Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:27 am EST
Young New York Mets outfielder Fernando Martinez(notes) may be one of the team's top prospects but the team is apparently ready to put him up on the trading block, according to the New York Daily News.
The 21-year-old Martinez played only 29 games in his first season in the majors due to surgery on his right that he is still recovering from, hitting one homer and scoring 11 runs. But he got a lot of good publicity before then.
Now he's about to try and prove that he's healthy and worth trading for as he starts winter ball for Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Winter League. The Mets actually held him back from starting winter ball because it was supposedly having trade discussions about him.
Source: New York Daily News
Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:13 am EST
The man at the top of the list in Atlanta is supposedly Billy Wagner(notes), who finished out last season with the Boston Red Sox after spending most of the year as a full-fledged member of the injured New York Mets contingent.
Talks between the Braves and Wagner's rep have reportedly already taken place. Wagner is a Type A free agent but so are Soriano and Gonzalez so the compensation Atlanta would get from any team those two sign with will offset whatever the Braves need to give up for signing Wagner.
The funny thing is that Soriano and Gonzalez are apparently on the list for the Boston Red Sox so this may end up being a trade of sorts.
If Wagner joins the Braves, it will be the third National League East team that he has played for, since also spent time as the closer for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Source: MLB.com
Wed Nov 25, 2009 5:59 am EST
Driver Terry Kvapil is looking for a job for next year and he's apparently gotten a lot of interest from Front Row, which is expanding to two cars next year, according to SceneDaily.
While Kvapil has seemingly gotten very good vibes from Front Row, he's still talking to as many other teams as he can, though he admits that there aren't a lot of opportunities this off-season. "I talked to the guys here at Front Row, and it sounds like they're definitely interested in putting something together. ... We haven't done anything to put any sort of agreement together."
Kvapil notes that Front Row is planning some changes that will likely make the team better from a manufacturing and technical standpoint. "I really like the direction they're going," he said.
Source: SceneDaily
Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:59 am EST
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger(notes) took a nasty blow to the helmet from an errant knee during overtime of Sunday's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24.
Some say he had a concussion, but a team source is saying its tests are showing that it wasn't a concussion, just a good old-fashioned bell-ringing. Either way, it appears that Roethlisberger will be back next weekend for the Steelers game against the Baltimore Ravens, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Backup Charlie Batch(notes) is likely done for the season, though, after he supposedly broke his wrist on the one offensive series in which he replaced Roethlisberger.
It appears that the Steelers will sign Tyler Palko(notes), who quarterbacked for Pitt, to the practice squad and just go with two quarterbacks on the roster; third-stringer Dennis Dixon(notes) will move up to the backup role.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:44 am EST
Buffalo Bills owner Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. is going against his own tradition, it seems. A guy who has always not paid a lot of dough for coaching appears to be going high-end this time around. Wilson is supposedly ready to fork over $10 million a season for the right coach, according to the Buffalo News.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher was apparently contacted by the Bills to see if he had any interest in taking over the team.
He reportedly told the team that he's didn't want to interview for the gig "at this time."
Cowher is supposedly happy to wait till season's end to see what other jobs come available. It's not likely that the Bills will wait till the end of the season to hire a new coach. The team supposedly wants someone to be signed on before then. The team is supposedly meeting with former Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Shanahan sometime in the next seven days.
Source: Buffalo News
Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:32 am EST
The word on the street is that the San Francisco 49ers will drop the tampering charges it filed against the New York Jets over rookie wide receiver Michael Crabtree(notes), according to the San Jose Mercury News.
The 49ers were negotiating with first-round pick/contract holdout Crabtree in September and former player Deion Sanders disrupted the ship when he said publicly that the Jets (and another unnamed team) would pay Crabtree the sum he was desiring. The 49ers filed a complaint pretty quickly after that.
Jets coach Rex Ryan denied the charges at the time and the world will never know exactly what went down since the 49ers are apparently set to drop the charges. Guess they finally are feeling confident in the six-year deal the team signed with Crabtree, who has had 22 catches for 292 yards since early October.
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:17 am EST
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got pretty hammered the other day by the New Orleans Saints 38-7. The next day, the Bucs apparently demoted defensive coordinator Jim Bates, according to the Tampa Tribune.
Head coach Raheem Morris will apparently start calling the defensive plays during the game. Earlier this year - just 10 days before the season got started -- Tampa Bay sent offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski packing and named quarterbacks coach Greg Olson to call plays.
Both of these demoted or fired guys were just hired this past off-season by general manager Mark Dominik, who is in his first year on the job.
Source: Tampa Tribune
Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:06 am EST
Glen Davis(notes) lost control of his senses the night before the season got underway and broke his right thumb in a fight with a friend. Now he's spent a month rehabbing the thing and it appears that he's close to coming back to full strength, according to the Boston Globe.
Davis has been frustrated while watching his teammates play to a 10-4 record: "It's tough to watch the games, knowing that you can help, knowing that you could be the deciding factor of the game,'' he said.
Davis is supposed to get his cast off on Dec. 2 and he'll have to do a little more rehabbing before he can get back into a game and do something with that frustration.
Source: Boston Globe
Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:33 am EST
Everybody wants Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay(notes) on their roster but the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim appears to be one of the few teams who is trying to do something about that, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Anaheim tried to snag Halladay this summer and probably tied the Philadelphia Phillies for being the closest to getting a deal done. But former J.P. Ricciardi drove too hard a bargain for both of those teams and so they went without and did pretty well anyway.
The word is that Anaheim will need to give up a slew of prospects along with one of three pitchers -- Jered Weaver(notes), Ervin Santana(notes), or Joe Saunders(notes) - to get the Blue Jays to open that little window for the Angels to negotiate an extension with the 32-year-old Halladay and finish off the trade.
Halladay has supposedly informed the Blue Jays that he isn't going to re-sign after next season.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:29 am EST
Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz(notes) made "only" $418,000 this year while hitting .260 with 33 homers, 76 RBIs, stealing 20 bases, and scoring 75 runs. That low, low price and high production have apparently gotten the 29-year-old Cruz interest from "several teams" who would love to trade for him, according to FOXSports.
But that low price and high production are also making the Rangers loathe to trade Cruz. So the fella who became an All-Star for the first time this year is very likely to be back in the Texas Rangers outfield next year.
Some teams that are believed to be interested include the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Francisco Giants.
Source: FOXSports
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