Baseball Insider: November 16, 2008 - November 22, 2008
Mets Focusing On Trade For A Closer
Throughout the early offseason, Francisco Rodriguez and his agent, Paul Kinzer, have tried to angle toward getting the Mets interested in signing K-Rod as their next closer. So far, it hasn't worked. New York GM Omar Minaya hasn't said that he won't go after Rodriguez, but every whisper out of...
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Cameron Smith
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November 21, 2008; 6:44 PM ET |
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Is the Peavy Market Drying Up ... Or Just As It Was
Funny what a week can do. Last Friday, the Cubs seemed to be nearing a breakthrough in trade talks with the Padres, closing on a deal that would bring San Diego ace Jake Peavy to Chicago for a package of prospects. Now, days after re-signing Ryan Dempster, they're talking about...
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Cameron Smith
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November 21, 2008; 3:47 PM ET |
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Cubs
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Padres
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Chisox Sign 19-Year-Old Cuban
From the Associated Press: The White Sox have reached a tentative agreement with young Cuban star Dayan Viciedo. The 19-year-old infielder/outfielder must pass a physical for the contract to be finalized, according to the player's agent, Jaime Torres. "He has agreed to a deal and is flying to Chicago," Torres...
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Tracee Hamilton
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November 21, 2008; 1:50 PM ET |
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White Sox
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Utley To Have Hip Surgery; Could Miss Start of '09 Season
Big news from the world champs: Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley will have surgery on his right hip next week and could be out up to six months. By my math, that means he may not be back until late May. From the Phillies' press release: Based on the...
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Dave Sheinin
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November 20, 2008; 1:11 PM ET |
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Appreciating Mussina
I may be the wrong guy for this, since I am on record both here and here as giving the thumbs-down to Mike Mussina's candidacy as a Hall of Famer. But I don't want to sound like a Moose-hater. I am far from it. I covered Mussina in Baltimore for...
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Dave Sheinin
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November 20, 2008; 8:58 AM ET |
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Cardinals To Sign Trever Miller
So much for the Rays keeping the 2008 roster together. The first member of the AL champs left town late last night, with lefty reliever Trever Miller agreeing to a deal with the Cardinals. The signing trickled on the blog of Post-Dispatch sports writer Bernie Miklasz, who claims that Miller...
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Cameron Smith
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November 20, 2008; 1:52 AM ET |
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Cardinals
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Rays
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One-Game Playoff Format? Really?
Is this guy crazy, or crazy like a fox? Certainly not like a Fox. Can't imagine TV liking this idea. Anyway, we throw it out there because it's November, and this is what November is for. From the Associated Press: Lew Wolff has a way to shorten baseball's postseason: Make...
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Tracee Hamilton
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November 19, 2008; 2:06 PM ET |
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O's Release Spring Schedule
The Orioles have released their spring training schedule. No big surprises: They face the usual suspects -- St. Louis, Washington, Florida, Boston, Minnesota, etc. -- plus one game against the Tampa Bay Rays and one against the Dominican World Baseball Classic team. Their last spring game is April 2 at...
By
Tracee Hamilton
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November 19, 2008; 1:17 PM ET |
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Orioles
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More on the Crisp Trade to the Royals
If the Red Sox are going to add Mark Teixeira or another big outfield/corner infield bat, they've got to find a place to put him. Well, their outfield just got a little less congested with the trade of center fielder Coco Crisp to the Royals. The Red Sox get reliever...
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Cameron Smith
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November 19, 2008; 12:08 PM ET |
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Red Sox
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Royals
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Crisp Traded to Royals
Brian, thanks for the heads up. Here's more on the Coco Crisp trade, from the AP: The Boston Red Sox have traded outfielder Coco Crisp to the Kansas City Royals for reliever Ramon Ramirez. A baseball official confirmed the trade to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it...
By
Tracee Hamilton
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November 19, 2008; 12:04 PM ET |
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Red Sox
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Day 6: Around the Horn
Free agency began six days ago, and we're still waiting for it to warm up. Sort of like the Washington weather. Here are some articles I found while trolling the interweb. Former Post sports writer Richard Justice -- one of my favorite people, period -- writes that Astros Jose Valverde...
By
Tracee Hamilton
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November 19, 2008; 9:39 AM ET |
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Tigers
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M's Choose Wakamatsu
The Mariners have chosen former Oakland bench coach Don Wakamatsu as their manager. He becomes the first Asian-American manager in the majors. Read what the Seattle Times has to say....
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Tracee Hamilton
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November 19, 2008; 8:55 AM ET |
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Mariners
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MVPs: Howard & K-Rod, Not Pujols & Pedroia
Thirty years ago, I created the statistic Total Average. Now I'm almost ashamed to have been one of the original baseball geeks. Where did we go wrong? This week, Albert Pujols won the NL MVP Award. Why? Mostly because he had a better OPS and VORP (Value Over Replacement Player)...
By
Thomas Boswell
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November 18, 2008; 5:48 PM ET |
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Cal Ripken, Sandinistas, and the Rule 5 Draft
Some housekeeping items from Birdland today: The O's added outfielder Nolan Reimold, and pitchers Brad Bergesen, David Hernandez, Chorye Spoone and Wilfrido Perez to the 40-man roster. The move protects them from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. The choices were of no surprise: - Bergesen went 16-7 with a 3.10...
By
Marc Carig
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November 18, 2008; 3:58 PM ET |
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Orioles
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Dempster Close to Deal With Cubs
From the Associated Press: Pitcher Ryan Dempster and the Chicago Cubs are close to agreement on a four-year contract worth about $52 million, according to a baseball official. The official, with knowledge of the negotiations, spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the Cubs had not...
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Tracee Hamilton
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November 18, 2008; 2:53 PM ET |
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Cubs
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AL MVP: Dustin Pedroia
Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia was named most valuable player of the American League today, completing an historic two-season stretch in which he won rookie of the year and MVP in back-to-back years, the first AL player to do so since Baltimore's Cal Ripken in 1982-83. Pedroia, 25,...
By
Dave Sheinin
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November 18, 2008; 2:02 PM ET |
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If All MVP Voters Were Statheads
This morning, Dave made a compelling argument in his NL MVP piece that the selection of Albert Pujols is proof baseball award voters have matured into a stats-savvy electorate, weighing the exact sabrmetric analysis they have so often discounted. Well, today's AL MVP announcement could prove that baseball voters are...
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Cameron Smith
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November 18, 2008; 12:01 PM ET |
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Angels
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Red Sox
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Twins
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White Sox
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Mussina: Should He Stay or Should He Go?
Tyler Kepner writes in his blog today that Mike Mussina will decide by the end of the week whether he'll try to pitch again next season. If he retires, he'd be the first pitcher to do so voluntarily after a 20-win season in a century. But he could also come...
By
Tracee Hamilton
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November 18, 2008; 11:00 AM ET |
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Yankees
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Tampa Bay, Detroit Raise Prices. What?
Surely it's a sign of the Apocalypse when the Tampa Bay Rays are raising ticket prices and -- gasp! -- adding a tier of specially priced "marquee" games to their 2009 ticket plan. Not really. You can't blame the Rays for taking advantage of that amazing season. They are raising...
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Tracee Hamilton
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November 18, 2008; 8:10 AM ET |
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Rays
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Tigers
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Orioles Sign Hennessey, Murphy
The Orioles signed two players to minor league contracts today, though one looks significantly more likely to have an impact on the major league level than the other. First reported by MASN Online's Roch Kubato, the birds inked pitcher Brad Hennessey and infielder Donnie Murphy to minor league deals, both...
By
Cameron Smith
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November 17, 2008; 7:26 PM ET |
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Orioles
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O's Proefrock Joins World Champs
Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. tapped into the Baltimore Orioles front office to complete his staff on Monday, hiring Orioles director of baseball administration Scott Proefrock as Philadelphia's new assistant general manager. Proefrock spent the last three seasons assisting the Orioles with player contract negotiations and rules interpretations....
By
Marc Carig
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November 17, 2008; 4:08 PM ET |
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Orioles
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Phillies
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Affeldt is First Free Agent to Sign
From the Associated Press: Reliever Jeremy Affeldt became the first of 171 free agents to agree to a contract, striking a two-year deal Monday with the San Francisco Giants. One of Giants general manager Brian Sabean's offseason priorities was to bolster his club's inconsistent bullpen, so adding the left-hander helps...
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Tracee Hamilton
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November 17, 2008; 3:41 PM ET |
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Giants
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Schoolgirl, 16, Drafted in Japan
From the Associated Press: A 16-year-old schoolgirl is making a pitch to become the first woman to play professional baseball in Japan. High school student Eri Yoshida was drafted by the Kobe 9 Cruise, a professional team in a new independent Japanese league that starts its first season in April....
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Tracee Hamilton
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November 17, 2008; 3:04 PM ET |
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NL MVP: Albert Pujols
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols won the second National League most valuable player award of his career, winning by a comfortable margin of 61 total points over Philadelphia's Ryan Howard. Milwaukee's Ryan Braun was third. Pujols received 18 of a possible 32 first-place votes, with Howard receiving 12....
By
Dave Sheinin
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November 17, 2008; 2:06 PM ET |
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Market Watch: Derek Lowe
RHP Derek Lowe, free agent Age: 35 (turns 36 in June) Career stars: 126-107, 3.75 ERA Agent: Scott Boras In the winter of 2004-05, these were the 10 biggest free agent signings among starting pitchers: Pedro Martinez: four years, $53 million (Mets) Carl Pavano: four years, $39.95 million (Yankees) Derek...
By
Dave Sheinin
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November 17, 2008; 12:09 PM ET |
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It's Quiet ... Too Quiet
It was a quiet weekend on the free agency front. Here are a few stories worth checking out on Day 4. You've heard about the record $140 million offer the Yankees have made to Sabathia. Brewers GM Doug Melvin says it's too much. This is from Sunday, but still worth...
By
Tracee Hamilton
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November 17, 2008; 9:13 AM ET |
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Is CC Really the Answer??
The Yankees have offered free agent left-hander CC Sabathia a contract, reportedly for six years and $140 million. That would make him the highest paid pitcher in the game, exceeding the $137.5 million deal Johan Santana signed with the Mets last offseason. My question to New York ... why? Sabathia,...
By
Tom Heleba
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November 16, 2008; 10:53 AM ET |
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