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Archives for March 2008

Rangers Acquire Dustin Nippert

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Smart move by Jon Daniels tonight, as the Rangers acquired out of options pitcher Dustin Nippert from the Diamondbacks for minor league reliever Jose Marte.

Nippert, 27 in May, was said to have "top of the rotation stuff" by Baseball America in their ’07 handbook.  The 6’7" TJ survivor throws in the mid-90s with a strong curve.  He hasn’t had any big league success, but there’s upside here.  The Rangers can afford to stash Nippert on the active roster and let him struggle in ’08; the D’Backs couldn’t.

I can’t tell you much beyond stats about Marte – he’s a 24 year-old relief prospect with huge strikeout rates.  He struggled with his control as a High A ball closer last year.  Better than nothing, which was Josh Byrnes’ alternative if he tried to pass Nippert through waivers.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Matt Murton

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Yesterday, Tim asked the question, "Who Wants Matt Murton?" As we await the answer to that question, only one thing is clear, the Cubs don’t. Surprising for a player that is only 26 and PECOTA projects to have an .821 OPS, 19.8 VORP and 2.4 WARP in 2008 assuming he can find a team that will give him big league at bats. With only two years of service time, Murton is still a year from arbitration and four years from free agency, so he should be able to command a solid relief pitcher in return. Let’s take a look at what is being said about Murton in the Blogophere.

  • Hire Jim Essian wonders how Murton ended up in this position and finds it hard to believe that Jim Hendry hasn’t been able to swing a deal yet if they knew that Murton was not part of the equation.
  • Cobra Brigade sees the way the Cubs have handled Murton as just another example of how the Cubs don’t know how to handle pretty much anything. They believe that Murton could be a solid contributor with an AL club as an everyday left fielder.
  • Snobs vs Slobs is not really sure why the Cubs essentially dropped Murton for Reed Johnson, noting that Johnson is an average defensive outfielder and not nearly the bat of Murton.
  • Mets Fever feels that Aaron Heilman is too big a price for Murton.
  • Talking Chop believes that Murton could be a nice addition to the Braves, filling the need for an experienced bat with pop off the bench.
  • DRays Bay acknowledges that the Rays would prefer a switch-hitting center fielder, but doesn’t think they could find one that hits as well as Murton.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Odds And Ends: Gotay, Register, Haynes

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A couple of minor pickups this afternoon:

  • The Rays have claimed left-hand-hitting Nathan Haynes off waivers from the Angels. Rocco Baldelli will be moved to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man. Marc Lancaster speculates that Haynes, who is out of options, will take a roster spot that was presumed to be Eric Hinske’s.
  • The Mets have given up trying to trade for Rule V pick Steven Register, and are letting him go back to Colorado. He’ll report to Triple A.
  • Ruben Gotay, who had been DFA’d by the Mets, has been picked up by the Braves. Adam Rubin also notes that Anderson Hernandez has been optioned to AAA. UPDATE: To make room for Gotay on the 25-man, the Braves have asked for waivers on Scott Thorman. He has cleared, and will report to Triple A Richmond.

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski

Reds DFA Mike Stanton

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Can’t say that I exactly understand this one, but the Reds have informed Mike Stanton that his services are no longer required. It’s not that Stanton is too good to let go — far from it, actually. Rather, the move is puzzling because of the team’s recent decision to option lefty reliever (and former first-rounder) Bill Bray to the minors last night. Jeremy Affeldt stands as the team’s lone lefty reliever.

Stanton was pretty bad for the Reds last year, posting a 5.93 ERA over 57.2 innings. His splits against lefties weren’t that encouraging, either: .306/.333/.429. The Reds will eat the $3 million he’s owed this year, plus the $500K buyout of his 2009 option.

UPDATE: Apparently, I’ve passed over Kent Merker, who is not on the Reds 40-man roster. However, with the jettison of Stanton, a spot now appears free.

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski. Keep the rumors coming.

Odds And Ends: Eaton, Balfour, McAnulty

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Couple of minor notes for this Friday afternoon:

  • Paul McAnulty, who is out of options, is going to make the Padres 25-man roster. With Scott Hairston filling in for injured Jim Edmonds in center, McAnulty could get a fair share of playing time in left. The other candidate for playing time is Jody Gerut.
  • It appears the Rays have decided on their final bullpen spot, giving the job to Scott Dohmann. The loser in this deal is Grant Balfour, who is out of options. The Australian reliever has some promise, and I would imagine will be claimed on waivers.
  • Not that it’s a trade rumor, but there are whispers that Adam Eaton may have pitched his way out of the Phillies five slot. There isn’t mention of a replacement, but it could be Chad Durbin.

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski.

Rays Looking To Deal Jackson Or Hammel?

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We’re getting towards rosters becoming finalized, and that means making a number of decisions on guys who are out of options. The Rays have a bit of a good problem. WIth James Shields, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine, and eventually Scott Kazmir in their rotation, there is only room for one of Edwin Jackson and Jason Hammel. With Kazmir slated to start the season on the DL, they could have room for both temporarily. But they’ll eventually have to cut back.

This could coincide with GM Andrew Friedman’s desire to acquire an outfielder. He’s said that they’ll "be aggressive if something presents itself." I could go on and list the potentially available outfielders, but I think this is a perfect scenario for the Cubs to unload Matt Murton.

Maybe I’m personally a bit high on Murton, but I think he provides a better alternative for the Rays than in-house option Eric Hinske. The Cubs should be looking to unload him now that they’ve acquired Reed Johnson. I’m not quite sure how well the two teams match up, though. The Cubs already have a rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Rich Hill, Ryan Dempster, and Jason Marquis. However, who knows how long Dempster and Marquis will last? They do have Jon Lieber around, as well as Sean Marshall.

So the question is, why would they be interested in Hammel or Jackson? All I can really offer on that front is that they’re really just trying to unload Murton.

I suppose this could be an option for the Reds to unload Ryan Freel, too. The Royals also have a surplus of outfielders, with David DeJesus, Joey Gathright, Mark Teahen, and Jose Guillen. They could use the pitching, I suppose (seriously, Brett Tomko?).

Any other possible matches you can think of?

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski. Please, mail me rumors today.

Reds Shopping Freel?

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John Fay, writing on his Reds Insider blog, notes that the reason for the lack of cuts in Reds camp is that they might be looking to move Ryan Freel. He didn’t elaborate much, other than to say he heard talks of Philadelphia, Minnesota, "and others."

Freel is pretty versatile, having handled all three outfield positions, as well as second and third base. The Twins could use his bat in the lineup. But where would he play? Second? Displace recently-acquired Carlos Gomez in center field temporarily? Or just a utility role?

The same situation appears to be in place in Philly. They just signed Pedro Feliz to play third, and have a full infield beyond that. In the outfield, they signed Geoff Jenkins over the off-season to go with Shane Victorino and Pat Burrell. So it appears he’d be headed for a utility role there, too.

The question, then, becomes: What will the Reds do about their outfield? Do they really plan to start Norris Hopper in center? Or does this signal that Jay Bruce could be back soon? Lots of questions to be asked surrounding this rumor.

(Of course, less than three hours after Fay noted the lack of cuts, the Reds re-assigned Andy Phillips, optioned Bill Bray, and returned Jose Capellan to the Red Sox.)

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski

Rays Trade Talks To Pick Up?

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Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times says the Rays’ trade talks for an outfielder "should intensify in the next couple days."  Smith suggests the Mariners, Dodgers, and Angels as teams with outfielders to spare.  He believes the Rays might part with an out of options pitcher like Edwin Jackson or Jason Hammel.  Hat tip to DRays Bay, which speculates on Andre Ethier, Delwyn Young, Reggie Willits, Juan Rivera, and Jeremy Reed as possibities.  The Halos seem like a pretty good match.

Additional outfielders the Rays could consider: Matt Murton, Gabe Gross, Xavier Nady, Jason Bay, Jay Payton, Coco Crisp, Shin-Soo Choo, David Dellucci, Randy Winn, Dave Roberts, Kevin Mench, Nathan Haynes, Nelson Cruz, and Ryan Freel.  Whew.

Indians Inquire On Freddy Garcia

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports that the Indians inquired on free agent starter Freddy Garcia.  Garcia, 31, hopes to return around June from rotator cuff and labrum surgery.  Garcia was linked to the Rangers and Red Sox this offseason; the Mets denied interest.

I said in today’s video mailbag that I think Garcia will be a non-factor this year.  Ozzie Guillen suggested the same in January.

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