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A’s, White Sox Swap Minor Leaguers

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MONDAY: The A's sent infielder Michael Richard to the White Sox to complete the deal, according to the MLB.com transactions page. The 25-year-old is hitting .208/.301/.232 across two levels this year. Richard, an 11th-round pick in 2007, has a career .690 OPS in 1212 minor league plate appearances.

SATURDAY: According to the MLB.com transaction page, the Athletics have acquired minor league catcher Jared Price from the White Sox.

Price, 28, was hitting just .196/.268/.324 for Double-A Birmingham. Since 2005, he's been up and down between Double-A and Triple-A, not hitting much at either level.

For his minor league career, he's hit .204/.287/.369 in in 1,980 plate appearances. In addition to the White Sox, Price has seen time in the minors with the Royals and with the Dodgers, who drafted him in the seventh round back in 2000. He's thrown out 28% of potential base stealers in his minor league career, including marks over 40% both this year and last.

Red Sox Rumors: Cash, Ibarra, Ranaudo

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The injuries keep coming for the Red Sox and so do the rumors. Here's the latest on Boston's options behind the plate, now and in the future:

  • Alex Speier of WEEI.com notes that the Red Sox could have interest in Kevin Cash if Victor Martinez goes on the DL. Cash, now in Houston's system, has experience catching many Red Sox pitchers, including Tim Wakefield. He would probably be available for a small return.
  • Cash could become Boston's immediate solution, but today they moved closer to adding a backstop who could help them in a couple years. Cuban catcher Adalberto Ibarra took his physical today according to the catcher's agency on Twitter. Speier notes that the deal should become official once the results of the physical are available. The Red Sox agreed to a $3MM deal with the 22-year-old in April.
  • Red Sox 2010 draft pick Anthony Ranaudo is returning to form in the Cape Cod League, according to Jason A. Churchill of ESPN.com. Ranaudo's stock fell as the draft approached and elbow issues surfaced, but he has considerable upside, as MLBTR's Mike Axisa explains in this post.

Bobby Valentine Rumors: Monday

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4:10pm: The Marlins are "strongly considering" Bo Porter, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter). So what does that mean for Valentine? It's hard to say. Marlins president David Samson would not comment on Valentine to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (Twitter link).

9:00am: The Marlins' flirtations with Bobby Valentine have become a confusing saga, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  On one hand, the FOX writers report that the Marlins already informed the commissioner's office that Valentine is out of the running for their manager position.  Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel learned via email from Valentine last night that no formal interview has been scheduled.  On the other hand, Valentine told ESPN last night that he's "in the middle of the process."  One Rosenthal and Morosi source backs up Valentine's suggestion that talks are ongoing. 

What's caused the impasse?  Rosenthal and Morosi's sources differ, with one citing "philosophical differences" between Valentine and Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and another pointing to opposition from president David Samson.  In another column, Rosenthal deems the drama an embarrassment to the organization.  He also calls the interviews of Bo Porter and Edwin Rodriguez "a mockery of Commissioner Bud Selig’s guidelines for minority hiring."

Phillies Prioritizing Starting Pitching Depth

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The Phillies are prioritizing starting pitching depth this trade deadline, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (via Twitter). They are looking to add a middle-of-the-rotation starter, probably someone better than Jeremy Guthrie. Few available starters short of Cliff Lee– the Phillies' biggest 2009 acquisition- and Roy Oswalt are definitively better than Guthrie, but arms like Fausto Carmona, Edwin Jackson and Brett Myers could be fits – at least in theory.

It seems unlikely that the D'Backs would trade Jackson in the near future, since he no-hit the Rays over the weekend. Myers is having an excellent season in Houston, but there's no guarantee that Ruben Amaro Jr. would be interested in bringing him back to Philadelphia so soon after the sides parted ways.

Another former Phillie, Pedro Martinez, plans to pitch in 2010, but he wouldn't be ready for major league action without weeks in the minor leagues. The Phillies maintain that they're not close to bringing Pedro back. 

Roy Halladay has been one of the best pitchers in the National League, Cole Hamels has pitched well, though he has been homer-prone and Jamie Moyer has been reliable. Joe Blanton pitched well against the Twins and Indians in his last two starts, but he and Kyle Kendrick have been Charlie Manuel's least reliable starters in 2010.

Shane Lindsay Clears Waivers

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MONDAY: The Indians assigned Lindsay to AA, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (via Twitter).

FRIDAY: The Indians have designated Shane Lindsay for assignment, according to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince (via Twitter).  The move was made in order to clear room for Jayson Nix, who was picked up off of waivers earlier this afternoon.

Lindsay, 25, was claimed off of waivers from the Yankees on the first of the month, two weeks after the Yanks claimed him from the Rockies.  In 13.2 innings for Colorado's Triple A affiliate this year, the righthander posted a 6.59 ERA with 19 Ks and 17 walks.  Baseball America's Prospect Handbook questioned if the Australian could ever stay healthy enough to capitalize on his raw ability.

Rangers Scouted Jeremy Guthrie, Ty Wigginton

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The Rangers scouted Orioles players Jeremy Guthrie and Ty Wigginton as they prepare for the trade deadline, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.

Guthrie, under team control through 2012, has a 4.30 ERA, 4.8 K/9, and 2.3 BB/9 in 102.6 innings this year.  He's allowed 13 home runs.  In the same year that his salary jumped to $3MM, Guthrie's strikeout rate is getting dangerously low.  Still, the Rangers could use an innings eater with Rich Harden and Derek Holland on the disabled list.

Wigginton is a versatile rental, capable of playing second base, left field, and the infield corners.  He's got a .266/.351/.472 line on the season, including a lackluster June.  About $1.86MM remains on his contract.

Mystery Team After Cliff Lee

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A mystery team is pursuing Cliff Lee, tweets Ed Price of AOL FanHouse.  According to Price, the Cardinals "may be it."  Price believes that top prospect Shelby Miller is a possible chip.

Six years of Miller would be an impressive return for two-plus months of Lee, but the Cardinals would have to be intrigued by the possibility of having three aces in the rotation.  Drafted out of high school, Miller is a few years away from the Majors but is said to have number one starter stuff.  Since the Cardinals signed the first-round pick on August 17th of last year, he could only be traded as a player to be named later (named after a year has passed from the time of his signing).

Royals Pushing To Trade Jose Guillen

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The Royals are "really pushing to move Jose Guillen," tweets ESPN's Buster Olney, and "continue to tell teams they will eat a lot of dollars."  Guillen, the team's designated hitter, has $6.39MM remaining on his contract.

The 34-year-old Guillen sports a .282/.344/.470 line on the season, with strong April and June work sandwiching a rough May.  Aside from his time at DH, he's tallied 103 innings in right field.

Which contenders could use a potential offensive boost?  An American League club makes the most sense.  The White Sox and Rays don't have much at DH.  The Yankees are another consideration.  The Padres and Giants could be suitors, if they'd dare let Guillen play the outfield full-time again.

Trading Carlos Zambrano

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Carlos Zambrano signed a five-year, $91.5MM extension with the Cubs in August of 2007.  At the time, I had mixed feelings – the Cubs received a discount in the number of years, but still committed a big salary to a pitcher whose best years were behind him.  Talking to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs GM Jim Hendry defended the contract yesterday:

"There was nothing wrong with the investment.  This guy was an outstanding pitcher in the National League, in the game, for the four or five years before that. And there's no question that the deal was a solid one in the industry. He certainly would have been one of the hotter tickets on the street if that thing went to the end of the season."

Wittenmyer says the Cubs now have an "obvious desire" to unload Zambrano and his remaining $45.4MM.  You may recall that the Cubs had a similar obvious desire with Milton Bradley last winter, and they eventually found a match.  Hendry may find trading Zambrano a bigger challenge.  For the moment, we'll toss aside Z's full no-trade clause. 

  • Carlos Lee is owed $46.85MM through 2012, his contract matches up quite well with Zambrano's.  However, the Cubs don't need an outfielder and Lee has a full no-trade clause this year.  It's impossible to imagine Lee and Alfonso Soriano in the same outfield, even though the Cubs liked Lee in the past.
  • Aaron Rowand and Edgar Renteria are owed a total of $35.7MM.  The Giants would be adding $9.7MM in salary, though that's not a bad price for Zambrano over the next few years.  But as far as team needs, this makes little sense for either side.
  • Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo are owed a total of $27.6MM.  The Mets would be taking on nearly $18MM to own Zambrano through '12 and finally ditch this pair of bad contracts.
  • Any deal with the Braves would have to involve Derek Lowe, who is owed $38MM through 2012.  I don't see why the Braves would want to make the switch.
  • The Indians could match the Cubs' Zambrano commitment almost perfectly with Travis Hafner, Kerry Wood, and Jake Westbrook.  It seems pointless, though, and Hafner isn't able to play first base.
  • The Royals' three bad contracts – Gil Meche, Jose Guillen, and Kyle Farnsworth - have $27.7MM remaining.  It's a poor match, though ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Royals are pushing to move Guillen and will eat a lot of dollars.
  • One last idea, perhaps the craziest yet.  The Yankees owe A.J. Burnett $58.3MM through 2013.  Burnett isn't faring well in the second year of his deal, and the Cubs would be taking on almost $13MM to make the swap.  The Cubs would assume less than $6MM if they included Derrek Lee, though.
  • As you can see, I failed to find a reasonable Zambrano trade scenario involving other overpaid players.  Feel free to speculate in the comments.

Atkins Looking For Fresh Start

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Garrett Atkins, recently designated for assignment by the Orioles, is headed home to California to wait out his fate.  MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli spoke to the corner infielder, who would be willing to sign a minor league deal with a new club.  Ghiroli notes that interested teams would wait until after he clears waivers.  Atkins is not thinking about retirement.

Atkins, 30, signed a one-year, $4.5MM deal with the Orioles on December 22nd after being non-tendered by the Rockies.  The signing was considered one of the worst of the offseason in our March executive poll.  Having logged 152 plate appearances with a .214/.276/.286 line in 2010, Atkins' stock has only dropped further. 

Atkins told Ghiroli that he is ready to move on from the Orioles. However, he told Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun that he would consider playing in the minors for another organization. That approach worked for Pat Burrell, who is hitting well for the Giants after a stint in their minor league system.

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