Latest On Corey Hart
THURSDAY: Hart is likely to miss the rest of the season, sources tell Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. "We don't know yet," said Brewers GM Doug Melvin.
TUESDAY: There was a time when Brewers first baseman/right fielder Corey Hart looked like an extension candidate, or at least a trade candidate, but those ideas might be out the window due to a delayed recovery from January knee surgery. As Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel explains, Hart once talked about a May season debut, but he suffered setbacks in recent workouts and still isn't close to a minor league rehab assignment. There's no talk of a timetable; a mid-July return after the All-Star break appears unlikely. Adds Haudricourt, "At this point, it's not completely out of the question that he will miss the entire season, though nobody is ready to say that yet."
The Brewers are clearly defined sellers this summer, and Hart could have been a primary asset since he's in his contract year and offers good power. But Hart won't be traded by the July 31st deadline, and the idea of moving him in August is speculation at best. He's earning $10MM and can block deals to 15 teams.
The Brewers weren't interested in extending Hart prior to the injury, he explained to Haudricourt, saying, "They weren't really open to talks beforehand so it's not like me having a bad knee affected it." Hart, who will play next season at age 32, averaged 29 home runs per year from 2010-12. Given the seriousness of his knee injury, Hart seems a candidate for a one-year free agent deal in the offseason.
Mets Notes: Parnell, Ricco
At 11.5 games out in the NL East, the Mets are among the game's clear sellers here in late June. The latest on the team:
- The Mets should trade closer Bobby Parnell, opines Matt Meyers of ESPN New York, who provides three reasons. Parnell, 28, is having another strong year and is under team control through 2015.
- GM Sandy Alderson needs to build a playoff-caliber team in the near future, writes Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, because the primes of David Wright, Matt Harvey, and Zack Wheeler may not overlap for more than a few years. One could make the same case with the Brewers, who have Ryan Braun, Jean Segura, and Carlos Gomez together through 2016.
- Mets assistant GM John Ricco discussed the idea of acquiring controllable players for the future, talking to Ken Davidoff of the New York Post.
- MLBTR's Mets Facebook page has over 2,500 fans! Join in the discussion today.
Braves Expected To Show Interest In Gregg
The Braves are "among the many teams expected to show interest in Cubs closer Kevin Gregg," writes MLB.com's Mark Bowman. Bowman notes that the righty closed for current Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez when both were with the Marlins in 2007-08. Gregg is just one of many relievers the Braves may be looking at as they pursue veteran help with Eric O'Flaherty and Jonny Venters out for the season.
Gregg, 35, has become an unlikely asset for the Cubs, returning to their closer role and posting a 1.42 ERA, 9.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 0.71 HR/9, and 36.5% groundball rate in 25 1/3 innings. He's proof of the volatility of relievers. In March, ESPN Los Angeles' Mark Saxon wrote that Gregg "quietly stewed" over the fact that he couldn't find a Major League deal in the offseason coming off a 2012 campaign in which he posted a 4.95 ERA and 1.5 K/BB ratio in 43 2/3 frames for the Orioles. He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers, who couldn't find a spot on their big league pitching staff due to their starter surplus and released him. He then signed a minor league deal with the Cubs, who selected his contract in a mid-April bullpen shakeup.
It's a little early for a clear picture of Gregg's market, but the Braves, Reds, Red Sox, Tigers, and Padres are likely to be on the hunt for bullpen help. The Cubs and Braves hooked up on a notable trade near the deadline last year, with Chicago shipping veterans Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson to Atlanta for prospects Arodys Vizcaino and Jaye Chapman.
Marlins Unlikely To Trade Giancarlo Stanton
Dreaming of slugger Giancarlo Stanton manning right field for your contending team this summer? Forget about it. Multiple reports this week suggest Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria will not trade Stanton before the July 31st deadline. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Loria is "adamant about wanting to build around Stanton." And two days ago, ESPN's Jayson Stark wrote that officials of three different teams told him Loria "has decided this isn't the time to deal him."
Stanton, who is under the Marlins' control through 2016, "remains extremely unlikely to sign with the club long term," according to Rosenthal. Regardless, Rosenthal hears Loria is "hell-bent on winning in the near future - and proving that he made the right baseball decisions when he tore apart his roster." The Marlins traded Anibal Sanchez, Omar Infante, Edward Mujica, Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Emilio Bonifacio, and John Buck in the last year, but as Rosenthal notes, many of their young players are coming on strong. How interesting would it be if this team made significant acquisitions during the offseason? Top free agents would be extremely wary, but money talks and trades remain possible.
The Marlins do have trade candidates this summer aside from Stanton, including Ricky Nolasco, Placido Polanco, Greg Dobbs, Juan Pierre, Jeff Mathis, Chad Qualls, Ryan Webb, Kevin Slowey, Steve Cishek, and Mike Dunn.
Trade Market For First Basemen
Last July one of the most notable first baseman trades came early in the month, as the Marlins acquired Carlos Lee from the Astros for Matt Dominguez and Rob Rasmussen. The Marlins later dealt the man Lee replaced, Gaby Sanchez. The Lee trade might have marked the last time the Marlins will act as buyers for a while; they moved Anibal Sanchez, Omar Infante, Hanley Ramirez, and Edward Mujica for younger players weeks later, sparking a new direction. This year, teams such as the Yankees, Royals, Rockies, and Giants could be looking for help at first base.
Starters
Mike Morse (Mariners), Kendrys Morales (Mariners), Justin Smoak (Mariners), Adam Dunn (White Sox), Paul Konerko (White Sox), Justin Morneau (Twins), Carlos Pena (Astros), Chris Carter (Astros), Logan Morrison (Marlins), Ike Davis (Mets), Lucas Duda (Mets)
A closer look at the teams and situations listed here:
- Mariners: Morse and Morales are probably the most eminently available bats who are capable of playing first base, though neither has spent much time there in 2013 and Morse is currently on the DL with a quad strain. Both players are free agents after the season and are unlikely to receive qualifying offers. They've got some pop and don't come with ridiculous contracts. Smoak, 26, was the primary piece acquired by Seattle upon sending Cliff Lee to Texas three years ago. This year, he's missed time with an oblique strain and has continued to fail to show the power typical of a first baseman. With arbitration eligibility ahead (not that he'll receive a large salary), the Mariners could choose to use Smoak in a deal.
- White Sox: I don't expect Dunn or Konerko to be traded, but they should at least be available. Dunn's walks can't save a .200 batting average, his defense at first is not beloved, and he's owed around $20MM through 2014. Konerko has started to hit somewhat in June, but he is a Chicago icon with no-trade protection. He'd have to want to go to a contender, and with around $4.5MM left on his contract the money would have to be worked out with the acquiring team.
- Twins: Morneau has spent his entire career in Minnesota, winning the MVP in '06. Like Konerko, he has no-trade protection, over $4.5MM remaining on his contract, and a slugging percentage below .400. Trying to move guys like Konerko and Morneau might be more trouble than it's worth unless the players are completely on board and the teams can find significant savings.
- Astros: Pena is a veteran on a cheap one-year deal, but he's not hitting enough to bring back anything notable. The Astros might rather just have him in their clubhouse. Carter, 26, is tied for 12th in the AL with 15 home runs. He also leads all of baseball with 108 strikeouts. He appears to be the 30 home run, low batting average slugger we thought he was, which is OK but shouldn't prevent the Astros from listening.
- Marlins: Morrison's season debut was June 9th, as he was recovering from September knee surgery. There's no particular reason to expect LoMo to be dealt, but he'll be arbitration eligible next year, and it's the Marlins.
- Mets: Considered a probable long-term piece for the Mets as the season began, Davis was brutal over 207 plate appearances to begin the season and was optioned to Triple-A. A recall seems imminent, but as with the Mariners and Smoak, the Mets could just send him packing in a change of scenery deal. Davis will probably be tendered a contract this winter, but not necessarily by the Mets. Duda has drawn some walks and hit some home runs, but similar to Carter, there's no reason the Mets shouldn't listen on the 27-year-old.
Backups
The Marlins' Greg Dobbs should be available, and the Astros' Pena would fit in a backup role.
Other Possibilities
The Brewers' Corey Hart looks like an August trade candidate, if anything, as he's dealt with delays in his recovery from January knee surgery. The Phillies' Ryan Howard would be nice to add in the larger part of a platoon, facing righties, but he's owed about $65MM through 2016 with good no-trade protection. The logistics of a deal would be complicated, and the Phillies might not have the desire anyway. The Nationals' Adam LaRoche gets a mention because of a scenario from ESPN's Jayson Stark, but it doesn't feel too likely to me. The Giants' Brandon Belt has been OK, and as you've seen in this post, there are few available players who would serve as a clear upgrade.
Check out our Trade Market For Catchers post as well.
Marlins Working To Trade Nolasco ASAP
WEDNESDAY, 10:59pm: The Marlins are surprisingly open to eating some of Nolasco's contract, but only if the prospect return is significantly better than alternative deals, tweets Jim Bowden of ESPN.com. Meanwhile, the Padres continue to have talks with the Marlins on multiple players, including Nolasco, but nothing is close or imminent, a source tells Bowden (Twitter link).
5:21pm: The Marlins have told other clubs that they have teams willing to take on all of the prorated portion of Nolasco's $11.5MM salary, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com. Nolasco is owed roughly $6MM between now and the end of the season.
TUESDAY, 12:41pm: The Marlins have been aggressively working to move starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco as soon as possible, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. So far the Orioles, Yankees, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rockies, and Giants have been connected to the righty, and the Marlins' aggressive approach was noted by Andy Martino of the New York Daily News yesterday. And earlier today, ESPN's Jayson Stark wrote that Nolasco might win the "Most Likely to Get Traded Before the All-Star Break pool." Moving Nolasco with over a month remaining until the July 31st trade deadline makes sense, because there's added value to a contender in having him for all of July.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a new article on Nolasco, where he names the Giants, Dodgers, Padres, Rockies, and Orioles as interested parties (the NL West teams have expressed interest). As opposed to Olney's report, Rosenthal writes, "The Marlins are 'kicking around' names in a potential Nolasco trade with clubs, sources say, but their talks have not progressed to the point where a deal is close."
Nolasco, 30, has a 3.68 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.81 HR/9, and 41.6% groundball rate in 100 1/3 innings this year, making him one of the better available starting pitchers. He has about $6MM remaining on his contract, after which he'll be a free agent. Another of the top starting pitchers available, Matt Garza, is under pursuit by the Padres and Dodgers, according to Rosenthal. Any player traded midseason becomes ineligible for a qualifying offer in the offseason, removing the possibility of draft pick compensation and increasing the player's value to winter suitors.
Click here to see a leaderboard I've created of all the potentially available starting pitchers.
Dodgers Pushing Hard For Nolasco
WEDNEDSAY, 10:20pm: The Dodgers are deep into trade talks with the Marlins about Nolasco, a source confirmed to Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com. However, it's hard to know if anything is close right now, the source added.
A move for Nolasco would not mean the Dodgers are only targeting players to only help them this season, however. They are looking to add a starting pitcher and reliever before the deadline, but they have also talked about moving a veteran to add prospects that could help them beyond 2013. A third baseman is not a major priority for them, however, as they seem content with Juan Uribe.
TUESDAY, 4:36pm: The Dodgers aren't close to acquiring Nolasco at this time, tweets Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio. Four to six teams have shown serious interest in the right-hander.
3:52pm: The Dodgers are "on blitzkrieg" to acquire Ricky Nolasco from the Marlins, tweets Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. As noted by Schulman, the matchup makes sense. The Dodgers can easily absorb the remaining $6MM or so on Nolasco's contract, and such a deal would prevent division rivals like the Padres and Giants from landing Nolasco.
The Padres, Giants and Rockies have all been connected to Nolasco at various points thus far, so it would be logical for the Dodgers, who also have the most ground to make up in the division, to pursue the 30-year-old.
Nolasco has a 3.68 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, and a 41.6 percent ground-ball rate in 100 1/3 innings this year. He's slated to be a free agent following the season, which makes him a strict rental for the Dodgers, as teams can no longer receive compensatory draft picks for players who were acquired midseason.
Schulman adds that a deal could happen "soon," which meshes with reports from earlier today that the Fish are trying to move Nolasco ASAP.
Quick Hits: A-Rod, Phillies, Rangers, Angels
Alex Rodriguez believes the Yankees do not want him to return this season, and perhaps ever again, a source told Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com. The source says that A-Rod thinks the Yankees are deliberately slowing his return to their active roster in the hope they can have him declared medically unfit to play this season, enabling them to recoup the bulk of his $28MM salary through insurance. "Alex thinks there's something really off about this situation," the source said. "Here we have a doctor declaring him fit to play. You think they would be happy about that." Recently, Rodriguez tweeted that he was excited to have the green light from his doctor to play games again and Cashman responded to Matthews' colleague Andrew Marchand by saying, in slightly sharper language, that Rodriguez should keep that sort of thing under his hat. Here's more from around baseball..
- The Yankees could be a trade partner for the Phillies, opines Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. Chase Utley, Carlos Ruiz, and Michael Young could be of serious interest to the Yankees, who are in the market for catching and corner-infield help. A baseball exec tells Salisbury that the Yanks have already kicked around Ruiz’s name as a possible upgrade behind the plate.
- The Rangers are in the market for a starting pitcher if there is a significant upgrade available, writes T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Daniels likes his young starters and wants to see what happens with Alexi Ogando and Colby Lewis, but he did acknowledge he will consider trading for starting pitching. He added that he expects ownership to support any major moves the Rangers attempt, if there is extra finances involved.
- Angels GM Jerry Dipoto asserts that he is neither a buyer or a seller as the deadline approaches, writes MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez. “I don’t see drastic paths. We have a roster of veteran players, most of whom are under club control, a very talented offensive club, pitching staff is evolving, some pending free agents, many others under club control. We’ll assess as we go," said the GM.
NL West Notes: Giants, Dodgers, Gonzalez, Rockies
The Giants are hoping to get back to the .500 mark as they take on the Dodgers tonight and one might expect them to be eager to upgrade their roster for a late-season push. However, we learned earlier today that San Francisco isn't planning to make a deal anytime soon. At this stage, GM Brian Sabean believes that the asking price is simply too high for the desirable players on the block, but that can certianly change as we approach the deadline. Here's more out of the NL West..
- The Dodgers are determined to find an upgrade at third base and their pitching over the next five weeks, tweets JIm Bowden of ESPN.com. The Dodgers have given Juan Uribe a great deal of time in the hot corner this season and so far he has responded with his best offensive season in a while, hitting .268/.356/.399 over 50 games.
- Speaking of the Dodgers, they had multiple scouts watching Cuban right-hander Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez in his most recent game, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The Dodgers are reportedly one of several clubs interested in Gonzalez and Red Sox GM Ben Cherington recently watched him throw in person.
- The word in the scouting community is that Gonzalez could get as much as $60MM across five years, writes Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.
- Any trade the Rockies make would likely happen after All-Star break in the two weeks before trading deadline on July 31st, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
Minor Moves: Vasquez, Accardo
Here's your rundown of Wednesday's minor moves from around the league…
- Esmerling Vasquez has signed with the Lancaster Barnstormers and made his debut with the club last night, according to the team's official website. The Twins released the right-hander earlier this week. Vasquez posted a 5.68 ERA in six starts for Minnesota last season and a 4.66 ERA over 137 relief innings with the Diamondbacks from 2009-11.
- The Nationals have released right-hander Jeremy Accardo from Triple-A Syracuse, according to the International League transactions page. Accardo, 31, posted a 5.56 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 in 22 2/3 innings for the Chiefs this season, though he has a career 2.94 ERA in 196 innings at the Triple-A level. Accardo has significant Major League experience, as he's posted a 4.30 ERA in 284 2/3 big league innings. He saved 30 games as the Blue Jays' closer back in 2007.
- Six players currently reside in DFA limbo: Eric Thames of the Mariners, Carlos Marmol of the Cubs, Wade LeBlanc and Ross Seaton of the Astros, Francisley Bueno of the Royals and Jose Valverde of the Tigers.