Players Not Traded
Assigning contender status is subjective, but I’m going to say that the following teams are not in the playoff mix: the Orioles, Royals, Indians, Mariners, Braves, Nationals, Reds, Astros, Pirates, Giants, and Padres. The Blue Jays and Athletics just missed the cut as fringe wild card contenders. With those 11 non-contenders in mind, let’s take a look at players not traded at the ’08 non-waiver deadline.
- Orioles: Aubrey Huff, Ramon Hernandez, Brian Roberts, Jay Payton, Jamie Walker, Kevin Millar, Chad Bradford, George Sherrill. Millar and Payton are free agents after the season, but there probably wasn’t much of a market for either. The rest are under team control through at least ’09, so Andy MacPhail still has time to find the right deal; read his comments here. Hernandez is an August trade candidate.
- Royals: Jose Guillen, Mark Grudzielanek, Ron Mahay, David DeJesus, Miguel Olivo. Moving the Guillen contract would’ve made sense, but we don’t know whether that was on the table. Kind of surprised to see Grudz still around. Mahay could be an offseason move, but the Royals might just want him for ’09. DeJesus’ name will probably come up at the Winter Meetings.
- Indians: Paul Byrd, David Dellucci, Jamey Carroll. Only Byrd was thought to generate a bit of interest. He could go in August.
- Mariners: Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn, Raul Ibanez. The Ms still have time to move Beltre and Washburn if they feel so inclined. Ibanez is a possible Type A free agent, so the Mariners asked for a lot. Jayson Stark spoke to teams who characterized the Ms demands as "outrageous" in general. Geoff Baker gives his take on the Mariners’ deadline day.
- Braves: Mark Kotsay, Will Ohman. Wouldn’t be surprising to see Kotsay moved this month. Ohman we discussed here.
- Nationals: Austin Kearns, Dmitri Young, Cristian Guzman, Luis Ayala, Ron Belliard, Tim Redding, Odalis Perez. Some of these players have little trade value, while the Nationals prefer to keep others for ’09.
- Reds: Adam Dunn, Bronson Arroyo, Jeremy Affeldt, David Weathers, David Ross, Josh Fogg, Paul Bako. It seems that the offers just weren’t there for Dunn, who should net a pair of draft picks unless the Reds are gunshy about offering arbitration. I’m surprised Weathers and Fogg weren’t moved.
- Astros: Miguel Tejada, Randy Wolf, Jose Valverde, Ty Wigginton, Mark Loretta, Doug Brocail, Geoff Geary. The ‘Stros are acting like contenders. The worst outcome for fans would be if Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins add a few wins and worsen the team’s ’09 draft position.
- Pirates: Jack Wilson, John Grabow, Doug Mientkiewicz. The Pirates were quite active, and could still trade Wilson and Grabow this winter.
- Giants: Randy Winn, Dave Roberts, Bengie Molina, Rich Aurilia, Tyler Walker, Jack Taschner. Winn and Roberts are August trade candidates. The others might’ve made sense to trade.
- Padres: Greg Maddux, Brian Giles, Khalil Greene, Josh Bard. Maddux, with just one possible suitor, couldn’t be moved. Keeping Giles and Bard around makes sense for ’09, while trading Greene now would be selling low. The Padres did talk to seven different teams in the last few days.
Braves Elect To Keep Will Ohman
J.C. Bradbury asks this morning whether the Braves overvalued lefty reliever Will Ohman. Roughly ten teams had interest in him, but the Braves elected not to trade him.
The Braves’ reason for keeping Ohman is that in their opinion no offer exceeded the value of the draft pick they might receive if he leaves via free agency. Here’s a refresher on how free agent compensation works.
A couple of things need to happen for Ohman to net the Braves even one supplemental draft pick. First, he needs to achieve Type B status. As you know, Eddie Bajek is attempting to reverse-engineer the Elias rankings. He doesn’t have a good line on Ohman’s projected status yet, but Bajek told me the reliever rankings are ridiculously sensitive to wins. He expects Ohman to be classified as Type B, but he could also fall below that (in which case there’d be no draft pick compensation).
Furthermore, the Braves would have to offer Ohman arbitration and have him decline and sign elsewhere. Offering arbitration means the Braves could be stuck paying him $2-3MM for ’09 if he accepts. We saw several teams take this gamble and lose last year. The Braves were smart about Andruw Jones, not offering him arbitration for fear he might accept.
Ohman might decide to accept an offer of arbitration. Maybe he sees a similar lefty like Jeremy Affeldt, who wanted four years and got one from the Reds. So just keep in mind that a lot of things need to happen for the Braves to get draft pick compensation for Ohman next year.
Odds And Ends: Braves, Orioles, Redding, Dunn, Ryan
A few more post-deadline notes from the MLBiverse…
- Apparently the Braves tried to get involved in the Jason Bay sweepstakes in the last hour before the deadline.
- Andy MacPhail feels that the Orioles will actually be more active in August than in July. Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly suggest that several players, including Kevin Millar, Jay Payton and Ramon Hernandez could be had in August. MacPhail also noted that while there "was a pretty high bar set" for teams asking about Brian Roberts, MacPhail made it clear that Roberts was not off-limits and suggested that a deal this winter is not out of the question.
- Jim Bowden does not appear eager to trade Tim Redding, who according to Bill Ladson, is the Nat’s only player of value that could be traded in August.
- Walt Jocketty would not commit to an attempt to sign Adam Dunn to an extension.
- Terry Ryan, the Twins former GM, penned a piece for SI.com in which he details what a GM goes through in the weeks and days leading up to the trade deadline. Very interesting read.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Lefty Relievers: Ohman, Grabow, Eyre, Mahay
2:50pm: Stark says Ohman’s probably staying put despite interest from ten teams.
2:39pm: Buster Olney says the Phillies will probably come up empty on a lefty reliever.
2:02pm: Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald says the Braves asked for a pitching prospect for Ohman, and the Red Sox passed. Mahay remains a possibility.
1:07pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the Braves could keep Ohman. So far they’re not finding offers superior to the supplemental draft pick they could get after the season.
THURSDAY, 12:24pm: Jayson Stark has the Yanks and Red Sox battling for Eyre.
WEDNESDAY, 11:50pm: Let’s talk lefty relievers.
- David O’Brien names the Red Sox, Cardinals, Rays, Tigers, and White Sox parties interested in Will Ohman. But the Sox might end up with John Grabow, and the Tigers may be content with Kyle Farnsworth as their relief addition. Grabow may also be on the Rays’ radar.
- MLB.com’s Mark Bowman has the Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox after Ohman, with the Cardinals out of the bidding.
- Sean McAdam sees Boston’s interest in Ohman as minimal. Instead, they’re eyeing Scott Eyre and Ron Mahay. They’ve even offered Brandon Moss for Mahay, which seems solid. Nick Cafardo believes righties Huston Street and J.J. Putz are still in the mix.
- 15 scouts watched Arthur Rhodes struggle tonight.
Red Sox One Of Five Teams Pursuing Ohman
According to Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox are one of five teams pursuing Braves lefty Will Ohman.
Previous reports have mentioned the Red Sox, Marlins, Rays, Tigers, White Sox, and Cardinals as suitors for Ohman, who is a free agent after the season.
Stark’s Latest: Aurilia, Fuentes, Orlando Cabrera
New collection of rumors from ESPN’s Jayson Stark…
- The Twins have asked the Giants about Rich Aurilia. They’ve been dangling Boof Bonser for a position player; would they trade him back to San Francisco for Aurilia?
- On the Phillies’ radar: John Grabow, Will Ohman, Arthur Rhodes, and Jack Taschner.
- A Brian Fuentes trade remains doubtful.
- The White Sox will trade Orlando Cabrera for the right pitcher. The Sox aren’t generating much interest in their prospects.
Odds and Ends: Roberts, Ohman, Kotsay, Eyre
Rumor roundup…
- ESPN’s Buster Olney implies that another website backdates timestamps in an attempt to fake scoops. I was following the Mark Teixeira rumors like a hawk; I gave the scoop to ESPN’s Jayson Stark with an assist to MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer.
- Joe Christensen says Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts is not available.
- MLB.com’s Mark Bowman guesses Will Ohman will land with the Cardinals. He also puts the odds of a Mark Kotsay deal at 50%.
- With Mark Teixeira out of the picture, Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes doesn’t expect to make any more trades.
- Will Carroll says the Dodgers had a "passing discussion" with the Cubs about Scott Eyre and Ronny Cedeno.
- Nothing cooking with the Royals.
- Talked to Eddie Bajek, who is working on reverse-engineering the Elias formula. He has A.J. Burnett on the Type A/Type B borderline. Ivan Rodriguez and Edgar Renteria should both be Type As.
Graziano’s Latest: Dunn, Putz, Laird
Time to check in with Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger.
- Graziano calls Adam Dunn "the man without a rumor." Even with his flaws this one is hard to figure out. [UPDATE: SI.com’s Jon Heyman is finally hearing a couple of teams are in on Dunn.]
- John Maine‘s rotator cuff strain has the Mets looking at pitching. Graziano suggests names like Livan Hernandez, Paul Byrd, and Jarrod Washburn.
- The Mets have talked to the Tigers about Scott Schoeneweis. They’d have to replace him, maybe with Arthur Rhodes or Eddie Guardado.
- The Mariners will listen on J.J. Putz, but he won’t come cheap. The Cardinals and Red Sox have interest. Putz is signed through ’09 with an option for ’10.
- The Yankees and Marlins have asked about catcher Gerald Laird, while many teams like Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
- The Braves are willing to trade Will Ohman and Mark Kotsay.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Ibanez, Ohman, Fuentes
The latest from rumor guru Ken Rosenthal:
- The Mariners are not having much luck stirring interest in Jarrod Washburn and Raul Ibanez. Only the Mets are seriously looking at Ibanez, and they don’t like the price. The D’Backs aren’t interested. Exacerbating the situation is that interim GM Lee Pelekoudas may feel compelled to make a good impression on the higher-ups.
- The Braves chose Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek over an offer of Chad Tracy and Micah Owings from the D’Backs. I’m surprised the Diamondbacks didn’t go a little further. The Braves tried to expand the deal and send Will Ohman to the Angels, but a match could not be found. Ohman remains likely to go, with the Rays, Cardinals, and Red Sox named as suitors.
- Rosenthal notes that the Angels have a ton of offseason decisions to make, with club options and free agents all over the place.
- The Rockies might be slightly more willing to trade Brian Fuentes following recent losses. However, they still want a young starting pitcher for him.
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Tuesday
9:55pm: Jayson Stark attempts to douse the Manny flames, getting denials (again) from the Dodgers and Phillies.
8:39pm: Ken Davidoff says the Teixeira deal makes a Manny trade more difficult, since that’s one less option for Boston to replace Ramirez’s bat. The Red Sox will keep trying nonetheless.
6:52pm: Jon Heyman says the Phillies might be the frontrunner for Manny. Ramirez will want his $20MM options eliminated upon a trade.
The Dodgers are also involved, with the Marlins surfacing as a longshot.
3:07pm: Ken Rosenthal says the Dodgers are not pursuing Ramirez or Teixeira. So, conflicting reports again. The Dodgers are also not interested in Adam Everett and unlikely to acquire Jack Wilson.
Joe Christensen agrees that Everett isn’t happening, and notes that the Dodgers once had Ronny Cedeno on their list.
2:36pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post has the Dodgers in the lead for Manny. The Red Sox would eat most or all of the $7MM remaining on Ramirez’s deal, and then receive a player like Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier. Such a deal would enable the Sox to enter the Mark Teixeira bidding.
Sherman also talked to one NL exec who believes the Dodgers might instead acquire Brian Roberts, pushing Jeff Kent into a utility role and leaving the shortstop problem unresolved.
1:05pm: Looks like Manny’s going to need his own post, after all. Earlier today, Dan Graziano said the Mets are still in on Ramirez despite the denials. Now SI.com’s Jon Heyman adds that the Dodgers are showing interest. The talks are still in their infancy, and keep in mind that the Dodgers do not want to add payroll.