MLB Rumors: XM Radio Edition

by Ray Guilfoyle on Jan 10, 2009 9:15 AM EST in Baseball

Listening to the Baseball shows on XM, one can get nuggets of info on MLB Rumors. This week, I heard the following:

NY Post Joel Sherman mentioned on Thursday that the Twins are looking to deal Delmon Young.
Sherman also offered that the Red Sox signing of John Smoltz allows them to trade Clay Buchholz for one of the Texas catchers Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden.
Sherman and Seth Everett interviewed Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox on Friday morning. Cox stated they met with Derek Lowe and Scott Boras for 8 hours on Thursday. Cox went on to say "that Lowe can pitch at least another 4 or 5 years" Does this mean they will guarantee 4 years on Lowe? I think they will after not signing Burnett, Furcal and not trading for Jake Peavy.
Charlie Steiner interviewed Ray Ratto from the San Francisco Chronicle who stated the Giants have little interest in Manny Ramirez and would only get really interested if the economy took a real turn for the worst where his salary would drop to the $10 million range.
Henry Schulman agrees with Ratto and said he talked to the Giants brass yesterday, who, when told that the rumor that they were closing in on Manny, just laughed on the other end of the phone.
Steiner interviewed Bernie Miklasz from the St Louis Post Dispatch who said the Cardinals picked a bad year to have an abundance of outfielders. Teams aren't looking to deal with the Cardinals at the moment as they can look to the free agent market for an OFer on the cheap. The Cards hope to move an OFer (Ankiel) by spring training.
Steiner closed his show by answering a caller’s question about the possibility of Russell Martin getting traded this offseason. Steiner replied "Martin isn’t going anywhere. This will be a very important year for Russell Martin and the Dodgers. As Martin goes, so goes the Dodgers." He has a point, but I think a healthy Furcal is more important at the top of the lineup and in the middle of the infield.
I called into the MLB Live show on XM Radio on Friday evening hosted by Dave Sims and Kevin Kennedy. I asked Kevin about the Dodgers starting rotation, and who will fill the 4-5 spots. He thinks James McDonald will be given every chance to start in spring training. He praised his repertoire saying he has 4 major league pitches-questionable-and that he fears no one. Put him on your sleeper list and watch how he performs in spring training.
Tony Jackson from the LA Daily News returned from vacation with a short blogpost. One of the nuggets-"The Dodgers didn't sign Manny Ramirez-but it is appearing inevitable that they will." I agree-get'er done.
Ken Rosenthal suggested on Friday that the Brewers trade Prince Fielder to get a front-of-the-rotation starter they need. Maybe the Giants will move Matt Cain now that they have signed Randy Johnson. You can't win games if you can't score runs.

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My two cents on the rumors....

I can see the BoSox go after Saltamcahia. Obviously Texas needs pitching and they believe they can turn Bucholz around after he had a terrible season in Boston. Redsox dont appear to want to re-sign V-Tek anytime soon and most catchers available are backup/washed up catchers. Pudge is a FA but he has become really ineffectinf on offense and will most likely ask for more then he is worth. That being said, Pudge is still a great defensive catcher but all things considered, Saltamachia is the better option. Another option at catcher is the head case Johhny Estrada. He is coming off a injured year at Washington but it is obvious he can hit the ball when he is healthy. He can also be signed cheap as there hasnt been much competition over him this offseason. He has still been known to cause problems in the clubhouse and we all know the Red Sox hate those type of player. Red Sox are also rumored to be interested in Miguel Montero of the D’Backs who could definitely use a extra pitcher now that Randy Johnson is gone.

The Braves are said to be really interested in Lowe and are going to offer him a contract sometime this weekend. They are also close to a deal with Japanease prospect Kawakami and signing both of those payers would fill rotation holes for the Braves. They would have a rotation of Jurrijens, Vasquez, Kawakami, Lowe, and Campillo. Also, the thought of luring Lowe away from the hated Mets appears to be satisfying for the Braves. Not to mention, the Braves GM has come under tons of fire this offseason for all the failed moves and letting longtime Brave, John Smoltz, depart. I can expect Lowe to get something in the 11-13 million dollar range for at least four years.

I thing Manny is going to stay in the Dodgers and will get the 80 mil/4 years contract that he wants badly. The Dodgers are opening money up by ridding them of the overweight Andruw Jones which I felt was to began the pursuit of resigning Manny. The Dodgers also know that no team wants to give Manny the money he wants and dont want to carry the baggage Manny brings to the clubhouse so the Dodgers are watiing for the right time to strike a deal.

by chicity'sfinest on Jan 10, 2009 10:21 AM EST reply actions