Links for Saturday…
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff provides a primer for next week's GM Meetings in Orlando. MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith will be on the scene there Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times tweets that former Phillies' first base coach Davey Lopes is close to joining the Dodgers' coaching staff in an unknown capacity.
- Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse analyzes the Cameron Maybin trade, saying the outfielder doesn't need to develop into a star to represent an upgrade for the Padres.
- Richard Griffin of The Star has a one-on-one interview with new Blue Jays manager John Farrell.
- Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun Times that he's not worried about making a splash this offseason, but that it's "really imperative that we have two or three really good moves."
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says that in the wake of the Maybin deal, the Marlins will give Scott Cousins a long look in center field next year (Twitter link).
- Meanwhile, Padres GM Jed Hoyer told Dan Hayes of The North County Times that Maybin is "exactly the type of player we hoped to acquire for Petco Park." (Twitter link)
- MLB.com's Jason Beck states the obvious, saying that the Marlins probably would have been better off keeping Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis and then taking the draft picks when they left as free agents. I'm not sure that keeping those two would have been financially possible, though.
- Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com writes that after catcher Erik Kratz signed with the Phillies, the Pirates will now have to bring in a catcher or two to provide depth at the Triple-A level.
- The Nationals have signed righty reliever Tim Wood to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com. Wood, who turns 28 on Tuesday, appeared in 44 games with the Marlins over the last two seasons, pitching to a 4.32 ERA with nearly as many walks (25) as strikeouts (26) in 50 innings.
- ESPN's Buster Olney expects the Cardinals to aggressively pursue Juan Uribe since they could use him at pretty much any of their non-first base infield positions (Twitter link).
- Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald reports that GM Theo Epstein said the team has talked to Kevin Youkilis about moving to third base in the event that they are unable to re-sign Adrian Beltre, who we learned is one of their priorities.
- Meanwhile, Alex Speier of WEEI.com separates fact from fiction with regards to Scott Boras' claims about Beltre.
- SI.com's Melissa Segura tweets that a new league launched in the Dominican Republic yesterday, and it features the top young free agent players the country has to offer.
mets should sign uribe to add some power at a position where they have had zero power since jose valentin manned the position
Or trade for Uggla
Alex Speier of WEEI.com separates fact from fiction with regards to Scott Boras’ claims about Beltre.”
Separating fact from fiction for things Scott Boras says – that’s a full-time job right there.
Hopefully if they move Youk, its somebody by the name of Adrain Gonzalez patrolling first base… thats the only way i’d want to move him from first
Seems like at this point, you have to wonder if Youkilis could still even play third very well. Resigning Beltre looks like it would be a better/cheaper move in terms of saving prospects, money and maintaining the defense as opposed to trading for A-Gon and moving Youk to third. Then again, I don’t know Youk as well as you or other Sox fans do…I could be wrong. That’s just how it seems from my perspective
I think he could play it well enough. He’s not going to win a gold glove, but if you had a bat like Gonzalez’s bat at first base, it would be worth the move. I have concerns about keeping Beltre, I think his offensive production will fall of a lot, though maybe all he needs is Fenway to be a successful hitter. Plus if you kept him you’d have great defense at both first base and third base. That said, I don’t believe he’ll be back because he wants to play for a west coast team
I’d believe in Youkilis being able to move from first to third. He’s not a smooth athlete, but a pretty quick one. Quickness and coordination are most important at third and first.
Youk is an excellent defender at 3rd base. The drop off in defense if you move him there to have AGon play 1st would be negligible if there would be any drop off at all.
At this point in his career he is by far a better first baseman than a third baseman (goes without saying probably) so I am of the opinion that if you move him to third you have to bring in someone who more than makes up for the drop in defense, probably with their offense (A-gon or Fielder). That being said Youk did play his whole minor league career as a 3rd baseman and is a smart fielder so I do think that while he may not be another Beltre (or Lowell in his prime) he could still be an above average 3rd baseman.
By the way I’m from maine and I’m also a sox fan. Just sayin 🙂
At this point in his career he is by far a better first baseman than a third baseman (goes without saying probably) so I am of the opinion that if you move him to third you have to bring in someone who more than makes up for the drop in defense, probably with their offense (A-gon or Fielder). That being said Youk did play his whole minor league career as a 3rd baseman and is a smart fielder so I do think that while he may not be another Beltre (or Lowell in his prime) he could still be an above average 3rd baseman.
There are better stop gap options for 1B then there is for 3B. They may be better off with him having a full season at 3B under his belt if/when one of the big three comes to Boston.
YA like Pujols! Hey i can dream can’t I?
I don’t know if he would be willing to do a position change, but what about Uggla at 3rd?
uribe is 8-1 lifetime in the world series.
Rumors are circulating that Uribe is waiting to see what kind of deal that Derek Jeter gets before moving on anything. Memo to Uribe: Your four bedroom, 2.5 bath home is nothing like Jeter’s four bedroom, 2.5 bath. Just because you’re both SS does not mean you have similar value. Get a grip!
uribe is 8-1 lifetime in the world series.
The Pirates should have kept Eric Kratz, he would have been good for the pitching prospects at AAA but hopefully they will find someone better that can also be a solid big league backup.
The Pirates should have kept Eric Kratz, he would have been good for the pitching prospects at AAA but hopefully they will find someone better that can also be a solid big league backup.
Giants should pursue Uribe. Everyone knows how hard it is for power shortstops to come by. And if you noticed most of his homers came on tied or behind games. Who knows where we’d be without him. Who would Giants settle with then? Fontenot at SS?!
Crawford may come up in the middle of the year to play ss but I expect the Giants to get Uribe. He had the 2nd most homers in the majors at SS. Also, Freddy Sanchez can play ss and Burriss can play 2nd but they are probably going to want some power at atleast one position in the middle infield.
first, sanchez cant play short. hes had shoulder problems before and this year. at one point he could barley turn a double play.
second, burres is not a major league player. hes never preformed well at the pro level consistently. i would be very upset if the giants went into the year with him as their short stop.
Crawford can’t hit AA pitching at all. He’s nowhere near ready to come up.
I don’t recall writing this comment…. 🙂
Guess what the “M” stands for.
Forget Beltre. Having Adrian at first base makes a sure fielder out of anyone at third. Youkillis will do just fine there.
Alright Soxfans. Let’s get Adrian and his probable .300/.400/.600 slash line on your team. You have no idea how good this guy will be in smaller ballpark. He’s a lock for 40 homers and might hit 55. He fixed his shoulder that kept his numbers down at the end of last season and should be perfectly healthy to start the season.
Just hold your nose and bite the bullet on prospects. We want Jed Lowrie, Micheal Bowden, and Casey Kelly. Pull the trigger, come on, let’s do this!
I think as far as trades go if the Sox become willing to include Kelly then it can def get done..but I’m not sure they’d be willing to do that when A.Gonz will be a FA in 1 more year.
“Jed Lowrie, Micheal Bowden, and Casey Kelly.”
I just don’t get it…Just don’t get it.
Yeah, no one wants Michael Bowden.
Yep…I’m pretty sure if the Padres wanted that deal Adrian would be in Boston already.
Ummm, that deal wasn’t offered. “Edes says Daniel Bard and Casey Kelly “have been declared off-limits by the Red Sox.”” That quote was from near the trade deadline from 2009, under Halladay Rumors. Red Sox wouldn’t even give up Kelly for Halladay, so if Kelly was offered, then Gonzalez or Halladay would be in Boston right now. There’s numerous articles that would say if Kelly was involved, then Gonzalez would be in Boston also.
The fact is Jed Lowrie and Michael Bowden are such a minimal loss for the Red Sox that it would be basically dealing Casey Kelly straight up for Adrian which you think the Sox wouldn’t do? Sure, they don’t want to give up Kelly in a package with other valuable prospects but I really doubt the Red Sox would reject that deal.
“Cubs GM John Hendry told Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun Times”
Good, it was time they got rid of Jim. I wish his brother the best of luck.
Best post I’ve seen all day.
So Hendry might explore Nick Johnson or Lyle Overbay as a fit at 1b? Yuck.
Honestly he might as well not even bother if that’s going to be his solution. LaRoche I could live with on a one year deal. Johnson I could live with on a weekly contract. Overbay I could live with if he’s the very last option available and agrees to play for league minimum.
I’d be happy with Dunn but I’m getting more and more skeptical that it’s going to happen given payroll. Carlos Pena would be a nice fit, at least no one would be able to complain about Dunn’s defense, no matter how many fewer runs he creates with the bat. A move to the NL might be what he needs at this point in his career to get himself back on track.
I would be happy with L.Overbay! Hes glove would be good because we got crazy arm 3B, not to mention a very young SS. Overbay would be very cheap maybe a 1 year 2-2.5 mil? But people might be worried about his bat because the cubs are use to thier 1st Baseman to bat 3rd he would probly bat lower unless a change to the n.l. would help him. Now if everyone is all YUCK on overbay then How about Cantu?
I knoww J.cantu is not left handed but his flexability to play 1b and 3b(if A.Ram goes down) I could see him on a 1 year 2-3 mil? What does everyone think?
Cantu, Overbay, LaRoche, Johnson, and almost anyone else have got to be fallback options at the most. Dunn is Hendry’s first choice although id love to see what Carlos Pena could do in Wrigley and a change to the NL might do him some good add in the fact the he is a plus defender and he should be the first choice of FA options and idk that his production would be that much less than Dunn when you take defense in to account. And yeah Dunn will give you 40/100 every year but how much will his defense give back. Pena will make up some of the difference in production with the defense he brings, and i dont buy into this year being what to expect from pena going forward. I think he will be closer to his average from 2007-2009 he isnt going to be a high average guy but he should give you somewhere in the 30/100 range hit about .230ish. But you need the defense more than the extra production that Dunn gives you plus he would be cheaper.
I still think that a package involving Hak-Ju Lee and Andrew Cashner as the principles could get Gonzalez out of SD.
Whether its Dunn, Pena, or Gonzalez they do need to get a LH hitter into the middle of that lineup just to provide some balance.
redsox fans are dreaming your not getting Adrian Gonzalez with out giving up Lester,Kelly and Ellsbury
Redsox fans are ignorant and dreamers…AGon isnt moving without giving up Lester,Kelly and Ellsbury
You couldn’t trade Agonz straight up for Lester and I’m far from a Sox Homer.
Buchholz is probably who you meant, and he’s probably untouchable…
Bucholz is mud….AGon is a beast in a terrible lineup in a pitchers park. Keep dreaming redsox fans
Redsox wont get him if he gets to free agency either
“Bucholz is mud”
Ok first of all you believe one of the top young lefty power pitchers in the game is worth less than Gonzalez now Buchholz, a 25 year old breakout pitcher is “mud.” You really are just a troll aren’t you.
yep i hate those guys with a 2.33 era too. Real mud.
While I support any red sox fan bashing, that’s a beyond ridiculous demand. Lester alone outweighs Agon.
What a garbage interview by Richard Griffin. I do have a good feeling about Farrell however.
Hoyer wants guys that hit under .250 to play CF? Didn’t Padres already have one of those in Gwynn? Gwynn can’t hit but he plays GREAT defense. Maybin is slightly above replacement level at defense and has regressed offensively each year. So next season he is Gwynn with the bat and Hairston with the glove?
Yeah. Gonna be a real treat watching Maybin try to steal 1B with the Padres. I really “enjoyed” watching him hit .300 for the Fish ML teams every year, yet choke when he would get called up each time for “the show” on a continual basis.
Poor Hoyer got hood winked into giving the Fish 2 decent BP pieces for a castoff.
“Cubs GM John Hendry told Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun Times that he’s not worried about making a splash this offseason, but that it’s “really imperative that we have two or three really good moves.”
Which of the Nick Johnson, Adam LaRoche or Lyle Overbay signing is the really ‘good move’.
I’m confused.
nick johnson cant even stay healthy as a DH….he is the lindsay lohan of baseball
LaRoche is good if you can deal with the strikeouts other wise a good hitter, average glove. Overbay great Defender, average bat. N.Johnson is a lefty Nady of this year. your not quite sure what your getting from him.
So my vote goes to overbay bc defence is key not to menion u got A.Ram at 3b and Castro at SS so you need the Defence.
Rizzo Kelly Lowrie Kallish or Iglesias for Gonzo you have a deal.
No.
porque? es mucho
Sí, es mucho. And that pretty much exhausts my ability to speak Spanish.
You’re asking for Boston’s 4 top prospects plus a middle infielder coming off of an abbreviated but promising season. No GM would give up that much for a single player.
Gonalez for a 1st round draft pick after the season and SD can cry afterwards.
and you cry all season right.
“Buster Olney expects” yeah then I’m done reading that story…