MLB News and Rumors

Chicago White Sox GM Ken Williams says that he’s already found that there’s plenty of interest from other teams to make deals for some of his players, such as starting pitchers John Danks and Gavin Floyd. But Williams tells the Chicago Tribune that he’s not sure if he’s ready to deal for younger players just yet or stick with what he’s got and add to it.

“We got some players that have garnered some interest from a number of clubs,” Williams said, the Trib reports. “And we’ve got to exhaust ourselves to make sure that if we end up making a deal or end up staying the course and try to add to it, that we know exactly what we’re getting ourselves into.”

The 26-year-old Danks went 8-12 with a 4.33 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 170.1 innings pitched this past season. After arbitration, he’ll likely make about $ 15 million next season, the Tribune notes. The 28-year-old Floyd went 12-13 with a 4.37 ERA and 151 strikeouts in 193.2 innings pitched this past season for the Sox.

Williams also told the paper that the team has had contact with Mark Buehrle to let him know they are interested in re-signing him.

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There’s no denying it- Theo Epstein made history. He took a franchise that had gone through 86 years of agony and torment, through the Curse of the Bambino and Bill Buckner’s legs, and took it to two championships. Now, after a 2011 season that brought back of cursed memories of 1978, Epstein is out in Boston and now has a new challenge: ending the 103 year championship drought of Chicago Cubs. Can he do it?
Epstein has to get his players on the field. But just like when he started as Red Sox GM in 2002, there are pieces already in place for him to build around. The 2001 Red Sox were a long way from champions, but they had Manny Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, Pedro Martinez, and Derek Lowe. And in the following years, the Red Sox drafted and signed internationally players like Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon, and Hanley Ramirez, and those prospects would prove to be just as important to the championship ballclubs as the major league core. Do the Cubs have t…

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Boston Red Sox starting pitcher John Lackey was a favorite target of New England fans this season as he went 12-12 with a 6.41 ERA. In the team’s dismal September run, Lackey went 0-2 with a 9.13 ERA in five starts.

Now there may be an explanation. The Boston Herald reports that Lackey will be undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and will miss the 2012 season.

As much as Lackey didn’t deliver in the final month of the season, he also continued to make a mess of things after the season closed when news broke that he was one of the fellas who occasionally had beers in the clubhouse during games. As the Herald points out, maybe a year away from the game will be good for Lackey.

“Aside from just getting healthy, there could be some benefit,” new Sox GM Ben Cherington said, the Herald reports. “You’d have to ask John to get a better answer. He’s been going through a lot. I think he’s closer to resolving some of that stuff than he was a year ago. But maybe it is an opportunity for a fresh start physically and mentally.”

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The Boston Red Sox are set to name Ben Cherington their new general manager on Tuesday.

The team announced on Monday that Cherington’s promotion from assistant general manager will be announced at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon. He’ll fill a vacancy left by Theo Epstein, who resigned Friday to become president of baseball operations of the Chicago Cubs.

Cherington also will get the title of executive vice president. He spent the past three seasons as Epstein’s assistant. He also was Boston’s co-general manager for three months after the 2005 season when Epstein left the club before deciding to return.

Cherington and Epstein are expected to work on the compensation that the Cubs will give the Red Sox, who let Epstein out of the last year of his contract.

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I’ve been more excited about this years free agent class, than I have been about the last five years worth of free agent classes. Don’t ask me why, because I’m not entirely sure. Maybe it’s because there are plenty of big names that are likely to be out on the market. Maybe it’s because there are so many different rumors and possibilities swirling around about those star players, that has you guessing non-stop about where they should go. All that being said, I’m going to focus on one of those star players, and one of the many rumors surrounding where he may be playing next season. Prince Fielder is the athlete that today’s article is about, and I look forward to hearing all your thoughts and opinions on what I write here today.
1. The Re-Building of a Great Franchise
The Chicago Cubs have been down in the deepest hole for a long, long time. With the hiring of former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, the Cubs are hoping that things will begin to chang…

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Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein has helped to bring New England two World Series titles since 2004. The Chicago Cubs wouldn’t mind a piece of that magic.

A team source tells the Boston Globe that the Cubs have asked to speak with Epstein about the open GM position there even though he’s under contract for one more season.

“The Sox could deny permission, but then they would have an unhappy GM on their hands if they didn’t let him explore a promotion,” the Globe notes. And it would make sense for Epstein to be interested since he’d likely have less oversight in Chicago and “he could make himself Hall of Fame-worthy by being the man who won in Boston after 86 years, then won at Wrigley after 112-plus years.”

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Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona has had a good run in New England, overall. In 2004, he led the team to its first World Series title since 1918, which included a historic victory over the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series after his team was down three games to none. Then, for good measure, it took the whole thing again in 2007.

Unfortunately for Francona, people in New England are associating him with a different bit of history right now: the team’s massive flop to end the season in third place in the American League East and one game out of the wild card.

Fox Sports reports that the 52-year-old Francona and Sox bigwigs will meet Friday “and the expected resolution is that he no longer will be the team’s manager.” This isn’t necessarily a done deal, the site notes, but it is likely partially because Francona “is pressing for a resolution,” sources tell Fox.

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein went out of his way Thursday to not blame Francona for the collapse. “I know we don’t believe in scapegoats, particularly blaming Tito for what happened in September,” he said at a press conference, according to Fox. “We all failed collectively. We’re all together in this; we’ve got to live with that. We’re not pointing fingers at any one person in particular.”

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When Theo Epstein took over as general manager of the Boston Red Sox at the age of 28, his team and the Chicago Cubs were the two clubs that had been famously without World Series titles for generations. He managed to bring the Red Sox two titles since then and now the Cubs may be hoping that he can bring them some magic, too.

From the Sun-Times:

“With Epstein potentially available for an interview — not to mention his future with Boston questioned in the aftermath of the biggest September collapse in baseball history — the Cubs are expected to make a run at him.”

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts’ “admiration for Epstein is no secret,” the Chicago Sun-Times reports, and the Cubs are expected to pursue him despite multiple reports in recent weeks suggesting “Epstein won’t leave his hometown team.” However, the Sun-Times also has it that Epstein supposedly told friends that he’d “embrace the challenge” of taking over the Cubs.

Epstein has a contract option that must be exercised by Oct. 8, the Sun-Times notes.

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