Giants Scouting V-Mart, Dye
Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports that the Giants are scouting Jermaine Dye and Victor Martinez. The Indians aren't shopping V-Mart and the White Sox aren't sellers at this point, but the Giants need a bat.
Amaro: Few Pitchers Available
Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told MLB.com's Todd Zolecki that some pitchers aren't available no matter what prospects he offers up.
"if the guy is not going to go, he's not going to go," Amaro said. "You can give them your entire club."
So far Amaro's offered up prospects in vain and has relied on the inexperienced arms of J.A. Happ and Antonio Bastardo. Now that Bastardo has a strained shoulder, the Phillies will pluck another arm from their system, possibly Carlos Carrasco. Amaro admits he's looking for pitching, but says asking "pretty please" won't land him starters when many other teams need pitching as well.
Odds And Ends: DeRosa, Royals, Jays
The runner-up for Mark DeRosa, thoughts on the Blue Jays and a pair of discussions to listen in on…
- Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News says the Reds came in second in the DeRosa sweepstakes.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that DeRosa's already fitting in well with the Cards.
- The Phillies, who are scouring the league for starters, could have interest in Gil Meche and Brian Bannister so, as David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News reports, the Royals scouted Lou Marson and others in Triple A.
- MLB.com's Mark Bowman notes suspicion that the Braves are unhappy with Yunel Escobar's behavior.
- Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail gets the sense that the Jays are ready to move Vernon Wells and/or Alex Rios for just about anything to free up enough money to keep Roy Halladay after next year.
- Watch my discussion with Sid Rosenberg right here. We talked about the Mets, Matt Holliday and the best pitching available.
- I will also be talking trades on SportsTalkSoup tonight at 10pm CST, so listen in.
Cardinals Now Have Limited Payroll Flexibility
ESPN.com's Buster Olney heard that the Cardinals have limited payroll flexibility now that they've added Mark DeRosa. Since he makes $5.5MM in total this year, the Cards are on the hook for about $2.75MM of DeRosa's contract.
Before the DeRosa dealm, they were considering Matt Holliday, who makes $4MM more than DeRosa between now and the end of the season. They appeared willing to take on his $13.5MM contract. Could the Cards add $4MM to their payroll for the right player?
International Free Agent Update
ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure relays the latest on a pair of international players with his Twitter account.
- Cheslor Cuthbert, who agreed to terms over the weekend, will receive a bonus of about $1.2MM from the Royals.
- The Rangers appear to be closing in on Jurickson Profar.
- It looks like he'll receive a bonus of about $700k to play short.
- He could probably have received more if he'd signed as a pitcher, but he doesn't want to pitch.
Our own Mike Axisa questioned Baseball America's Ben Badler about some other international players over at River Ave. Blues:
- It looks like top Latin catching prospect Gary Sanchez will sign with the Yankees for about $3MM.
- The Mariners seem to be the favorites to sign Guillermo Pimentel.
- Ugueth Urbina's son, Juan, will likely sign with the Mets.
- Badler says Miguel Angel Sano would have gone somewhere between fourth overall and the end of the first round if he'd been eligible in this month's draft.
No Offers For Adrian Gonzalez
Adrian Gonzalez hasn't been on the trading block, so no teams have even presented the Padres with "serious trade offers," according to ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure.
That works for Gonzalez, who plans on honoring his contract until it expires after 2011, and for the Padres front office. As one executive joked, Kevin Towers & co. will have to walk around in suits of armor if they deal Gonzalez and Jake Peavy the same year they let Trevor Hoffman walk.
Check out the rest of Arangure's article for detail on kidnapping threats Gonzalez has received.
Odds And Ends: Gonzalez, Pirates, Batista
More links for the afternoon…
- Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times says the Mariners face some tough long-term decisions about Adrian Beltre and his future as a Mariner.
- Pirates president Frank Coonelly believes his team will be able to match or surpass the Brewers' payroll once attendance picks up, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball reports that Ken Rosenthal will join the MLB Network and keep reporting for FOX Sports.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times can see the Mariners trading Miguel Batista whether they're buyers or sellers.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker shows that Yu Darvish relied on fastballs and sliders to take a no hitter into the 8th inning in Japan recently.
Huntington: Snell Deal A “Mistake”
As Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, Pirates GM Neal Huntington says signing Ian Snell made "all the sense in the world" on paper, but the move failed.
"It certainly feels like a mistake on out part," Huntington said.
Before last season, the Pirates signed Snell to a multi-year deal that guaranteed him $8.6MM. They have the option of keeping him through 2012, but, as Kovacevic points out, it's unlikely they'll pick up the options on his contract.
Snell, who just struck out 17 in Triple A, could soon be someone else's concern. Huntington's been trying to trade him for months and he may be content to dump the $5.75MM remaining on Snell's deal at this point.
Olney On August Moves, Mauer, Indians
After explaining how Ricky Romero's change-up has become such a weapon, ESPN.com's Buster Olney provides us with some new rumors:
- We should expect a buyer's market in August when few teams will submit waiver claims on players for fear of getting stuck with a contract they can't afford.
- Some good news for the Twins fans who are dreading the day Joe Mauer hits free agency: his agent, Ron Shapiro, represented Kirby Puckett and Cal Ripken Jr., who both stayed with one team their entire career. Mauer becomes a free agent after next year.
- Rafael Betancourt, Carl Pavano and Jamey Carroll could be the next Indians moved. None of the three are under contract for 2010.
Odds And Ends: Snell, DeRosa, Kearns
Some links to start the week off…
- East Windup Chronicle reports that the Pirates signed a Taiwanese high schooler to a minor league deal. Chi Ping-hong is small and speedy with good range.
- Ian Snell faced 24 batters in his first Triple A start this year and struck out 17 of them, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Neal Huntington says the Pirates are trying to "salvage some value" from Snell, who has $5.75MM remaining on his contract.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch gathered some of the Cardinals' responses to the Mark DeRosa deal and they all agree the move shows the Cards are built to win now.
- Bud Shaw of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says the Indians' "summer garage sale" shows the best and worst sides of the club.
- Ben Goessling of the Washington Times wonders whether the Nats will trade Austin Kearns, release him, or simply buy him out for $1MM after the season.