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Chasing Giambi
By Peter Gammons
Special to ESPN.com
DIAMOND NOTES: Nov. 10
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| Giambi |
The thinking is that the Cardinals can't afford to get into the $17 million to $19 million range it's going to take to sign Jason Giambi, and that the Yankees will get him signed as quickly as they got Mike Mussina signed last November. That would seemingly open the door for Nick Johnson to become an eighth-hole DH. A first base/DH combo of Giambi ($17-$19 million) plus $200,000 for Johnson, as opposed to keeping Tino Martinez at $5 to $6 million, which would obviously put the two positions into the combined $20 million range.
And you better believe that Johnson will get a minimum of a .360 on-base percentage in the eighth position; Martinez was .329 in a big year. Even though manager Joe Torre essentially said goodbye to Scott Brosius, and as much as Drew Henson has played brilliantly in the Arizona Fall League (his OPS is still close to 1.000), if they get another outfielder like Cliff Floyd or Vladimir Guerrero, they can carry Brosius at the bottom of the order for another year. There are a lot of Yankee people scared of Johnny Damon playing in big-market pressure, which the A's people would second.
New Los Angeles GM Dan Evans' acquisition of Omar Daal is a good move for that staff -- the Dodgers needed a lefty. And pitching is a priority, as the Dodgers declined to pick up Jeff Shaw's option for 2002 after they realized he would opt out of the final year of his deal and test the market. L.A.'s chances of signing Chan Ho Park and Terry Adams are also slim. However, Evans says he is not shopping Gary Sheffield. "We need his bat, he's good on the team and we can't replace him." Not to mention the fact he's signed to a good contract in management's eyes.
When general managers met for two days in Chicago this past week after the owners met, there were three principle themes:
1. Very little talk about trades
2. The bleak short-term economic future
3. The noticeable absence of three teams without general managers
The Marlins have remained open post-Dave Dombrowski because if Jeffrey Loria is going to be the new owner, he will install a management team of current Expos executive vice president David Samson and manager Jeff Torborg.
Toronto owner Paul Godfrey is not yet sold on former Rangers GM Doug Melvin or his own assistant GM, Dave Stewart, and is going through a number of interviews in order to fill the Blue Jays' vacant GM position. The Oakland organization is understandably getting significant attention; Paul DePodesta, the A's assistant GM, interviewed and withdrew his name despite having a shot at the position; and this weekend J.P. Ricciardi, perhaps the best evaluator in the business when it comes to who can play and what it takes to build a winner, will interview for the job.
Godfrey is meeting with Twins GM Terry Ryan, Buck Showalter and several other candidates as well. The Jays need a lot of work, as their staff believes they have three DHs (Carlos Delgado, Brad Fullmer, Shannon Stewart) and have to rectify that situation. Dave Stewart has been telling other GMs that the Jays are prepared to play youngster Felipe Lopez at third base next season.
Meanwhile, Boston assistant GM Lee Thomas turned down a lucrative offer to go to the Dodgers, telling L.A. GM Dan Evans that he felt that he owed loyalty to Red Sox GM Dan Duquette.
Jimy Williams' arrival in Houston is indeed good news for Astros shortstop prospect Adam Everett.
The fact that the White Sox didn't pick up David Wells' 2002 option doesn't preclude his return to Chicago, as Wells likes the team and the city. Wells, naturally, has been lobbying for a return to the Yankees (unlikely), but has received strong interest from the Phillies as well as the White Sox on a small guarantee with large incentives.
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| McGwire |
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa knows Mark McGwire is dead serious about his retirement thoughts. "If there is one thing about Mark, it is that he never wants to be less than what he thinks he should be, and if he is he feels he is embarrassing himself," says La Russa. "He couldn't care less about the money when it comes to what he feels is his playing integrity. Now, if he feels better comes January, he may change his mind, but I'd say right now that he is dead serious." La Russa, incidentally, placed a recruiting call to Giambi, whom he broke into the big leagues in Oakland in 1995.
La Russa also called ESPN analyst Buck Showalter to let Buck know how much dignity the former D-Backs' manager displayed in being forced to do TV work in Phoenix during the World Series. But then, after Game 7, at least 10 Diamondbacks' players called Showalter, a measure of just how much character there is on that team.
La Russa on Rick Ankiel: "The year in the minors, with people his own age, was good for him. (Pitching coach) Dave Duncan said that when he threw in the bullpen in September, his stuff was lights out, better than ever. There's no question that he's going to come back and be a really good pitcher. It's just a matter of when. He's a special person."
Examples of what makes this state of flux so difficult for people associated with the Expos, Marlins and Twins: Infielder Mike Lamb signed a minor-league free-agent contract with Montreal, only to have the Expos possibly getting contracted; OF Mark Smith wants to return with Torborg and that team, but has to sit and wait and reconsider minor-league free-agent offers from the Red Sox and Cubs; all the minor-league and scouting personnel, who work for the love of the game, sit at home not being able to tell their families if they have jobs or not.
Todd Stottlemyre insists he will be back next season with the D-Backs. "After all the surgeries I had done -- and the count comes to four surgeries for seven problems -- I feel better than I have in years," says Stottlemyre. "I know I can and will be back starting next season." There's one man for whom character will never be a problem.
Speaking of the D-Backs, if the Marlins and Expos get contracted, Arizona would stay in the National League. If Minnesota gets eliminated, Arizona will move to the AL West. "That would be a disaster, for baseball and for us," says D-Backs owner Jerry Colangelo. "The reason we wanted to go into the National League in the first place was that our surveys showed that our fan base in Arizona was 65 percent National League. Now, it's a lot higher than that. We've built some very strong National League rivalries in our four years, and it would be crazy to tear them apart."
The Padres are close to getting a long-term extension done with Phil Nevin, although they still have to work out some escape provision in case their new park gets stalled by local politicians. The Pads are also close to signing Tag Bozied, the premier hitting prospect who went unsigned as a sandwich pick of the Twins in 2000 and went back to the University of San Francisco for his senior year, got selected by San Diego in the third round this year and played in the Northern League.
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| Wickman |
One reason the Indians worked so hard to keep Bob Wickman is the respect his teammates have for him. There's no price on how his peers feel about the veteran closer. One question that the Cleveland staff is wrestling with is whether or not to try Danys Baez -- who throws three filthy pitches -- as a starter rather than use him in the seventh and eighth innings in front of Wickman.
Yes, that was a splitter that Mike Mussina was experimenting with and perfecting in Game 5 of the World Series, giving him yet another piece in his arsenal for 2002.
Walking out of Bank One Ballpark after Game 6, Matt Williams said, "Now that we have a chance to win one game to win it all, I can say that I will never forget the experience of playing those three games in New York at Yankee Stadium. Did it stink to lose? Yeah, but we can still win it. I will never get another chance as a major-league baseball player to experience anything like that. I'm proud and fortunate to have had the experience."
Give the Yankees credit for something else -- they have restored the pride in those stripes. Seattle's prime catching prospect, Ryan Christianson, played on the Peoria team in the Arizona Fall League with the Yankee prospects (Drew Henson, Marcus Thames, et al) this fall, and offers this observation: "Let's face it, in the Fall League or the minor leagues, players don't care what organizations they get to The Show with -- they just want to get there. But it's amazing, every one of the Yankee players on our team want to be Yankees, period. And if they get traded, they all say they'll be very disappointed."
One of the few GMs at the meetings who was actively courting deals was Cincinnati's Jim Bowden, to no one's surprise. He's trying to put together a package involving Dmitri Young and/or Pokey Reese to pry Sidney Ponson and Jason Johnson away from the Orioles. ... "I still think that the Rangers have to do something with Pudge Rodriguez, and the logical place is to Baltimore for a couple of those pitchers," says an NL GM.
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| Everett |
It's been over a month since the season ended and neither Carl Everett nor his agent, Larry Reynolds, have heard from Dan Duquette. The Red Sox GM offered Everett for a prime third baseman -- gee, wonder why he got turned down? -- but has been reluctant to discuss much of anything else.
Incidentally, if the dispersal draft happens, it will be by worst record first. And it will be changed so that it will not be by league, per draft method, but by worst record regardless of leagues. So Cincinnati apparently will lose the third pick.
Oakland has it in writing that Texas had permission to interview A's scouting director Grady Fuson for one job and one job only -- that of GM. Rangers owner Tom Hicks then went and hired Fuson to be the club's assistant general manager for scouting and player development at a higher salary than A's GM Billy Beane is making. "Considering all the tampering memos we get from Selig's office, how can he and Sandy (Alderson) not come down hard on Hicks?" asks a GM. Beane wants third-base prospect Hank Blalock as compensation. If Selig believes in his own rules, Blalock or a comparable player seems only fair, since Hicks felt Fuson was so vital to his club's future that new Texas GM John Hart had to accept him as a condition of taking the job.
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