McCourt Wants To Sell The Dodgers And Future TV
Rights And Retain Parking Lots

The delusional Frank McCourt strikes again, but that's not the worst of the bad news to come from this Bill Shaikin story:

Blackstone, the investment bank in charge of the Dodgers' sale, already has started soliciting prospective bidders. The sale price is expected to hit $1 billion or more, with the Dodgers and their stadium included in the deal. Under the agreement, McCourt and the new owner would negotiate whether the parking lots should be leased from McCourt or purchased outright.

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Sveum interviews for Cubs managing job (AP)

Dale Sveum felt as though he was seeing the same pitch twice when he interviewed for the Chicago Cubs’ managing job. The Milwaukee Brewers’ hitting coach said Monday the process mirrored what he went through in Boston last week, with management firing similar questions his way and putting him through a game simulation.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/11/08/sveum-interviews-for-cubs-managing-job-ap/

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New York Yankees: Choosing Between Oswalt,
Buehrle And Wilson

GM Brian Cashman was pretty clear about his goals for the 2012 off-season; the New York Yankees are looking to add “pitching, pitching, pitching.” Unfortunately for the Yankees this off-season?s free agent arms are not the greatest; and[...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ladylovespinstripes/~3/SvcGJ6mQ66U/

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Obama congratulates Cards on Series win (AP)

President Barack Obama says the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals kept him up late during an extra-inning thriller that helped lead the team to victory. Obama called manager Tony LaRussa Monday and congratulated him on his team’s championship season. The White House says Obama told LaRussa that this year’s World Series was one of [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/11/08/obama-congratulates-cards-on-series-win-ap/

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Texas employee leaked Washington speech (AP)

The Texas Rangers have determined one of their employees made an audio recording of the clubhouse speech manager Ron Washington gave to his players before Game 7 of the World Series. The team investigated after the JoeSportsFan.com website posted the six-minute recording and said it was made by a member of the clubhouse staff it [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/11/08/texas-employee-leaked-washington-speech-ap/

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Melky Cabrera Trade Inaugurates Lorenzo Cain Era
in Center-Field

We'll never know what the Royals initially wanted to do with Lorenzo Cain in 2011. Perhaps what ended up transpiring -- a year in AAA while a veteran stopgap played CF in KC -- was truly optimal, perhaps it was just what ended up happening. The Royals signed Melky Cabrera on December 10, 2010, and nine days later they acquired Cain in the Greinke trade.

As we neared Opening Day, word kept coming out that Melky had signed with the Royals in part because he'd been promised either the starting job or a chance to compete for the starting job. I thought this was just another maddening, bizarre, and counter-productive Royals negotiation tactic, just another weird footnote to the Dayton Moore Era. Why are the Royals promising Melky Cabrera anything? But in retrospect maybe it was brilliant messaging, brilliant spin. The front office may be a lot of things, but they are not undisciplined in the media. Honoring a promise to Melky allowed the Royals to act like Cain was someone they truly wanted in CF, but just... gosh darn it, they ended up in this real pickle of a situation here. It sold Cain as a valuable piece and created an explanation for him starting AAA in Omaha. After all, if starting was simply an issue, Cain could have been up with the 2010 Royals in place of Mitch Maier or Jarrod Dyson.

Well, Melky's gone now.

Here are Cain's relevant stat lines from the last two seasons:

Cain's numbers in AAA improved from 2010 to 2011, which is encouraging. However, it must be said that a) he was 25 last season and b) everyone in the PCL hit last year. His wOBA+ from 2011 in Omaha is 108+, a tick or so above average. His numbers from the last two seasons are more encouraging than discouraging, but only by a matter of degree.

What the Royals now have in Cain is a young player entering his prime who is set to spend his late 20s earning the Major League minimum. Financially, that is all you can ask for. Cain, as a roster spot, is a little like inheriting a bungalow in Southern California in 1960. Barring the unforeseen, he's going to be a nice investment.

Like he former Brewer colleague Alcides Escobar, Cain is expected to generate a good chunk of his value by playing a premium defensive position well. If I had to wager on it, I'd say that he'll draw raves from fans and media members next season, garnering praise in the extreme. I expect that his defensive stats will be good, but a little less glowing. (This is mostly because I'm convinced observers of every team overrate anyone who is good defensively. There's no sense of scale or precision when evaluating glovemen, because comparing players is really really difficult. So as such, there are always about eight players at every position who their fans think is clearly the best at his position.)

This may all sound like I'm phlegmatic on Cain, which is true. It's funny. We've been all over the place on his abilities this last year. Last winter, I remember getting scolded on Twitter because I wrote that Cain probably needed some additional time in the minors. Then, when Melky started the season well and Cain struggled a little bit, opinions flipped. Let's trade Cain and lock up Melky! Now, we're back to being super excited about Cain again. He's not Jarrod Dyson, a fast guy who can't hit, but he's not an elite prospect either. I worry especially about his ability to make contact in the Majors, given that he struck out 102 times last year. The good news is that he's got a foundation of decent power and good OBPs to work from.

In the WAR era we've seen or learned or been reminded that center-fielders who hit close to league average and play good defense are extremely valuable. Centerfielders in the Dayton Moore Era have been a little bit like the minor local dieties of the ancient world, at once endless variety but all pretty much the same thing. The best ones, David DeJesus and Melky Cabrera have been the players that deviated the most from Moore's ideal. Hopefully, Cain can be the fast glove-first player who can hit a little that management has so long desired.

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Seeking a Greinke like Deal

Jon Heyman reported that the Braves are seeking a Greinke like deal for Jair Jurrjens. I think of Heyman the same way I think of Bill Shanks, but if there is one thing Heyman is good at it is making reports on Scott Boras clients (that isn’t really a skill, if you didn’t notice). Jurrjens [...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CapitolAvenueClub/~3/G7qtLtDpPsQ/

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Os officially announce Duquette hiring (AP)

The Baltimore Orioles have formally announced the hiring of Dan Duquette as executive vice president of baseball operations. Duquette signed a three-year contract on Sunday. He will be introduced to the media in a news conference Tuesday morning. The 53-year-old Duquette will attempt to bring the Orioles out of their run of 14 successive losing [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/11/07/os-officially-announce-duquette-hiring-ap/

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Marlins pursuing Jose Reyes, Yoenis Cespedes

The major rumblings in free agency have not even begun and the Marlins are already attempting to make waves. First, from Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun-Sentinel (H/T MLB Daily Dish):

The Marlins have identified their center fielder of the future. Now all they have to do is sign him when he’s declared a free agent.

Yoenis Cespedes, a 26-year-old Cuban who defected last summer, should get the go-ahead to begin negotiating with major league teams later this month. According to an American League source who attended his showcase Friday in the Dominican Republic, the buzz is the Marlins have the inside track.

Then, in a completely unrelated but equally juicy piece of hot stove rumors today, Mike Francessa of WFAN reports this via Twitter (H/T MLB Trade Rumors)

@WFAN660
WFAN Sports Radio 66 Mike Francesca has heard that Jose Reyes has received an offer and is scheduled to meet with the Marlins.
Nov 07 via TweetDeckFavoriteRetweetReply

That is two pieces of very intriguing information for Marlins fans hungry from some fresh-cooked rumors. For a town that has seen their ballclub let loose player after player via trades and free agency, it is exciting to hear the Marlins' name attached to two of the bigger names around. Where would these players fit, and why would the Marlins be interested in them?

In the case of Cespedes, the involvement of the Marlins should not be surprising. Yahoo's Jeff Passan reported that the 26-year-old Cuban defector is expected to be cleared for free agency in due time, and as soon as that information came out, numerous suitors lined to be a part of the Cespedes sweepstakes. Given the hype behind him, no one should blame those teams; for example, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus had this to say about the outfielder:

He's a tremendous talent—arguably the best all-around player to come out of Cuba in a generation. He's a legitimate centerfielder with plus power and speed and is in his prime. Much like Aroldis Chapman was the best pitcher from the island, Cespedes is the best position player, and Mercedes will be expecting (and likely getting) a Chapman-like deal in the neighborhood of $30 million.

Those are some extremely strong words, and it would seem that Cespedes is the real deal according to scouts. The super-hype 20-minute video sent to numerous baseball folks (which has since been pulled from YouTube) certainly added to the mystique of this kid's talent. His latest 2010-2011 season line of .333/.424/.667 in 87 games in the Cuban National Series also helped.

Seeing the Marlins interested in him is also no surprise given their dearth of talent in center field. After last season's Chris Coghlan debacle and the team's inability to trust Scott Cousins or Bryan Petersen with the position, the team has been left with something of a hole between Logan Morrison and Mike Stanton. Acquiring the toolsy Cespedes will provide the team a prospect who ideally would be major-league ready within the year (he is, after all, 26 years old). Having said that, the team would be paying Aroldis Chapman-money (six years and $30 million) to acquire him, and unlike in the case of Chapman, Cespedes will have little time to establish himself because of his advanced age.

For Reyes, the team's interest is appreciated but still on the surprising side. The Marlins have already mentioned that they have not discussed moving Hanley Ramirez to another position, which would be a requirement if the team were to pursue and sign Reyes. There are also legitimate concerns about Reyes's health; he missed 37 days and 29 games with injury last season, which marks the third year during which he has missed at least a month due to injury. His asking price has not decreased, and the readers of FanGraphs still expect him to ink a deal around six years and $104 million.

If the rumors regarding Reyes are true, the Marlins are saying that they would be interested in risking many years and dollars on a player with a substantial injury risk. The cost does seem prohibitive, but the concept of Reyes in Miami makes sense. The team has to at some point move Ramirez away from shortstop, as his growing physique and previous difficulty at the position likely preclude him from playing it well over the next few years. Moving him to third base utilizes his strong arm while minimizing the lesser aspects of his range. And of course Reyes would be a great addition on the field (he is a competent defender) and at the plate, where he has the capability of putting up five-win seasons when healthy.

It is an exciting start to what should continue to be a riveting offseason for the Marlins. Even if nothing ultimately comes out of either of these talks, the team will certainly have fans glued to their computers at all times. And if any of these signings go through, expect fans to respond with their wallets as well as their words.

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Maddux wont seek Red Sox managerial job (AP)

Texas Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux has withdrawn from consideration for the manager’s job with the Boston Red Sox. He had been scheduled for an interview Tuesday, but Boston general manager Ben Cherington announced Monday that Maddux had withdrawn. The job opened when Terry Francona left following the team’s epic collapse in September, when it [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/11/07/maddux-wont-seek-red-sox-managerial-job-ap/

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