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NL East Notes: Reyes, Bonifacio, Murphy

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The Marlins appear to have set an extremely high asking price for Josh Johnson, Jon Heyman reported today. Here’s the latest on the Marlins and their NL East rivals…

Quick Hits: Indians, Scutaro, Twins, Polanco

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The Indians are focused on trade candidates who are under team control beyond 2012, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (on Twitter). This means players such as Shane Victorino aren’t ideal targets for Cleveland. Here are more links from around MLB for Thursday afternoon…

  • Marco Scutaro is the most likely Rockies player to be dealt this month, Troy Renck of the Denver Post writes. The Nationals and Rays are among the teams watching Scutaro, Renck notes.
  • The Twins are hoping Carl Pavano and Matt Capps get healthy and pitch well in August so they can pass the pitchers through waivers and consider trading them, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (on Twitter).
  • The Orioles, who continue looking for a third baseman, would have "tried hard" to acquire Placido Polanco if the Phillies hadn't placed him on the disabled list, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter).

Outrighted: Asencio, De La Cruz

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The latest outright assignments…

  • The Cubs have outrighted right-hander Jairo Asencio to Triple-A Iowa, MLB.com's Carrie Muskat reports (on Twitter). Asencio posted a 3.07 ERA with more walks than strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings for the Cubs after they claimed him from the Indians.
  • The Tigers announced that they outrighted left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz to Double-A Erie (Twitter link). De La Cruz, 23, has posted a 4.86 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 90 2/3 innings at Erie since the Tigers claimed him off of waivers from the Indians back in March.

Crasnick On Athletics, Broxton, Francoeur

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The latest rumors from ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick…

  • The Athletics have discussed Jimmy Rollins and Chase Headley as possible upgrades for the left side of their infield, Crasnick reports (Twitter links). However, Rollins' salary would be difficult to fit into Oakland's budget and the Padres' asking price for Headley remains high. The A's seem lukewarm on Yunel Escobar, Crasnick writes. They aren't sure how he'd fit in their clubhouse dynamic. 
  • Jonathan Broxton is the most likely Royal to be traded, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (all Twitter links). The Royals want young starting pitching for Broxton, and they’re looking for pitchers who are close to MLB-ready — not Class A types. 
  • Meanwhile, Jeff Francoeur’s trade value is negligible because he’s not producing at the plate.

Stark On Greinke, Headley, Indians, Wells

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The market for Zack Greinke appears to consist of the Rangers, Angels, White Sox and Braves, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reports. Rival teams say the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers aren’t involved on Greinke, and the Indians and Orioles have limited interest in pitchers headed for free agency, Stark writes. Here are more notes from Stark:

  • The Yankees are exploring their third base options with Alex Rodriguez out, Stark reports. Marco Scutaro could be an option for New York.
  • There’s an expectation that Chase Headley will be traded, but the Padres continue saying they’re happy to keep him, Stark writes.  One team says the Padres are looking for a Mat Latos-like return if they trade the third baseman.
  • The Phillies are looking for a proven, young setup reliever and a young outfielder or third baseman for Victorino, Stark reports. They’ve asked about relievers Brad Lincoln, Wade Davis and Logan Ondrusek in trade talks.
  • It’s already been a busy month for the Astros, but they’re still willing to consider trades for anyone but Jose Altuve.
  • The Indians and Cardinals have talked to the Rays about James Shields, Stark reports.
  • The Angels are telling teams they’d rather trade Vernon Wells than keep him when he returns from the disabled list. They’re looking for a trade partner and saying they don’t want to eat all of his salary, Stark reports. It’ll be challenging to find a taker for Wells’ salary; he earns $21MM per season through 2014.
  • The Indians aren’t likely to deal Chris Perez or Shin-Soo Choo, but they’ll listen on either player.

Mets Release Miguel Batista

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The Mets have released Miguel Batista, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports. They had designated the 41-year-old right-hander for assignment four days ago.

Batista posted a 4.82 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 6.0 BB/9 in 46 2/3 innings of work this year, including five starts. Batista joined the Mets last summer on a minor league deal and signed another with the club in January. The 18-year veteran has a 4.49 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in his career.

AL East Notes: Davis, Yankees, Beckett, Escobar

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The Angels are talking to the Rays about Wade Davis and other available pitchers, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. James Shields has drawn interest from Los Angeles, but Davis might represent an alternative for the Angels’ bullpen or rotation. Here are the latest notes from the AL East…

  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post can’t imagine the Yankees trading for Mark Reynolds or Chone Figgins even with Alex Rodriguez on the disabled list. However, an AL executive said there’s “zero chance” Eric Chavez can replace Rodriguez on a daily basis without breaking down. The Yankees are expected to consider available third basemen in the coming week.
  • The Red Sox have fielded some exploratory inquiries on Josh Beckett, but the calls amount to preliminary check-ins at this point, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. There’s “nothing close” regarding a potential deal, according to Bradford. Beckett, who can veto any trade with his ten and five rights, does not interest the Rangers.
  • Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar remains a possible option for the A’s, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. However, the shortstop says he likes playing in Toronto and doesn’t want to be traded, according to Slusser.

Rangers, Dodgers Pursuing James Shields

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The Angels aren’t the only team in pursuit of James Shields. The Rangers and Dodgers have also made the Rays trade offers for the right-hander, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports.

The Rays are saying they’d move any pitcher except David Price and Matt Moore, but Shields is the most likely one to be traded, Knobler tweets. The Angels have discussed a package that includes center fielder Peter Bourjos and catcher Hank Conger. However, they were rebuffed when they offered Bourjos for Shields, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Shields earns $7MM in 2012 and his contract includes club options for 2013 ($9MM with a $1.5MM buyout) and 2014 ($12MM with a $1MM buyout). Shields, the third-place finisher in last year's AL Cy Young voting, has completed at least 200 innings in every one of his five full seasons. The 30-year-old has a 4.39 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 131 1/3 innings so far in 2012. 

Examining The Turner-Sanchez-Infante Trade

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The Tigers were willing to trade top prospect Jacob Turner to reinforce their roster with Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante in a move that addresses their two biggest needs. Yet there’s no guarantee that they’ll get any sort of long-term assets as a result of the deal.

Jacob Turner - Tigers (PW)

Players traded in past midseason deals could be tied to compensatory draft picks, but Sanchez won’t be connected to anything of the sort. It’s now against the rules for teams to obtain compensatory draft picks for players acquired midway through the last year of a contract. Infante, who earns $4MM per season through 2013, will not bring the Tigers draft pick compensation, either. For that to happen, the Tigers would have to be prepared to offer $12MM-plus when Infante’s contract expires following the 2013 season. It’s not happening.

Leading up to the trade deadline, some general managers speculated that teams would be reluctant to trade top prospects for players on expiring contracts. For some teams the idea of surrendering an elite prospect for a rental player seemed unappealing, especially now that the possibility of obtaining draft pick compensation no longer exists.

But for at least one club, it’s a necessary sacrifice required to make meaningful midseason upgrades. Though Turner (pictured) entered the season as the 22nd-ranked prospect in MLB, according to Baseball America, the Tigers weren’t going to address their issues at second base and in the rotation without including him. The Braves’ willingness to part with Randall Delgado for Ryan Dempster is another example of an aggressive trade offer for a player who won’t be tied to draft pick compensation.

It’s not entirely new for the Tigers — president and GM Dave Dombrowski has made a number of similar win-now decisions in recent years. Under baseball’s pervious collective bargaining agreement, they were willing to sign Type A free agents under the right circumstances, even when it meant surrendering draft choices. They had to forfeit draft picks to sign Prince Fielder, Victor Martinez and Jose Valverde, though the lost draft selections were significant for Dombrowski — “you don’t like to give them up,” he acknowledged after signing Martinez.

The Tigers didn’t lose a pick in this week’s trade (they did swap competitive balance picks with Miami). But they gave up a long-term asset in Turner to bolster their chances in 2012. The Tigers-Marlins trade and the near Braves-Cubs trade appear to be encouraging developments for teams currently marketing other players on the brink of free agency. Highly-regarded prospects seem to be attainable even when draft pick compensation isn't a possibility. The Brewers, for example, can reasonably expect a top prospect of their own if they complete a trade for Zack Greinke. Maybe the new CBA won’t affect teams’ willingness to part with top prospects as much as initially expected.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

Zack Greinke Rumors: Wednesday

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Zack Greinke made his first start in ten days last night in what might turn out to be his final start in a Brewers uniform. He allowed one run on three hits over seven innings against the Phillies, striking out five.

It’s looking increasingly likely that the Brewers will consider trade offers for the right-hander, who has drawn interest from the Rangers, Orioles, Braves, Angels, White Sox, Blue Jays, and Dodgers. Greinke earns a $13.5MM salary this year and will be in line for a considerably larger contract when he hits free agency a few months from now — the Brewers have already offered him a nine-figure deal. Here are today’s Greinke rumors with the most recent updates up top:

  • The price tag for Greinke is extremely high, interested teams told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.  The Brewers are said to have a particular interest in a top young shortstop, and a source said they asked the Orioles about Manny Machado, a request that was rebuffed.
  • The Rangers, Angels, Braves and White Sox are most interested in Greinke, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links). The White Sox want him badly and the Nationals are on the periphery of the talks at best.
  • There’s an "excellent chance" Greinke will be dealt, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports. Many scouts watched his outing last night and some came away impressed. Greinke is said to admire the Angels and Braves organizations, Morosi notes.
  • Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe hears that the Red Sox will not target Greinke (Twitter link).
  • Greinke will be a big focus for the Braves, who are moving on from Ryan Dempster, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter).
  • Greinke says he enjoys playing in Milwaukee, but won't take it personally if he's traded, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. “I don’t really look forward to being traded from this place, but it could happen,” Greinke said.
  • The Red Sox had a scout watching Greinke last night, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports.

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