Kansas City Royals Rumors
By Cork Gaines [July 9, 2009 at 7:10pm CST]
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star has some quotes from Gil Meche about the possibility of him waiving his no-trade clause. “When that time comes,” [Meche] said, “then I’ll answer that question. But I’m not going to address speculation. Do I want to go somewhere? No. That’s about all I can say...I don’t want to go anywhere...I know this is the last year of the no-trade (clause) in my contract, but I would like to be here to win. That’s why I signed to come here in the first place.” Meche is in the third year of a 5-year/$55MM...
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By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 8, 2009 at 3:24pm CST]
More links for the afternoon... Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports that the Red Sox phoned the Rockies about Garrett Atkins, who's hitting much better since the beginning of June. Bradford Doolittle of the Kansas City Star says the Royals can't give Mark Teahen away, but they should be open to trading him. Joel Sherman wonders if a contender will pick B.J. Ryan up as a lefty specialist. Jorge Arangure Jr. says Ryan could fit with the Marlins, who have been handing out second chances non-stop. MLB.com's Lyle Spencer looks at pieces the Angels could offer for Roy Halladay,...
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By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 7, 2009 at 4:58pm CST]
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says Javier Vazquez has more value than any available hitter. Here are the details and the rest of Rosenthal's rumors: Not even Matt Holliday or Corey Hart would be fair value for Vazquez, so Rosenthal asks why the Braves would want to trade him at all. The Mets inquired on Scott Hairston, who could have been an affordable stopgap, but balked when the Padres asked for Bobby Parnell. The Marlins offered Gaby Sanchez for Manny Delcarmen, but the Red Sox weren't interested. The Mariners, Tigers and Rays weren't far from agreeing to a deal that...
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By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 7, 2009 at 3:51pm CST]
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reports that the Royals designated Luis Hernandez for assignment to make room for the newly-acquired Ryan Freel. Hernandez, a 25-year-old utilityman, hit .204/.235/.204 in 53 plate appearances for the Royals this year. He spent parts of two years with the Orioles before signing a minor league deal with Kansas City before the season.
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By Drew Silva [July 6, 2009 at 8:34pm CST]
A tasty handful of Monday evening links... Chris DeLuca of the Chicago Sun-Times gathered a quote from Cubs GM Jim Hendry on the possibility of his club making a move: "We have a pretty good team,and if our guys all play like their capable ... you don’t have to do a whole lot." MLB.com's Corey Brock reports the Padres aren't "getting many hits" from other teams on Kevin Kouzmanoff, but believes that might change soon. According to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon, the Reds have signed four Venezuelan amateurs. Baseball America's Matt Eddy has a rundown of team-by-team minor league transactions from...
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By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 6, 2009 at 1:35pm CST]
The Royals acquired utilityman Ryan Freel and cash from the Cubs for a player to be named later, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. The Cubs designated Freel for assignment Thursday after a disappointing 14-game tenure with the club. They traded Joey Gathright for Freel two months ago.
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By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 6, 2009 at 12:10pm CST]
Jon Heyman of SI.com lists his mid-season award winners, led by Albert Pujols and Joe Mauer. Here are Heyman's latest rumors: Huston Street alone is worth more on the trade market than Matt Holliday. Dan O'Dowd must be happy with his return, which also included Carlos Gonzalez. Jhonny Peralta, Kerry Wood and Carl Pavano are all available. Indians GM Mark Shapiro believes he can still get a fair return for Cliff Lee if he deals him a year from now, a few months before the lefty is scheduled to become free agent. One executive says the Royals are "pushing" Brian...
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By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 6, 2009 at 9:03am CST]
Some odds and ends to start the week off... Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution hears the Royals "covet" Yunel Escobar. As O'Brien says, Mark Teahen alone would not likely be enough to acquire the Braves' shortstop. Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus reports that the Tigers signed a pair of shortstops from Panama. Almost 70% of Cleveland Plain Dealer readers don't think Eric Wedge should be around for the rest of the year. Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle tells us how some well-placed calls by Ryan Sadowski's mother helped the Giants starter make the big leagues. Remember that...
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By Mike Axisa [July 4, 2009 at 10:02am CST]
Currently standing atop the National League wildcard standings, the Giants are looking for a lefthanded bat to add to their lineup according to Gordon Edes of Yahoo Sports. He cites a major league executive who says that San Francisco has focused their efforts on three first baseman: Nick Johnson, Aubrey Huff and Adam LaRoche. Edes also says that the Giants have spoken to the Padres about a potential Jonathan Sanchez-Scott Hairston swap. Let's round up the rest of Edes' rumors... Royals GM Dayton Moore has heard from multiple teams about Mark Teahen, including the Red Sox, Cubs, Angels and Giants....
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By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 3, 2009 at 3:04pm CST]
Some more links as we count down to the big weekend... Diamond Leung reports that the Dodgers traded minor-league pitcher Stephen Randolph to the Royals. Randolph, who was named in the Mitchell Report, pitched well as a starter in Triple A this month. Aroldis Chapman's whereabouts remain unknown, according to ESPN.com. Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post says "Clint Hurdle would not have fallen on his sword had the 'pen been mighty under his watch." Or, in less poetic terms, the Rockies have an improved bullpen. Signees from the Dominican Republic will now have to take DNA tests to...
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