Cafardo’s Latest: Red Sox, Rangers, Angels, Viciedo
Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe breaks down the 2010 Red Sox and what members of the team may not be around for 2011. He says Jayson Werth will be a free agent target and wonders if they're willing to commit three or four years to Adrian Beltre, who is having a monster season. Jacoby Ellsbury and Daisuke Matsuzaka could be trade bait, and then there's the issue of David Ortiz's $12.5MM option.
Let's round up the rest of Cafardo's rumors…
- There have been "minimal, if any" talks between the Sox and Victor Martinez about a new contract.
- Expect Boston to revamp their bullpen, which could mean replacing Hideki Okajima.
- Carfado believes that the Rangers settled ownership situation will help the team down the stretch as the players don't have to deal with any speculation.
- Rafael Soriano and Joaquin Benoit, a pair of offseason pickups that are the Rays' two best relievers, will need to have their workloads monitored down the stretch, particularly Benoit who is coming off major shoulder surgery.
- The Angels have close to $110MM tied up in 2011 payroll counting arbitration raises, which could hinder their pursuit of free agents this winter.
- Kenny Williams says that teams never asked for Dayan Viciedo in a trade because they knew he was unavailable. We heard that Williams was willing to trade him before the deadline.
- A split between the Mariners and manager Don Wakamatsu seems likely this offseason.
Poll: The Most Active Team In August
The July 31st non-waiver trade deadline gets all the attention, but we've also seen many quality players change teams in August as well. Just last year Carl Pavano, Scott Kazmir, Billy Wagner, and Ivan Rodriguez were traded after July 31st, among several others. The Dodgers went out and acquired Jim Thome, Jon Garland, and Ronnie Belliard to strengthen their roster down the stretch with a trio of August moves.
Which team will be the most active during the August waiver trade period?
Odds & Ends: Lee, Brewers, Repko, Delgado
Saturday night linkage..
- Rangers hurler Cliff Lee says that he isn't thinking about his impending free agency, writes Jeff Wilson for The Dallas Morning News.
- Darrell Covey, the father of Brewers first-round pick Dylan Covey, says that he expects an over-slot bonus offer, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. As the 14th overall pick, Covey is slotted to receive a bonus of $1.7MM. The Coveys have told the Brewers that they expect $2MM.
- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire says that he now understands why the organization thought so highly of Jason Repko, writes John Barone of MLB.com. The Twins picked up Repko in April after he was released by the Dodgers.
- Paul Konerko and manager Ozzie Guillen are fine with the White Sox standing pat in August, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Reds twelfth-round pick Kyle Waldrop has signed on for a $500K bonus, tweets Jim Callis of Baseball America. This is the highest bonus given to a player outside of the first ten rounds so far.
- MLB.com's Mark Sheldon writes that speculation was rampant that today would mark Aroldis Chapman's big league debut. Instead of Chapman, the Reds tabbed reliever Carlos Fisher to fill in for Russ Springer, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list.
- Mike Lowell didn't have much of a reaction to Boston's signing of Carlos Delgado, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.
Rosenthal On Dunn, Red Sox, Rays, Reds
Let's dive into the latest edition of Full Count by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports..
- Rival executives still can't figure out what the Nats were thinking by not trading Adam Dunn as some believe that they will not re-sign the slugger. If they dealt him, they would have saved about $4MM in salary and another $2MM in draft pick bonuses. The players they would have gotten in return would already have minor league track records and would have been closer to the majors. Though next year's draft figures to be very deep, Rosenthal notes that draft picks take money and time.
- If Boston stays in contention, they will push hard to get a left-handed bat to complement Lowell at first and Carlos Delgado may just be the beginning. Even after signing Delgado, the BoSox will continue to scour the market for players such as Adam LaRoche and Lyle Overbay. Earlier today, we learned that the Red Sox have shown interest in another left-handed hitting first baseman, Chris Davis of the Rangers.
- Jeremy Hellickson gives the Rays a sixth rotation option for 2011, but that doesn't mean that the Rays will have enough of a surplus for a trade. They have depth but they're not quite as deep as they were following the 2008 campaign. Rosenthal believes that they are better off keeping what they have intact and putting one of their starters in the bullpen.
- Recently, Reds manager Dusty Baker told reporters that the club has approached him about a contract extension. Logically, he deserves a pay raise based on the team's performance this season. However, ownership may not want to go that route. Given the volatility expected in the managerial ranks this winter, the Reds will have plenty of options should they look elsewhere for a skipper.
Tigers To Bring Back Dombrowski, Leyland
Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch says that the club will bring back both manager Jim Leyland and GM Dave Dombrowski in 2011, according to Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press. After finishing the first half of the season ten games above .500, Detroit has gone 5-18 since that point and fallen nine games back of the division-leading White Sox.
Even though he is disappointed with the club's recent play, Ilitch says that he has faith in what the team can do starting next season.
“[This season] is very disappointing, “ the owner said, “[but] I’m staying with Dave and I’m staying with our manager. I feel that we’re going to move forward.”
Ilitch also admitted that he has been reckless in the past when signing off on large contract commitments. However, as noted earlier, he still vows to spend in the offseason with as much as $60MM coming off of the books. Detroit gained extra payroll flexibility when Magglio Ordonez suffered an ankle injury which will prevent his $15MM option from vesting.
Arizona Acquires Skaggs From Angels
According to a team press release, the Diamondbacks have acquired Tyler Skaggs from the Angels to complete the Dan Haren trade. Skaggs has long been expected to be the player to be named later in the swap.
The left-hander was the Halos' supplemental first round selection (40th overall) in 2009. Skaggs, 19, has posted a 3.61 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 for Class-A Cedar Rapids this season. Baseball America believes that Skaggs projects as a solid mid-rotation starter.
Nationals Acquire Brian Bixler
The Nationals have acquired Brian Bixler from the Pirates for cash considerations, tweets William Ladson of MLB.com. This marks the third time that the shortstop has been dealt this year.
Pittsburgh dealt Bixler to the Indians in January and re-acquired him from the Tribe less than a month ago for a player to be named later. In 75 Triple-A games this season, Bixler has hit .264/.327/.362 with three homers.
Rangers Receiving Interest In Chris Davis
The Rangers are getting "much trade interest" in first baseman Chris Davis, writes T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Major league sources say that Davis has become a popular name and the Red Sox, who picked up Carlos Delgado today, are among the teams that have shown interest.
Davis is now back in Triple-A Oklahoma where he has hit .355/.409/.552 with ten homers in 72 games this season. However, the corner infielder was unable to replicate that in the majors this year, posting a slash line of .188/.265/.267 in 31 games. Despite his struggles in the major leagues this season, there are some who feel that he could be a late-blooming bat in the mold of Carlos Pena or Russell Branyan.
Sullivan points out that Davis is unlikely to get traded in-season as he probably wouldn't clear waivers. However, if Mitch Moreland makes a strong case for being the Rangers' starting first baseman, then Davis could be a trade candidate this winter.
Odds & Ends: Reds, Giants, Harper, Dodgers, Prior
Links for Saturday, as J.P. Arencibia homers on the first pitch he sees in the majors….
- John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that he has not seen a year in which the Reds have faced so many difficult roster decisions in the last decade.
- Jim Callis of Baseball America (via Twitter) expects the Giants to eventually sign their first-round pick, center fielder Gary Brown.
- Barry Shlachter of the Dallas Morning News examines whether the group headed by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan overpaid for the Rangers.
- Jim Callis of Baseball America passes on news of a pair of draft picks signing for over-slot deals: The Blue Jays signed their second-round pick, while the Pirates locked up their fourth-rounder.
- Tigers owner Mike Ilitch acknowledged to Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News that he'd signed off on some bad contracts in the past, but said that won't stop him from spending money in the future.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson hears that negotiations between the Nationals and Bryce Harper could "heat up" by Tuesday. The first overall pick in this year's draft enrolled for classes at the College of Southern Nevada, but that doesn't mean he won't end up signing with the Nats.
- The Dodgers still seem to be buyers, leading Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times to wonder if they put a waiver claim on Adam Dunn.
- Although he's pitching for the Orange County Flyers now, Mark Prior hopes to make his way back to the bigs, according to MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger.
Mets Release Alex Cora
The Mets have released Alex Cora and demoted Jesus Feliciano to the minors, tweets Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported (via Twitter) that the team would be "bumping" Cora from the major league roster in order to make room for Ruben Tejada. Feliciano's demotion clears a spot on the roster for Fernando Martinez.
As David Lennon of Newsday points out (via Twitter), by releasing Cora, the Mets avoid seeing the 34-year-old's 2011 option vest. Cora needed to play in just 18 more games to trigger the $2MM option.