Rumors for March, 2011
Royals trade Brett Carroll to Brewers for cash considerations
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The Kansas City Royals have traded Minor League player Brett Carroll to the Milwaukee Brewers for cash considerations reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
Carroll was 0-15 before being assigned to Minor League camp. He hit .197 with 2 HR’s and 7 RBI’s in 76 AB’s with the Marlins in 2010.
Adrian Gonzalez’s agent confident extension will be finalized
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Agent John Boggs of Boston Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said he is confident that his client will have a contract extension in place by the beginning of the regular season, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.
“As expected, it was a very positive meeting with Theo,” said Boggs. “At the end of the day, everything has been as expected. We sat down and discussed where Adrian is at [physically]. I just think it’s going to move very positively in the direction of probably trying to get something done sometime in April.”
Boggs and GM Theo Epstein had a face-to-face meeting on Tuesday.
“It’s really just been catching up on things. The irony is, I haven’t talked to Theo since we left Boston [in December],” Boggs said. “A lot of people go, ‘Wow,’ but there really wasn’t anything other than, ‘Hey, get ready Adrian, get through Spring Training and let’s see how that goes. Let’s see how the progressive march towards the season goes.’ Then we’ll probably get locked in and drive this thing home if it’s meant to be.”
Gonzalez is signed through 2011 on a very affordable $5.5 million contract. It was reported in mid-February by Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports that Gonzalez and the Sox had already agreed to a seven-year, $154 million extension (average annual value of $22 million). Many believed it was a gentleman’s agreement that was required in order for the trade to take place in December. At the time, the sides were believed to have the deal in place, but will make it official once the season starts in order to prevent luxury tax penalties for the Red Sox.
Boggs is confident that both sides will come to a happy resolution.
“I would be very surprised,” Boggs said. “There were very positive feelings on both sides. There’s a lot of relationships in the past. I’ve dealt with Theo a lot, I’ve dealt with [Red Sox president/CEO Larry [Lucchino] a lot. John Henry was the first owner Adrian played for. There’s so many relationships involved here that if you can’t have an understanding or agreement, I probably can’t have one with anyone.”
Ted Williams ‘The Golden Voice’ is apparently a Red Sox fan
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The Boston Red Sox have big time celebrity fans like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Dane Cook and Stephen King. According to Michael Klein of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Red Sox have a new celebrity. The former homeless YouTube golden voice star Ted Williams has jumped on the Red Sox wagon.
Williams was spotted Tuesday outside the Hotel Palomar at 17th and Sansom Streets, wearing a Boston Red Sox cap. He became famous after an interview was made involving his golden voice. The video was made while Sansom was homeless which was eventually posted on YouTube early in January 2011.
Since the moment the video was posted, Williams has received numerous offers, including jobs, and has made voice-over works for several shows like CBS World News Roundup, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Soup, to name a few.
Here’s the video that made Williams famous.
Diamondbacks not interested in Oliver Perez
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Free agent pitcher Oliver Perez won’t be heading to the Arizona dessert for employment. According to Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks are not interested in the left-handed pitcher.
The Yankees were rumored to be interested in the former starting pitcher of the New Yorks Mets, but those rumors were debunked earlier this after.
Perez has been in the dog house with New York since last year and his 2/3 innings of relief where he gave up three hits (two home runs), one walk and two earned runs against the Washington Nationals may have done him in.
Perez, who is due $12 million, acknowledged that he did “a really bad job”.
Any team that decides to pick up Perez will only be responsible for the Major League minimum of approximately $400,000. The Mets would then be responsible for approximately $11.6 million.
Tim Redding unwanted in Asia but likely to make Dodgers
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Right-handed pitcher Tim Redding was told by clubs in South Korea and Japan that they wouldn’t offer him a contract this year. He may not have to travel over seas this year to pitch as Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports he may have found a job with the Dodgers.
Redding played in South Korea last year, but because of Vicente Padilla’s and Jon Garland’s injuries, he may have a shot of becoming the Dodgers’ fifth starter at the beginning of the regular season. Padilla has recovered quicker than most expected as he is only weeks removed from surgery to free an entrapped radial nerve. Today, Padilla threw breaking balls for the second consecutive day. Padilla will more than likely need a trip to the DL but should be ready to go after that.
Garland will take a bit longer to recover as he needs build more stamina as he is slated to be a starter. Garland is recovering from a strained oblique. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly recently speculated that Garland could be ready by the by the time the club first needs a fifth starter which isn’t until the middle of April.
“I’m not counting on anything yet,” Redding said. “But I’m getting close.” If Redding does in fact make the club his time maybe limited as both pitchers are already on the 40 man roster.
Redding was released by the Rockies last May and quickly signed with the Yankees. After realizing he wasn’t going to get a call up to the big leagues, he asked and was granted his release so that he could sign with the Samsung Lions.
The veteran right-hander has played eight Major League seasons with the Astros, Padres, Yankees, Nationals and Mets. He has a career record of 37-57 with a 4.95 ERA in 822 innings throughout 179 games, 144 starts.
Miguel Batista’s opt-out date on contract deemed invalid by MLB
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Veteran Miguel Batista’s opt-out date on his contract was deemed invalid by Major League Baseball, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Batista originally had the option to leave the St. Louis Cardinals if he wasn’t named to the team’s 25-man roster on March 24, 2011. However, Major League Baseball said that date was too early.
Luckily both sides had no problem with the issue. Goold says that the Batista and the Cardinals have agreed to push back the date until sometime next week. If he isn’t named to the team’s big league roster then he can seek employment elsewhere.
The 40-year-old right-hander is expected to make the team, so the opt-out may be moot.
Athletics interested in multiyear deal for Trevor Cahill
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In a Tweet by Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, he reports that Oakland A’s have expressed interest in a multiyear deal for pitcher Trevor Cahill. Crasnick reminds us that Cahill is under team control through the 2014 season.
The 23-year-old All Star was 18-8 with a 2.97 ERA in 2010. He’ll be eligible for arbitration starting in 2012, so the A’s are trying to lock him in at a discount.
Players tend to give up arbitration and free agent years if they can get financial security early in their career.
No interest in LHP Oliver Perez by Yankees
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Despite the rumors that the New York Yankees were looking into a cheap signing of left-handed free agent pitcher Oliver Perez, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com says that there is no interest.
Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman said, “It’s not something that makes sense for us.”
Shortly after Perez was released by the New York Mets on March 21, Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated said the Yankees discussed the possibility of adding the left-hander.
Perez has been in the dog house with New York since last year and his 2/3 innings of relief where he gave up three hits (two home runs), one walk and two earned runs against the Washington Nationals may have done him in.
Perez, who is due $12 million, acknowledged that he did “a really bad job”.
Any team that decides to pick up Perez will only be responsible for the Major League minimum of approximately $400,000. The Mets would then be responsible for approximately $11.6 million.
LHP Doug Davis to hold an audition on Thursday
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Last week, we learned that left-handed free agent pitcher Doug Davis was scheduled to audition for teams this week in Tempe, Arizona. According to Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com, the auditions will be held on Thursday, and teams looking for “last-minute” rotation depth may take a look at him.
Davis agent, Steve Canter, said that his client has been throwing off a mound for more than a month. “Doug is ready to go,” Canter said. “It’s not often that somebody like this pops up in the market the last week of Spring Training.”
Canter also said Davis would need a few starts in Triple-A to get “built up”, but that he’d be ready to help a Major League team rotation within a few weeks.
“He’s getting a lot of interest,” Canter said, declining to name specific teams. “We’ll see how it plays out. You look around and see some significant injuries this spring. Doug could help a team.”
Davis was 1-4 with a 7.51 ERA in 38.1 innings throughout just eight starts last season with the Brewers. The left hander battled a heart condition and an elbow injury that required surgery in 2010.
Pittsburgh Pirates release RHP Fernando Nieve
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According to Colin Dunlap of the PIttsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pittsburgh Pirates have released right-handed pitcher Fernando Nieve.
The 28-year-old Neive last pitched with the New York Mets in 2010. He has a lifetime record of 8-11 with a 4.61 ERA in 99 appearances (19 starts) with the Mets and Astros. He was a non-roster invitee of the Pirates with an invitation to the team’s Major League camp.
