May 2006

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Clemens Signs, Nevin to Cubs

The long expected Roger Clemens signing with Houston has finally been made official. One less distraction; the sideshow is finally over. Until Clemens decides there's a slight chance he pitches in 2007. The Astros are 6.5 games back and Clemens should provide a several-win boost over the likes of Fernando Nieve. The Cubs are 11 games under .500, 12.5 out of first, but they're not giving up. Jim Hendry just swapped Jerry Hairston for Phil Nevin, a clear win now type move for a team with little chance of winning now. Cubs fans shouldn't mind the deal, given that the..   Continue Reading

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Angels Buzz

All sorts of good info coming from my Angels guy: The Halos were recently close to a fairly big trade, but pulled back at the last minute. It may have been the much discussed Adam Kennedy for Shea Hillenbrand deal, but another one that was rumored to be close was Alfonso Soriano for Erick Aybar and Joe Saunders. The Soriano deal included a component where Jose Molina ended up a Yankee. Now that Kendry Morales heated up and is holding his own in the middle of the L.A. lineup, the team plans on waiting until the All-Star break to make..   Continue Reading

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Zito On Mets' 40 Man Roster...Sort Of

Just got word from a loyal emailer: "Was driving back from a party last night around 1:20AM and WFAN in NY had callers saying that Barry Zito's name was on the Mets roster over at Mets.com. His name was in place of Alay Soler. Sure enough, WFAN had checked it out and they confirmed that it was the case." No, this probably isn't an early sign that the Mets have completed a Zito for Milledge and Soler trade. Most likely it was just a webmaster getting crazy in the way that only a webmaster can. On the other hand, if..   Continue Reading

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Fire Sale In Chicago?

It's May 28th and the Cubs are now 13.5 games out of first place, 13 games under .500. The June schedule doesn't include any pushover matchups (if there is such a thing for this club). It's becoming time to shake things up. Which players are the most likely trade candidates? How about Kerry Wood? Yes, he loves Chicago and has a no-trade clause. But there are a couple of teams in Texas who could use Wood as a backup option if they miss out on Roger Clemens. The Rangers are clinging to first place right now and could get Adam..   Continue Reading

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El Duque Swapped For Julio

In a surprising move, the Diamondbacks sent starter Orlando Hernandez to the Mets for reliever Jorge Julio. El Duque, age 36-40ish, has a 6.11 ERA and 1.58 WHIP through his first nine starts this year. 27 year-old righty Julio had a 5.06 ERA and 1.45 WHIP for the Mets. Hernandez will be paid $4.5MM this season and doesn't figure to pick up his incentives for Comeback Player of the Year or an All-Star Game. Julio makes about $2.5MM and has yet to reach free agency. Hernandez was projected to add about 1.8 wins in 122 innings while Julio's projection called..   Continue Reading

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Latest Mets Buzz

Haven't heard from my Mets source in a while, but he checked in this morning with some good info. He tells me that the Mets are not interested in trading Lastings Milledge or Aaron Heilman in a Barry Zito deal. The Mets aren't a team to overpay for 2-3 months of Zito given his impending free agency. In addition, the Wilpons are sensitive about the Scott Kazmir trade (7-2, 2.39 ERA) and won't let history repeat itself. On the other hand, if the Mets had to include Milledge and another top prospect (Alay Soler?) to acquire Dontrelle Willis, they'd jump..   Continue Reading

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Yanks Get Creative With Hidalgo

Finding cheap free talent has never been a strong suit of the Yankees. That's why I was surprised to see them in contact with Richard Hidalgo's agent. Hidalgo will work out for New York and could get a minor league contract. The 30 year-old outfielder was last seen in Baltimore's spring training camp. Though he hasn't posted an OPS over .800 since 2003, Hidalgo is still a good low-risk gamble. It's possible the time off helped him recover from last year's wrist injuries. A healthy Hidalgo could still hit something like .260/.340/.480, good for a couple of cheap wins. He'd..   Continue Reading

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Nats Want Milledge for Livan

I find it almost comical that Jim Bowden would demand Lastings Milledge in a trade for Livan Hernandez. I know he wants to save his job with the next Scott Kazmir deal, but c'mon now. The Mets aren't that desperate, are they? Hernandez has an ERA over 6 and is only 31 years old in theory. He makes $8MM this year and $7MM the next. Whether or not Milledge is worthy of all the hype, the Mets could do a lot better. I still think Livan will come around and could help the Mets, but at that price they need..   Continue Reading

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Rox, Jays Interested In D-Train?

We haven't mentioned Canada's Marty York in a good two months. Back in March, York mentioned that the Blue Jays were close to acquiring Craig Wilson and that A.J. Burnett would miss all of April. Wilson's a Pirate and Burnett made two starts in April, but I have to give him partial credit on Burnett. Last Tuesday, York threw out all sorts of intiguing teams in connection with Dontrelle Willis. The Blue Jays and Rockies were two I definitely hadn't heard before. Willis to Colorado isn't as crazy as it sounds. For one thing, the Rockies are shockingly a half..   Continue Reading

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2007 Free Agent Market: Shortstops

Updated 12-07-06 Sorry folks, there's nothing left at short. The demand for Miguel Tejada, Michael Young, and Omar Vizquel should be strong if someone needs to make a splashy deal   Continue Reading

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