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Archives for July 2007

Mariners Pursuing Jon Garland

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Jim Hickey mentioned yesterday that the Mariners have been all over White Sox pitchers lately. Assuming Jose Contreras isn’t helpful and Javier Vazquez doesn’t want to go west, that leaves Jon Garland as the most reasonable target.

The Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rogers adds some color to that scenario, noting that one of Bill Bavasi’s henchmen used to work for the White Sox and loves Garland.  Rogers believes the right match would be 23 year-old right fielder Wladimir Balentien.  Wlad has a robust .310/.381/.557 line in Triple A this year.

The two GMs roles were reversed on June 27th, 2004, when the White Sox acquired Freddy Garcia, Ben Davis, and cash for Miguel Olivo, Jeremy Reed, and Michael Morse.

No matter what you think of Garland, there’s no arguing that he’d be a huge improvement over Horacio Ramirez.  Plus, he’s more than just a rental.  This appears to be a move that makes sense for both teams, though Kenny Williams may require more than just Balentien.

The Tribune’s Mark Gonzales notes that the White Sox have scouted the Yankees’ entire farm system, and they’re still in the mix for Garland as well.

Nats Close On Dmitri Young Extension

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UPDATE: According to Bill Ladson of MLB.com, the idea is to put Dmitri in left field next year.  Should be wild.  This might put Ryan Church’s future in jeopardy; the Cubs have some interest.

According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Nationals are close to inking Dmitri Young to a two-year, $10MM contract extension.  That’s right around what I thought he’d ask for, and I think it’s a bad idea for Washington.

While it’s true that Young wouldn’t fetch much in trade or draft picks, locking him up for his age 34-35 seasons just isn’t wise for this team.  He’s having a career year, but can you really count on him for even an .800 OPS?  Even if he can provide league average 1B production, why lock yourself into that?

Furthermore, Nick Johnson is already tied up at $5.5MM annually through 2009.  He should be healthy next year; what then?  Do you really want one of these guys lumbering around left field?  Or a $5MM bench player?   

The justification for this deal is going to be the intangibles Young brings, and I can’t speak to that.  But from where I’m sitting it does not make sense.

Yankees Shopping Damon?

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Here’s a name we haven’t talked about yet: Johnny Damon.  I think he hasn’t come up much because his contract makes him nearly immovable.  He’ll make $13MM annually through 2009 and has a partial no-trade clause. 

Nonetheless, Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger reports that the Yankees have been calling around to see if anyone’s interested in Damon.  The Braves have a touch of interest, but obviously there are many obstacles.  I imagine the Yankees are stuck with Damon.  Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time. 

Tigers Eyeing Farnsworth

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Kyle Farnsworth really lost it this year; he’s striking no one out but still walking too many.  Last year he at least racked up the Ks.  The Yankees would love to get out from some of the $5.5MM they owe him in 2008.

A few teams have kicked the tires on the Farnz, like the Rockies, Phillies, and Devil Rays.  But maybe it would be best for him to go back to the site of his last success, Detroit.  George King writes that the Tigers are interested, if the money can be worked out.  This makes a lot of sense to me.  The Tigers aren’t desperate for relievers, and this risk would be more in money than players.  Unlike Eric Gagne, who would cost both.  Maybe Chuck Hernandez can right the ship for Farnsworth.   

Mariners Watching Starters

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UPDATE: Hickey writes that the Mariners have also scouted Kyle Lohse, Matt Morris, Jason Johnson (thought he went to Japan), and Octavio Dotel.  However, a deal seems unlikely because none of those players are worth top Mariner prospects.

According to Jim Hickey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Mariners have been scouting all kinds of available and not-so-available starters lately.

  • The Mariners have been scouting the White Sox "religiously" lately.  If they saw Javier Vazquez beat the Tigers on Tuesday, they came away impressed.  (However, Vazquez can and probably would veto a trade to the AL or NL West).  They were on hand to watch Jose Contreras tonight; the Tigers had batting practice with him and his ERA is up to 6.22.  Did you hear that?  That was the sound of Contreras’ remaining ounce of trade value evaporating.
  • As you know, the Ms watched Dontrelle Willis on Monday.  Compared to Contreras, Willis pitched well – four earned runs, nearly seven innings. 
  • The Ms also had a scout on hand to see Livan Hernandez twirl a gem over the Marlins on Tuesday.  Hey, at least he takes the ball every fifth day.  That has to be worth something.
  • Hickey says Seattle has also been monitoring the Astros, perhaps in hope of acquiring Dan Wheeler or Chad Qualls.  He speculates that Wandy Rodriguez would be a coup for the Mariners.  Wand-Rod has thrown up stinkers in his last two outings but tossed a complete game shutout over the Mets in the game prior.  He’s inconsistent like that.  The Astros’ #2 starter for 2008 wouldn’t come cheap.

Red Sox Sign Brady Clark

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The Red Sox just signed outfielder Brady Clark, per WEEI.  That probably puts them out of the Bobby Kielty sweepstakes.  Excitement!  Clark, a righthanded hitter, might be able to draw a few walks and play all three outfield positions.

Slightly more interesting is that this may portend a trade of Wily Mo Pena soon.  Pirates, White Sox, somewhere else?

Unfounded Rumor: Mariners Scout Weathers?

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UPDATE: SI.com’s Jon Heyman says Weathers has been pulled off the block.

An MLBTR reader had good seats at last night’s Reds game, and he observed about eight scouts watching.  Specifically, he saw a Seattle Mariners scout.  Apparently the scout got pretty active when David Weathers took the hill.  This is reasonable; the Ms are known to be looking for bullpen help.   

Weathers picked up a two-inning save last night.  He’s having a surprisingly strong year, with some of the best control of his career.  His contract runs through 2008, when he will make $2.75MM.  However, Will Carroll wrote yesterday that the Reds want to keep Weathers and trade Todd Coffey instead.

Another reason eight scouts might have been watching last night’s Reds-Brewers contest: Kyle Lohse started.  He wasn’t too bad, allowing two runs (one earned) in 5.2 innings.  The Mariners seem to be monitoring quite a few starters so it wouldn’t surprise me if they had an eye on Lohse.

Molony On Jennings, Slowey

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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 Wheeler, and Brad Lidge. You connect the dots, I have no idea.
  • The Red Sox suggested sending Joel Pineiro to the A’s for Bobby Kielty in a swap of unwanteds; they were rebuffed.
  • The Phillies and Braves watched Matt Morris allow four runs in six innings on Tuesday.  They also may have been monitoring Steve Kline, who also pitched.
  • A Devil Rays scout watched the Twins in Toronto on Tuesday.  Ty Wigginton is thought to be a target for Minnesota.  Perhaps the Rays’ scout fancied Scott Baker, who started for the Twins and went seven innings.  Baker would be a stupendous return for Wiggy, in my opinion.
  • The Phillies had their assistant GM scouting Kevin Slowey’s start on Saturday.  Molony suggests Minnesota might want Pat Burrell.  That would involve a ridiculous amount of salary relief and a lack of Slowey.  Slowey allowed one run in six innings in the game.
  • UPDATE: Just realized that the above pair of bullets seem to have originated from La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.  The scout watching the Twins on Tuesday was Lee Elia.  Not sure why Molony didn’t cite this source, but I suppose he may have come across the info independently.

Grudzielanek Leaves Game

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UPDATE: Turns out Grudz is just day-to-day with knee soreness.  The Mets deny any rumor that they’ve traded for him.  Two Royal false alarms today, sorry about that.

A friendly emailer tells me that Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek was in the original lineup, but was scratched at the last minute.  Joe Girardi says he may be headed to the Mets.  We’ll keep you posted.  And now back to my sweet n’ sour chicken.

And an update on Reggie Sanders: according to Girardi, Reggie was just shipping his kids’ stuff off to Arizona, where they’ll go to school.  False alarm.

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