Devil Rays Interested In Fernando Cabrera
According to Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune, the Devil Rays are interested in recently released 25 year-old reliever Fernando Cabrera. In the past, it was revealed that the Orioles inquired on him.
Since he was released, Cabrera is eligible to sign with any team. According to R.J. Anderson of Drays Bay:
"Cabrera throws a 92-95 fastball with a good hard splitter and a slider that produces a load of swings and misses."
Cubs Claim Scott Podsednik?
UPDATE: Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune seems to indicate that the Cubs won the claim.
Several people have emailed me this morning about an ESPN Radio 1000 report. Apparently the Cubs have claimed Scott Podsednik. As with the Shannon Stewart situation, I’m currently unclear on whether the Cubs simply put in the claim on Pods or if they’ve been awarded it.
How Podsednik would help the Cubs is beyond me, but that’s why Jim Hendry gets paid the big bucks. Podsednik makes another $860K or so this year, and might be a nontender candidate this winter. By the way, this is where I believe the original rumor began.
Dodgers Acquire Mark Sweeney
The Dodgers acquired pinch-hitter extraordinaire Mark Sweeney from the Giants yesterday, which is notable because two rivals hadn’t struck a deal since 1985. The Giants will receive cash or a player to be named later.
The 37 year-old provides a needed left-handed bat, and can play first base and left field. He’s got about $280K left on his contract this year. He can still help against righties off the bench.
Cubs Put In Claim For Shannon Stewart
UPDATE: The San Francisco Chronicle verifies the claim. Stewart has mixed feelings about it.
UPDATE 2: Buster Olney says has heard that the two sides will not be able to work out a trade.
UPDATE 3: Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune says many teams put in a claim for Stewart, and the winner is not yet known.
Several people have emailed me regarding a Bruce Levine report today on ESPN 1000. It seems the Cubs may have won a waiver claim on Shannon Stewart, meaning the two teams have 48.5 hours to work out a trade.
The 33 year-old outfielder is having a solid year by his standards and has managed to stay healthy. But with a .401 SLG, he doesn’t add much pop to the currently punchless Cubs squad. I would imagine Stewart will be a Type B free agent, lessening the quality of the player going to Oakland in return.
Barry Bonds In 2008
From his recent quotes, it appears that Barry Bonds has every intention of playing in 2008. You may recall that he asked the Giants for an easily attainable ’08 option this winter but couldn’t get it. There was even some chatter about Bonds wanting to play in ’09. At the least, he’ll need to play next year if the next goal is 3,000 hits. Assuming Bonds gets around 27 more hits this year, he’ll still be 57 short of the milestone. We’re talking late June/early July of ’08.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe asks the logical question: which team will have him? There are many factors to consider:
- Contract: Cafardo mentions that Bonds is paid $17MM this year. However, it’s more like $20MM if he reaches all of his plate appearance incentives. If Bonds can reach 525 PAs this year – which he should if he plays 135 games – he’ll earn $4.2MM in incentives on top of his $15.8MM base salary. Maybe no team will pay it, but Bonds will probably be asking for something close to $20MM to play in 2008. Only a handful of teams can afford such an expensive player.
- Indictment: The grand jury reconvenes in September, and Bonds is likely to be indicted on tax evasion and perjury charges. Bonds could also face suspension from Bud Selig or may just be wrapped up in court for a while. He could even face jail time sometime in ’08, I believe. His current contract allows the Giants to terminate if he’s indicted; a new one would have to have a similar provision.
Will the Giants finally move on from Bonds? That’s an open question. Bonds wants to stay, GM Brian Sabean probably wants to move on, and Giants owner Peter Magowan might want him to finish his career as a Giant. The Giants remain his most likely suitor.
Cafardo dismisses the A’s, Pirates, Yankees, Angels, Orioles, Padres, Twins, Mariners, and Tigers for various reasons. One suitor he didn’t mention: the Rangers. Bonds was apparently close to signing with them last winter.
Odds and Ends
Some good lunchtime readin’ for you today…
- This column is about a week old, but worth a read. Tim Marchman believes the trade deadline should be abolished. What do you think? Obviously we here at MLBTR form a biased sample; you probably love deadline day if you read this site regularly. While I agree that there is no great reason to set a July 31 deadline, it does generate concentrated trade and rumor activity and draw a lot of interest. A lot of baseball’s rules and systems seem kind of arbitrary, so if the fans love the trade deadline I think that’s reason enough to keep it.
- Jamey Newberg gives us the details of the Rick Helling trades in 1996 and 1997; as always, it’s an interesting account.
- The Cardinals called up their sixth outfielder – Rick Ankiel. He was given very little chance to crack the Majors as an outfielder, but here we are. Maybe he can log a few garbage innings if needed, too.
- The Indians flipped Russell Branyan over to the Phillies.
- DRays Bay interviews a young Devil Rays executive.
- Jacob Jackson at The Hardball Times has a plan to fix the Pirates.
- How about Kevin Millar for Wily Mo? Could the Orioles even get Millar through waivers?
- Some players to consider if your fantasy team needs Ks.
- This could be useful.
Red Sox Not Talking Extension With Lowell
UPDATE: Lowell talked to Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe, and denied the report below from the Boston Herald. It doesn’t sound like any extension has been discussed recently.
Yesterday, third baseman Mike Lowell confirmed that his agent has had "casual conversations" with the Red Sox about a contract extension. Lowell, 33, is hitting a solid .304/.355/.489 on the season.
If he reaches free agency, Lowell would be on many teams’ radar. There are really only four third baseman out there this winter: Lowell, Alex Rodriguez, Mike Lamb, and Pedro Feliz. Someone might give Lamb a look in a Wes Helms kind of way. And Feliz brings defense and pop, if not OBP. But for the many teams who can’t afford A-Rod, Lowell would be the best option. The Red Sox, Yankees, Twins, Angels, Phillies, Pirates, Dodgers, and Giants may all be looking for a third baseman this winter.
Lowell has earned $9MM the last couple of years, which at first appeared to be a burden but now looks reasonable. I imagine the Red Sox would be careful with him, maybe offering 2/20 at most. The alternatives would be to chase A-Rod or just move Kevin Youkilis to third and find a first baseman (which is easier to do).
Padres To DFA David Wells
As suspected, the Padres will designate 44 year-old starter David Wells for assignment tomorrow. According to Ken Rosenthal, they’ll then have three days to trade him.
It’s possible Boomer will just retire. But back in July Wells was talking about playing in 2008. He has an appealing contract situation that pays him $170K per additional start this year. If you assume he wants to stay on the West Coast, the options are probably limited to the Angels, Mariners, Dodgers, Rockies, and Diamondbacks. The D’Backs had interest last December. And U.S.S. Mariner thinks he’s better than Horacio Ramirez. The Rockies might have a need; it was recently revealed that Jason Hirsh fractured his fibula last night (though he continued to pitch afterwards).
Maybe Wells wouldn’t limit himself though; it was said in January that Wells wouldn’t mind playing in Toronto again. Or how about a return to Detroit?
One more point to consider, courtesy of Padres blog Gaslamp Ball: Wells still has to serve a seven-game suspension this year.
Random Rumors: Erstad, Gagne, Podsednik
Here’s a smattering of random rumors.
- The Twins have tried and failed to acquire Mike Piazza, Jermaine Dye, and Kevin Mench. Instead of Dye, the White Sox offered up 33 year-old outfielder Darin Erstad, he of the .671 OPS. The Twins passed.
- Eric Gagne will apparently earn Type A status as a free agent, despite pitching only two innings in 2006. Rob Bradford has the details. This was apparently a big factor for the Red Sox in making the deal.
- The Chicago Sun-Times debunks a rumor that the Cubs are trying to trade for Scott Podsednik. How come I wasn’t told about this rumor previously? Who started it? I feel left out.
- The Pirates and Tigers are still talking about Jack Wilson. Apparently the deadline version of the deal died when the Bucs asked for Craig Monroe. Really? The deal died over that guy?
- Gordon Edes has a Major League source indicating that the Orioles are "the kind of team that might have interest" in Wily Mo Pena. That’s not the same as saying that they do have interest, however.
Marlins Willing To Listen On Miguel Olivo
For what it’s worth, the Marlins will apparently listen to offers for catcher Miguel Olivo. Olivo makes $2MM this year, and that will increase through arbitration next year. If the Fish can’t trade him, they might nontender him.
Olivo, 29, is allergic to walks. He’s drawn eight in 93 games this year, and just nine in 127 games last year. He does have above-average power for a backstop. Defensively, he’s gunned down more than 30% of those attempting to steal on a regular basis.
Originally with the White Sox, Olivo was sent to Seattle in the Freddy Garcia deal. The Mariners sent him to San Diego in ’05 for another catcher, Miguel Ojeda. The Friars decided not to offer Olivo a contract after the ’05 season and the Marlins signed him. He won the starting catching job in ’06 when Josh Willingham couldn’t hack it defensively. Olivo is probably miscast as a starter.