Let's check in on the Rumblings and Grumblings of ESPN's Jayson Stark…
- One exec Stark spoke to implied the Padres may not be motivated to trade closer Heath Bell because he's under team control through 2011 and signed at $4MM for 2010. Bell's salary could double in '11, though, and I'm not convinced the Padres will want to pay it.
- Stark talked to a GM who thinks Bell makes sense for the Twins as a backup plan in case Joe Nathan needs a 16-month Tommy John recovery period to get back to normal. Stark learned that a significant part of Nathan's salary this year is insured, so that frees up some money this year. But again, will the Twins want to pay nearly $20MM to two relievers in 2011?
- Should Houston's troubles continue, Stark wonders if Roy Oswalt would consider waiving his no-trade clause. He says a friend of Oswalt believes the pitcher's preferred destinations are Atlanta, St. Louis, and Texas. It's hard to see those clubs making a play for Oswalt, especially with his large salaries for '10 and '11.
- Stark guesses the Nationals are more likely to trade Adam Dunn before the deadline than sign him to an extension. Last we heard, ESPN's Buster Olney said there were no ongoing extension talks.
- Twins catching prospect Wilson Ramos has been labeled as one of the game's best trade chips, but assistant GM Rob Antony says that "right now, we'd lean toward keeping him."
- If he can't find a big league job, Kevin Millar could sign with the St. Paul Saints, where his pro career began. Millar was released by the Cubs on March 30th.
That’s an interesting tidbit about Nathan’s salary being insured. Is this common? I think this is the first I’ve heard of something like that. Props to the Twins though for mitigating some risk.
I remember most of Hudson’s salary was insured when he went down with TJ two years ago.
Actually, the practice is quite common. The Orioles kept Albert Belle on the 40-men roster for a long time after his degenerative syndrome kicked him out of baseball as a way to ensure that his salary was covered by insurance.
It seems to be a common practice, after all the Orioles kept Albert Belle on the 40-men roster for years after he was out of baseball because of contractual requirement of the insurance company that covered his salary. However I think that the contract, even if it’s not payed by the club, remains in the payroll and could affect calculations for luxury taxes.
I’m sure if the Braves didn’t already have six extremely viable starters (I’m throwing Medlen in there) they would love to get Oswalt as pitching is their MO.
St. Louis would be an interesting spot if they were willing to open up their payroll again to get another ace-like starter to have a true big three. I don’t think they have enough available prospects to lure Houston into trading Oswalt to a division rival.
Texas has enough starting pitching that they don’t need a high priced starter like Oswalt.
I hope Kenny Williams is looking into Dunn and Adrian Gonzalez
He may not need either of them if Andruw Jones keeps playing like he does. I would rather have Andruw (who can play every outfield position well and steal bases) instead of some bum DH who costs us a lot of money and/or prospects.
Jones has stolen 29 bases over the past 7 seasons, averaging just over 4 per season. I wouldn’t count on him to be swiping too many…
Obviously, base stealing is not his mosty attractive quality but after losing 30 pounds he can swipe more than 4 and he is returning to great form as an outfielder. Andruw has won 10 gold gloves and keep in mind that he is only 32 years old. How many gold gloves do you think Adam Dunn will win? At $500k, Jones could be the best signing of the year.
this is true that he is not a base stealer..but he will steal 100% more than dunn, also he can play legit defense in the out field where as dunn is a Dh in the AL and thats about it, Kenny will more than likely be looking at gonzo more so than Dunn…but dont count himm out I could see kenny looking mroe at roy oswalt than dunn considering he and peavy are best friends
I would definitely put my money on Jones to steal more bases on Dunn, but did you know that since Dunn came into the league in ’01 he has 10 more SB’s? Just something I found interesting.
thats really interesting i wonder how many of them were straight steals or if they were double steals and he was the trail runner…ala bobby arbeu running behind chone last season which helped him get to 30 i believe stolen bases
I don’t see the connection between Andruw Jones’s & Adam Dunn’s respective defensive capabilities.
what do you mean? jones is a 10 time gold glover in Center and Dunn probably has no clue what a gold glove is even for
You still haven’t answered the question. What connection is there between Andruw Jones’s & Adam Dunn’s respective defensive capabilities?
whats your question? i dont quite understand? Are you asking who is better in terms of defense? Andruw is a ten time gold glover and adam dunn has never come close….If im paying for stirke outs and home runs im going to take the better defensivly guy over the bad defensive guy every single day
whats your question? i dont quite understand? Are you asking who is better in terms of defense? Andruw is a ten time gold glover and adam dunn has never come close….If im paying for stirke outs and home runs im going to take the better defensivly guy over the bad defensive guy every single day
I have said it before, but Dunn makes so much sense DHing in the Seattle its rediculous. Its too bad that Jack Z is commited to using Griffey and Sweeney there.
I understand the Nats building for the future – but if they trade Dunn, they have no lineup. At least with Dunn, the 3-4-5 (Zimmermand, Dunn, Willingham) is solid.
who cares if your not in contention anyways.
If you go to the games, you’d like to see a Major League team.
If that’s your desire, you’re watching the wrong team.
You’re right, I’m going to go out and get a Red Sox cap and then act as if the other 28 MLB teams should be my farm system.
Which team are you excluding from that total thus preventing it from coming 29?
The Yankees, of course. Big media only cares about the Yanks and Sox.
That shouldn’t have any affect on which team you choose to root for. It also has no affect on the World Series success of those teams.
Is Kevin Millar the last replacement player still in the Majors? I do not really remember.
I think Matt Herges, Ron Mahay, & Damian Miller are still around. Not sure if they’re on a major league roster or not though.
I’m guessing I’m too young to get the reference so I’ll just ask, what does he mean by replacement player?
Replacement players were those who crossed the picket line during the strike.
It would be insane for the Padres to hold onto Bell. His value can only go down. The fact that he’s cheap just makes him a better trade chip.
I’m sure the Braves would like to have Oswalt but our pitching is stacked right now so there is really no need for a starting pitcher.
The Astros would never deal with the Cardinals, no matter how far out they are. Plus, we don’t need him. Our SP looks solid as of right now with Penny and Garcia looking solid, and Lohse is paid too much to be sent down to the bullpen. It just doesn’t make sense. I would love the guy, but we just can’t take him.
Wandy Rodriguez has more value and is easier to trade!
Where Oswalt needs to be is with the Mets but I doubt he would go to New York.
Also if they are getting rid of Oswalt they might as well dump everyone else and go into full rebuilding mode
Oswalt isn’t all that special anymore. He’s lost a lot of velocity & stamina. Not that he would ever wind up in St. Louis, but just for example, Penny looks way better than Oswalt has for a couple of years now. I’m not 100% sold on the Braves rotation but he definitely couldn’t crack that one & Texas? Give me a break; he’d get rocked.
I have to disagree with that. I’ve watched him in his first two starts this year, and his stuff is still there. Fastball works around 93-94 mph with that big breaking, 70 mph curve. I think his problem the last few years has been a lack of motivation. If he finds a renewed passion for the game (ie, a pennant race), then I think he’ll make some team very happy
I’m sure Oswalt would waive his no trade if enough bulldozers were being thrown his way. There is no way that the Astros will trade with the Cardinals, but I don’t think the Cardinals could afford him at this point in time. I do think the Cards would be able to have the cap space to get Oswalt after this contract is up because I have a feeling that this is Carpenter’s last contract.
Wandy Rodriguez may be younger, but I doubt he has more trade value than Oswalt. Rodriguez does not possess any + rated pitches and hasn’t looked good this year. Against the Cards, Rodriguez did not induce any swing and misses. Every pitch that was swung at made contact.
two years ago, the braves would have traded the farm for oswalt…