Gammons: Sox won't get much from Cubs

MLB Network baseball analyst Peter Gammons made his weekly appearance on the Mut & Merloni show Wednesday, as the Hot Stove season kicks into high gear.

The Red Sox and Cubs missed an MLB deadline to agree on compensation for Theo Epstein, but commissioner Bud Selig apparently decided to let things play out a little longer.

"I actually talked to Bud Selig yesterday and he said he thought that he needed to make a decision today," Gammons said. "He wasn't certain on it, and I think he was so giddy at getting into Los Angeles and knowing that [Dodgers owner] Frank McCourt was finally giving up that it was hard to concentrate on a minor league pitcher.

"From what I'm told, the studies that they have done on past compensation would lead me to believe that they won't get anything significant. I don't think it will be  any of the Cubs' better prospects. It might be two minor league pitchers, but not any of the guys that would be considered in their top five or six prospects. I think the whole compensation thing may well be a little overblown here. I don't sense that Selig thinks this is a huge deal.

"I also think that one factor here is it's not like the Red Sox desperately need prospects. Bud has shown favorably on teams that have stuck to the draft slotting system. The Red Sox never have. They've gone above it, and I don't think there's a lot of sympathy there from Bud toward Red Sox ownership because of that."

Following are more highlights from the conversation.

On Red Sox managerial candidate Pete Mackanin: "I think the one thing that has sort of dogged Mackanin in Philadelphia is he had a reputation of getting down on players. That's not exactly what they need here. They need a very strong, positive voice with this team right now, coming out of what has been obviously a very negative last month of the season and offseason.

"It will be interesting. I've seen Mike Maddux' name. I know that there's been some discussion of that. I don't know whether they're going to interview him or not. They haven't made that clear yet. I've heard Dave Righetti's name. I don't know if they're going to interview him. I think there's still a long way to go with this process."

On managerial candidate Dale Sveum: "Very strong, strong in terms of a very strong personality. Being around the Brewers a lot this year, the star players on that team really gravitate to him. … He was very lose with Prince Fielder and [Ryan] Braun and [Rickie] Weeks and those guys. He loves teaching and always has. … I think he's been ready."

On other potential candidates: "I don't know the entire list of people they're going to bring in. I've heard Tim Wallach's name mentioned. And I know that he's very highly thought of. If it hadn't been for Don Mattingly, Wallach would be the manager of the Dodgers. From what I understand, they are going through a fairly lengthy list here and trying to figure out which direction they're going to go in."

On Sox bench coach DeMarlo Hale: "I think he'll be interviewed. I don't think that there's any question he'll get interviewed. I think the problem will be, for what they need to do, was his closeness to Terry Francona going to hurt him? … I think he's certainly going to be a candidate, and I think he'd be a good candidate. I agree that think DeMarlo would be a very good manager. But they may feel they want an outside voice and they want something completely different, and that would go against him, which is unfortunate, but we also understand what they're dealing with here in trying to move forward from a bad September and sort of the hangover from that September."

On pending free agent Jonathan Papelbon: "How much are they going to be willing to pay a closer? Papelbon and his agents are going to be looking for about what they say the Red Sox offered Mariano Rivera, which is three times {$15 million]. Is somebody going to go out and give it to him? There are a lot of closers on the market: Papelbon, Francisco Rodriguez, Ryan Madson, Heath Bell, Frankie Francisco, even Joe Nathan, although he's coming off Tommy John surgery. I don't know if that kind of money's going to be out there. But I think it's going to be sort of a narrow bridge for the Red Sox to cross here. I don't think they can get Papelbon wrapped up quickly for less than three times [$15 million]. ... I have thus far not seen a team that I definitely think would jump in hard on Papelbon. I think a lot of teams will go after him. But whether or not they can get three or four years, that's another issue.

On the possibility of converting reliever Daniel Bard to a starter: "I think they've thought about it. I was told that it's not likely. The last time he started, he struggled. Even though Daniel has grown up a lot, I think there's some concern about whether or not he can do it."

On pending free agent David Ortiz: "David may be the best DH, and we know what he means to this team, this franchise, this city, but where is the market? People are throwing around Toronto, but I have never seen that. … Unless someone emerges in the next three weeks, it may be that David comes back. That's an unfortunate part of life. We saw it last year with Vladimir Guerrero. He turned down Texas at [$8 million or $9 million] and ended up with about one-third of that with Baltimore."

To hear the interview, including Gammons' thoughts on pending free agents David Ortiz and Jonathan Papelbon, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page. For more Red Sox news, visit the team page at weei.com/redsox. For MLB Hot Stove updates, check the Full Count blog.