Olney’s Latest: Sexson, Ibanez, Ortiz
Buster Olney’s blog post is overloaded with rumors today. Here’s a rundown:
- Olney’s Speculation: Will the Red Sox will express interest in Khalil Greene with Julio Lugo on the DL for 4-6 weeks? Olney also wonders if the Dodgers will seek Huston Street if Takashi Saito is seriously hurt.
- Scout Speculation: Huston Street and Matt Murton to the Rays for prospects?
- Bobby Kielty was granted release by the Red Sox.
- Richie Sexson could decide where to go based on greatest offered playing time. I’d say that’s expected for a veteran starter.
- Olney says that requests for Max Scherzer are keeping the Dbacks from making any moves, such as for Raul Ibanez.
- David Ortiz is slated to return to the lineup on July 25th, which leaves the Red Sox less than a week to evaluate him and make a move if necessary. Olney details some options:
- Acquire a hitter during the waiver period after the deadline. This would rule out comparable replacements such as Matt Holliday or Mark Teixeira.
- Make a "preemptive strike" for Holliday or Teixeira costing them "at least one of their best prospects".
- Target a "second or third tier bat" such as Ibanez or Xavier Nady.
- Continue on with or without an effective Ortiz, hoping their offense is good enough.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Holliday, Burnett, Rauch, Ibanez
Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up.
- The Angels are not interest in Matt Holliday, while the Dodgers and Red Sox "could play" on him. Rosenthal names the Nationals as an "intriguing dark horse," saying they’ve been checking up on Holliday. They like the idea of having him for ’09, and could even entertain signing him long-term.
- The Phillies have minimal interest in A.J. Burnett, plus they’re on his 15 team no-trade list. Rosenthal notes that Burnett nearly signed with the Cardinals a few years back, but their interest is not mutual.
- Jon Rauch is a hot commodity, drawing interest from the Rays, Red Sox, and Diamondbacks. His price will exceed that of Brian Fuentes, since he’s under team control through 2010.
- The D’Backs would like to add a left-handed hitting outfielder, and Raul Ibanez is under consideration. Rosenthal suggests Matt Stairs or Tony Clark as possible bench additions.
Heyman’s Latest: Bay, Rivera, Chacon
New column from SI.com’s Jon Heyman.
- Fresh Jason Bay rumors: the D’Backs and Cardinals are in pursuit. The Mets and Rays have kicked the tires as well. Heyman believes the Pirates want Emilio Bonifacio from the D’Backs, and maybe Colby Rasmus from the Cards. At any rate, the price will be steep with Bay signed for ’09.
- Juan Rivera is a "surprise target" of the Mets, though they’ve had interest in him since March. Rivera will be hard to acquire, though, because he’s gaining playing time for the Angels.
- Heyman believes Shawn Chacon will win his grievance and get paid his full salary.
What’s Next For D’Backs?
FRIDAY: Milton Bradley is also not on Arizona’s radar.
THURSDAY: D’Backs right fielder Justin Upton may hit the DL with an oblique strain, while left fielder Eric Byrnes is probably out for the season. Will the D’Backs make an acquisition?
The Barry Bonds idea has been dismissed. Beat writer Nick Piecoro wonders about Kenny Lofton, but GM Josh Byrnes prefers either a trade or internal options. Byrnes’ comments:
"There’s sort of a fine line between patience and stubbornness. But if we’re going to do something to improve our offense, it’s sort of [a question of] whose at-bats are we replacing, and what is that saying about an offense that at the end of last year, beginning of this year, looked like it was sort of taking a step forward? It’s not as simple as the last couple of months, although the last couple of months we haven’t swung the bats very well. Certainly sticking with guys who have shown it, and are young enough to start showing progress, is a consideration."
MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert notes that with those comments, Byrnes doesn’t rule out pursuing a pitcher. Micah Owings and Randy Johnson both have ERAs over 5.00, but they’ve pitched well at times and an upgrade seems unlikely.
Wesley Baier of AZSnakepit recently asked me who the D’Backs could acquire as a platoon partner for Chad Tracy, and I rattled off some lefty-mashers. Casey Blake is an interesting name, especially if he can fill in at right field.
D’Backs Interested In Tony Clark
According to Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres’ callup of first baseman Bryan Myrow increases the likelihood of a Tony Clark trade. Myrow, 31, hit .324/.455/.502 in 87 Triple A games. Granted, he’s had multiple stints at Triple A. But Myrow is a Paul DePodesta favorite who has never gotten a legitimate shot in the bigs despite mastery of Triple A.
DePo had this to say about Clark on his blog:
Tony is the type of player that you’ll often see moved at the deadline. He’s a veteran player who has been very successful coming off the bench in recent years, can change the game with one swing of the bat from either side of the plate, and is known in the industry as one of the finest clubhouse leaders in the game.
DePodesta admits that Clark’s power, his calling card, is down significantly this year. He’s slugging just .314; it may be due to the limited role. Krasovic notes that Clark gets a $500K bonus if traded. According to Jack Macgruder, the D’Backs might be interested in bringing him back. They made a two-year offer to Clark in December, but pulled it off the table.
D’Backs Not Interested In Bonds
WEDNESDAY, 7:43pm: Magruder talked to Bonds’ agent, Jeff Borris. Borris says the D’Backs have never had interest in Bonds, based on conversations with the team. However, Bonds would love to play for them. Borris says he could be ready to go in a week to ten days.
WEDNESDAY, 9:17am: Jack Magruder takes this rumor a step further, saying the D’Backs have had internal discussions about Bonds.
TUESDAY: It seems that D’Backs outfielder Eric Byrnes is out for the season. The team could certainly continue to get by with Conor Jackson in left field and Chad Tracy at first. Or, they could just pick up a lefty-masher on the cheap to complement Tracy.
GM Josh Byrnes admits he’s looking at outside options, and seems to crave more than a platoon bat to give the offense a jolt. When asked about Barry Bonds, Byrnes responded:
He and maybe a couple of others are sort of sitting out there. I think it’s a bit of assessing any players’ readiness, then knocking somebody out of the lineup, dollars, etc. I don’t want to talk about him specifically, but, believe me, we’ve considered a lot of options. There is sort of no one obvious option right now, but there are a lot of considerations.
Maybe we’re reaching, but this is the closest we’ve seen to consideration of Bonds in a long time. Piecoro believes Bonds has been discussed. Piecoro tosses out Kenny Lofton as another option. The D’Backs could also consider some of the same corner outfielders I named for the Mets – Adam Dunn, for example. Will Carroll on the Dunn-to-AZ idea: Dunn would be a great fit in Arizona, but no one seems to think that’s going to happen.
Odds and Ends: LaRoche, Bonds, Salazar
As America collectively recovers from yesterday’s festivities, here are some odds and ends from the world of baseball.
- The Rangers signed 33 year-old reliever Kiko Calero to a minor league deal. Calero is currently pitching with a torn rotator cuff.
- The Dodgers’ Andy LaRoche commented to XM Radio on the idea of a C.C. Sabathia acquisition. He doesn’t seem to acknowledge that he could be part of such a deal.
- Larry King chatted with Barry Bonds a couple of weeks ago. His impression is that Bonds would like to play but doesn’t expect an offer. King also mentions an interesting unsubstantiated Boston rumor.
- Joe Frisaro of MLB.com thinks newly-DFA’ed Joe Borowski could be an option for the Marlins.
- The D-Backs DFA’d Jeff Salazar. The 27 year-old outfielder hit .202/.319/.333 in 117 plate appearances this year.
- With his salary due to more than double next year, Bronson Arroyo knows that this is "the prime year for me to be traded."
Paul Moro writes for UmpBump.com and can be reached here. Tim Dierkes also contributed to this post.
Odds and Ends: Yorman, Hamilton, Ng, Carrasco
Some odds and ends before you fire up the grill…
- The Twins signed their other first round pick, Carlos Gutierrez.
- According to Jeff Passan, 15 year-old Venezuelan center fielder Yorman Rodriguez may have already agreed to a deal with the Reds.
- MLB.com’s Jim Molony notes that the Phillies’ director of Major League scouting watched a recent Red Sox-Astros game.
- Like Brian Bannister, Arizona’s Max Scherzer uses an understanding of BABIP to his advantage.
- Josh Hamilton sensed jealousy in the Reds’ clubhouse. Wayne Krivsky says it wasn’t a factor in the trade but that "there were issues in the clubhouse."
- Yahoo’s Tim Brown has an article on Kim Ng.
- Phillies’ pitching prospect Carlos Carrasco has "mild soreness" in his pitching shoulder.
- Jeff Francoeur has been sent to Double A to reboot his swing.
- I chatted with Eric DeLash over at his blog. I also answered some questions from The Blog Of Champions.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Padilla, Manny, Beltre, Dunn
Rumor man Ken Rosenthal has a new column up.
- At least three teams have inquired on the Rangers’ Vicente Padilla: the Mets, Yankees, and Brewers. Jon Daniels is looking for "quality young pitching."
- Manny Ramirez‘s $20MM option for ’09 isn’t a lock. It’s a tough call – .900 OPS players on one-year deals don’t grow on trees.
- Rosenthal suggests David DeJesus or Melky Cabrera would be nice fits for the Diamondbacks, who aren’t looking for a rental. He also speculates on names like Brian Giles, David Dellucci, and Randy Winn. Note: Rosenthal is playing GM here, not relaying inside info of trade talks.
- Rosenthal believes Matt Stairs would be a nice addition for the Dodgers, and notes that the Dodgers and Blue Jays have spoken. The Jays’ direction for ’08 is still uncertain though.
- Still sounds like it’d take a "knockout offer" to pry Rich Harden loose from the A’s.
- The A’s are said to like Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre. He can block trades to eight unknown clubs though.
- Adam Dunn isn’t generating much trade interest yet.
- KC’s Ron Mahay is "drawing significant interest." The trade market for lefty relievers is fairly robust.
Odds and Ends: Bautista, Uehara, Pavano
I tried busting out my old Super Nintendo last night, to see if I am still the Mario Kart stud I once was. The console didn’t work right though, so I ordered something called the FC Twin. It’s a console that came out a few years ago when Nintendo’s patent expired; it plays both NES and SNES games. I’m excited! On to the hot stove links.
- We’ll be doing our usual live chat here today at 2pm CST.
- The A’s don’t anticipate any problems in signing top draft pick Jemile Weeks. And the D’Backs are nearing a deal with their top choice, Daniel Schlereth.
- Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is working to trade recently-designated reliever Denny Bautista. He’s optimistic. There is a general tone of optimism in this entire odds and ends post, in fact.
- NPB Tracker has an in-depth look at Koji Uehara, who will finally get his wish of trying MLB in ’09.
- Steven Goldman thinks it’s time for the Yankees to trade Melky Cabrera, who seems a bit of a tweener. Might be better to trade him amid a hot streak though. At least that’s what I do in fantasy baseball!
- Yankee whipping boy Carl Pavano could actually be around in August.
- MLB.com’s Jim Molony appeared on their Whip Around program (the 6/23 link). He mentioned that he doesn’t expect the Brewers to make a major acquisition.
- Speaking of MLB.com, they’ve got a new Trade Talk blog up where various beat writers have weighed in.