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Archives for July 2010

Roy Oswalt Rumors: Friday

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The Twins, Cardinals and Phillies are talking to the Astros about Roy Oswalt, who seems to prefer one of those clubs to the others. Yesterday we heard that the Cardinals are Oswalt’s first choice and are a “very real” threat to acquire him. The clubs have struggled to find a fit, possibly because the Cardinals want the Astros to take on salary. That's not the only complication, as Oswalt may decide to demand that his $16MM option for 2012 is picked up. Here are today’s rumors, with more to come throughout the day:

  • Oswalt told Alyson Footer of the Astros that his 2012 option won't be a deal-breaker if the Astros approach him with a deal that he likes (Twitter link).
  • The Twins are not in on Oswalt and have not even contacted the Astros about him, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Rosenthal confirms that the Dodgers are talking to the Astros about their ace, but suggests L.A. may not have the prospects to satisfy GM Ed Wade.
  • The Dodgers are actively discussing Oswalt with the Astros and the teams have exchanged names, according to Stark. The Dodgers would likely need the Astros to pick up some salary in any trade.
  • The Astros would prefer not to trade Oswalt within the division, so they continue talking to the Phillies, while maintaining contact with the Cardinals, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark. A source tells ESPN that the Cardinals would include major leaguers Jon Jay or Brendan Ryan in a deal. The Astros, who would like to engage other clubs, appear to want a catcher and/or corner infielders.
  • The Phillies are still shopping Jayson Werth, partly to see if they can obtain prospects that they could use in an Oswalt trade, according to Stark. However, they don’t appear to be making progress on a Werth trade.
  • The Cardinals aim to add an innings-eater this summer, though not necessarily an ace, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
  • Oswalt would consider re-structuring his contract to accomodate a trade to the Cardinals, but he still wants his 2012 option picked up in a deal, according to Amy Nelson of ESPN (via Twitter). Re-structuring the deal would likely mean deferring salary (Twitter link).
  • An NL exec tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the Astros are looking to obtain “two top prospects, a third minor-league player and a young player who is ‘major league ready’” if they trade Oswalt. Cards GM John Mozeliak didn’t comment on specific trade possibilities, but said the team is exploring a “spectrum” of opportunities. 

David DeJesus Out For The Year

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The Royals have lost their best outfielder and their best trade chip. David DeJesus has a complete ligament tear in his right thumb, is out for the year and will likely undergo surgery Monday, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter). DeJesus crashed into the outfield wall last night and the Royals placed him on the 15-day DL this morning.

The outfielder's strong all-around play and team-friendly contract made him a consideration for teams like the Giants, Padres, Red Sox and Rays. The Royals will still have the option of buying DeJesus out for $500K or paying him $6MM for 2011. The 30-year-old spent most of his time in right field, but he also played in center. He finishes the season with a .318/.384/.443 line.

The news is a major blow for the Royals, who miss out on the chance to acquire valuable pieces for DeJesus. The team still has trade chips (Kyle Farnsworth, Willie Bloomquist, Jose Guillen) but none appear to be as valuable as DeJesus was.

Lilly Can Block Trade To Rays

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Ted Lilly can block a trade to the Rays, but not to the Mets or Tigers, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Ken Rosenthal reported over the weekend that Lilly can block trades to ten teams, including the Twins and Phillies. Morosi notes that interest in Lilly picked up this week after his strong outing Wednesday. There was already plenty of interest in the left-hander and it appears that the Cubs will deal him.

The 34-year-old projects to be a Type A free agent after the season, though not by much. That means teams could obtain picks in the 2011 draft if they're willing to risk an offer of arbitration. Lilly has a 3.88 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 this year and he makes $12MM (about $4.8MM remains).

Odds & Ends: Greinke, Cardinals, DeJesus, Guillen

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Links for Friday, exactly one year after the Rockies acquired Rafael Betancourt…

Lyle Overbay Has No-Trade Clause

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Lyle Overbay has a no-trade clause, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The first baseman still has $2.8MM remaining on his $7MM contract and there aren’t many contenders for whom Overbay’s bat would be an upgrade, so Morosi’s source doubts the clause will become an issue this month.

Overbay will become a free agent after the season and the Blue Jays have top prospect Brett Wallace poised to take over at first, but they don't necessarily want to deal Overbay. The 33-year-old has recovered from a slow start and his line now stands at .251/.329/.413, but it’s hard to imagine that contenders other than the Angels would give him much of a look. That said, the no-trade clause is worth noting, since a lot can change in a week.

Rays Don’t Expect To Acquire Werth

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A Rays source tells Yahoo's Tim Brown that the team doesn't expect to acquire Jayson Werth (Twitter link). Before David DeJesus hit the DL, the Royals outfielder was a more likely target for Tampa Bay, according to Brown's source. The Phillies are shopping Werth, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. They would like to obtain prospects – possibly so they can send them to Houston for Roy Oswalt – and Werth would be able to command some quality young players.

Werth projects as a Type A free agent and in spite of a recent slide (.612 OPS and zero homers since June 26th), has solid numbers for the year. His .279/.369/.498 line is quite good and he leads the league in doubles. Teams like the Rays, White Sox and Giants are looking for big bats, and the Phils can call on Domonic Brown – arguably the top prospect in the minor leagues – to replace Werth.

Orioles Designate Scott Moore For Assignment

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The Orioles designated Scott Moore for assignment to make room for Brian Roberts, according to the team. Roberts is returning from an abdominal strain that has sidelined him since early April, so the Orioles made room by cutting Moore, a 26-year-old utility infielder.

Moore doesn't have Ty Wigginton's power, but he can also play first, second or third. In 96 plate appearances this year, Moore has a .209/.274/.337 line with three homers. He was designated for assignment earlier in the year, when the O's finalized their deal with Wigginton.

Royals Like Jeff Francoeur

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The Royals 'like' Jeff Francoeur, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The Mets would like to trade Francoeur, and Royals GM Dayton Moore was in the Braves front office when the right-fielder made a name for himself in Atlanta, so the Mets and Royals could become trade partners. About $2MM remains on Francoeur's salary, and that's an obstacle for the Royals, according to Rosenthal.

The 26-year-old told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork that he wouldn't mind getting traded. Even if he stays in New York for the rest of the season, Francoeur may get a change of scenery this winter, since he's a non-tender candidate. Francoeur has hit .247/.297/.380 this year, though he did post an .836 OPS after the Mets traded for him in 2009.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Gillies, Oswalt, Hart, Lilly

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On this date ten years ago, a 36-year-old Barry Larkin signed a three-year contract extension with the Reds worth $27MM. This came a day after Larkin invoked his ten-and-five rights to block a trade to the Mets, who agreed to send then-top prospect Alex Escobar and two others to Cincinnati. New York dealt Melvin Mora and three other players to Baltimore for Mike Bordick five days later, filling their shortstop hole. Larkin, the first 30-30 shortstop in baseball history, hit just .257/.328/.372 during the life of the extension.

Here are some links with the trade deadline seemingly right around the corner…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Jack Of All Trades: Fred McGriff

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What do you think of when you hear Fred McGriff's name? For me, the answer is Terry McGriff, whose baseball card I often pulled from a pack of Topps, Donruss or when desperate for my baseball card fix, Score. The excitement over getting the Crime Dog quickly gave way, as I wondered who, exactly, Terry McGriff was.

For others, McGriff's name brings to mind the blissfully consistent first baseman who hit 30 home runs ten times (and hit 28, 27 and 27 in three others).

But for a surprising number of teams, McGriff conjured up the phrase: trade him.

This is not to say that McGriff was considered a clubhouse cancer, or even an unskilled player. But He was traded four times and sold once en route to the same number of career home runs as Lou Gehrig. Let's take a look at who got the best of those deals – in nearly every case, the answer is "whichever team got Fred McGriff."

  • The Yankees selected McGriff in the ninth round of the 1981 draft. But in an inexplicable deal, they traded him, along with Dave Collins, Mike Morgan and cash, to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Dale Murray and Tom Dodd on December 9, 1982. If one trade could represent the excesses of the Yankees at their worst, it is this one. The Yanks brought in Collins as a high-priced free agent the season before to replace Reggie Jackson. After Collins hit .253/.315/.330, the Yankees shipped him out. McGriff, of course, had just hit .272/.413/.456 in rookie ball. Mike Morgan, who will be the subject of a future Jack of All Trades piece himself, had another 20 years and 2,532.1 innings left in the tank. And what did the Yankees get? In Dodd, a slugger with a career .295 on-base percentage in the minor leagues, and Murray, a veteran swingman whose ERA never saw the good side of 4.00 again.
  • Fast forward to December 5, 1990. McGriff has by now developed into an elite player, posting an OPS+ of 166 in 1989 and 154 overall as a Blue Jay. But in a four-player trade, Toronto traded McGriff and Tony Fernandez to the Padres for Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar. It's easy to say Toronto got the best of this deal, since Carter and Alomar were essential parts of two world championships. John Olerud replaced McGriff at first base, so the Blue Jays kept getting production. But McGriff complicates the assumption that the Blue Jays won this trade. He continued his essential McGriff-ness, posting a 149 OPS+ in three seasons with San Diego. Carter's best single-season OPS+ was 124, and his overall OPS+ with the Blue Jays was 104. Even Alomar posted just an OPS+ of 123 with Toronto, though that stat tells just part of the story, since Alomar was a terrific defender and baserunner. Ultimately, Carter plus Alomar probably beats McGriff plus Fernandez (who wasn't very good with San Diego). But McGriff might have been the most productive player of the four after the trade.
  • And yet, the Padres dealt the 29-year-old McGriff on July 18, 1993 to their division rival, the Atlanta Braves, for a trio of young players: Vince Moore, Donnie Elliott and Melvin Nieves. It is fair to say Atlanta won this trade, though Nieves eventually put up a pair of 20-plus home run seasons with the Tigers. McGriff hit .310/.392/.612 for Atlanta after the trade, then showed it was no fluke by hitting .318/.389/.623 in 1994 over what approximated a full season. Three decent seasons of 115 OPS+ hitting followed, before the Braves unceremoniously sold McGriff to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
  • McGriff alternated between decent seasons and excellent ones with Tampa Bay. And in his fourth year in Tampa, hitting .318/.387/.536, the Chicago Cubs decided they could use him for the stretch run. McGriff decided he wasn't so sure about the Cubs and invoked his no-trade clause. He eventually relented and the Cubs acquired him on July 27, 2001 for Manny Aybar and Jason Smith. The Cubs finished third in 2001 and fifth in 2002, but it was no fault of McGriff's. He posted a .282/.383/.559 line after the deal in 2001, and had his last McGriff-like year in 2002, with a line of .273/.353/.505 and 30 home runs.

Put simply, no one who ever traded for Fred McGriff had reason to regret it.

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