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Report: Chris Carter Claimed By Yankees

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7:07pm: Buster Olney has some more color to this "he claimed, she claimed" story.

Olney writes in ESPN the Magazine, "The rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox burns strongly even when it comes to waiver claims.

"When the Mets and Red Sox worked out a trade for left-hander Billy Wagner earlier this week, Chris Carter, an outfielder-first baseman currently playing for Class AAA Pawtucket, became part of the deal as a player to be named headed to Boston. In preparation for the deal, the Red Sox placed Carter on waivers, with the intention of moving him on to the Mets.

"But the Yankees placed a claim on Carter — perhaps to create some 40-man roster discomfort for the Red Sox. In order to complete the Mets trade, the Red Sox are now pulling Carter back from waivers — and for the rest of the year, they must carry him on their 40-man roster.

"And Boston may struggle to squeeze bodies onto its 40-man roster in September. When Paul Byrd was a free agent, he informed teams that as a condition for signing him, he wanted a guarantee that he would be added to the 40-man roster for the final month. If Boston has made that same concession, the Carter claim by the Yankees might have made that just a little more difficult."

5:50pm: In what should come as a surprise to no one, Amalie Benjamin clarifies that the Red Sox have pulled Carter back, and will deal him in the offseason.

5:30pm: Because it wouldn't be a normal day without some bad news for the Mets, Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe reports on her Twitter account that Chris Carter, the more significant of the two players rumored to be headed to the Mets in exchange for Billy Wagner, has been claimed by the New York Yankees.

It isn't clear that this hurts the Red Sox any, since the trade is not dependent on Carter passing through waivers. Instead, the claim prevents the Mets from getting a first-hand look at Carter until after the season. Presumably, the Red Sox will pull him back, though they also have the option of working out a deal with the Yankees (not likely) or letting the Yankees have him for nothing (see previous parenthetical statement). So much for city unity.

Worth noting: the Yankees have the best record in the American League, meaning that 1) no one else in the AL claimed Carter, 2) if they hadn't claimed Carter, the Red Sox could have traded him to the Mets without any problem had the National League followed suit, and 3) the Yankees, apparently, weren't willing to show pity upon their injury-shattered New York brethren.

Rosenthal Roundup: Rays Could Make Big Move, Red Sox Out On V-Mart

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Ken Rosenthal's latest is seemingly at odds with the report we noted earlier from Bill Chastain that the Rays will not be major players at the deadline.

"The Rays are engaged in a whirlwind of activity, investigating [Cliff] Lee, [Roy] Halladay and numerous other options — 'major, major stuff,' according to one source," Rosenthal writes.

Other notes from Rosenthal:

  • The Red Sox deals "should eliminate any chance of them trading for Victor Martinez."
  • "The Phillies, Rays, Brewers and Dodgers are on Lee, and the Rangers have expressed continued interest" as well.
  • The Angels are targeting Baltimore's George Sherrill and Cleveland's Rafael Betancourt.
  • The Rockies are after Baltimore's Danys Baez.
  • The Giants want to hold onto Jonathan Sanchez, given Randy Johnson's fragility.

Minaya: Mets Will Be Buyers, Not Sellers

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Usually, getting shut out five times in 13 games as the trade deadline nears while falling ten games behind the division leader is a good excuse to get a team to waive the white flag.

But the Mets are no ordinary team, with executives challenging minor leaguers to fights, having altercations with closer Francisco Rodriguez, and an injury a day– this one to Alex Cora, who has been filling in for the injured Jose Reyes.

So it should come as no surprise that Mets GM Omar Minaya says New York will be buyers, not sellers at the trade deadline, according to the tireless Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post.

"Right now we do not envision [being a seller]," Minaya said. "If we're 6 ½ [back] in the wild card with a couple of teams in front of us, we are still kind of trying to find out how we can improve this team, if we can improve it through trades."

Not clear if Minaya also believes Lloyd Christmas should be a buyer at the trade deadline because he was told he has a "one in a million chance."

Rays, Rangers May Be Left Out

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While many of baseball's contenders are set to stock up on talent, the Rays and Rangers may not be among them. Oh, they're contenders, all right. They just may not add to what they have.

In Tampa Bay's case, MLB.com's Bill Chastain points out that the Rays have already dealt Jason Hammel and Edwin Jackson within the past year, making any further pitching depletion a risky move. He adds:

"Ben Zobrist's improvement has made the right field and second base situations look better, while the double-dose of Gabes in right field — Gross and Kapler — has begun to look like what the Rays hoped it would prior to the season.  Both are producing when facing either a right-hander in Gross' case or a left-hander in Kapler's.  Finally, a proven closer would be nice, but, again, look at what the bullpen is doing without one and you wonder how much better could the bullpen be with such an addition. Meanwhile, J.P. Howell appears to be taking charge of the closing role."

As for the Rangers, it simply comes down to money, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, though Texas would like to add starting pitching.

"The Rangers are also limited in their ability to take on significant payroll with a possible sale of the club by owner Tom Hicks still pending," Sullivan writes.

Of course, it also hurts Texas that Roy Halladay won't approve a trade to Texas, and Cleveland won't trade Cliff Lee, according to Sullivan.

Red Sox: Center of Every Trade/Rumor?

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It's been a busy day for the Red Sox. They acquired Chris Duncan and a player to be named later for Julio Lugo, turning an albatross into a viable left-handed hitter.

They also dealt a pair of prospects for Adam LaRoche, adding a power bat who normally excels in the second half. And according to Jon Heyman's Twitter feed, they may not be finished yet.

"Red Sox dealing up a storm. Now have Chris Duncan (for Lugo). still scouting Victor Martinez, though," Heyman tweets.

No details yet on what it will take to get Martinez, other than continued interest from Cleveland in Clay Buchholz.

Glavine Won’t Pitch In 2009

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Breaking news out of Atlanta: Tom Glavine told Buck Lanford of Fox 5 Atlanta that he won't pitch in 2009.

“I’m not going to pitch or do anything in baseball until at least next year.” Glavine stopped short, according to Fox 5, of announcing his retirement, saying he plans to be “a full-time dad.”

The decision leaves Pedro Martinez as the surefire Hall of Fame pitcher remaining in the free agent market. Glavine did not announce his retirement, though it is hard to imagine him returning after taking the rest of the season off.

The decision is surprising for a number of reasons. For one thing, Glavine had been so adamant about objecting to his treatment by the Braves, who released him following his final rehab start.

For another, who knew people Tom Glavine's age knew how to text?

Cubs May Not Need Hitter After All

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Rumblings after Wednesday's game coming from the often-rumbling Lou Piniella centered around changes in the lineup.

But as Carrie Muskat reported, the Cubs kept the status quo in place, particularly Alfonso Soriano at the top of the lineup, despite a sub-.300 on-base percentage.

Of course, the storyline from Thursday's 6-5 win is that Soriano had the game-winning hit as Chicago's bats came alive.

But while much of the focus will be on the rejuvenated offense, the questions surrounding ownership transfer may be the real barrier to the Cubs bringing in a bat. Tip of the hat to Carrie Muskat again.

The two questions here: do the Cubs have their finances set enough to add payroll? And does Carrie Muskat ever sleep?

Tigers Bench Magglio Ordonez Indefinitely

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News comes from Tom Gage of the Detroit News that the Tigers are benching Magglio Ordonez indefinitely.

Ordonez hasn't been terrible with the average or plate discipline, but his power has disappeared. His season line is .273/.347/.343 entering Thursday's game, and with two home runs all year, he simply hasn't been a middle-of-the-order hitter.

Between Ordonez's benching and the news that Carlos Guillen may not return this season, the Tigers are facing a power deficit. While they are in first place now, it is hard to imagine they will stay there all season without adding some offense.

Keep in mind, Ordonez receives $18MM in 2010 if he gets 135 starts or 540 plate appearances in 2009, or 270 starts or 1,080 plate appearances in 2008-2009 combined. Considering he had 144 starts and 623 plate appearances in 2008, that means his benchmarks are actually 126 starts or 457 plate appearances in 2009.

Consider that Ordonez is already at 57 starts, 242 plate appearances in 2009, and figure "indefinitely" will mean "most of the time" for the remainder of the season.

Don’t Expect Phillies to Pick Up a Bat

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There are two factors working against the Philadelphia Phillies picking up a bat, even with Raul Ibanez sidelined with a groin injury, Jimmy Rollins languishing in the low .200s, and a three-game sweep by the Blue Jays now complete.

First is that the Phils may have that replacement bat during Ibanez's recovery in John Mayberry Jr., who homered Thursday afternoon. Mayberry posted an .808 OPS during 210 Triple-A plate appearances in 2009, suggesting he can be an adequate bat in Ibanez's absence.

But the bigger issue is the Phillies will need to save their prospects for a deal or deals for arms. Joe Blanton, after Thursday's start, has a 5.28 ERA. Considering he is Philadelphia's de facto number two starter, that won't get it done.

Worse still is the bullpen situation. Brad Lidge is sidelined with a knee injury, and now Ryan Madson, who had been dominant, has hit a rough patch at exactly the wrong time, blowing up in two of the three games against Toronto.

So which should be the priority right now for Philadelphia: starter or reliever?

The Cardinals And The Economy

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The Cardinals are one of the surprise stories of the baseball season so far. Even after losing three straight by a combined score of 28-7, St. Louis is just two games behind Milwaukee in the National League Central.

But based on this item in a new column by Scott Miller of CBSSportsLine.com, the Cardinals better hope Tyler Greene is the answer at shortstop and Brad Thompson is able to fill in for Kyle Lohse.

"3. Tony La Russa, Twitter settle dispute: Too bad, too. Because had La Russa won the suit he wound up withdrawing, it probably was going to be the only way St. Louis could secure the money to add another bat to its lineup this summer."

It's an interesting piece less talked about in trade circles. Plenty of teams are assumed to be willing to dump salary once they fall out of the race, with an imperative to do so sooner in this difficult economic climate.

It may be, however, that many of the teams in a position to contend may not be adding salary, due to that very same economy.

In a season when even the Yankees claim they can't add salary, it will be fascinating to see if the glut of players expected to hit the market between now and July 31 fetch huge packages of prospects, if the few teams that can add payroll are bidding against themselves.

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