Mike Axisa | MLB Trade Rumors

Athletics Receive Eliezer Mesa From Rockies

By Mike Axisa | September 30, 2011 at 5:44pm CDT

The Athletics have received outfielder Eliezer Mesa from the Rockies to complete the Mark Ellis trade, reports MLB.com's Jane Lee (on Twitter). Colorado acquired Ellis from Oakland for a player to be named later at the end of June.

Mesa, 23 in November, did not rank as one of the Rockies' top 30 prospects in the 2011 edition of Baseball America's Prospect Handbook. He hit .256/.320/.311 with eleven steals in 53 games for Colorado's High Class-A affiliate this summer, missing time with injuries. Mesa is a .287/.336/.389 career hitter in more than 1,100 minor league plate appearances. He's the nephew of former big leaguer Jose Mesa.

AL East Links: Red Sox, MacPhail, Yankees

By Mike Axisa | September 30, 2011 at 11:27am CDT

Two of the five AL East clubs made the playoffs, and both will begin their quest for the World Series later today. The Rays and Rangers play at 5pm ET, the Yankees and Tigers at 8:30pm ET. Let's round up some notes from the only division with four 81+ win teams in 2011…

"It's a big priority, for obvious reasons," said Red Sox GM Theo Epstein to The Boston Globe's Michael Vega when asked about getting big money free agent signings John Lackey and Carl Crawford back on track. "We're going to leave no stone unturned, really, with all of our players and the organization as a whole."
Orioles owner Peter Angelos is trying to convince Andy MacPhail to remain with the team in a decision-making or advisory role, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. MacPhail was expected to walk-away from the team after the season.
Joel Sherman of The New York Post wrote about the Yankees and their transition from a team that relies on experience to one with youth in important spots.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo!Sports broke down Evan Longoria's walk-off homer in Game 162, which sent the Rays to the playoffs for the third time in four years.

Reds Notes: Brandon Phillips & Francisco Cordero

By Mike Axisa | September 27, 2011 at 6:50pm CDT

The Reds extended GM Walt Jocketty through 2014 earlier this week, and now the GM is focused on getting some of his big name players under contract beyond this season. Let's round up the latest…

Jocketty met with the Levinson Brothers today, representatives for second baseman Brandon Phillips. MLB.com's Mark Sheldon says talks were preliminary in nature. "It went fine," said the GM. "We had talked a little bit in the past. It was more a kind of guidelines of what we're trying to do. Once the season is over, we'll talk again."
Jocketty added that if they can't find a middle ground, they will exercise Phillips' $12MM option for next season and then "keep working on it."
John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports (on Twitter) that Jocketty said he's optimistic about getting something done with closer Francisco Cordero in the near future. An extension will "probably" be a two-year deal. Like Phillips, the Reds hold a $12MM for Cordero's services in 2012.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Jason Rice, Juan Perez

By Mike Axisa | September 24, 2011 at 8:38pm CDT

Let's keep track of the day's outright assignments right here, starting with a pair of moves courtesy of the International League transactions page…

The Indians have outrighted Jason Rice to Triple-A. The 25-year-old had been designated for assignment earlier this month, soon after Cleveland claimed him off waivers from the Athletics, who had acquired him from the Red Sox for Conor Jackson. Rice posted a 3.69 ERA, 9.4 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, and 0.6 HR/9 in 85 1/3 Triple-A innings this year.
The Phillies have outrighted Juan Perez to Triple-A. The 33-year-old lefty pitched to a 5.70 ERA in 36 1/3 Triple-A innings this season, and was generally ineffective in five appearances with the big league team. He was designated for assignment last weekend as part of a flurry of roster moves.

Astros Notes: Free Agents, Barmes, Sale

By Mike Axisa | September 24, 2011 at 7:06pm CDT

Stephen Goff of Examiner spoke to several people within the Astros organization recently, so let's round up the news. All links go to Goff's Twitter feed…

GM Ed Wade does not expect the team to be very active in this winter's free agent market. "It would run contrary to what we did at the trade deadline," he said. "Our goal is to trend to a younger club to where we can sustain success for an extended period."
Wade likes the job Clint Barmes has done this year and would like to re-sign him, but the team's "economic environment" might not allow them to do so. Ben Nicholson-Smith revisited the trade that brough Barmes to Houston earlier this month.
Owner Drayton McLane said he expects the final sale of the team to Jim Crane to be approved by MLB within the next three or four weeks.

Rockies Notes: Iannetta, Lefty Reliever, CarGo

By Mike Axisa | September 24, 2011 at 5:41pm CDT

The Rockies are sending Jason Hammel to the mound for his final start of 2011 tonight, as they run out the clock on the remainder of their season. Let's round up some Rox links, courtesy of Troy Renck of The Denver Post…

"Nothing is impossible, but I would say Chris would be our catcher next year," said GM Dan O'Dowd to Renck, referring to Chris Iannetta. The team does not want to rush prospect Wilin Rosario, but Renck notes that the situation is subject to change if Iannetta draws interest on the trade market. The Blue Jays, Padres, and Red Sox have had interest in the backstop at various points this season.
Yesterday we heard that the Rockies have interest in re-signing J.C. Romero, and Renck says a versatile lefty reliever is one of the team's needs. He mentions that Romero joined Colorado on the recommendation of good friend LaTroy Hawkins, who pitched for the Rockies during their run to the 2007 World Series.
Carlos Gonzalez told Renck that he believes the team is not far away from contention in the NL West (Twitter link).

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Votto, Young, Buehrle

By Mike Axisa | September 24, 2011 at 1:22pm CDT

Three years ago today, Mark Teixeira hit an eighth inning solo homer off Mark Lowe, giving the Angels a 6-5 lead over the Mariners. Francisco Rodriguez closed the game out, making Seattle the first 100-100 team in baseball history. That is, 100 losses and a $100MM payroll.

These links will provide some more bang for the buck; here's the best the blogosphere had to offer last week…

Amazin' Avenue provided a transcript of Mets GM Sandy Alderson's recent in-game interview.
Swingin' A's interviewed Brandon McCarthy.
U.S.S. Mariner says the Mariners should target Joey Votto in a trade this offseason.
Meanwhile, Redleg Nation explains why the Reds should not trade Votto.
Blog Red Machine tries to figure out what the Reds should do with Brandon Phillips.
Crashburn Alley revisits the Michael Young to the Phillies trade rumors.
Brotherly Glove wonders if the Phillies should non-tender Kyle Kendrick.
Beer Leaguer doesn't think there's a viable way for the White Sox to re-sign Mark Buehrle without hurting the team.
Pirates Prospects looks at the Pirates players that will be out of options next season.
DRays Bay wonders if the trade rumors affected B.J. Upton's performance.
Giants Nirvana thinks the Giants should consider signing Madison Bumgarner long-term.
Bay City Ball broke down Cody Ross and the Giants outfield depth.
Jays Prospects says the Blue Jays will have some decisions to make regarding their outfield prospects.
Viva El Birdos remembers the glory days, when Ryan Theriot was the Cardinals starting shortstop.
FanSpeak looked ahead to the Nationals offseason.
Rant Sports Royals thinks Luke Hochevar might be on the verge of something big.
We Should Be GMs says the Phillies have shown some cracks in the armor this month.
Infield Chatter looked at how the Red Sox let the AL East slip away.
Chad Moriyama analyzed James Loney's late season surge.
Motor City Bengals broke down Jose Valverde's save streak.
Rox Pile lists the top ten offensive performance for the 2011 Rockies.
Lasorda's Lair compared a pair of Dodgers prospects in the low minors.
Through The Fence Baseball previews the 2012 draft.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.

Braves Designate Matt Young For Assignment

By Mike Axisa | September 24, 2011 at 11:25am CDT

The Braves have designated Matt Young for assignment, reports MLB.com's Mark Bowman (on Twitter). The move frees up a 40-man roster spot for Kris Medlen, who was activated off the 60-day DL.

Young, 28, hit just .208/.269/.229 in 52 plate appearances with Atlanta this year. He played all three outfield spots and second base, but spent most of the year in Triple-A, where he hit .273/.372/.347 with 17 steals and nearly as many walks (57) as strikeouts (59). Medlen is coming off Tommy John surgery, and he could provide some relief to a bullpen that features three pitchers with 76 or more appearances.

Olney’s Latest: Brewers, Darvish, Ethier

By Mike Axisa | September 24, 2011 at 9:44am CDT

In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney wrote about the plan Brewers GM Doug Melvin presented owner Mark Attanasio last fall. Melvin had found that trading Prince Fielder would not yield the kind of high-end pitching he sought, so he suggested that the club hold onto their star first baseman before he became a free agent and go all-in this year. Attanasio agreed with the strategy, and soon after came the Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke trades. One year later, Milwaukee has won the NL Central.

Here are the rest of Olney's rumors…

The Blue Jays are viewed as front-runners for Yu Darvish by some within the industry. A few days ago we heard that Darvish was still undecided about coming to MLB.
Those close to Andre Ethier believe there's no chance he'd re-sign with the Dodgers after the 2012 season. If true, Olney says it would make sense for the team to try to trade him offseason. You can make a case they'd be selling low though, Either had a down season by his standards (.292/.368/.421 with 11 homers) and finished the year on the disabled list due to knee surgery.

MLB Likely To Add Wild Card Team, One-Game Playoff

By Mike Axisa | September 24, 2011 at 8:12am CDT

Negotiations between the players' union and the owners are moving at a fast pace according to Joel Sherman of The New York Post, and he reports that the two sides have all but agreed to add one wild card team per league. A one-game playoff would then determine which wild card team advances. The system could be installed as soon as next season, but no later than 2013.

One of Sherman's sources said it was a done deal, another said it was likely to play out that way. Nothing will become official until the next Collective Bargaining Agreement is signed, however. The current CBA expires in December, but the intensity of the talks gives both sides hope that a new deal will be announced during the World Series. The owners are interested in expanding the playoffs to increase the number of contenders, as well as add inventory to sell a TV network. The one-game playoff would create additional incentive to winning the division.

A major hurdle that remains in the CBA negotiations is the draft, particularly whether or not to include a slotting system. Sherman says there is also a lot of work to be done creating two 15-team leagues, which in part hinges on the sale of the Astros since they are the club most likely to move from the NL to the AL. Six five-team divisions would help create a more balanced schedule.

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