‘Round the Bases…
* The Washington Nationals completed their trade for right-hander Tyler Clippard, getting him from the New York Yankees for Jonathan Albaladejo on Wednesday after both players cleared physicals.
* Free agent reliever David Riske agreed to a three-year, $13 million contract with Milwaukee on Wednesday, moving to the Brewers after an effective season with Kansas City.
* Baseball players no longer would receive bonuses for winning the Most Valuable Player, Cy Young or rookie awards bestowed by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America under a rule passed Wednesday.
Starting in 2013, players with such bonus clauses in their contracts will be banned from receiving votes for any BBWAA awards. Hall of Fame voting is not affected, nor are manager of the year or non-BBWAA awards such as the World Series MVP or Gold Glove.
* Pitcher Aaron Cook and the Colorado Rockies were near an agreement Wednesday on a three-year contract worth $30 million.
* Things are getting real ugly in St. Louis between Scott Rolen and Tony LaRussa. The Cardinals want him back and if LaRussa has his way, Rolen would be going anywhere.
“He’s got a contract to play, and we need him to play,” La Russa said Wednesday at the baseball winter meetings. “And he’s going to be treated very honestly. If he plays hard and plays as well as he can, he plays. And if he doesn’t, he can sit. If he doesn’t like it, he can quit.”
La Russa and Rolen have been feuding at least since the 2006 postseason, when Rolen was benched while struggling with a shoulder injury. The spat lingered last season, and La Russa said Rolen was the lone dissenting voice when the manager was deciding whether to return for another year.
“It was unanimous that everyone was for me except him,” La Russa said. “It’s gotten to the point where I don’t care. What I care about is that he re-establish his stature as a major league productive star.”
La Russa said the organization has gone out of its way to show Rolen respect, and “it’s time for him to give back.”
“Scott’s got a lot of goodness to him. … I think he has been a team man. He plays a team sport. I don’t think he’s going to want to be the one guy and the 24 guys on the other side of the room.”
Rolen issued a cool statement through his agents, Sam and Seth Levinson.
“These are matters that I never discussed publicly and are matters that should have remained private,” Rolen said. “I will not dignify Tony’s comments with any response at this time.”
Damn. I just say let Rolen go on his way and get some who wants to play there.
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