Perrotto’s Latest: Sabathia, Bradley
Time to take a spin through John Perrotto’s lastest column over at Baseball Prospectus.
- C.C. Sabathia suitors named: Yankees, Phillies, Cubs, Red Sox, Rays, and Angels. The Rays seem to be a new name; DRays Bay has a comment thread up on it. Jon Heyman has similar names but adds the Dodgers to the mix.
- The Rangers are apparently warming to the idea of trading Milton Bradley (they’re 7.5 games back) but they could still re-sign him in the offseason.
Olney’s Latest: Sabathia, Sexson
Must-read alongside your bowl of Cocoa Pebbles is Buster Olney’s Saturday morning blog post:
If the C.C. Sabathia trade rumors were a horse race, he writes, as of today these teams would be the favorites:
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Chicago Cubs
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Texas Rangers
- Boston Red Sox
The problem is, he notes, some of these teams may or may not be in contention by the trade deadline; and/or could be bluffing.
On more serious note, all the recent managerial changes in Seattle have clouded Richie Sexson‘s future with the Mariners. Olney points us to Seattle Times writer Larry Stone’s notebook, and the not-so-secret rumblings that Sexson’s days with the M’s may be numbered.
Stone reports the Mariners may be thinking about releasing Sexson or DFAing him. Before Friday’s game with the Braves, when asked if he expected to be with the team after the weekend series, Sexson told reporters:
"I don’t know. I’m just going to play. I really can’t worry about that, and I’m not going to worry about that. I know if things don’t work out here, there’s a lot of other teams out there. I know I can still play the game. I’m not worried about never playing again. It doesn’t concern me."
Alejandro A. Leal writes for UmpBump.com. Rumors? Comments? Email me: alexo05 [at] umpbump [dot] com.
Odds and Ends: Bernazard, Sexson, Rangers
Time for another link roundup.
- I hadn’t realized this – the Royals offered Billy Butler for Yuniesky Betancourt a few years back.
- The Jays acquired pitcher Jonah Bayliss for a player to be named later.
- Buster Olney heard that Brian Sabean doesn’t like the idea of the Giants bringing in Rick Peterson. Wouldn’t be fair to Dave Righetti.
- Ken Davidoff of Newsday says Mets VP of Development Tony Bernazard has a bad reputation.
- David Andriesen of the Seattle PI has a source saying the Mariners are not ready to pull the trigger Richie Sexson‘s release. Still seems likely though.
- I did a Q&A on the Rangers with Uwe Blog.
- Speaking of the Rangers, I’m high on Chris Davis as a fantasy baseball pickup.
Odds And Ends: Beckham, Rangers, Peterson, Drew
A few more minor notes from the MLBiverse…
- Marc Lancaster is reporting that Tim Beckham, the top pick of the Rule 4 draft, will be visiting Tropicana Field at the end of the week and his father believes that a deal will be in place by the end of the weekend. The rest of the first rounders could sign quickly once Beckham and the Rays set the benchmark.
- Jamey Newberg wonders if the Rangers will have a hard time making trades because their farm system is so deep. The Rays might have the same problem.
- Jeff Passan names his All-Overpaid and All-Underpaid teams.
- Could Rick Peterson reunite with Barry Zito in San Francisco?
- Dave Cameron says J.D. Drew was worth the money.
- A reader emailed in saying he saw Mets scout Jerry Krause at the White Sox-Pirates game. Krause might be the game’s most publicly recognizable scout.
Yankees Sign Ponson
The Newark Star-Ledger is reporting that the Yankees have signed Sidney Ponson to a minor league contract.
The Yankees just announced that they have signed right-handed pitcher Sidney Ponson to a Triple-A contract. Presumably, this means Ponson will report to Scranton, but it would seem likely that he’d get a shot in the Yankees’ major-league rotation soon.
Ponson was released by the Rangers on Monday, 10 days after being DFA’d for "disrespectful and adverse reactions to situations unbecoming of teammates." Ponson was 4-1 with a 3.88 ERA in 9 starts with the Rangers.
Volquez For Hamilton Revisited
Recently Bob Nightengale of USA Today revisited the off-season deal that sent Edinson Volquez from the Rangers to the Reds for Josh Hamilton. Nightengale noted that both teams have no regrets and that the deal "continues to reverberate around baseball".
Rarely does a deal work out so well for both teams, especially so soon. Volquez is one of the early candidates for the NL Cy Young and Hamilton is an early leader for the AL MVP. Both are expected to be All-Stars next month.
It is rare for two teams to swap young players of this caliber, although this was just one of two such deals this past winter. The Twins and Rays swapped Matt Garza and Delmon Young. Unlike the Volquez-Hamilton deal, the Garza-Young deal has been more beneficial for the Rays, at least early on.
This got me thinking…Has there ever been another deal in which two young major leaguers with this level of potential were swapped for each other and made such an immediate impact for their new clubs?
Let’s here your thoughts in the comments…
Odds And Ends: Bradley, Haren, Griffey, Holliday, Atkins
A few minor notes from the MLBiverse…
- Evan Grant wonders if the Rangers might try to trade Milton Bradley if they fall even farther back in the standings and then try to resign him in the off-season when he is a free agent.
- The D-Backs have begun negotiations with Dan Haren on a contract extension. Haren is signed though ’09 with a $6.75MM team option in ’10.
- Ken Griffey Jr says that he wants to win a championship in Cincinnati.
- With the Rockies playing the Indians, it was inevitable that the Matt Holliday- or Garrett Atkins-to-the-Indians speculation would resurface.
Olney’s Latest: Rockies, Padres, Braves, Sabathia
Today let’s take a look at Buster Olney’s blog.
- Executives from the Rockies and Padres are telling other clubs that they will not be sellers. They’ve climbed back into the race with the recent D’Backs slump. Popular trade rumor names like Brian Fuentes, Greg Maddux, and Randy Wolf may be off the market.
- Olney runs through some scenarios for Mark Teixeira trades, if Frank Wren and the Braves decide to punt on ’08.
- The Rangers have their eye on C.C. Sabathia – maybe now, maybe after he reaches free agency.
Ponson Released By Rangers
The Dallas Morning-News is reporting that the Rangers were unable to trade Sidney Ponson and have now placed him on waivers for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release.
On June 6, the Rangers DFA’d Ponson for "disrespectful and adverse reactions to situations unbecoming of teammates." The Rangers had 10 days to work a deal for the pitcher with a 4-1 record and 3.88 ERA.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Gammons’ Latest: Sabathia, Dunn, Harden
ESPN’s Peter Gammons has a new blog post up.
- The Indians are "thoroughly scouting" eight teams that may be interested in C.C. Sabathia, including the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, and Dodgers (the Mets may be another). Gammons agrees with Ken Rosenthal that Mark Shapiro may trade Sabathia soon to maximize his value. Gammons does not see the Yanks jumping in with Phil Hughes or a multi-prospect offer, unless Chien-Ming Wang‘s injury forces their hand. He does not think the Cubs or Phillies have the goods, but suggests the Rangers as a dark horse.
- If the Cubs don’t have enough for Sabathia, Plan B could be Randy Wolf, Greg Maddux, or even Erik Bedard. The Padres and Mariners have been informed of the Cubs’ interest.
- Gammons seems to indicate that Mark Teixeira could be available if the Braves fall out of the race (although Tex is not mentioned by name).
- The Dodgers may have been open to trading Brad Penny, but his shoulder injury puts the kibosh on that.
- Adam Dunn‘s whifftastic ways scare the Red Sox, who might pass even if David Ortiz needs surgery. Gammons suggests Josh Willingham would be a better fit.
- Rich Harden could be a huge acquisition, one of the game’s most dominating pitchers. It’s the same story though – will any team be willing to meet Billy Beane’s asking price given Harden’s injury history?