Category: MLB

The Mets are considering adding free-agent P John Smoltz to their rotation, according to the New York Daily News.

A source told the newspaper that the 42-year-old righthander is "in the pool" of pitchers the team is interested in signing.

Smoltz went 2-5 with an 8.32 ERA in eight starts for the Red Sox last season before being released. He found new life after signing with the Cardinals, however, posting a 4.26 ERA in seven starts. He struck out 40 in 38 innings with St. Louis.

The Daily News listed free-agent starters Joel Pineiro, Doug Davis and Jon Garland as other possibilities for the Mets. Meanwhile, talks between the team and free-agent catcher Bengie Molina remain stalled.

Unable to garner much interest from an AL team looking for a DH, free-agent first baseman Jason Giambi told the Denver Post that he remains open to the idea of re-signing with the Rockies.

Giambi hit .292 with two homers and 11 RBIs after joining the Rockies last August. He would be only a reserve in Colorado.

According to the newspaper, the Rockies also are interested in free agent infielders Fernando Tatis and Robb Quinlan for their bench.
 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the Pirates have focused their attention on free-agent reliever Octavio Dotel. At the same time, they might be backing away from free-agent outfielder Rick Ankiel.

According to the newspaper, the Pirates already have made an offer to Dotel, who would serve as the team’s closer. The only other remaining free agents with closing experience are Jose Valverde and Kevin Gregg. The Pirates have a ninth-inning void to fill after allowing Matt Capps to become a free agent. He signed with the Washington Nationals this week.

As for Ankiel, Pittsburgh won’t guarantee him a starting job, something Ankiel’s agent, Scott Boras, is demanding in contract talks. The Post-Gazette listed free-agent outfielders Xavier Nady, Ryan Church and Rocco Baldelli as other possible targets for the Pirates.

Vladimir Guerrero eventually could sign with the Rangers, though the Fort Worth Star-Telegram continues to report that the team has yet to make an official offer to the free-agent outfielder/DH.

SI.com and the Rangers’ Web site reported Friday that the team had offered Guerrero a one-year contract. Texas would pay Guerrero $5 million plus incentives, according to SI.com.

Earlier reports indicated Guerrero, 34, is seeking a two-year contract. Last year he completed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels.

Injuries limited Guerrero to 100 games last year, and he posted career lows in batting average (.295), on-base percentage (.334) and slugging percentage (.460).

New York Mets third baseman David Wright expects to return to form in 2010 after a disappointing 2009 season during which his home run total dropped from 33 to 10.

Wright told the New York Post that several things contributed to his subpar production last season and that he "felt very uncomfortable" in the batter’s box.

Wright didn’t blame the injury-related absences of first baseman Carlos Delgado, shortstop Jose Reyes and center fielder Carlos Beltran for his offensive woes, but he acknowledged the dimensions of new Citi Field might have contributed. He noted that many of his homers normally go to the opposite field, but that is tough to do in Citi Field.

"You’ve got to really get into one to (homer) opposite field," Wright told the newspaper. "That’s not a knock on Citi Field. You have to adapt to the park that you’re playing in."

Wright dismissed any speculation about his power drop-off being related to steroid use.

"Since I came into the league, we’ve had drug tests," Wright told the New York Post. "Major League Baseball, the Players Association, we’ve got great drug testing going on. And I think that speaks for itself. I’ve never put anything illegal into my body. I take a lot of pride in that. There’s a lot of things that I can point my finger at and say there’s some reasoning behind the drop off in home runs and 100 percent that’s not one of them."

Dawson says people only see the glamorous side of baseball and he had a very painful career.

NEW YORK — The day after being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his ninth year of eligibility, Andre Dawson would have preferred not to talk about the 12 knee surgeries and the physical pain he endured during his 21-season career.

But when asked to elaborate at a news conference at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, he reluctantly painted the grim picture.

"A lot of people only see the glamour side of the game, but I had a very painful career," said Dawson, an eight-time All-Star outfielder who was selected on 420 of 539 ballots cast in voting announced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Wednesday. "I had to take medication almost daily to get through those three hours (on the field)."

Dawson said he injured his left knee playing high school football, and it left him with limited range of motion in his left leg. Eleven seasons of playing on artificial turf with the Expos only exacerbated the problem, as both knees wore down and required repeated surgery and rehabilitation.

Because of his knees, Dawson said, "I was usually the first one at the ballpark and the last one to leave. Before the game, I’d go through an ice treatment, some stretching, get both knees taped. After the game, it would be the same scenario."

Those knees prompted Dawson to become a free agent in 1987 and try to find a team that played on natural grass. He said his decision to sign with the Cubs gave him a new lease on life.

"Going to Wrigley Field, playing in the friendly confines amongst the Cub fans, that was amazing," said Dawson, who had his best season that year, winning the NL MVP Award — the first member of a last-place team to do so. "That really rejuvenated my career at a time when I was unsure about myself and whether I was going to be in the game. I owe that organization a lot for believing in me."

Dawson, who said he hasn’t decided whether his Hall of Fame bust will feature an Expos or Cubs cap, hit 438 homers in a career that spanned from 1976-96. Named the N.L. Rookie of the Year in 1977 with Montreal, Dawson stayed with the Cubs through 1992, then spent two seasons apiece with Boston and Florida. He had a .279 career average with 1,591 RBIs and 314 steals. He is one of only three players with at least 400 home runs and 300 stolen bases, joining Barry Bonds and Willie Mays.

But Dawson said he is most proud of his eight Gold Gloves. "I tried not let one phase of the game overshadow the other," he said. "But I think I am more enthusiastic about the Gold Gloves because that says that defensively you were one of the standouts."

Dawson will join former manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey, Veterans Committee selections, in this year’s Hall of Fame class. The trio will be enshrined during a ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y, on July 25.

We might never again see a worst-to-first story comparable to the 2008 Rays (from 96 losses in 2007 to the World Series in ’08), but that doesn’t mean a last-place team can’t grab some headlines for impressive year-to-year improvement. This past season, for example, the Mariners rebounded from a 101-loss disaster to finish eight games above .500. But which last-place team from ’09 will be the most-improved in 2010?

Chris Bahr explains why the Diamondbacks should make sizeable gains in the win-loss column, but Stan McNeal says the Nationals will show even more improvement:

Saying the Nationals will be baseball’s most improved last-place team is kind of like telling your mom that she looks pretty nice … for someone her age.

But, hey, a backhanded compliment is better than no compliment. And the Nationals are due some sort of compliment after putting themselves in position to end their streak of 100-loss seasons at two. Don’t expect them to threaten the Phillies or even escape last place, but they should be able to pull off a 10- to 12-game swing in the standings.

Washington’s seven-game winning streak to close out the 2009 season has nothing to do with this thinking. It’s more about what the Nationals have done since June.

They drafted — and signed — Stephen Strasburg. No matter how well the phenom pitches in spring training, he is unlikely to begin the season in the majors. But look for him by summer.

"I had this kind of situation with Kerry Wood in ’98 where he was the most dominant pitcher in the Cactus League and we sent him out," manager Jim Riggleman says. "It was tempting to keep him from Day 1. Now I don’t know if that would have been a bad decision, but he started in the minors and joined us pretty quickly. I hope the same thing happens with Stephen." If it does, Strasburg will have plenty of time to make an impact as a rookie.

Adam Dunn will be better at first than in the outfield.

They moved Adam Dunn where he should be. As much as Dunn fancies himself a left fielder, he isn’t. He is a decent first baseman, though, as he showed once he knew the position was going to be a full-time gig. Josh Willingham hardly is a Gold Glover in left, but Washington’s defense — an MLB-worst 143 errors — is improved with him in the field and Dunn at first.

They have helped themselves this offseason. Signing righthander Jason Marquis "was exactly what we needed," Riggleman says. That is, he is a veteran innings-eater "who gives us a chance to match up against the other club’s higher-end starters."

The bullpen has been bolstered with the additions of Matt Capps, Brian Bruney and Eddie Guardado. "We’ve added three guys who all have pitched late in ballgames," Riggleman says. Pencil Capps in as the closer but have your eraser ready. "I don’t care who gets the save as long as he’s a National," Riggleman says.

Pudge Rodriguez turned 38 in November and hit only .249 last season, but the Nationals were happy to sign him — even if it meant giving him a two-year deal. "He is in great shape and still a good player," Riggleman says. "He’s still hitting line drives. Pudge hit the ball much better last year than his average indicated. By the law of averages, some of those line drives will find holes this year."

If he doesn’t, Elijah Dukes showed enough last year that he might be ready to handle such responsibility. "He drove in 58 runs about 350 at-bats (actually 364), which computes close to an 100-RBI season," Riggleman says. "He’s still a young guy and coming along. He’s coming to that point where it’s time for him to take the next step and become a solid regular player in the big leagues."

That, too, could be interpreted as a backhanded compliment. Guess that’s all the Nationals are warranted. For now, anyway.

Stan McNeal is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at smcneal@sportingnews.com.

We might never again see a worst-to-first story comparable to the 2008 Rays (from 96 losses in 2007 to the World Series in ’08), but that doesn’t mean a last-place team can’t grab some headlines for impressive year-to-year improvement. This past season, for example, the Mariners rebounded from a 101-loss disaster to finish eight games above .500. But which last-place team from ’09 will be the most-improved in 2010?

Stan McNeal says the Nationals will be noticeably better, but Chris Bahr says the real turnaround will come from the Diamondbacks:

Heading into the 2009 season, the Diamondbacks were pegged — at least by Sporting News — as the second-place team in the N.L. West. Sure, there were costly offseason losses, including Adam Dunn, Orlando Hudson, Randy Johnson, Juan Cruz and Brandon Lyon, but the division was expected to be weak. And Arizona still had the dynamic 1-2 rotation punch of Brandon Webb and Dan Haren.

After four innings on opening day, however, Arizona’s season was all but over. In that start, Webb experienced shoulder discomfort, made an early exit and never threw another pitch all season. The Diamondbacks won the opener, but that marked the only time all season they were above .500. The end result: a 70-92 record — only five fewer losses than the team’s inaugural season in 1998.

But there is potential for a much different result in 2010. Three reasons why:

A healthy shoulder should mean an improved Brandon Webb.

Webb will be back. The 2006 N.L. Cy Young Award winner and 22-game winner in 2008 eventually had shoulder surgery, but he will be 100 percent in spring training. Because the procedure on his shoulder was of the cleanup variety, there is far less concern about his health than if he had required labrum or rotator cuff repairs. Even if Webb doesn’t completely return to dominant form, he will be a big upgrade and should be capable of at least 14-17 wins.

Promising young talent. Not all of the Diamondbacks’ much-hyped youngsters have panned out. Center fielder Chris Young, for example, regressed horribly in 2009, and left fielder Conor Jackson experienced a lost season because of illness. Young should be better this season, and Jackson should be healthy. Meanwhile, right fielder Justin Upton blossomed into a star last season, and third baseman Mark Reynolds was one of only five major leaguers to hit at least 40 homers. Given a chance to start, catcher Miguel Montero hit .316-11-40 after the All-Star break. Stephen Drew slipped a bit but remains an above-average shortstop with plenty of upside.

New additions. They didn’t add Matt Holliday or John Lackey, but the Diamondbacks could be better at second base with Kelly Johnson and in the rotation with Edwin Jackson. Johnson’s slump cost him his starting job in Atlanta last season, but that came on the heels of two consecutive solid seasons (.375 OBP in 2007, 39 doubles in 2008). Jackson has won 27 games the past two seasons but has been far better in the first half (3.19 ERA) than the second (5.11 ERA).

Arizona still has holes at first base, in the bullpen and at the back of the rotation, and a worst-to-first jump is highly unlikely. But a .500 finish — or a bit better — is realistic.

Chris Bahr is a senior editor for Sporting News. E-mail him at cbahr@sportingnews.com.

According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Marlins are believed to have increased their initial offer of $13 million to free agent P Aroldis Chapman.

The newspaper added that Chapman could sign with a team in the next few days. One source told the Sun Sentinel that he expected Chapman to sign with the Angels or Blue Jays, perhaps for as much as $21 million. In other Marlins news, the Sun Sentinel noted 2B Dan Uggla appears likely to begin the season with the team. Florida had hoped to deal him this offseason because of his high salary.

If Uggla stays, the Marlins instead might try to move 1B Jorge Cantu, who also is due a raise in arbitration.

The Braves agreed to a one-year deal with free agent IF Eric Hinske, according to CBSSports.com.

Hinske will serve as a pinch hitter and a reserve infielder, especially at first base where newly signed Troy Glaus will start.

Glaus, a third baseman throughout his career, has played only six games at first base in the majors. Hinske has played in the past three World Series: 2007 with the Red Sox, 2008 with the Rays and 2009 with the Yankees.