Melvin Mora Rumors

Orioles To Entertain Burnett, Teixeira?

Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has a nice end-of-season column about the Orioles today. Dan Connolly also wrote a fine summary on Saturday. In my Offseason Outlook for the team, I suggested the Orioles explore the possibility of signing A.J. Burnett but pass on a huge commitment for Mark Teixeira. Zrebiec says the O's will be in the initial bidding for both free agents. I respect that; it's hard to see them winning any bidding wars though. Instead, the Orioles will look to add starting pitching, a shortstop, and maybe a first baseman this winter. To do so, they...   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest: Hendry, Burnett, Laird

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has a new column up. Rosenthal fills us in on Jim Hendry's contract status: Hendry controls his own fate with an option for '09. If the new Cubs ownership doesn't want to extend him beyond that, he could elect free agency this winter. Click here to download a spreadsheet of Hendry's trade history. Teams with third basemen to trade this winter are at an advantage due to the weak free agent market. Names like Garrett Atkins, Melvin Mora, and Hank Blalock could generate interest. Blalock is a huge question mark though, and the Rangers still...   Continue Reading

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Heyman's Latest: Sabathia, Dunn, Huff, Mora

Hot off the press from SI.com's Jon Heyman: An executive who knows C.C. Sabathia well told Heyman the pitcher's first choice in free agency is the Giants. It's not a great fit, as starting pitching is the Giants' strength and Sabathia would add another $100MM+ contract to their rotation. The Yankees are considered the offseason frontrunners for Sabathia, though former teammate Casey Blake sees C.C. in Dodger blue. Heyman believes a claim on Paul Byrd would've made sense for the Yanks. Heyman agrees with the Dodgers' choice not to risk a claim on Adam Dunn. That decision is tough to...   Continue Reading

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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: O's. Holliday, Glavine, Maddux, Cardinals, Jeter

A few notes on from around the baseball Blogospehere... Camden Chat feels the Orioles are stuck with players like Melvin Mora and Aubrey Huff, even though both have cleared waivers. Drunk Jays Fans thinks Matt Holliday will be too expensive in terms of contract and prospects for the Jays. Talking Chop does not want to see Tom Glavine back in a Braves uniform next season. Gaslamp Ball is not happy about San Diego trading Greg Maddux to the Dodgers and wonders why the Padres would want to help their divisional rival. Ducksnorts hates the Maddux deal as a fan, but...   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest: Dempster, Mora, Cameron

Ken Rosenthal has a new column up; let's take a look. Rosenthal agrees with those who considered C.C. Sabathia pitching the ninth inning Monday a needless risk. Sabathia already had thrown 112 pitches and the Brewers had a seven run lead, but he pitched the ninth to bring the total to 130. The innings shouldn't affect Sabathia's payday, but hopefully he remains healthy. Rosenthal sees a minimal chance of Ryan Dempster signing elsewhere, given his strong relationship with Cubs GM Jim Hendry. Dempster will be the Cubs' top offseason priority. I also consider Kerry Wood unlikely to leave. Add Melvin...   Continue Reading

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Players Who Cleared Waivers

I will make this post a permanent sidebar link. This is a running list of players who have cleared waivers, based on published reports. Once a player clears waivers, he can be traded to any team (barring a no-trade clause). Updated 8-25-08 at 9:00am. Latest to clear in red. Paul Byrd - Byrd cleared waivers, but then was traded to the Red Sox. They were the only team willing to pay his remaining $2MM. Frank Catalanotto - Catalanotto, 34, is hitting .272/.337/.389 in 267 plate appearances. He's played first base and left field this year. He's not helpful against lefthanded...   Continue Reading

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Erik Bedard Mariners/Reds Rumors

UPDATE, 1-10-08 at 5:38pm: Churchill has further updated his right-hand sidebar referencing the Reds possibility. He says the O's want Bailey, Votto, Cueto, and Edwin Encarnacion. This is particularly lopsided, and pushing Melvin Mora back to Cincy wouldn't make it any less so. Mora may have negative value at this point. Meanwhile John Fay says nothing new has happened on the Reds/Bedard front. UPDATE, 1-09-08 at 9:07pm: Rosenthal checks in with an update. If the Mariners would give up Chris Tillman, they could have a done deal. Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein ranks the 19 year-old righty as Seattle's second best..   Continue Reading

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Phils Not Interested In Mora

Steve King reported yesterday that the Phillies were interested in third baseman/outfielder Melvin Mora. Not so, according to Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The specific words were "no chance." I saw this debunked elsewhere as well; can't recall where at the moment. As I said before, Mora doesn't have much value and I'd imagine any team willing to pay his entire salary could have him for a song   Continue Reading

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Phillies Interested In Melvin Mora

Melvin Mora doesn't figure to be a hot commodity on the trade market. He's got name recognition because of two very good seasons in from 2003-04. But he turns 36 in February and will earn $17MM over the next two years. He also has a no-trade clause, but he'd probably waive it to go to a competitor. The Phillies are interested in Mora for their third base vacancy, according to Steve King. I don't think the Phils would have to give up much in the way of prospects to get him; they could probably send over a bag of baseballs..   Continue Reading

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Yanks Have Interest In Tejada

The Orioles may have two third basemen to offer up this winter: Miguel Tejada and Melvin Mora. Tejada's mind would need to be changed - he still doesn't want to move to third. But the Yankees do have interest, and I can think of 13 million reasons Tejada would change his stance. Tejada came up as part of the inclusive list I came up with the night A-Rod opted out. The Orioles' focus would be to acquire position players, so you'd have to think Melky Cabrera or Robinson Cano would be targeted. Tyler Kepner adds that the Orioles would like..   Continue Reading

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Mora Interested In Phillies

The match makes so much sense that it was only a matter of time before the rumors started up. As I mentioned a week ago, Melvin Mora's the best available third baseman and the Phillies desperately need one of those. Now that contract extension talks have broken off between Mora's agent and the Orioles, the New Jersey Courier-Post reports: "Mora is believed to be interested in playing with fellow Venezuelan Bobby Abreu. If Mora hopes to be traded this season to Philadelphia, two things might stand in his way. The Phillies currently have three players that can play third base..   Continue Reading

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Who Could Use Melvin Mora?

Melvin Mora is still a pretty good third baseman, tied for tenth best in baseball in 2005 according to WARP. He enters his age 34 season with free agency looming. Mora set a deadline for today for the Orioles to work out a contract extension with him, but Orioles VP Jim Duquette is pretty much ignoring that. Reports say Mora wants $10MM annually, but there is no indication on a number of years. Mora will make just $4MM in 2006, and he should be worth about twice that. He can only hope he ages like Jeff Kent, one of his..   Continue Reading

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