Ty Wigginton Rumors

Astros Likely To Trade Valverde, Wigginton?

According to Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros "seem likely to trade" closer Jose Valverde and third baseman Ty Wigginton in the next few weeks due to payroll concerns. Both players are arbitration-eligible, a year away from free agency. The Astros stand to save $10-15MM if they move both. The Astros are aiming for a $100MM payroll, and both players would have to go to get there. And, there still may not be room to sign a starter like Randy Wolf, Randy Johnson, or Andy Pettitte. It's not a great time to trade a closer, as supply outstrips...   Continue Reading

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Cafardo Rumors: Wigginton, Ibanez, Rodney

A few rumors we missed from Nick Cafardo's Sunday column... The Indians would want a young closer type in return for catcher Kelly Shoppach. The Tribe has Houston's Ty Wigginton on the radar as a third base possibility. But then who would play third for the Astros? The Yankees have been calling around aggressively, even inquiring on Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman. They're not available. The Mets are said to be eyeing Raul Ibanez for left field. The Tigers are dangling setup man Fernando Rodney, hoping to acquire a better closer. Jon Paul Morosi believes the Tigers might aim for...   Continue Reading

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Stark's Latest: Cain, Beltre, Burrell, Wigginton

Let's take a look at the latest column from ESPN's Jayson Stark. Stark wonders why no one has questioned MLB's apparent trade deadline extension for the Manny Ramirez deal. Currently the idea of the Brewers swapping Prince Fielder for Matt Cain is just fun speculation. However, it is true the Brewers will listen on Fielder (he is about to get expensive). The Giants are known to like the big first baseman. The hangup is Brian Sabean's reported unwillingness to trade Tim Lincecum or Cain. The Giants also have their eye on Adrian Beltre. The Mariners want starting pitching, but one...   Continue Reading

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Astros Trade Wheeler To Devil Rays For Wigginton

UPDATE: Wigginton will be used as the primary third baseman; you have to expert Morgan Ensberg to be gone soon. We expected both players to be traded, but not for each other. Today, the Astros traded 29 year-old reliever Dan Wheeler to the Devil Rays for 29 year-old supersub Ty Wigginton. By my count, Wheeler reaches free agency after the 2008 season and Wiggy after 2009. Looking at the two most important metrics, strikeout and walk rate, Wheeler should return to form for Tampa Bay. His strikeout rate is up; his walks down. Wheeler does not allow many baserunners. Perhaps..   Continue Reading

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Yankees Focused On Gagne, Wheeler, Qualls

It seems highly likely that the Yankees will make a move to upgrade their bullpen before the Tuesday trade deadline. They appear to have three main targets. Kat O'Brien of Newsday says the Yanks have had serious discussions with Texas regarding Eric Gagne. Though Gagne wants to close, remember that he can be traded to New York without his consent. A Rivera-Gagne combo would essentially turn every game into seven innings. O'Brien names righthanders Ian Kennedy and Jeff Marquez as two pitchers the Rangers might be after. Kennedy is definitely more highly regarded. The Rangers also like Melky Cabrera but..   Continue Reading

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Teams Looking At Ty Wigginton

UPDATE: You can toss the Cubs into the mix for Wigginton. One role player drawing a lot of interest is Tampa Bay's Ty Wigginton. He plays hard, he's versatile, he delivered his own baby, and he's at .274/.325/452 in 372 ABs. Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times says the Dodgers, Twins, Red Sox, and Yankees are in on Wigginton. Wiggy might have a starting role for the former two teams. Andrew Friedman may be compelled to find a deal before the deadline, because at $4MM plus Wigginton is a nontender candidate for the D-Rays next year. Names like Scott..   Continue Reading

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Molony On Jennings, Slowey

Jim Molony's column today at MLB.com has many good trade rumors that I haven't seen elsewhere. Let's discuss. Molony says at least a dozen scouts watched Jason Jennings toss a quality start last night. He needed it; I was beginning to think he wasn't right. Still, the performance probably isn't enough to cause some team to offer a package for Jennings superior to two draft picks. The Diamondbacks and Pirates had a scouting presence at the Astros-Dodgers game. Interesting players appearing in the contest included James Loney, Andre Ethier, Wilson Betemit, Mark Loretta, Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, Chad Qualls, Dan..   Continue Reading

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Graziano's Latest: Livan, Wily Mo

Dan Graziano at the Newark Star-Ledger has really stepped up in recent days with a lot of insider trade talk. Let's see what he has in store for us this morning. Apparently Josh Byrnes is calling around, actively shopping Livan Hernandez. According to Graziano, the Mets, Braves, and Mariners have expressed interest. To the contrary, Ken Rosenthal wrote last night that the Mets and Braves are not interested. Who to believe? Hopefully the Mariners do better than Livan if they make a move for a starter. To hear Nick Piecoro tell it, the Diamondbacks are more likely to just opt..   Continue Reading

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Joel Sherman's Ten Trade Candidates

Joel Sherman of the New York Post has an article today regarding ten veterans who may be traded this month. He's packed the column full of insider info beyond the ten players highlighted; check it out. Mark Teixeira is now more likely to be dealt than Eric Gagne. Sherman sees the Angels as perhaps the best possibility here; they'd have to include Casey Kotchman. I imagine Ervin Santana's stock is down far enough that the Rangers would not settle for the two. The Indians appear to be out on Gagne but the Tigers still make sense for all parties. Would..   Continue Reading

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Ty Wigginton For Scott Proctor?

According to George King and Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Devil Rays are willing to send Ty Wigginton to the Yankees for Scott Proctor. The Yanks are willing to trade Proctor because they believe Joba Chamberlain can jump up from Double A and fill in capably. Chamberlain is flat-out nasty. Given his previous interest in Wilson Betemit, it looks like Brian Cashman is focused on adding a versatile player who is under control for several more years. A bonus for Wigginton is that he bats right-handed. Betemit is a switch-hitter but hasn't done much from the right..   Continue Reading

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Tim Brown's Latest: A's, Yankees

Yahoo's Tim Brown has a new post up, with some trade rumors we've heard before and some we haven't. Clearly the A's are sellers, and they're offering up Mike Piazza, Joe Kennedy, and Bobby Kielty. Brown names the Twins as the club most interested in Piazza. He also feels the Yankees, Angels, Mariners, and Red Sox would be good fits. But where would Piazza play on the Red Sox? The Red Sox were apparently close to a deal for Kielty, a 31 year-old switch-hitting extra outfielder. He hasn't played much center since '02, so maybe the Sox have relaxed that..   Continue Reading

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Healey's Latest

Mark Healey at Gotham Baseball has long been a solid, underappreciated source of inside information. He's got another Rumor Mill up at his site. My summary follows. The Yankees have an eye on big-name 1Bs like Mark Teixeira and Todd Helton. But more realistically, they're looking at Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena. He's got the defense, so even if he regresses to a 20 HR bat it's a nice pickup. Healey's source believes Tyler Clippard is too much but the Rays like Sean Henn. The Yanks have also inquired about the versatile Ty Wigginton. The Reds, Rockies, and others have been..   Continue Reading

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Twins May Target Wigginton

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins may target Ty Wigginton of the Devil Rays as a third baseman and DH with some power. Wigginton makes less than $3MM and offers right-handed pop. The Twins are tenth in the league with a .393 SLG. They're even worse against southpaws, and Wigginton can definitely handle lefties. Twins' 3Bs have hit .236/.319/.336, and the team's DHs have hit .256/.335/.365. These areas should both be fairly easy deadline upgrades. Minnesota is seven games out in the AL Central and 5.5 games out of the wild card. Other potential cheap sources of DH power:..   Continue Reading

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