Saturday, August 7, 2010

Saturday Stew

-- Ben Badler of Baseball America was asked if he thought James McDonald or Brad Lincoln had a higher ceiling. His answer:
"McDonald, partly because I see Lincoln as a No. 5 starter or a middle reliever, and partly because I think the Dodgers sold way, way low on McDonald. He's a three-pitch guy whose stuff wasn't conducive to a bullpen role, so I never understood the way the Dodgers used him. He could be at least an average or better starter in the big leagues."
-- Peter Gammons writing for MLB.com examines the futures of the Bucs, Royals and Indians. From his article:
"The Royals and Pirates have done what small-market teams should do with their revenue-sharing money," says one big-market general manager. "The last couple of years they've gone over slot on Draft choices, they've spent heavily in the international market and really worked hard rather than waste revenues on mediocre veteran players."
-- You may have heard of teams putting virtually their entire roster on waivers in an effort to clear them for an August trade (the July 31st deadline is the drop-dead date for non-waiver deals) but don't expect Pittsburgh to go that route.

Too many of their players are still under team control for too long and working on club friendly contracts for that ploy to work, with the exception of a couple of more veteran guys like Dewey, Zach Duke, and Paul Maholm along with a couple of guys having down years like Andy LaRoche. So an August deal is possible, but unlikely to be blockbusting.

The way the trade waiver system works is that the team places players on revocable waivers. If they clear, they can be traded to anyone or kept on the roster. If they're claimed, the team can let the player go to the claimant (usually as a salary dump), work out a deal with just that one team, or take the player off waivers and keep him for the remainder of the season.

-- The clock is ticking toward that August 16th draft signing date. Wonder how much midnight drama will be in store this year regarding Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie?

-- Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press says that Jimmy Leyland will return next season.

No comments: