Another Day, Another Deadline

The baseball world has its eyes firmly fixed on Thursday and the release of the Mitchell steroid report.

But we would be remiss in failing to mention that today is of some note, as well -- it's the date by which teams must offer unsigned, arbitration-eligible players on their 40-man rosters a contract, or else they become free agents.

Here is at least a partial, slightly old list of those players, one of whom is Red Sox reliever Brendan Donnelly.

The Boston Herald reported this week the Sox are thinking about signing Donnelly, presumably at a very cheap price, considering he's not likely to play until July thanks to Tommy John surgery.

This could actually be a good deal for the Sox. Donnelly acquitted himself well before becoming injured early in the season. He's got a good track record, and pitchers tend to recover well from the surgery. From reports last season, Donnelly seemed to be a kind of cheerleader-in-chief, traveling with the club even though he didn't have to.

Along with apparently being a good clubhouse presence, Donnelly could come back in late July or early August -- a midseason boost for the bullpen that will cost zero prospects and minimal money. Not shabby.

Comments

[Atheose]

Very nice. I liked Donnelly a lot while he was healthy.

Also, the Yankees are reportedly interested in trading Hideki Matsui for Jonathan Sanchez of the Giants.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/sanchjo01.shtml

Sanchez appeared in 33 games last year for the Giants, posting a 5.88 ERA over 52 innings.

[Nick-YF]

I really hope these Matsui rumors are false. I find it less than exciting when my team engages in a salary dump.

[yankeemonkey]

Insane trade proposal #546: a 3-way deal NYY/SF/MIN.

Giants get: Matsui+Kennedy+?+$$$
Twins get: Lincecum/Cain+Sanchez
Yankees get: Santana

In other trading news, Astros apparently acquired Miguel Tejada....

[Brad]

yeah, that can't be considered anything else if that were true.

[Brad]

Why the heck would the Giants give up Cain and Linceucum AND Sanchez for Kennedy and Matsui? That's craziness.

[yankeemonkey]

No, I meant Lincecum OR Cain...Besides, didn't you see the title of that proposal? ;-)

[AndrewYF]

If the Yankees could get Lincecum/Cain + Sanchez from the Giants for Kennedy and Matsui, it would have happened already. And they wouldn't be giving either of them up for Santana.

[Brad]

yeah, I saw it. I wasn't slighting you, YM. Just saying that the longer this crap goes on, the more strange it all gets.

[yankeemonkey]

Mark Prior and Morgan Ensberg have been non-tendered, as per MLBTR. Just sayin'...