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Archives for July 2011

Brewers Acquire Jerry Hairston Jr.

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The Brewers acquired infielder/outfielder Jerry Hairston Jr. from the Nationals for Double-A outfielder Erik Komatsu today, the teams announced.

Hairston, 35, gives the Brewers additional depth at second base in the wake of Rickie Weeks' injury, as well as an occasional option for third base and shortstop.  He's hitting .268/.342/.385 in 238 plate appearances on the season and has $670K remaining on his contract, plus performance bonuses.

GMs Mike Rizzo and Doug Melvin matched up on a trade back in March, when the Brewers acquired Nyjer Morgan, according to our Transaction Tracker.

ESPN's Chris Singleton and CBS Sports' Scott Miller broke the story.

Red Sox Pushing Hard For Quentin, Thornton

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The Red Sox are pushing hard for White Sox right fielder Carlos Quentin and reliever Matt Thornton, tweets USA Today's Bob Nightengale, but Chicago would have to be overwhelmed with prospects.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post senses that the White Sox "have really fallen out love with Thornton, and would love move the $13MM he is owed for 2012-13."  He says the Yankees have been watching the lefty.

Phillies Asked Twins About Jim Thome

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The Phillies' next move might be for a home run threat off the bench, tweets ESPN's Jayson Stark.  He says the Phillies even asked the Twins about Jim Thome, and cited Jason Giambi as another example.

Thome, 40, signed a six-year, $85MM deal with the Phillies prior to the 2003 season but was traded to the White Sox three years later.  He's four home runs shy of 600, but the Twins haven't shown any inclination to trade veterans.

As for Giambi, ESPN's Buster Olney hears from an executive who feels he would not make it through waivers to them in August.  Giambi "appeared almost certain to go to Philly" before he hurt his quad, tweets Troy Renck.

Quick Hits: Turner, Cubs, Jimenez

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Early Saturday morning linkage..

Twins Unlikely To Trade Kubel, Cuddyer

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The Twins are getting hits on Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer but are unlikely to trade either of them, tweets Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.

On Friday morning it was reported that Kubel and Cuddyer were drawing strong interest from clubs with Kubel more likely to be dealt.  The Pirates are one of the teams with interest in Kubel while the Angels are said to have their eye on Cuddyer.

Hunter Pence Trade Reactions And Fallout

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The Phillies love to make a big splash at the trade deadline and they continued the trend this year by acquiring Hunter Pence from the Astros for Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid, and a player to be named later.  Let's take a look at some reactions to the deal from around the baseball world:

  • Up until late yesterday, the Astros were looking to get even more out of the Phillies, tweets Jayson Stark of ESPN.com.  Houston insisted that the Phillies had to include two more of their top ten prospects, including 2010 first-round pick Jesse Biddle.
  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. will continue to listen to other teams up until the trade deadline on Sunday, but he's likely done trading after landing Pence, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
  • Astros GM Ed Wade was still talking to other teams until ten minutes before he made the deal with the Phillies, tweets Bob Brookover of Philadelphia Inquirer.
  • Keith Law of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) believes that the Astros took a considerable risk in dealing Pence.  While they received a ton of potential long-term value, the major prospects coming over in the trade are high-risk, high-reward prospects.
  • Wade's decision to trade Pence certainly isn't a popular one but it is the right move for the organization, writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com.
  • Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle writes that it could take two years or longer to fairly judge the return that the Astros got for Pence.
  • Phillies officials have questioned Cosart's maturity in the past, according to John Manuel and Matt Eddy of Baseball America.  Furthermore, the right-hander's command issues led others in the organization to believe he was destined wind up in the bullpen.  However, Cosart had the best pure arm in the Phillies' system.

Tigers Acquire Doug Fister, David Pauley

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10:40am: Larry Stone of the Seattle Times tweets that the Mariners will also get a player to be named later, and it could be a "pretty significant name."  The Tigers may make one more trade before tomorrow, tweets Jon Paul Morosi.

10:29am: The Mariners well also receive third base prospect Francisco Martinez in the trade, tweets Knobler.

10:09am: The Tigers will receive Fister and Pauley for Furbush, outfielder Casper Wells, and more, tweets Knobler.

10:03am: The Tigers acquired Fister, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.

9:30am: The Tigers are "closing in on a deal" for Fister, reports Knobler.  In another tweet, he indicates that Mariners reliever David Pauley may be involved.

9:05am: Lefty Charlie Furbush is among the players expected to go to Seattle in a Fister trade, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.  The Tigers are trying to get a reliever other than Brandon League as well.

8:48am: The Tigers are making progress on a deal for Mariners righty Doug Fister, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, with hopes of getting something done today.

Fister, 27, has a 3.33 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.43 HR/9, and 46.4% groundball rate in 146 innings this year.  His walk rate ranks seventh in the AL, his innings total tenth.  His 6.95 innings per start average is a welcome contrast from the Tigers' non-Verlander starters, who all average around six.  Drafted in the seventh round in 2006, Fister never cracked a Baseball America top 30 Mariners prospect list, but he's become a solid mid-rotation innings eater.  He's under team control through 2015 and won't be arbitration eligible until after next season.

GMs Dave Dombrowski and Jack Zduriencik hooked up on a trade almost exactly two years ago, when the Tigers acquired Jarrod Washburn, according to our Transaction Tracker.

Pirates Have Strong Interest In Jason Kubel

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The Pirates have strong interest in Twins outfielder/designated hitter Jason Kubel, reports MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.  ESPN's Jayson Stark reported earlier that the Pirates have their eye on Kubel.

Langosch reports that the Pirates would likely not have to part with top prospects to obtain Kubel.  However, the big question is whether the Twins, at 6.5 games out, would move him.  So far, indications are that the Twins still consider themselves contenders, or at least aren't interested in selling off pieces.  The Reds and Mets are 6.5 games out as well.

Kubel, 29, is hitting .308/.359/.463 in 248 plate appearances this year.  He missed all of June and three weeks of July with a sprained foot.  He's got $1.76MM remaining on his contract this year and projects as a Type B free agent currently, at least in the American League.

Bedard, Guthrie Have Contrasting Starts

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10:42pm: The Mariners appeared to be waiting until after this start to advance Bedard talks, a source tells WEEI's Alex Speier.  The start won't necessarily cause suitors to drop out.

10:04pm: Mariners lefty Erik Bedard missed a month between starts due to a knee strain, and the rust showed tonight against the Rays.  He threw 57 pitches, about half of them strikes, allowing four walks, three hits, and five earned runs in 1 1/3 innings (Aaron Laffey allowed a couple of inherited runners to score).  The game was reportedly scouted by at least the Red Sox, Yankees, and Tigers.  Bedard's character also took a couple of hits tonight courtesy of former Orioles executive Jim Duquette, though Bruce Chen had his back.

Orioles righty Jeremy Guthrie, on the other hand, fired seven innings of one-run ball against the Yankees to lower his ERA to 4.18.  The contest was scouted by the Cardinals, Tigers, Brewers, and Rangers at the least, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.  The Red Sox have also been linked to Guthrie, though Ken Rosenthal tweeted earlier today that the Orioles have been unmoved by the offers for their ace. 

Padres Reliever Rumors: Friday

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Heath Bell said yesterday that he expects to be traded and you can't blame him given the recent rumors. The Rangers, Angels, Phillies and Cardinals appear to have some interest in Bell and some of those clubs are interested in setup man Mike Adams, as well. Here's the latest on the San Diego relievers…

  • I've heard the Padres asked for Wieland and Erlin from the Rangers for Adams and were turned down, and were seeking just Wieland for Bell.
  • The Cardinals are still in on Bell, tweets Heyman.
  • The Rangers and Padres continue to discuss Bell, reports Scott Miller of CBS Sports, though they've made little progress.  The Cardinals are on the fringe, and the Angels are not involved.  The Padres are asking for three players for Bell, and have interest in Rangers prospect Robbie Erlin.  Dan Hayes of the North County Times tweets that the Padres are rumored to have interest in Rangers Double-A righty Joe Wieland, who tossed a no-hitter against the San Antonio Missions tonight.
  • MLB.com's Corey Brock questions the upper-level prospects the Cardinals would move in a deal with the Padres, but says Double-A righty Joe Kelly is a name to watch (Twitter link).
  • The Rangers remain the favorite for Bell, tweets Yahoo's Jeff Passan, but they're at a standstill with the Padres in terms of which prospects would be involved.  He says the Padres understand they're not getting Jurickson Profar, Martin Perez, or Leonys Martin.
  • The Phillies remain active in talks for Padres relievers, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  He says they prefer Adams to Bell because of the extra year of control.
  • The Rangers are the frontrunners for Bell and the Cardinals' interest in the closer is growing, according to Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune. It's possible that no team will meet the Padres' asking price for Adams, Center writes.
  • Rival teams still expect the Rangers to acquire Bell, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark. One official even says it’s “a lock.” However, the Rangers continue to shy away from the Padres’ asking price – up to three of their top prospects.
  • The Angels are looking for setup types, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter).

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