Phil Hughes Rumors

Odds and Ends: Happ, Igawa, Hawkins, Lowe

Rounding up rumors and links from the weekend... SI.com's Jon Heyman says the Mariners are asking the Mets for Jon Niese for Raul Ibanez. Not likely. ESPN's Buster Olney says the Braves would require Conor Jackson from the D'Backs in a Mark Teixeira deal, but Arizona is not biting. Another quick hit from Olney: the White Sox are surveying the relief market in the wake of Scott Linebrink's shoulder injury. Several readers have written in about Phillies' lefty J.A. Happ being pulled early from a Triple A start (2.2 scoreless innings) with no sign of injury. Something to keep an...   Continue Reading

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Phillies No Longer Interested In Fuentes?

MLB.com's Trade Talk blog speculates that the Phillies may no longer be pursuing Colorado closer Brian Fuentes, after Philadelphia traded three prospects for Joe Blanton. The blog wonders, "How many chips do (the Phillies) have to play?" Then, the blog hedges its bets: If an earlier report is correct, the Rockies have asked the Phillies for right-hander Carlos Carrasco or catcher Lou Marson in return for Fuentes, so something could still be possible. Trade Talk goes on to say that the Rockies would "hit the jackpot if a team came up with a young, talented starter -- like, say, the...   Continue Reading

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CC Sabathia Links

The CC Sabathia trade is complete, but there's still some good info floating about. Michael Silverman says the Brewers wanted players such as Michael Bowden, Lars Anderson, Jed Lowrie, and Josh Reddick from the Red Sox in various Sabathia scenarios. The Dodgers apparently talked about dealing Matt Kemp and one of Jonathan Meloan/James McDonald for Sabathia, Casey Blake, and Jamey Carroll. Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheehan analyzes the trade. Turns out Sabathia prefers CC over C.C. The agent for Brewers prospects Michael Brantley and Taylor Green believes both are in play as the player to be named later in the Sabathia...   Continue Reading

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Sabathia To Brewers Trade Official

Let's round up today's C.C. Sabathia links in a fresh post. The Brewers' trade for ace pitcher C.C. Sabathia is official. As a reminder, the Indians will receive Matt LaPorta, Rob Bryson, Zach Jackson, and maybe Taylor Green. Paul Hoynes says Michael Brantley could end up the player to be named later instead of Green. Ken Rosenthal suggests Lorenzo Cain may also still be possible. MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo analyzes the prospects received by the Indians. Here's an interesting link. This is apparently the blog of agent Joshua Kusnick of Double Diamond Sports Management. Among others, Kusnick represents Cain, Brantley, and...   Continue Reading

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Davidoff: Sabathia Not Likely For Yankees

Ken Davidoff provides a reality check to Yankees fans this morning, explaining that Brian Cashman is just lukewarm on C.C. Sabathia (and considers Phil Hughes untouchable). The Yankees will hang around in the talks, but they are not the frontrunner. Peter Abraham says the Yanks have six weeks to make a trade, which could be for a lesser pitcher like Paul Byrd or Randy Wolf. Davidoff says about 20 teams have expressed interest in Sabathia, including the Yankees and Mets. The Red Sox, Cubs, and Dodgers have also been linked. According to Davidoff, Mark Shapiro will eventually narrow his list...   Continue Reading

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Gammons' Latest: Sabathia, Dunn, Harden

ESPN's Peter Gammons has a new blog post up. The Indians are "thoroughly scouting" eight teams that may be interested in C.C. Sabathia, including the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, and Dodgers (the Mets may be another). Gammons agrees with Ken Rosenthal that Mark Shapiro may trade Sabathia soon to maximize his value. Gammons does not see the Yanks jumping in with Phil Hughes or a multi-prospect offer, unless Chien-Ming Wang's injury forces their hand. He does not think the Cubs or Phillies have the goods, but suggests the Rangers as a dark horse. If the Cubs don't have enough for...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Morris, Moeller, de la Rosa

Let's kick things off with an odds and ends post today. By the way did anyone watch Max Scherzer's debut last night? Damn. Dejan Kovacevic notes that even if Matt Morris considered retiring and abandoning his '08 salary, the Players Association would've strongly objected. Rays Senior VP of Baseball Ops Gerry Hunsicker indicates that the team will spend money to improve the team if they're still contending a few months from now. According to Jon Heyman, catcher Chad Moeller will remain with the Yankees. Another fine piece from Bob Nightengale of USA Today (hat tip to ShysterBall). The article discusses...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Hughes, Nathan, Pedro

Here's today's collection. Interesting article about Phil Hughes' blog. We should see more and more player blogs as the Internet generation reaches the Majors. Jonathan Mayo's book Facing Clemens has hit shelves. The MLB.com writer attempts to put you in the batter's box against the Rocket. Nothin' doin' on the Joe Nathan talks. I thought they'd hammer this one out to restore some Johan goodwill. Guess not. Like reading about injuries? Take a look at Baseball Injury Report, by my friend Rick Wilton. Especially good for fantasy junkies. Pedro isn't going to approach the Mets about an extension, but he'd...   Continue Reading

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Trade Rumor Roundup: 7 Days Left

Here's the latest from around baseball... Dejan Kovacevic mentions that the A's are considering Sean Casey. Casey's doing his usual good batting average/low slugging thing and he's getting $8.5MM for it. The combined efforts of Dan Johnson and Nick Swisher have been inadequate at first, but would Casey really help? Johnson is hitting .485/.575/.848 in 33 Triple A at-bats; maybe he deserves another look. The Athletics, who are dead last in the AL in slugging, wouldn't be helped by adding the powerless Casey. They need Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Lee, Pat Burrell, or even Raul Ibanez to make a difference. The..   Continue Reading

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