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Archives for July 2009

Olney’s Latest: Atlanta’s Potential Trade Partners

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ESPN.com's Buster Olney chimes in with some players and teams that could matchup in a trade with the Braves, who could dangle Javier Vazquez and/or Yunel Escobar as bait. Most of the rumors are just Olney's own speculation, but let's round 'em up anyway.

  • The Red Sox have liked Escobar for a while, but don't match up very well for a trade.
  • Olney mentions that Jacoby Ellsbury might be the only fit since JD Drew is owed a ton of money and Jason Bay will be a free agent after the year, but that wouldn't work for  Boston since they would then need to find another centerfielder.
  • Olney speculates that the Red Sox could use their young pitching to engage a third team in a trade, mentioning that Matt LaPorta, Shin-Soo Choo and Corey Hart could be a good fit.
  • Boston could eat some of the money left on Julio Lugo's deal to give Atlanta a stop-gap shortstop should they deal Escobar.
  • The Red Sox are not interested in Jeff Francoeur.
  • If Milwaukee and Atlanta discussed a Vazquez-Hart swap, the Brewers would likely have to kick in another piece.
  • The Twins could offer one of their many outfielders in exchange for Escobar. Delmon Young might not be enough to entice the Braves, but Michael Cuddyer or Denard Span could be.
  • The Dodgers would love to add Vazquez to their rotation, but Juan Pierre probably wouldn't be enough given his lack of power.
  • The A's could package Matt Holliday and Orlando Cabrera, both free agents after the season, for Escobar, who would step in as Oakland's shortstop of the future.

Edes’ Latest: Giants, Teahen, Relievers

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Currently standing atop the National League wildcard standings, the Giants are looking for a lefthanded bat to add to their lineup according to Gordon Edes of Yahoo Sports. He cites a major league executive who says that San Francisco has focused their efforts on three first baseman: Nick Johnson, Aubrey Huff and Adam LaRoche. Edes also says that the Giants have spoken to the Padres about a potential Jonathan Sanchez–Scott Hairston swap.

Let's round up the rest of Edes' rumors…

  • Royals GM Dayton Moore has heard from multiple teams about Mark Teahen, including the Red Sox, Cubs, Angels and Giants.
  • The Braves "might be inclined to take a look at" Jose Guillen. The Royals would love to discuss Yunel Escobar.
  • We've heard this before, but if Boston moves a reliever, it will most likely be Takashi Saito.
  • Padres' closer Heath Bell may command the most attention amongst relievers.
  • The Astros are likely to hold on to LaTroy Hawkins and Jose Valverde, barring a collapse before the trade deadline.
  • The Blue Jays would love to move BJ Ryan, but are more likely to see interest in Jason Frasor and Scott Downs.
  • Bronson Arroyo is back on the trade block.

Phillies, Rangers Interested In Wang

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Saturday: Heyman says the Phillies offered "a prospect apparently not to Yankees' liking" for Wang.

Friday: SI's Jon Heyman tweets that the Phillies and Rangers are among the teams interested in Yankees righthander Chien-Ming Wang. We first learned of Philadelphia's interest in the sinkerballer last weekend, but the Rangers are new to the discussion. With the recent news that Ben Sheets may not pitch all at this season, Texas could turn to Wang for help as they prepare to make a second half run at the first place Angels. They certainly have the young players to offer in exchange for Wang, or any other pitcher in the big leagues for that matter. 

Wang famously struggled earlier in the season but has settled down of late, allowed three earned runs or less in his last four starts.

Mets Unlikely To Make Major Trade

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MetsBlog'com's Michael Baron says that prior to last night's game, Mets GM Omar Minaya said that making a major trade is unlikely because many teams are still in contention.

“Some of our DL guys are probably going to be the reinforcements. But it’s also fair to say that we’re going to try to go out there and look around and see if we can do something that can fit. If we can get all our guys back healthy, our healthy guys, it’s going to be hard to make trades that are going to be better than Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado.”

While Minaya is certainly correct when he says that getting his own players back and healthy is better than any trade they could make, Baron wonders if the team is putting too much faith in their return, particularly Jose Reyes since his injury involves his legs.

Aroldis Chapman May Be 26 Years Old

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Jack Curry of the New York Times reports that Cuban lefthander Aroldis Chapman may be 26 years old rather than the 21 he was believed to be.

"[Chapman's] age was reported Thursday as 21, but reports in March at the World Baseball Classic said he was 26."

Chapman defected on Wednesday while in the Netherlands, and is considered the best lefthanded pitcher in the world not pitching in the Major Leagues.  Obviously the age issue could affect Chapman's payday.  But he still figures to draw plenty of interest, as did Jose Contreras at age 30.

Discussion: Players On One Year Contracts

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Last offseason we watched as many established veterans, some former All-Stars, settled for one year contracts in the tough economic climate. Some players were just holding on for one last year, others were looking to earn themselves a multi-year deal after proving their worth in 2009.

Let's discuss how these players have performed, and whether or not they've put themselves in position to land that big contract after the season. Here's some players who fit the bill:

  • Bobby Abreu: .299-.399-.441 in 308 plate appearances. The Angels are paying him just $5MM this year, but he'll turn 36 in Spring Training.
  • Rocco Baldelli: .289-.349-.487 in just 83 plate appearances. Still just 27, Rocco's guaranteed only $500k but has an incentive laden contract.
  • Jon Garland: 4.81 ERA in 16 starts. After making $7.25MM this year he has a mutual option worth $10MM in the offseason. He'll turn 30 in September.
  • Orlando Hudson: .294-.362-.425 in 357 plate appearances. He's making $3.38MM this year with bonuses, and will turn 32 in the offseason.
  • Felipe Lopez: .303-.359-.411 in 326 plate appearances. He'll earn $3.5MM in 2009, and is still just 29 years old.
  • Carl Pavano: 5.56 ERA in 16 starts. He's guaranteed $1.5M but has over $5MM in incentives in his contract. He'll turn 34 this winter.
  • Brad Penny: 4.79 ERA in 15 starts.At age 31, he's making $5MM.

So what do you guys think, have any of these players earned themselves a multi-year contract?

Odds & Ends: Boras, Nationals, Bedard, White Sox, Giants, Astros

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Some evening links for those of you who haven't checked out for the long holiday weekend yet.

  • Billy Witz of the NY Times wrote about the relationship between the Dodgers and superagent Scott Boras.
  • The Nationals have agreed to terms with five international players according to Bill Ladson. A formal announcement of the signings will come in a few days.
  • Pete McElroy of MASNsports.com notes that the Nats have signed a pair of draft picks, including fourth rounder AJ Morris.
  • Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times notes that Erik Bedard threw a 54-pitch simulated game today and will start on Tuesday. Teams will have just enough time to evaluate him before the trade deadline.
  • Will Carroll tweets that the Giants and White Sox "want to make a deal quick." He later backs off a bit and says that the two teams won't necessarily made a trade with each other, but both are looking for good deals.
  • Kiley McDaniel has a list of four international players the Astros have signed.
  • Remember, you can get all your rumors instantly via MLBTR's Twitter feed.

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