Odds & Ends: Indians, Pirates, Zambrano
Some links to wrap up a relatively busy weekend, with more on the way:
- ESPN's Jorge Arangure says the Yankees, Red Sox, Reds and Padres in on 16-year-old Dominican RHP Cristopher Cabrera.
- John Perrotto at Pirates Report says if he were Neal Huntington, he'd go ahead with the rumored swap of Nyjer Morgan for Lastings Milledge with the Nationals.
- Phil Rogers at the Chicago Tribune is fed up with Carlos Zambrano and thinks the Cubs should waive him and take anything another club is willing to give. Not a great week for Cubs fans, eh?
- Bud Shaw at the Cleveland Plain-Dealer notes that the Indians have had more success making deals than with their draft picks.
- Paul Hoynes at the Plain-Dealer gets some more player reactions to the Mark DeRosa deal.
- Andrew Baggarly at the San Jose Mercury News wonders if Jermaine Dye and Mark Teahen could be on Giants GM Brian Sabean's radar screen.
Odds & Ends: Morgan, Brewers, Phillies
Some odds and ends around the league:
- Nyjer Morgan was caught off-guard by recent trade rumors, says Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Morgan said he was "flattered."
- Adam McCalvy of MLB.com says the Brewers are still pursuing potential deals after not matching up to acquire Mark DeRosa. Doug Davis is mentioned in the piece.
- Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer rounds up who will be buyers and who will be sellers over the next month. Nothing too surprising. He lists the Phillies as buyers, in need of pitching, and suggests they're looking at Chien-Ming Wang and "have been all over" Brad Penny.
Royals Ink Nicaraguan Prospect
According to Dejan Kovacevic at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Royals have come to terms with Cheslor Cuthbert, a 3B prospect out of Nicaragua. The 16-year-old will sign for a bonus around $1.5 million.
Kovacevic reports that the Pirates had been in hot pursuit of Cuthbert for about two years and had been named as favorites to sign him. Rumors had swirled the past few days from ESPN's Jorge Arangure that the Royals had become the more likely destination.
Pirates, Nationals Discussing Swap
SATURDAY, 3:51pm: MLB.com's Bill Ladson has confirmed through a source that the Nationals are in hot pursuit of Morgan. Milledge was offered, but the Pirates are seeking a starting pitcher or middle infielder.
Washington infielders Alberto Gonzalez and Danny Espinosa probably aren't going anywhere, and the Nats seem to like their young nucleus of starters (mainly Stammen, Jordan Zimmermann and John Lannan). Ladson suggests Anderson Hernandez could be part of the move, but he surely won't "wow" Pittsburgh's upper management.
FRIDAY, 9:58pm: Via Twitter, Ed Price of Fanhouse.com says the Pirates and Nationals have been discussing an outfield swap of Nyjer Morgan for Lastings Milledge but that talks stalled when Pittsburgh asked for right handed starter Craig Stammen as well.
Milledge is currently recovering from a broken finger sustained in Triple-A. Morgan is having a fine breakout season hitting .267 with 18 stolen bases; however, Pittsburgh has a glut of up-and-coming outfielders in Andrew McCutchen, Delwyn Young, and Steven Pearce.
Odds And Ends: Snell, Tigers, Dotel
Some more links for a quiet Thursday…
- MLB.com's Jen Langosch says it's "almost certain" that Ian Snell will be demoted to Triple A and Dejan Kovacevic confirms the news. Snell has been mentioned in some rumors, but his value's pretty low at this point.
- Chris Iott of MLive.com reports that the Tigers signed two of their picks and a non-drafted free agent.
- Octavio Dotel realizes he could be traded and says nothing will surprise him, according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
- In a piece for MLB.com, Jamey Newberg says Justin Smoak and Martin Perez lead the list of top Rangers prospects.
- Don't forget to tune in at 6:20 CST when I'll be talking rumors on the TEAM 1380 in St. Louis.
Pirates Interested In Luis Ayala
9:28pm: John Perrotto has another article up, saying the Pirates are only interested in Ayala at a "greatly reduced cost," i.e. the "vast majority" of the $700k still owed to him would need to be picked up by the Twins.
8:22am: The Pirates are interested in trading for reliever Luis Ayala, according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. John Perrotto of PiratesReport.com confirms the Pirates' interest in the 31-year-old righty, who was designated for assignment by the Twins on Monday.
Vesting Options For 2010
Magglio Ordonez's 2010 vesting option has created a small stir in the last week or so, but there's a group of players with less-publicized vesting options. Here are updates on a few of them, and please add anyone I missed in the comments below:
- Freddy Sanchez will earn $8MM in 2010 if he makes 635 plate appearances this year. The option will also kicks in if he makes the All Star team and bats 600 times. With 290 plate appearance already, it looks like Sanchez will make $8MM next year.
- Kevin Millwood has a $12MM option that kicks in after 180 innings pitched. He hasn't pitched that much since 2006, but with a league-leading 106.2 innings logged already, Millwood will likely see his option vest.
- It's no surprise that we've heard little about Dmitri Young's $6MM option for next year. It only vests if he bats 500 times, but he hasn't hit yet in 2009. It's safe to say the Nats won't be stuck paying him that much next year.
- Josh Beckett's $12MM 2010 option will kick in if he starts 28 games this year. He's already at 14, so that number seems attainable.
- Milton Bradley's 2011 option will vest if he plays 75 games in 2009. In other words, Bradley will earn $12MM in 2011 if he plays 22 more games this year.
Odds And Ends: Phillips, Mets, Pirates
Links for Tuesday morning…
- It's time for another MLBTR chat. We'll go live at 2pm CST.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes on a report suggesting former Yankee Andy Phillips could soon be playing in Japan for the Hiroshima Carp.
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post heard from former college standout Ben McDonald that agent Scott Boras never pressured him into anything back in 1989.
- Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says Neal Huntington is trying to build a young, athletic, defensive-minded outfield around Andrew McCutchen in Pittsburgh.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff says the Mets shouldn't part with their trading chips for short-term benefit, even if it costs them their 2009 season.
- After looking at the Rangers' problems yesterday, Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News shows that lots is going well for them.
- Mike White of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Matt Clement is coaching basketball at his former high school.
- WEEI.com's Alex Speier takes his readers behind the scenes of the Red Sox draft.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times says a Juan Pierre for Jarrod Washburn swap wouldn't work for the Mariners because of Pierre's contract.
Pirates Sign Supplemental First Round Pick
John Perrotto tweets that the Pirates have signed righthander Victor Black, their supplemental first round pick. Coming out of Dallas Baptist, Black was taken with the pick the Pirates received for failing to sign Tanner Scheppers last year. Terms of the deal aren't known, but MLB's recommended slot bonus for the 49th overall pick is expected to be around $720,000.
Odds And Ends: Red Sox, Mateo, Sano
More links for the afternoon…
- The Pirates signed Victor Black, their supplemental round pick, according to Mike Vukovcan of KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh.
- Alex Speier of WEEI.com reports that the Red Sox are set to sign their second round pick, righty Alex Wilson, for about $475k. He turned down $600k from the Cubs last year.
- ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure says the Nats will work Wagner Mateo out, but aren't likely to sign him.
- Arangure says the Mariners, Cardinals, Dodgers, Giants, Yankees and Cubs could sign Mateo.
- Arangure still expects Miguel Angel Sano to sign with the Pirates.
- Peter Abraham of the Journal News suggests the Yankees should release Brett Tomko and Angel Berroa. He also suggests five other ways the Yankees could improve without making a trade.
- Peter Gammons says C.C. Sabathia could use some extra rest in this ESPN Radio discussion. Gammons also believes Daisuke Matsuzaka's injury is "pretty serious."
- MLB.com's Rustin Dodd looks back at the deal that sent Carlos Beltran to the Astros. Five years ago Wednesday, the Royals acquired Mike Wood, Mark Teahen and John Buck for their center fielder.
- Click here to take another look at the MLBTR glossary post on the international signing period. It now explains how some players born in early September, 1993 can sign this year.