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Archives for July 2006

ESPN: White Sox Alfonso Soriano Trade?

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Breaking news from ESPN is that the White Sox are "extremely close" to acquiring Alfonso Soriano.  It seems that Brandon McCarthy is the main piece of the deal.

The result would be a Murderer’s Row with five players currently slugging .539 or better: Thome (.632), Dye (.620), Soriano (.594), Konerko (.555), and Crede (.539).  The Sox already lead baseball in home runs with 146.

What’s more, ESPN also reports that Kenny Williams is looking to strengthen his bullpen by sending 23 year-old southpaw Double A starter Tyler Lumsden to the Royals for Mike MacDougal.  Lumsden isn’t striking anyone out, but still has a 2.69 ERA for Birmingham.  He had elbow surgery in January of last year.

MacDougal has thrown four scoreless innings for the Royals since returning from a shoulder strain.  He was able to cut his walks to a reasonable level last year and had his best season.

UPDATE: MacDougal is a done deal.  Another pitcher was added to complete the trade.

Trade Rumor Roundup: 7 Days Left

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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 Yankees have decided to hold on to Philip Hughes, and the Phils aren’t biting on whatever else they offered.  According to George King, the Yanks think assuming Abreu’s contract and exercising his option should be enough.  Still, it would be cool to see a nasty young Phillies rotation in 2008 with Hughes, Cole Hamels, Gio Gonzalez, and Scott Mathieson.

Also, I’m hearing that WPEN in Philadelphia has mentioned a trade rumor: Tom Gordon for Trot Nixon.  Nixon is a good hitter (.400 OBP), though he’s 32 with declining power numbers.  Given that Flash would be hands down the best reliever on the market, I’d expect the Phils to get more.   

Kenny Williams didn’t deny the recent Soriano rumor, so now you know it’s legit.  Kenny has been pretty shrewd with the media, so this is probably all part of his plan.  Despite word of a possible contract extension with Washington, Buster Olney all but assured us of a Soriano trade in today’s blog.

Also, Olney nixed the A-Rod to the Cubs idea, explaining that Rodriguez is a bargain in the Yankees’ world.  This column is kind of weird to me.  Phil Rogers almost seems like he’s just cooked up a brilliant scenario or something, with Aramis Ramirez and Jacque Jones being swapped for A-Rod.  Thing is, Bleed Cubbie Blue broke out this exact trade rumor three weeks ago.

RotoAuthority has a look at which pitchers have been abused this season.

Trade Rumor Roundup: 8 Days Left

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To begin with, this just isn’t true.  With the Kearns deal and probably Soriano trade, the 2006 deadline just can’t be classified as a dud.  That honor belongs to 2005 for sure.  The trading action never matches the buildup, but this year’s still a good one.

Read Ken Rosenthal’s latest.  The White Sox are in the Soriano game, the Rangers have interest in Luis Gonzalez, the Braves could add another reliever, Julio Lugo still might become a Blue Jay, and the Brewers look like sellers.  In my opinion, some Brewers besides Carlos Lee that could be unloaded: Geoff Jenkins, Corey Koskie, Brady Clark, and Dan Kolb.  Koskie will need to recover quickly from his concussion, however.

Still hearing that the Cubs like Willy Taveras, which would definitely fit their m.o. of players who don’t get on base.  Phil Rogers also mentions that Seattle’s Rafael Soriano is being asked about. It would be surprising to see the Mariners deal that kind of young talent.

Tons of great rumors coming from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.  He’s got a rundown of the Red Sox, all sorts of teams scouting Humberto Sanchez, and more. 

Buster Olney mentioned in his blog today that the Astros are among various teams scouting Elmer Dessens.  The Astros are also looking at Damaso Marte.

Unfounded rumor department: Could the Dodgers be after Aramis Ramirez?  Ramirez has picked a fantastic time to heat up, and L.A. has some top shelf young talent…is there anywhere Julio Lugo could go besides Toronto?  How about the Rockies?

Padres Acquire Scott Williamson

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The Padres picked up 30 year-old reliever Scott Williamson from the Cubs today.  In return the Cubs received some Class A pitchers: Fabian Jimenez Angulo and Joel Santo. 

Santo was ranked 16th among Padres prospects coming into this season, while Angulo was not in the top 30. 

Williamson is making $2MM this year.  He was one of Jim Hendry’s Tommy John rehab projects.  This season, Williamson has dealt with a problem similar to tennis elbow.  Speculation is that the Padres acquired Williamson to set up a trade of Scott Linebrink for a third baseman.  The deal marks Jim Hendry’s first with Kevin Towers.

Trade Rumor Roundup: 9 Days Left

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Let’s see what we’ve got this morning in the non-Hillenbrand department…

This is cool: a commenter over at Viva El Birdos emailed Dontrelle Willis’s agent, Matt Sosnick, asking about the latest trade rumor.  Meanwhile, Jayson Stark was adamant in his chat Friday that Willis will not be traded.

Enough with the Mike Lowell for Jake Peavy rumors, folks.  No. Freakin’. Way.  I know Buster Olney mentioned that Boston must’ve been targeting a notable pitcher given how well Lowell has played this year (.297/.349/.504) but Peavy isn’t going anywhere.  Plus, if you adjust Lowell’s production for PETCO Park it would be pretty close to league average for his position.

Could Mike Pelfrey be traded as a player to be named later?  The answer seems to be Yes, if named in January, and only if sent to an AL team.  MetsBlog tries to decipher MLB’s rules.  Of course, Pelfrey is not going to be traded.  But it’s good to know.

Gut feeling…I think the Brewers will trade Carlos Lee.  Doug Melvin is preparing for a deal, and I think this is an opportunity he can’t pass up.

What’s with the Indians picture next to George Kottaras?

Giants Acquire Shea Hillenbrand

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Many teams were interested, but Brian Sabean and the Giants prevailed in the Shea Hillenbrand sweepstakes late Friday night.  The deal marks Sabean’s first of the year and first ever with J.P. Ricciardi (as far as I can tell). 

The average National League first baseman has hit .286/.366/.504 this season, while Hillenbrand is at .301/.342/.480.  While he’s a below average fix at first, it sure as hell beats the .714 OPS the Giants have gotten out of the position thus far. 

Hillenbrand moves from a ballpark that inflates home runs by about 18% and batting average about 5% for right-handed hitters.  His new home has a similar effect on batting average but suppresses right-handed home runs by about 4%.

The pitchers Hillenbrand faced this year with the Blue Jays allowed an aggregate line of .260/.345/.416.  Every Giants hitter with more than 200 plate appearances has faced tougher pitching than that.  Another interesting fact: Hillenbrand is one of the most likely double play victims in the game. 

Defensively, the Fielding Bible rates Hillenbrand as the fourth-worst first baseman in baseball, ahead of Giambi, Delgado, and Sexson.  The Giants currently boast the third-best defensive efficiency mark in the NL, however.

The Blue Jays threw in Vinnie Chulk in the deal and received Jeremy Accardo.  Baseball Prospectus notes that Accardo "finally made The Show on the basis of a mid-90s fastball, a developing slider, and a filthy cutter that some compare to Mariano Rivera’s bat-sawing Frisbee."

Accardo appears to be an upgrade from Chulk, who is three years older and has mediocre stuff.

Brian Sabean Trade Profile

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I liked the results of the Kevin Towers Trade Profile, so I sat down and compiled Brian Sabean’s trades since 2001 in a spreadsheet.  Download san_francisco_giants_sabean.xls here.

One thing’s for sure: Sabean is due to make some deals.  He’s yet to make a single trade in 2006.  He waited til May last year, but ended up making eight trades in 2005.  Sabean typically makes about five trades per calendar year.

Of his 26 trades since 2001, Sabean has dealt with 18 different GMs.  He’s not one to just stick to his buddies.  As far as popular trading partners, Doug Melvin tops the list.  Melvin has completed four trades with Sabean, all fairly minor (Doug Mirabelli, Eric Young, Wayne Franklin, Dave Burba).  Sabean has also made multiple trades with Mike Flanagan, Jim Hendry, Bill Stoneman, and Kenny Williams.

The Giants need some help at first base, with Todd Walker and Phil Nevin surfacing as options.  Sabean is not afraid to make a splash at the deadline, with such acquisitions as Jason Schmidt, Kenny Lofton, Sidney Ponson, and Randy Winn under his belt from previous Julys. 

Sabean beat out the Cubs and Twins for Schmidt in ’01.  To get Ponson in ’03, Sabean dealt with competition from the Braves and traded one of his best prospects in Kurt Ainsworth.

Trade Rumor Roundup: 10 Days Left

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Couple of fresh rumors surrounding the Padres’ third base vacancy, and I’m proud to say that MLBTradeRumors was able to deduce these in advance.  A week ago I compiled a spreadsheet of Kevin Towers’ trading history since 2001, nerd that I am.  From that we learned that Towers loves working with the Red Sox and also Bill Bavasi.  That he would consider Adrian Beltre and Mike Lowell for his vacancy followed logically.  Today, the Beltre rumor comes courtesy of Ken Rosenthal and Buster Olney threw down the Lowell rumor.  If those two big dogs fall through, Towers could pursue previous acquisitions Joe Randa or Rich Aurilia.

Plenty of speculation, newspaper articles, and quotes involving Julio Lugo heading to Toronto.  Not that this would be a bad move, but this club has a clear need for pitching.  Ricciardi only has so many bullets to fire as far as prospects and dollars.

ESPN’s Stark Market tells us that the Mets may have soured a bit on Lastings Milledge and could consider shipping him to Philadelphia for Bobby Abreu.  Meanwhile, Baseball Prospectus’s Jay Jaffe reminds us that Milledge’s most comparable player is Ruben Mateo, and recommends the deal for New York.

Wacky rumor involving A-Rod to the Phils made the message board rounds yesterday afternoon, but I think it’s safe to say there’s nothing to this one.  Mark Healey agrees.  The best part is that this one actually got all the way to A-Rod himself, who said he’d veto a deal to Philly.  Check out that Gotham Baseball column from Healey for some fresh rumorage.      

I was just checking my referrers, seeing where people are coming from when they land here at MLBTradeRumors.com.  A lot of the traffic comes from search engine queries.  Turns out someone recently found this site by Googling: "what does dayn perry have against royce clayton."  Now that’s a damn good question.

Cardinals Discussing Dontrelle Willis Trade

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The Cardinals message boards are lighting up, and with good reason: there is a legitimate Dontrelle Willis rumor making the rounds.

The thread was started by a respected Cards source who goes by the handle Hawg Wild.  I can confirm that this guy has a track record of success.  Colby Rasmus is a 19 year-old outfielder in high Class A.  He was a first-round pick and is easily the team’s best prospect now that Anthony Reyes is in the bigs.  According to Rasmus’s father:

"Colby just called me and said his agent told him of conversations the cardinals were having with the possibility of Colby and a three or four other Cardinal players going to Florida in return for Dontrelle Willis. Reyes and Colby were the only 2 players Colby was told about, he did not hear who the other 2/3 players were. His words to me, ’Man that sucks.’"

Then to quiet any doubters, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz stepped in:

"I tried to drop a major hint in today’s column….FLA wants Reyes, Rasmus and Duncan — and that’s not all. Probably one more… possibly their pick of the Cardinals’ system."

The Cardinals need a big move; it looks like Walt Jocketty may package everything he’s got to get D-Train.  Check out Viva El Birdos for analysis.  After much deliberating, Viva chooses to endorse such a trade.

Braves Acquire Bob Wickman

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As usual, Ken Rosenthal has the scoop:  the Braves have their closer in 37 year-old Bob Wickman.  The righthander last pitched in the National League back in 2000 with the Brewers.  He has 229 career saves.

Wickman has allowed more than a hit per inning this year with the Tribe, up considerably from last year.  He’s only surrendered one home run though.  His control has deteriorated a bit and his K rate is a bit down from ’05. Wickman is on a one-year, $5MM deal. 

The Braves parted with 21 year-old A ball catcher Max Ramirez, who is hitting well this season.  Atlanta has good depth behind the plate so they shouldn’t miss Ramirez.

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