Cubs Acquire Rich Harden, Chad Gaudin
5:36pm: The AP story is out. The Cubs get Harden and Chad Gaudin for Gallagher, Murton, Patterson, and catching prospect Josh Donaldson. Jim Hendry did his best to counter the Brewers’ acquisition of CC Sabathia, and Gaudin is more than a throw-in. The A’s get three MLB-ready players plus a solid offense-oriented catching prospect. Gallagher would have to be considered the centerpiece for Oakland.
5:25pm: Dave Kaplan of WGN Radio in Chicago reports that the Cubs have acquired Rich Harden from the A’s. Sean Gallagher is reportedly part of the deal, and possibly Matt Murton. Hal McCoy says Eric Patterson and another minor leaguer are also included. More when I have it.
Harden, 26, has been dominant in 13 starts for the A’s this year. The injury-prone Harden is a tantalizing player; he’s only topped 130 innings once but has a career ERA of 3.42. The latest concern: decreased velocity/dead arm in his last start.
Harden has a $7MM club option for ’09, which is highly likely to be exercised.
Braves Stuck In The Middle
MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes about the Braves’ trade deadline situation at the Trade Talk blog. The Braves are in that gray area between sellers and buyers at six games out.
Bowman says Braves GM Frank Wren isn’t finding a reasonable deal for a power-hitting outfielder, but he’s also disappointed by the Mark Teixeira market. Bowman believes the picture will be clearer and the offers better a few weeks from now. He adds that the Braves would seek a first baseman in a Teixeira trade. Perhaps James Loney, Casey Kotchman, or Kevin Youkilis would work.
If the Braves buy, Xavier Nady is one possibility. Bowman wonders if the Bucs could look to reacquire Brent Lillibridge.
Giants Rumors: Durham, Aurilia, Vizquel
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News talked to Giants GM Brian Sabean about his deadline plans. By the way, you can download Sabean’s trade history here.
- Sabean may make an acquisition to aid the ’08 club, which is only five games out. However, he won’t acquire players who will become free agents after the season. He compared his situation to ’05, when the Giants added Randy Winn for Jesse Foppert and Yorvit Torrealba.
- Unlike that deal, the Giants are not going to move any of their young pitchers.
- Ray Durham, Rich Aurilia, and Omar Vizquel are prime candidates to be traded. Durham told Baggarly he wouldn’t use his 10-and-5 rights to block a deal. The second baseman was recently linked to the Brewers by Ken Rosenthal.
- Henry Schulman noted a few days ago that Sabean is "not thinking of trading Randy Winn or Bengie Molina."
Cubs, A’s Sign First Round Picks
According to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs signed their first round pick Andrew Cashner today for $1.53MM. Cashner was the first reliever off the board at #19.
Additionally, the A’s inked first rounder Jemile Weeks, a college second baseman. He gets a $1.91MM bonus.
This site has done a nice job compiling a list of which draft picks have signed and for how much. By my count, 13 of the 30 first rounders have signed.
Braves Sign Julian Tavarez
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves have signed 35 year-old righty Julian Tavarez. Tavarez has tossed just 20 innings this year between the Red Sox and Brewers.
Dodgers Looking For Shortstop Help
TUESDAY, 3:49pm: MLB.com’s Jim Molony chimes in on the Dodgers’ hunt for a shortstop. He says they’ll give Nomar Garciaparra a chance, but they are also considering Toronto’s David Eckstein. Back on July 3rd, the Baltimore Sun suggested the Orioles were looking at Eckstein.
TUESDAY, 8:53am: Dejan Kovacevic puts the brakes on the Jack Wilson-to-L.A. rumor. He says that while Wilson is not untouchable, the Pirates are not likely to trade him. They consider him affordable and do not have a capable replacement.
Kovacevic says talks with the Dodgers "seem dormant," and the Dodgers never offered a player from their Major League roster. Additional unknown teams have also called about Wilson.
MONDAY: John Perrotto of the Beaver County Times wrote an article Sunday concerning the Dodgers’ pursuit of Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson. Wilson, 30, is hitting .306/.348/.361 in 160 plate appearances this year. He’s under contract next year for $7.25MM with an $8.4MM club option for ’10. Wilson can block trades to six teams.
Perrotto wrote that Wilson is the Dodgers’ primary trade target. He says "a Dodgers source indicated that Los Angeles might be willing to deal center fielder Matt Kemp." A Kemp acquisition would create a logjam until the Pirates are able to move Jason Bay or Xavier Nady. Failing that, Perrotto’s sources indicate the Bucs have interest in pitcher James McDonald and shortstop Chin-lung Hu.
Ken Rosenthal wrote this morning that the Dodgers’ bid for Wilson is on hold as they restructure their offer. If the Dodgers get him, that should eliminate any chance of re-signing Rafael Furcal.
Andrew Friedman – GM Trade History
CC Sabathia Links
The CC Sabathia trade is complete, but there’s still some good info floating about.
- Michael Silverman says the Brewers wanted players such as Michael Bowden, Lars Anderson, Jed Lowrie, and Josh Reddick from the Red Sox in various Sabathia scenarios.
- The Dodgers apparently talked about dealing Matt Kemp and one of Jonathan Meloan/James McDonald for Sabathia, Casey Blake, and Jamey Carroll.
- Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheehan analyzes the trade.
- Turns out Sabathia prefers CC over C.C.
- The agent for Brewers prospects Michael Brantley and Taylor Green believes both are in play as the player to be named later in the Sabathia deal.
- MetsBlog reports that Mark Shapiro approached Omar Minaya, suggesting the Mets had the necessary players to make a trade for Sabathia. Matthew Cerrone believes the Mets would’ve had to give up Fernando Martinez and two pitching prospects.
- The Phillies were the Indians’ backup plan in case the Milwaukee deal fell through. The Phillies weren’t a great fit because the Indians preferred a young power hitter to a young pitcher.
- The Yankees had interest, but the price was too high for Brian Cashman. That price may have included Phil Hughes. The Yanks reportedly required a signing window in any Sabathia deal, also.
- Cubs GM Jim Hendry says nothing’s changed for his team.
- Brewers fans are ecstatic to have Sabathia.
White Sox Designate Pablo Ozuna For Assignment
Paul Konerko is coming off the DL. To make room for him, the White Sox decided to designate utility man Pablo Ozuna for assignment. Juan Uribe‘s spot is safe for now.
Ozuna, 33, hit .281/.313/.328 in 69 plate appearances this year. Ozuna had success in ’06, but fractured his fibula in May of ’07 and hasn’t done much since.
Odds and Ends: Bedard, Teixeira, Longoria, Durham
Rounding up today’s links…
- Live chat here today at 2pm CST.
- Geoff Baker has a link and commentary on Erik Bedard‘s Philadelphia radio appearance. I’m with Baker – this was an odd choice by Bedard, who typically avoids the media.
- According to Ken Rosenthal, the Brewers are interested in the Giants’ Ray Durham and Jack Taschner.
- MLB.com’s Mark Bowman believes the Braves will shop Mark Teixeira if they decide they can’t contend. They’re currently six games out.
- Dave Cameron concluded his MLB Trade Value series at FanGraphs. He considers Evan Longoria the most valuable asset in the game, partially because of his team-friendly contract.
- Ken Davidoff runs through starting pitching trade candidates now that CC Sabathia is off the market.
- Sam Mellinger wonders what it would’ve been like if the Royals had successfully signed Hiroki Kuroda. Of course, they were eyeing Andruw Jones and Carlos Silva too.
- With Matt Treanor DL-bound, the Marlins’ search for a catcher may intensify.