Archives for June 2009

Nationals Draft Update: Strasburg, Crow, Jenkins

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 1:24pm CDT

The Nationals aren't concealing that they plan to select Stephen Strasburg first overall if he stays healthy. The Nats also have the 10th overall pick and MLB.com's Bill Ladson has a source who says they'll use it to select a second pitcher. The Nats don't expect Aaron Crow, who they drafted but did not sign last year, to last until the 10th pick, but they could select college righty Chad Jenkins.

As Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes the Nationals will receive the second overall pick in next year's draft if they fail to sign Strasburg. Since they could very well end up with the league's worst record this year, they could theoretically hold the first two picks of the 2010 draft.

Heyman On Phillies Rotation Options

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 12:44pm CDT

SI.com's Jon Heyman spoke with Ruben Amaro Jr. and heard that the Phillies GM is after "depth at the top of the rotation." Here are the specifics of Heyman's analysis:

The Phillies want a "more established" player than Antonio Bastardo to replace the injured Brett Myers.
Amaro admits that swinging a deal is "tough to do" even with expendable young players like John Mayberry Jr., Lou Marson, Carlos Carrasco and Jason Donald.
Jake Peavy remains a logical fit, but there's no indication he'd accept a deal to Philly.
Erik Bedard, at $7.75MM this year, fits within the Phillies' budget.
Heyman agrees with Buster Olney: there's no guarantee Roy Oswalt will be dealt, but he would interest the Phillies.
Cliff Lee hasn't hit the market and Blue Jays people maintain that Roy Halladay isn't available, but Amaro isn't shying away from any top pitchers that become available. He says he wants "the best [he] can get." It appears that Brad Penny would not be enough for Philadelphia.
Chris Young and Aaron Harang are names to watch out for, as they could become available.

Olney On Oswalt, White Sox, Phillies

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 12:00pm CDT

ESPN.com's Buster Olney discussed the market for pitchers on ESPN Radio; here are some bullet points worth passing along:

Teams believe they could deal for Roy Oswalt, it would just take a whole lot of talent to acquire the pitcher, who's a favorite of Astros owner Drayton McLane.
Pitchers perceive U.S. Cellular Field as a bandbox, which makes it less attractive to them. This is a problem the Yankees could face if the new Yankee Stadium continues to be so hitter-friendly.
Olney predicts the Phillies will trade for a starting pitcher "at some point."

Recent Trades

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 11:05am CDT

As deals take place this summer we'll keep track of them in this post, which will sit under "MLBTR Features" on the side. Here's what we've got so far:

The Orioles dealt Ryan Freel to the Cubs for Joey Gathright on May 8th.
The A's acquired Adam Kennedy from the Rays for Joe Dillon on May 8th.
The Brewers traded Tony Gwynn Jr. to the Padres for Jody Gerut on May 21st.
The White Sox acquired Ramon Castro, dealing Lance Broadway to the Mets on May 29th.
The Braves acquired Nate McLouth from the Pirates for Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke, and Gorkys Hernandez on June 3rd.
The Indians acquired Jose Veras from the Yankees for cash considerations on June 24th.
The Reds acquired Corky Miller, sending Norris Hopper to the White Sox on June 26th.
The Cardinals acquired Mark DeRosa for Chris Perez and a PTBNL on June 27th.
The Mariners acquired Ryan Langerhans in exchange for Mike Morse on June 28th.
The Yankees acquired Eric Hinske from the Pirates for two minor leaguers on June 30th.
The Pirates acquired Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan for Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett on June 30th.
The Cubs acquired Jeff Baker from the Rockies for Alberto Alburquerque on July 2nd.
The Indians acquired Winston Abreu from the Rays for minor leaguer John Meloan on July 2nd.
The A's acquired Scott Hairston from the Padres on July 5th.
The Royals acquired Ryan Freel and cash from the Cubs for a PTBNL on July 6th.
The White Sox acquired Tony Pena from the D'Backs for Brandon Allen on July 7th.
The Royals acquired Yuniesky Betancourt from the Mariners for two minor league pitchers on July 10th.
The Braves acquired Ryan Church from the Mets for Jeff Francoeur on July 10th.
The Mariners acquired Jack Hannahan from the A's for a minor league righty on July 11th.
The Orioles acquired Cla Meredith from the Padres for Oscar Salazar on July 19th.
The Brewers acquired Felipe Lopez from the D'Backs for a pair of minor leaguers on July 19th.
The Red Sox acquired Adam LaRoche for two minor leaguers on July 22nd.
The Red Sox sent Julio Lugo to the Cardinals for Chris Duncan on July 22nd.
The Rockies acquired Rafael Betancourt from the Indians for a minor leaguer on July 23rd.
The Cardinals acquired Matt Holliday from the A's for top prospect Brett Wallace and two other minor leaguers on July 24th.
The Giants acquired Ryan Garko from the Indians for a minor league pitcher on July 27th.
The White Sox acquired outfielder Mark Kotsay and cash from the Red Sox for outfielder Brian Anderson on July 28th.
The Mariners acquired Ian Snell, Jack Wilson and cash from the Pirates for five players including Ronny Cedeno and Jeff Clement on July 29th.
The Reds acquired Wladimir Balentien from the Mariners for a minor leaguer on July 29th.
The Phillies acquired Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco from the Indians for Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson on July 29th.
The Giants acquired Freddy Sanchez from the Pirates for minor league pitcher Tim Alderson on July 29th.
The Yankees acquired Jason Hirsh from the Rockies on July 29th.
The Royals acquired outfielder Josh Anderson from the Tigers for cash considerations on July 30th.
The Dodgers acquired reliever George Sherrill from the Orioles for minor leaguers Josh Bell and Steve Johnson.
The Cubs acquired pitchers John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny for Kevin Hart, Jose Ascanio, and Josh Harrison.
The Tigers acquired pitcher Jarrod Washburn from the Mariners for pitchers Luke French and Mauricio Robles.
The Twins acquired shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the A's for shortstop Tyler Ladendorf.
The Brewers acquired pitcher Claudio Vargas from the Dodgers for catcher Vinny Rottino.
The Red Sox acquired catcher Victor Martinez from the Indians for pitchers Nick Hagadone and Justin Masterson.
The Yankees acquired Jerry Hairston Jr. from the Reds.
The Rockies acquired Joe Beimel from the Nationals.
The Braves acquired Adam LaRoche from the Red Sox for Casey Kotchman.
The Marlins acquired Nick Johnson for minor league lefty Aaron Thompson.
The Reds acquired Scott Rolen for Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart.
The White Sox acquired Jake Peavy for Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, Adam Russell and Dexter Carter.
The Mets re-acquired Anderson Hernandez from the Nats for minor league second baseman Greg Veloz on August 6th.
The Yankees acquired Chad Gaudin from the Padres for a player to be named later on August 6th.
The Twins acquired Carl Pavano from the Indians for a player to be named later on August 7th.
The Rays acquired Gregg Zaun from the Orioles for a player to be named later or cash on August 7th.
The White Sox acquired Alex Rios from the Blue Jays on August 10th.
The Red Sox acquired Alex Gonzalez from the Reds on August 14th.
The Tigers acquired Aubrey Huff from the Orioles for a minor leaguer on August 17th.
The Rangers acquired Ivan Rodriguez from the Astros for minor leaguers Jose Vallejo and Matt Nevarez on August 18th.
The Mariners acquired Bill Hall and cash from the Brewers for minor leaguer Ruben Flores on August 19th.
The Red Sox acquired Billy Wagner from the Mets for two minor leaguers on August 25th.
The Twins acquired Ron Mahay from the Royals on August 28th.
The Twins acquired Jon Rauch from the D'Backs for a PTBNL on August 28th.
The Angels acquired Scott Kazmir for two minor leaguers and a PTBNL on August 28th.
The Red Sox acquired Joey Gathright from the Orioles on August 29th.
The Dodgers acquired Ronnie Belliard from the Nationals for minor leaguer Luis Garcia on August 30th.
The Nationals acquired Jamie Burke from the Mariners for cash on September 17th.

Olney On This Year’s Free Agents

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 10:37am CDT

ESPN.com's Buster Olney writes that there's a chance no player will sign a contract longer than four years during the coming offseason. Here's a handful of the many predictions he makes about baseball's next class of free agent talent.

Matt Holliday, whose power numbers are pedestrian so far, is in position for a deal worth three years and $30-35MM. Not much when you consider many expected him to sign for over $100MM, but he and Scott Boras still have four months to change the perception that Holliday needs Coors Field.
Since Aubrey Huff's hitting cleanup in a good lineup, his numbers figure to be strong enough for him to command a two-year deal (maybe even three).
Orlando Hudson's hot bat and spectacular glove make him a candidate for a three or four-year deal if he can continue producing at a similar rate.
Johnny Damon could ride "Coors Field East" to a decent contract, but at 36, he's unlikely to see offers longer than two years.
John Lackey's "likely to get the biggest deal of any free agent this winter" and could be the only player to sign for more than $50MM. Jason Bay would likely command over $50MM, I would think.
Olney says it's unknown whether the Red Sox will bid three or four years on him and adds that the Yankees may not bid aggressively on Bay since they need room for Derek Jeter.

Draft Update: Indians, Shelby Miller

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 10:08am CDT

In a video by The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Indians director of amateur scouting Brad Grant says he sees the draft as "pitcher heavy" and could very well take an arm with the 15th overall pick. Here are some more highlights:

The Indians will address organizational need, not major league need.
Signability is a factor.
Cleveland has a budget for the draft, but could go over-slot on a first round player.
Grant admitted he'd love to draft Stephen Strasburg and is visibly in awe of the righty's talent.

The Indians likely won't have the chance to draft high school pitcher Shelby Miller, but as MLB.com's Daniel Paulling reports, the Texan has drawn tons of interest. Between 30 and 40 scouts regularly appear at Miller's games to see a fastball that's clocked in the upper 90s. He figures to be selected within the first ten picks of the draft.

Odds And Ends: Red Sox, Oswalt, Angels

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 9:43am CDT

Links to start the week off…

Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe suggests a few ways of improving the Red Sox. He says acquiring a catcher like Victor Martinez or Jarrod Saltalamacchia would set the team up for this year and beyond.
Think the Tigers are happy they parted with Matt Joyce to acquire Edwin Jackson? Aubrey Huff told the Detroit Free Press that Jackson and Justin Verlander are the best back-to-back starters he's seen in his nine-year career.
ESPN.com's Amy Nelson says (via Twitter) that Roy Oswalt's open to being traded but would like to remain in the NL.
Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times says the Angels are "believed to be exploring" trades to improve their 'pen.
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle argues that Astros GM Ed Wade "cut corners" when assembling his pitching staff.
Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu likes his current lineup, according to MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger.
ESPN.com's Keith Law says the two college pitchers who threw 129 and 169 pitches in a 25 inning game were exposed to injury unfairly.
Brian Joura counts down the worst #1 overall draft choices in baseball history on FantasyPros911.
And I'm thrilled to be stepping in for a bit here on MLBTR as Tim takes care of far more important things.

Yankees Likely To Part With Matsui After Season

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 9:17am CDT

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post Yankees executives say "there is almost zero chance that Hideki Matsui will be re-signed after the season." Even a strong finish this season wouldn't figure to be enough for the Yankees to bring Matsui back, because they want more roster flexibility. Players like Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez could all benefit from DHing at times, but that's difficult if Matsui can't play in the field regularly. Matsui has said he would like to remain a Yankee and he gives the team a presence in the Japanese market.

Sherman suggests there's no guarantee Matsui will be able to make even a few million dollars next year and says the traditional positionless DH has a limited place in the game now. Matsui will make $13MM this year.

Knobler On Brewers, Vazquez

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 1, 2009 at 8:59am CDT

After chatting with GM Doug Melvin, Danny Knobler of CBS Sports points out that the Brewers could make a deal even though they're not in trade talks at the moment. As Melvin says, the team has "done it every year." Melvin says the challenge for the Brewers, who could pursue pitching or an infielder, "is identifying what [they] need." Knobler identifies three barriers the Brewers would have to overcome should they decide to pursue Jake Peavy:

The Brewers would have to agree to part with top prospects.
Owner Mark Attanasio would have to agree to take on Peavy's contract.
Peavy would have to agree to come to Milwaukee.

On another note, Knobler spoke to a "scout familiar with the Braves" who suggests that Atlanta could consider dealing Javier Vazquez, who makes $11.5MM this year and next, for a big bat to help out the struggling Braves offense.

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