Another day in Orlando for the movers and shakers of the baseball world. Here’s what we’re hearing:
* Jimmie Lee Solomon acknowledged the “glacial pace” of change in baseball. That translates to “don’t expect replay anytime soon.” One reporter on scene told me that Solomon’s tone was more telling. “He seems a bit frustrated with that pace.”
* Get your tinfoil hats out and don’t blame the messenger here, but a lot of people are starting to espouse some conspiracy theories when it comes to Alex Rodriguez and baseball. If you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot of 3B on the market suddenly. Miguel Cabrera is being shopped, Scott Rolen is making news about his no-trade clause, Mike Lowell wasn’t re-signed by the Red Sox despite many thinking it would happen in concert with the Curt Schilling signing, and Adrian Beltre is being mentioned as an available commodity. Is someone trying to inflate the supply and hold Rodriguez’s value down? If baseball can’t agree on instant replay, what makes you think they could pull off a grand conspiracy?
* Speaking of Rodriguez, Joel Sherman of the NY Post reminds us that there’s still arbitration to contend with. The Yankees could offer Rodriguez arbitration to get compensation picks, but risk having to go to the hearing room with Boras, the best player in baseball, and coming off a great season. There’s plenty of other arbitration cases in what could be a landmark year for the process, so don’t expect the Yankees to risk it.
* The Pirates are excited by their moves, but a lot of people in baseball are a bit confused. “I don’t know why they waited so long on [John] Russell. I think their process was a bit confused there.” People inside the game are more interested in the rest of the front office. “Who’s the AGM? Who’s the scouting director? Fans don’t see that, but this is late in the game to have this many questions.”
* The Cubs are quiet, but they’ll be one of the big stories of the off-season. There’s more groups than have been acknowledged looking at bidding, but with “the book” - the financial documents necessary for a group to formulate their bid - not yet delivered to the bidders from JPMorgan Chase, the sale is on hold. Information that the book was “imminent” came to me last week, but there’s been no movement. There’s zero chance that the sale will be complete by Opening Day. One possible delay is whether or not the team and Wrigley Field will be sold together.
* Ryan Zimmerman’s broken wrist? It’s not a good thing. Expect him to lose some power through the first half but not any time to the DL.
* Lots of speculation on who the “active player” talking to the Mitchell Commission is. I don’t have any more information than you do, though people have suggested to me that it’s one of the Signature names.
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