less and less quality left-handed pitchers are available every season…the sense i get is that he will be in the bullpen again next season, regardless of how badly he would like to be in the rotation…i think if bradford had re-signed and mota could play a full season, you may have seen heilman traded for a starting pitcher, but at this point he is extra 
valuable to the mets, which is not to say he is unavailable in a trade, but he is certainly less available then he was last week…
…as far as acquiring help in the bullpen, i would bet on people coming aboard at the end of the off-season…we may see a signing that is too good to resist in the next week or so, but i truly believe this is a back-burner issue, not just for the Mets, but for most teams, simply because the pitchers who are available are fairly comparable…
…i mean, at the end of the day, are you really guaranteed any more success with, say, Alan Embree than you are with Mike DeJean or even J.C. Romero…
…it appears that most teams will first let the baltimores of the league go bananas with long-term deals and then sift through the market after the fact…also, a few extra pitchers may hit the open market after being non-tendered, so you may see teams wait on that, as well…
…point is, the Mets have some in-house talent that they like, actually, they have some in-house talent that other teams like, and there are roughly 30 or so relief pitchers on the open-market, let alone via trade, that could help to re-build half of the sixth inning role left vacant by bradford…otherwise, you should still be confident with heilman and Duaner Sanchez passing the ball off to Billy Wagner…in other words, don’t freak out just yet…
According to Jerry Crasnick, at ESPN.com, free-agent RHP Joe Borowski failed a physical due to problems in his shoulder that nullified a multi-year agreement with the Phillies.
…so, apparently the phillies are in the market for a relief pitcher…and are willing to dish out a long-term deal to get one…
Brorowski struggled with shoulder problems during most of the 2004 season. Over the last two seasons, with Tampa Bay and the Marlins, he was 4–8 with a 3.80 ERA.
Cardinals GM Walt Jockety has told the St. Louis Dispatch that he hopes to acquire two more starting pitchers. According to the report, in addition to exploring the trade market, Jockety will pursue free-agent RHP Jason 
Schmidt.
While appearing on WFAN this afternoon, ESPN’s Peter Gammons remarked that he expects the Mariners and Cubs to show the most interest in Schmidt, with the Cubs eventually winning out.
Yesterday, in the San Francisco Chronicle, Henry Schulman reported that the the Cubs had offered a three-year deal worth $44 million to Schmidt. This report was latter refuted by the Chicago Tribune.
…last night, after the people began questioning the chronicle report, the buzz from chicago suggested that it could take as much as $60 million over four-years to land schmidt…
The San Jose Mercury News believes that free-agent infielder Rich Aurilia will eventually return to playing for the Giants…
In 440 at-bats for the Reds last season, Aurilia, 35, hit .300 with 23 HR and 70 RBI while starting 47 games at first base, 10 games at second, 52 games at third and 26 games at shortstop.
…originally from brooklyn, a lot of pundits assumed aurilia would be a nice fit for the Mets…actually, he is exactly what the yankees need, too…
…however, aurilia has played eight of his 10 seasons in the pacific time zone, and has spent no time playing for a team east of cincinatti, so i assume the guy sort of likes it out west…
At his blog for the Daily News, Adam Rubin does his best to internet an interview by Omar Minaya from Diario Libre, a newspaper in Santo Domingo.
Minaya speaks briefly about Tom Glavine, Moises Alou and the his plans for next week’s winter meetings.
…gracias, adam…
In his most recent Rumor Mill for Gotham Baseball, Mark Healey gives reason to believe that the Padres are serious contenders to sign free-agent Barry Zito.
…it should be noted that while on wfan, Peter Gammons did mention that san diego will most certainly come away with a pitcher this off-season, though he seemed to think it would be of the Ted Lilly, Gil Meche variety, not zito…
Healey also reports that while the Mets offered Chad Bradford a two-year deal, they never intended to match the three-year contract he signed with Baltimore.
Healey also provides notes on Tom Glavine, Jason Schmidt and the Yankees.
Appearing as a guest on WFAN this afternoon, ESPN’s Peter Gammons 
seemed confident that the A’s will sign free-agent Mike Piazza to be their designated hitter next season.
…no problem…as long as it’s not the phillies or dodgers, mike…sorry…
Also, Gammons told the show’s hosts that Tom Glavine really wants to pitch for the Braves again, but will not go unless Atlanta comes close to matching what the Mets can offer, meaning in order to bring Glavine back the Braves must trade away salary, such as Tim Hudson, who Gammons sees as the most likely trade candidate.
Earlier this off-season, at ESPN.com, Buster Olney wrote that the O’s and Braves had been discussing a trade involving Hudson.
…the clock is running, though…and, look, as a fan, i am more than happy to give tom time to talk with the braves…fair is fair…
…however, if the Mets have to wait around past the winter meetings while the braves investigate a way to raise money, the Mets will be forced to decide whether to move on without glavine or wait…at that point, i would consider giving him a legitimate, public deadline to force his hand…i mean, this can’t go on forever…
In either case, Gammons believes Barry Zito will inevitably sign with the Mets.
…who doesn’t…and that’s what worries me…
Gammons also discusses the future of Barry Bonds, the Red Sox desire to trade Manny Ramirez, as well as the market for Ted Lilly, Gil Meche and Jason Schmidt, none of which involve the Mets.
To listen to this full interview, go to WFAN.com.
According to BDD, the Brewers and free-agent Craig Counsell have finalized a two-year deal with a club option for 2009.
The following second-baseman remain available on the open market…
Ronnie Belliard
Julio Lugo
Miguel Cairo
Tony Graffanino
Ray Durham
Chris Gomez
Mark Loretta
Chris Woodward
…last off-season, i recall a variety of reports that suggested the Mets were interested in graffanino, but no such buzz has emerged this year, oddly enough…
…of the bunch, the Mets have been rumored to have interest in belliard, loretta and lugo…
In the days after the Mets re-signed Jose Valentin to a one-year deal, in Newsday, Ken Davidoff said, “Valentin won’t necessarily be the Mets’ starting second baseman next year,” while quoting Willie Randolph as saying that Valentin could be a super-utility man, starting at a variety of positions throughout the season.
The Cardinals recently signed free-agent 2B Adam Kennedy to a three-year deal worth $10 million.
…it would stand to reason that loretta can expect to get a similar deal, at least in terms of years, as should lugo, and maybe even belliard…
