Red Sox Have Explored Trades For Many Relievers
FRIDAY, 1:03am: Theo Epstein has discussed multiple possible trades with former Red Sox assistant GM and current Padres GM Jed Hoyer, according to Peter Abraham and Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The Globe duo believes Boston could have interest in a reliever like Joe Thatcher, and, given the team's excess of outfielders when Jacoby Ellsbury returns, they may match up with San Diego.
THURSDAY, 12:59pm: Though they're on his no-trade list, the Red Sox asked the Brewers about Trevor Hoffman, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal adds that the Brewers are not inclined to move Hoffman. Meanwhile they're getting calls on Carlos Villanueva and Todd Coffey.
12:05pm: The Red Sox are leaving no rock unturned in their search for relief help. They've explored Rafael Perez, Will Ohman, Mike Gonzalez, Matt Capps, Michael Wuertz, Craig Breslow, Sean Marshall, Kerry Wood, David Aardsma, and Kyle Farnsworth, reports Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Cafardo says Scott Downs looks unlikely unless the Blue Jays back down from their top prospect requests. On a related note, SI's Jon Heyman tweets that the Jays asked the Mets for outfield prospect Kirk Nieuwenhuis and one other player for Downs and were denied.
Marshall is the interesting name here. The 27-year-old lefty has had a dominant year in relief, posting a 1.71 ERA, 10.4 K/9, and 2.9 BB/9 in 52.6 innings with one home run allowed. He's been especially strong against lefties. Marshall is under team control through 2012 and would presumably be very difficult to pry loose from the Cubs. Gonzalez is another surprising name, since he's spent most of the season on the shelf with a shoulder injury and is still owed good money.
Cafardo adds that the Red Sox have been shopping reliever Ramon Ramirez, and offers the opinion that a National League team might want to take a look at him. Ramirez has a 4.57 ERA, 6.5 K/9, and 3.3 BB/9 in 41.3 innings with six home runs allowed and is a potential non-tender candidate after the season.
Morosi On Giants, Downs, Myers, Tigers
Let's check out the latest updates from Jon Paul Morosi at FOX Sports….
- The Giants continue to search for a left-handed reliever, with Jeremy Affeldt and Dan Runzler injured. While we've heard the club had been eyeing lefties such as Will Ohman and Scott Downs, Morosi indicates that, like every other team that has inquired on Downs, the Giants weren't enthused by Toronto's asking price. CSNBayArea.com's Mychael Urban (via Twitter) reports that the Giants are "working hard" to complete a trade tonight, though there's no indication of whether it would be for bullpen help or another piece.
- Starters like Ted Lilly and Brett Myers appear unlikely to be traded to Minnesota. The Twins would need to overpay to pry Myers away from the Astros.
- The Tigers aren't looking to make a blockbuster deal, but could still make minor moves to upgrade their roster. The club doesn't want to "overexpose" their young players, which played a part in their acquisition of Jhonny Peralta. A bullpen addition is still a possibility for the Tigers, who were scouting the Blue Jays on Wednesday night.
Rangers Inquired On Josh Johnson
While the Rangers and Marlins were working out the trade that sent Jorge Cantu to Texas, the Rangers also took a chance to "reach for the sky" and inquired on the availability of Josh Johnson. According to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, the Rangers were willing to offer their top three prospects, but were told the Marlins' ace is "unmovable."
Johnson, 26, signed a four-year extension worth $39MM with Florida in January, virtually eliminating him as a possible trade chip for the near future. Given his performance this year, which includes a 1.72 ERA over 141.1 IP, Johnson figures to be even more untouchable now than he was at the time of the extension.
Adam Dunn Rumors: Thursday
The latest on Adam Dunn, with more updates to come throughout the day…
- The Nats are believed to have requested either Gordon Beckham or both Daniel Hudson and Dayan Viciedo in exchange for Dunn, tweets Heyman. That price was too high for the Sox, who told Beckham he wouldn't be on the move this week.
- The price for Dunn is high, but not ridiculous, according to Heyman (via Twitter). The White Sox and Rays are still involved.
- The Giants have minimal interest in Dunn at his current price, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Morosi notes that the Tigers are not pursuing Dunn.
- The White Sox and Tigers have plenty of interest in Dunn, according to Heyman (on Twitter).
- Three-way scenarios involving the Nationals, White Sox, Diamondbacks and Edwin Jackson are in play, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter). Rosenthal reported that such talks were underway earlier in the week.
- The Rays are the favorites to acquire Dunn, according to one executive who spoke to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Giants are the only other team Sherman hears in connection to Dunn (Twitter links).
- The Tigers are not pursuing Dunn, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
- The White Sox are saying internally that they're out of the Dunn sweepstakes, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
- Earlier today, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the Yankees are now out on Dunn. Joel Sherman of the New York Post explains that the Yankees would give up top prospects for a piece they need, but not for a luxury like Dunn. The Yanks lead the majors in scoring, so Dunn's bat is not an absolute necessity for the Bronx Bombers.
Twins Acquire Matt Capps For Wilson Ramos
As soon as Joe Nathan announced that he would undergo Tommy John surgery, the back end of the Twins' bullpen became a lot less scary. Four months later, the Twins obtained one of the top relievers available, acquiring Matt Capps and $500K from the Nationals for left-hander Joe Testa and highly touted catching prospect Wilson Ramos.
Capps, 26, has 25 saves and a 2.80 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9. He earns a base salary of $3.5MM this year ($1.3MM remains) and can be retained as an arbitration-eligible player for 2011. Capps will close games for the Twins and Jon Rauch will move to a set-up role.
Ramos, 23 in August, placed 58th among all MLB prospects on Baseball America's preseason list. The catcher has hit .241/.280/.345 at Triple A with five homers this season. His offense has fallen off since last year, but Ramos has thrown out 19 of 38 would-be base stealers. Joe Mauer's presence in Minnesota made Ramos expendable for the Twins.
Testa has a 5.50 ERA between high A and AA with a combined 8.3 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 36 relief appearances. The 24-year-old has yet to pitch above AA.
Yahoo's Tim Brown, Scott Miller of CBS Sports, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Kelsie Smith of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports all contributed updates to the story as it broke.
Tigers, White Sox, Padres Have Interest In Hawpe
9:34pm: The Tigers are interested in Hawpe, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
5:03pm: The Padres and White Sox have asked the Rockies about Brad Hawpe, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (all Twitter links). Chicago’s interest hinges on the pursuit of Adam Dunn and the Padres’ interest may have softened, now that they have acquired Miguel Tejada.
Hawpe, who hit his seventh homer this afternoon, began the day with a .259/.337/.439 line. The 31-year-old has about $2.8MM remaining on his contract this year. The Rockies have a $10MM option for 2011 with a $500K buyout. If the Rockies trade Hawpe, he can void the option.
Jose Bautista Rumors: Thursday
Corey Hart, David DeJesus and Jayson Werth aren't on the market anymore, so it's no surprise that the Blue Jays are getting lots of calls about Jose Bautista. There's a limited selection of impact outfielders and Bautista leads the major leagues in homers and ranks among the league leaders in walks, OPS and outfield assists. Here's the latest on the versatile 29-year-old:
- The Giants and many others are in on Bautista, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).
- Yesterday we heard that the Phillies were interested in Bautista, but the Blue Jays have since acquired Anthony Gose, a player the Jays coveted when he was in the Phillies organization.
Fielder & Hart Are Off The Market
The Brewers have decided that they’re too close to contention to sell, according to ESPN.com's Keith Law. An executive from a club that had interest in a Brewers player explained to Law that Milwaukee has changed its approach to Saturday's deadline. That means Prince Fielder and Corey Hart are no longer available to teams seeking power bats.
The Brewers are 48-55, 9.0 games behind the Reds and even further behind in the Wild Card race. They have a 0.33% chance of making the playoffs in 2010, according to Baseball Prospectus' postseason odds report.
The Brewers didn't make progress with the Giants in their talks about Fielder and Hart, partly because of the wrist injury that has sidelined Hart since Friday. Both players are under team control for 2011, so the Brewers can reignite trade talks after the season.
Padres Seek Arms, Bats, Won’t Pursue Lowrie
Padres GM Jed Hoyer told Dan Hayes of the North County Times that the Padres will have to acquire some innings at some point, but could do so in August (Twitter link). The Padres are looking to preserve the arms of young starters such as Mat Latos and Clayton Richard, so they're eyeing innings eaters. Jake Westbrook will likely be available next month, but it's doubtful that Livan Hernandez will clear waivers.
The Padres, who acquired Miguel Tejada earlier today, are also looking for outfielders, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). They have allowed fewer runs (341) than any team in baseball, but have scored fewer runs (435) than every NL team except the Cubs, Astros, Pirates and Nationals.
San Diego "kicked the tires" on Jed Lowrie, but will not pursue him, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
White Sox Acquire Edwin Jackson
12:01pm: The D'Backs announced they've traded Jackson to the White Sox for Hudson and pitching prospect David Holmberg.
11:54am: Jackson has been told he's been traded to the White Sox, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown.
9:46am: Sox GM Kenny Williams has something big cooking, tweets Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, and if he gets it done the Jackson deal is off. Meanwhile USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweets that the Sox would pay all of Jackson's salary if the deal gets done.
AOL FanHouse's Steve Phillips says the White Sox would try to flip Jackson to the Nationals in a Dunn trade but would be happy to keep him. MLB Network's Peter Gammons adds that the Nationals are "not that hot" for Jackson, though SI's Jon Heyman tweets that they love him. Rosenthal tweets that the deal is in the Nationals' hands, but Hudson would end up with the D'Backs either way. There's almost no chance Hudson makes his scheduled start tonight, tweets Cowley.
1:51am: If the two sides were to agree on a deal, the second prospect heading to the D'Backs would also be a pitcher, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
1:14am: The White Sox are on the verge of acquiring Jackson, report Rosenthal and Morosi. Chicago would send Hudson and another prospect to the D'Backs in the proposed deal.
12:26am: The White Sox are looking into acquiring Edwin Jackson from the Diamondbacks, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Although the Sox have been linked peripherally to Jackson for much of the week, reports to date have indicated that Chicago's only interest in the right-hander would be as a chip to facilitate a three-way Adam Dunn trade. Rosenthal suggests, however, that the Sox may be interested in acquiring and keeping Jackson, rather than flipping him.
While Chicago covets Dunn, they are becoming less convinced they'll be able to work out a deal with the Nationals before Saturday's deadline. As such, they've been focusing more on bolstering their starting rotation. Rosenthal writes that the Sox are exploring other pitchers in addition to Jackson, as they look to replace the injured Jake Peavy.
Peavy's current replacement in the rotation, Daniel Hudson, could be a key piece in a potential trade for Jackson, according to Rosenthal.