On this day in 2002, the Tigers acquired Carlos Pena and Jeremy Bonderman in a three-team trade that sent Jeff Weaver to the Yankees and Ted Lilly to the Athletics. None of the other players in the deal (John-Ford Griffin, Jason Arnold and Franklyn German) amounted to much, but 11 years later, Lilly, Pena and Bonderman are all still on Major League rosters. Here's the latest out of the AL Central…
- MLB.com's Jordan Bastian writes that acquiring a starting pitcher has become "a talking point" in the Indians' front office, and it's likely that the team will also pursue bullpen help prior to the non-waiver trade deadline.
- While the Indians' rotation has exceeded expectations in 2013, MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince writes that the front office would still like an upgrade to help compete with the Tigers down the stretch. Castrovince adds that the Tribe sees no point in looking at No. 4 and No. 5 starters, because they have plenty of similar depth. However, as they don't view 2013 as an "all or nothing" season, it's likely they'll try to pursue pitchers that are controlled beyond this season. He speculates that Yovani Gallardo, Jeff Samardzija and Bud Norris would interest GM Chris Antonetti.
- The Twins are among the teams interested in Taiwanese right-hander Jen-Ho Tseng, tweets Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. Tseng, 18, ranked as the No. 29 international prospect in this year's class, according to MLB.com. He was the youngest player named to this year's Chinese Taipei roster in the World Baseball Classic.
- Sanchez also tweets that one of his sources says previous reports linking the Twins to Cuban outfielder Dariel Alvarez are inaccurate. The most recent connection between Minnesota and Alvarez said that the Twins expected the 24-year-old to be too pricey. Sanchez adds that he's still trying to gauge the market for Sanchez to determine his likely price tag.
