Pedro Too Expensive For Rays, Cubs?
1:28pm: Yahoo's Gordon Edes hears the Cubs are serious about Pedro, even though they don't like his demands. "We wouldn't be [watching him] just to waste our time," a Cubs source said.
12:37pm: Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald says Lou Piniella has not discussed Pedro with GM Jim Hendry. Miles adds that the righty's likely too expensive for the Cubs, anyways.
11:13am: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times reports that the Rays are a long way from completing a deal with Pedro. Andrew Friedman did not comment on the Rays' interest.
10:15am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Rays were eyeing Pedro Martinez as a reliever, but cannot meet his salary demands. Sherman says Pedro seeks a "significant amount of money" and the Rays can't afford a pricey addition to their team.
Meanwhile, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times says it's "doubtful" the Cubs have the payroll flexibility to add Pedro, even if he's asking for $5MM prorated. Cubs GM Jim Hendry says he has "a lot of respect" for the three-time Cy Young Award winner. Wittenmyer says an injury to a Cubs starter would add urgency to the team's interest in Pedro.
Odds And Ends: Yankees, Cubs, Red Sox
More links for Thursday afternoon…
- Jorge Arangure of ESPN.com says the Yankees could make a "splash" on July 2nd, when the international signing period begins.
- Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe compares Brad Penny and A.J. Burnett. Kilgore says Burnett has an advantage, "but not an 82.5-to-5 edge." That's how much more Burnett signed for last offseason.
- A spokesman for Tom Ricketts says the family's deal to buy the Cubs is still on, according to the AP (via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
- David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News has a gut feeling the Phillies will make a deal "in the very near future." He points out that Pat Gillick and scouting director Gordon Lakey are in Philadelphia.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Brewers signed four more picks, including second rounder Cameron Garfield.
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Danny Knobler of CBS Sports heard that the Red Sox front office has wondered the same thing most of us have: how would this season look if Mark Teixeira had landed in Boston?
Yankees And Angels Will Watch Pedro Too
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Cubs, Rays, Yankees and Angels will watch Pedro Martinez pitch in the Dominican Republic tomorrow. However, all four clubs are downplaying their interest in signing the pitcher and none of them would address their biggest need by adding a starter.
Pedro still wants a major league deal worth about $3MM and he has indicated he won't lower his price. His demands make him less appealing; teams would show more interest if Pedro were willing to sign a minor league deal. As Rosenthal points out, the Angels and Yankees need relievers, the Cubs need offense and the Rays have a full rotation.
Discussion: Which GM Would You Choose?
We'll be watching closely for the next six weeks as baseball's General Managers make trades. There are lots of skilled deal-makers out there, but which one would you choose if you had to replace your favorite team's GM with one from another club? Here are just a few of baseball's more accomplished GMs:
- Pat Gillick – He's not a GM anymore, but he built winners in Toronto, Baltimore, Seattle and Philadelphia.
- Theo Epstein – His Red Sox have won two of the last five World Series.
- Billy Beane – Perhaps the best-known GM, Beane has built winners on a budget.
- Walt Jocketty – Two-time executive of the year, Jocketty led the '06 Cards to a championship.
- Ken Williams – His team won the 2005 World Series.
- Brian Cashman – He contributed to four of the Yankees' World Series Championships and was GM for three of them
Lots of good choices- who would you want?
Davis Would Talk Extension Or Test Market
Doug Davis told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he's open to signing an extension with the D'Backs if they approach him before the end of the season and "the price is right." If not, Davis said he would be comfortable testing the market.
He's a free agent after the season, so his name has surfaced in trade rumors, but Davis said he ignores them. He says he'd rather stay in Arizona for the remainder of the season than be traded.
MLB.com's Steve Gilbert reports that Davis would even consider returning to Arizona as a free agent if he's dealt during the season.
Odds And Ends: Scheppers, Tate, Matsui
Links for Thursday morning…
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo reports that two teams passed on Tanner Scheppers because they believe he has a partially torn labrum. The Rangers, who picked him, don't believe the problem is as severe.
- In a Q&A for The Baseball Analysts, Padres exec Paul DePodesta says he's "ecstatic" about his team's draft. He compares Donavan Tate, the Padres' first rounder, to Adam Jones and Mike Cameron.
- The Padres are encountering trouble at the major league level, where Chris Young will likely join Jake Peavy on the DL, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock. Not only do the Padres lose their best starters, it's now harder for them to field offers for them.
- Chuck Finder of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Pirates are set to sign a handful of their picks, including their second selection, Brooks Pounders.
- Patrick Newman at NPB Tracker passes on comments Hideki Matsui made about returning to Japan. Matsui sounds happy that the Hanshin Tigers could be interested, but says he'd probably prefer to stay in the States.
- The Mariners are scouting top international prospect Guillermo Pimentel, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America.
Shawn Chacon Signs With Athletics
10:20am: Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports that Chacon will report to Triple A Sacramento today and is tentatively scheduled to start tomorrow night.
12:24am: MLBTR has learned tonight that pitcher Shawn Chacon signed a minor league deal with the A's. Pitching for the independent league Newark Bears, the 31 year-old Chacon posted a 4.29 ERA with 29 strikeouts and 16 walks in 42 innings this year. The Astros released him about a year ago after he threw the team's GM, Ed Wade, to the ground in a clubhouse altercation.
Pitching Market May Mean Phils Add To ‘Pen
It's still possible that the Phillies will add the top starter Charlie Manuel covets, but the weak market for starting pitching could force them to improve their bullpen instead, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. With Erik Bedard and Jake Peavy on the disabled list, there's a shortage of top starters available. The Phillies are watching Brad Penny, who, along with Jarrod Washburn, may be the best starter available.
But pitchers such as Jason Marquis, Zach Duke and Paul Maholm "don't excite" the Phillies, so they may look to improve their pitching by adding a reliever, even though it's not their first choice.
Brad Penny Rumors
Brad Penny pitched well enough to win his 100th career game last night. Today, he’s the subject of many trade rumors. Here they are:
- David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News reports that the Phillies had a scout in Boston watching Penny’s start last night.
- The Rangers appear interested as well, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports.
- Cafardo heard from one NL scout who believes Penny is “the best name out there” for teams in search of starters.
- The Red Sox have fielded offers on Penny but they value their depth and may not make a move.
- Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald says Penny was throwing as hard as 98 mph.
- Penny would prefer to pitch every fifth day, but he’s open to pitching in a six-man rotation, according to Don Amore of the Hartford Courant.
Rosenthal On Buyers And Sellers
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports predicts whether six of the teams on the fringes of the playoff race will become buyers or sellers between now and July 31st, providing some rumors along the way:
- The Cardinals, who are not interested in Miguel Tejada, are tracking Mark DeRosa.
- Carl Pavano, Jamey Carroll and Rafael Betancourt could all become trade candidates.
- The Indians will only move Victor Martinez or Cliff Lee if they're overwhelmed.
- Rosenthal predicts the White Sox will be buyers. After all, their offense has lots of room for improvement and they're just 3.0 games behind Detroit.
- If the Rockies sell, they could have two impressive trade chips in Jason Marquis and Huston Street.
- One GM predicts that demand for Street will be so intense that he'll command more in return than Matt Holliday will for the A's.
- The Yankees, Rangers and Dodgers could have interest if Street hits the market.
- The Astros won't likely add payroll, but Rosenthal doesn't expect them to sell.
- Along with Erik Bedard and Jarrod Washburn, the Mariners have Adrian Beltre. We don't know if any of them will hit the market, but Beltre's been hitting better for the last six weeks.
- The Marlins are looking for a reliever who can set up for Matt Lindstrom.
- Rosenthal predicts the Marlins will try to compete for as long as possible before considering deals for Jorge Cantu, Dan Uggla and Jeremy Hermida.