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Archives for July 2008

Randy Wolf Likes San Diego

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31 year-old southpaw Randy Wolf bounced back in his start last night, pitching seven fine innings against the Marlins.  Didn’t hurt that the Marlins have been lousy against lefties all year.

MLB.com’s Corey Brock spoke to Wolf, who said he’d consider re-signing with the Padres for the ’09 season.  Wolf noted that he is comfortable in San Diego and likes working with Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley.  He’s a West Coast guy and he left money on the table to sign with the Padres (and the Dodgers the year before).  Interesting note – Wolf followed a rigorous offseason training program and says he’s throwing harder than ever (he touched 95mph this year).

Wolf has a 14-team no-trade clause that includes many Midwest clubs, which could pose a problem for the Cardinals.  A return to the Phillies still might make sense.  The Yankees could also consider him.  Wolf could always accept a trade but still re-sign with San Diego after the season.

The First Baseman Market Revisited

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Next up in our second pass through the Trade Market, first basemen.

  • Mark Teixeira, Braves.  As Mark Bowman wrote yesterday, the Braves may need a few weeks to decide whether to sell or buy.  Teixeira is hitting .275/.381/.492.  Frank Wren might have a hard time finding a match for Teixeira.  He’s an upgrade on guys like Casey Kotchman, Carlos Delgado, and Chad Tracy, but is the improvement worth it?
  • Rich Aurilia, Giants.  Aurilia could make sense as a platoon partner for Tracy in Arizona, if Brian Sabean doesn’t mind helping a team in his division.  Aurilia hit well in May and June.
  • Dmitri Young, Nationals.  He’s hitting well, but keep in mind Jim Bowden couldn’t find a deal he liked last year when Young had a .900 OPS and wasn’t a contractual burden.
  • Lyle Overbay, Blue Jays.  Overbay is owed $14MM over 2009-10, and he is slugging under .400.  Not a hot commodity.
  • Kevin Millar, Orioles.  The O’s are 7.5 games out of the wild card, so their strategy is unknown.  Millar’s value seems to be mostly intangible.
  • Adam LaRoche, Pirates.  Like clockwork, LaRoche is having a big July after a slow start.  Selling high on him might make sense, but the Bucs haven’t given any indication of that.  Extension talks fizzled in April.
  • Frank Catalanotto, Rangers.  Useful player who can also handle left field.  However, he carries a commitment of $4MM for ’09 plus a $2MM buyout on his ’10 option.
  • Aaron Boone, Nationals.  Respectable role player, but the Nationals might prefer to keep him around as a clubhouse leader.
  • Richie Sexson, Mariners.  Looking for a silver lining…he’s having a nice year against lefties?
  • Wes Helms, Marlins.  One positive: the Phillies are paying his salary.
  • Kendry Morales, Angels.  The 25 year-old was hitting .324/.365/.505 in Triple A until hitting the DL with an oblique strain.
  • Chris Duncan, Cardinals.  He is fairly expendable, though he’s had a rough year and has never hit lefties.
  • Casey Blake, Indians.  He’s a versatile player with a decent chance of being moved.  Anthony Castrovince makes a good point – the Tribe might want to re-sign him to play third base next year.
  • Matt Stairs, Blue Jays.  Last year’s power and respectable work against southpaws has disappeared.
  • Scott Hatteberg.  He seems to have disappeared since being designated for assignment by the Reds in May.

Odds and Ends: Resop, Myers, Gallardo, Fuentes

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Today’s link collection:

  • Joel Sherman says the Mets would be willing to eat some money on a contract to reduce the prospect price for a corner outfielder.  He suggests names like Xavier Nady, Raul Ibanez, Randy Winn, and Adam Dunn.  The salary-eating strategy would probably only help with Winn.
  • The Hanshin Tigers purchased reliever Chris Resop’s contract from the Braves.
  • Ricky Bottalico says Brett Myers wants to be traded, but Myers and the Phillies denied it.
  • It would be cool to see Yovani Gallardo return this year, if only to see him line up with CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets for a brief period of time.  That’s three aces.
  • The Yankees are still interested in Rockies closer Brian Fuentes; the Rox might be interested in Mark Melancon.
  • More rumblings that the Dodger front office is confusing other teams.
  • SI.com’s Jon Heyman ranks the most impactful potentially available players, raising the question of whether impactful is a word.  Heyman also includes odds of each player being dealt.

Red Sox Rumors: Bonds, Fuentes

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Checking in on the Red Sox…

Reds Rumors: Weathers, Ross, Harang, Dunn

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Time for a look at the Reds.  They’re currently 11.5 games back in the NL Central and 8 out of the wild card.

  • You might imagine the Reds are sellers, but GM Walt Jocketty won’t commit yet.  The Reds’ current road trip against division foes may be the deciding factor. 
  • Jocketty says he’s been getting more phone calls since the CC Sabathia trade.  Apparently interest has centered on reliever David Weathers and catcher Dave Ross.  The Marlins could make sense for both, though they’re only said to have interest in Ross.  The Fish are eager to snare a backstop, and are put off by Yorvit Torrealba’s salary.
  • On July 3rd, ESPN’s Jayson Stark said the Reds would accept bids on Aaron Harang.  He cautioned that the Reds would have to be bowled over.  Jocketty, however, downplayed the idea of a Harang trade.  And with Harang possibly hurt, a trade is even less likely.
  • Why is there no buzz on Adam Dunn yet?  It might be because Dunn "hasn’t yet been made available," according to Will Carroll.  I still think interest in Dunn will heat up in coming weeks.  Joel Sherman wonders if the Reds would be hesitant to offer Dunn arbitration after the season for fear that he might accept.  That could reduce the asking price.

Nelson Cruz Drawing Interest

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28 year-old Rangers minor league outfielder Nelson Cruz has a career line of .231/.282/.385 in 478 plate appearances.  So why is he drawing trade interest right now?

Cruz has utterly destroyed Triple A pitching this year, hitting a monstrous .343/.444/.689 in 80 games.  He’s even cut down on the strikeouts somewhat.  Of course, this is his fourth extended stint at Triple A and he’s mashed there before.  But perhaps after Jack Cust last year teams will give these Quad-A types a closer look.  Cruz, unlike Cust, can play right field.  He does not appear to be in the Rangers’ plans.

Tigers Sign First Round Pick Ryan Perry

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The Cubs signed first round pick Andrew Cashner yesterday, and the Tigers followed suit by inking first rounder Ryan Perry today.  Both relievers signed for about $1.5MM.

According to John Moredich of the Tucson Citizen, Perry will be a September call-up for the Tigers if all goes according to plan.  He might be the first member of the ’08 draft class to reach the bigs.  The Tigers are seven games out, so Perry could even impact the playoff race.

The Phillies-Bedard Situation

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The Phillies-Erik Bedard situation is an intriguing one.  The details:

  • As you know, the Phillies have had longstanding interest in the lefty.  Bedard recently appeared on a Philadelphia radio show, an odd choice given that he avoids the Seattle media.
  • Possible conflict of interest: what if Pat Gillick trades a bevy of prospects to the Mariners for Bedard, and then gets a high-ranking position with the Ms in ’09?
  • Will Carroll notes that Rich Harden, A.J. Burnett, Randy Wolf, and Bedard all carry injury risk.  However, the Phillies do not seem concerned about Bedard’s health.  He says Gillick wants Bedard at a discount, however.  Bedard has been shut down until after the All-Star break to recover from nagging injuries.
  • I imagine Bedard would command a package similar to the one the A’s got for Harden.  Both pitchers have ace potential and injury risk and are controlled through ’09.  The situations do differ, though – Bedard is less risky than Harden, and the Cubs deal was complicated by adding a good pitcher in Chad Gaudin.  Anyway, I think the Phillies could pull off a Bedard deal if centered around a healthy Carlos Carrasco.

Twins Discuss Adrian Beltre Internally

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WEDNESDAY: Christensen has an update on the Twins’ deadline strategy.  He says they are considering options to upgrade on the left side of the infield, though perhaps without a sense of urgency.  He notes that they have discussed third baseman Adrian Beltre internally, but probably not with the Mariners.

TUESDAY: According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins don’t have a glaring need and are likely to be quiet at the trade deadline.  The Twins are 1.5 games out in the AL Central. They’re 8th of 14 AL teams in OBP and SLG.  Nonetheless, they are third in the league with 4.9 runs per game.  This can be attributed to a league-best .857 OPS with runners in scoring position.  Who knows, maybe they can maintain it.

As for pitching, the Twins rank 9th with a 4.52 starters’ ERA and 6th with a 3.44 relief ERA (admittedly a crude measure).  They should probably jettison Livan Hernandez, but Francisco Liriano is the ace in the hole at Triple A.

Just a few weeks ago, I rattled off all kinds of suggestions for the Twins.  Commenters on that thread had good points – they probably don’t need to acquire a starter, and shortstop options are not plentiful.  However, I still think Barry Bonds and/or Kenny Lofton would be nice complements to this team.

Rich Harden Links

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It’s only July 9th, and we’ve already seen two huge names moved.  Today let’s round up the Rich Harden links.

  • Susan Slusser says the A’s weren’t discussing Harden with any other teams.  Jim Hendry was persistent for weeks, while Billy Beane has had his eye on Sean Gallagher for years (however, Buster Olney says this deal was pulled together within the last two days).  Chad Gaudin was included in the deal as insurance for Harden.  Slusser wonders whether Joe Blanton could be next to go.
  • Rob Neyer is reminded of the Mark Mulder trade, and thinks the A’s might even be better this year from this deal.  Similarly, Dave Cameron thinks the deal favors the A’s.
  • Keith Law notes that no available pitcher had better stuff than Harden and that Gaudin is "an outstanding second player."  He thinks the move to Oakland will help Gallagher and that Harden was at risk of breaking down at any time.  He seems to consider it a fairly even swap.
  • Joel Sherman sees a Kerry Wood/Mark Prior parallel here.
  • The Phillies didn’t get involved due to Harden’s injury history.

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