Lastings Milledge Rumors

Olney's Latest: Cardinals, Snell, Milledge, Maine, Fuentes

Buster Olney's latest offering is packed full of links: Bernie Miklasz notes that the Cardinals have only three starting pitchers (Adam Wainwright, Todd Wellemeyer, and Joel Pineiro) locked up for next year (he's not expecting Chris Carpenter to contribute in 2009), and no prospects waiting in the wings. His solution? Pry open owner Bill DeWitt's wallet, "and please, no el cheapo deals for rehabbing pitchers, medically risky pitchers, broken-down pitchers." The Pirates have it a little bit tougher. According to pitching coach Jeff Andrews, it consists of Paul Maholm and "a blank sheet." Here's one vote for adding Ian Snell,...   Continue Reading

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Mets Talked To Giants About Lowry

David Lennon reports that the Mets had conversations with the Giants about sending Lastings Milledge over for Noah Lowry. The Giants wanted a young pitcher back as well, so Minaya shipped Milledge elsewhere. Still, the Lowry idea could be revisited   Continue Reading

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Heyman's Latest: Santana, Bedard, Willis

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 5:48pm: Jayson Stark confirms the Reds' interest in Willis. However he suggests that the Marlins would ask for Homer Bailey and then some in return. FROM 12-3-07 at 11:41am: SI.com's Jon Heyman checks in with the latest hot stove banter he's hearing. There's some confusion here as Heyman has contrary info to other published sources. Heyman believes Johan Santana is "more likely than not" to get traded at the Meetings, and quite possibly today. Heyman says the Red Sox and Yankees are the two teams Santana would waive his veto power for, running contrary to LENIII's recent..   Continue Reading

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Mets Trade Milledge To Nats For Schneider And Church

According to SNY via Metsblog as well as WFAN, the Mets have traded Lastings Milledge to the Nationals for Brian Schneider and Ryan Church. Initial thought: sweet deal by Jim Bowden. Milledge, who turns 23 in April, has star potential or at least will become an above average right fielder (though he should be tried in center unless he's terrible there). The 31 year-old Schneider is strong defensively, but he doesn't hit. The 29 year-old Church has a career OPS over .800, and may be a bit underrated. But he is 29 and not likely to get much better. He's..   Continue Reading

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Heyman's Latest: Santana, Haren, Estrada

Jon Heyman checks in with a couple of notable points. Heyman sets odds for Johan Santana, going with the Yankees and then Red Sox. I'll let you click through for the rest. While we'd recently heard from Ken Rosenthal that the A's had cooled on certain young Mets, perhaps Omar Minaya and Billy Beane can still work something out. Heyman indicates that Beane still covets Lastings Milledge and Mike Pelfrey. He also likes Kevin Mulvey, Carlos Gomez, and Fernando Martinez. So maybe Keith Law was right today in his chat - the Mets can pull off a deal with the..   Continue Reading

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Can Mets Acquire An Ace?

We've discussed this before...it seems like the Mets don't stack up with certain other clubs trying to acquire available frontline starting pitching. Ken Rosenthal definitely feels this way - Carlos Gomez is considered a blue-chipper but the others may not be. Rosenthal notes that a package starting with Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman doesn't do much for Billy Beane. The A's don't see Milledge as a long-term center field solution, and Heilman is a reliever. Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber aren't the top-shelf pitching prospects the A's covet in return for Dan Haren or Joe Blanton. It seems as if..   Continue Reading

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Mets Focused On Blanton/Haren?

According to David Lennon of Newsday, the Mets are focused on getting Dan Haren or Joe Blanton from the A's. Lennon admits they probably don't have the chips to get Johan Santana, which makes me wonder how they'd have enough to get Blanton or Haren. Omar Minaya and Billy Beane discussed these guys a year ago, and couldn't come to an agreement. Now Beane's price has risen - Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman won't cut it (not sure if it would've last year anyway). I'm not sure if adding any Mets pitching prospect to that pair would be enough to..   Continue Reading

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Heyman's Latest: Piazza, Matthews, Milledge

SI.com's Jon Heyman checks in with a new Daily Scoop column full of rumors. A lot of the standard trade talk we've seen regarding Miguel Cabrera, Johan Santana, Miguel Tejada, and Dan Haren. All these guys require two good young players or more in a trade. Mike Piazza is considering DHing in Japan if he doesn't find anything he likes in the U.S. Heyman talked to an AL exec who speculated that the Angels may try to unload Gary Matthews Jr. GMJ makes $9MM in '08, $10MM in '09, $11MM in '10, and $12MM in '11. He currently has a..   Continue Reading

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Latest Mets Rumors: A-Rod, Silva, Blanton

Plenty of action around the Mets lately; Omar Minaya has his work cut out for him. Hat tip to MetsBlog for several of the links. The sensational storyline here is that Minaya will meet with Scott Boras to discuss Alex Rodriguez. However, Boras and Minaya might spend more time discussing Kyle Lohse and Eric Gagne than A-Rod - the Mets' focus is pitching. Newsday's Ken Davidoff reminds us of past trade talks regarding Joe Blanton, Jose Contreras, and Jon Garland. Those talks may be re-opened, though Davidoff notes that the White Sox aren't enamored of Lastings Milledge. Additionally, the Mets..   Continue Reading

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Mets Hunting For Reliever, Second Baseman

Pretty much the same old story with the Mets, though Joel Sherman and Mark Hale of the New York Post do have some new tidbits. The authors name Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, Octavio Dotel, and Eric Gagne as relievers on the radar. However it seems the asking price is too high for Gagne and the Indians have become the frontrunner for Dotel (they may have passed the Dodgers). Shawn Chacon doesn't catch the Mets' eye, and they don't want Chad Bradford's three-year commitment. They had that option with Bradford this winter. I think that logic is silly - Bradford's pitched..   Continue Reading

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Mets and Devil Rays

Ryan McConnell of the New Jersey Star-Ledger posted a run-down of Mets' rumors, mostly old hat by now. Items of note: The Mets are being asked too much for both Chad Cordero and Octavio Dotel, causing them to take another look at Eric Gagne. They are also looking at Matt Thornton (White Sox), Shawn Chacon (Pirates), Chad Bradford (Orioles) and Jon Rauch (Nationals). I think they should go for Chad Bradford, silly contract be damned. We've all heard about second base possibilities in Mark Grudzielanek, Mark Loretta and Luis Castillo. I think that of these candidates, Grudzielanek is the best..   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest: Nats After Dunn

Ken Rosenthal's got a new column up; let's dive in. Fun new rumor: the Nationals are pursuing Adam Dunn. Huh? Makes no sense on the surface. Jim Bowden's possible motivation would be to sign Dunn long-term and make him the cornerstone of the franchise. If he fails at that, all would not be lost given the draft pick compensation. Rosenthal says the market for Dunn beyond Washington is a bit foggy - the Twins, Angels, Yankees, Red Sox, and Padres could all get involved but none stand out. Rosenthal adds some color to my recent Nationals post. He mentions that..   Continue Reading

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Nationals Looking To Deal

MLB.com's Bill Ladson has the lowdown on the Washington Nationals. They've got several pieces they're looking to move. Chad Cordero and Jon Rauch remain popular names on the market, but it still seems like Jim Bowden is holding out for something amazing. Ladson says Bowden is asking the Mets for Lastings Milledge and Mike Pelfrey in a deal. It is known that the Mets would move Pelfrey in a major trade (per Jayston Stark). Pelfrey would be a great guy for the Nats to acquire; they really need some MLB-ready pitching depth. Another name on the Nats' radar is Double..   Continue Reading

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MetsBlog On Cordero, Rauch, Milledge

Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog says recent buzz in Washington, D.C. has linked the Mets to relievers Chad Cordero and Jon Rauch. He also adds that Nationals manager and former Mets' third base coach Manny Acta is a fan of Lastings Milledge. Milledge suffered from a sprained foot ligament for most of the season, but finally returned to the Triple A lineup on Friday. [Correction: Milledge is still on rehab and won't return to the Triple A New Orleans club for another week or two.] It figures that many GMs will try to pry away the 22 year-old this month. It's..   Continue Reading

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Stark's Latest

ESPN's Jayson Stark has his latest Rumblings and Grumblings column up, and it's chock full o' rumors. Stark speaks to one NL exec who thinks any Barry Bonds trade rumor is hogwash. That source believes that there would be no market for him. Personally, I don't buy it. There would only be $8MM or so left on the deal, and as a two-month DH Bonds could make a huge impact on a contender. And he did indicate he'd waive his no-trade clause. Word is that the Mets wouldn't trade Lastings Milledge for an impending free agent - Mark Buehrle included...   Continue Reading

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Pressure On Mets To Trade Milledge

In general, it seems the New York media would like to see Lastings Milledge pushed out of town. They don't like his cocky attitude and can't comprehend his rap music. He's not seen as a humble team player. Far more important, though, is that the 22 year-old still looks like he will be a very valuable center fielder. I keep going back to this post from Nate Silver in January. Milledge remains underrated, and his mild transgressions plus this year's foot injury may only further improve the opportunity to buy low. So he has too much swagger and said some..   Continue Reading

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Mets Still Trying For Dan Haren?

UPDATE: Spoke to my Mets source, and he indicated that the below trade possibility could be expanded to include Michael Devaney and Santiago Castilla. According to a Bay Area official speaking to Gotham Baseball, the Mets and A's "are finally discussing a deal that could send right-hander Danny Haren to the Mets in return for Aaron Heilman, Lastings Milledge and a minor league pitcher." Gotham's source goes on to say that the A's would prefer to put Joe Blanton in that deal instead but the Mets are holding out for Haren. Can Omar Minaya and Billy Beane find common ground..   Continue Reading

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Milledge-Blanton Swap?

Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle slipped in this nugget: "The Athletics are likely to also dispatch their winningest pitcher, Joe Blanton, to New York as part of a deal that would fetch one of Billy Beane's longest-held desirables, outfielder Lastings Milledge." I'm not sure if Ratto is just making this assumption based on past rumors from this winter, or if this is a brand new rumor. But he seems fairly certain that Blanton will be dealt. That would leave the A's with a Haren-Loaiza-Harden-Kennedy rotation, with a fifth starter battle between Chad Gaudin, Jason Windsor, Kirk Saarloos, and..   Continue Reading

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Buehrle For Milledge?

Here's a new one, courtesy of Scott Merkin of MLB.com. The White Sox could send Mark Buehrle to the Mets for Lastings Milledge. An interesting idea, kind of the opposite of Kenny Williams's Chris Young for Javier Vazquez deal last winter. However, Merkin quotes Williams as desiring young pitching as the return for one of his veteran starters. Would the Mets entertain Mike Pelfrey for Buehrle? Just throwing it out there. Kenny Williams has made a couple of deals with Omar Minaya in the past. In January of 2003, the Sox sent Rocky Biddle, Orlando Hernandez, Jeff Liefer, and cash..   Continue Reading

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Gotham Baseball: Rockies Want Milledge?

One oif the more interesting things I heard in this week's follow up calls after the GM Meetings was the Colorado Rockies' interest in Lastings Milledge. Though I keep hearing from those inside and outside of the team's inner circle that Milledge is still a player they expect to blossom in New York, I can't help but think that the Mets are focused on moving forward...without Lastings. Another very interesting tidbit was a rumor of the Tigers and Reds talking Adam Dun   Continue Reading

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Healey: Red Sox Like Heilman, Milledge

Mark Healey of Gotham Baseball has a new but familiar trade rumor for us: it appears that the Red Sox would like to acquire Aaron Heilman to be their closer next year. In addition, Theo Epstein and Co. may have their eye on Lastings Milledge. It could be the makings of a Manny Ramirez trade, if the Mets want to pay Ramirez's $39MM salary over the next two seasons. Healey was not able to confirm this info from multiple sources, but has faith in his Boston source here. Manny's contract may be slightly less daunting than it looks. That's because..   Continue Reading

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Latest Mets Buzz

I spoke to my Mets source recently, so here's the latest buzz around the team. As has been reported in several places, Tom Glavine plans on returning to the Braves. I'm told a "handshake agreement" is in place. If the playoff excitement can't change his mind, the Mets will take a look at Barry Zito and Mark Mulder. Orlando Hernandez may be re-signed and of course Steve Trachsel is a goner. Beyond that, the Mets have many in-house starting pitching options. The Mets still like outfielder Lastings Milledge even with the problems he's had in the clubhouse. The only way..   Continue Reading

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Mets Trade Rumor: Milledge For Oswalt Or Schmidt

Jon Heyman busts out a big one early Monday morning: the Mets are in "serious talks" for Jason Schmidt or Roy Oswalt. The key to any deal would be Lastings Milledge. Heyman mentions that Brian Bannister would be needed to pry Oswalt away but not Schmidt. He also says Aaron Heilman could be used to "enhance" a deal. It seems now that Oswalt really is in play, which is strange given the Astros' lack of depth behind Roger Clemens. Speaking of which, why not put the Rocket on the block instead   Continue Reading

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Milledge Lifted From Tonight's Game?

I don't have the details yet, but it appears leadoff hitter Lastings Milledge was pulled from the Norfolk Tides game tonight after one at-bat (a strikeout). Does that mean he's Oakland-bound? I'll look into it. UPDATE: Never mind, he was ejected. False alarm   Continue Reading

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Trade Rumor Roundup: 10 Days Left

Couple of fresh rumors surrounding the Padres' third base vacancy, and I'm proud to say that MLBTradeRumors was able to deduce these in advance. A week ago I compiled a spreadsheet of Kevin Towers' trading history since 2001, nerd that I am. From that we learned that Towers loves working with the Red Sox and also Bill Bavasi. That he would consider Adrian Beltre and Mike Lowell for his vacancy followed logically. Today, the Beltre rumor comes courtesy of Ken Rosenthal and Buster Olney threw down the Lowell rumor. If those two big dogs fall through, Towers could pursue previous..   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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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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Gotham Baseball's Zito Rumor

Gotham Baseball's Executive Editor, Mark Healey, had some informed speculation on Monday about a possible trade of Barry Zito to the Mets for Lastings Milledge and Brian Bannister. I figured I'd pass it along, as these guys seem to have some good front office type sources. Here are some highlights quoted from Healey from the thread: "Call me nuts...but I still think something is happening here and will in the next couple of days... Mike and I talk to scouts, front office people every week, sometimes daily....mostly to check on things, etc... Before and after our respective trips to ST...we..   Continue Reading

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Latest Red Sox Rumor - Clement, Vidro, Milledge

Several emailers have alerted me to a post made over at Sons of Sam Horn late last night. A respected poster lays out this scenario: Red Sox trade Matt Clement and Alex Cora Nationals trade Jose Vidro and Jay Bergmann Mets trade Lastings Milledge and Xavier Nady (with some chance of Victor Diaz instead of Milledge) Red Sox receive Milledge and Nady Nationals receive Clement and Cora plus cash if Clement pitches over 150 innings Mets receive Vidro and Bergmann plus a PTNBL from either Nats or Sox depending on Vidro's health. (Livan Hernandez could end up with the Mets..   Continue Reading

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Mets Scoop: Tavarez, Zito, Benson, Baez

A slew of information coming from my Mets source today. Let's see what we've got. My source believes the Mets will give Julian Tavarez the four-year deal he's looking for. The market explosion has necessitated this length, and Omar Minaya will go to great lengths to avoid a subpar bullpen like last year's. The Mets are the current frontrunners for Barry Zito, and Lastings Milledge is still a requirement. As reported earlier, the Mets plan to request a 72 hour contract extension window upon trading for Zito, but would make the trade with just a verbal agreement from the pitcher...   Continue Reading

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Barry Zito To The Mets

Just heard from my Mets source, who's out at Shea (not in Dallas). The Mets are apparently very interested in Barry Zito. Here are the details. The Barry Zito deal is contingent on the Mets shedding Kris Benson first. The Mets want Mike MacDougal and a prospect for Benson, while the Royals only want to give Jeremy Affeldt. It's not likely the Mets acquire both relievers. The Mets have talked to the A's about Zito, and Lastings Milledge will be included in any deal. Aaron Heilman is a possibility. My source is saying that the Mets will make the trade..   Continue Reading

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Soriano To The Mets: Update

We have an update on the Alfonso Soriano to the Mets rumor posted earlier today. MLBTradeRumors.com has learned that the Milledge and Trachsel for Soriano deal was proposed prior to the acquisition of Carlos Delgado. Now that Delgado has been acquired, the Mets will turn their focus to Billy Wagner and Ramon Hernandez. Soriano is considered nonessential to the Mets at this point, and any trade for him would not include Lastings Milledge. The Rangers have a stronger need for pitching and that will be the focus of any Soriano deal   Continue Reading

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Soriano for Milledge and Trachsel Proposed

We have some new details from my Mets source concerning a possible trade of Alfonso Soriano to the Mets. The latest report is that the Mets would send Lastings Milledge and Steve Trachsel to the Rangers for Soriano. The deal would be contingent on Soriano signing a long-term extension to play second base (not outfield). The 35 year-old Trachsel would be a decent, affordable addition to the back-end of the Texas rotation. Jon Daniels may express concerns about Trachsel's performance away from Shea Stadium in his last full season (2004). That year, Trachsel posted a 5.65 ERA with 16 HR..   Continue Reading

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