White Sox, Rays, Angels Asked About Manny Ramirez
3:47pm: Dodgers GM Ned Colletti says he believes Manny will stay with the team for the rest of the year, tweets Nightengale.
12:49pm: Brown says the Angels are not the third team he was referring to earlier. ESPN's Jayson Stark tweets that there are absolutely no indications the Dodgers are trading Manny today.
12:36pm: The Angels also asked about Manny, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times. I wonder how recently that happened.
12:26pm: The White Sox haven't heard a counter-offer from the Dodgers on Manny, tweets USA Today's Bob Nightengale, and the Sox are moving on.
11:35pm: The Dodgers asked the White Sox for Dayan Viciedo in exchange for Ramirez, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com on Twitter. The Manny market is heating up, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown on Twitter. The Rays, White Sox and a mystery team are all involved. The Dodgers are considering dealing Manny, according to Brown, who explains that the Dodgers are not shopping him. The left fielder is said to be open to a trade.
11:18am: The Sox intend to make one more run at Manny today, tweets Rosenthal. Yahoo's Steve Henson tweets that the Dodgers would love to move Manny but they don't want to eat his contract.
11:15am: SI's Jon Heyman tweets that Manny appears amenable to going to the White Sox but the Dodgers want big prospects back.
11:06am: The Rays inquired on Manny a while back and it went nowhere, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
10:28am: The White Sox made a failed run at Manny Ramirez, report Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Ramirez has over $7MM remaining on his contract, and Rosenthal tweets that the Sox wanted the Dodgers to pay all but $1MM and did not want to send any players to Los Angeles. This was apparently what Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times was referring to when he said GM Kenny Williams was trying to "shock the world" before yesterday's Edwin Jackson trade.
Though the Sox were rejected, Manny makes for an interesting DH target for multiple teams. Ramirez is having a strong year statistically, but he was otherworldly after the '08 trade to the Dodgers. Obstacles abound: Manny has a full no-trade clause, he's on a rehab assignment for a calf strain, and as we mentioned he has over $7MM remaining on his contract (much of it deferred). The contract makes Ramirez an August trade candidate, if the Dodgers feel they can spare him.
Red Sox Acquire Jarrod Saltalamacchia
The Red Sox acquired catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia from the Rangers, tweets Dan Roche of WBZ TV. WEEI's Alex Speier tweets that the Red Sox are sending Roman Mendez, Chris McGuiness, a player to be named later, and cash to Texas in the deal. ESPN's Jayson Stark tweets that Boston will send $350K the Rangers' way.
The 25-year-old Saltalamacchia was hitting .244/.326/.445 with 11 homers in 270 plate appearances for the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate this season. He's a career .251/.313/.388 hitter in 874 big league plate appearances, and is coming back from a case of the yips, meaning he was having trouble making normal throws back to the pitcher. Salty is owed approximately $152K for the remainder of the season, and may qualify as a Super Two after the season. He was optioned to Triple-A by the Red Sox immediately after being acquired.
Mendez, 20, has a 6.56 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in A-ball this season, though Baseball America considered him Boston's 23rd-best prospect before the season. They noted that he has one of the best arms in the system, touching 97 mph with his fastball.
McGuiness, 22, has hit .298/.416/.504 with 20 doubles and 12 homers in A-ball this season, playing first base exclusively. He was not among Boston's top 30 prospects before the season, though that could change after his big year.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
Braves Inquired On Chone Figgins
3:38pm: The Braves asked the Mariners about the availability of Figgins, tweets Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, and were denied. It seems odd to me that Figgins would be unavailable – would he even be claimed on waivers next month?
2:35pm: The Mariners approached the Braves about taking Chone Figgins off their hands, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Crasnick adds that the Braves are also making a late bid for a reliever.
1:43pm: The Braves are working on potential deals for hitters and relievers, tweets David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Consitution, and there's a "reasonable chance" something gets done by the deadline.
Yankees Designate Chan Ho Park For Assignment
The Yankees designated Chan Ho Park for assignment to make room for Kerry Wood, tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
Park, 27, pitched to a 5.60 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 35.1 innings of relief sandwiched around a month-long stint on the disabled due to a hamstring issue. After allowing zero homers as a reliever with the Phillies last season, Park allowed seven this year. The Yanks tried unsuccessfully to trade him, and are still on the hook for the $437K left on his contract this year.
Royals Extend Ned Yost Through 2012
The Royals extended manager Ned Yost through 2012, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
Yost took over the team after Trey Hillman was fired in early May, and the Royals have responded by going 31-37 under his watch. They were just 12-23 under Hillman this year, and 152-207 during his tenure.
Giants Acquire Javier Lopez
The Giants have acquired lefty reliever Javier Lopez from the Pirates in exchange for John Bowker and Joe Martinez.
Lopez, 33, has two impressive numbers to his name this year: a 2.79 ERA and a 60.2% groundball rate. Otherwise he's struck out few and walked many overall. His splits show that he's somewhat effective against lefties and a poor choice against righties. He signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh before the season, and is still owed $287K this season. He is under team control as an arbitration-eligible player next year.
Martinez, a 27-year-old righty, posted a 3.32 ERA, 7.2 K/9, and 2.9 BB/9 with six home runs allowed in 81.3 Triple A innings this year. Baseball America ranked him 30th among Giants prospects heading into the '09 season. They called him "a groundball machine" with a "sinking 86-88 mph fastball, a true curveball and a plus changeup consistently down in the strike zone." Martinez has yet to figure things out in his 41 career Major League innings, but he has retained his ability to generate grounders.
Bowker, a 27-year-old outfielder and first baseman, hasn't done much in the Majors aside from a less-than-terrible '08 rookie season. He has managed to rake in the Pacific Coast League after multiple stints there, for what it's worth. Baseball America ranked him ninth among Giants prospects before the '08 season, saying "he has strong hands and can hit good fastballs."
Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweeted that Lopez was on the verge of being dealt while Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News later confirmed the deal and added details (all Twitter links).
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
Braves Acquire Ankiel, Farnsworth
The Braves have acquired Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth from the Royals in exchange for Jesse Chavez, Gregor Blanco, and Tim Collins. Atlanta also received an unknown amount of cash in the deal.
Ankiel, 31, missed over two months with a quad strain this year, but will bring a much-needed .261/.317/.467 batting line to Atlanta's outfield. He is still owed just over $1MM for the remainder of the season, and there's a $6MM mutual option for his services next year that could instead be bought out for $500K.
The 34-year-old Farnsworth is back for a second stint with the Braves, and has pitched to a 2.42 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 44.2 innings this year. He is owed $1.64MM through the end of the season, and Atlanta could buy out his $5.25MM option for next season for $500K.
Chavez, 26, was acquired in the Rafael Soriano trade during the offseason. He had not performed as expected, with a 5.89 ERA and 7.1 K/9 in 36.2 innings this year. Blanco, 26, is a career .252/.361/.309 hitter in 633 big league plate appearances with experience in all three outfield spots. Both he and Chavez are under team control for another four seasons.
Collins, 20, was acquired in the Yunel Escobar–Alex Gonzalez trade earlier this month. He has struck out 15.4 Double-A batters per nine innings this year, and boasts a 2.35 ERA in his minor league career.
CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler first reported the deal while Ed Price of AOL FanHouse added details (Twitter link). A Royals press release confirmed the deal.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
Dodgers Acquire Octavio Dotel
The Dodgers acquired reliever Octavio Dotel and $500K from the Pirates today for pitcher James McDonald and outfielder Andrew Lambo. Dotel will move to a setup role for the Dodgers after saving 21 games for the Pirates. Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan should get a shot to close games in Pittsburgh now.
The 36-year-old Dotel may be a rental for Los Angeles, as his $4.5MM club option for 2011 became mutual upon the trade. Including the buyout on that option, Dotel has $1.65MM remaining on his contract. Eddie Bajek's latest Elias rankings have Dotel as a Type B free agent, though an arbitration offer from the Dodgers is no sure thing. Dotel has a 4.28 ERA, 10.8 K/9, and 3.8 BB/9 on the season with five home runs allowed in 40 innings, though he's been better since May. One red flag is that Dotel has brutal control against lefties, but Hong-Chih Kuo is more than capable of handling those batters.
McDonald, 25, has fallen out of favor since being voted the organization's minor league pitcher of the year in '07 and '08. He opened the '09 season as the Dodgers' fifth starter, but was out of the rotation a month later. This year he's dealt with a hamstring injury while compiling a 4.41 ERA, 8.1 K/9, and 3.4 BB/9 in twelve Triple A starts. It wasn't long ago that Baseball America projected McDonald as a No. 3 starter or late-inning reliever, and he'll have plenty of opportunities in Pittsburgh.
Lambo, meanwhile, was slapped with a 50-game suspension in May for violating baseball's drug policy. BA ranked him seventh among Dodgers prospects before the season. They profile him as a gap hitter who may grow into his power, but label him a substandard outfielder. Lambo still hasn't done much in Double A.
The Pirates haven't hit on too many of these types of players yet, but these gambles make more sense than keeping Dotel around.
Braves Acquire Wilkin Ramirez
The Braves acquired outfielder Wilkin Ramirez from the Tigers for a player to be named later or cash considerations by November 20th, according to the team. The Tigers had designated Ramirez for assignment on Wednesday to clear a spot for Jhonny Peralta.
Ramirez, 24, has a .230/.295/.458 line between Double and Triple A this year. Heading into the season Baseball America ranked Ramirez eighth among Tigers prospects, but obviously his stock has dropped since then. Still, they did praise his "tantalizing five-tool ability."
Marlins Acquire Will Ohman
The Marlins aggressively pursued bullpen help on deadline day, and ultimately acquired veteran lefty Will Ohman from the Orioles for 25-year-old righty Rick Vanden Hurk.
Ohman, 33 in August, has a 3.30 ERA, 8.7 K/9, and 5.4 BB/9 in 30 innings this year with three home runs allowed. He came a long way since signing a minor league deal in February, even spending a few days as the Orioles' closer. He hasn't displayed any special ability to retire lefties since the '08 season.
Vanden Hurk seems an acceptable return for two months of Ohman. This year at Triple A he posted a 4.68 ERA, 8.0 K/9, and 3.7 BB/9 in 98 innings, allowing 11 home runs. He's had multiple stints at that level and also has 155.6 big league innings under his belt. Strikeouts have been there, but everything else has been an issue (including health). Baseball America ranked Vanden Hurk 13th among Marlins prospects before the '07 season, noting that he was signed at 17 out of the team's Dutch academy. Did you know the Marlins had a Dutch academy? BA described Vanden Hurk as "smart and coachable."
Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun first tweeted that Ohman was traded, and Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel tweeted that Vanden Hurk was the return.