With Terry Francona now off the market, it wouldn't make a sense for the Tigers to let Jim Leyland go at the end of the year, opines Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press. Yesterday, Leyland confirmed that he wants to continue managing in 2013, but the veteran skipper's contract will expire at the end of the year. Here's more from around baseball..
- If the Tigers re-sign Anibal Sanchez, they'll have to move another one of their starting pitchers, opines Jason Beck of MLB.com. Beyond the simple numbers issue, the Tigers will be facing a payroll crunch if they choose to keep Sanchez with the same rotation in place. Justin Verlander will earn $20MM next season, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello will head to arbitration for the second time, and Doug Fister is first-time arb eligible. In theory, Detroit could part with one of the four and plug Drew Smyly in their place.
- Dodgers third base coach Tim Wallach is set to interview with the Red Sox for their managerial vacancy next week, tweets Ken Gurnick of the Los Angeles Times.
- Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik wouldn't discuss whether he has had contract extension talks with ace Felix Hernandez, but reiterated that both sides are hoping that he will stay put in Seattle for the long-term, writes Greg Johns of MLB.com. Hernandez has two years and $40.5MM left on the five-year, $78MM deal he inked in 2010.
- Omar Vizquel opined earlier this year that the Blue Jays were in desperate need of veteran leadership, but Jose Bautista says that he doesn't agree with that assessment, writes Chris Toman of MLB.com. "I really don't understand why everybody is making — in my eyes — a big deal out of that subject," Bautista said. "It's not something that needs to be addressed in our clubhouse."
- Despite talk of the Phillies looking to improve with minor moves this winter, Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News wouldn't rule out Ruben Amaro making a major splash by signing the likes of B.J. Upton or Michael Bourn.
Joey Bats IS the leader.
funny how the guy they signed for veteran leadership complains that the team needs veteran leadership.
reality is, when a team wins, they have good ‘leadership, heart, hustle and play the game the right way with good club house chemistry’ when a team loses people say the opposite. its all perception and fluff
True. I like Omar , but silly thing to say and horrible timing with all the crap that already went on with the Jays. He needs to play the Veteran Leader ” no comment ” card on that one.
If you can’t get veteran leadership from a 45 year old guy with nearly 3,000 hits, 11 Gold gloves, and 6 playoff appearances…I’m not sure where you can get it from. By the way, Omar…Did you think Toronto brought you in because they thought you could still be a productive player? YOU were supposed to be the veteran leader.
+1
@Lunchbox45 As well. Seems a bit unrealistic to import a 45 yr old who’s played 23 yrs outside the organization, put him on the bench and expect him to be the leader. He can only set an example,as to how to conduct oneself. To expect Vizquel to come in and set a tone for others to follow isn’t plausible at all.
so why else was he there? They surely didn’t sign him for performance.
and pretty sure the rangers and white sox and all his previous 1 year deals did the exact same thing.
seems like the yankees could use some leadership…
At least Phils are contemplating making small moves. Angel Pagan, Angel Pagan, Angel Pagan. Get him. Perfect fit, all other guys just don’t make sense. I know we have money, but don’t go crazy this year.
We have approxmately $145+ mil going to current Phils players, assumng everybody except Ruiz is bought out or left to free agency. a bullpen arm would cost 3-5 mil, or 4 mil. Lets just say we got $150. We “could” get Bourn or Upton, we could. Should we? nope, Pagan would cost $9 mil for 3 years maybe 10 for 4, but not too bad of a deal. that leaves us with 12 mil of free space, right around where we want to be.
As for 3B, I dont think the market is great, but the trade market for primetime options are expensive/unnessecary. My suggestions would be to either sign Eric Chavez to compliment Frandsen, or swap a deal for Micheal young and cash (for Camreon Rupp and Joe Savery/Jake Diekman). Both quality options, but no need for craziness this winter.
If they’re going the cheap route, trading for Peter Bourjos could be the way to go. He’s young, hits right handed, and has some upside.
His only year as a starting player resulted in some quality numbers. Not sure if he’s the best fit but he’s a guy I’d watch if the outfielder market becomes too pricey.
I like your Eric Chavez idea… and it’s one I’ve been having recently. If they can’t get Kevin Youkilis for a reasonable amount, he’d be a great fit to platoon with Fransden.
He was a consideration for me, but the same way we view Dom Brown as valuable, they also view him more valuable than his mlb stats show. The possibility to trade for a young guy is there, but with cheap/youth talent at LF, RF, 3B, and bullpen, a quality guy would be needed to lead off. The concept of Borjous is good, but we need a leadoff hitter who can get on base, not neccesarily hit for power.
Still, that is a good possibilty, and, unless we lose great prospects, a route I wouldn’t hate to see
Kevin Youk is a strecth. We would be in a bidding war with many teams who lack 3B depth, and it would cost us the rest of our cap space, for 2-3 years, which isn t good for Asche/Franco’s development if theyre going to be our 3B of the future. That’s why I suggested Young. Similar player, but we can buy low, and it would be for 1 yr, and cheaper cost.
I think the difference is there’s no room for him unless they let Tori Hunter walk. It’s a complete waste of his talent to have him on the bench.
Maybe they make Trumbo available given his 2nd half slump. Their outfield is way overcrowded. He doesn’t solve our center field problem but I just thought I’d throw that out there.
Well, they won’t let him go until they like the offer. my guess is they’ll find a partner for wells, maybe CLE (could be us, we’ll see) and they’ll have Trout Trumbo Torii in the OF.
At this point tey seem to not care he’s on the bench, they seem to be waiting out Morales for why he becomes a FA, Trumbo goes to 1st to open a spot. Just specullation, but like I said, they value him very highly
RAJ is drooling over Upton already and I dont care for it. But there going to sign an OF and as long as its not Victorino Ill live with it. I would honestly like to see them give Ruf a crack at the LF job if he can get the OF down ala Pat Burrell. I may be in the minority there.
For 3rd base, I really dont want them to go after Headley. I dont think hes a star in the making, I think he was more a flash in the pan this year. I might be willing to take that gamble if RAJ could pull off a good deal for once, like maybe sending Brown and Worley to SD for him. Plug worley spot with Cloyd. If not another idea Im ok with is seeing if Rolen would come back to Philly in a time share with Frandsen. I know not popular but I could see it working.
My only request is that we get Mike Adams to set up for Pap.
I think Ruf is the real deal. He’s no super star, but could be a legit 30 HR masher, and a much needed power bat. I want Phillies to be real creative for once.
Let a few of the guys in their own farm system get full playing time in the big leagues.
Trade Ryan Howard to an AL club that have the ability to let him DH at least part time. Eat a chunk of his contract, depending on how much, get a couple of good prospects in return.
It’s time to rebuild. Rebuild with healthy position players, if Phillies do, their starting rotation is good enough to get into the playoffs next season already.
It’s very important to get rid of Jimmy Pop-up though. He’s sporting a bad attitude and not showing leadership. Compare him to Pedroia, who also started the season in Boston with bad leadership, questioning his skipper. But Pedroia knew he was wrong, and until the last out of the season, he hustled every play, and acted loyal to Bobby V, whether Bobby V deserved it or not.
That huge contract handed out to Jimmy was the worst thing that could ever happen to him. He became content.
“Trumbo goes to 1st”. Aren’t you forgetting about someone named Albert Pujols?
Why wouldn’t they let Torii Hunter walk? Sure he had a great year, but he is going to be 38 next year. My only hope is that Amaro stays far, far away from Hunter. He is just the type of aged vet that Amaro drools over and overpays for, only to find out a year later that the player is done like Ibanez.
Becuase he’s a great fielder, hitter, and clubhouse presence. He had a good year, but primarily because of their outfield Jam, they should let him walk. On any other condition, he should stay, but if they really want to see borjous, then letting him go would be best.
mlbtraderumors.com/2012/10/angels-to-pursue-pitchi…
I agree they should let him walk but it doesn’t sound like they’re going to.
“done like Ibanez” ???
done like dinner — thanksgiving dinner
Resign Sanchez and trade Porcello/Avisail/mid prospect to the Rangers for Andrus.
Rangers not ready to give Andrus away….not just yet
how is that enough
Didn’t say it was enough. But it’s a decent place to start. Maybe thrown in Boesch or Berry. With Hamilton’s possible departure and Avisail shooting up prospect lists and obvious skills, he’d be intriguing for any team. Porcello has amazing games and still shows possible promise while still being young enough to improve. Not to mention a ground ball pitcher in that park could be very appealing. Maybe add Boesch (could be a force in Texas’s ballpark) or Berry (Although Martin might have locked up CF) and I think Rangers would be dumb not to at least consider it. Texas’s want to promote Profar hurts them but lack of avail SS helps. Even at trade deadline and possible Andrus trade, interest in him seemed lukewarm from teams. Teams either have their SS or are in rebuild mode an he is counterproductive to their plans. I just have this feeling with all intangibles that Andrus isn’t going to net as much as the Rangers would hope and I hope it’s the Tigers that can pull it off.
While I’d love that, I don’t see Texas parting with Andrus for anything less than a top pitcher. Bourjos of the Angels might be a more reasonable target. The Tigers could use more speed in their lineup. And with question marks in Greinke, Haren, and Santana to return, LA might like a cost-controlled proven 4th starter with upside.
We have no need for Burjous. We already have a Burjous in Berry. An OF of Dirks/Ajax/Castellanos with Berry as 4th is more than adequate. Worse comes to worse and we can trade for an OF at deadline because the rest of our team is pretty solid, so we can afford to experiment with that OF and see how it works. Best thing I think the Tigs can do in offseason is to resign Sanchez and trade for Andrus. If you can’t work that out then, then I’d go after S Drew and try and still trade Porcello and Boesch for some bullpen arms and a good long reliever that can pull some starts if needed.
The Rangers are not going to trade Andrus for a starter with a career 4.55 ERA that would get lit up in Arlington. I don’t see Andrus getting traded at all
I think it’d be a fairly easy decision to move Porcello if they sign Anibal long term.
Tigers should resign Sanchez and trade Porcello for another underperforming once top prospect. It would be a fair deal to trade Porcello plus another mid prospect for Bourjos. With the Tigers’ poor infield defense, they need strikeout pitchers like Sanchez more than pitch-to-contact guys like Porcello. Bourjos could prove himself in the 2-hole hitting before Miguel Cabrera and after A-Jax.
You could make a case that the Tigers have done the best job of putting together a rotation over the last 3 years. First they get Scherzer in the Grandy trade, last year they pick up Fister, and this year Anibal Sanchez. Now they have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. Teams like the Sox, Jays, and Yanks wish they made some of these moves.
They’ve done a good job sure, but they also gave up a lot to get those players, they also benefited from a weak division, any other division they would have finished 3rd not 1st.
I would argue that Nationals have done better.
Interesting thing about Omar V. He had 220 hits in the 4 seasons from Age 42-45. Just saying–if Jeter gets 570 hits the next 3 years (190 a year)–certainly not an easy task–and then mirrors Omar’s career as a utility guy the next 4 he still falls about 170 short. I think he has a shot at 4,000 but breaking Rose’s record is probably not going to happen.
I don’t think Jeter would be able to stick around defensively.
Also, jeter had the much much better career, I don’t see him sticking around as a utility guy, he’ll leave on top like Chipper did.
I don’t think Jeter has any interest at all in sticking around for the sake of breaking the record. He is however, addicted to championships, so I can see him sticking around as long as he’s able-bodied enough to contribute to a championship caliber team.