Brandon Phillps is looking towards an uncertain future
After just a couple days of GM meetings and hot stove excitement, there is a somewhat disturbing trend developing around some of the “middle tier” teams in the MLB. Teams like the Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers are in a position to trade some of their more talented players due to financial restraints placed on the respective clubs. The Reds in particular are in an interesting position. They have a projected payroll of about $70 million, with $36 million of that going to just Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo and Francisco Cordero. Due to the difficulty in trading such the bloated contracts of under-performing players, the Reds may have to resort to trading All-Star Brandon Phillips and the $5 million owed to him. While there are some needy teams who might be willing to eat a portion of the contracts owed to Arroyo ($11m) or Harang ($12.5m) — Mets, anyone? — the Reds have put themselves in the unfortunate position of having to trade their best player for some financial freedom.
Similarly, the Detroit Tigers are feeling the effects of their city’s shrinking economy and will have to move some salary. 2009 breakout pitcher Edwin Jackson is on the market, and the Dodgers are interested. The Tigers may also move their closer Fernando Rodney to the Phillies, who have been looking for some late inning insurance for the inconsistent Brad Lidge.
While the Reds and Tigers are looking to shed payroll this offseason, the Mariners will be looking to add some. Adrian Beltre, Erik Bedard, Miguel Bautista, and Kenji Johjima will all be coming off the books and should free up about $45 million. With all of that money now available Seattle will reportedly have interest in a handful of players including Jason Bay, Hideki Matsui, Rich Harden, Orlando Hudson, and possibly bringing back Jarrod Washburn. An Ichiro/Matsui pairing would definitely be an interesting PR move, and with those 2 players the Mariners could become the biggest thing in Japan since karaoke. Additionally, because GMs around the league do not believe Matsui is capable of playing the outfield anymore, their competition to sign him will be limited.
Another team that will should be active in free agency are your very own New York Mets. The NY Post reported today that the Mets opened talks with left fielder Matt Holliday. The report indicated that “The Mets’ priority list in order is a slugging left fielder, a high-end starting pitcher and a regular catcher.” Holliday would take care of the issue in left, but a high-end starting pitcher might be hard to come by. As I wrote here yesterday, the Mets are scared off by John Lackey’s arm history and it looks like they may be on to something with the Angels seemingly uninterested in bringing back their ace. That leaves the Mets interested in the services of Randy Wolf, Joel Piniero (if the price is right), or Jarrod Washburn. Take a second to process the names on that list, and tell me the Mets won’t be looking into trade scenarios for Mr. Halladay.
As I mentioned above, The Mets’ other target for this offseason is at catcher. Giants backstop Bengie Molina is garnering some interest from the team, and they might be interested in giving him a 2 year deal. One name you can definitely rule out is Jason Varitek. The Mets want a catcher who can start 100+ games, and V-Tek does not come close to fitting that bill. Arizona’s Chris Snyder is an option, however.
Across town, the Yankees are concentrating on their own free agents-to-be, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. Scott Boras reportedly compared Johnny Damon’s production to that of Derek Jeter’s over the past 4 years and will be looking for compensation similar to what the Yanks would give Jeter. This is probably just Boras driving up the price for his client, but if Damon holds out for a deal longer than 2 years you can probably kiss him and his unique fashion sense goodbye. Speaking of Derek Jeter, the Yanks are in no rush to figure out his, or manager Joe Girardi’s contract situations. Both of which expire after this season.
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News and notes around the league…after writing yesterday that the Phils are looking to Mark DeRosa to replace Pedro Feliz, Jon Heyman of SI says they have a real interest in Chone Figgins for the same role…Jays GM Anthopoulos won’t talk about Halladay, but you know the Red Sox are keeping a close eye…you can also expect to see the Jays’ Lyle Overbay dealt before spring training, Toronto backed out of a deal of Overbay for Arizona’s Snyder yesterday…the Colorado Rockies could deal both Atkins and Hawpe this winter.
Tags: hot stove, johnny damon, MLB, new york mets, new york yankees, trade rumors
