White Sox Focused On Dunn, Not Fielder
TUESDAY, 12:07pm: The Sox are focused on Dunn, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, and they're not in on Prince Fielder or Lance Berkman.
MONDAY, 11:15pm: White Sox GM Kenny Williams has been trying “desperately” to acquire Adam Dunn from the Nationals, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Cowley’s source says the White Sox don’t want to move Carlos Quentin or Gordon Beckham to acquire Dunn, but would move any minor leaguer, and would trade Dayan Viciedo or Daniel Hudson. But Williams still finds that Nats GM Mike Rizzo is asking a lot, according to Cowley’s source.
"The problem Kenny is finding out is that Rizzo is acting like Dunn is Ryan Howard,'' the source said.
Though the White Sox appear to have interest in Dunn, Williams said that he isn’t optimistic about completing deals this summer.
"If I'm being honest and completely transparent right now of the price that is being asked for some of the players that we've inquired about, for us, it's more detrimental to our present and our future than we'd like,” Williams said.
The White Sox could definitely use an upgrade at DH, but as Williams pointed out, the team could still add a player in August. The White Sox acquired Alex Rios from the Blue Jays in an August 2009 waiver claim.
Xavier Nady’s Contract Bonuses
Cubs outfielder/first baseman Xavier Nady has $1.36MM remaining in base salary on the contract he signed in January. Additionally, it's important to look at the $2.05MM worth of bonuses Nady can potentially earn. MLBTR has obtained the breakdown:
Plate Appearances
- 300: $125K
- 350: $250K
- 400: $250K
- 450: $275K
- 500: $300K
- 525: $175K
Games Started
- 70: $100K
- 85: $125K
- 100: $200K
- 110: $250K
Nady has tallied 158 plate appearances and 33 starts for the Cubs so far, with a .221/.291/.343 line. If installed as a regular, it's possible he hits the 300 and 350 benchmarks, and 400 isn't out of the question. The 70 and 85 games started marks are also within reach. A maximum of $850K in bonuses must be considered in trade discussions, though I think Nady is likely to end up with $475K or less.
Talking to CSNChicago's Patrick Mooney, Nady said he thinks he could tolerate playing every day, though there might be setbacks depending on how many hard throws are required of his surgically-repaired elbow. The Rangers, Angels, Yankees, and Padres might make sense, assuming the Cubs send cash to cover most of the contract.
The Prince Fielder Market
Earlier this month we learned that the Brewers are listening to offers for first baseman Prince Fielder. One school of thought is that Fielder's value is at its highest since, as one GM told ESPN's Buster Olney, "he can impact two pennant races." Another is that Brewers GM Doug Melvin can get more teams involved in the offseason and drive up the price. At any rate, let's summarize the current Fielder situation.
Contract
Fielder, a Scott Boras client, signed a two-year, $18MM extension in January of 2009. $4.34MM remains on that contract through the end of the season, and then Fielder will be arbitration-eligible for 2011. One exec I spoke to feels the slugger could earn around $15-16MM in '11 before reaching free agency and seeking $100MM+ on a multiyear deal.
Performance
Fielder's power is down overall this year, as he's hitting .265/.396/.509 and striking out more than ever. However, he's slugging .618 since June 1st – more in line with his '09 performance. And even though doubles and triples are down, Fielder leads the NL with 23 home runs.
Asking Price
In today's blog Olney writes that "the Brewers' clear preference will be for young power pitching." The deal would have to be built around a household name – a hurler found on Baseball America's midseason top 50 prospects list or a flamethrower who was recently promoted. I'm guessing the Brewers would want a top 100 prospect as well, and those two players would form the foundation of the deal.
Interested Teams
- White Sox: GM Kenny Williams says "only a small group of players" can help him, and many baseball writers feel that Fielder is probably on Williams' list. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes that the Brewers scouted Daniel Hudson last night. Is Hudson the type of player you can build a Fielder deal around? It may be a moot point, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Sox are "not on Fielder."
- Rays: They certainly have the goods, with pitchers such as Jeremy Hellickson and Wade Davis. However, a source of Yahoo's Jeff Passan says the Rays "won't go near" Fielder, perhaps because of his likely 2011 salary.
- Giants: With Madison Bumgarner or Jonathan Sanchez, Passan feels the Giants could swing a Fielder deal. They've also got Zach Wheeler, who is further away but rates very highly. On the other hand, ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted on July 3rd that there had been no recent trade talks between the teams. That same day Olney opined that he didn't think the Giants could acquire Fielder without Matt Cain.
- Angels: It's believed they prefer a rental at first base, since Kendry Morales will be ready for the '11 season. For what it's worth, Torii Hunter would like to see the Angels acquire Fielder or Adam Dunn.
- You could dream up various other scenarios, though we haven't seen anything about the Mets, Dodgers, or Rangers being interested in Fielder. Things could open up in the winter, as a surprise team could splurge for a year of Fielder in the way that the Athletics acquired Matt Holliday.
Teams Scouting John Buck?
A slew of scouts attended last night's Blue Jays-Royals game in Kansas City, reports Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun. The Tigers, Red Sox, Yankees, Twins, and Phillies were represented. The Reds and Mets scouted the Jays over the weekend. Clearly some of this scouting extends beyond normal coverage. Toronto's roster is littered with trade candidates: Scott Downs, Kevin Gregg, Jason Frasor, Jose Bautista, and Lyle Overbay. But several of the aforementioned teams need catching and may have been on hand to observe All-Star catcher John Buck.
Buck had a pair of doubles in the contest, bringing his line to .278/.309/.504 through 265 plate appearances. He's flashed power before, but in this season he's slugged at least .462 in every month. Buck recently turned 30 and will be a free agent after the season. He just sneaks in as a Type B right now. It's not difficult to imagine Buck receiving and turning down an arbitration offer, so his status boosts his trade value. Asher Wojciechowski (Blue Jays) and Drew Vettleson (Rays) were compensation picks at #41 and #42 overall this year, so GM Alex Anthopoulos will presumably aim for a player or package he likes more than that level of draft pick.
Elliott feels that the Tigers, Red Sox, and Reds are teams that might have interest in Buck.
George Sherrill Clears Waivers
TUESDAY, 8:01am: Sherrill cleared waivers, reports MLB.com's Evan Drellich. If the Dodgers attempt to send him to the minors, he can consent, reject the assignment, or declare free agency. Said manager Joe Torre recently, "Sherrill doesn't have a situation. He's still in our bullpen. I think he's throwing the ball better."
WEDNESDAY, 5:01pm: The Dodgers put George Sherrill on outright waivers, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse. Price suggests Sherrill, who makes $4.5MM this season, will clear waivers, which would enable the Dodgers to option the reliever to the minor leagues. The 33-year-old lefty has a 7.32 ERA and nearly as many walks (16 BB) as innings (19.2 IP) so far in 2010.
Outright waivers are not revocable, so the Dodgers won't be able to pull Sherrill back if a rival team claims him. A claim seems unlikely, given his salary, performance so far in 2010 and early-season back tightness. If Sherrill clears waivers, the Dodgers will have an open 40-man roster spot.
Sherrill pitched well for the Dodgers after they acquired him from Baltimore last summer, though not quite as well as his 0.65 Dodgers ERA suggests. Sherrill did strike out twice as many batters as he walked and allowed less than one hit per inning pitched last year. The Dodgers paid a steep price for two quality months of Sherrill: Josh Bell and Steve Johnson.
Johnson is struggling with command at AA, but Bell, who entered the season as Baseball America's second-ranked Orioles prospect, was just called up to the majors. The 23-year-old posted a .765 OPS this year in his first stint at Triple A.
Red Sox Rumors: Relievers, Beltre
Red Sox rumors from those covering the team…
- GM Theo Epstein said he isn't close to any trades, reports Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Cafardo lists Scott Downs, Kerry Wood, Kyle Farnsworth, and David Aardsma as potentially available relievers, but says "the Sox aren’t crazy about bringing Aardsma back unless they could do so cheaply." Cafardo lists familiar names on the outfield front in David DeJesus and Cody Ross, while noting that Corey Hart "is likely out of Boston's range." Cafardo does not see the Sox pursuing a starting pitcher.
- MLB Network's Peter Gammons chimes in on Downs, tweeting, "before [the Yunel] Escobar deal, [the Blue Jays] wanted [Jose] Iglesias for Downs." That gives you an idea of the Jays' initial asking price for one of the best available relievers; the Dodgers, Yankees, and Phillies are also known to be interested.
- Gammons also tweets that the Rockies turned down an offer of Jed Lowrie for Chris Iannetta. We learned last night that the Sox are not currently pursuing Iannetta, however.
- Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald confirms yesterday's report that the Sox are interested in Florida's Leo Nunez. However, Lauber writes that, "they believe the Marlins will require a hefty return" for the righty reliever.
- Adrian Beltre is not thinking about his next contract yet, learned WEEI's Alex Speier.
Dodgers Interested In Many Pitchers
The Dodgers are interested in a variety of starters and relievers, according to Yahoo’s Tim Brown. They are calling to inquire about Roy Oswalt, Ted Lilly, Dan Haren, Jake Westbrook and Fausto Carmona. At one point, when Josh Byrnes was running the D’Backs, the Dodgers were discussing a deal for Haren, but those talks are no longer active.
The Dodgers have also expressed interest in available Blue Jays relievers such as Kevin Gregg, Scott Downs and Jason Frasor. GM Ned Colletti is attempting to improve his team’s bullpen, since the Dodgers are within striking distance of the NL West lead, though they currently trail the Padres, Rockies and Giants.
Poll: The Tigers’ Biggest Need
Brandon Inge will miss at least a month with a broken bone in his hand, so the left side of the Tigers' infield is looking a lot different than it did on Opening Day. Back on April 5th, Inge suited up alongside Adam Everett. The Tigers have since released Everett and have expressed interest in other shortstops. Now that Inge is hurt, the Tigers could call up Scott Sizemore (.905 OPS in Triple A), hope for continued production from Ramon Santiago and move the versatile Carlos Guillen to third, but it wouldn't be surprising to see them express interest in infielders.
The Tigers could also use help in the rotation (they've inquired on Ted Lilly) and in the bullpen (they're interested in relievers).
What is the Tigers' biggest need?
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Mariners Sign Three International Free Agents
The Mariners announced the signings of Dominican righty Rigoberto Garcia and Venezuelan lefties Erick Gomez and Luis Pina today. The team also confirmed the signings of three other international prospects.
Vice president of international operations Bob Engle describes Garcia as “a tall young man who has strong arm and all the makings to become a true power pitcher.” Engle cites Garcia’s solid fastball and compares the 16-year-old to Mariners prospect Michael Pineda.
Gomez, 17, is a “poised young projection pitcher,” Engle says. Pina, 17 in December, has a “good feel for pitching,” though Engle expects him to have to adjust his delivery. The Mariners say they will continue to sign international prospects throughout the year.
Red Sox Not Discussing Iannetta With Rockies
The Red Sox are not discussing Chris Iannetta with the Rockies, though they do like him and did inquire about him earlier in the season. Red Sox officials tell Dan Barbarisi of the Providence Journal that the Red Sox are not currently pursuing the catcher, though Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported earlier today that talks were on again.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports that the banged-up Red Sox are now looking for catching help, relievers and outfield depth (Twitter link). There aren't a ton of catchers available, but Chris Snyder and John Buck make at least some sense.
Iannetta is under team control through 2013 on an affordable deal, but the Rockies can entertain the idea of trading the 27-year-old, since they hold a $2.5MM option for Miguel Olivo (and his .922 OPS) in 2011.