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Archives for July 2010

Blue Jays Make Gregg, Frasor, Downs Available

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10:47am: The Jays have made Gregg, Frasor, and Scott Downs available, reports WEEI's Rob Bradford.  Bradford feels that the Red Sox are a potential match for one of them.

Frasor's control has slipped this year, especially against lefties.  He's getting more groundballs than last year, though more hits have dropped in too.  Frasor has been better lately and remains a useful arm.  He has $1.21MM remaining on his contract.  At the moment, he profiles as a Type B free agent after the season.  Downs, meanwhile, has trimmed walks and hits compared to '09.  The lefty is owed $1.83MM; MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith analyzed the potential Type A free agent a week ago.

7:50am: The Blue Jays have made closer Kevin Gregg available, tweets Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun.  Elliott adds that the Jays re-routed a scout to Seattle for the final two games of this weekend's Yankees-Mariners series, implying that the Jays might consider the Yanks a potential match for Gregg.

Gregg doesn't appear concerned with trade rumors, based on his comments to MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith Saturday.  Gregg's one-year, $2.75MM deal with the Blue Jays seemed curious in February, but he was installed as the team's closer in April when Jason Frasor struggled.  Gregg has a 3.67 ERA, 9.7 K/9, and 4.7 BB/9 with three home runs allowed in 34.3 innings this year.  He's saved 20 of 23 and bumped his groundball rate from last year.

After the season Gregg's team can choose to retain him for zero, one, or two years.  His club option is for $4.5MM in 2011 or $8.75MM for 2011-12.  He currently profiles as a Type B free agent, and an arbitration offer seems possible.  Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos figures to aim for more than the value of one supplemental draft pick if he trades Gregg now.  Gregg has $913K remaining on his contract, plus a potential $750K buyout on the option.

Padres Prefer To Avoid Rental Players

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Padres GM Jed Hoyer would much prefer to acquire players under control beyond 2010, reports Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union Tribune.  It's a preference Hoyer shares with Giants GM Brian Sabean, who came right out and said "we are not interested in free agents" on June 30th.

The Padres share another desire with their division-rival Giants: both clubs are looking for a bat.  Padres director of minor league operations Mike Wickham explained to Sullivan, "We have to do something to give us a chance to score more runs, knowing our pitching is (probably) going to regress a little bit. And we don't have to give away the farm to do it."

This is my speculation, but it seems likely that Hoyer and Sabean are inquiring on many of the same players.  David DeJesus, Jose Bautista, Corey Hart, and Josh Willingham could be matches for either club.

So far free agent Jermaine Dye has been linked to the Padres but not the Giants.  Dye may not be controllable beyond this year, but he'd only cost money.  Another player recently on the Padres' radar: Cliff Lee.  Hoyer apparently inquired, but Sullivan says the Padres' GM was "dismissed with some variation of, 'Go away, kid, you bother me.'" 

What The Mariners Wanted For Cliff Lee

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Annoyed your favorite team didn't strike a deal with the Mariners for Cliff Lee?  At least consider the details of Jack Zduriencik's high asking price, as reported by Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

According to Sherman, the Mariners general manager set out to acquire "an interested organization's best position prospect with less than one year of service."  He was offered none better than the Rangers' Justin Smoak.  The Yankees' Jesus Montero was apparently the next-best position prospect offered.  Zduriencik also targeted players such as Ike Davis of the Mets, Desmond Jennings of the Rays, Domonic Brown of the Phillies, Gordon Beckham of the White Sox, and Brett Lawrie (who would've had to have come from the Brewers in a three-way deal).  Sherman notes that the Mets never offered a player better than Fernando Martinez; Jenrry Mejia and Wilmer Flores "were never part of discussions."

Sherman also gets into the failed Yankees-Lee deal like only he can.  He gathered that the Yankees and Mariners had a deal in principle, at which point teams expect you to stop talking to other clubs.  Sherman expects the bad blood to linger, making the Yanks unwilling to deal with the Mariners in the future.  The Yankees were also apparently "rankled" by Seattle's confusingly high asking price for Jarrod Washburn last summer.  Another thought: an executive recently wondered aloud to me how Kevin Towers was involved in the Lee trade talks.  Towers has a close relationship with both Brian Cashman and Zduriencik.

From the Rangers' point of view, GM Jon Daniels indicated today to The Ticket's Norm Hitzges that he continually had an open dialogue with the Mariners.  Daniels felt that the Rangers were in second place Friday morning, until he adjusted his offer.

D’Backs’ First-Rounder Fails Physical

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MONDAY, 7:33am: Loux's physical exam revealed a shoulder issue, reports Jack Magruder of FOXSportsArizona.com.

SATURDAY, 10:52pm: Barret Loux, Arizona's first-round pick in this year's draft, has failed his physical exam, reports Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports. According to Ringolsby, the Diamondbacks have broken off negotiations with Loux, who they picked sixth overall last month.

When the D'Backs selected the Texas A&M right-hander, John Manuel wrote that it was the first pick of the draft Baseball America didn't like. Manuel noted that Loux wasn't considered a consensus first-rounder and that the right-hander had surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow at A&M. Loux also received a heavy workload leading up to the draft, throwing 123+ pitches on four different occasions between May 6th and June 4th.

Considering slot money for the sixth overall pick is approximately $2.6MM, the D'Backs seem unlikely to reach an agreement with Loux if his health is a concern. Ringolsby indicates that the decision to draft Loux was made by Josh Byrnes, and that the move may have played a part in the Arizona GM losing his job.

If the D'Backs do not sign Loux, they'll receive the seventh overall pick in next year's draft as compensation.

Nats Notes: Trades, Dunn, Willingham

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Nationals GM Mike Rizzo addressed the Washington media following their loss to San Francisco this afternoon.  Let's take a look at some highlights courtesy of MLB.com's Bill Ladson:

  • The team's performance over the next few weeks will not affect what the club does at the Trade Deadline.  Rizzo added: "We are trying to win as many ball games as we can in 2010 and do it the right way and build for the future."
  • Rizzo went as far as to say that it would take an "extraordinary offer" to pry away Adam Dunn in a trade.  However, he would not rule out the possibility of dealing the slugger, nor did he nix the idea of trading Dunn and pursuing him in free agency after the season.
  • Despite publicly stating his desire to sign a new deal with the Nats, the club still hasn't approached Josh Willingham about an extension, Ladson tweets.

Cubs Chairman Gives GM Hendry Vote Of Confidence

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Cubs owner Tom Ricketts told reporters in Anaheim that he has "the highest level of confidence" in his GM Jim Hendry, writes MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.  However, Ricketts stopped sort of guaranteeing Hendry's job security:

"The fact is right now, Jim is our general manager, I support him, I think he does a great job, and after that we'll just take it one day at a time," the chairman said.

The Cubs have the highest payroll in the National League and are nine-and-a-half games back in the Central division.  Hendry has received quite a bit of heat from Cubs fans and the critics haven't gotten any quieter as they're on pace for their second consecutive season without a playoff berth.  Even though he wouldn't guarantee Hendry's job beyond 2010, Ricketts declined to point the finger at anyone in particular.

"I'm not going to assign blame to anyone or anything," said Ricketts. "The fact is we came into the season, we had what appeared to be a pretty strong lineup. It hasn't worked out for whatever reason and it seems like the guys are putting it together now and let's just keep winning."

Meanwhile, the club is reportedly looking to shed some cumbersome contracts as they head into the Trade Deadline.  There are several deals that go beyond 2010 that the Cubs would like to move, but their most tradeable big salary player is likely Kosuke Fukudome.

Odds & Ends: Smoak, Giants, McDonald, Orioles

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Sunday night linkage..

White Sox Might Consider Oswalt

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The White Sox might consider dealing for Roy Oswalt, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.  At the same time, GM Kenny Williams & Co. are leery of a switch from the National League to the American League.

Williams may have some convincing to do as Oswalt reportedly does not want to play for the White Sox.  One has to think that the ace could be swayed, however, as the ChiSox present Oswalt with a chance to win and the opportunity to team up with friend Jake Peavy.  Back in 2008, Peavy was open to joining the Astros in order to play with the three-time All-Star.

It appeared that the White Sox would be sellers just one month ago.  However, the club may look to buy after rallying in recent weeks and climbing their way to the top of the AL Central. 

Week In Review: 7/4/10 – 7/10/10

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It's time to take a look back at the week that was..

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