Here’s the latest hot stove buzz from FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal…
- The Dodgers checked in on free agent slugger Chris Carter, though Rosenthal has some doubts that the fit would work for either side. Carter might want too significant a salary for the Dodgers’ liking, as the team is already well over the luxury tax threshold. From Carter’s perspective, he’d likely want more playing time than L.A. could offer him as a part-time first baseman (spelling Adrian Gonzalez against lefty pitching) and receiving an occasional start in left field.
- The Rays were the mystery team who submitted the highest bid for Sergio Romo’s services. Previous reports indicated that the Rays were in the mix for Romo and that the reliever declined a higher offer to stay on the west coast and sign with the Dodgers for a one-year, $3MM deal. With Romo off the board, the Rays are seemingly still in the hunt for another arm to join their bullpen.
- The Rays earn $20MM per year on their current TV contract, which expires after the 2018 season. Club owner Stuart Sternberg recently said negotiations were taking place about a new deal, though nothing was close to fruition.
- Rosenthal’s column takes a broader look at the Rays’ offseason, noting that the team is trying to both save money and stay competitive at the same time. Tampa could even project as an under-the-radar playoff contender if they catch a few breaks, such as better health from key players. Had the club received good offers for Chris Archer or Kevin Kiermaier this winter, however, the Rays would’ve embarked on a full rebuilding process, and they could still take that route next offseason or at the July trade deadline if this year’s roster doesn’t play up to expectations.
- The Twins will release Byung Ho Park if they can’t find a trade partner for the recently-designated first baseman (update: Rosenthal has since corrected this). Minnesota’s decision to DFA Park was already rather unexpected, and it would be even more surprising if the club cut ties entirely, especially since earlier reports had the Twins intending to keep Park in the minors if he cleared waivers. The Twins would be on the hook for the remaining $9.75MM owed to Park through the 2019 season if they released him. Continuing the Tampa-centric theme, Rosenthal reports that the Rays are looking to add a right-handed bat and have Park on their list of targets. Rather than work out a trade, the Rays could wait to see if the Twins do release Park, in which case Tampa Bay could just sign him as a free agent. The Rays would then only owe Park a minimum salary while Minnesota covers the rest of the $9.75MM.
Sergio Romo signing, hope the Dodgers can still sign Blanton.
I read Rosenthals article… didn’t see where he said Park would be released if he’s not traded. Just curious who has said this?
Clearly says in his article that they will release him if they can’t trade him.
“The Twins will release Park, to whom they owe $9.75 million over the next three seasons, if they cannot trade him. The Rays then could sign Park as a free agent for the minimum, with the Twins paying the rest.”
That’s what Rosenthal wrote. Now, how he definitively knows this about the Twins is another matter. He doesn’t cite a source.
Rosenthal has since corrected that report. The Twins will NOT cut him for all the reasons others have mentioned.
So I see. It seemed odd at the time for Rosenthal to be so definite about it. Such is the life of a “scoop”.
I don’t get why the Twins would release Park. If he clears waivers, they’re going to have to pay his salary regardless. Why not just keep him and send him to AAA? The only salary relief they’d get would be the $500,000+ minimum salary that the signing team would have to pay him if he was on their big league roster. I’m not sure that’s worth giving up on him after just one year.
I think it’s a bluff, saying they will release him might make teams not want to claim him so they think they can just sign him after they release him and not pay 9 mil salary. Only thing I can think of that makes sense , twins FO has been weird with how they have handled things to this point so far in my opinion but we will see..
Bluffing about releasing him is probably the only way they think he can clear waivers.. Tampa should call their bluff and claim him
If the Twins release him I’m all for the Rays getting him. However, if they have to pay his full salary I would rather sign Carter. At this point, the hope with Park is he becomes Chris Carter. Why not get Carter now that his market looks like it has tanked?
Chris Carter has no fit with the dodgers. Doesn’t make sense to even check in
Thank you.
Where does he fit? He’s on his second non-tender year in a row.
A whole article about the Rays? Scoreee
Rays might be able to get more viewership, therefore more money for broadcasting rights if they would cast off Dewayne staats and Brian Anderson, 2 of the biggest cry babies currently announcing. I turn the volume all the way off now when watching Rays games to avoid them it’s that bad, no color man, since Kevin Kennedy actually had any common decency.
Kennedy was the absolute worst. Since Joe left, Brian has been the best replacement and if you don’t like the stash/frizzle fro Staats then I question your fandom with all due respect.
Brian Anderson walked out of the broadcast booth while the rays were in seattle during a losing streak in late 2015 because he couldn’t watch them fall out of playoff contention.. An announcer.. I’ve never seen, nor heard that before in over 50y of watching/listening to thousands of games.. The most childish thing have ever seen and from a supposed grown up! AND.. He kept his job?
This is how the Rays are run as an organization
Well, agree to disagree then, because Kennedy was constantly negative, trashed the newer analytical approach the team at the time was employing, and he had very little to add in terms of useful observations. He was doing that while the team was in the middle of its successful run, which adds to the mind boggling way he went about his job. Anderson has a ton of insight into the pitchers and org(been with them a long time before entering the booth). I grew up there but no longer live in the state, yet still listen to local radio during MLB season and trashing the team even when they were winning was enjoyed by many grumpy old transplants that were fans of NE teams.
Like you know anything about “how the Rays are run as an organization”
Rays’ viewership isn’t bad. It ranked 13th out of the 29 U.S.-based teams.
Some people mistakenly think the Rays are the second coming of the woeful St. Louis Browns. The Rays’ FO does more with less than most other sports franchises. All they need is a stadium in the right part of the area and they will draw, and that stadium scenario seems more and more likely to happen.
No way, Dewayne and BA are great to listen to. BA knows a ton about the game and they are an entertaining duo. When they have days off and Todd Kalas filled in, the broadcast got boring. And they aren’t employed by the Rays, they are employed by Fox. Which there again if BA was so bad, Fox wouldn’t put him on their Saturday national telecast as they do from time to time. To each his own I guess.
That guy only likes anything Boston. I’m sure he thinks they have excellent TV guys.
Yeah, he sounds like a lot of the older people in Pinellas county. They move to FL from NY, CT, MA and then trash the team constantly. Hopefully the 2008-20011 seasons helped cultivate a newer generation of fans that can at least slightly drown out the grumpy old men.
That is 100% nonsense, as is most everything you post and you know it, making it worse..
I routinely watch multiple games each day and regularly watch/enjoy Orioles and Marlins games, along with the mariners as teams have liked for years, probably longer than you have been alive…
Wow are the Twins trying to compete with the Marlins, Reds, Diamondbacks and Angels for the title of worst run organization now?
I agree, they’ve been awful to this point so far.. can’t stand how they handled the Dozier trade saying they needed final offers and also making up teams being in on him. Also designating light for a quad A player doesn’t really make any sense . Then saying they will just release park is mind boggling why would you pay him 9 mil to play for someone else instead of having him in AAA, especially when Vargas and Mauer both aren’t very good …
Sounds like you’re buying into a lot of speculation and putting the blame on the twins, rather than the media who (obviously, after this incident) sometimes make up things and publish their own speculation
better be a bluff on Park. That makes ZERO sense. Especially when the Twins “full time DH” right now is Kennys Vargas.
There is no rationale to the Twins position on Park, unless they think they can get someone to commit to more than the ML minimum and bluff them into jumping ahead of the line. The only other possibility is some non-public information about Park that leads them to want to get rid of him at any cost. .
Not sure about those TV guys, but love Dave Wills.
Dodgers don’t have room for Carter, but it’s certainly not because of salary. That is never an issue for them.
Except for that Luxury Tax thing….
It will be next year. They have to get under the cap, which is fine. They should out of underneath all their bad contracts these past few years with a wave of young players incoming.
They won’t be out of all their bad contracts signed or traded for but simply those that count against the tax threshold. But I do agree with you @LA Dreamin. I don’t think they’ll fully be under threshold but they will probably pretty close.
Ethier ($17.5M) & Crawford ($21M) come off the books after this season, but that’s about it for the awful contracts. LA just needs to shedding bad money off the books until 2019, for when Kershaw opts out, & Machado & Harper become FAs…
They could make room, but I hope they don’t. Carter is the whiff king, he can’t run, and he can’t play defense. Add to that his poor contact rate, and that leaves him very limited utility off the bench. The Dodgers have better in-house options to spell Gonzales and better RH bench options as well. No idea why they’d even look in his direction. Let him go to the AL, or Korea or Japan.
Carter’s name might be used in conjuction with the Dodgers as a favor. (?)
Huh . . .