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Yu Darvish

Olney’s Latest: Brewers, Darvish, Ethier

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In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney wrote about the plan Brewers GM Doug Melvin presented owner Mark Attanasio last fall. Melvin had found that trading Prince Fielder would not yield the kind of high-end pitching he sought, so he suggested that the club hold onto their star first baseman before he became a free agent and go all-in this year. Attanasio agreed with the strategy, and soon after came the Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke trades. One year later, Milwaukee has won the NL Central.

Here are the rest of Olney's rumors…

  • The Blue Jays are viewed as front-runners for Yu Darvish by some within the industry. A few days ago we heard that Darvish was still undecided about coming to MLB.
  • Those close to Andre Ethier believe there's no chance he'd re-sign with the Dodgers after the 2012 season. If true, Olney says it would make sense for the team to try to trade him offseason. You can make a case they'd be selling low though, Either had a down season by his standards (.292/.368/.421 with 11 homers) and finished the year on the disabled list due to knee surgery.

East Notes: Blue Jays, Marlins, Nationals

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Here are a few items of note regarding the offseason plans for teams that reside in MLB's East divisions …

  • The Blue Jays will be more active on the trade market than in free agency this offseason, GM Alex Anthopoulous tells Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. “Philosophically speaking, if we want to improve the club, free agency is the last area I want to go to,” says Anthopoulos. Still, some in the organization feel the Jays need another starter, according to Davidi, and Yu Darvish remains a possible target. The Jays will also look to improve their bullpen.
  • The Marlins will interview Nationals third-base coach Bo Porter for their managerial vacancy this offseason, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Porter, 39, is considered a "rising star" among future managerial candidates, according to Kilgore, and could take over in Washington if Davey Johnson does not return as Nationals skipper in 2012.
  • As mentioned above, the Nationals could have a managerial vacancy of their own this offseason. Among the candidates to replace interim manager Johnson are first-base coach Trent Jewett, Triple-A Syracuse manager Randy Knorr, and Porter, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com.

Quick Hits: Wilson, White Sox, Cubs, Fielder

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Links for Thursday, before the Rays visit the Red Sox for a four-game series that's critical to the American League Wild Card race…

  • Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker hears that Yu Darvish is undecided on whether it's the right time for him to join an MLB team. The Japanese right-hander could be available via the posting system this offseason.
  • C.J. Wilson, who will hit free agency this winter, likes pitching under pressure in September, T.R. Sullivan writes at MLB.com. The Rangers left-hander has lowered his ERA (3.01) and walk rate (2.9 BB/9) this year, setting a career-high in innings pitched (209) with an improved strikeout rate (8.2 K/9) and an All-Star berth.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears from someone close to White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen that there’s just a 10% chance the skipper will return to Chicago next year. Though Guillen is under contract in Chicago, he appears to be tiring of his current role and his relationship with GM Kenny Williams appears “unsalvageable,” Rosenthal reports.
  • There’s almost no chance that the Cubs will have their next GM in place by the end of the month, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi hears from one agent who expects the Cubs to try to get “the biggest name they can," and goes on to discuss some of the high-profile candidates who have been linked to the job.
  • Jon Heyman of SI.com suggests the Orioles, Rangers or Dodgers could sign Prince Fielder this offseason (Twitter link).

Quick Hits: Mets, Darvish, Ozzie

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A few stray items of note as a quiet Sunday winds down on this holiday weekend:

  • A Mets official told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that the organization's high-ranking officials have been discussing the possibility of going into complete rebuild mode in 2012 rather than piecing together a passable team and selling it to the fans as a playoff contender if everything breaks right. It's already widely accepted that the Mets will reduce payroll from this season's $140MM down to the $110-100MM range, but Sherman's source makes it sound like it could be even more than that.
  • Is Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish worth the potential $100MM a team might have to spend to acquire his services? David Brown of Yahoo!'s Big League Stew looks at that question.
  • One factor that could dissuade the White Sox from firing manager Ozzie Guillen is the possibility of him landing with the Cubs and helping to make them a winner, tweets Pedro Gomez of ESPN.com.

Olney On Gonzalez, Darvish, White Sox

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Mark Teixeira told ESPN.com’s Buster Olney that new Rangers reliever Mike Gonzalez has improved over the course of the season and now looks like a different pitcher than he did early on. Here’s Olney’s latest, including a note on Gonzalez…

  • The Rangers may have obtained Gonzalez at the right time, Olney writes. Great left-handed hitters such as Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano and Adrian Gonzalez will figure prominently into the playoffs and the Rangers’ newest reliever can help limit their impact late in games.
  • One MLB official told Olney that Yu Darvish will sign with an MLB team this winter. Earlier this morning, I listed the teams that have been publicly linked to the Japanese right-hander.
  • MLB executives are coming to believe that White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf won’t retain both GM Kenny Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen in 2012, according to Olney. Alternatively, Reinsdorf could replace both and hire former White Sox skipper Tony La Russa to manage and promote assistant GM Rick Hahn to run baseball operations.

List Of Teams Interested In Yu Darvish

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Yu Darvish apparently intends to pitch in the Major Leagues next year and it would be surprising if he doesn't draw interest from ten-plus teams. The 25-year-old right-hander has a 1.54 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 175 innings this season. Those numbers are typical for Davish, who entered the season with a 1.81 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in four years with the Nippon Ham Fighters. 

Here's a list of which teams have been linked to Darvish in the last calendar year:

  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is in Japan and saw Darvish pitch, according to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun.
  • The Nationals maintain interest.
  • The Yankees have scouted him heavily.
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels watched Darvish in June.
  • The Orioles had interest last offseason.
  • The Red Sox have been linked to Darvish.
  • The Rays watched Darvish about a year ago.

At this point, we don't know whether the clubs above were simply being diligent or whether they intend to make serious bids for Darvish. This list can't be considered comprehensive because other teams have likely been covert about their interest. What we can say at this point is that Darvish would be a welcome commodity in a starting pitching market that's light on top-of-the-rotation pitchers.

AL East Notes: Blue Jays, Red Sox, Darvish

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The Blue Jays completed a trade with the Diamondbacks today, sending Aaron Hill and John McDonald to Arizona for Kelly Johnson. Here's the latest news from the AL East, starting with a note on today's trade…

  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio that Hill and McDonald cleared waivers earlier in the month (Twitter link). The deal started when Arizona GM Kevin Towers called about McDonald.
  • Anthopoulos says he acquired Johnson from the D'Backs to get an up-close look at him before deciding how aggressively to pursue him this offseason when he hits free agency, according to Sportsnet.ca's Shi Davidi.
  • Alex Speier of WEEI.com takes us inside Boston's front office in a must-read look at how the Red Sox approached the signing deadline. “Between 11:50 and 12 it was straight chaos,” one person told Speier. “Five people were on the phone at the same time with five different agents negotiating five different deals.”
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post explains that MLB teams, even rich ones like the Yankees, have to develop their own starting pitching, since the few elite starters who do reach free agency are prohibitively expensive.
  • The Yankees have scouted Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish heavily, according to Sherman. Darvish, 25, "is coming" to the Major Leagues this offseason, according to one of Sherman's sources.

Quick Hits: Marlins, Yankees, Darvish

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Dan Uggla hit his 23rd home run of the season and extended his hit streak to 25 games against the Nationals this afternoon. Here's the latest news from around MLB, starting with an item on Uggla’s former team…

  • Greg Cote of the Miami Herald argues that the Marlins should stop focusing on finding a new manager for 2012 and let Jack McKeon lead the club into its new stadium next year.
  • GM Brian Cashman's emphasis on the "bigger picture" has enabled the Yankees to keep the likes of Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova and Eduardo Nunez, as Newsday's Ken Davidoff explains.
  • Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (link at ESPN.com) and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com rank the top prospects traded at the deadline and Drew Pomeranz, who hasn't even been officially traded yet, tops both lists. The Rockies will acquire Pomeranz as the player to be named in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade. 
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports suggests Yu Darvish could end up with the Rangers next year. The Rangers have two Japanese pitchers, Koji Uehara and Yoshinori Tateyama, and could bid for the rights to Darvish after the season. GM Jon Daniels saw Darvish pitch this year, but he was interested in more than one player. "I was there to get a feel for the lay of the land and the baseball culture, the same way I did in the Dominican a few years ago,” Daniels told Morosi. “If we’re going to invest in that universe of players, we need to understand where they’re coming from.”

Yu Darvish Represented By Arn Tellem, Don Nomura

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Nippon-Ham Fighters ace Yu Darvish is represented by Arn Tellem of Wasserman Media Group as well as Don Nomura, MLBTR has confirmed.  There had been rumors of a Darvish-Tellem connection dating back to May of last year.

The bigger question, of course, is whether the Fighters will post the superstar righty this offseason.  That is currently an unknown.  Darvish, 25 this month, has a 1.56 ERA, 10.2 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, and 0.20 HR/9 in 133 innings for the Fighters this year.

Quick Hits: Hanley, Phillies, Zduriencik, Darvish

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The Mariners' losing streak extended to 14 games after dropping a 3-1 result to Boston today.  Seattle's 14-game skid ties a franchise record for consecutive losses.

Some news from around the majors….

  • In a radio appearance with Dan LeBatard (partially transcribed by Matt Forman of the Miami Herald), Jeff Conine said that if it was up to him, the Marlins would trade Hanley Ramirez.  Conine might have just been using the interview to vent, but given Conine's status as a special assistant to Marlins president David Samson, it's worth wondering if others in the Florida front office feel the same way about the club's star shortstop.
  • Also from Forman's post, Marlins manager Jack McKeon doesn't think his team will do much, if anything at the trade deadline.
  • Ruben Amaro's reputation for major trade deadline deals has raised expectations that the Phillies GM will make another big move this summer, writes Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
  • The Mariners' losing streak has erased the fact that the club was in the AL West hunt just two weeks ago.  GM Jack Zduriencik tells Larry Stone of the Seattle Times that he tried to find help for the Mariners' terrible offense but to no avail.  "That big bat doesn't seem to be out there at a reasonable cost. It's not as easy as saying, 'We need a bat. Let's go get a bat.' Great. Who's giving one up? Lots of clubs who are doing well are looking for a bat," Zduriencik said.
  • The Nationals still have an interest in Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
  • It's been almost 20 years since the Dodgers were last sellers at the trade deadline, writes Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times.
  • The Angels aren't expected to make any huge deals at the deadline, though Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times notes the Halos have been "eagerly courting" the Padres with the hopes of adding Heath Bell or Mike Adams.
  • Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer looks back at the Indians' history at the trade deadline since 1994.
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