All Teams - General News

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Last news: December 31, 1969 19:00:00

Yesterday, Barry Bonds distanced himself from his agent's outlandish claims, seemingly crowning Alex Rodriguez as the one to watch for the career HR record. Even he realizes that 1,000 home runs is absurd. Back on February 6th, Tom Verducci's story had Bonds telling the Giants this winter, through his agent, that he wanted to play in 2008 and probably 2009 as well. Yesterday Bonds sounded more focused on playing this season and emerging healthy. A lot can happen between now and 2009. The New York Times speculates that Bonds may stick around long enough to reach 3,000 hits. That would... - [Read more]

One trade tidbit I missed, assuming it was printed elsewhere: the Red Sox recently inquired about the availability of Giants closer Armando Benitez. As you know, the Marlins were interested earlier this winter. According to John Shea, Benitez still needs a lot of work to improve his velocity and location (and his location was never that great). Not that Benitez is any great shakes, but I can't see how the Giants think they have a surplus of relievers. They really don't have anyone who can take care of the ninth inning; I wouldn't be surprised to see Tim Lincecum closing... - [Read more]

Phil Rogers throws out the possibility in today's column, suggesting the White Sox trade for Aaron Rowand and Jon Lieber. Mike MacDougal would probably be involved in such a deal. After trading away several starters, one would not expect the White Sox to be in the market for starting pitching. Kenny Williams is unpredictable though. And it is true that the Sox scouted Carl Pavano's last start. It would be interesting to see Liebs return to Chicago, but for the Sox to send their starter surplus to Philly only to get it back seems unlikely. Rogers thinks the Mets, Cards,... - [Read more]

MLBTradeRumors.com has word from a reputable source that the Cubs are looking to make a deal. They are after one more solid player, but I'm not sure what position they're trying to fill. A possibly related piece of info is that a Cubs scout was in attendance at a recent Braves/Blue Jays spring game. That pretty much sums up the extent of what I know; anything else would be speculation. Browsing that box score, I'm not sure what would make sense. Josh Towers is available and was on display, but how does that help the Cubs? Jason Marquis can already... - [Read more]

Obviously I've fallen a bit behind on these team outlooks, but I'll keep them going even as they extend into the season. Today we have the Mariners. Bill Bavasi's contract obligations: C - Kenji Johjima - $5.2MM + $0.33MM signing bonus = $5.53MM + incentivesC - Rene Rivera - $0.38MM1B - Richie Sexson - $14MM + 1.5MM signing bonus = 15.5MM2B - Jose Lopez - $0.38MMSS - Yuniesky Betancourt - $0.4MM + $0.3275MM signing bonus = $0.7275MM3B - Adrian Beltre - $11.5MM + 1.4MM signing bonus = $12.9MMIF - Ben Broussard - $3.55MMIF - Willie Bloomquist - $0.825MM + $0.05MM... - [Read more]

John Brattain of The Hardball Times discusses A-Rod's contract situation at length and considers the possibility of him joining the Mets after this season. Check it out. Another good one is Joe Sheehan's take on some various Jon Lieber trades he thinks the Phils could make.... - [Read more]

Chris Shelton is 7 for 14 this spring, and the fine start could get him traded. I'm not sure why the Tigers are dead set on the lifeless bat of Sean Casey instead, but here we are. It appears Marcus Thames is the backup plan, leaving no room for Shelton. With a .263/.352/.480 PECOTA, Shelton can still be an affordable league average first baseman. And there's a legitimate chance he bumps it up to a Mo Vaughn/Pat Burrell level for a few seasons. The problem for the Tigers is that it's not terribly hard to find a 1B who can... - [Read more]

Just a few tidbits regarding yesterday's Sun-Times story that the White Sox may reacquire Aaron Rowand. The Philadelphia Inquirer says that the White Sox have been scouting recent Phillies games, though Rowand did not play yesterday. Additionally, the Delco Times speculates that the availability of Rowand is directly related to the fine play of Greg Dobbs this spring. The waiver pickup could platoon with Jayson Werth in right field, with Shane Victorino moving to center. In a related topic, Buster Olney said today that any Lieber/Rios talks are dead but that the Rangers might make sense for Lieber.... - [Read more]

Josh Lile is a history major at the University of Texas. I've brought him aboard as MLBTR's Rangers correspondent. For his first post, Josh weighs in on Sammy Sosa and the consequences of giving him a roster spot. Sammy Sosa beat out an infield single in today's game vs. the Cubs. Let me repeat that. Sammy Sosa beat out an infield single. The main point of contention behind Sosa coming to camp is Sammy turning into Juan Gonzalez part deux. Juan Gonzalez, in the minds and hearts of Rangers fans, is remembered as a guy who half-heartedly played the field,... - [Read more]

Ken Rosenthal is in vintage form, cranking out the spring rumors and inside tidbits. Check out his latest at FOX Sports. Notable trade rumors within: Akinori Otsuka could be a target of the Cardinals, but they haven't discussed it with Texas and the Rangers need to have faith in Gagne and other relievers before dealing him. I don't know if any team really has a surplus of relievers, but the Nats have a couple of good ones they might want to peddle. Chances of a Helton to Boston deal appear slim. Many had speculated the two teams would revisit talks... - [Read more]

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Braves have signed lefty starter Mark Redman to a minor league contract. Mike Hampton could be out 4-6 weeks with an injury to his side, and the Braves needed a little depth in the rotation anyway. Redman follows Steve Trachsel as this offseason's direct beneficiaries of injuries. Last year, Ozzie Guillen hooked Redman up by making him the Royals' All-Star rep over Mark Grudzielanek. Fortunately the Royals seem to have enough talent this year to get a real All-Star chosen. Personally, I kind of like the one per team rule. I'm amused when crappy players... - [Read more]

Here is a link to the latest Roger Clemens non-story. I'm posting it for your perusal, but there's really nothing new here. Are the Yankees the favorite, or is it just that New York has the most hyperactive media?... - [Read more]

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Sox GM Kenny Williams has been in talks with Pat Gillick regarding Aaron Rowand. This is not the first time such a possibility has surfaced. Southpaw Boone Logan may be among the relievers going to Philadelphia. Even after the Freddy Garcia trade, a Philadelphia Inquirer article mentioned that Rowand remained a favorite of White Sox management. If they can't trade for him, there's a chance they sign him as a free agent after the season. Center field and left field are definitely holes for Chicago this season, but I don't expect the... - [Read more]

Mike Hampton injured his side this morning and could miss all of April or more. At the bottom of his article, MLB.com's Mark Bowman mentions that the injury may prompt the Braves to scour the trade market for a starting pitcher. Right now the front four are Smoltz, Hudson, James, and Davies. Lance Cormier could fill in for Hampton if Schuerholz doesn't find a reasonable trade. One available starter might be the Cubs' Wade Miller, assuming he is healthy but does not win the fifth starter job. I imagine the Phils won't send Jon Lieber over to the Braves. Brad... - [Read more]

Kind of cool to see Curt Schilling blogging. Click here to see an up-to-date list of baseball players with blogs. Additionally, On the DL tracked down a host of ballplayers with MySpace pages last summer. A few of those might be bogus or private now of course.... - [Read more]

From Jermaine Dye's point of view, it may have been odd to see the White Sox negotiate a contract extension with Javier Vazquez on Tuesday. After talking to the club earlier, Dye's agent told the outfielder that the Sox would not talk contract extension with any player before the end of the season. The Daily Herald says he might accept less than Carlos Lee's 6/100 package. I think the Sox might consider 4/60 but he's a long shot to re-sign. And then there's Mark Buehrle, whose situation is more directly related to Vazquez since both are starters. It's pretty clear... - [Read more]

40 year-old shortstop Omar Vizquel would like to play in 2008 and 2009, so the Giants will meet with his agent today to talk extension. I wanted to get an idea of just how rare this type of thing is, so I finally checked out the Play Index tool over at Baseball-Reference. It is awesome. How many guys in modern Major League history have played even 50 games in a season at shortstop at age 40 or older? The answer is four: Barry Larkin, Luke Appling, Ozzie Smith, and Honus Wagner. Appling and Wagner each had three such seasons. The... - [Read more]

This spring has already brought about two weird, out of touch anti-blog columns from old guys. First there was this Patrick Reusse piece, beautifully torn apart at Fire Joe Morgan. Reusse accentuates how easy it is to start a blog by concocting a hilarious scenario where a homeless man blogs the Twins. Then today Steve Kelley really took bloggers to task. This column strikes me as especially strange because the most popular Mariners blogs - U.S.S. Mariner and Lookout Landing - operate on a higher plane than any newspaper. Kelley envisions his bloggers (or is it a chat room?) as... - [Read more]

It feels like Christmas morning, opening the Amazon.com box when the latest Baseball Prospectus Annual arrives. I've been poring over this massive tome of baseball knowledge since Sunday and I'm still only on the Red Sox. There is a stat for every occasion, and more player profiles than is healthy. I can't even imagine the amount of work that went into this. At just $12, I highly recommend buying Baseball Prospectus 2007, even if you are not stat-obsessed. I just spent $12 on a buffalo chicken sandwich and curly fries. And while I have you, check out my website AllCubs.com... - [Read more]

According to the Washington Post, the Orioles will soon complete a two-year extension for second baseman Brian Roberts that extend him through 2009. As Peter Schmuck writes, the team has semi-intentionally left itself a three-year window to win. 40% of the team's likely 25-man roster will reach free agency after the '09 season. Orioles VP Jim Duquette describes it as partially design (built around the Tejada contract) and partially coincidence. So in the winter of 2009-10, the Orioles will have the perfect opportunity to do something different. I hope they act with some conviction at that point instead of what... - [Read more]