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.
Buchholz And Bowden On Boston Rotation
WEDNESDAY: WEEI's DJ Bean talked to Buchholz, who clarified his comments from earlier this week. The young pitcher explained, "My goal is to pitch in Boston." Maybe Buchholz won't squeeze his way in this year, but I imagine at the worst he'll have a spot in the 2010 rotation.
MONDAY: Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden both believe their impressive starts at Triple A Pawtucket would translate into big-league success. Buchholz told Mike Giardi of NECN.com that he's ready to help Boston, but said "if not that team, I want to be in the big leagues and I do want to go somewhere where I'll be able to play and pitch every fifth day." Buchholz did not suggest that he's hoping for a trade, but he's clearly eager to return to the majors. Check out Joe Haggerty's transcript on Hacks with Haggs.
Discussion: The Reds
John Fay at the Cincinnati Enquirer got a hold of Reds president Bob Castellini and wondered if the Reds would add any payroll through a trade. Castellini's response:
"We've got some flexibility. We're not looking. We've got some key guys in sick bay right now."
The "key guys" he's referring to are Joey Votto, who's supposedly on track for a rehab assignment, Edwin Encarnacion, and Edinson Volquez. All are due back before the All-Star break.
After a win tonight, the Reds stand two games above .500 at 33-31, but they're still in good enough shape for the NL Central, where they're only three games behind the first-place Brewers and two games behind the Wild Card-leading Cardinals (pending tonight's results). While their team ERA sits at a stellar 3.86, good for fifth in the league, their team OPS sits at fifth-to-last in the majors at .710.
If you're the Reds GM, are Votto and Encarnacion the answers to your offensive woes? Or should they pursue a bat such as, say, Aubrey Huff or Luke Scott, as suggested by Jon Paul Morosi, or Mark DeRosa, as put forth by SI's Tom Verducci? Or something completely different altogether? Discuss your take.
Odds & Ends: Cubs, Brewers, Twins
Some notes from around the horn as another top potential trade piece, Erik Bedard, hits the DL:
- Dave Cameron at Fangraphs gives a neat Pitch/FX examination of Mark DiFelice's stellar year.
- ESPN relays an AP report on the Cubs sale, with a rep from the Ricketts family calling stories that the conversations were stalling "untrue."
- Ken Davidoff at Newsday believes the market for starting pitching is thinning, as he sees Jarrod Washburn as the top option available.
- The Twins signed a couple draft picks today, including second-round pick P Billy Bullock, says Tyler Mason at MLB.com.
- The Indians also inked five more of their draftees today, says Dennis Manoloff at the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.
- A Pirates 26th-round high school draftee, one Matt Dermody, struck out every batter he faced in a six-inning perfect game. His teammate threw a no-hitter immediately after in the double-header.
Manuel Wants Arms for Phillies
Scott Lauber at the Delaware News-Journal got a hold of Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and asked if the manager would rather obtain a starter or a reliever. Manuel says he wants both, but would probably prefer a starter.
"But what I'm talking about is a horse. I'm not talking about a guy who's just going to fill out our rotation," Manuel said.
Lauber surmises that Manuel wants a Jake Peavy or Roy Oswalt-type, though Peavy is hurt and probably isn't an option, and the Astros aren't completely out of it just yet. Do the Phillies need a bullpen or rotation arm more? Or something else? Who should they go after?
Padres Acquire Mike O’Connor
Bill Ladson at MLB.com reports that the Nationals have traded lefty Mike O'Connor to the Padres for a player to be named later. The Nationals reportedly made the move to clear roster space at Triple-A Syracuse, though it's unclear who would take his spot.
The 28-year-old O'Connor was once considered one of the top Nats pitching prospects. It's not certain where he'll fit in to the Padres' plans just yet. He hasn't pitched since last year, but has accumulated a 5.45 ERA and a 63/56 K/BB ratio in 114 major-league innings.
Pedro In Talks With Cubs, Rays?
The Associated Press talked to Pedro Martinez, who says he has had discussions with the Cubs and Rays.
"There's a good chance I'll be signing soon, but there still isn't anything firm," Martinez said.
This fits in with reports last week that Pedro had worked out with the teams, though Marc Topkin at the St. Petersburg Times talked with a Rays official who said it was "very unlikely" anything would come of it. Martinez also said he wants to pitch for a contender, because he needs the "emotion of competition."
Where will he land? Keep up with all the latest coverage of Pedro Martinez here.
Possible Type B Free Agents
Yesterday we listed the projected Type A free agents. Today let's take a look at the projected Type B free agents, based on work done by Eddie Bajek for MLB Trade Rumors.
Catchers
- Rod Barajas
- Ivan Rodriguez
- Ramon Hernandez*
- Brian Schneider
- Jason Kendall
First Base/Outfield/DH
- Vladimir Guerrero
- Hideki Matsui
- Carl Crawford*
- Marlon Byrd
- Hank Blalock
- Carlos Delgado
- Brian Giles
- Garret Anderson
- Jerry Hairston Jr.
- Reed Johnson
- Mike Cameron
- Rick Ankiel
- Nick Johnson
Second Base/Third Base/Shortstop
- Placido Polanco
- Adrian Beltre
- Mark DeRosa
- Pedro Feliz*
- Freddy Sanchez*
- Felipe Lopez
Starting Pitchers
- John Lackey
- Andy Pettitte
- Erik Bedard
- Tim Wakefield*
- Justin Duchscherer
- Randy Johnson
- Randy Wolf
- Todd Wellemeyer
- Doug Davis
- Braden Looper*
Relievers
- Darren Oliver
- Brian Shouse*
- Rafael Betancourt
- Luis Ayala
- Troy Percival
- Fernando Rodney
- Russ Springer
- LaTroy Hawkins
- Will Ohman
- Scott Eyre
- J.J. Putz*
- Joe Beimel
- Trever Miller
* denotes a 2010 option.
Keep in mind that there is a lot of time left for these designations to change. Free agents on the border between Type B and nothing: Ramon Castro, Mike Redmond, Gregg Zaun, Jose Molina, John Smoltz, Jamey Wright, Chad Bradford, Brandon Lyon, Eddie Guardado, Fernando Tatis, Jack Wilson, Brett Myers, Jon Garland, Jason Marquis, Ron Villone, Chan Ho Park, and Bob Howry.