Monthly Archives: December 2006
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the Orioles and 3B Aubrey Huff have agreed to a three-year deal worth $20 million.
Huff hit .267 with 21 home runs and 66 RBIs for the Devil Rays and Astros last season.
…thanks to Ryan Dragoon for the link…
A’s GM Billy Beane, as quoted by Josh Suchon in the Mercury News…
“I don’t think we’re done. We’re still considering an extra outfielder or something along those lines. I don’t suspect or anticipate us doing anything earth-shattering, although we are still considering some things.”
According to Suchon, Billy Beane continues to show interest in Mets OF Lastings Milledge, as well as D’Rays OF Rocco Baldelli and Carl Crawford.
Milledge and the Mets have been linked to A’s RHP Dan Haren and RHP Rich Harden in a variety of rumors over the last few weeks.
Suchon notes that while a trade involving Haren or Harden will have to involve a massive package in return, “dealing Blanton isn’t out of the question.”
In the Star-Tribune, Patrick Reusse believes the Twins will now end up trading LHP Johan Santana after next season, thanks to Barry Zito’s $126 million deal with the Giants.
…santana will be 28 years old after next season, like zito was this off-season, he’s lefty like zito and better than zito…i can only imagine what he will ask for, and the twins are certain to not give it to him…if santana hits the trade market after next season, or this coming trade deadline should the twins be out of contention, i would have to think the Mets would jump to their feet…
At his blog for the Baltimore Sun, Roch Kubatko notes that free-agent 2B David Newhan is likely to sign a minor-league contract with either the Mets or Cubs.
Kubatko writes, “Newhan is used to battling for a job, and to people counting him out. I wouldn’t advise it. He’s pretty scrappy.”
Newhan, 33, hit .252 with four HR in 39 games for the O’s last season. In 2004, he hit .311 in 373 at-bats.
He has played first base, second base, third, short and all three outfield positions during his major-league career.
In this morning’s New York Post, Joel Sherman suggests that the Mets obtain a pitcher like Rodrigo Lopez from the Orioles, plus sign a pitcher like Tony Armas in an effort to round out the team’s starting rotation.
…sherman is right, who puts forth a great plan in his column…by using the sherman model, the Mets will have Rodrigo Lopez, Tony Armas, Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, Philip Humber, Jason Vargas and Dave Williams, as well as Pedro Martinez…some five-man combination from this ten-man group has got to be enough to get this team, and it’s successful lineup, and bullpen, through to the trade deadline…if not, i’m not sure a guy like Barry Zito would have even mattered…
…from what i recall, the Mets and O’s discussed lopez around the trade deadline, in exchange for either OF Xavier Nady or RHP Aaron Heilman…though i believe O’s VP Jim Duquette denied such reports…
…during the Winter Meetings, there had been buzz linking lopez to the Brewers in a deal involving OF Kevin Mench…however, the buzz since orlando has been that the O’s are doing their best to land a free-agent, left-handed bat for the outfield first, such as Aubrey Huff, and if all else fails then they will look to move lopez to fill the void, instead…
Since posting a 3.59 ERA through 171 innings in 2004, Lopez is 24–30 over the last two seasons in Baltimore with a 5.38 ERA.
In three starts last season against the Nationals and Phillies, two clubs from the National League, Lopez was 1–2 with a 4.50 ERA…
…in the last year, the Mets, Cardinals, Reds, Padres, Rockies and D’Backs have all been intrigued by lopez, since a lot of teams feel he could benefit from from the light-hitting National League…
In three starts this season against the Nationals and Phillies, two clubs from the National League, Lopez was 1–2 with a 4.50 ERA.
According to Lexis/Nexis and Google, since last Friday, no reporter or blogger had ever referenced a seven-year deal, the Giants and Barry Zito in the same article or post.
…the point is, i’m starting to think nobody knows what they’re talking about…well, that’s not entirely true, but we certainly need to take every bit of information with a massive grain of salt, no matter who is writing it…i mean no disrespect to the league’s journalists, who work very hard, and typically do a fantastic job…instead, is a total credit to Omar Minaya, his trusted employees, and the league’s agents and other general managers, who clearly know how to a) manipulate the market and fans with misinformation, while b) keeping a secret…
…in the last month, i recall speaking with all sorts of people who seemed rather confident that zito would end up with the Mets, and clearly i was not alone, since you could find similar suggestions in all sorts of credible newspapers, blogs, talk radio discussions, and so on…and while no reputable writer ever went as far as to assume zito would sign with the Mets, as though it were a forgone conclusion, at the same time, the Giants were never even portrayed as a legitimate contender…yet, that’s where he inked a deal…
…this is partly why blogs have become so popular…i get the sense that fans feel a tad mislead, and have no idea who to trust…so, if that’s the case, they must feel there is as good of a chance that i am as correct as Ken Rosenthal as i could be totally wrong, and the same goes for other sports blogs compared to other more credible, established journalists…therefore, the more information that can be attained, be it true or false, the clearer the picture can become…
Who do you trust more?
In the Daily News, Bill Madden and Anthony McCarron write the Yankees ‘could’ complete a trade to send Randy Johnson back to the D’Backs before next week.”
Meanwhile, in the Star-Ledger, Ed Price writes that there is ‘nothing imminent’ regarding the Yankees efforts to trade Johnson.
…you know the names, Dan Haren, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, Javier Vazquez, Jon Garland, Brad Penny, Rodrigo Lopez and Jon Leiber, all of whom are rumored to be available via trade, followed by Tomo Ohka, Joel Pineiro, Tony Armas, Mark Redman and Jeff Weaver, among others, still unsigned in the free-agent market…
In the New York Post, Joel Sherman notes that while the Mets want to trade for a starter, the White Sox do not appear ready to move another veteran after having traded Brandon McCarthy and Freddy Garcia.
According to Sherman, the Mets do not like Leiber or Penny.
Meanwhile, in the Bergen Record, Bob Klapisch writes that to obtain Haren or Harden, the Mets will most likely have to part with Lastings Milledge, Philip Humber or Mike Pelfrey and Carlos Gomez.
In the San Francisco Chronicle, Susan Slusser writes that Blanton could cost Milledge and at least one of Heilman, Pelfrey or Maine.
…not too mention that a team like the Indians will want a similar package, such as milledge and pelfrey, in addition to heilman, for a guy like Jake Westboork, considering how the Astros sent a similar pool of players to the Rockies for RHP Jason Jennings, who has been less successful than westbrook…
In the Post, Sherman suggests the Mets obtain a pitcher like Lopez from the Orioles, plus sign a pitcher like Armas, adding…
“Under the best circumstances, for about a $10 million commitment for one year, the Mets might get 400 innings and 30 wins. At worst, the two probably would combine for 200 innings and 12 wins.”
In the end, the Giants offered and won Barry Zito’s services with a seven-year, $126 million contract, with an eighth-year option.
The Rangers offer is rumored to have been for six years and $90 million, while the Mets never budged above a five-year deal worth roughly $75 million.
In a conference call yesterday, Mets GM Omar Minaya told reporters…
“Any time you sign a pitcher, it is a risk. When I look at the history of pitching and five years plus, I could not recommend to ownership that we take a risk of seven years on a pitcher…
“Scott said he had teams that were in for seven years. For us to be in play, we would have to at least be at six years and I could not recommend crossing the barrier of five years…
“Our final offer, our first offer, really, was for five years. We were going to be aggressive on the AAV (average annual value), but we were not willing to go to the seventh year.”
During the call, Minaya explained that Scott Boras informed him prior to Christmas that a team had offered Zito a seven-year deal.
…seeing as this was the magic number being floated by boras, i bet minaya, and more or less everyone but the Giants and zito, assumed the agent was bluffing…in fact, i do not ever recall reading or hearing about a seven-year deal even being in the mix…not once…
Regarding his effort to acquire an impact pitcher for his rotation, Minaya said…
“When you get to late December, it is more of a long shot. The key word is impact. Who are the impact guys? How many impact guys were out there in the market this year? They don’t just become available…
“We have a lot of quality prospects. Scouts use the term ‘high ceiling.’ If you have those kinds of premium prospects, those kinds of impact pitchers become available in trades. To make trades, we could do things…We’re not about to make a move just for the sake of making a move…
“The way I look at it, I think we have good young arms and I am comfortable giving the young arms an opportunity…
“When it is all said and done, and we look at our pitching staff as a whole, we like our pitchers.”
In the call, Minaya was sure to mention every single young pitcher by name, singling out John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez, followed by Philip Humber, Jason Vargas and Dave Williams as possible starting pitchers next season.
…it’s funny, for years we have been writing mock rotations with these guys in it…well, here it is…now is the time apparently…
…ultimately, like the Yankees, the idea may boil down to scoring as many as runs as possible, and then turning the ball over to the best bullpen possible…
…good luck, Aaron Heilman…
In the Bergen Record, Bob Klapisch quotes a MLB general manager as saying…
“This is one time Omar realized something we all try to remember in this business, there’s always another star who’ll be available. It’s never about one guy.”
In the column, Klapisch asks…
“Who, exactly, will lead this staff in 2007? The better question is, who among the Mets’ starters can be counted on to last beyond the sixth inning?”
According to Klapisch, Mets GM Omar Minaya had recently offered Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman to the A’s for Rich Harden, but A’s GM Billy Beane declined.
Klapisch interprets a recent phone call from Beane to mean that Harden, or Dan Haren, will cost Milledge, Philip Humber or Mike Pelfrey and Carlos Gomez.
Additionally, Klapisch explains how the Mets need several variables to go their way for things to work out positively next season.
