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Dodgers In Lead For Brian Wilson

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TUESDAY, 10:17am: The Dodgers are now the front runner to sign Wilson, tweets Nightengale.

MONDAY, 9:24pm: ESPN's Jim Bowden lists the Giants, Pirates and Dodgers as front-runners for Wilson (on Twitter).

8:58pm: Wilson has narrowed his decision to three or four teams and is in the "offer/counter-offer" stage at this point, Miller tweets.

7:10pm: The Pirates and Giants are both "serious suitors" for Wilson, who appears close to signing soon, according to Scott Miller of CBS Sports. Miller adds that the Diamondbacks and Dodgers have some level of interest as well, and he notes that Wilson "has an affinity for Los Angeles." The Phillies were also thought to have interest prior to the six-game skid that has pushed them firmly into their stance as sellers.

3:52pm: The D'Backs are not in on Wilson, tweets John Gambadoro of Sports 620 KTAR.

2:52pm: The Pirates and Diamondbacks are the strong front runners for free agent reliever Brian Wilson, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today, who notes that Wilson has offers from four NL teams and one AL club.  Yesterday, Yahoo's Tim Brown noted interest from the same mix of five teams.

Wilson, 31, auditioned for teams Thursday with the Pirates, Diamondbacks, Athletics, Giants, Phillies, Rangers, Rockies and Cardinals in attendance.  The former Giants closer had Tommy John surgery in April 2012.

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

Giants Rumors: Javier Lopez, Pence, Lincecum

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The Giants will definitely move lefty reliever Javier Lopez, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  As for fellow impending free agents Hunter Pence and Tim Lincecum, as reported yesterday, the Giants intend to make a qualifying offer to both after the season, but are willing to listen to trade offers now.  The latest:

Earlier Updates

  • The Giants' interest in retaining Pence and Lincecum will clearly affect whether they're traded this summer.  Assistant GM Bobby Evans noted to Sherman, "You have to be realistic that if you trade a guy, you are not going to be able to re-sign him. That is what history shows."  In a general sense, Evans also said, "We will listen.  And things change as the deadline gets closer. But I don’t see anyone overwhelming us to make deals happen."

AL East Links: Stanton, Crain, Josh Johnson

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The latest out of the AL East…

  • The Red Sox "may be willing to part with whatever it takes" in hopes of acquiring the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton, a league source tells MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.  Still, the Marlins have pretty much closed the door on trading Stanton for now.
  • The Red Sox should trade top prospect Xander Bogaerts and more to get Phillies lefty Cliff Lee, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, while Dave Cameron of FanGraphs gives his take on that idea.
  • "The deals we’ve seen so far, teams have gotten a pretty good return," Red Sox Ben Cherington said of this year's trades, according to Tim Britton of the Providence Journal.
  • The Rays acquired reliever Jesse Crain from the White Sox yesterday, with the return to be determined after the season.  Crain has been out since late June with a shoulder strain, and the White Sox seemingly tried to rush him back into action.  "Hopefully this time we'll take our time and be ready for the rest of the year," Crain said, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
  • Josh Johnson accepting a qualifying offer might be an unacceptable risk for the Blue Jays given their limited financial flexibility next year, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca.  Speaking to Jeff Blair on the Fan 590 on Friday, Johnson's agent Matt Sosnick said he expects the Jays to make a qualifying offer and "hang compensation on" his client, affecting the pitcher's value in the free agent market.  Sosnick didn't say it explicitly, but he seemed to imply they would accept a qualifying offer.  Sosnick believes we're headed toward "the worst free agent pitching market in the last 10 to 15 years," but Johnson isn't likely to be a part of it.
  • The Yankees are in danger of being "a club that isn’t good enough to legitimately contend and not bad enough to completely tear down," writes Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues.  Axisa feels the Yankees will have to scrap their plan to keep the payroll under $189MM next year, if they re-sign Robinson Cano.  Otherwise, they'll have to rebuild.

Orioles Trade Targets: Byrd, Oliver Perez

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The Orioles currently stand to take the second wild card spot in the American League, and they've already bolstered their pitching staff with the additions of Scott Feldman and Francisco Rodriguez.  Here's the latest on their trade targets, courtesy of Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun:

  • Connolly feels the Phillies' Michael Young is the best fit for the Orioles at DH, but the team hasn't made an aggressive push for him at this point.  Connolly expects Young to go elsewhere if traded.
  • The Orioles are interested in the Mets' Marlon Byrd.  However, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News writes today that Byrd is "highly unlikely" to be traded.  Connolly also believes Mariners lefty reliever Oliver Perez is the most likely player to be acquired by the Orioles.
  • Connolly says to forget about Cliff Lee and Jake Peavy.  Instead, the O's have coveted the Astros' Bud Norris and Chris Sale of the White Sox.
  • Connolly expects the Orioles to pass on the Twins' Justin Morneau.
  • Orioles minor leaguers Mike Wright, Tim Berry, and Christian Walker have piqued teams' interests.
  • Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette feels he has the money and prospects to make a deal, if the right one comes along.

Rockies Have Had Interest In Gregg

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Though Cubs closer Kevin Gregg seems a near-lock to be traded by tomorrow afternoon's deadline, we've heard little in the way of specific teams linked to him.  However, the Rockies have had interest in Gregg, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post today.

The Rockies have "been prepared to act as a buyer and seller" as they sit 6.5 games out in the NL West, according to Renck.  That explains their interest in bolstering the bullpen despite a willingness to listen on Josh Outman.  Renck adds that while the Rockies are unlikely to trade injured closer Rafael Betancourt, it hasn't been ruled out.  The 38-year-old is "slowly recovering from an appendectomy," writes Renck.

Indians, Red Sox Interested In Josh Outman

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TUESDAY: The Red Sox are also interested in Outman, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.  Outman would be an odd target for the Sox, in my opinion, given that they're flush with left-handed relievers.

MONDAY: The Indians have held serious talks with the Rockies about pitcher Josh Outman in their pursuit of a lefty reliever, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Outside of a couple of Triple-A stints, Outman has compiled a 4.50 ERA, 9.7 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 0.47 HR/9, and 46.8% groundball rate in 38 relief innings for the Rockies.  Lefties have hit .218/.274/.303 in 84 plate appearances against the 28-year-old this year, and Outman has struck out almost 36% of them.  Drafted by the Phillies in the 10th round in '05, Outman went to Oakland in the '08 Joe Blanton deal.  The Rockies acquired Outman and Guillermo Moscoso for Seth Smith in January 2012.  The Rockies, currently six games out, would have to decide whether they could part with Outman, who is under team control through 2015.  The club also has southpaws Rex Brothers and the recently-recalled Jeff Francis in its bullpen.

Latest On Alex Rodriguez

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In regard to Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, commissioner Bud Selig is prepared to bypass the grievance procedure in the collectively-bargained joint drug agreement, disciplining A-Rod under the "integrity of the game" clause Article XI, Section A1b, according to Teri Thompson, Bill Madden, Nathaniel Vinton, and Michael O'Keefe of the New York Daily News.  Under that scenario, only Selig himself would hear an appeal.

FanGraphs' Wendy Thurm wrote about this possibility several weeks ago, calling it Selig's "nuclear option."  Selig's decision would be final, and could not be further appealed to an arbitrator or court.

MLB will reportedly announce the Biogenesis suspensions this week.  It's also been reported that if Rodriguez, approaching his season debut after hip surgery and a quad injury, does not accept a suspension running through 2014, MLB may attempt to ban him for life.

Phillies Won’t Trade Brown, Utley, Hamels

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The Phillies are willing to listen to offers on any players except Domonic Brown, Chase Utley and Cole Hamels, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. That includes Cliff Lee, though general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.'s preference is to hang onto him, and he'd need to be blown away to move his ace left-hander.

The Phillies view Hamels' poor season as an aberration, according to Salisbury, and their desire is for Hamels and Lee to front their rotation in 2014. Utley, of course, is said to be working on an extension with the Phillies, and Brown has emerged as the young power bat that the Phillies have hoped he could become.

Boston is currently the most interested team in Lee's services, according to Salisbury, and their interest dates back to the offseason when they were told he wasn't available. Salisbury adds that the Red Sox's reluctance to part with Xander Bogaerts or Jackie Bradley Jr. makes it likely that Lee will likely remain with the Phillies beyond the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Recent reports have indicated that Lee would require three or four top prospects to acquire, though at least one NL executive speculated that he did think Lee would be traded.

Both the Yankees and Red Sox continue to show interest in Michael Young, and Salisbury writes that Jonathan Papelbon is "very much available" as well. He notes that the Tigers' interest in Papelbon had cooled even before their acquisition of Jose Veras on Monday, so there may no longer be a fit between the two sides.

AL East Notes: Lyon, Hughes, Yankees, Red Sox

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As Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes, it's been 10 years since the strangest week of Brandon Lyon's life. In 2003, the then-23-year-old Lyon was dealt by the Red Sox to the Pirates as part of a pacakage for lefty Scott Sauerbeck. The Pirates decided they weren't comfortable with the state of Lyon's elbow and sent him back to the Red Sox in a trade centering around Freddy Sanchez and Jeff Suppan just nine days later. Now with the Red Sox once again, Lyon tells Britton that he hopes to be with the big league club in the near future. Here's more on the AL East…

  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that as of Sunday, the Yankees had yet to receive a single trade offer for struggling right-hander Phil Hughes. That's fairly surprising, given Hughes' solid production away from Yankee Stadium (3.02 ERA in 53 2/3 innings compared to 6.02 in 58 1/3 innings at home).
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman feels that there may be more offense on its way to New York via the trade market before Wednesday's deadline, writes MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
  • The Red Sox are no longer in the mix for Joe Nathan, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, but they're still prioritizing right-handed relief help. The Red Sox remain in contact with the Phillies about Michael Young but find the asking price for Cliff Lee too high, according to Bradford. The same goes for Jake Peavy of the White Sox.
  • Alex Speier of WEEI.com takes a look at how the Red Sox stack up in terms of starting pitching, right-handed relief and third base options.

Giants To Entertain Offers For Veterans

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10:33pm: The Tigers are among the many teams that have spoken to the Giants about Lopez, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports (on Twitter). Earlier tonight, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported that the two sides have had trade discussions even after Detroit's acquisition of Jose Veras earlier today.

In a separate tweet, Knobler reports that Pence is available, though the price is very high. The Giants aren't likely to trade Lincecum, according to Knobler.

2:32pm: The Giants plan to make qualifying offers to Pence and Lincecum after the season, writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, leading one source to suggest their asking price is "very strong" on the pair.

1:22pm: The Giants have told other teams they'd rather re-sign Pence than trade him, according to ESPN's Jayson Stark.

10:53am: The Giants will entertain trade offers for veterans, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  He says that while the club would ideally like to keep potential free agents Tim Lincecum, Hunter Pence, and Javier Lopez, they feel they must listen to any reasonable proposal.

Lincecum, 29, has a 4.95 ERA in 313 regular season innings since dominating from 2008-11.  This year, strikeouts are up and walks down, suggesting he could be a 3.50 ERA pitcher moving forward.  With over $7MM remaining, his salary could be prohibitive for some clubs, and his ERA has bounced around in the mid to high-4.00s since May.  A qualifying offer, which could cost $14MM, is a question mark at this point for the Giants if he stays, in my opinion.

Pence, 30, is hitting .277/.320/.457 in 440 plate appearances this year.  He's hitting .259/.300/.401 since June 1st, and probably doesn't qualify as an impact bat even in a weak market.  Rosenthal suggests he would receive a qualifying offer from the Giants after the season, so they'd be looking to top the value of a supplemental draft pick.  Of course, the Giants have typically placed a lower value on such picks than most clubs.  Pence has around $4.6MM remaining on his contract.

Lopez, 36, would be the easiest of the three to move.  About 64% of the batters he's faced have been left-handed hitters, and he's dominated against them.  The Braves and Indians seek left-handed relief.  The Diamondbacks are in the market as well, though the division rivals haven't matched up on a trade since '05.  The Giants would consider re-signing Lopez in the offseason, according to Jack Magruder of FOX Sports Arizona, but "indications are that Lopez would like to play closer to his Virginia home."

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

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