i dont see us giving up a young pitcher and wille for jennings...mainly because isnt jennings a FA after next season? Source: Rocky Mountain News id do that in a heartbeat...but i dont see purp parting with both those guys i dont know much about this Baker guy...but i dont think i like that deal
he can hit...but only played at the end of the season so his time was limited much like Luke...i don't like that deal either cause I believe Light's Out Lidge will be back to form this year...but at least we can get another Killer Bee.
My hope is that this is all a ruse to get Florida to start talking turkey with us on a deal for Dontrelle. Willy T, Pence, and Hirsch for Dontrelle. Get'er done.
A couple of notes of interest from ESPN's Winter Meeting Notes: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove06/news/story?id=2686831&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1 An official of another club that has spoken with the Rockies about Jennings said there is just about a zero chance that Colorado will trade him before leaving the meetings. It's always a bizarre edition of the winter meetings when the Yankees are essentially sitting out the madness. But the Yankees are basically waiting on their top pitching priority, Andy Pettitte, to make a decision on whether he wants to play next year. One source who spoke with Pettitte's agents, Randy and Alan Hendricks, was told Pettitte expects to make that decision by Christmas.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros are seriously considering trading for Jake Peavy and are continuing talks with the Rockies for Jason Jennings. The Padres are supposedly unhappy with Peavy and are looking to move him. Even though the price would be high, likely costing the Astros Ensberg and one of the rookies like Hirsh or Buchholz, it would be a good fit down the road. Roy Oswalt is one of Jake Peavy's best friends and Peavy's agent, Barry Axelrod also represents Bagwell and Biggio. Over the years, the Astros have had very good relations with Axelrod and Peavy could benefit from being reunited with veteran pitcher Woody Williams and tutelage from the venerable Roger Clemens. If this trade does go through and then Pettitte decides to come back, the Astros starting rotation would suddenly become the scariest in the National League with Oswalt, Pettitte, Peavy, Williams and Sampson/Albers/Buchholz--A Rocket blastoff mid-season would cement the best Astros rotation of all time.
YANKS VERY CLOSE TO SIGNING PETTITTE FWIW http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/tom_verducci/12/05/yankees.pettitte/index.html
In this market, the Yankees would do well to get Pettitte at two years and about $26 million. At 34, he's just seven months older than the more expensive Schmidt.
Nothing coming out of San Diego indicates that the Pads are interested in trading Peavy (actually, they're looking to *add* starting pitching). Pads got their 3B - Kevin Kouzmanoff, minor league player of the year, iirc - in the Josh Barfield trade. They have a good, deep bullpen as well, so they have little use for either of the Stros main trade assets - Lidge & Ensberg. Mike Cameron's still in CF, right? So no need for Willy. They do need a 2B, so Burke coulda been attractive, but they've signed Todd Walker to fill in there. The Pads are looking for 1 or 2 established starting pitchers (Maddux looks to be close to signing) and a power hitting corner OFer. Stros have neither to offer. Plus, like you said, Peavy's cheap. Not sure why they'd want to trade him. I'm sure the Stros have asked (it sure seems like Purp is talking to *anybody* who has potentially availabe starting pitching), but I doubt anything goes much beyond that stage. A Jennings deal seems much, much more likely.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4380799.html Dec. 5, 2006, 1:44PM Garner optimistic Pettitte will pitch in 2007 By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Judging by the conversation he had with the veteran lefthander last week, Astros manager Phil Garner is optimistic about the chances of Andy Pettitte deciding to pitch next season. Whether Pettitte pitches for the Astros, New York Yankees or elsewhere, Garner is as unsure as everybody else not privy to Pettitte’s true feelings or those of his agents. Ever the sweet talker, however, Garner is more than willing to declare his desire to re-sign the veteran lefthander and place him right behind ace righthander Roy Oswalt at the front of the Astros' starting rotation. “I certainly am tainted by my biased feeling that he wants to be in Houston,” Garner said Tuesday during his manager’s press briefing during the second day of the annual baseball winter meetings at Walt Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort. A bit tongue and cheek and with a few chuckles, Garner even tried delving into the hearts of Pettitte’s family while delivering what would be a solid recruiting pitch. “He needs to be in Houston and we want him to be in Houston,” Garner said. “And his family is dying for him to be in Houston. His kids are pining every day at school wondering, ‘Oh, daddy, please don’t go anywhere else. Stay in Houston.’ I could hear it all over the city. “New York has been one team that has been talked about (as a suitor for Pettitte). He’s a Houston guy. I think it’s been a good relationship in Houston. If he’s going to make a choice to play, I sure hope it is to play in Houston.” Garner hasn’t spoken to future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens to ask him if he’d like to return next year. He has checked in a few times with Pettitte, however. The last chat was the most positive of them all for fans hoping Pettitte pitches again. “Andy, the first few times I talked to him he wasn’t sure if he was going to play,” Garner said. “He said he was going to make the decision later. The most recent conversation I had he was – should I say it – more than leaning, he’s really considering coming back and playing. I guess he hadn’t made a definitive decision that, ‘Yes, I’m definitely going to come back and play.’ It was more like, ‘I’m getting interested, very seriously interested in doing it again.” Reportedly, the Yankees have essentially told Pettitte that they’ll hold a spot for him if he opts to return to the Bronx, where he played his first nine major-league seasons and won four World Series championships. At this point, Pettitte remains the top target for Astros general manager Tim Purpura, but the Astros are also exploring trade opportunities. In one regard, Garner’s recent conversation could be seen as a good sign for fans of Pettitte, but that’s necessarily a good sign for Astros or Yankees fans. “I felt more optimistic that he would come back and play,” Garner said of his reaction after speaking to Pettitte. “I never get too (optimistic). I guess I’m a little bit of a pessimist on the side of signings. I try not to get too overly optimistic until we actually get it done. I don’t say that meaning the other side either that I was discouraged by his not signing. I’m just saying I’m trying to be neutral about that and do everything that I feel I can do to convince Andy to stay in Houston.”
Looks like the Giants are nearing a deal with Molina for 15 million over 3 years...I'd offer 20 and bring that boy in.
i put this is the pettitte thread too... the reporter on WFAN who is at the mtgs said that Hendricks said that the SI report is false. He DID say that Hendricks told him that Andy is leaning towards playing again and should have a decision by Dec 22
It did seem a bit premature. Especially when every other report had him putting off a decision whether to even play until just before Christmas or later. I don't seem him in any other uniform than the pinstripes... of Houston's home uniform.
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/redSox/?p=768 There has been indication that the Houston Astros have been discussing a trade with the San Diego Padres about backup catcher Josh Bard.
That's very interesting. Last season Bard hit .333 with 20 doubles, 9 homers, and 40 RBIs. He also had a OBP of over .400. Of course his bat had been Ausmus like in the two seasons before that.
I cant even begin to imagine having a catcher that hits .300. Heck, gimme .270 and I'll bust a couple nuts.
