Links for Thursday…
- The Marlins aren't that confident in Kiko Calero's ability to hold up as well as he did last year, tweets MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.
- The Nationals designated right-hander Marco Estrada for assignment to make room for Tyler Walker according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson, via Twitter.
- The A's have no interest in Eric Byrnes, tweets Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com.
- The Dodgers are a finalist for Derrick Turnbow, tweets MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.
- The Mets are interested in Josh Fogg, according to Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog.
- Mike Timlin said on WEEI.com that he will stay in retirement this year. Last year, Timlin pitched in the Rockies' minor league system.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports notes that Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is "open to anything." The Jays could stand to add a corner outfielder and there are a number of options available should the Jays decide to pursue them.
- I wrote an article for my fantasy website, RotoAuthority.com, suggesting that overhyped "sleepers" can still provide a profit.
- USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweets that Gary Sheffield might be a good fit for the Reds, and that Sheff was "on his way" to the Diamondbacks before they signed Adam LaRoche.
- Brandon Webb still contends that re-signing with the D'Backs is his first choice, in an article written by MLB.com's Steve Gilbert.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Reds, Padres, White Sox, and Royals inquired on the Yankees' Brett Gardner this winter, with hopes of using him as a starting center fielder.
- Bill Shanks of Scout.com makes a case for the Braves to sign Johnny Damon.
- Yahoo's Tim Brown tweets that the Dodgers are one club eyeing Garret Anderson for a fourth outfielder role.
InTheKZone
Tim, if I may ask, why is there no longer a link for rotoauthority.com towards the top of the page? Did you just remove it after the fantasy season or is it a permanent thing?
martinfv2
I stopped writing regularly over there for several months, so I didn’t think it made sense to promote a site with no new content. Getting back into the swing of fantasy baseball now.
InTheKZone
That’s what I figured but I wanted to check. Thanks for the reply.
Guest 911
I say Braves trade Schafer for (a) prospect(s).Then there wouldn’t be as much of a log-jamDamon in left, for one yearMcLouth in CentreHeyward in RightMelky and Diaz can be insurance incase of injuries, if Damon needs to rest, or if Heyward isn’t quite ready.Maybe even put Diaz at 1st once Glaus gets hurt…
They could keep Schafer, as insurance for Heyward as well
he could stand another year in the minors anyway and then Damon will be be gone after that.
NYBravosFan10
thats a good reason to sign Damon in case Heyward isn’t ready which is very possible. Diaz, McLouth, Melky isn’t all that impressive. I would love to see Damon, McLouth, Diaz and then Damon, McLouth, Heyward. Keep Schafer in the minors until we are absolutely sure about him.
Brad426
I want whatever will end up being the best for the Braves (duh, what fan doesn’t?). The problem is I am not sold that what is best is Damon rather than Diaz. The other problem is I am not sold that what is best is Diaz rather than Damon. I asked the Magic 8 Ball but apparently the reply was hazy and I am to ask again later.
NYBravosFan10
those are all phenomenal points, they really are. I just don’t think that Johnny fits in Turner Field. It’s a deep outfield so Escobar would end up having to pretty much be in left field just to be the cutoff man and I would only project 15 homers. Which isn’t bad for a leadoff man I guess. Also the Braves really need a guy like Damon to send them into the spotlight a little bit. That was all very intelligent marketing talk. I dunno, there are good sides and bad sides to this and I’m not sure which side outweighs the other one.
NL_East_Rivalry
I guess it comes down to a spot on the 25 and 40 – man rosters. If you keep Damon you have to trade Diaz or Cabrera in July.
NYBravosFan10
bye bye melky. I think I’d rather have Diaz, wouldn’t you?
tomahawkin2010
From a marketable standpoint, it makes sense to sign Damon. He’s a proven winner, and he’s still an exciting player to watch play(even at 36!). Not to mention, he’s a great clubhouse guy who can provide invaluable leadership in the clubhouse. On the flipside, I believe Diaz has proven to Cox and management that he could be an everyday player. I believe if Diaz played everyday, he would hit for a better average and better all around numbers compared to Cabrera and Damon. To further argue the issue on signing Damon, He’s a proven leadoff guy. He stole 20 bases last year! From the #2 hole! In that yankee lineup batting after Jeter. If we did sign Damon, we could drop McClouth down in the order, utilize his speed and power to our advantage and move Prado up to the #2 hole. Any thoughts people?
Guest 915
My all time favorite Angel needs to retire.
Brad426
Dave Winfield?
NYBravosFan10
gene autry?
Fidel Luna
G.A is a really good vet and is the left handed bat the dodgers might need, and I would think G.A would want to come back to SoCal he was loved by the Angels.
MLBrainmaker
Nice to see you paying some attention to RotoAuthority again….
penpaper
Tim, I had no idea you had a fantasy baseball site. I’ll be keeping my eye on it as the season approaches!
bradykyp
Sheffield would be an awful fit for the Reds. Sub par performance relative to the amount of money we’d have to pay him, and he’s a crybaby when he doesn’t get his way. Seems like that would be the worst situation for a young team like the Reds. I’d rather fill in with a guy like Baldelli or Gomes. They might not be studs, but then again, they won’t be a negative influence on the clubhouse. And really, LF isn’t going to make or break any team if people are actually healthy and play like they’re supposed to this year.
redsandyanksfan
i believe your wrong about sheff being a bad fit for the reds. He isn’t going to cost that much so stop crying about how much the reds would pay him , if he can still hit and play little defense go for it, he was also rumors to be going to the reds when tigers placed him on waivers last season, i would rather have gomes but not rocco cause with his condition he cant play everyday, and he was a good clubhouse guy for the mets last year, and for the reds yes it can make or break because if janish is the shortstop then we need offense last year we gotta way from it a little bit by having gomes and so we either need the bat at SS or Lf ,o cab,dye, sheff,gomes etc..
Jim M
I think Sheff showed he can still hit a bunch more than a little, but he isn’t an OF anymore. He still has good reads and good paths, but his legs just can’t get him underneath balls to catch them. I’m pretty shocked no AL team is getting him as a DH, but if I had to field him I’d want to see if he can still hold down 1B (which is already occupied in the Reds organization).
redsandyanksfan
i was saying play a little d lol but yea he can still hit but left field isnt that big in the red’s ballpark we had gomes which is just as bad and im agreeing with you why hasnt he been contacted as a 1b dh for anyone maybe the mets will bring him back for first unless they really want murphy starting
bradykyp
Shef is 41. Avg has been declining since ’00 except for 2 years. PA has been going down since ’04. I just don’t see putting money into someone who doesn’t bring a whole lot to the team, when we could spend it on someone like Cabrera, Lopez, or Hudson. Especially because getting over 40 means that chance for injuries skyrockets. I might be ok with it if we gave him a really low guaranteed amount with tons of incentives. Otherwise, just not worth it in my mind.
redsandyanksfan
he would gett maybe a similar deal to what jim edmonds got minor league deal with like 2 million incentives, he brings leadership, hitting, O cab will be with the reds, lopez cant hardly play shortstop anymore and im not sure where hudson fits it cause i believe there reluctant to move a gold glove 2nd basemen to short where he was not good i was talking about phillips so unless o dawg can play shot no and his defense accoriding to uzr has been way down
FutureBravesGM18
I don’t think Damon is needed unless they don’t think Heyward is going to be ready and from what I’ve read it’s his job to lose. I don’t think he will be signed because Heyward is our RF, McLouth is our CF, Diaz is our LF, and Cabrera or Schafer are the 4th OF.
Alldaybaseball
Wow haven’t heard an Anderson rumor at all this off season.
TimotheusATL
Well, as any Braves fan will tell you, he’s a tad slow…
Guest 937
Right you are
Alldaybaseball
I agree, and at times he just looked like he was only there for the money.
flumesalot
Even when GA was “getting it done” it looked very effortless. Maybe he’s at a point where he’d need to turn it up a notch… at least visually š
NYBravosFan10
it was even worse watching him lollygag in person. I went to three Braves-Phillies games in citizens bank park and i was disgusted looking at him.
vtadave
That this post is talking about a team being a “finalist” for the services of the great Derrick Turnbow implies that not only are there multiple teams still in the running, but that there were actually teams that Turnbow’s agent crossed off the list. Can you imagine being a GM and actually getting turned down by a guy whose output since 2007 consists of 6 1/3 innings and a 15.63 ERA and a 5.77 ERA since 2005?
R_y_a_n
Then after Turnbow’s first appearance on an opposing team, he’ll be thanking God, Buddah, Zeus and Jebus.
fpsantangeloswingman
Somebody please please please sign Eric Byrnes. If he goes unsigned, he’ll pollute the Bay Area airwaves with his senseless banter and annoying personality.
intheknow1252
Position Player : I would say Damon is the best available as he can still swing a bat and is able to play the field decent enough. If Dye’s fielding was not atrocious I would take him over Damon though.
Pitcher : Bedard, he shows flashes of brilliancy and would be a great mid to back of the rotation guy for any team. He is not durable enough to depend on him as anything more then a 4/5 guy though. But if he could pitch close to 200 innings he could def be a good 2/3 for a team.
Read more @ http://prosportsaddicts.com
Guest 938
Tim, Those Brewers were already on the 40-Man Roster…
MLBrainmaker
I’d like to see the headline “Webb pitches in Major League game; doesn’t wince in pain after every pitch” before seeing another article on where he’s going to sign next year….
NYBravosFan10
good luck with that one. Grab a magazine or two because you will be waiting