Padres To Extend Bud Black
Tim Brown at Yahoo Sports reports that the Padres intend to extend manager Bud Black's contract in the coming weeks. Black is in the final year of a three year contract he signed prior to the 2007 season. Details of the extension aren't known yet.
The Padres are 34-44 on the season coming in to tonight, and are 186-217 under Black since '07.
Odds & Ends: Boras, Nationals, Bedard, White Sox, Giants, Astros
Some evening links for those of you who haven't checked out for the long holiday weekend yet.
- Billy Witz of the NY Times wrote about the relationship between the Dodgers and superagent Scott Boras.
- The Nationals have agreed to terms with five international players according to Bill Ladson. A formal announcement of the signings will come in a few days.
- Pete McElroy of MASNsports.com notes that the Nats have signed a pair of draft picks, including fourth rounder AJ Morris.
- Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times notes that Erik Bedard threw a 54-pitch simulated game today and will start on Tuesday. Teams will have just enough time to evaluate him before the trade deadline.
- Will Carroll tweets that the Giants and White Sox "want to make a deal quick." He later backs off a bit and says that the two teams won't necessarily made a trade with each other, but both are looking for good deals.
- Kiley McDaniel has a list of four international players the Astros have signed.
- Remember, you can get all your rumors instantly via MLBTR's Twitter feed.
Reds Sign Humberto Valor
Kiley McDaniel tweets that the Reds have signed Venezuelan shortstop Humberto Valor. The bonus is said to be in the "high six figures." Valor is said be a solid all-around player with good instincts and very good defense at short.
Phillies DFA Jack Taschner
The Associated Press reports that the Phillies have designated lefty reliever Jack Taschner for assignment to make room on the roster for tonight's starter Rodrigo Lopez. Taschner allowed 54 baserunners in 27.2 innings out of the pen this year, as lefthanders tattooed him for a .303-.465-.394 batting line.
The Phillies acquired Taschner in the offseason in exchange for catcher Ronnie Paulino.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Bradley, Red Sox, Nady, Corcoran, Giants
Let's take a look at what some fans are writing about their favorite teams around the worldwide netweb…
- Bleed Cubbie Blue says Milton Bradley must go. Bradley is hitting just .237-.355-.379, but the riff with Lou Piniella and off-the-field issues are the real problem.
- Fire Brand of the American League wonders if shortstop might end up being a position of strength for the Red Sox.
- River Ave. Blues looks back on the Xavier Nady trade, and says that even though Nady and Damaso Marte are hurt, it was the right move because the Yankees were just one game back of a playoff spot at the time.
- USS Mariner says it's time for the team to wave goodbye to reliever Roy Corcoran. Considering he's allowed 37 baserunners in just 13.2 IP, can you blame them?
- McCovey Chronicles muses about trade philosophies for the Giants.
Odds & Ends: Moore, Schmidt, Atkins
On this date back in 2003, Johnny Damon hit a single, a double, and a triple in a 14-run first inning against the Marlins. The Red Sox set a league record by scoring ten runs before making an out.
On to the linkage…
- Matthew Pouliot of Circling The Bases says that Dayton Moore's moves over the last season and a half are enough to warrant his dismissal. He notes they have a more than qualified replacement already in-house in senior advisor Mike Arbuckle.
- Ben Bolch of The LA Times notes that Jason Schmidt threw 104 pitches over 7.2 shutout in a rehab start yesterday. We know the Dodgers are looking for pitching, but a healthy and reasonably effective Schmidt could lessen that urgency.
- Tracy Ringolsby writes that Garrett Atkins' recent hot streak creates "more of a possibility of another team having interest in acquiring him." Atkins is hitting .340-.415-.553 in June.
- The Rangers have been getting good production from unexpected sources like Jason Jennings, says Ken Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News.
- Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez says he's happy to be in Colorado, according to Susan Slusser of The SF Chronicle.
- Joe Cowley tweets this Ozzie Guillen quote: "The people that run baseball teams now are soft." I wonder what Kenny Williams thinks about that.
- Marc Carig writes that the Rockies had begun combing through the Yankees' farm system in advance of a potential Huston Street trade back in May.
Brewers Looking To Add Pieces
Anthony Witrado of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Brewers are scouring the trade market, but there's no guarantee the team will add an impact player before the trade deadline.
"We are looking to add some pieces here," team owner Mark Attanasio said. "But there's no guarantee of that, so these guys have to get the job done here.
"And we have confidence they can. We wouldn't be looking ahead (to a trade) if we didn't think this was a playoff-caliber team."
The Brewers are said to be clinging to their top prospects, but Attanasio says the team does have some wiggle room financially.
"Within limits, the payroll can expand depending on the caliber of the player involved," Attanasio said. "With our fan support, we're on the upper end of what I thought we could do here.
"We're actively looking at some guys, but one of the (byproducts) of the wild-card system is there's a lot of teams still in contention."
We've known for a while that the Brew Crew wouldn't mind adding an arm, especially now with Seth McClung having to move into the rotation.
Minaya Discusses Trade Market
Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog says that Mets GM Omar Minaya spoke to reporters prior to last night's game, and was asked if there's a deal available that could significantly help the club.
“That deal is not there right now… I think there are 22, 24 teams that are within playoff striking distance. So, there’s not a lot of guys… The pool is not that big.”
Minaya acknowledged that his priority right now is strengthen the team's lineup. We've seen the Amazin's connected to Mark DeRosa, but we've also heard from one team official that they "will not mortgage [their] future" this summer in any trades.
Rays DFA Winston Abreu
Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times reports that the Rays have designated reliever Winston Abreu for assignment. He also notes that starter Andy Sonnanstine has been demoted to Triple-A Durham, and that Scott Kazmir and Chad Bradford were activated off the disabled list.
Abreu was tremendous in the minors earlier this year, striking out 49 and allowing just 24 baserunners in 32 IP. He appeared in only two games with the big league club after his call up two weeks ago.
Cubs, Indians Discussed DeRosa
According to Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun-Times, the Cubs had conversations with the Indians earlier this month about reacquiring jack-of-all-trades guy Mark DeRosa. Wittenmyer says any potential move to bring DeRosa back to the north side depends "on the asking price and ownership's willingness to take on about $2 million in salary." Aramis Ramirez could come off the disabled list before the All-Star break, and his performance would also be a factor in any potential move.
Jayson Stark reported that the Cubbies were considering making a move for DeRosa earlier this week.