Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Lee, Rays
Some links to (maybe) cap an already wild day in rumor-land:
- Joe McDonald at the Providence Journal thinks the Red Sox need to make a major deal.
- Dan Novick at the Hardball Times wonders if the Lee trade was a win-win.
- John Campanelli at the Cleveland Plain-Dealer gets reactions from Indians fans on the Lee deal. Suffice to say, they ain't happy.
- Nationals acting manager Jim Riggleman wants to see the team's core remain intact, says Chico Harlan at the Washington Post.
- Marc Topkin at the St. Petersburg Times says the Rays "seem unlikely" to make a big deal.
- Geoff Baker at the Seattle Times thinks the Mariners' deals today for Ian Snell and Jack Wilson probably spell some more trades on the horizon–potentially involving Jarrod Washburn.
- The Nationals released Julian Tavarez today, who had cleared waivers. Corey Patterson also cleared waivers and has been released from the Triple A club, reports Bill Ladson at MLB.com.
- David Laurila at Baseball Prospectus has a profile and some quotes from new Pirate Tim Alderson.
Nationals DFA Julian Tavarez
MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports the Nationals have designated right-hander Julian Tavarez for assignment.
Tavarez, a true journeyman at this point in his career, had a 4.89 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP in 35 innings with the Nats. He's 35, but a club desperate for bullpen depth might decide to give him a shot. Either that, or he'll end up back at Washington's Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse.
Odds & Ends: Hamels, Giants, Yankees
Links for Monday…
- Cole Hamels is flying to Philadelphia to have his sore left elbow examined. Hamels threw 3,914 pitches in total last year, the most in baseball (two more than C.C. Sabathia). Hamels thinks he’s fine and it’s not a big deal.
- Julian Tavarez on why he chose the Nationals.
- MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says the Marlins returned Rule 5 lefty Zach Kroenke to the Yankees.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball looks at postseason ticket revenue over the last decade.
- Dan Brown of the San Jose Mercury News talked to John Dewan about the Giants’ defense.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes about the fraternity in the Yankees’ revamped rotation.
- Athletics Nation talked to Jason Giambi, who was very close to re-signing with the A’s before he signed with the Yankees.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker asks if Yankees starter Kei Igawa, owed $12MM over the next three years, is movable.
Odds And Ends: Pedro, Crosby, Nationals
A few links for Saturday…
- Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post reports that Omar Minaya says the Mets won’t sign Pedro Martinez. Buster Olney was on this one earlier in the week, but that was before the Mets had to shut Tim Redding down because of weakness in his pitching shoulder.
- According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle Bobby Crosby played third and first yesterday in a Spring Training game. He had never played first before and had to borrow a glove. Playing well at many positions couldn’t hurt his trade value.
- We missed this one earlier in the week: Bill Shaikin of the LA Times asked Angels GM Tony Reagins if he has interest in Barry Bonds and heard he has "none."
- Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports that acting GM Mike Rizzo signed Julian Tavarez to the Nats because he wants depth and doesn’t want his players feeling too comfortable about their jobs.
Nationals Sign Julian Tavarez
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Nationals signed pitcher Julian Tavarez to a minor league deal. Tavarez, 36 in May, posted a 5.10 ERA, 8.4 K/9, and 4.6 BB/9 in 54.6 innings for the Brewers and Braves last year.
Sherman also has three pre-arbitration signings: Jeremy Guthrie ($650K), Kevin Kouzmanoff ($432K) and Ross Ohlendorf ($414K).
Braves Sign Julian Tavarez
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves have signed 35 year-old righty Julian Tavarez. Tavarez has tossed just 20 innings this year between the Red Sox and Brewers.
Odds and Ends: Lieber, Tavarez, Oswalt
We’ve got mostly smaller stuff today, so let’s kick it off with an odds and ends.
- The Mets designated Claudio Vargas for assignment. I’m a bit surprised, I think he’s still a useful pitcher.
- Pitcher Jon Lieber may retire after the season. 130+ wins, that’s a nice career.
- With Tom Gordon‘s shoulder barking, the Phillies’ desire to add a reliever has intensified. Here’s a look at the relief market.
- When a 2.93 ERA is considered underperforming, expectations were never reasonable. Anyone else get the impression that if Johan Santana‘s record was 10-3 instead of 7-6, there wouldn’t even be a discussion? Joel Sherman believes the Yankees (if under Brian Cashman) would not go six or seven years to sign C.C. Sabathia in light of the Barry Zito and Santana deals. He wonders whether Sabathia could be lured with a shorter term and higher average annual value.
- Julian Tavarez chose to become a free agent, surprising the Brewers.
- Roy Oswalt reminds us that he has a no-trade clause and hasn’t been approached by management about any deals.
- The Adam Dunn-J.P. Ricciardi saga continues.
- I chatted with Ryan Henning about the Twins recently.
- T.J. Simers and Ned Colletti argue about the GM’s trading track record.
- The Pirates are looking for pitching. Brett Tomko anyone? Anyone?
- Evan Grant discusses the Rangers’ trade options in his mailbag.
Julian Tavarez Designated
Julian Tavarez‘s time in Milwaukee is up; he was designated for assignment to make room for David Riske. He pitched in seven games for the Brewers and was knocked around in three of those outings.
Julian Tavarez To Sign With Brewers
MONDAY: Tom Haudricourt reports that the Brewers are set to sign Tavarez for bullpen depth.
SUNDAY: The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo writes that Bartolo Colon, a close friend of Julian Tavarez, said Tavarez told him that he would prefer to pitch for the New York Mets. Tavarez was recently DFA’d by the Red Sox and elected free agency rather than accepting an assignment to Triple A Pawtucket.
Tavarez could make sense for the Mets in many roles. Jason Vargas and Matt Wise have been ineffective in limited use, while Mike Pelfrey has been very inconsistent over the first two months of the season. The Mets, however, have yet to indicate whether they have interest in the veteran right-hander. Baseball Prospectus’ John Perrotto has the Orioles and Brewers as the top suitors; I hadn’t heard Baltimore in the mix until now.
Odds And Ends: Ramirez, Tavarez, Brewslow, Pena
Thankfully, the calendar will soon flip to June, and trade rumors will start to heat up. To tide you over until then, here are a few notes from around the league.
- Sean McAdam wonders if Manny Ramirez’s current slump will affect the team’s decision to exercise his $20MM option for 2009. Manny sounded rather confident last month that the team would pick it up. And while it’s nearly a given that he’ll recover from this month, the Red Sox could read it as a sign of decline. Still, the chances of the option being picked up are still high.
- A few days after accepting an assignment to AAA Pawtucket, Julian Tavarez has instead opted for free agency.
- Couple of transaction notes. Braves C Brayan Pena has been activated from the DL, and immediately designated for assignment. Indians reliever Craig Breslow was also DFA.
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski, who writes for River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog, and can be reached here.