Ken Rosenthal reeled off a slew of sweet trade rumors in a couple of videos today, which you can watch at FOXSports. Let’s discuss.
- Rosenthal says the Cubs won’t trade Carlos Zambrano unless they fall out of contention or the big righty requests a trade. Rosenthal finds neither scenario likely. He says Zambrano still has a good relationship with Jim Hendry, and the Cubs still intend to sign him. The contract remains on hold. Interesting, but not surprising to see that the Cubs are still veering towards this mistake after what we’ve seen this year.
- Lots of good Jermaine Dye stuff from Rosenthal. About ten days ago, the White Sox kicked around the idea of sending Dye to the Yankees for Bobby Abreu. The Yanks covet Dye’s right-handed power, and Ozzie loves Abreu, his countryman. Rosenthal says the White Sox like the option of keeping Abreu for $16MM in ’08 if they so choose. That option comes with a $2MM buyout attached. The Dye/Abreu swap may be on hold because Dye is finally showing some signs of life. I have to be honest – I don’t understand the timeline here. If the Sox were considering this ten days ago, nothing Dye has done since should have changed their thinking.
- Other suitors for Dye: the Padres or Dodgers. The two NL West competitors rank 10th and 12th in the league in slugging, respectively. No doubt the Dodgers have the goods, but what reasonable trade could the Padres work out? Kenny Williams and Kevin Towers have matched up twice before, but on minor trades involving guys like D’Angelo Jimenez and Geoff Blum.
- Rosenthal says the Padres are also eyeing Adam Dunn, for whom their pitchers’ ballpark would present less of an obstacle. Two hitches: Dunn can become a free agent after this season if he’s traded, and the Reds will ask for a lot. The Padres’ best pitching prospect, Cesar Carrillo, recently had Tommy John surgery. Their best hitting prospect, Cedric Hunter, is trying to figure out Low A ball. Third baseman Chase Headley is hitting well in Double A, and I’m sure plenty of teams would like to have him. Headley is somewhat blocked by Kevin Kouzmanoff. Honestly, though, the Padres don’t have much in the minors to trade. At the Major League level, they might be able to part with Cla Meredith and get a decent hitter in return.
