MLB: What’s Cooking on the Hot Stove
The hot stove is starting to heat up around the big leagues. Are the Rays and Cubs talking about a potential deal for Milton Bradley? Which teams are interested in Miguel Tejada and Placido Polanco as third basemen? Where will Johnny Damon and Jermaine Dye be playing next year, and is Brett Myers about to make a trip south?
Burrell for Bradley?
There are rumblings that the Rays and Cubs are talking about a deal that would send Pat Burrell to Chicago in exchange for Milton Bradley. The main stumbling block is rumored to be Bradley’s $12 million salary owed him in 2011 which is more than what the Rays would have to pay Burrell.
I understand the need for the Cubs to purge themselves of Milton Bradley, but, why for Burell who has only ever played left field, and not very well mind you, and first base in the majors. What do they do with Alphonso Soriano if they acquire Burell? Burrell really does not represent a significant upgrade for them production-wise and if one of them moves to right it makes them extremely weak defensively at the corner outfield positions. Not to mention Burrell has a recent history of injury problems.
The only logical explanation for the deal would be if the Cubs were able to flip Burrell to another team for prospects or an upgrade at another position.
Miguel Tejada
The Astros did not offer Miguel Tejada arbitration Tuesday likely meaning he will be playing elsewhere come next spring. Several teams are thought to have an interest in Tejada including the Cardinals, Orioles, and Blue Jays. The caveat with Tejada is teams are interested in him as a third baseman, a move Tejada resisted last spring, rather than a shortstop.
Tejada has never been considered an elite defensive player at short. He has pretty good range in the field but has always made his share of errors.
He is not the impact bat he once was four or five years ago prior to the steroids scandals breaking loose but he is coming off a year in which he hit .313, led the league in doubles, and drove in 86 runs. He would make a good #2 hitter for some team the way he makes contact and hits a lot of doubles.
Placido Polanco
The Philadelphia Daily News is reporting that the Phillies may show more of an interest in Placido Polanco now that the Detroit Tigers have declined to offer him arbitration. The Phillies are in the market for someone to replace Pedro Feliz at third base.
Polanco has been an interesting case this off season. There has been a lot of chatter about teams being interested in him playing third base next season. Teams like the Phils and the Cardinals have pegged him as a potential third baseman for them next season. Is Polanco really interested in moving to third and why the push to move a guy who has won two Gold Gloves at second base over the past three seasons?
The other question I have as it relates to the Phils is whether Polanco is really that much of an upgrade over Feliz? Polanco is the better hitter of the two, but the power numbers are comparable and Feliz did drive in more runs last season. Will the Phils suffer defensively as Polanco makes the move to a position he has only played sparingly throughout his career? The curious thing about it is Polanco is arguably a better defensive player than Chase Utley is.
John Smoltz
The Phillies are supposedly also interested in signing John Smoltz as potential spot starter and/or setup man for Brad Lidge. They also like the idea that if Lidge blows up again next season they have a backup plan at closer which they did not have this past season. The question is whether Smoltz really has anything left. He gave the Cardinals some decent starts down the stretch but he got shelled his last start of the season and was not particularly sharp in his only postseason outing throwing 49 pitches and allowing four hits in two innings.
Johnny Damon
The Yankees declined to offer Johnny Damon arbitration as they were afraid he would accept the offer. Damon made $13 million last season and considering he has not shown any significant signs of decline over his four years in New York he probably would have gotten a comparable salary via arbitration.
Damon’s agent, Scott Boras, is telling teams he is looking for a 3 or 4 year deal in the $10 to $13 million per season range. The Yankees think he will be hard pressed to get significantly more than the two-year $19 million deal Bobby Abreu just received from the Angels.
Boras, of course, is giving the same song-and-dance routine he always gives in regards to his clients. He claims several teams are interested in signing Damon. What remains to be seen, though, is whether they are interested in him on Boras’ terms, or, as the Yankees are gambling, a shorter deal. Boras is famous more making grandiose claims over the interest in his clients only to see them sign for less than what he claimed was on the table.
The thing with Damon is he is still solid ball player but his defense is not as good as it once was and he also just turned 36 meaning his career has likely already peaked and he could start seeing a decline in his production any year now. If Abreu, who puts up comparable numbers and is slightly younger than Damon, could not secure more than a two year deal than it seems unlikely that Damon will get much more than what Abreu managed to get.
The economy being what it is right now it is hard to see teams making long term investments on aging ball players not knowing when the economic climate is going to take a turn for the better.
Jermaine Dye
No fewer than five teams are rumored to be in the mix on Dye whom the White Sox decided to buy out several weeks ago. The 35-year old outfielder has seen his numbers dip since the 2006 season when he hit 44 homers, drove in 120 runs, and finished fifth in the MVP balloting.
The St. Louis Cardinals are said to potentially have an interest in him in the event they cannot re-sign Matt Holliday.
The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the Yankees have asked for medical reports on Dye but they are denying any interest in Dye at this time. They rumored to be interested in retaining Xavier Nady, who is younger and would come at a much cheaper price than Dye will, to play right field for them next season.
The Texas Rangers are also rumored to be interested in Dye as a potential DH, but, Dye has gone on record saying he he prefers to sign with a team that will play him in the field.
The Braves and Giants are also rumored to have an interest in Dye. Both teams are in need of a power bat to stick in the middle of the lineup. With Matt Diaz and Ryan Church failing to give the Braves the production they were looking for in right field Dye could be a nice short term solution for them. The Giants received very little offense from their corner outfielders last season and would love to get a guy with 30 home run potential to stick in the lineup behind Pablo Sandoval.
I am kind of surprised the Cubs are not considering Dye given they seem intent on Milton Bradley not being with the team come spring training.
Brett Myers
Both the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are interested in the services of Philadelphia free agent Brett Myers. The Astros are interested in Myers as someone to potentially stick in the back end of the rotation or serve as insurance in case free agent closer Jose Valverde signs elsewhere.
The Rangers are rumored to be listening to offers for Kevin Millwood and are looking for pitchers willing to take short term deals as they work on cleaning up their cash flow issues.
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