Heyman On D’Backs, Astros, Royals, Soriano

You thought Cliff Lee was drawing a lot of interest now? One GM told Jon Heyman of SI.com that 12-15 teams could show interest in the Mariners lefty before the July 31st trade deadline. Here are the rest of Heyman’s rumors, as we wonder which teams are going to be calling Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik about Lee:

• The D’Backs, who just fired their GM, are talking to clubs about five players, including Dan Haren. Rival GMs agree that Arizona would have to be “overwhelmed” to move Haren, but the D’Backs are seriously considering dealing Adam LaRoche, Kelly Johnson and Chad Qualls. They are also listening to offers for Edwin Jackson, who authored a no-hitter over the weekend.
• Interim manager Kirk Gibson and interim GM Jerry Dipoto appear to be candidates to take on their responsibilities on a more permanent basis.
• An executive told Heyman that “just about everyone but Hunter Pence” is available on the Astros. Not surprisingly, one GM told Heyman that no team will take on Carlos Lee and his contract.
• A rival GM believes the Royals would deal Joakim Soria and another GM believes David DeJesus is better than Curtis Granderson or Johnny Damon.
• The Cubs would love to move Alfonso Soriano, according to a GM.
• There has been no noticeable progress between the Brewers and Prince Fielder on an extension, but at least one executive doubts that Prince would fetch much of a return in a trade.