Molony On Jennings, Slowey

Jim Molony's column today at MLB.com has many good trade rumors that I haven't seen elsewhere.  Let's discuss.

• Molony says at least a dozen scouts watched Jason Jennings toss a quality start last night.  He needed it; I was beginning to think he wasn't right.  Still, the performance probably isn't enough to cause some team to offer a package for Jennings superior to two draft picks.
• The Diamondbacks and Pirates had a scouting presence at the Astros-Dodgers game.  Interesting players appearing in the contest included James Loney, Andre Ethier, Wilson Betemit, Mark Loretta, Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, Chad Qualls, Dan Wheeler, and Brad Lidge. You connect the dots, I have no idea.
• The Red Sox suggested sending Joel Pineiro to the A's for Bobby Kielty in a swap of unwanteds; they were rebuffed.
• The Phillies and Braves watched Matt Morris allow four runs in six innings on Tuesday.  They also may have been monitoring Steve Kline, who also pitched.
• A Devil Rays scout watched the Twins in Toronto on Tuesday.  Ty Wigginton is thought to be a target for Minnesota.  Perhaps the Rays' scout fancied Scott Baker, who started for the Twins and went seven innings.  Baker would be a stupendous return for Wiggy, in my opinion.
• The Phillies had their assistant GM scouting Kevin Slowey's start on Saturday.  Molony suggests Minnesota might want Pat Burrell.  That would involve a ridiculous amount of salary relief and a lack of Slowey.  Slowey allowed one run in six innings in the game.
• UPDATE: Just realized that the above pair of bullets seem to have originated from La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.  The scout watching the Twins on Tuesday was Lee Elia.  Not sure why Molony didn't cite this source, but I suppose he may have come across the info independently.

Comments

[Zonis]

I can't believe the RedSox actually thought the A's would take Pinero. I mean, we've seen him for quite some time, and know just how bad he really is.

[ArodSucksAtLife]

FYI Piniero made it through waivers was assigned to Pawtucket and started tonights game. 3 innings 0 hit, 1BB 1K.

[Teetz]

"The motherf^%$ers don't even work!!!" - Lee Elia

[tmar]

The only possible player I could see the DBacks scouting at the Dodgers-Astros game is Ensberg and that's only because of past interest. Even that makes little sense as we have 3 players vying for 2 corner infield spots.

[xxxJamesxxx]

Burrell + cash for Slowey seems fair. Burrell is destroying the ball in July, and he'd benefit from the DH. Would he waive his NTC to go to Minnesota? Doubtful.

[mymrbig]

Piniero needs to give the NL a shot.

Here's to hoping Jennings can turn in 1 more good outing before the deadline to up his value. I'd prefer to see the Astros package him with another player (Qualls, Wheeler, Lamb, or Loretta, depending on the acquiring team) to next at least one very good prospect.

[Russe]

I would think that Andy LaRoche would be more of a target than James Loney, unless the Astros would consider moving Berkman back to RF full-time. Maybe Kemp, if the Astros are actually considering moving Carlos Lee to 3B, which I've read he's open to.

[lih]

Who are the Astros going to trade for Kemp? It would have to be Jennings and Lidge for Kemp and a B prospect. Probably still a good deal for Houston though. But I don't know if the dodgers would even do that. Kemp is pretty much untouchable.

[mymrbig]

lih - yet another person seriously over-valuing prospects, amazing stuff. And I tend to overvalue prospects myself!

Lidge and Jennings for Kemp and a B prospect? Kemp is a great talent, but his K/BB ratio isn't great, indicating his AVG should drop.

Meanwhile, Lidge has been absolutely dominant this year (1.94 ERA, 12.31 K/9, .203 BAA). He's certainly capable of closing. He's a proven commodity. His 5.28 ERA last year is scary, but his peripheral stats all tell us he pitched much better than a 5.28 ERA and that he was largely unlucky (for the record, here are some other stats from last year: 12.48 K/9, 2.89 K/BB, .238 BAA). And his DIPS ERA (3.55) and component ERA (4.34) were much more palatable.

Some are concerned about his mental state, but he'd be a 7th inning guy for the Dodgers (unless Saito is out), where there isn't enough pressure to make it worth worrying about his mental state.

And Jennings, despite a disappointing year, is still one of the better pitching options available. He's not too expensive, so really any team can afford him. Also, a team that acquires him would pick up some pretty good 2008 draft picks if they didn't re-sign him, which increases his value.

I'm not sure who you consider a "B prospect", but I think Lidge and Jennings would be too much to give up for Kemp and a "B prospect" as I understand it.

[arnieblue]

Dodgers need a quality starter....I can only see them going for Oswalt,and if Kemp or Loney Leave so will Colletti

[boomshwa12]

i think if the astros could get loney i'd be in favor of trading berkman and his half ass attittude at this point

russe are the astros really considering moving carlos lee to third base? can he play third?

[boomshwa12]

or was that sarcasm?

[arnieblue]

Loney upside is lightyears ahead of Berkman.Young and more tools. Oswalt will the only spark of interest for the Dodgers.