Milton Bradley’s 2011 Option Vests
Cubs right fielder Milton Bradley made a pinch-hit plate appearance in the 11th inning against the Phillies tonight, marking his 75th game played in 2009. The significance? The games played milestone caused his 2011 option, worth $12MM, to vest.
Bradley's Cubs career has been a disappointment so far. His .372 OBP is fine, but he's slugging only .369 and showing nothing as a left-handed hitter. He's also been a negative on defense, based on UZR/150 (though we're only working with 527 innings).
Closer Trade Candidates
Desperately seeking saves in your fantasy league? Head on over to our fantasy baseball branch, RotoAuthority, for a look at closer situations that could change due to trades this month.
Rockies Sign Matt Herges
The Rockies signed reliever Matt Herges to a minor league deal, according to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. The 39 year-old had been cut by the Indians.
The Rockies were quick to re-up Herges after he helped them reach the World Series in '07. Though his controllable skills didn't change much in '08, his ERA was 5.04 and the team chose to decline his '09 option.
MLBTR Transactions-Only RSS Feed
Looking for a bare bones version of MLBTR? We have a new RSS feed available for those who'd like to monitor only the actual transactions and none of the rumors. This transactions-only feed resides at:
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http://feeds.feedburner.com/MlbTradeRumors
If you're new to RSS, consider signing up for Google Reader and adding a few feeds from your favorite blogs and websites. It's a free and easy way to be alerted to new posts minutes and even seconds after they're published.
Pedro Martinez To Take Physical For Phils
2:57pm: Martino says Pedro's physical will take place tomorrow morning at 10am CST.
11:52am: Andy Martino reports that Pedro landed in Philly for his physical.
10:37am: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears that the physical will take place tomorrow, which means Pedro could sign as soon as Wednesday. Pedro, who should be ready for the majors in about three weeks, is expected to sign for less than $5MM prorated.
8:42am: MLB.com's Todd Zolecki says Pedro will fly to Philadelphia today and take a physical today or tomorrow. Martinez should sign in the coming days if he passes his physical.
1:35am: WCAU-TV's John Clark is reporting that Pedro Martinez "may be touching down in Philadelphia Monday to meet with Phillies officials." Tentative phrasing, but enough to catch ESPN's eye. That Marc Stein ESPN article credits Jayson Stark with some info as well:
After arriving, it is believed Martinez will take a physical, which appears to be the final obstacle standing in the way of the 37-year-old right-hander signing with the Phillies for the remainder of the season.
I'm thinking Pedro will get a couple million bucks, and we'll all talk about the prorated amount to make him feel better. If a deal is reached, does Martinez have enough left in the tank to bring down the Phils' 5.04 rotation ERA? The team's high-octane lineup would be paired with a rotation of Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ, Jamie Moyer, and Martinez. I'm curious to see where Pedro would slot into the playoff rotation should the Phillies' four-game division lead hold up.
More food for thought: ESPN's Buster Olney said Thursday that a Pedro signing wouldn't affect a Roy Halladay pursuit. Would Moyer be the odd man out in the event of a deal, despite the money owed to him through 2010?
PTBNL In Scott Hairston Deal: Sean Gallagher
Sean Gallagher is headed to the Padres as part of the Scott Hairston deal, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Gallagher was the player to be named later, eight days after we learned the Padres acquired pitchers Ryan Webb and Craig Italiano for Hairston.
A year ago, Gallagher was regarded as the centerpiece of the package the Cubs sent to Oakland for Rich Harden. However, Gallagher's stock dropped shortly thereafter when a shoulder injury surfaced. He still has upside.
Nationals Fire Manny Acta
Nationals manager Manny Acta got the boot tonight, based on comments Acta made to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes:
"I thank the Nationals for giving me this opportunity and I'm sorry that things didn't work out as expected. It's normal for the manager to pay the price when the team is not doing well," Acta said.
The writing was on the wall in mid-June, when Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports learned of the team's plan to replace Acta with bench coach Jim Riggleman. That this information leaked a month early reflects poorly on the organization, as Acta was left twisting in the wind. Maybe Rosenthal's report caused the Nationals to delay the move as an attempt to save face. Talk about mixed messages – on June 26th team president Stan Kasten talked about hoping Acta could serve as the club's long-term manager (Chico Harlan and Mark Viera of the Washington Post reporting).
Let's hear it from the Nationals fans – was this the right move? The expectations are different for the manager of a rebuilding club. How did Acta perform in young player development?
Elias Rankings
At the end of each season, The Elias Sports Bureau ranks all MLB players numerically based on a bunch of stats. Every player is categorized in one of five position groups and by league. The rankings cover a two-year time period. They are used to determine whether free agents are Type A, Type B, or neither. If you'd like a reminder on how draft pick compensation works, read up here.
Eddie Bajek of Detroit Tigers Thoughts reverse-engineered the Elias Rankings last year. Eddie's incredible work was made possible in large part due to information provided by ESPN's Keith Law. Eddie is now providing the rankings exclusively to MLB Trade Rumors. Today's snapshot covers the beginning of the 2008 season through July 11th of 2009. So the rankings will obviously change over the next few months.
Click here to see the latest Elias Rankings.
Giants, Pirates Discussed Sanchez, LaRoche
From Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
The Pirates and San Francisco have had trade talks regarding second baseman Freddy Sanchez and, to a lesser extent, first baseman Adam LaRoche, each of whom can be a free agent after this season. The Giants have had a scout following Sanchez, a source confirmed yesterday, and their interest in LaRoche goes back several months. Their preference at first base, though, is for a right-handed bat.
Sanchez sports a .316/.355/.477 line, a huge improvement on the .224/.280/.276 aggregate performance from Giants second basemen (primarily the demoted Emmanuel Burriss, though Juan Uribe has snagged recent starts). The Giants have a 1.5 game lead for the Wild Card, but their .705 team OPS ranks second-to-last in the NL. Sanchez's contractual situation will be a factor in the trade talks; an $8.5MM option for 2010 appears likely to vest. Charlie Manuel's All-Star selections will affect Sanchez's contract – if Sanchez makes the team the option vests with 600 plate appearances rather than 635. It figures to be between Sanchez and Zach Duke for the Bucs' representative.
Kovacevic adds that the Pirates have discussed Jack Wilson, John Grabow, and Matt Capps with teams, noting that those talks "vary in their intensity." In another article, Kovacevic digs deeper into the Grabow/Wilson/Sanchez situations. He believes the Pirates will seek shortstops and left-handed relievers in trades. I'm guessing the Pirates would find Jonathan Sanchez desirable (he's currently serving as the second lefty in the Giants' pen).
Aroldis Chapman Defects
Aroldis Chapman is a 21 year-old lefty who's touched 100 mph with his fastball. Interested? According to CubaenCuentro.com, Chapman defected from the Cuban national team while the club was stationed in the Netherlands (English version here). Chapman is currently in an undisclosed location, and he told the paper he plans to sign with a Major League club.
Chapman pitched in the WBC against Japan in March, and R.J. Anderson of FanGraphs provided analysis. A video clip of a different WBC appearance can be seen here.
Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus confirms the defection.