Oscar Villarreal Rumors

Week In Review: 8/10 - 8/16

Taking a look back at this week's happenings here on MLBTR... The biggest move of the month was the Diamondbacks' acquisition of slugger Adam Dunn for Dallas Buck, Micah Owings, and Wilkin Castillo. I can't remember any August trades of this magnitude. Bronson Arroyo told the media Dunn would be seeking over $100MM this offseason; Dunn denied the report wholeheartedly. I'd be surprised to see him get $100MM, but I also certainly don't think it would be the worst signing we've seen in the past few offseasons. The Red Sox acquired Paul Byrd from the Indians. Boston will pay the...   Continue Reading

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Rockies Sign Villarreal

According to Jack Etkin of the Rocky Mountain News, the Rockies signed reliever Oscar Villarreal to a minor league deal today. The Rox will have Villarreal under contract for '09, mostly paid for by the Astros. I hadn't realized Villarreal signed with the Mariners after being designated by Houston. He opted out of that contract when the Ms didn't bring him to the Majors by August 8th. Villarreal's strikeout and groundball rates slipped this year, leading to a 5.02 ERA in 37.2 innings. He's been worked pretty hard at times in his career.   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Taveras, Kemp, Mota

Today's random linkage. Correction to the Justin Duchscherer post - he only has one more arbitration year, not two. He's set to reach free agency after the '09 season. Rob Neyer points us to a quality interview with Yankees beat writer Tyler Kepner over at NoMaas.org. MLB.com's Jim Molony says the Marlins have renewed interest in Rockies center fielder Willy Taveras. LEN3 thinks the Twins need a reliever more than anything. Dave Cameron wonders if Matt Kemp is overrated. Craig Brown of Royals Authority examines the team's trade candidates. The Padres' Paul DePodesta runs through his team's top trade candidates...   Continue Reading

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Astros Designate Villarreal

The Astros designated reliever Oscar Villarreal for assignment today. The 26 year-old posted a 5.02 ERA in 37.2 innings this year. He's been leaning more heavily on his breaking stuff this year, and the result has been fewer strikeouts, more walks, and a ridiculous number of home runs allowed (12). Villarreal is signed through 2009. He'll either accept the assignment to Triple A or take a release/trade from the Astros. Check out Richard Justice's blog for commentary on Ed Wade's acquisition and signing of Villarreal.   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Villarreal, Cano, Rowand

Alright let's round 'em up. This was one I was going to pass on posting, but it's pretty dead right now. The Astros signed newly acquired reliever Oscar Villarreal to a two-year deal. He was already under team control through 2008. The MLB.com article adds that Ed Wade's interest in Livan Hernandez and Bartolo Colon is low, and talks with Jon Lieber pretty much died. The Yankees pulled Robinson Cano out of Winter Ball. The word is that he doesn't want to aggravate a calf injury. You could read into it and speculate he's a part of trade talks. Seems..   Continue Reading

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Astros Acquire Oscar Villarreal For Josh Anderson

New GMs Frank Wren and Ed Wade struck a deal today. The Braves sent middle reliever Oscar Villarreal over to the Astros for outfielder Josh Anderson. It had been known that Wade was pursuing relief help. He created a bit of a void by trading Brad Lidge, not that Villarreal fills that. The 'Stros currently have an offer out to Scott Linebrink, and have expressed interest in Jeremy Affeldt, Francisco Cordero, and Troy Percival as well. Villarreal is not a closer type, so look for Wade to sign one of Linebrink, Cordero, or Percival to handle the ninth inning. Chad..   Continue Reading

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Braves Deal Estrada For Cormier And Villarreal

Ken Rosenthal continues to scoop the vast majority of trades going on at the winter meetings. This time, he's telling us that the Braves sent Johnny Estrada to the Diamondbacks for Lance Cormier and Oscar Villarreal. The Braves were dealing from a position of strength since Brian McCann is more than ready to take over full-time catching duty. The 21 year-old skipped Triple A and held up nicely in 180 Major League at-bats this year. He's not the defensive catcher that Estrada is, but he's not bad with the glove. Estrada won a Silver Slugger award for catchers and was..   Continue Reading

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