Archives for July 2008

Blanton Reactions

By Tim Dierkes | July 18, 2008 at 8:59am CDT

I’m on record as liking the Phillies’ acquisition of Joe Blanton. Let’s round up other reactions to the trade today.

Bill Conlin isn’t a fan of Blanton.
The Transaction Guy sees nearly a 1.5 win gain for the Phillies this year, and isn’t too impressed by Oakland’s return.
Keith Law thinks the Phillies’ gain could approach two wins this year, even while considering the smaller park and inferior defense for Blanton. He considers the prospect package reasonable.
Joel Sherman considers Blanton the pitcher Adam Eaton was meant to be.
Tom Goyne says Blanton is the B-level acquisition we expected the Phillies to make. He doesn’t think the Phillies will miss the prospects they gave up.
Dave Cameron believes Phillies fans will ultimately be frustrated with Blanton, as his low home run per flyball rates are not sustainable.
Rob Neyer says Justin Duchscherer is at peak value, and Billy Beane hasn’t given up on ’08 unless he moves Duke.
Or could Huston Street be the next to go?
Ken Davidoff is surprised Pat Gillick and Billy Beane matched up for a trade, and gives the edge to the Phillies. This does appear to be the first Gillick-Beane matchup, but I wonder how much of the work A’s assistant GM David Forst did.
SI.com’s Jon Heyman thinks the A’s waiting too long to trade Blanton, noting their spring demand for Johnny Cueto and then some.
With all the deals this month, it’s nice to not read the tired annual story about how the trade deadline is mostly talk and little action.

Phillies Acquire Joe Blanton

By Tim Dierkes | July 17, 2008 at 6:13pm CDT

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Phillies have acquired Joe Blanton for minor leaguers Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman, and Matthew Spencer.

Blanton, 27, has a 4.96 ERA in 127 innings. Compared to ’07, his strikeout rate has fallen while walks have risen. Still, he can probably eat a lot of innings for the Phillies at an ERA near 4.00. That’s quite valuable, and the Phillies have him under control for ’09 and ’10.

Cardenas and Outman were ranked as the Phillies’ #2 and #4 prospects coming into this season by Baseball America. With quality second base prospects in Cardenas and Jemile Weeks (and maybe Eric Patterson), the A’s might not have much use for Mark Ellis long-term. Or, the A’s could consider moving Cardenas back to shortstop. The 20 year-old is currently hitting .309/.374/.444 in High A ball.

Outman has been solid in Double A, posting a 3.20 ERA in 70.1 innings. The deceptive lefty was switched to relief in May, with the Phils hoping for a quick rise to their big league bullpen. I imagine the A’s will switch him back to starting. Spencer, a 22 year-old outfielder, has struggled in High A.

Red Sox Sign First Round Pick Kelly

By Tim Dierkes | July 17, 2008 at 4:41pm CDT

FRIDAY: Gordon Edes says Kelly prefers shortstop while the Red Sox prefer pitcher. For now he might do both.

THURSDAY: According to Art Martone of the Providence Journal, the Red Sox will announce the signing of first round pick Casey Kelly tonight. Kelly is multitalented – quarterback, shortstop, and pitcher. The Sox prefer him as a pitcher.

Cubs Rumors: Fuentes, Greene

By Tim Dierkes | July 17, 2008 at 4:20pm CDT

Cubs beat writer Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald has a new blog post up.

Miles’ Cubs sources "emphatically" denied interest in Padres shortstop Khalil Greene. And as we noted Monday, the San Diego Union-Tribune killed that rumor several hours after they posted it.
Jim Hendry is in the market for a reliever, and Miles expects him to be one of many GMs inquiring on Colorado’s Brian Fuentes. Roughly a dozen teams are eyeing the lefty, so the Rox should get something good.
Miles mentions the possibility of the Cubs pursuing an extra bat, presumably of the bench variety.

D’Backs Acquire Tony Clark

By Tim Dierkes | July 17, 2008 at 2:37pm CDT

2:37pm: Turns out the Padres will get a Single A pitcher for Clark: Evan Scribner.

1:41pm: ESPN’s Buster Olney says it’s a done deal.

12:04pm: According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the D’Backs "appear to be closing in" on a trade for first baseman/pinch-hitter Tony Clark. It would be for a Double A pitching prospect, and could get done today. Piecoro says Clark will apparently waive the $500K bonus he was to receive upon a trade.

Clark almost re-signed with Arizona last winter. He was known as a clubhouse leader in his previous stint with the D’Backs.

Francisco Liriano Frustrated

By Tim Dierkes | July 17, 2008 at 1:59pm CDT

Ken Rosenthal spoke to Francisco Liriano’s agent, Greg Genske. The 24 year-old lefty is frustrated that he’s still at Triple A, and Genske has contacted the Players’ Association about filing a grievance. The union will investigate. Liriano is now dominating in the minors.

Rosenthal says Liriano’s arbitration year has already been pushed back by his time in the minors. Twins GM Bill Smith denies any shady money-saving tactics, saying "our starters are all doing the job."

Most likely, the Twins would be an improved team by replacing Livan Hernandez in the rotation with Liriano. But this isn’t the first time the Twins have chosen veteran mediocrity or worse over promising young players.

Yankees To Sign Richie Sexson

By Tim Dierkes | July 17, 2008 at 1:37pm CDT

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Yankees reached a tentative agreement with first baseman Richie Sexson. The idea is that Sexson will improve the team’s performance against left-handed pitching.

There’s little risk, so you can’t blame Brian Cashman for the move. However, it should be noted that Sexson didn’t hit lefties much in 2006-07 and only faced them 70 times this year.

By the way, the Yankees aren’t interested in Barry Bonds.

Odds and Ends: Nady, LaHair, Garcia, Bonds

By Tim Dierkes | July 17, 2008 at 1:30pm CDT

Baseball is back today, but rumors are a bit light. We’ll kick it off with odds and ends.

Susan Slusser reports "rumblings" around Justin Duchscherer. As you know, Duke hopes to sign an extension with the A’s but they’ll wait until after the season.
The Nationals signed second round pick Destin Hood.
Matt Holliday has heard rumors about a trade to the A’s. I believe this originated as Ken Rosenthal speculation on June 22nd.
Xavier Nady doesn’t want to be traded, and has been "visibly bugged" by the recent rumors. Still, he and Damaso Marte are the most likely trade candidates for the Pirates.
D.J. Carrasco actually does have an option left, so the White Sox can demote Carrasco or Adam Russell to Triple A but keep both.
Ryan Divish heard a rumor that first baseman Bryan LaHair will get the call to the Majors. What will the corresponding roster move be for the Mariners?
Jon Paul Morosi takes a look at the Tigers’ most tradeable prospects, noting that several are currently injured.
A Freddy Garcia update. His agent says they might be receptive to a multiyear deal, but prefer one year. He previously said a club option was not in the cards.
NPB Tracker looks at the pros and cons of Barry Bonds signing with the Softbank Hawks.
Jim Moore thinks the Mariners should trade Ichiro.

Braves Still Undecided On Teixeira

By Tim Dierkes | July 17, 2008 at 12:39pm CDT

Braves third baseman Chipper Jones expects the team to shop Mark Teixeira if they fall out of contention. However, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, that decision hasn’t been made yet.

Bowman says the early offers for Teixeira have been inferior to the two draft picks the Braves could receive if Tex walks as a free agent. Bowman adds that GM Frank Wren hasn’t reached a buy/sell decision with his team, which is 6.5 games out in the NL East. Wren would like to add an outfielder he controls beyond ’08, but doesn’t like the price for Jason Bay or Xavier Nady.

Cardinals Unlikely To Trade Rasmus

By Tim Dierkes | July 17, 2008 at 11:32am CDT

SI.com’s Jon Heyman wrote yesterday:

The contending Cardinals might even consider parting with top outfield prospect Colby Rasmus, a major surprise. If so, it may put them in line to land Pittsburgh’s Xavier Nady, or even Jason Bay.

Cardinals fans can rest easy about their top prospect, however. Joe Strauss asked team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. if there is any chance Rasmus could play his first MLB game in another uniform. DeWitt’s reply: "I don’t anticipate that. No." In a recent updated Top 100 Prospects list from Baseball America, Rasmus ranked #4.

DeWitt also indicated that the Cardinals would be able to add another $1.5-2MM in payroll this year if need be.

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