Ben Francisco Rumors
By Steve Adams [October 27, 2008 at 5:16pm CST]
MONDAY: Royals GM Dayton Moore emphatically denied the rumor, calling it a "flat-out lie." OK then. SUNDAY: Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star writes some surprising news, as it seems the Indians and Royals are discussing a swap of Mark Teahen for an outfielder. It's not often you see two teams in the same division make a trade, but both sides seem to have interest. Dutton lists the three potential targets as Franklin Gutierrez, Ben Francisco, and minor leaguer Trevor Crowe. All three are capable of playing center field, which would allow the Royals to move David DeJesus to...
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By Matthew Birt [March 2, 2008 at 2:42pm CST]
Sheldon Ocker of the Akron Beacon Journal does some speculating on the Indians' third base, left field, and closer situations. Casey Blake's contract expires at the end of the season, and at age 35, Ocker doesn't believe that Indians' GM Mark Shapiro will re-up for him. Ocker points to two reasons why Andy Marte probably won't work out as the in-house solution to Blake's potential absence: he could be lost on waivers if he doesn't make the team as a utility man coming out of Spring Training, and he shows no sign of figuring things out and becoming an impact...
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By Tim Dierkes [July 28, 2007 at 11:56pm CST]
Ken Rosenthal has a couple of recent videos up at FOXSports. Check 'em out. Some highlights: The Mark Teixeira talks are at a standstill; the Braves and Angels are reluctant to improve their offers. The Dodgers are said to be out of the picture. Daniels, Schuerholz, Stoneman - which one blinks first? I'll say Daniels; he'll go with Atlanta's best offer. Jermaine Dye is Plan B for the Angels, but as you know the Red Sox still have interest. Jon Garland can be had, but Kenny Williams' price is sky-high. The Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Mets, and Braves all have interest. The..
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By Tim Dierkes [July 27, 2007 at 9:56am CST]
Ken Rosenthal posted a new column last night, and has updated it very recently. I've already spoken about the Teixeira stuff, but there's other good material in there too. Some of the wilder speculation out there has been that the Twins might trade Torii Hunter or Johan Santana if they decide they're out of it. Various Baseball Prospectus reports put the Twins' playoff chances between 5-10%. Rosenthal debunks the idea that Minnesota would shop Hunter without first making him an offer, and keeping Santana for at least 2008 makes sense. Plus, Santana has a no-trade clause. Rosenthal does have some..
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