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Archives for July 2011

Yankees Tried For Ricky Nolasco

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The Yankees tried for starter Ricky Nolasco, tweets SI's Jon Heyman, but the Marlins are not ready to deal him.  Earlier, Joel Sherman of the New York Post talked to an "AL personnel man" who said he thought the Marlins would at least listen seriously on Nolasco.

Nolasco, 28, has a 4.04 ERA, 6.8 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.77 HR/9, and 43.6% groundball rate in 140 1/3 innings this year.  The strikeout rate is his lowest since his rookie season.  Nolasco has about $2.1MM left on his contract this year, plus $20.5MM for 2012-13.

Indians Remain Aggressive

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The Indians remain aggressive after their failed run at Carlos Beltran, tweets Yahoo's Jeff Passan.  Passan says the Indians are "trying to move on" Colby Rasmus, B.J. Upton, and Hiroki Kuroda.

Though a deal was never presented to Beltran, the Indians offered to pick up all of his contract and send a good player to the Mets, reported MLB.com's Peter Gammons yesterday.  Rasmus, meanwhile, may be headed elsewhere.

Blue Jays Reach Agreements With Anderson, Gabryszwski

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10:05am: The Jays have not confirmed the Anderson signing, but they did announce an agreement with second-round pick Jeremy Gabryszwski and three later picks.  Gabryszwski, a high school righty with a mid-90s fastball, was drafted 78th overall.

7:47am: The Blue Jays agreed to terms with supplemental pick Jacob Anderson on a deal worth $990K, tweets Kendall Rogers of Perfect Game USA.  Anderson had committed to play for Pepperdine.  The high school outfielder went 35th overall and was part of the Jays' compensation for the loss of reliever Scott Downs.  Slot for the pick is $900K, reports Baseball America.

BA reports that Anderson is a profiles in center or right field and is "a physical specimen with plenty of leverage and solid-average to plus raw power potential in his slightly uphill swing."

For our list of all the first and supplemental round picks to sign so far, click here.  The deadline is August 15th.

Giants To Acquire Carlos Beltran

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3:11pm: The Giants and Mets have reached a tentative agreement on a Beltran trade, report Rosenthal and Morosi.

2:27pm: The Mets will pay $4MM of the $6MM remaining on Beltran's contract, an executive not directly involved with the trade tells Sherman.  The number is confirmed by ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter link).

1:30pm: If nothing happens in the next 24 hours to scuttle the deal, it's just Wheeler for Beltran and cash, tweets Sherman.  The Mets are sending a significant amount of money, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.

12:45pm: Olney tweets that Giants pitching prospect Zack Wheeler is expected to be the centerpiece in the trade, and Jon Paul Morosi agrees.  

12:17pm: Carlos Beltran is going to the Giants, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown, with logistics being worked out. Just minor details remain, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.  ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the two teams are at the one-yard line, while Brown reminds us that a 24-hour waiting period applies since Beltran has 10-and-5 rights.  The Phillies are just barely hanging on for Beltran, according to multiple reports.

Royals Reach Agreement With Adalberto Mondesi

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The Royals reached a $2MM agreement with 16-year-old Dominican shortstop Adalberto Mondesi, reports ESPN's Enrique Rojas (link in Spanish).  Adalberto's father is Raul Mondesi, the former 1994 Rookie of the Year and current mayor of San Cristobal.

The scouting report from Baseball America:

Mondesi has a thin frame and is one of the few high-profile Latin American shortstops this year who projects to stay at the position. He's an above-average runner with good quickness, an average arm and solid hands. He doesn't have flashy tools, but they play up because he has good baseball instincts.

The Royals haven't been shy about spending money on international free agents, having landed Dominican outfielder Elier Hernandez for $3.05MM earlier this month.

Prospects Mesoraco, Hamilton Untouchable For Reds

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Yesterday, Reds GM Walt Jocketty explained to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, "There are guys I will not trade.  I will not give you names. But they’re are certainly guys I will not trade."  Today Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has two of those prospects' names: catcher Devin Mesoraco, and shortstop Billy Hamilton (Twitter link).

Fay is under the reasonable belief that Aroldis Chapman is also off-limits.  Would the Reds still have enough to pull off a deal for Ubaldo Jimenez?  They could assemble an offer around prospects Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal, plus pitchers Homer Bailey and Travis Wood.

Type Bs Who Could Be Acquired For The Draft Pick

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The main benefit of the Nationals acquiring Jonny Gomes from the Reds is a shot at a supplemental draft pick, in the opinion of ESPN's Jim Bowden.  As Ben Nicholson-Smith noted, Gomes is no lock to receive and turn down an arbitration offer.  Still, we saw plenty of apparent handshake deals where Type Bs turned down arbitration offers last offseason.  A Type B free agent has nothing to lose by agreeing to such an arrangement.

Our new Elias projections are out, so let's take a look at players who currently project as Type Bs free agents and play for teams expected to sell.

The most transparent instance of trading for a draft pick came last offseason, when the Jays acquired catcher Miguel Olivo from the Rockies with the intent of declining his option and offering arbitration.  The ploy worked, and Toronto drafted Dwight Smith Jr. 53rd overall in June as a direct result.  So if the Jays or some other draft pick-obsessed team makes a run at Bruce Chen this month, you'll know why.

Beane Not Impressed By Offers Yet

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GM Billy Beane "believes that two months' more service from the A's pending free agents, plus any potential draft compensation picks for losing them, would be more valuable than the types of proposals he has seen," reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Said Beane:

"We've accepted calls on players, but we made it clear we're not going to give these guys away.  We don't have any monetary issues, and we're not looking to dump payroll. If we did anything, it would have to help us significantly moving forward, not some team's prospect No. 37.  In respect for Bob Melvin, we're not going to strip-mine things for two months for players of no consequence."

Beane has been expected to purge the team of impending free agents David DeJesus, Josh Willingham, Coco Crisp, Conor Jackson, and Rich Harden, plus any number of relievers who are controlled beyond this year.  The Athletics' demands for reliever Brad Ziegler are considered reasonable, notes Slusser.

Currently, Willingham projects as a Type A free agent, DeJesus a B, and Crisp, Jackson, and Harden nothing.  Arbitration offers are not certain for Willingham and DeJesus, either.  With the five free agents making a combined $22.45MM in base salary this year, Beane could save over $7MM if he changes his mind and cleans house just for the savings.

Jays Acquire Jackson; Rasmus Involved?

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10:44am: Money appears to be the only holdup in a trade that would send Jackson to the Cardinals and Rasmus to the Blue Jays, tweets Rosenthal.  An exchange of more than $1MM awaits approval, and of course the Cards will get more than just Jackson for Rasmus.

Jackson and Teahen are going to Toronto, tweets MLB.com's Scott Merkin.  Heyman tweets that the two-team deal is done.

10:37am: Jackson is now being told a trade is official, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.  He's shaking hands with staffers, tweets Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune from the White Sox clubhouse.

10:30am: The Cardinals continue to talk about Rasmus deals with the Blue Jays and other teams, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney, and the outfielder appears to be "very much available."

10:09am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that this deal is close but not complete, because the money exchange requires approval and the Jays are trying to spin Jackson to another team.  That team may be the Cardinals, based on tweets from Joe Strauss, Jon Heyman, and Sherman.  Sherman believes the Cardinals could also get a reliever and Colby Rasmus may be involved, but nothing is official.  The Blue Jays have interest in Rasmus, tweets Morosi.

Meanwhile Alejandro De Aza is starting in center field for the White Sox this afternoon, necessitating a 25-man roster move.

9:21am: The White Sox are in serious talks for a deal that would send starter Edwin Jackson and third baseman Mark Teahen to the Blue Jays for reliever Jason Frasor and a prospect, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Rosenthal's colleague Jon Paul Morosi says this deal is close and money could be involved.  The rumor was first reported ten hours ago on Twitter by a fellow named Doug Seyller.

The Jays' motivation for renting Jackson for two months and taking on a bad contract in Teahen is unclear.  There doesn't appear to be a draft pick angle, as both Jackson and Frasor project as Type Bs.  Perhaps Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is considering flipping Jackson to a contender.

The White Sox were known to be seeking bullpen help, and Frasor has a club option for next year.  The Sox could also subtract a reliever, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that they're talking to the Cardinals about Matt Thornton.  Maybe Kenny Williams' goal in the Jackson trade is to shed the $9.7MM left on the contracts of the two veterans, though we need to see the quality of the prospect involved.  Sox pitchers John Danks and Gavin Floyd are also on the market, according to Rosenthal.  The White Sox are currently 4.5 games out in the AL Central with another game against the Tigers tonight.

Carlos Beltran Rumors: Wednesday

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Yesterday's Carlos Beltran learnings: the Indians offered to pick up all of Beltran's contract and include a good player, but nothing was presented to the player; the Phillies won't trade Jonathan Singleton for Beltran and many other top prospects can't be had either; the Mets' asking price has come down from two weeks ago and they're talking two and three-prospect deals with suitors.  The latest:

  • Beltran is not going to the Rangers, tweets Rosenthal.  The Giants are his presumed frontrunner.  He says the Mets had asked about Giants prospects Zack Wheeler and Gary Brown.  They won't get Wheeler, but Rosenthal says "we'll see" on Brown.
  • Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez could go to the Mets as part of a Beltran trade, tweets Sherman.
  • Some executives believe Boras is trying to direct Beltran to the Giants, a team that has the money to retain him after the season, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Meanwhile Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Rangers are offering the Mets a greater number of players for Beltran than the Giants, who are offering fewer players but more quality.  The Phillies are still serious, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown.
  • The Indians walked away from the Beltran talks convinced that agent Scott Boras is controlling the process, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.  They won't shut the door on Beltran but believe he won't change his mind, tweets Yahoo's Jeff Passan.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Mets have "moved off A-level prospect requests" for Beltran, but Andy Martino of the New York Daily News has a high-level source who denies the Mets have lowered their asking price.
  • The Mets are making progress in negotiations with the Rangers and Giants, reports ESPN's Buster Olney.  The Braves remain involved.

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