Mark Grudzielanek Rumors

Odds and Ends: Griffey, Springer, Hoffman

Links for Wednesday... Twins manager Ron Gardenhire doesn't have Delmon Young in his preferred starting outfield. The Cubs signed pitcher Chad Fox to a minor league deal. Ken Griffey Jr.'s agent Brian Goldberg says he's fine with DHing but is capable of playing the field. Goldberg thinks Junior can bounce back and have a 30 home run season. Click here to listen to free agent reliever Russ Springer talk to The ITD Morning After radio show on 1380 AM. He's gotten calls from teams in both leagues, including "World Series participants." Springer is known to be on the Phillies' radar....   Continue Reading

---

Royals Offer Arb To Grudzielanek

8:17pm: Grudzielanek says he's almost certain to decline the Royals' offer. Instead of the maximum salary, he wants to play for a contender. He feels he can play for at least two more seasons. Five or six clubs have already expressed interest. 6:36pm: According to a press release, the Royals offered arbitration to second baseman Mark Grudzielanek. This was a somewhat unexpected move, but perhaps the Royals prefer to stick with the middle infield tandem of Grudz and Mike Aviles for '09. Grudzielanek seems likely to accept the offer, as he could earn north of $4MM.   Continue Reading

---

Royals Rumors: Francoeur, Butler, Ibanez, Greinke

Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star has several Royals rumors this morning... Dutton says the Braves appear willing to trade Jeff Francoeur. While no trade talks have taken place, it's known that Royals GM Dayton Moore is a fan. Dutton speculates that the Royals would not give up Zack Greinke for Francoeur, but may consider offering Luke Hochevar, Danny Cortes, or Mark Teahen. The Royals and Mariners discussed a Billy Butler for Yuniesky Betancourt trade before the '07 season, and Dutton wonders if Seattle's new GM could reignite those talks. Dutton says the Mark Teahen to Cleveland rumor "just...   Continue Reading

---

Perrotto's Latest: La Russa, Offseason Moves

John Perrotto at Baseball Prospectus has his Every Given Sunday column up. Here's the highlights from the Rumors and Rumblings section (with some added speculation here and there from yours truly): There's a growing rumor that Cardinals manager Tony La Russa could step down after this season and pursue a job as a general manager. We all know Seattle's looking... The Diamondbacks love Adam Dunn's production so much that they are considering re-signing him and possibly having him play first base. Dunn's racked up a .474 OBP since coming to Arizona... what's not to like about that? The Padres seem...   Continue Reading

---

Odds And Ends: Giants, Maddux, Grudzielanek, Arias

A few post-deadline notes from the MLBiverse... Brian Sabean is confident that he will be able to sneak some of his veteran players (Rich Aurilia, Omar Vizquel, Randy Winn, Bengie Molina, etc.) through waivers in the coming month for the purpose of making a trade. Chris Haft feels that the large number of teams remaining in contention will make that very difficult. Kevin Towers does not sound optimistic about the possibility of trading Greg Maddux in the next month noting that such a move would be "dicier" and any trade would still require the Dodgers to "step up and give...   Continue Reading

---

Twins Looking For A Second Baseman?

According to Bob Dutton of the KC Star, the Twins are in the market for a second baseman. Alexi Casilla has a serious thumb injury. Dutton mentions Mark Grudzielanek, Rich Aurilia, and Brian Roberts as possibilities. Roberts, however, may be off the market. Dutton says the Twins could use Boof Bonser and Craig Monroe as bait. Here's a look at the trade market for second basemen.   Continue Reading

---

Ray Durham Trade Reactions

Yesterday, the Giants traded second baseman Ray Durham to the Brewers for minor leaguers Darren Ford and Steve Hammond. They were ranked 21st and 27th among Brewers prospects heading into the season, according to Baseball America. Today let's look at reactions to the trade. ESPN's Keith Law considers Durham a useful addition for Milwaukee, albeit only offensively. He considers the prospects received by San Francisco to be "close to a zero return." The Giants picked up roughly half the money owed to Durham. The trade was jarring for Ford. Henry Schulman wonders if Rich Aurilia will be the next Giants...   Continue Reading

---

Rosenthal's Latest: K-Rod, Maddux, Wolf, Street

Rumor guru Ken Rosenthal is at it again. Angels GM Tony Reagins is doing his due diligence on available hitters. Rosenthal admits his own suggestion of a Mark Teixeira/Will Ohman blockbuster acquisition is unlikely. Rosenthal believes Francisco Rodriguez's expected asking price to be five years, $75MM. The Angels would not bite on that. Greg Maddux only wants to be traded to a West Coast team. He might accept a trade back to the Dodgers, if Ned Colletti and Kevin Towers want to go down that road. The Orioles would trade George Sherrill if someone wants to overpay. Tons of teams...   Continue Reading

---

Royals To Stand Pat

Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star doesn't expect the Royals to move anyone before the deadline because all of their pieces are under contract beyond this season and/or integral to their plan to contend in the future. The Royals 2-prospect pricetag is too steep for Jose Guillen who's signed through 2010 and leads the team in HR and RBI. Gil Meche has a no-trade clause and even so, the Royals feel he's a key piece to their future chances. Even though the team isn't discussing any long term deals with him, Zack Greinke is under control through arbitration through...   Continue Reading

---

Odds And Ends: International Signings, Lo Duca, Ichiro, ChiSox

Here's a list of loose links (sink ships) from today: The A's officially inked Michel Inoa for $4.25MM. Corey Brock of MLB.com has a piece on the Padres' international signings. More here from the man himself, Paul DePodesta. The Marlins are still looking for a catcher, and one of their former guys might be available. That would be Paul Lo Duca. With the Nats out of it, could they swap Lo Duca within the division? And would they assume part of Lo Duca's remaining salary? Keep in mind that MLB.com's Joe Frisaro said yesterday that the Marlins were "not serious"...   Continue Reading

---

Grudzielanek Wants To Play Two Or Three More Years

According to the Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton, Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek would like to play two or three more years. Grudzielanek, 38, is hitting a healthy .307/.365/.406 in 269 plate appearances. He's earning $4.5MM this year. Dutton notes the Royals' other second base options, and wonders if the team will shop Grudzielanek this month. Grudzielanek is undecided as to whether he'd prefer to stay in Kansas City beyond this year. The Blue Jays and Dodgers seem like possibilities. However, the Jays have Joe Inglett playing well and Jeff Kent had a decent June for the Dodgers. There is...   Continue Reading

---

Rockies Rumors: Iguchi, Grudzielanek, Rusch, Fukumori

UPDATE, 12-6-07 at 12:20am: Troy Renck says that if the Rox do acquire a second baseman, Dan O'Dowd is ready to trade both Clint Barmes and Jamey Carroll. The Cardinals, Marlins, and Indians would be suitors for those two. FROM 12-5-07 at 10:09pm: MLB.com's Thomas Harding checks in with a slew of new Rockies rumors. The Rockies have their eye on Tadahito Iguchi and could offer him a two-year deal. However, Iguchi is craving a contract similar to Kaz Matsui's three-year, $16.5MM pact. Should one bad contract beget another one? Mark Grudzielanek can be had, but the Rox aren't interested...   Continue Reading

---

Odds and Ends

Some random rumors and links for Tuesday afternoon... The Rockies signed Mark Redman to a minor league contract. It makes sense to add some depth, but I like the team's plan of using high-octane arms Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales instead of the safe veteran options. Rick Sutcliffe's thoughts on showboating. At one time, it seemed that Jason Jennings would be primed for a big payday this winter. He still could get a Marquis contract despite his 6.45 ERA in 18 starts. But prospective buyers have to be concerned that he replied "I don't know" when asked if he is..   Continue Reading

---

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

---

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

---

Rosenthal's Latest: Dye, Lamb, Jennings

Ken Rosenthal has a new article up. Let's see what's in there beyond the Teixeira stuff. The Angels have a few alternatives to Mark Teixeira in Jermaine Dye and Mike Piazza. However, the team isn't exactly bursting with open outfield/DH spots, especially once Juan Rivera returns. Troy Glaus still makes a ton of sense, but the Blue Jays would want a lot. Probably 2/3 of the Teixeira package. Aside from Mark Loretta, the Padres would also like to acquire Mike Lamb from the Astros. Even tossing aside his awful April, Kevin Kouzmanoff has been about average for his position offensively..   Continue Reading

---

Latest Mets Rumors: Luis Castillo, Chad Cordero

Let's have a look at the latest rumors swirling around the Mets. Second base remains an area of focus. A Twins scout was at Shea recently, presumably trying to figure out what to ask for from the Mets for Luis Castillo. The Mets were recently scouting the Twins as well. The problem is that Castillo is not yet officially available. A couple of Marks, Grudzielanek and Loretta, remain on the radar. The Astros might consider signing Loretta to an extension, though no details have been discussed. The Devil Rays hosted the Red Sox last night, and a Mets scout was..   Continue Reading

---

Grudzielanek Leaves Game

UPDATE: Turns out Grudz is just day-to-day with knee soreness. The Mets deny any rumor that they've traded for him. Two Royal false alarms today, sorry about that. A friendly emailer tells me that Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek was in the original lineup, but was scratched at the last minute. Joe Girardi says he may be headed to the Mets. We'll keep you posted. And now back to my sweet n' sour chicken. And an update on Reggie Sanders: according to Girardi, Reggie was just shipping his kids' stuff off to Arizona, where they'll go to school. False alarm   Continue Reading

---

Search MLBTR

MLBTR Mailing List

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

MLBTR Features

Recent Posts

Rumors By Team

Monthly Archives

Live Chats

Tuesdays at 2 p.m. CST