The Padres signed Hall of Fame outfielder Rickey Henderson on this date in 2001 and the 42-year-old went on to steal 25 bases with San Diego in his final season as a Major League regular. Here are today's links…
- Joey Votto told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that it'd be tough for a premium position player to sign a five-year deal. "No matter how fond a person is of the city, players have to maximize the number of years," Votto said. The first baseman, who is under contract with the Reds through 2013, says Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols "did excellent'' in free agency this offseason. Votto added that he would like to stay with the Reds and that the Cincinnati market seems strong.
- Twins GM Terry Ryan said there's a "possibility" the club looks to obtain a utility player from outside of the organization, according to MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger (Twitter links). Ryan said he’s open to promoting a Double-A player like Brian Dozier, but not for the utility role.
- Rival executives say manager Don Mattingly is one of the reasons the Dodgers are currently an underrated team, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The second-year skipper told Rosenthal that Spring Training has been easier this year, since he’s no longer breaking new ground at every turn.
- Rosenthal hears the Tigers and Red Sox are the most serious suitors for left-hander John Lannan (Twitter link). However, Lannan hasn’t looked great this spring and the Nationals aim to clear his entire $5MM salary in any trade. Chien-Ming Wang’s hamstring injury could also affect Lannan's status as a trade candidate.
- The Blue Jays remain interested in upgrading their rotation, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com tweets. It doesn't sound like the chances of a deal involving Gavin Floyd are particularly high, however.
When does Lannan ever look good? He just goes out every time and does maybe slightly better than mediocre for an mlb pitcher. Thats where his value is to me. He will give your the same thing day in and day out.
I think the tigers should stick with there internal options. Oliver or smyly can put up the same numbers or even better numbers than lannan.
The compulsive need to continue to link Votto to toronto is ridiculous..
Every move the Reds made this offseason was geared towards winning right now, including trading away a would be replacement (alonso) if Votto was traded.
The reality is Votto will not be traded until (at earliest) Next years trade deadline and that would hinge on the reds not being anywhere close to the playoffs and him walking away as an FA..
In 2 years time anything can happen, and Votto may not even be a need for the Jays. With its best position players being outfielders there’s a strong chance Bautista gets moved to first in a few years. There’s also a less likely chance that Adam Lind remembers how to hit again or the possibility of Thames/Snider both developing well and one of them being moved to 1B. .
So many things can happen between now and Votto’s FA. and he’s not moving before then, so these journalists should stop beating the non existant dead horse
What this man said. Votto also doesn’t like being the media star, which he certainly would be in Toronto. Cincinnati media knows their limits with Votto and doesn’t make him uncomfortable. Cincy would have to offer him at least a 7 year deal to stay, which is very affordable IF Phillips isn’t re-signed.
To an extent, I mean after all, they have Bautista and Canadian boy Brett Lawrie, so the attention would not soley be on him, but they could be a highly touted threesome. However, I agree, they just need to let the man play and leave him alone with this. However, I will add a little bit of my two cents about his comment and it seems that while he would still like to remain a Red, he gave a little wink wink that he wouldn’t mind playing in Toronto, barring the right years and money.
There’s no wink wink about anything. The man wants as much money and guaranteed years as he can get, whether it’s in Canada, Cincinnati, or anywhere else. This ain’t no Agatha Christie novel….
Seeing as how the Jays don’t go longer than 5 years on contracts, yeah it was a wink wink to tell them if you want me, your current policy isn’t going to get me there. Also, there was a report weeks ago saying he apparently wasn’t interested in playing Toronto so that shoots down that rumor, even though it wasn’t very believable to begin with.
Joey Votto doesn’t need to do wink wink games through the press. That’s what he pays Dan Lozano 5% of his salary for. And Lozano just showed the baseball world with the Pujols contract that shorter years and shorter money values isn’t going to cut it.
Everybody can try to climb into Joey Votto’s head and get at the hidden meaning of his words. Sometimes it’s just easier to take a man at face value, especially when they’re the thoughtful, no BS type like Votto.
Stop harping about the wink wink…what you just said still doesn’t deny the fact that he is literally telling the Jays, he isn’t signing there under their current policy for contracts.
There’s no wink wink about anything. The man wants as much money and guaranteed years as he can get, whether it’s in Canada, Cincinnati, or anywhere else. This ain’t no Agatha Christie novel….
Yea Votto take lesser ,oney if you need to like Larkin did
Votto says Fielder and Pujols did excellent in FA this year! So will he if he wants to not sign a extension before then.
I’m sorta confused by the continuation of Lannan posts. I thought for sure that Wang’s hamstring injury would make the Nats realize they will probably need him at some pioint.
BNS: Not to nitpick, but Rickey played 2 more years…
You missed a word. Re-read.
media is really beating this votto-to-jays thing to death, arent they? i think even some of mike wilner’s guest callers are moving on by now.