The Hot Stove is Beginning to Heat Up...

With the World Series now over, the focus of each Major League team now shifts to 2007. Teams will be evaluating their current players, going over scouting reports of other players and putting together a game plan to try to put together a winning ballclub in 2007.

With the amount of player movement in MLB these days, there's an even greater number of rumors floating around year-long. Some partially truthful, most fiction. Here's what The Baseball Notebook has heard, seen and read recently:

• With the abundance of outfielders in the Tampa organization and its need for good young pitching and with the White Sox "excess" of starting pitching and need of a CF, a Carl Crawford for Brandon McCarthy rumor has been floating around. On the surface, it makes sense for both teams, but I just don't see it happening. Could Crawford be dealt? Possibly. The Rays also have Rocco Baldelli, Johnny Gomes, Delmon Young and Damon Hollins on the major league roster, and prospects like Elijah Dukes in the farm system. And other than Young, Crawford could bring the most return...but I don't think the White Sox will be trading McCarthy. Look for them to deal one of their veteran starters (Freddy Garcia?), if any at all.
• Free agent outfielder Gary Matthews, Jr. has generated a lot of interest from clubs around the league. The switch-hitter who finally got a chance to play everyday had a career highs in most statistical categories in 2006. Teams hot on his trail include the Cubs, White Sox, Angels and Dodgers.
• Alfonso Soriano, arguably the most sought-after free agent this season, reportedly is looking for a contract similar to what Carlos Beltran signed with the NY Mets in 2005 (7 years, $119 million). The problem is, Beltran was 28 when inked that deal, Soriano will be 31 in January. Look for him to end up with a 5 or 6 year deal in the $85-$90 million range. The Phillies have started off negotiations with Soriano by offering him a 5 year, $75 million offer. A few million dollars more than the offer Soriano turned down from the Washington Nationals a few weeks back.
• Word out of Houston is that both Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte are considering retirement. The Rocket, who is 45 now, appears finally ready to hang them up. Pettitte, who battled elbow problems throughout the 2006 season, has never really had the desire or the competitive fire, so his departure would not be surprising.
• The Arizona Diamondbacks, a team rebuilding, is looking to lock up two of its veterans long-term. GM Josh Byrnes views OF Eric Byrnes and 2B Orlando Hudson as two key components to build a young club around.
• The Baltimore Orioles have a need for a big bat in the outfield to go along with youngsters Corey Patterson and Nick Markakis. Mets free agent Cliff Floyd has already expressed an interest, however, he would only be a back-up plan if the Orioles cannot land Carlos Lee or Alfonso Soriano via free agency or another big bat (Sheffield?) via trade. The O's will also be looking for a first baseman and some bullpen help.
• 3B Aramis Ramirez, who voided the final two seasons of his contract with the Chicago Cubs is the apple of the Anaheim Angels' eye. But don't rule out him resigning with the Cubs or possibly heading to the Dodgers, who can move Wilson Betemit back to more of a utility role.
• The Mets have an opening at 2B with their main focus on free agents Julio Lugo, Mark Loretta and Ronnie Belliard. Lugo has also been targeted by the Boston Red Sox to play SS. And it has been long assumed that Belliard would return to the Indians after a late-season trade to the Cardinals. If the Mets fail to land any of those three, look for a possible Aaron Heilman-Cesar Izturis trade with the Cubs.
• Pirates 3B Joe Randa has announced his retirement. The rangy third baseman bounced around with the Royals, Pirates, Tigers, Reds and Padres during his 12-year career. Decided to hang'em up after losing his starting job to youngster Freddy Sanchez. For his career, Randa hit .284 with 123 HRs and 739 RBIs in over 1500 games.

Some Rumors, News & Notes

• Look for Reds INF Rich Aurilia, who has a $2 million dollar team option for 2007 - which is likely to be turned down, to wind up playing in New York in '07. He could fill a void at 1B for the Yankees or at 2B for the Mets. Aurilia is looking to play for a contender and play full-time at one position, according to the New York Post.
• Look for Mets minor league manager and former catcher Gary Carter to become the next hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies.
• Agent Scott Boras claims his client Alex Rodriguez, who has a no-trade clause, will not be moved this off-season. As I've posted before, moving A-Rod would not be beneficial to a line-up composed of mostly left-handed hitters. The Yankees need to add a righty or two, not subtract.
• Twins super-stud SP Francisco Liriano is frustrated with how rehab of his elbow has gone thus far this off-season. Liriano, who is still experiencing pain, could opt for Tommy John surgery. However, that would keep the young pitcher on the sidelines for the entire 2007 season.
• The Chicago Sun-Times reports that SP Freddy Garcia could be the odd man out of the rotation for 2007 and possibly traded this winter. Garcia told the Sun-Times that if he was traded, he would love to pitch for the Yankees.

Who Will Step Up For Game 7?

The stage has been set. Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS between the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets is set for tonight. The winner goes on to face the surprising Detroit Tigers, the loser goes home to their families and favorite golf courses.

The pitching match-up doesn't necessearily conjure up images of Bob Gibson vs. Denny McLain or Bob Feller vs. Johnny Sain. However, the Cardinals will start veteran Jeff Suppan. Suppan baffled the Mets in his Game 3 start, scattering three hits and one walk over eight shutout innings. Before coming to the Cardinals in 2004, Suppan bounced around with the Boston, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Arizona - never truly being able to capitalize on his ability to locate his pitches and change speeds. However, he's had a renaissance of sorts since being paired up with Cardinals pitching coach, Dave Duncan. He's been able to mix the speeds and locations of his fastball, curveball and change-up to keep hitters off balance. As a result, Suppan has been able to post 44 regular season wins over the past three seasons, almost equaling his win totals from his first nine seasons combined. Whether or not he can duplicate his Game 3 performance or not, the Cardinals have to feel very confident with their Game 7 starter.

The Mets will be countering with late-season acquisition, Oliver Perez. The Mets Game 4 starter and enigma du jour struggled to keep the Cardinals from scoring (giving up 5 ER in 5 1/3 innings of work), but was saved by an explosive offense. Perez's performance was gutsy and he did help preserve the bullpen arms for the rest of the series, but the Mets are going to need more from Perez tonight if they wish to advance to the World Series. You can't count on the offense (not even this offense) to post 12 runs a game.

Other Game 7 notes:

Don't be surprised to see Tom Glavine out of the bullpen tonight, if necessary. Both teams will do whatever they need to do to win the game. Will the Cardinals start Scott Rolen? Rolen has done absolutely nothing at the plate this series. Is his defense worth the lost AB's. I say yes. Will they start Scott Spiezio? If so, where? He could start at 3B, if LaRussa doesn't want to play Rolen. He could start in LF, but the right-handed Preston Wilson could be a good start against the hard-throwing lefty, Oliver Perez.

Other rumors, news & notes:

• The Minnesota Twins are expected offer young stars, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau five-year, $40 million deals this winter. The St. Paul Pioneer Express speculates that Morneau might bite, but Mauer who already inked a $5.15 million bonus, might opt for one-year contracts.
• Oakland A's catcher Jason Kendall is willing to defer money from the $8 million he is owed in 2007 if the Athletics extend his deal 2-3 more years. Kendall is actually owed a total of $13 million in 2007, with the Pirates footing $5 million of the bill.
• Texas OF Gary Matthews, Jr. plans to test free agency this offseason. With the amount of dollars expected to be handed out, the Rangers might be wise to let Matthews go and use that money on some starting pitching.
• The Phillies will be looking to move OF Pat Burrell this winter. Burrell struggled in 2006 to provide 1B Ryan Howard with protection in the lineup. Burrell, who is not a natural outfielder, would probably be a good fit in the AL. Burrell does have a no-trade clause in his contract, which he used in July to void a deal the Phillies had in place with the Baltimore Orioles.
• The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the Padres are interested in acquiring Mets SP Oliver Perez (once a Padres farmhand), for use out of their bullpen in 2007.

Should the Yankees Trade A-Rod?

Teams will be calling Yankees GM Brian Cashman this off-season about the availability of SS/3B Alex Rodriguez. And they should.

Perhaps Alex Rodriguez is not a New York kind of guy (although his numbers were better at home than on the road in 2006). Perhaps the media pressure finally got to him this season (although September was his best month offensively in 2006). Perhaps 2006 wasn't Rodriguez's greatest season as a professional (he still hit .290 with 35 HR and 121 RBI). But none of these statements should ever persuade anyone from thinking that Alex Rodriguez is still one of the best (if not the best) baseball players on the planet.

He has hit at least 35 home runs or more every season since 1998. He has batted at least .285 every season since 1996. He averages (per 162 games played) .305, 43 home runs, 125 RBI with an OPS of .959 per season. How is those numbers a negative impact to a team? Is he playing out of position at 3B? Perhaps. 2006 was his worst season in the field, with a career high 24 errors. But what Alex Rodriguez brings to a team is so much more than he takes away. Plus, he is only owed, either by the Yankees or any team acquiring him, $66 million over the final four years of his contract - with the Texas Rangers paying the rest, as part of the deal when Alex was shipped to New York. That an average of $16.5 million a season. That's Bobby Abreu/Mike Mussina/Carlos Beltran type money. For a slugger of Alex's magnitude and for the position he plays, its almost a bargain.

So if the Yankees were to consider dealing Rodriguez, who figures to be in on the bidding? ESPN's Buster Olney reported that several teams could offer packages built around young starting pitching:

• The White Sox could offer a package built around either Mark Buerhle or Brandon McCarthy, along with Brian Anderson and Juan Uribe.
• The Angels could start with young promising pitcher Ervin Santana.
• The Padres could offer a deal involving Jake Peavy, although I find this highly unlikely.
• The Giants could offer a package built around SP Matt Cain.
• The Dodgers would almost certainly have to include Chad Billingsly in any deal for A-Rod.
• The Tigers could perhaps put something together involving Jeremy Bonderman.

There are possibilites if Yankees want to expunge Alex Rodriguez. But Alex Rodriguez is not to blame for the Yankees first-round exit in the 2006 playoffs. It was a lack of good starting pitching. So if the Yankees are to trade Alex Rodriguez for starting pitching, that would be one thing, but if they trade A-Rod thinking its going to be addition by subtraction, they are in for a rude awakening.

Other rumors, news & notes:

• ESPN's Peter Gammons reports that Lou Pinella would not have been the Yankees choice to replace Joe Torre, had he been fired.
• Reportedly Alfonso Soriano turned down a 5 year/$70 million offer from the Nationals. There are a lot of teams willing to spend a lot of money this off-season and Soriano is one of the most intriguing players available.
• The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the White Sox will gauge the market value of reliever Neal Cotts. But with an above-average crop of free-agent middle relievers (Jamie Walker, Chad Bradford, Darren Oliver) the value of a trade would likely be lessened.
• The LA Times reports that GM Ned Colletti will be looking to sign/acquire a power hitter and a front-of-the-rotation starter (Barry Zito?) while re-signing Greg Maddux.
• The San Francisco Chronicle reports that DH Frank Thomas has been offered a two-year deal to stay in Oakland.
• The San Diego Padres, who tried to trade for a top-tier 3B at the deadline, will talk to the Seattle Mariners about Adrian Beltre this off-season.
• The Toronto Sun reports that the Blue Jays will not pick up the option on C Benjie Molina, making him a free agent. The Jays will stick with a catching tandem of Gregg Zaun and Jason Phillips for 2007.

Tragedy in Manhattan and Nomar

The baseball world lost one of its family members yesterday. Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle died Wednesday afternoon in a tragic plane crash, a plane he was piloting. He leaves behind a wife and a six year-old son. My deepest sympathies to all who knew and loved him.

The LA Times' Bill Plaschke had a great article on whether or not the Dodgers should re-sign 1B Nomar Garciaparra. Plaschke argued that with Nomar's injury history, his potential price tag (probably 2-3 years at about $7-8 mil per) and with young James Loney ready for full-time duty, the Dodgers should just move on and use that money on a slugger or another veteran starting pitcher. And I couldn't agree more.

Although Nomar is a great clubhouse presence, a walking billboard for hardwork and determination, and a clutch hitter; you can only really count on having him healthy for 100-125 games. And more importantly, 1B phenom James Loney is ready, willing and able to play a full season at the Major League level. Loney batted .380 with AAA Las Vegas this year and in a few short stints (a total of 102 AB's) with the big club, he hit .284 with four homeruns and 18 RBI. And, oh by the way, also led the team with three RBI's vs. the Mets in the first round of the playoffs.

The Dodgers will be a young team in 2007 with Loney, outfielders Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, catcher Russell Martin and pitchers Chad Billingsly and Jonathan Broxton. But with youthfulness comes a cheaper price tag. And if second-year GM Ned Colletti can use his remaining resources on quality veterans to surround his youngsters, the Dodgers can certainly have aspirations higher than the first round of the playoffs in 2007.

Other rumors, news & notes:

• The Chicago Cubs have inquired about the availablity of San Diego Padres manager Bruce Bochy. GM Jim Hendry inquired about Bochy before hiring Dusty Baker four years ago, but was rebuffed. He joins the short list of replacements for Baker with Lou Pinella and Joe Girardi (also highly coveted by the Washington Nationals)
• The Texas Rangers have narrowed their search for a replacement for the recently fired Buck Showalter to bench coach Don Wakamatsu, Oakland third base coach Ron Washington, NY Mets third base coach Manny Acta and manager Trey Hillman of Nippon Ham of Japan's Pacific League. None of the candidates have any managerial experience at the Major League level
• Former Orioles (in 2004 - never signed) and Devil Rays 2005 #1 pick, pitcher Wade Townsend is back pitching for Tampa Bay after a two-year battle with elbow problems. The almost 24-year old Townsend, who helped lead Rice University to a National Championship in 2004, will begin his comeback with Single-A Columbus of the South Atlantic league.
• Rumors have been swirling of a possible Jeremy Bonderman-Mark Texeira deal this off-season. The deal makes sense for the pitching-starving Rangers, however, I'm not sure if this is the right move for the Tigers. If 2007 is the year Kenny Rogers finally tails off and is a sophomore slump for Justin Verlander, the Tigers would really miss having Bonderman anchoring their rotation.