The Trade Market For Starting Pitching
The best starting pitcher available has already been traded, but quality arms are there for teams that are willing to pay for them. In some cases that will mean taking on salary, in others it will mean giving up prospects and in select cases it could mean both. Here's a look at some potentially available starters in the post-Cliff Lee market, sorted by 2010 salary:
- Roy Oswalt, $15MM ($16MM in 2011, $2MM buyout or $16MM option in 2012) – Oswalt won't come cheap, as the Astros still appear to be asking for salary relief and prospects. So why would teams even consider him? Oswalt's 3.08 ERA, 8.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 probably have a lot to do with it. Few starters are more proven and few are having better seasons.
- Ted Lilly, $12MM (free agent after 2010) – The left-hander should draw interest from teams, given his 4.08 ERA and 2.7 K/BB ratio. The Mets are interested and other clubs may pursue him, too. Lilly profiles as a Type A free agent, so the Cubs could obtain picks in the 2011 draft if he turns down their offer of arbitration.
- Jake Westbrook, $11MM (free agent after 2010) – The Indians would presumably have to take on salary to move Westbrook, but he would likely clear waivers, so the Indians don't have to deal him immediately. Westbrook has a 4.75 ERA in 108 innings so far in 2010.
- Ben Sheets, $10MM (free agent after 2010) – Sheets has recovered from a rough start, but his overall numbers (112.2 innings, 4.63 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 3.3 BB/9) are pedestrian. Like Westbrook, Sheets may clear waivers.
- Dan Haren, $8.25MM ($29MM or more remaining after 2010) – Like Oswalt, Haren is pitching well and earning a considerable amount. His 4.36 ERA has been inflated by some bad luck on balls in play, but his strikeout (8.7 K/9) and walk (1.9 BB/9) rates remain good.
- Fausto Carmona, $4.9MM ($6.1MM salary in 2011, followed by three club options) – Carmona is pitching well (3.64 ERA in 116.1 innings), but the Indians have lots of reasons to keep him.
- Paul Maholm, $4.5MM ($6.5MM or more afterwards) – The 4.37 ERA is nice, but it's likely that teams would shy away, since Maholm has a substantial amount remaining on his contract.
- Dave Bush, $4.2MM (free agent after 2010) – Bush could have appeal as an innings eater, though he's not going to dominate (4.14 ERA).
- Edwin Jackson, $4.2MM (free agent after he earns $8.35MM in 2011) – Jackson even has command issues when he's throwing no-hitters, so teams may look for more predictable options.
- Ricky Nolasco, $3.8MM (free agent after 2012) – The Marlins haven't made Nolasco available yet, but his 4.2 K/BB ratio stands out. He's under team control for a while, though he'll be getting raises every year his team offers arbitration.
- Brett Myers, $3MM (mutual option after 2010) – Many teams will likely have interest in Myers. He has a 3.41 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9, he has pitched in playoff races before and has just $1.3MM remaining on his contract.
- Jeremy Guthrie, $3MM (free agent after 2012) – The former first-rounder has a 4.77 ERA in 111.1 innings in Baltimore. The Padres have some interest.
- Brian Bannister, $2.3MM (free agent after 2012) – Dayton Moore would presumably listen on Bannister, who has a 5.56 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
- Livan Hernandez, $900K (free agent after 2010) – Hernandez has struggled over the couse of the past month, but he still has a 3.37 ERA. He doesn't strike anybody out, but at that price, teams could be calling the Nationals.
- Shaun Marcum ($850K) and Wade Davis ($400K) are a pair of cheap, controllable starters having productive seasons, but it would presumably take a lot to obtain either pitcher.
- Free agents including Pedro Martinez, Braden Looper and Jarrod Washburn are still available.
- We already examined the market for potentially available outfielders, catchers, first basemen, second basemen, third basemen and shortstops.
Padres Rumors: Westbrook, Guthrie, Gonzalez
The Padres are looking at at least one short-term option for their rotation, and their first baseman may be thinking much longer-term. Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse has the details:
- The Padres, who are looking to add a starter, but would prefer to avoid rental players, have discussed Jake Westbrook (a free agent after 2010) and Jeremy Guthrie (a free agent after 2012), among others. Guthrie would like to play for the Padres.
- Krasovic hears that Adrian Gonzalez will seek an eight-year deal when he becomes a free agent after the 2011 season. It sounds like a lot, but it’s not surprising. After all, Mark Teixeira signed an eight-year $180MM deal, so Gonzalez’s representatives could easily use that deal as a starting point.
Mariners Sign Trio Of International Prospects
The Mariners signed three top international prospects, including Dominican outfielder Phillips Castillo, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. Castillo will get a $2.2MM bonus, Colombian right-hander Jose Torres gets an $851K bonus and Venezuelan third baseman Yordyn Calderon gets a $477K bonus.
Badler describes Castillo as “one of the elite hitters” on the international market. The 16-year-old stands 6’2” and can hit for power. Torres is considered the top Colombian pitching prospect of the year and Calderon is “a good athlete who can hit for power.” Overall, the Mariners committed just over $3.5MM to the three prospects.
Cardinals Extend GM John Mozeliak
The Cardinals agreed to a three-year extension with GM John Mozeliak, according to Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cardinals, who currently trail the Reds by a game, won the NL Central last year, Mozeliak's second full season on the job. The GM's current deal was set to expire after the 2010 season.
Mozeliak's major moves include the Matt Holliday signing and extensions for Kyle Lohse and Adam Wainwright. The biggest decision of all has yet to come: Albert Pujols will hit free agency after 2011 and Mozeliak and his front office will have to decide how much they're willing to pay to keep the slugging first baseman in St. Louis. Yadier Molina and Pujols are two of the better-known players the Cardinals drafted when Mozeliak was the team's scouting director.
Odds & Ends: Gonzalez, Red Sox, Fielder, Phillies
Links for Thursday, as the second half begins…
- The Mariners released former MLB reliever Mark Worrell, according to the Pacific Coast League's transactions page. They signed the right-hander earlier in the month and assigned him to the minor leagues.
- Adrian Gonzalez and Yahoo's Jeff Passan discuss the changed atmosphere in San Diego. GM Jed Hoyer told Passan that the Padres will talk about Adrian Gonzalez's future with the team in the offseason.
- Ed Price of AOL FanHouse hears that the Red Sox aren't willing to spend significant amounts of money this July, since they want to avoid the luxury tax.
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs continues ranking the MLB players with the most trade value and Carlos Santana just misses the top 20.
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney wonders how the Rays would look if they obtained Prince Fielder for a package built around Wade Davis.
- As Joel Sherman of the New York Post explains, Hal Steinbrenner is driven to win championships like his father, but he's more analytical and less of a yeller than George.
- Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer argues that the Phillies need to improve before the trade deadline, especially since the Braves acquired Alex Gonzalez.
- Rockies hitting coach Don Baylor tells Adrian Dater of the Denver Post that he would like another shot at managing in the majors.
- The White Sox will fly several of their pro scouts to Chicago at the end of July to evaluate the organization's strengths and areas of need, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
- The Detroit Free Press points out that National League All-Stars made, on average, $2.8MM less than American League All-Stars.
Mariners Sign Wright; Cordero Elects Free Agency
The Mariners signed right-handed reliever Jamey Wright and added him to the major league roster, according to the team. In a related move, the club optioned Chad Cordero to Triple A Tacoma and Cordero opted to become a free agent instead of accepting the assignment.
Wright, 35, had been pitching at Triple A for the A's ever since the Indians released him. He struggled through 21.1 major league innings with Cleveland, posting a 5.48 ERA and walking as many as he struck out (nine). Wright allowed nine walks and 23 hits in 14 Triple A innings, striking out 16.
Cordero appeared in the majors for the first time since 2008 this year, walking five and allowing ten hits in 9.2 innings of work for the M's. The 28-year-old struck out five, but didn't recapture the form that saw him save 113 games for the Nationals from 2005-07.
Reds Seek Right-Handed Reliever
The first-place Reds are looking to add a right-handed reliever, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (via Twitter). Cincinnati leads the NL Central, but their bullpen (4.45 ERA) could use help. Francisco Cordero, Nick Masset, Logan Ondrusek, Micah Owings and Jordan Smith currently make up the right-handed half of the team's 'pen. As a group they have been solid, but not dominant.
Kerry Wood, Jason Frasor, Kevin Gregg, Octavio Dotel, Joakim Soria, David Aardsma, Matt Capps and Leo Nunez are among the intriguing right-handed relievers who could be available before July 31st. Upgrading from Smith or Ondrusek to one of those arms could help the Reds fend the Cardinals off in the second half, but the relievers listed above wouldn't be easy to acquire.
How To Use MLBTR
An explanation of the many ways to enjoy MLB Trade Rumors:
- If the main site doesn't load perfectly on your cell phone, try the more mobile-friendly mlbtraderumors.mobi. It's a simple page that shows you just the headlines and lets you click through to what you want to read.
- If you want only the hard news in the form of transactions, our transactions page is the ticket. You can also get only the transactions via Twitter or RSS.
- To return to the main page at any time, just click on the title or the Home button on the navigation bar below the title.
- The navigation bar will cover many of your needs. Use the About dropdown to learn about this site or any of its writers.
- The Contact button takes you to a page where you can write an email message to the MLBTR writers. If you have a link to a rumor we've missed, please send it in through the Contact page! Also use the Contact page to inquire about advertising on MLBTR.
- The Archives dropdown shows you 15 months worth. If you need to go back further, click on Site Map at the very bottom of the page. Site Map also lists out every MLBTR post category, including players, teams, and features.
- The Widget button takes you here, where website owners can easily add a constantly-updated box to their site with all of MLBTR's headlines.
- The Forums button takes you here, to a message board community of MLBTR readers with over 5,500 members. You can discuss any baseball-related topic on the Forums, and start your own thread too.
- Feeds By Team is a very useful dropdown. Hover over it to see all 30 teams. Click on the team name to bring up a page of every post containing information about that team, with the latest on top. These are the same pages you'll find if you go to the Rumors By Team section on the sidebar and select A's Rumors, Angels Rumors, etc. Also under the Feeds By Team dropdown, you'll find RSS and Twitter buttons. Those links allow you to follow a single team's rumors via RSS or Twitter. Did you know we have a separate Twitter account for each of the 30 teams? For example you can follow @mlbtrtigers, where you would get the latest Tigers updates.
- On the far right of the Navigation bar, you'll see buttons for Twitter, Facebook, and RSS. MLBTR has over 33,000 Twitter followers, over 19,000 Facebook fans, and over 32,000 RSS subscribers. Sign up for these and you'll be the first to receive all of our posts.
- On to the sidebar. It begins with a list of our Top Stories, which our writers update any time major hard news occurs. Go here for a quick update on the most important stories. Below that is the site's Search Box, where you can type in any player's name and get the latest on him.
- MLBTR Features has all kinds of goodies, including our free agent lists, list of Scott Boras clients, latest Elias Rankings, GM-related stuff, and list of first-round draft picks to sign. Many of the MLBTR Features are constantly updated by our writers, so be assured that our free agent lists are always fresh. The Elias Rankings have been reverse-engineered for MLBTR by Eddie Bajek, and you won't find that info anywhere else.
- Below Features you've got headlines for all the Recent Posts, in case you'd rather not scroll to see all the headlines. Then there's a box for our Mailing List, where you can sign up to receive a daily email containing MLBTR's posts. Use this option if you don't need the news as soon as possible.
- Next we have Featured Posts, where you'll find original work from MLBTR writers we consider noteworthy. For example, read about the path from independent ball to the majors here.
Poll: The NL West
The top four NL West teams are within four games of each other. The Padres could use a bat, and they may need an arm, since they're hesitant to push their young starters too hard. The Rockies (2.0 games back) are hanging around, even with Troy Tulowitzki on the DL, but they could add an infielder. The Dodgers (2.0 games back) aren't going anywhere, though they could use some pitching. And the Giants (4.0 games back) have pitching, but they wouldn't mind adding a big bat before July 31st.
Considering each team's needs, their ability to make a deal and the standings, let's tackle a tough question:
Which NL West team is best-positioned to win the division?
Click here to take the survey and here to view the results.
Potentially Available Outfielders
The market for outfielders includes some highly-priced veterans, some highly productive bats and a trio of Kansas City Royals. Here are the names that teams like the Giants, Padres, Braves and Red Sox are sure to consider over the course of the next two weeks. We've sorted them by 2010 salary:
- Kosuke Fukudome, $13MM ($13.5MM in 2011) – The Cubs are watching the market for Fukudome, who isn't hitting badly. His .761 OPS could appeal to teams, but the Cubs would have to absorb money in any deal. Fukudome, who has no-trade protection, would likely clear waivers, so the Cubs could attempt to deal him in August.
- Jose Guillen, $12MM (free agent after 2010) – Guillen is hitting .279/.340/.467 in what has been an up and down season. The Royals appear eager to move the 34-year-old, though it will mean taking on part of his salary. Like Fukudome, Guillen would clear waivers.
- Jayson Werth, $7MM (free agent after 2010) – Werth, a likely Type A free agent, probably won't go anywhere. The Phillies would listen to offers, but it would be hard to part with his .881 OPS.
- Corey Hart, $4.8MM (free agent after 2011) – Hart's value may never be higher. He has 21 homers and a league-leading 65 RBI. The Brewers are open to moving him and appear to want young pitching in return.
- Coco Crisp, $4.75MM ($5.75MM club option or $500K buyout for 2011) – Crisp has hit extremely well in his first 76 trips to the plate since recovering from the chest issue that sidelined him, but teams would likely be hesitant to deal for Crisp, since he has missed so much time. There's a good chance Crisp would clear waivers.
- David DeJesus, $4.7MM ($6MM club option or $500K buyout for 2011) – DeJesus is hitting .326/.395/.460 and playing well on defense. The Royals are asking for a lot in return and may wait until close to the deadline to make a trade.
- Josh Willingham, $4.6MM (free agent after 2011) – Willingham offers power (15 home runs) and patience (.411 OBP), so the Nationals may be inclined to keep him. Another National, Adam Dunn, could be available, but Dunn has not played in the outfield this year.
- Cody Ross, $4.45MM (free agent after 2011) – The Braves have interest in Ross, who appears to be available. He isn't hitting for quite as much power as usual, but still has a .282/.332/.415 line.
- Xavier Nady, $3.3MM (free agent after 2010) – Nady hasn't hit much, but the Cubs have a surplus of outfielders, so they would presumably part with him.
- B.J. Upton, $3MM (free agent after 2012) – Back when the Rays were discussing Cliff Lee, it became apparent that they would consider moving Upton. The speedy 25-year-old isn't hitting much this year (.230/.320/.395), but he is on pace for a third consecutive 40-steal season.
- Jose Bautista, $2.4MM (free agent after 2011) – The former Rule 5 pick leads the league in home runs and walks at a bargain salary, so he will draw interest.
- Scott Podsednik, $1.65MM ($2MM club option or $100K buyout for 2011) – Podsednik is getting on base (.347 OBP) and doesn't earn much, so he could have appeal this month.
- Austin Kearns, $750K (free agent after 2010) – Like Podsednik, Kearns is getting on base (.355 OBP) and making an affordable salary. Neither player is hitting for much power, though Kearns offers more thump than Podsednik.
- The Mets and Rockies have extra outfielders, but they seem content to maintain their depth.
- Free agents Jermaine Dye and Rocco Baldelli could contribute in the majors.
- We've already examined the market for potentially available first basemen, second basemen, third basemen, shortstops and catchers.