Resources a good sign for Jays
J.P. Ricciardi has a lot of money to spend on payroll in 2006 and '07, making Toronto a team to watch in the offseason. While it's nice that the Blue Jays' general manager will be free to boost his payroll from $50 million to $80 million, finding top free agent talent to spend his money on might be a problem.
By Ricciardi's own admission, this winter's class isn't very good.
''I think there's enough out there that we'll be able to compete for players with the big boys like Boston and New York," Ricciardi said. ''We get to shop at Nordstrom's for a change. Overall, it's not the best of years."
Ricciardi, like 31 other GMs, will be looking for arms. Ricciardi is figuring on one or two starters, relief help, and one or two bats. He might have to accomplish some of it with trades, but the Blue Jays, who have hung in this season despite injuries to Roy Halladay, Ted Lilly, and Corey Koskie, aren't far away from being a contender.
If they want a top-flight starter, then Florida's A.J. Burnett will top their list. The Marlins entertained thoughts of trading him at the deadline, but found themselves in the playoff hunt and pulled back. They still might not be able to satisfy Burnett's demands, but he fits Ricciardi's profile as a young veteran with upside who could fit with Halladay and Lilly. Of course, Boston, New York, and others will contend for Burnett, as well.
Beyond that, there's Angels lefthander Jarrod Washburn, Dodgers righthander Jeff Weaver, the 40-plus Jamie Moyer and Kenny Rogers, and guys like Kevin Millwood, Matt Morris, Jeff Suppan, Tony Armas Jr., Brett Tomko, Jason Johnson, Paul Byrd, and Shawn Estes.
Millwood is fascinating. He's 6-10, but the Indians have scored just 12 runs total in his 10 losses. They have been shut out in four of his last nine starts.
''I don't know what it is," said Millwood. ''There's nothing I can do about it but keep going out there and pitching. Whatever happens happens.
There may be better options in relief.
Philadelphia's Billy Wagner and Baltimore's B.J. Ryan, two flamethrowing lefties, are the class of the group. Wagner could be off the market if the Phillies meet his demand for a contract extension by Sept. 1. Beyond that, there's White Sox closer Dustin Hermanson, Red Sox setup man Mike Timlin, Yankees setup man Tom Gordon, Cleveland closer Bob Wickman, and two of his top setup guys, both former Red Sox: lefty Scott Sauerbeck and righty Bob Howry.
Kyle Farnsworth, traded by the Tigers to the Braves, could be much sought after if the Braves don't lock him up, and it looks as if Pittsburgh will make every effort to retain Jose Mesa.
It would be blasphemy to see Trevor Hoffman not stay in San Diego.
The Red Sox will try to go young next year, plugging in Jonathan Papelbon to the rotation and Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen to the bullpen, but they may still need a closer if they don't like what they see from Keith Foulke the rest of the way. Wagner would be their top choice.
Two positional players who might break the bank are Johnny Damon and Paul Konerko.
Damon, who may win the batting title, wants to stay in Boston and told this reporter that he would take a four-year deal if the wage was right. Konerko is the best power hitter available but, as he told the Globe's Chris Snow recently, he'd prefer not to play on the East Coast even though he grew up in Rhode Island.
It's not out of the realm of possibility that Nomar Garciaparra ends up in Atlanta at a bargain price if Rafael Furcal flees to the Cubs.
Potential bargains are Boston's Bill Mueller and Kevin Millar (if he ever finds his stroke), Oakland's Erubiel Durazo, and Giants first baseman J.T. Snow.
On the catching front, two pretty good ones available are Bengie Molina of the Angels and San Diego's Ramon Hernandez.
Middle infielders will be tough to come by. Neifi Perez, Chris Gomez, Alex Gonzalez, Pokey Reese, Todd Walker, Tony Womack, Mark Grudzielanek, Mark Bellhorn, and Tony Graffanino will be out there.
No throwing out the numbers in evaluations
The lost art of throwing out runners could get worse, especially in the American League.
It still lives with Detroit's Pudge Rodriguez, who has thrown out 53.7 percent of runners (25 stolen bases, 29 caught stealing), while part-time Angels catcher Jose Molina has thrown out 54.8 percent (17 stolen bases, 14 caught stealing). But some of the other numbers are dreadful. You won't get much worse than Oakland's Jason Kendall, who has had 81 bases stolen on him and has caught only 15 (15.6 percent).
We spoke to an American League scout who focuses on catchers, and he said, ''Overall, Pudge is No. 1 and Jason Varitek is 1A. Defensively, Pudge is still clearly the best. The weight he's lost, the 1.8 seconds [throwing] to second base. Easily the best."
Rodriguez, who missed the recent series with the Sox with a hip flexor, is an interesting case, because the 11-time Gold Glove winner had fallen to 28.6 percent and 32.2 percent the previous two years after years of being 50 percent-plus.
''I've always liked to throw the ball," Rodriguez said. ''Throwing runners out is very important to me. A lot is tied in to your pitchers holding runners well on base, but you have some control over that, too."
In Boston's case, the Sox don't want their pitchers to lose concentration on the batter, even if it means a runner may steal, which makes Varitek's number suffer in this area. While having one of the best offensive seasons among catchers in years, he has thrown out only 13 runners and allowed 46 to steal (22 percent), to go along with five passed balls.
''It's an offensive position now," said the scout. ''At least it is in the American League. There are guys on the bench who are better catch-throw guys than the starters. [Doug] Mirabelli, for instance, can catch, receive, and throw with anyone, but he can't hit, so he's a backup."
Up there in the respectable area are Minnesota's Joe Mauer at 41.3 percent, Texas's Rod Barajas at 40 percent, Tampa Bay's Toby Hall at 39.3 percent, and Kansas City's John Buck at 37.7 percent. The Angels' Bengie Molina is at 29.2 percent, Baltimore's Javy Lopez at 27.7, New York's Jorge Posada at 26.9 percent, Toronto's Gregg Zaun at 24.4 percent, and Chicago's A.J. Pierzynski at 23.5 percent.
On the lower end are Cleveland's Victor Martinez (22.2 percent) and Baltimore's Sal Fasano (15.8 percent).
Our scout thinks Mauer, when healthy, will be the new Pudge.
Cardinals' Carpenter has used all of his tools
Agent Bob Lamonte is known for representing big names in NFL head coaching, among them Brian Billick, Jon Gruden, Andy Reid, and Mike Martz. But he has a high-profile baseball client in Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter.
Carpenter, a 1993 graduate of Trinity High School in Manchester, N.H., is running neck-and-neck with Roger Clemens for Cy Young honors in the National League.
''I just asked Chris about the Cy Young, and he always just shrugs it off and says Roger Clemens should get it," said Lamonte. ''Roger was his idol growing up in New England, and that's all he ever talks about."
Lamonte, a former teacher and high school football coach, had former Blue Jays starter Dave Stieb as his first sports client. Stieb referred former Cy Young winner Pat Hentgen to Lamonte, and Hentgen recommended Lamonte to Carpenter, who was 50-50 in his career with Toronto.
Carpenter is 17-4 with a 2.29 ERA. He has six complete games, two of them in August, and four shutouts. He has pitched seven or more innings in 20 of his 25 starts and has not thrown more than 115 pitches in a game. He is 32-9 over the last two seasons.
''He's the same now as he always was, which is why he can handle all of the attention coming his way," Lamonte said. ''When you hear Dave Duncan and Tony La Russa say he's the most dominating pitcher they've ever had, when you consider they had Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Bob Welch, and some pretty good ones like that, that's quite a compliment."
You don't mess around with Bob
Cubs manager Dusty Baker wonders whether Roger Clemens would have been even more dominating back in the 1960s and '70s when pitchers could throw inside and hit batters, which he feels helped Bob Gibson when he posted a 1.12 ERA in 1968. ''Guys could go inside on every pitch," said Baker. ''They could hit you on every pitch if they wanted to. When I first came up, they'd assume you could hit the fastball so they'd see if you could hit the curveball. If you could hit the curve, they'd see if you could hit the slider. If you could hit the slider, they'd see if you could hit the changeup. If you could hit the changeup, they'd say, 'OK, let's see if you can hit on your back.' " Baker remembers advice from Hank Aaron about facing Gibson: '' 'Don't dig in against Bob Gibson, he'll knock you down. Don't stare at him. He doesn't like it. If you happen to hit a home run, don't run too slow, don't run too fast. If you happen to want to celebrate, get in the tunnel first. And if he hits you, don't charge the mound, because he's a Gold Glove boxer.' I'm like, 'Damn, what about my 17-game hitting streak?' That was the night it ended."
What a shock. The Braves have another phenom in 21-year-old outfielder Jeff Francoeur, who hit his 10th homer in just his 30th game last week after being recalled from Double A July 7. He also hit .373 with 28 RBIs in those 30 games, with an unbelievable nine outfield assists. He nailed Arizona's Luis Gonzalez twice at the plate last Sunday. ''He's ridiculous," said teammate Tim Hudson. ''He's like Roy Hobbs. I'm waiting for him to come out of the bullpen and start striking guys out, throwing 98."
Closing time is no fun
From 2002-04, John Smoltz converted 144 of 157 save opportunities and never blew consecutive saves. Things aren't so good anymore in the Braves bullpen, though, as Chris Reitsma has blown 7 of 22 chances, Danny Kolb has blown 5 of 16, and Kyle Farnsworth has been bothered by a sore lower back. Remember back in the '90s when the Braves always seemed to have everything except a reliable closer?
Squeeze play in Philadelphia
Tough decision ahead for the Phillies regarding Jim Thome. The 35-year-old slugger has three years remaining on his contract, worth about $46 million. He recently had right elbow surgery to repair fraying tendons and he's had chronic back problems. Manager Charlie Manuel, who has been with Thome since the Cleveland days, swears Thome has two or three good years left in him. But the Phillies seem sold on Ryan Howard, who has been replacing Thome at first, and will likely try to move Thome. If you knew Thome could give you 500 at-bats and hit 40-50 homers, you might consider a Thome-for-Manny Ramirez swap. But Thome, like Nomar Garciaparra, is a tough guy to take a chance on.
Glove story
The Nationals are pretty happy that Livan Hernandez isn't superstitious or emotionally attached to his glove. He tossed it into the stands Aug. 5 after Frank Robinson yanked him from a miserable start against the Padres. A fan grabbed the mitt and ran out of the ballpark, but somehow the team found out the guy's name and asked if they could get the glove back. The fan offered a deal: season tickets next year, playoff tickets this year, and $18,000. Hernandez came back with an autographed jersey and a new glove. Evidently, that didn't get it done. Hernandez told the
Charity begins online
Justyna, an Emerson College senior, and Aly, a recent Salem State graduate, have undertaken a noble cause. They have started the website www.theolerudproject.blogspot.com to raise money and awareness for the gene deletion disorder that afflicts Jordan Olerud, daughter of Red Sox first baseman John Olerud. The project was inspired by a touching story by Globe intern Adam Kilgore.
Material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report. 
