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Archives for July 2012

Twins Notes: Perkins, Span

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Justin Morneau, Denard Span, Jared Burton and the rest of the Twins can breathe easy. No Twins were traded today. Here are the details…

  • Glen Perkins was in high demand today, but it's not like GM Terry Ryan to extend a player and trade him that same season, ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick writes (Twitter links). The Twins would have had to be overwhelmed to trade the left-hander. The Dodgers made a late push for Perkins, but nothing materialized, Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times reports (on Twitter).
  • Ryan said he wasn't close to trading Denard Span, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports (on Twitter). The Reds and Twins discussed a swap involving the center fielder.
  • The Twins and Rangers discussed a deal involving Jared Burton.

Reds Designate Andrew Brackman For Assignment

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The Reds have designated Andrew Brackman for assignment, Tom Groeschen of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports (on Twitter). In related moves, the Reds acquired Jonathan Broxton, placed Bill Bray on the disabled list, and called up Todd Redmond.

Brackman has spent the 2012 season in the Reds' minor league system, posting a combined 6.80 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9 in 49 innings at Class A and Triple-A. Cincinnati signed Brackman to a Major League deal in January.

Rangers Acquire Ryan Dempster

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The Rangers acquired Ryan Dempster from the Cubs for minor league third baseman Christian Villanueva and minor league right-hander Kyle Hendricks.  The Braves and Dodgers were favored at various points for Dempster, but the Rangers jumped in and made the move and the 35-year-old approved the deal.

Ryan Dempster - Cubs (PW)

Dempster was drafted by the Rangers in the third round way back in 1995 and was traded to the Marlins the following year.  In recent years, he's been a reliable starter for the Cubs, acquiring 10-and-5 rights.  The Rangers' need for starting pitching was heightened when Colby Lewis went down this month. 

Dempster posted a 2.25 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 42.1% ground ball rate in 104 innings with the Cubs this year.  He's earning $14MM — nearly $5MM between now and the end of the season — and will hit free agency this fall.

The Rangers won't be eligible to obtain draft pick compensation for Dempster, since they're acquiring him midway through the last year of his contract.  If the Cubs had kept Dempster, they could have made him a one-year qualifying offer following the season and been eligible for a compensatory pick in 2013.

Villanueva, 21, has a .285/.356/.421 batting line in 425 plate appearances with Class A Myrtle Beach this year. The third baseman entered the 2012 season as the 100th-best prospect in MLB, according to Baseball America. He has a .286/.350/.438 batting line in four minor league seasons.

Hendricks, 22, has a 2.82 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 1.0 BB/9 in 130 2/3 innings over the course of 20 starts at Myrtle Beach. The 6'2" right-hander has 150 strikeouts and just 21 walks in 166 1/3 innings since being selected in the eighth round of the 2011 draft.

The Braves nearly acquired Dempster for Randall Delgado, but the trade didn't go through.  Instead, Atlanta obtained Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson from the Cubs in a trade that was announced last night.

ESPN's Buster Olney first reported the trade and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported which prospects were involved. MLB.com's Ken Gurnick and Scott Miller of CBS Sports had early word of the deal, which made it in just under the trade deadline buzzer. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that the Cubs would obtain two Class A prospects.  Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

Indians Acquire Lars Anderson

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The Indians acquired first baseman/left fielder Lars Anderson from the Red Sox for Double-A starter Steven Wright, the teams announced. WEEI's Alex Speier first reported the trade (on Twitter).

The Red Sox have promoted Anderson in each of the last three seasons, but he has never played more than 18 games or collected more than 43 plate appearances in any one season with Boston. He has spent most of this year at Triple-A, where he has a .259/.359/.415 and nine home runs in 401 plate appearances. The 24-year-old bats left-handed and was considered one of the top prospects in baseball as recently as 2009.

Wright, a 27-year-old knuckleballer, posted a 2.49 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 in 115 2/3 innings at Double-A this year. He started 20 games this year and has started for most of his six-year minor league career.

Pirates, Yankees Swap McGehee, Qualls

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The Yankees acquired corner infielder Casey McGehee and $250K from the Pirates for reliever Chad Qualls, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

For all the talk of the Yankees seeking a defense-first third baseman to fill in for Alex Rodriguez, they went with right-handed power in McGehee.  Perhaps the Yanks liked McGehee's versatility, with Mark Teixeira ailing as well.  McGehee, 29, is hitting .230/.297/.377 in 293 plate appearances for the Pirates. They acquired him from the Brewers for Jose Veras in December; McGehee has about $890K remaining on his contract.  He's arbitration eligible for 2013, but may be non-tendered.  He was made more expendable by the Pirates' acquisition of first baseman Gaby Sanchez from the Marlins earlier today.

Qualls, 33, has a 4.89 ERA, 4.9 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 1.63 HR/9, and 54% groundball rate for the Phillies and Yankees this year.  The Yankees acquired Qualls from the Phils on July 1st after he'd been designated for assignment, and Qualls was a likely roster casualty had he remained with the Yanks.

Dodgers Out On Dempster

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Cubs righty Ryan Dempster is scheduled to start tonight at Wrigley Field opposite A.J. Burnett, but a little thing called the trade deadline looms four hours prior to that contest.  As a 10-and-5 player, however, Dempster must approve any trade.  The latest:

  • The Dodgers are out on Dempster, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times.
  • Straight from the horse's mouth: Dempster told Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com he has expanded his list to include the Yankees and Rangers, in addition to the Dodgers.
  • The Dodgers are pursuing starting pitching on multiple fronts, notes Goldstein.
  • Money would have to be involved for Dempster to land with the Yankees, and with 90 minutes until the deadline there's been no talk of financials yet, tweets Sherman.  The Cubs are said to like Yankees second base prospect Angelo Gumbs and third base prospect Dante Bichette Jr., but Sherman is not sure the Yankees would do that just to upgrade on Freddy Garcia.  Reports are unclear on whether Dempster would approve a trade to the Yankees.
  • Echoing Kaplan, Nightengale tweets that the Cubs are engaged in heavy discussions with the Yankees on Dempster and are still talking to the Dodgers and Rangers.  No one is copping to it on the Yankees' side, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  The Yankees have indeed contacted the Cubs about Dempster, tweet Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, but the teams are not talking seriously yet.
  • The Dodgers are not the only team discussing Dempster with the Cubs, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
  • The deal is not done yet, tweets Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus, as the Cubs really want prospect Allen Webster and are trying to add to Dempster to get him.  Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports concurs: there is no agreement yet.
  • The Cubs and Dodgers are "finally closing in on the Dempster deal," a source close to the negotations tells Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio.
  • The Dodgers remain focused on Dempster and want him even if they add another pitcher, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  They're also looking at hitters, and money does not seem to be a concern.  Rosenthal notes that the Dodgers have worked on two massive deals over the last several days, both of which are now less likely. 
  • There's no evidence of Dempster talk with the Yankees, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
  • The Dodgers, Rangers, and Yankees are in play for Dempster, reports David Kaplan of CSNChicago.com.  The Rangers and Yankees stepped up their pursuit over the last 48 hours.  Furthermore, Kaplan says Dempster is willing to approve a trade to any of the three teams.
  • Nothing was close late Monday between the Dodgers and Cubs, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
  • Dempster "remains adamant that he will only approve a trade to the Dodgers," reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Rosenthal says the Cubs and Dodgers are discussing Dempster and left fielder Alfonso Soriano.  However, if the Dodgers acquire another target in outfielder Shane Victorino, they'd have little use for Soriano.  With only one suitor, the Cubs' only leverage is weak: their alternative is to keep Dempster and make him a qualifying offer in the $12.5MM range after the season, with an eye on scoring one compensatory draft pick if he declines.
  • The Cubs and Braves' previous dialogue about Dempster made yesterday's Paul Maholm trade a little easier, Cubs GM Jed Hoyer told reporters including MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.  As the centerpiece of that deal, the Cubs snagged Tommy John-rehabbing pitching prospect Arodys Vizcaino.

Reds Acquire Jonathan Broxton

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The Reds added a late-inning reliever to the NL's best bullpen today, acquiring Jonathan Broxton from the Royals, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).  The Reds sent Triple-A lefty Donnie Joseph and Double-A righty J.C. Sulbaran to the Royals in return, tweets Rosenthal's colleague Jon Paul Morosi.

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Broxton, 28, has bounced back this year to post a 2.27 ERA in 35 2/3 innings, although his peripheral stats aren't great with a 6.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.  He has posted a career-best 56.6% groundball rate, a large part in why he's allowed just one home run.  Broxton is throwing 95 miles per hour again and has racked up 23 saves, though I'm guessing he'll join Sean Marshall in setting up Aroldis Chapman.  Broxton is on a one-year deal and has $1.4MM remaining in base salary.

Joseph, 24, has a 1.72 ERA, 11.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, and one home run allowed in 52 1/3 relief innings across Double and Triple-A this year.  Baseball America ranked him 27th among Reds prospects prior to the season, suggesting at the time he could become a power reliever in the bigs if able to improve his mechanics.

Sulbaran, 22, has a 4.04 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 4.6 BB/9, and 1.46 HR/9 in 104 2/3 innings as a starter at Double-A this year.  Baseball America ranked him 12th among Reds prospects prior to the season, praising his stuff but expressing concern with his maturity and secondarypitches.  They saw his future as a potential No. 3 starter at that time.

For the latest on all things related to winning the saves category in your fantasy league, check out CloserNews on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

Pirates Acquire Gaby Sanchez

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2:28pm: The Pirates obtained right-handed reliever Kyle Kaminska in the deal, Peter Gammons of MLB Network reports (on Twitter). The 23-year-old has a 5.20 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 53 2/3 innings of work for the Marlins' top two affiliates this year. He was selected in the 25th round of the 2007 draft.

2:08pm: The Pirates have acquired first baseman Gaby Sanchez from the Marlins for outfielder Gorkys Hernandez and a competitive balance pick, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Gaby Sanchez - Marlins (PW)

Sanchez, 28, hit 19 homers in both 2010 and 2011 and entered the 2012 season with a career batting line of .269/.346/.440. However, he posted a .202/.250/.306 batting line in 196 plate appearances with Miami this year, and the Marlins optioned him to the minor leagues on July 5th.

Hernandez, 24, appeared in 25 games for the Pirates this year, playing all three outfield positions and collecting his first two hits as a Major Leaguer. The former top prospect has a .281/.343/.377 batting line in seven minor league seasons. Hernandez was traded to Pittsburgh along with Jeff Locke and Charlie Morton three years ago in the Nate McLouth trade.

The Marlins are tentatively going to obtain the 33rd overall pick in the draft from Pittsburgh, Jim Callis of Baseball America reports (on Twitter). MLB recommended a bonus of $1.525MM for the 33rd overall selection this year.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

Reds, Twins Discussing Denard Span

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2:19pm: Span to the Reds isn't happening, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

1:29pm: A Reds source downplayed the Span talk, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

12:52pm: The Reds and Twins are discussing center fielder Denard Span, writes Scott Miller of CBS Sports.  One Miller source sees a 50-50 chance of a deal.  Span, 28, is hitting .290/.356/.396 in 420 plate appearances for the Twins.  He's guaranteed just $12.8MM through 2014, unless his '15 option is picked up.

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