The latest from ESPN's Buster Olney…
- Olney ranks the rotations, with the Phillies, Giants, and Athletics taking the top three spots. It seems odd to see the Cardinals in an eighth-place tie, but there are a lot of good ones. How does your top ten look?
- The Athletics would talk to free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre again if the player is willing. Beltre reportedly ignored Oakland's five-year, $64MM offer, which isn't much lower than the offer the Angels pulled yesterday. Beltre appears to crave $85-90MM over five years, or a sixth year.
- The Orioles have been talking to Adam LaRoche's agents about a three-year deal in the $21MM range, though it was said yesterday they're at an impasse. LaRoche had a near-miss on a multiyear deal with the Giants last offseason, though that offer came with undesirable options attached. Olney says the Orioles are in the one-year, $8MM range with Derrek Lee, which should be close to enough. Failing those options, Olney suggests a platoon involving Troy Glaus and Russell Branyan or Jason Giambi.
Really good points, well I guess they decided Lee for 1 was the better option. We will see how it turns out, with Buck behind the wheel I can see them suprising some people in ’11.