Akinori Otsuka Rumors

Akinori Otsuka Headed For Elbow Surgery?

The Newberg Report passes along a comment reportedly made by Rangers GM Jon Daniels yesterday. Apparently, Daniels told the crowd that he non-tendered Akinori Otsuka because he's headed for elbow surgery. The status of Aki's elbow had been a mystery up to this point, though there had been signs that it wasn't right   Continue Reading

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Ranger Rumors: Botts, Otsuka, Padilla

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News recently did a Q&A, and there were some interesting hot stove-related tidbits to consider. Grant believes one of Nelson Cruz or Jason Botts will depart before Opening Day. Botts is out of options, so he may be more likely to go. While acknowledging that he is a 27 year-old DH, Botts' recent Major League Equivalencies say he may be able to post an .800 OPS in the bigs. Grant answers a question about Akinori Otsuka and his "scary" elbow. He says Otsuka probably can't pitch through the pain and if he did his..   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Roberts, Otsuka, Walker, DaVanon

A few minor moves to speak of... The Cubs don't appear to be concerned about Brian Roberts' steroid admission. The Padres' talks for Xavier Nady are "on hold," according to Bill Center. Also, the Friars continue to eye Akinori Otsuka. Aside from the aforementioned Michael Barrett, the Padres signed Robert Fick and Jeff DaVanon. DaVanon, a switch-hitter, has had some decent years against righties. Ken Rosenthal believes the Padres may consider their outfield situation settled now after missing out on Geoff Jenkins and signing DaVanon. Todd Walker, remember him? He was released by the Padres this year in Spring Training..   Continue Reading

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Stark's Latest: Prior, Lofton, Otsuka

ESPN's Jayson Stark dishes some good rumorage in his latest column. Stark dug around to find all the Mark Prior suitors and came up with this list: Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, Mets, Cardinals, Padres, Astros, Giants, Reds, Nationals (11 teams). Let's compare notes. MLBTR readers have seen the Yankees, Mets, Cards, Padres, Astros, Reds, and Nats linked to Prior already. So Stark has added the Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, and Giants. The idea of the Mariners runs contrary to this MLB.com article. Stark did not name the Rangers, who are said to be aggressively pursuing Prior. Prior..   Continue Reading

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Phillies Interested In Otsuka?

UPDATE, 12-14-07 at 10:09am: Ah, now the true story comes out on Otsuka. MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan says the Rangers were going to send him to the White Sox for Chris Carter but the Sox nixed the deal after looking at Otsuka's medical reports. No surprise the Rangers non-tendered him, now. Hat tip to Rangerfans.com. FROM 12-14-07 at 8:47am: Reliever Akinori Otsuka hit the free agent market on Wednesday; he turns 36 in January. With a career ERA of 2.44 in 232 innings, it's surprising the Rangers chose to non-tender him. Otsuka earned $3MM in 2007, and even with a raise..   Continue Reading

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Rangers Acquire Broussard, Non-tender Otsuka

Quick note from Geoff Baker - the Mariners sent first baseman Ben Broussard to the Rangers for minor league infielder Tug Hulett. Makes sense; the Mariners clear $3.5MM+ from the payroll and actually get something in return. The Rangers get a cheap stopgap first baseman who won't embarrass them. We may never hear from Hulett again, but he's better than the nothing the Mariners would've gotten for non-tendering Broussard. The Rangers also non-tendered Akinori Otsuka. Last we'd heard he was throwing pain-free in October, but maybe the Rangers learned he needed Tommy John after all. (Hat tip to Rangerfans.com)   Continue Reading

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Padres Deep In Talks For Bay

UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 3:56pm: Krasovic jumps in to say that the Padres definitely won't be trading Headley to the Bucs (and probably not at all). The Pirates and Padres have been talking a lot, and some kind of deal involving some of the players below could definitely happen. UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 12:01pm: Buster Olney is reporting that the Padres are "deep into discussions" with the Pirates about a multiplayer trade in which Bay would be the centerpiece. FROM 12-12-07 at 9:30am: Tom Krasovic checks in with all sorts of fresh Padres rumors, as he often does. Below are the ones..   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Fukudome, Mahay, Santana

Rounding up some odds and ends for you... I'd read that Akinori Otsuka recommended the Padres to Kosuke Fukudome, kind of glossed over the fact. But Jamey Newberg has is rightly disappointed in the Rangers reliever. After all, the Rangers have Fukudome in their sights, and Otsuka plays for the Rangers. A good source tells me the Yankees believe they are in the lead for Ron Mahay, and think it can be done this upcoming week. If it's true that Mahay has narrowed his choices to the Yanks and Royals, and the Royals have little interest, this makes sense. MetsBlog..   Continue Reading

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Heyman's Latest: Teixeira, Otsuka

Jon Heyman of SI.com has been working the phone lines; here are some notable rumors from his latest column. The Braves seemed fairly close to a Mark Teixeira trade yesterday, but the Angels are definitely knee deep in it. They'll make a solid offer including Casey Kotchman, Ervin Santana, and Major League player. Adam Dunn remains Plan B. Heyman says there's speculation that Akinori Otsuka could need Tommy John surgery, which might compel the Rangers to sign Eric Gagne and/or keep Joaquin Benoit. Refresher on Gagne's 12-team allowable list can be found here. Gagne must consent to a trade to..   Continue Reading

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Rockies Hunting For Relief Help

Playoff odds reports put the Rockies' chances at 6-8% currently, but they still view themselves as buyers. After all, they're still just 4.5 games out of the Wild Card and 5.5 games out in the NL West. Though a crude metric, the Rockies' bullpen currently ranks 12th in the NL with a 4.42 ERA. Among contenders in the league, only Philadelphia has been worse. Brian Fuentes seems at least another week or two from returning. According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd has been burning up the phone lines looking for a reliever. Renck..   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest: Andruw, Lidge, Gwynn Jr.

Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up at FOXSports for your viewing pleasure. Rosenthal believes that despite Andruw Jones's lousy May and June, he'll still cash in this winter as the best available center fielder. He'll still provide more offense than Torii Hunter in the long run. The Nationals are still asking for the moon in trade talks. If Jim Bowden does start acting reasonable, Dmitri Young, Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, and Ryan Church could be dealt. Word via Bill Ladson of MLB.com is that only the Braves have inquired on Young. Brad Lidge is expected to remain..   Continue Reading

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Gagne/Otsuka Suitors

Teams are lining up to pluck away the top two members of the Rangers' bullpen, and Jon Daniels is in "listening mode." MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan has the scoop: the Diamondbacks, Cubs, Red Sox, and Yankees are the top suitors for Eric Gagne. The Mets, Braves, Phillies, Tigers, and Brewers are focused on Akinori Otsuka. And the Tribe likes both relievers. Benefits of Gagne: he can be unhittable and he'll give you two good draft picks after the season. Plus he seems to be finally healthy. The Indians, despite their interest, are not on Gagne's list of 12 teams he can..   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest

Ken Rosenthal has a new column up. A summary appears below. Rosenthal thinks the Tigers are unlikely to acquire Eric Gagne or Akinori Otsuka, perhaps preferring to look at internal options. That's a shame, as I think they really need to add someone. The White Sox won't be granting a 72 hour negotiating window if they trade Mark Buehrle. Strictly a rental. That could limit the market for him, but Kenny Williams will come up with at least one quality prospect. The Dodgers don't seem likely to trade for Adam Dunn or Jermaine Dye, but could go after Mark Teixeira...   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal On Teixeira For Hughes Possibility

Ken Rosenthal has a long article today regarding possible scenarios by which Mark Teixeira becomes a Yankee. Rosenthal says the Yankees scouted the Rangers last week in regards to Eric Gagne and Akinori Otsuka. The Rangers expect Brian Cashman to have interest in Teixeira, and have been performing due diligence on Phil Hughes and other Yankee farmhands. Rosenthal's main point: Hughes is not untouchable, but Teixeira could be traded to the Yankees without him involved. Maybe Jon Daniels surrenders two of his major trading chips in a single blockbuster, giving up Otsuka or Gagne plus Teixeira just to get Hughes...   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest Video

Ken Rosenthal has a new video up at FOXSports.com for your viewing pleasure. My summary: As you know, Eric Gagne and Akinori Otsuka are drawing strong interest across baseball. The only team named by Rosenthal is the Yankees, and in a roundabout way. He simply said that the Rangers have been scouting the Yanks. Both the Dodgers and Angels would love to add a power-hitting third baseman. The problem is, there's not much about there. Rosenthal says Troy Glaus, Mike Lowell, and Miguel Cabrera are all currently unavailable. One who might become available and could play third is Miguel Tejada...   Continue Reading

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Tigers Trade Rumors

Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press has the trade chatter surrounding the Tigers. The first issue is the bullpen, which is having all sorts of problems. Joel Zumaya is out for three months after finger surgery, Fernando Rodney has been on the DL with biceps tendinitis, Jose Mesa predictably bombed, and Todd Jones has struggled recently. Logically, the Tigers are scouring the trade market for relief pitching. They still might sign Troy Percival. The main competition there seems to be the Phillies. Morosi also indicates that a trade could be worked out with the Rangers for Eric Gagne..   Continue Reading

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Ringolsby On Lidge, Otsuka, And More

Esteemed Denver Post writer Tracy Ringolsby drops a few trade rumors on us in this morning's column. Ringolsby writes that the Padres have some rainy-day money saved up to be used specifically for one of three players, if they are available and the team is contending. The players are future free agents Ichiro Suzuki, Andruw Jones, and Torii Hunter. I'm not sure how Mike Cameron would feel about that, and whether it would affect his contract negotiations. Hopefully he wouldn't mind moving to a corner. Should Eric Gagne prove himself healthy and reliable (a long shot), the Red Sox, Indians,..   Continue Reading

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Relief Moves

The Red Sox picked up 35 year-old right-handed reliever Brendan Donnelly from the Angels for Phil Seibel. Donnelly's control slipped significantly last season, but he's had an excellent career despite a late start. He can help. Seibel, a southpaw, turns 28 in January. He was unhittable across three minor league levels for the Red Sox this year. The Red Sox also added J.C. Romero as a LOOGY option. The D-Rays signed Al Reyes to a one-year deal. You may recall he was a fantastic reliever for the Cards in '05 before succumbing to TJ surgery. He already threw a few..   Continue Reading

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Braves Rumors

Talking Chop has a nice roundup of trade talks that the Braves could be exploring. First, the White Sox are interested in Andruw Jones. That seems like a longshot because Andruw has a no-trade and the White Sox hate Scott Boras, but who knows, maybe an extension would get that done. Trading for Jones would make Brian Anderson expendable, and Anderson seems to me like Bobby Cox's kind of player-young, great defense, could improve at the plate. Maybe Anderson and one of Chicago's starters would get that deal done. Second, the Rangers could be looking at Braves pitching. The Rangers..   Continue Reading

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Adam Eaton Dealt To Rangers

Kevin Towers made a great trade today, acquiring promising youngsters Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez (plus Terrmel Sledge) for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka. I didn't think a deal was imminent yesterday, but I also didn't think Jon Daniels would surrender a comparable, younger pitcher in the trade. In what way is Adam Eaton better than Chris Young? Putting their numbers side by side, I'd say Young is already the preferable pitcher. Their strikeout rates are comparable, and Young's superior control results in fewer baserunners. Young's durability is an unknown, but it couldn't be much worse than Eaton's. Eaton's had..   Continue Reading

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