Red Sox Acquire Paul Byrd
THURSDAY: Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald heard that the Indians will not receive a player in return for Byrd. The Indians made the deal because the Red Sox were the only team willing to take on the full $2MM+ owed to Byrd.
TUESDAY: According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox acquired starter Paul Byrd today for a player to be named later or cash. Byrd, 37, has a 4.53 ERA in 131 innings this year. He relies on pinpoint control and has strung together five solid starts. Many are asking why the Yankees passed on him.
Byrd had cleared waivers on account of his $7.5MM salary. He’s still owed over $2MM; no word on whether the Red Sox will pay all of it.
Giants To Sign First Round Pick Posey
According to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, the Giants have agreed to a $7.5MM Major League deal for top draft pick Buster Posey. Baggarly’s sources call it a "done deal." The Giants are drawing much praise for their draft efforts this year.
Jose Castillo Designated
According to Chris Haft of MLB.com, the Giants designated third baseman Jose Castillo for assignment today to make room for rookie Ryan Rohlinger.
Castillo, 27, hit .244/.290/.381 in 394 plate appearances. He earned $650K for his efforts. Castillo can play second base as well, but he hasn’t had a good month this year outside of May. Andrew Baggarly says the Castillo signing helped the Giants save face, but it was time to move on.
White Sox Sign First Round Pick Beckham
THURSDAY: Beckham signed for $2.6MM.
WEDNESDAY: According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, the White Sox have signed first round pick Gordon Beckham. Here’s the MLB.com link. The signing was first reported by 670 The Score, I believe. Beckham is expected to join with Alexei Ramirez to form Chicago’s middle infield of the future.
Odds and Ends: Lowell, Carroll, Saltalamacchia
Time to gather up today’s links.
- With Mike Lowell headed to the DL, Jeff Horrigan wonders if a waiver trade for an infielder could be in order.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney mentioned the Indians’ Jamey Carroll as a possibility for the D’Backs on Monday, though he noted the two teams have not talked.
- Evan Grant suggests the Rangers trade Engel Beltre or Elvis Andrus for pitching this winter. Additionally, he thinks the Rangers might end up trading Jarrod Saltalamacchia rather than Gerald Laird.
- Aaron Gleeman revisits the ’03 trade of Bobby Kielty for Shannon Stewart.
- Patrick Newman runs down some lesser-known Japanese free agents.
- Rany Jazayerli has an interesting post about Royals first base prospect Kila Kaaihue.
- Jeff Passan’s list of this year’s 25 most improbable success stories is a good read.
- MLB.com’s Justice B. Hill has a story about a kid who had Tommy John surgery at age 14.
- ESPN did a bunch of mini-features about this year’s hired guns for their magazine.
Heyman’s Latest: Washburn, Cashman, Garcia, Lofton
SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in with a new column.
- Jarrod Washburn reportedly cleared waivers, though Heyman’s use of the word "reportedly" makes me think the statement came from one of the shaky reports floating about. We’ll wait for definitive word on that one.
- Heyman’s sources say the Yankees plan to offer a new contract to GM Brian Cashman after the season. Hank Steinbrenner has apparently warmed to Cashman. Additionally, "club higherups" expect Cashman will want to stay rather than jump to the Seattle job.
- Heyman loves the Freddy Garcia acquisition; he wonders if Garcia will be motivated by Ozzie Guillen’s comments. The White Sox weren’t interested; Guillen doesn’t think Garcia will be ready for the playoffs. There’s a chance Garcia could return to the Tigers in ’09.
- Heyman says it was a 2-2 vote whether to keep Manny Ramirez in Boston – Theo Epstein and Tom Werner advocating a trade, and Larry Lucchino and John Henry preferring to keep him. Henry changed his mind and the deal was made. Lucchino recently denied Heyman’s speculation that he might leave after the season.
- The Rays made an offer to Kenny Lofton in spring and even gave Barry Bonds consideration. But now a signing of either is "highly unlikely." Giants GM Brian Sabean thinks the Rays should sign Bonds.
- Heyman continues to speculate that Jim Bowden could be fired.
- One GM expects the Padres to pick up Brian Giles‘ $9MM option for ’09. It’s an easy decision since it has a $3MM buyout. However, Peter Gammons says it will be declined.
Gammons Chat: Lucchino, Lugo, Manny
The Boston Globe has a Peter Gammons chat transcript up on its blog. Let’s take a look at his nuggets of rumor wisdom.
- Gammons heard from someone close to Larry Lucchino that the Red Sox would not let him leave.
- The Red Sox could try to unload Julio Lugo in the offseason, or convince him to accept a super-utility role.
- Gammons says neither Hank Steinbrenner nor Brian Cashman have any interest in Manny Ramirez as a winter signing. He expects the Yankees to chase C.C. Sabathia.
- Manny apparently wants four years and $100MM, but Gammons expects something more in the three years, low $40MM range.
- The Red Sox have been looking for a young catcher, and Gammons guesses that Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Mike Napoli could be targets. Evan Grant suggested today that the Rangers may prefer to deal Salty and keep Gerald Laird.
Draft Roundup: Crow, Matusz, Alvarez
The deadline to sign ’08 draft picks is 11pm CST on Friday. Here are the latest rumors.
- MLB.com’s Kevin Czerwinski has a new summary of the unsigned first rounders.
- The Nationals and Aaron Crow are not close. It’s been said Crow wants a Major League deal in the $8-10MM range.
- The Orioles are reluctant to give a big league deal to Brian Matusz.
- John Perrotto expects Pedro Alvarez to sign at the last minute. Dejan Kovacevic dismisses the notion that it would be OK for the Pirates to shrug off signing Alvarez and take next year’s #3 pick.
- The August 15th deadline doesn’t apply to Mariners top pick Joshua Fields, since he was a college senior.
Embree Claimed By Twins, Pulled Back
According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Twins claimed Oakland lefty Alan Embree off waivers, but the A’s pulled him back. He can no longer be traded this season.
Embree is having a poor season with a 5.40 ERA, but the Twins were still willing to take on the $815K still owed to him this year. Apparently the A’s wanted more than salary relief for Embree.
Orioles Offered Extension To Markakis
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney yesterday:
Recently, the Orioles made a modest offer to right fielder Nick Markakis, and the conversations went nowhere; it’s unclear whether the threads of negotiations will be picked up any time soon, or — more likely — will be held over until next winter.
A brief history on the Markakis negotiations is below. He will be arbitration-eligible for the first time after this season.
- In March, Markakis was renewed at $455K rather than the $800K he hoped for. He did not make any negative public comments, though several outlets perceived him to be miffed, ticked, and angered.
- In May, Olney wrote that the Orioles planned to wait at least three years before discussing long-term deals with young players like Markakis and Adam Jones.
- Later in May, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun said extension discussions are expected this winter. The O’s will focus on buying out free agent seasons.
- In July, Jeff Zrebiec of the Sun said the Orioles talked to Markakis about an extension but talks hit a wall and they’ll wait until after the season. Zrebiec said the Orioles wanted to buy out Markakis’ three arbitration years, at least. I speculated that the O’s could offer six years, $62MM.