On this date in 1998, the Orioles signed Albert Belle to a five-year, $65MM deal. He batted .289/.374/.509 with Baltimore, but didn't play at all after the 2000 season. Here are today's links…
- Stop by at 2pm CDT for this week's chat.
- Oakland’s immediate goal is to sign Lance Berkman, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The A's met with Berkman and Adam Dunn yesterday.
- Rosenthal suggests the A’s likely want to hear back from Scott Boras and Adrian Beltre about the five-year, $64MM offer they reportedly made in November.
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan asks Bud Selig to leave the playoffs alone and suggests the commissioner could improve the game by introducing more instant replay and asking major TV networks to show a more diverse selection of teams.
- Jim Edmonds is contemplating playing one more season, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
- The Phillies are more likely to pursue free agent left-handers who don't cost a draft pick, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). In other words, they'd rather not give up a pick to sign Scott Downs.
- Speaking of relievers, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun explains that the Orioles have interest in any competent veteran reliever and will kick the tires on most.
- The Mets re-signed former big leaguer Mike O'Connor according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (on Twitter). The 30-year-old left-hander last pitched in the majors for the 2008 Nationals, but he appeared in 51 games at Triple-A Buffalo in 2010, posting 8.9 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 for the top Mets affiliate.
- The Pirates made a competitive offer for Jorge de la Rosa before he agreed to a deal with the Rockies, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (on Twitter).
- De La Rosa's agents approached the Padres about a potential deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. San Diego couldn't afford the lefty, though they were interested.
Looks like Beltre’s days in Boston are done
I personally, would wait out Berkman. He’s likely to not sign anytime soon, instead I’d focus my attention on Adrian Beltre a great deal, if he signs, you put EE (that is if he does not get non-tendered) at DH and sign a cheap DH like Matsui for example…I’d wait out the market for Lance Berkman and focus on Adrian Beltre because I think he’d be perfect for that team…I wonder if Chris Carter at this point could be dangled…The Rays or Blue Jays in my opinion, would be great fits for the kid. He’s one of my favorite prospects and he finished off the season incredibly strong, but most people look at his overall Major League cup of coffee.
I think they let Chris Carter work on playing LF in AAA. If DDJ sucks it up they’ll bring up Carter. If DDJ has a good season, they let him walk at the end of the year and Carter gets a shot opening day 2012.
Berkman may be cheaper than Dunn, but you get what you pay for.
Berkman is the cheapest out of those 3. I would give him a 1 year deal, $2 million plus performance incentives. Dunn & Beltre are not gonna come cheap. They’re both still young & in the prime of their careers. So if I was the A’s when it comes to Berkman, they should proceed with caution.
I think you could easily argue that Berkman is a better “all-around” player than Dunn. Obviously if you look at Dunn’s numbers they’re ridiculous compared to what Berkman did last year but the guy doesn’t have the baseball-sense to play the field. Dunn is a very very good DH, plain and simple. I’d rather have a guy that can play BASEBALL. Not a guy that’s gonna throw a fit because he wants to play the field when he has no business doing so. That’s just my 2 cents though. I’m sure many of you will disagree.
I don’t COMPLETELY disagree, but looking at Berkman’s career defensive numbers he is no gem in the field, either. Better than Dunn, but that’s a pretty low bar (a broomstick with a glove on it stuck in the ground might be better than Dunn) and Dunn’s offense is a lot better at this point in their careers.
Berkman = Jason Giambi 2.0..and I am referring to Giambi’s second stint in Oakland of course…
except Berkman is coming off a bad season while Giambi was coming off a decent season, and Berkman will probably do better than Giambi did in Oakland… it’s hard to do worse…
Jimmy Ball Game its time to hang them up my man. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who loves ya more than I do, but you gotta go out gracefully and just retire with an amazing career under your belt and a World Series ring.
I personally think Berkman will be a great bargain for somebody this year. JMO tho.
Good to see the Phillies won’t be blowing big money on relief pitching.
Why is that good to see, Colleen? Have you looked at Scott Down’s numbers the last couple of seasons? The Phillies will likely be getting draft picks back after Jayson Werth walks.
Phillies have an excellent draft scouting system, they will value having the extra picks…but I would def. Consider Downs at the right price if I was RAJr.
Still trying figure out what this post has to do with the Marlins.
Seriously, I’ve read this article 5 times. What does it have to do with the Marlins?
If the playoffs are expanded, the regular season will be about as interesting as a hockey season (and I never watch hockey during the regular season).
Edmonds needs to sign with the pirates then get traded to Houston. Then he can be the first guy to play for all NL Central teams within just 4 years.
I am so VERY glad the Pirates did not sign JDLR.
Why did this topic say Marlins? Douches, I read this whole post for NO reason.
Why did this topic say Marlins? Douches, I read this whole post for NO reason.
Seriously? 3 yrs @ 32mil is a ‘discount’ for De La Rosa? You’ve got to be kidding me.
As a Pads fan, I’d MUCH rather have our 1st round pick in this year’s draft than to give it up AND overpay for this guy.
I mean, he’s got some good stuff, but come on…