Deals Sabean working on don't include Cain or Lincecum. Close to saying untouchable; finally! Hurrah!
Interesting offer for Lincecum but probably pass. Maybe Reds? They have Encarnacion, Votto, Bailey, Dunn.
Talking with Orioles for Tejada but issues probably not overcomeable. Good.
Maybe Cards trade us Rolen then sign Feliz but issue probably not overcomeable. Good.
Molina not being shopped, but teams are asking. Should keep unless great deal.
Giants interested in CFs? Sabean says nonsubstantial conversations. Good.
Day One Rumors
Got these rumors from MLB.com, from Chris Haft, who follows the Giants for sfgiants.com.
- Serious deals don't involve Cain or Lincecum: Brian Sabean said as the Meetings began that the deals they're seriously considering don't involve Cain or Lincecum, as they are regarded as potential staff aces.
- Giants close to saying Cain and Lincecum untouchable: Finally, should have done that from the get-go. This is like previous years when the other teams just focused on the Giants top prospects and would not go for anyone lesser, leading to little movement. Sabean is realizing that by not shutting the door on that, other teams are hoping to find that magic deal that gets them the big prize, and ignoring dealing for the Giants other prospects, probably in particular, Lowry. I just think the Giants should have decided that the Giants future strategy is centered on the two pitchers (plus Zito) and go from there; this reduces Sabean in my eyes for letting this go on for this long, sure you want to see if there is a "shocking deal" available, there's always a price high enough that you have to take the deal, but he should have shut the door before the GM meetings where deals are most likely to be made.
- Interesting proposal made for Lincecum, but Sabean probably take a pass: MLB Trade Rumors covered this here in their comments. Many commenters there think the Reds is that mystery team. Makes sense, they have a 3B we need in Encarnacion who they don't feel strongly about and we need a 3B. In addition, they might give us 1B Joey Votto, to fill our other hole in the infield, or SP Homer Bailey, who didn't do that well in the majors in his first try up here. There was also talk before about the Reds giving up Adam Dunn, whose salary is so high, and the Giants can absorb his salary easily plus play him at 1B. I would think Dunn is the most likely of that bunch, if I were the Reds I don't think I would part with Votto or Bailey, even for Lincecum. However, as a Giants fan, I would be underwhelmed by this deal and would want Sabean to pass.
- Giants slightly interested in Miguel Tejada: Talking with the Orioles but the Giants are concerned about his age, his $13M for the next two seasons, and "the uncertainty surrounding the position switch," which, from what I got previously from other Tejada rumors, refers to the fact that while the Orioles have been marketing him as a 3B, he has not publicly agreed to a switch to 3B yet. Cause if he refuses to change position, that would create problems since we just signed Vizquel.
- Cards trade us Rolen, they sign Feliz? The rumor that won't die, this rumor has the Cards trading Rolen to us while they sign Feliz to replace him. The common agents are Sam and Seth Levinson (I guess I was wrong about Boras or maybe he switched). However, Rolen would have even more issues than Tejada because of his injury history and longer contract (3 years at $12M).
- Not shopping Molina but listening to offers: Apparently team(s) are still asking the Giants about Molina even though they are not shopping him. Would have to take an incredible offer (or an offer with a MLB ready or near-ready catching prospect) to get Molina, I would imagine, not that I think he's that good but that otherwise we are left with Alfonzo/Rodriguez as the catching combo, and that's not even worthy of a punted season, you don't want to mess with the young pitchers' minds by having defensive-lacking catchers in place.
- Giants mentioned in play for CFs but Sabean squash rumors a bit: Sabean said that the conversations he had about free agents included "nothing really of substance." Giants mentioned for Andruw Jones and Kusoke Fukodome, but Fukodome don't make sense for the team because he's more of a top of lineup hitter profile (heck, the majority are top of lineup types if their top hitter who hit over 50 HR comes here and can't break 25 HR regularly; Godzilla was more like Mothra :^) plus would cost $10M per season and we already have a player like him in Randy Winn, and Andruw carries too much risk given his very poor 2007, meaning that the Giants wouldn't be interested in more than a year or two contract, but Jones and Boras will want a 3-5 year contract, possibly at $20M per.
Dang, info on the rumor site now says that Toronto is the mystery suitor for either Cain or Lincecum (appears that they want Cain) and they claim that they can get one of the pitchers if they would just give up Alex Rios. There was also talk about Troy Glaus and Adam Lind.
ReplyDeleteI would be so pissed if they traded one of them for Rios. Rios is a very nice player but he isn't that good enough a player in return for one of them, plus he plays the OF.
Then again, I guess that might be why the Giants say that the trade proposal is interesting for Lincecum but not one that they would pursue...
Besides, why do a trade for an OF when you can wait and see if another team is willing to give you a 3B.
For example, the D-gers according to the rumors, is looking for a 3B because they don't think LaRoche can cut it. What if the Giants trade Lowry to the D-gers for LaRoche and Hu, for example, that would cover the left side of the infield for years. I also like Kyle Orr, 1B, but he's far away from the majors. Not sure if there's any better 1B prospect in their system.
I think Lowry for 2 MLB ready prospects and another prospect would be a good fair haul for the value he would provide. And Lowry is from the LA area, so he'll be going closer to home.
Got some news from the Merc, from their newspaper because their link refused to open for me last night, else I would link.
ReplyDeleteArticle quotes Reds official as saying the Giants will have to trade Lincecum, but Sabean said, "I don't feel pressure, nor am I getting pressure, to trade pitching to quote-unquote fill out the lineup. We'll figure out a team and a lineup. But if you don't pitch in our division, you're in trouble."
There was more about the possible Tejada trade with the Orioles. No Cain or Lincecum involved, with the Orioles looking at Jonathan Sanchez, Brad Hennessey, Fred Lewis, and Guillermo Rodriguez, among the names they are interested in.
However, little movement there because Sabean's advisors are roughly split on whether he's a good fit, particularly since he hasn't agreed to a move to 3B yet. It was also noted that his name might pop up in Senator Mitchell's steroid report.
Good news, though, somehow teams are interested in Feliz and he appears likely to land a multi-year contract somewhere else. According to the Merc, Rolen's agents are pushing the Cards to trade Rolen (probably Milwaukee or Texas) and then sign Feliz. Shades of Boras. Plus the Phillies are desperate enough to kick the tires on Feliz too.
Also, got some clarity on the draft pick we would get for him, I haven't seen it anywhere else, but Andy Baggerly, fine Merc Giants reporter, says that the Giants get a first round sandwich pick for him.
The Seattle rumor for Lincecum was fleshed out a bit, it would have been a large deal, with possibly Sexson coming our way and Giants trading Durham and Aurilia, plus we would get some young position players too, I suppose.
Was rushing to get kid to school, there was other news as well in the Merc.
ReplyDeleteFirst is that every trade conversation involved giving up young pitching for established players.
Second is that Molina was only inquired by the Mets and they just got Brian Schneider, so that one is dead.
Third, and most importantly, Magic Merkin Valdez couldn't dial up his magic again in the Dominican winter league. Once a 99 MPH toucher, he is topping out at 91 MPH.
The only semi-positive news on that is that some players need a "get back" recovery year where they get back to just being a ballplayer, and not rehabbing, and start doing better later. So we will have to wait and see, but he wasn't one to survive on his off-speed pitches, it was his fast ball or nothing before, so that doesn't bode well when he doesn't have a special fast ball anymore.