River Avenue Blues

Rays sending James Shields to Royals for Wil Myers

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11:30pm: It’s Shields, Davis, and either a player to be named later or cash for Myers, right-hander Jake Odorizzi, left-hander Mike Montgomery, and infielder Pat Leonard. That one has “Royals GM Dayton Moore is trying to save his job” written all over it.

11:09pm: The exact details are still trickling in, but the Rays and Royals have agreed to a trade that will send both James Shields and Wade Davis to the Kansas City for top prospects Wil Myers and others. Shields will be next to impossible to replace as a proven above-average AL East workhorse, but if anyone can do it, it’s Tampa Bay. Myers is one of the five best prospects in baseball and gives them a big bat to pair with Evan Longoria for the next six years. The 2013 Rays likely got worse, but the 2014+ versions got a lot better.

Indians to sign Mark Reynolds

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According to multiple reports, the Indians have agreed to sign Mark Reynolds to a one-year contract worth $6M plus incentives. He’s going to play first base for them.

The Yankees reportedly had some interest in Reynolds for their third base vacancy, but more importantly the signing figures to impact the Tribe’s pursuit of Kevin Youkilis. New York has a one-year, $12M offer out to the former Red Sox, and the Indians were their biggest competition due to their two-year offer and Terry Francona. This is no guarantee Youkilis will sign with the Yankees, but it certainly increases the odds of that happening.

Sunday Night Open Thread

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Here’s your open thread for this fine evening. The late NFL game is the Lions at the Packers, plus the Knicks are playing as well. Use this thread to unwind and talk about whatever you like. Enjoy.

Update: Yankees likely to re-sign Ichiro

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5:00pm: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees are “showing strong interest” in Ichiro and are likely to re-sign him to a one-year contract. They’re also looking into trades involving Curtis Granderson, which we heard last week.


10:00am: Via Jon Heyman: The Yankees are still talking to Ichiro Suzuki about a return next season while also hesitating to show interest in A.J. Pierzynski. They view the long-time White Sox backstop as just an average defender, and apparently catcher defense has become a top priority in the organization over the last few years. Non-updates really, though I suppose at some point the Yankees will have to stop sitting on their hands and make some moves on the position player side.

Update: Yankees are “quietly” checking in on Josh Hamilton

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Sunday: Jon Heyman says the Yankees are not in on Hamilton at the moment. They will only seriously consider him if he fell into their laps at a below-market price, which is very unlikely to happen.

Friday: Via Bob Nightengale: The Yankees are “quietly” checking background information on Josh Hamilton, which could be nothing more than due diligence. For what it’s worth, Mark Feinsand notes the team does question how the embattled slugger would fit in New York. There are some major off-the-field concerns here, obviously.

Earlier this week Ken Rosenthal reported the Mariners were talking about a three-year deal worth $20-25M annually with Hamilton, and the Yankees should be all over him at that price. It’s the five, six, and seven-year deals that terrify me. Hamilton would give the team a much-needed middle of the order bat, and he’d protect them a bit against Robinson Cano potentially leaving as a free agent next winter. The Yankees have a strong and veteran-laden clubhouse that would hopefully help him keep his off-the-field problems in check, and even though he’s only a ~125 games a year player, those ~125 games are better than any (non-Nick Swisher) alternative can reasonably give you over a full season.

Nunez makes winter ball debut in the Dominican Republic

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I skipped last week’s update because I was en route to the Winter Meetings, so here’s a big batch of notes…

  • Congrats to Dave Miley, who was named Baseball America’s Minor League Manager of the Year. The Triple-A Scranton club won the division by five games despite playing the entire season on the road and getting little from Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances. A well-deserved honor indeed.
  • Frankie Cervelli, who was born in Venezuela, will play for Italy in the World Baseball Classic next fall. He played for Italy in the 2009 tournament and has some bloodlines, so they allow it. The eligibility rules aren’t that stringent.
  • The Yankees are in preliminary discussions to move their High-A Tampa affiliate to Ocala, where the Steinbrenner-owned Kinsman Stable is located. Plans to move the club to Orlando fell through about two years ago. The Yankees would continue to host Spring Training in Tampa even if the High-A squad moves.

The Arizona Fall League season ended a few weeks ago, so check out last week’s updates for the final stats. Here’s the latest from the various winter leagues around the club (but mostly in the Caribbean)…

Australian Baseball League
RHP Zach Arneson: 6 G, 6 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 WP (0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP)

[Read more…]

Saturday Night Open Thread

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Here’s your open thread for this lovely Saturday evening. The Knicks are playing tonight, plus there’s college football and basketball on somewhere. Talk about whatever you like here.