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Archives for June 2008

Rosenthal’s Latest: Teixeira, Liriano, Garcia, Willingham

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Ken Rosenthal has a new hot stove article up.

  • Rosenthal leads with some Mark Teixeira-Angels speculation, but admits the Braves aren’t considering trading him and the Angels are content with their team.  The Halos’ .706 team OPS ranks 12th in the AL; something should be done.
  • All kinds of Mariners turmoil.  They could look to acquire a center fielder given the move back to right for Ichiro.  Releases of Richie Sexson and Jose Vidro could be on the agenda.  And chemistry problems abound, with Ichiro and Kenji Johjima at the center.
  • The Ms might consider Chris Antonetti and David Forst for the GM job, but both could choose to wait for the position to open up on their current teams.  Antonetti seems likely to stay put, based on his comments and actions.
  • Adam Dunn likes the Reds’ future and wants to stay.
  • If the Twins keep Francisco Liriano in the minors a bit longer, he will lose his shot at becoming a Super Two player.
  • Past reports have named the Mets, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, White Sox, Rangers, Indians, Mariners, and Tigers as clubs interested in Freddy Garcia.  Rosenthal adds the Rays to the mix.
  • On Sunday, Peter Gammons said the Red Sox "might look at a count worker like the Marlins’ Josh Willingham" if David Ortiz needs surgery.  Rosenthal agrees that the Sox "indeed might be interested" but believes the Marlins want to hang on to him (even though he reaches arbitration after this season).
  • The Cardinals "made a quick inquiry" on Michael Barrett but backed off when Yadier Molina’s injury turned out to be day-to-day.

Ricciardi Doesn’t Like Dunn

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It certainly doesn’t sound like the Blue Jays will be going after Adam Dunn while J.P. Ricciardi is at the helm.  Check out this interview Ricciardi did with Mike Wilner of The Fan 590. 

First a fan calls up and asks Ricciardi whether the Jays have interest in Dunn.  Ricciardi replies that he’s not interested in Dunn.  Then he says:

"Maybe we have more information and know the player a little more than the average fan."

Interesting.  Another fan calls up and says he’s surprised Ricciardi would be so quick to dismiss a power bat like Dunn.  Ricciardi really goes off on Dunn this time:

"He’s a lifetime .230-.240 hitter that strikes out a ton and hits home runs.
Did you know the guy doesn’t really like baseball that much?  Did you know the guy doesn’t have a passion to play the game that much?  I don’t think you’d be very happy if we brought Adam Dunn here…We’ve done our homework on guys like Adam Dunn and there’s a reason why we don’t want Adam Dunn."

C. Trent Rosecrans has Dunn’s reaction here.

Odds And Ends: Beckham, Rangers, Peterson, Drew

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A few more minor notes from the MLBiverse…

  • Marc Lancaster is reporting that Tim Beckham, the top pick of the Rule 4 draft, will be visiting Tropicana Field at the end of the week and his father believes that a deal will be in place by the end of the weekend.  The rest of the first rounders could sign quickly once Beckham and the Rays set the benchmark.
  • Jamey Newberg wonders if the Rangers will have a hard time making trades because their farm system is so deep.  The Rays might have the same problem.
  • Jeff Passan names his All-Overpaid and All-Underpaid teams.
  • Could Rick Peterson reunite with Barry Zito in San Francisco?
  • Dave Cameron says J.D. Drew was worth the money.
  • A reader emailed in saying he saw Mets scout Jerry Krause at the White Sox-Pirates game.  Krause might be the game’s most publicly recognizable scout.

Yankees Sign Ponson

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The Newark Star-Ledger is reporting that the Yankees have signed Sidney Ponson to a minor league contract.

The Yankees just announced that they have signed right-handed pitcher Sidney Ponson to a Triple-A contract. Presumably, this means Ponson will report to Scranton, but it would seem likely that he’d get a shot in the Yankees’ major-league rotation soon.

Ponson was released by the Rangers on Monday, 10 days after being DFA’d for "disrespectful and adverse reactions to situations unbecoming of teammates." Ponson was 4-1 with a 3.88 ERA in 9 starts with the Rangers.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex and can be reached here.

Volquez For Hamilton Revisited

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Recently Bob Nightengale of USA Today revisited the off-season deal that sent Edinson Volquez from the Rangers to the Reds for Josh Hamilton. Nightengale noted that both teams have no regrets and that the deal "continues to reverberate around baseball".

Rarely does a deal work out so well for both teams, especially so soon. Volquez is one of the early candidates for the NL Cy Young and Hamilton is an early leader for the AL MVP. Both are expected to be All-Stars next month.

It is rare for two teams to swap young players of this caliber, although this was just one of two such deals this past winter. The Twins and Rays swapped Matt Garza and Delmon Young. Unlike the Volquez-Hamilton deal, the Garza-Young deal has been more beneficial for the Rays, at least early on.

This got me thinking…Has there ever been another deal in which two young major leaguers with this level of potential were swapped for each other and made such an immediate impact for their new clubs?

Let’s here your thoughts in the comments…

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex and can be reached here.

Possible Replacements For Bavasi In Seattle

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John Hickey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that the Mariners already have a list of names that they are considering to replace the fired Bill Bavasi.

Yesterday, we saw several sources that speculated on the next GM. Hickey spoke with a former GM who came up with a list of eight names that could possibly fill the post.

  • Kevin Towers, current San Diego Padres GM: Hickey notes that Towers has stuck with San Diego through a recent front office transition and may prefer to stay with the Pads.
  • Brian Cashman, current New York Yankees GM: The M’s wanted to talk to Cashman in ’03 but were rebuked. They may get a better chance this time to land a GM that once said "who wouldn’t want [The Mariners] job."
  • Kim Ng, Los Angeles Dodgers assistant GM: Was previously a candidate for the Dodgers job and is considered ready to be a GM.
  • Jerry DiPoto, Arizona Diamondbacks director of player personnel
  • Tony Bernazard, New York Mets vice president of player development: Previously a candidate for the Pirates job, Hickey wonders if Bernazard might want out with the Mets in flux.
  • Chris Antonetti, Cleveland Indians VP of baseball operations: Hickey notes that Antonetti may prefer to stay in Cleveland, having previously turned down an offer from the Pirates to interview for their GM post.
  • Mike Rizzo, Washington Nationals assistant GM and VP of baseball operations
  • Dave Forst, Oakland Athletics assistant GM

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex and can be reached here.

Possible Destinations For Sabathia

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Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer weighs in on the different teams that could land CC Sabathia.

  • Yankees: Despite Ken Davidoff’s report yesterday that the Yankees would not land Sabathia, Hoynes notes that the Yankees are desperate for an ace but acknowledges that they may wait until the off-season.
  • Phillies: Hoynes points out that Sabathia’s first big league manager was Charlie Manuel, but the Phillies may not have enough in the system.
  • Cubs: Hoynes feels that Lou PIniella would trade for Sabathia right now if he could.
  • Red Sox: Hoynes feels the Sox are more likely to wait until the off-season.
  • Rays: Hoynes notes that the Rays have the pieces in the farm system to land Sabathia, but wonders if they are willing to rent a player for a playoff push.
  • Angels: Hoynes points out that Sabathia is from the west coast and the Angels may have a better chance of resigning him.

Hoynes also talked to scouts about what the Indians can expect to receive if they do decide to trade the free agent-to-be.

One scout said that "they could get two young players that were at or close to the big-league level that they could control for a while" while a second scout speculates the bounty could be " two and three prospects, depending on whether that team could sign Sabathia to an extension before he becomes a free agent this winter."

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex and can be reached here.

Odds And Ends: Bradley, Haren, Griffey, Holliday, Atkins

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A few minor notes from the MLBiverse…

  • Evan Grant wonders if the Rangers might try to trade Milton Bradley if they fall even farther back in the standings and then try to resign him in the off-season when he is a free agent.
  • The D-Backs have begun negotiations with Dan Haren on a contract extension. Haren is signed though ’09 with a $6.75MM team option in ’10.
  • Ken Griffey Jr says that he wants to win a championship in Cincinnati.
  • With the Rockies playing the Indians, it was inevitable that the Matt Holliday- or Garrett Atkins-to-the-Indians speculation would resurface.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex and can be reached here.

Mariners To Release Sexson

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Kirby Arnold of the Everett Herald is reporting that the Mariners will release Richie Sexson, and it could happen in the next week.

According to one person familiar with moves that are planned, Sexson will be let go, possibly within days. The timing is not set because the team is dealing with other personnel issues that go beyond the procedures for moving Sexson.

Sexson is still due about half of his ’08 salary of $14MM. This was the last year of a 4-year/$50MM deal.

This move shouldn’t come as a big surprise. After the firing of Bill Bavasi, the M’s are clearly ready to shake up the roster and Sexson’s contract was dead-weight.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex and can be reached here.

Braves Interested In Randy Winn?

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According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Braves are one team with "apparent interest" in Giants right fielder Randy Winn.  Winn can play all three outfield positions.  Lately the Braves have been using Brandon Jones in left, Gregor Blanco in center, and Jeff Francoeur in right.  Matt Diaz will be out several more weeks with a knee injury, while Mark Kotsay has a lower back issue.

Winn, 34, is hitting a respectable .298/.359/.447 in 288 plate appearances.  Winn’s line would look better in center field, but Blanco has a tidy .375 OBP going.  Winn makes $8MM this year and $8.25MM in ’09.  He can block trades to ten teams.  I imagine Brian Sabean would settle for a marginal prospect if a team would take on all of Winn’s contract.

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