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Cubs re-sign reliever Grabow

Christopher Glotfelty — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:51:05 +0000

Looking to secure a solid bullpen that withered under pressure during the regular season, the Cubs have re-signed John Grabow to a two-year, $7.5 million deal.

Per the Chicago Tribune:

The 31-year-old reliever will be their primary left-handed setup man and is expected to be the leader of a relatively young bullpen he, Carlos Marmol and Angel Guzman will anchor.

Grabow, who called his decision to stay a “no-brainer,” professes to be ready for the challenge.

“The baseball season will bring you down to your knees more than once every year,” he said. “You have to be tough mentally. You just have to roll with it and have quick memories. That’s something I can help this team with, with the younger guys.”

General manager Jim Hendry said he acquired Grabow from the Pirates in July with the idea of bringing him back, and was “thrilled” Grabow was eager to stay. Grabow said his bone chip issues in his left elbow aren’t a concern.

Reports are calling Grabow a “veteran,” touting his wealth of knowledge and experience. Come on — the 31 year-old has only been in the league since 2003. With Grabow, Carlos Marmol, Sean Marshall, Angel Guzman, and the newly acquired Scott Maine in the bullpen, the Cubs are a long way from becoming a shut down team late in the game.

I’m surprised Cubs GM Jim Hendry was willing to dish out $7.5 million to Grabow. A former Pittsburgh Pirate, Grabow had only been worth $5.3 million over his entire career. The Cubs could do much worse, but this money should have been spent elsewhere. Although Grabow’s ERA is attractive (3.38 last season), he walks far too many batters and won’t supply the confidence the team is lacking.

Red Sox would “love” to have Jason Bay back

Anthony Stalter — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:38 +0000

At least, this according to WEEI.com:

Speaking at an event to honor Red Sox principal owner John Henry, who received the Woodrow Wilson Award for corporate sponsorship, team president/CEO Larry Lucchino expressed his organization’s desire to re-sign Jason Bay.

“Very much so,” Lucchino said when asked if the Red Sox wanted the outfielder back. “We’d love to have him back. He’s in many ways the personification of a player we want here.”

The Red Sox’ exclusive period to negotiate with Bay runs out at midnight Thursday.

Bay will draw plenty of interest on the open market, but the Red Sox certainly have the cash to re-sign him. It just depends on whether or not a more lucrative offer comes along and Bay bites on it. (Translation: It just depends on whether or not Bay wants to go the way of CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira and play for the Yankees next season.)

What will be interesting is whether or not he heads back to the NL on his own accord. He has proven that he can produce in either league, but usually hitters want to play in the NL because of the weaker pitching. Any number of teams could use Bay’s services, but it’ll all depend on which team will open up its wallet and which ones he feels gives him an opportunity to win.

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Giants’ Lincecum wins second straight NL Cy Young

Anthony Stalter — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:10:44 +0000

For the second straight year, San Francisco Giants’ ace Tim Lincecum was named the National League Cy Young award winner, earning 11 of 32 first-place votes. He just edged out Cardinals’ ace Chris Carpenter, who earned nine first-place votes and Carpenter’s teammate Adam Wainwright, who earned 12 first-place votes but only had 90 points (compared Lincecum’s 100 and Carpenter’s 94).

Lincecum led the NL with 261 strikeouts and also finished with four complete games and two shutouts. His 15-7 record wasn’t dazzling compred to Carpenter’s (17-4) or Wainwright’s (19-8), but he finished with a 2.48 ERA and the Giants didn’t have near the offense the Cardinals did.

Some St. Louis fans may complain about Lincecum winning this award and they certainly would have a case considering how good Carpenter and Wainwright were. (If either Carpenter or Wainwright won the award, it would be hard to debate they didn’t deserve it as well and it’s no wonder the voting was so close this year.) But if you watched Lincecum throughout the season, there wasn’t a more dominating pitcher in the National League.

On most nights, Giants’ pitchers were lucky if the offense scrapped together three runs. Every inning the pressure was on Lincecum and company to keep the runs to an absolute minimum and that’s exactly what he did. He was phenomenal.

No pitcher has ever won the Cy Young with only 15 victories. That means voters looked past the number of wins Lincecum had and saw what this kid did beyond the stat sheet. And while his recent bust for marijuana was unfortunate, it doesn’t taint what “The Freak” accomplished this season.

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Royals’ Greinke wins 2009 AL Cy Young Award

Anthony Stalter — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:54:44 +0000

According to MLB.com, Kansas City Royals’ ace Zach Greinke was named the American League’s Cy Young Award winner on Tuesday after receiving 25 of 28 first-place votes.

I know Mariners ace Felix Hernandez was just as a good, but Greinke deserved this achievement. He was the most dominant pitcher in the American League, posting a league-best 2.16 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. He also struck out 242 batters and finished the year with six complete games.

Greinke also figured out a way to post a 16-8 record on a bad team that didn’t give him much run support or defensive help. Of course, the same could be said for King Felix, who had even less of an offense backing him up, but don’t forget that Greinke also had six no-decisions in which he allowed two runs or less. Two runs or less! That means had Kansas City scored just three runs in those games, he would have easily cleared the 20-win mark.

I would love to see what the 26-year old could do on a competitor, but Royal fans have suffered enough throughout the years and deserve to watch Greinke pitch every five days.

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White Sox interested in Adrian Gonzalez

Anthony Stalter — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:09:51 +0000

The White Sox are interested in acquiring Padres’ first base slugger Adrian Gonzalez but as the Chicago Tribune notes, bringing Gonzo to the “Windy City” won’t be easy.

But here are some reasons why such a trade could be difficult to pull off. First, the Padres would be seeking four top-notch prospects at pitcher, center field, catcher and second base for a player of Gonzalez’s caliber.

The Sox have touted pitcher Daniel Hudson, outfielder Jordan Danks and catcher Tyler Flowers as core players of their future. All three players could make the Sox’s 2010 opening-day roster, but trading all three would be a significant hit to the Sox’s development unless other young players accelerate their progress.

The Angels, known for their farm-system success, could aid the Sox, but wouldn’t be required to pick up the bulk of the cost for such a proposed deal.

Although Konerko nearly signed with the Angels four years ago and maintains mutual respect with Scioscia, a major-league scout who follows all three Southern California organizations said the Angels have depth in their organization should they lose Guerrero and wouldn’t have to pursue Konerko.

Juan Rivera could move from the outfield to DH. The Angels still have Gary Matthews Jr., who will earn about $23 million over the next two years as a part-time player.

Finally, new Padres general manager Jed Hoyer was an assistant for four years at Boston, which reportedly has interest in Gonzalez. The Padres and Red Sox have done business in the past, and Hoyer is very familiar with the Red Sox’s deep farm system.

Hoyer has a daunting task of rebuilding a franchise that has lost 186 games over the past two seasons. So if he inevitably trades his most valuable bargaining chip, he will make sure to get his price — which will be steep.

Williams traded for Peavy last year and now is hot for Gonzalez, so it appears that he’s willing to sell the farm in order to acquire the marquee talent to win another World Series. As long as Peavy stays healthy, the Sox have the pitching to compete for a championship, but adding a slugger like Gonzo would be a necessity to help provide some pop to the offense.

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A’s Bailey, Marlins’ Coghlan voted Rookies of the Year

Anthony Stalter — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:54:38 +0000

A’s closer Andrew Bailey won the American League Rookie of the Year award on Monday, while Marlins’ outfielder Chris Coghlan won the same honors for the National League.

From MLB.com:

Coghlan’s victory continues the Marlins’ streak of three: three winners in club history, with each coming in three-year spans.
It started with Dontrelle Willis winning the Rookie of the Year Award in 2003, continued with Hanley Ramirez – now among the best shortstops in the Major Leagues – claiming the honor in ‘06, and now the torch has been passed to Coghlan.

A Palm Harbor, Fla., native, Coghlan beat out loads of promising first-year players in a rookie slate that really had no single favorite this year. On the list of contenders were Braves right-hander Tommy Hanson (11-4 with a 2.89 ERA in 21 starts), Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen (.286 batting average, 54 RBIs and 22 stolen bases), Phillies lefty J.A. Happ (12-4, 2.93 ERA in 35 games), Brewers infielder Casey McGehee (.301 batting average, 16 homers and 66 RBIs) and Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus (.251 batting average, 16 homers and 52 RBIs).

Coghlan certainly deserved the award, but I’m a little surprised that Happ or even McCutchen didn’t win the award. Happ came close (he received 94 points compared to Coghlan’s 105), but McCutchen finished behind Hanson.

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Does Carl Crawford want out of Tampa?

Anthony Stalter — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:45:39 +0000

According to New York Baseball Digest, Rays’ outfielder Carl Crawford is upset that the club picked up his $10 million option on the four-year deal he signed in 2005 and now wants out of Tampa Bay.

It appears that Carl Crawford’s days in a Tampa Bay uniform could be numbered. We spoke with someone with knowledge of the situation on Friday who told us that Crawford is “livid” over management’s decision to pick up his 2010 club option for $10 million rather than renegotiate a contract extension, which was agreed upon by the two sides when Crawford first signed his contract. “He wants out of Tampa bad,” is what we were told. “He had a handshake agreement with management that they would renegotiate the contract instead of picking up the option and they went ahead and did it anyway. He’s pissed beyond belief.”

There are only three possible scenarios to the “Crawford Saga.” The first would be for Rays VP Andrew Friedman to mollify Crawford by signing him to a new, more lucrative contract as originally promised by the club. The second scenario would be to trade him, either this winter or by the trading deadline next season in an attempt to get some sort of equal value back, and lastly, keep him and let things play out in 2010, thus allowing the club to get back draft picks when he signs elsewhere.

We’ll see if this situation develops or if Crawford (and/or the Rays) comes out and deny the report. It’s an interesting rumor, but New York Baseball Digest is the only one reporting it so take this news with a grain of salt for the time being.

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