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Archives for July 2007

Rockies Inquired On White Sox Starters

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In June, the main trade buzz around the Rockies was that they had interest in Octavio Dotel.  Today, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune added some intriguing names also on Colorado’s wish list: Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras, and Jon Garland.  Obviously Buehrle is off limits now.

It wasn’t too long ago that Dan O’Dowd expressed his interest in adding a White Sox hurler.  Apparently talks stalled when Kenny Williams wanted southpaw starter Franklin Morales or third baseman Ian Stewart from the Rox.  Morales has frontline stuff and is trying to hone his control at Double A Tulsa.  He missed some time in May with a strained hamstring, but recovered and made the Futures Game.  Stewart, playing at Triple A, made the team as well.  He started off slow in the power department but smacked seven home runs in June.  The Rockies may have a longjam soon with both Stewart and Garrett Atkins at the hot corner. 

Garland would be a useful addition for Colorado.  I imagine Williams would only trade Garland if O’Dowd gave in on Morales or Stewart.  Maybe the teams could agree on Contreras for Ubaldo Jimenez instead.  Jimenez has a lot of talent but has shown poor control for most of his minor league career, especially in ’07.  Such a swap still seems advantageous to Chicago but I could imagine Williams asking for Jimenez.  Pitching coach Don Cooper has a knack for fixing control problems.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Santana, Glaus

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Ken Rosenthal has a new column up, dealing more in speculation that actual rumors.  Nothing wrong with that.

  • Rosenthal as well as Barry Bonds’s agent believe the Giants will retain him for the 2008 season.  However, Brian Sabean could begin to rebuild nonetheless.  The patchwork aging veteran approach of 2007 need not be repeated.
  • It would be interesting to see what Terry Ryan could get if he made an uncharacteristically bold move by trading Johan Santana this summer.  He would be able to get one or two of the very best young players in the game.  Keep in mind, though, that Santana has a full no-trade clause this year.  He gets the same for ’08 with a top three Cy Young finish this year.  Santana wants to stay in Minnesota, and would offer a hometown discount.
  • Rosenthal speculates that if J.P. Ricciardi would deal within the division, maybe the Yankees could get Troy Glaus as A-Rod insurance.  Glaus could play first base for the remainder of this season.  Ricciardi isn’t shopping Glaus though; he said he’d need to be knocked over to break up the core lineup.  That would mean one of the Yankees’ much-hyped pitching prospects (not Hughes, but something good). 

Teixeira Trade Talk Continues

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A host of clubs are currently in on Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

We’ve heard the most about the Dodgers and Angels competing to acquire him.  However, as Buster Olney notes, both clubs have promising young cheap first basemen.  Though Teixeira has the track record, is he significantly better than James Loney or Casey Kotchman?  Grant says the Dodgers have been scouting the Rangers and could go for one of their relievers as well.  Meanwhile, the Rangers are scouting the Angels.

Grant says additional contenders like Teixeira: the Braves, Red Sox, and Yankees.  Kevin Youkilis has been Boston’s first baseman this year.  However, they could shift him back to third base and trade impending free agent Mike Lowell for something useful.  The Braves and Yankees definitely have room at first base for Tex. 

In the Braves’ case, though, there would truly be nowhere for Jarrod Saltalamacchia to play if he wasn’t included in the deal.  The Braves are in an odd place, with two excellent young starting catchers on the roster.  Atlanta’s strongest need right now is starting pitching, however.  The Baseball Opinion connects the dots and finds a Javier Vazquez acquisition possible.    

Grant believes noncontenders such as the Orioles and Giants could be interested in Teixeira as well.  The Giants could use some star power if they cut ties with Barry Bonds after the season.  Brian Sabean now has the job security to think about the post-Bonds Giants.  The Orioles would be bringing in their hometown boy and could make a corresponding trade of Miguel Tejada.

Yanks Done With A-Rod If He Opts Out

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It’s not exactly a shock that the Yankees would not strike a contract extension with Alex Rodriguez if he chooses to opt out of his contract.  The worst possible scenario for the Yankees is to abandon the $29MM the Rangers owe him and participate in open bidding for the superstar. 

On the plus side, there’s no real downside for Rodriguez if he hammers something out to allow the Yankees to keep the Rangers’ money.  Scott Boras has his price and if the Yankees won’t meet it, Rodriguez will leave.  It still seems like something gets done before Rodriguez’s November 10th opt-out deadline.  Knowing Boras, it will probably be completed on that day.  But not before thousands of words are wasted breaking down every freakin’ quote.

Meanwhile, Jorge Posada wants to experience free agency.  Neither he nor Mariano Rivera have had contract talks with the Yankees.  Buster Olney adds that the Yankees will wrap up deals with Rivera and Posada before dealing with Rodriguez.  I can see the Cubs making an offer to Posada this winter.

Byrnes Offers Discount, Hopes To Stay With Arizona

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Eric Byrnes is having a fine season, even correcting the one knock on his offense.  He’s on pace to easily set a career high in walks, and his .363 OBP would stand as a career best.  And of course the 31 year-old is endearing to fans with his style of play and personality.  Now he’s offering the Diamondbacks a home team discount on a contract extension.

Jack Magruder of the East Valley Tribune says preliminary talks have already taken place.  The Arizona Republic has Byrnes comparing himself to various outfielders who snagged five-year contracts for $9-14MM annually.  Byrnes would be willing to backload the contract.

Magruder doesn’t think the D’Backs could commit even $8MM annually to Byrnes, which would be a large discount in itself.  Throw in the scary five-year commitment and something has to give.  Ultimately I imagine Arizona might do 4/32, but Byrnes would really be selling himself short.  He could probably get $11-12MM annually on the open market.  With all the outfield talent in Arizona, I still think they’ll let him go.

Odds And Ends

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Random stuff for a Thursday afternoon…

A’s May Trade Piazza Instead of Johnson

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If Mike Piazza can’t catch – and it looks like he can’t – the A’s pretty much have to unload Piazza or Dan Johnson once the former is ready to play.

Susan Slusser notes that possibly interested teams, such as the Twins, Yankees, and Angels, may prefer to go after Piazza.  The cost would mainly be in salary, whereas the cheap and league average Johnson will require a decent player in return.  So the question for Billy Beane is which does he want more?  Relief from the remaining $3.88MM on Piazza’s contract or a solid prospect and an open spot for Daric Barton?

The A’s are not usually sellers at the trading deadline, so we don’t have much precedent.  I like a Johnson move a little bit more.

Name Change

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For a while I used to go by the handle RumorMonger in the comments here at MLBTradeRumors.  Then once I started requiring registration to comment, I switched it to RotoAuthority (the name of my other site and handle over there).  It seemed kind of weird posting on this site under a fantasy baseball moniker, so now I’m just plain old Tim Dierkes in the comments.

State Of The Astros

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Astros GM Tim Purpura has finally admitted that the Astros should not be making player acquisitions with this year in mind.  A huge veteran firesale makes perfect sense right now.

As far as the huge blockbuster names – Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman, and Roy Oswalt – Purpura specifically says they will not be traded.  I have avoided wasting ink on the Oswalt rumors that have bounced around over the past few weeks, because I just didn’t believe them.  Oswalt’s 2008-11 total salary – $58MM – is about the same as Mark Buehrle’s and an equal-sized bargain. 

Oswalt mentioned his willingness to waive his no-trade clause if a deal would help the Astros, which I imagine would require the $16MM option for 2012 to be exercised.  Regardless, trading Oswalt would be silly.  A pitcher of his stature at a reasonable contract is a rarity. 

Fortunately for a website that specializes in trade rumors, Purpura still has plenty of parts to sell off.  I outlined all the trade candidates in this post.

Brad Lidge seems to be healthy now, and spending all of next week in the Majors closing games for the Astros would go a long way toward his trade value.  But maybe a nice run would convince Purpura to keep him.  We’ve heard conflicting messages on whether the Astros are willing to trade Lidge.  Today, Richard Justice mentions the Indians, Red Sox, and Tigers as "hot for" Lidge.

Right behind Lidge in trade value is Jason Jennings.  Jennings, who typically acts as a bullpen-saver, is on the road to re-establishing his health after missing most of April and May with elbow problems.  He had a decent June, making six starts and going seven innings in three of them.  Since the injury risk and impending free agency may keep his price down, Jennings might be the best realistic trade target among starters.

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