AL Central Notes: Twins, Perkins, Jacobs
Here's a look at the latest out of the AL Central..
- Twins GM Terry Ryan says that he's willing to trade anybody, including coveted reliever Glen Perkins, writes Mike Beradino of the Pioneer Press. "If somebody overwhelms you with something, then you've got to listen," Ryan said. "There's no question. You just can't say, 'No.' It's not just Glen Perkins. It would be anybody in this situation. If somebody wants to talk about a guy, I'm all ears. Go ahead." Perkins is under contract for a combined $10.3MM through 2015 with a team option for 2016 at $4.5MM.
- In today's column, Buster Olney of ESPN.com (insider sub. req'd) writes that rival GM continue to believe that the Twins don't want to part with Perkins. However, the left-hander's value is at its zenith and he would bring in a nice haul for Minnesota.
- Jim Margalus of South Side Sox breaks down the newly-acquired Brandon Jacobs, who came to the White Sox in the Matt Thornton deal.
Royals Designate J.C. Gutierrez For Assignment
The Royals have designated right-hander J.C. Gutierrez for assignment, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter). The move allows the club to clear space for fellow righty Wade Davis, who is rejoining the club after paternity leave.
Gutierrez, who celebrates his 30th birthday today, posted a 3.38 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 25 relief appearances this season. For his big league career, Gutierrez has a 4.58 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in parts of five campaigns for the Astros, Diamondbacks, and Royals. The right-hander boasts a mid-90s fastball and so far in 2013 he's been clocking in with a career high 95 mph average.
East Notes: Rays, Byrd, Brown, Red Sox
The Rays tend to stand pat at the trade deadline, and you can expect the same this time around, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Right now, the Rays have one of their best squads in the past six seasons, strong pitching, a solid bullpen, and the offense is doing better than expected. "I like what we have now," manager Joe Maddon said. "With everybody staying well I don't anticipate us doing anything." Here's more out of the AL and NL East..
- Consistent with what we've been hearing, the Mets say that they aren't in a rush to trade outfielder Marlon Byrd, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post. ”It would have to be significant [talent],” Alderson said before last night's game. “I don’t want to add to the speculation because I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we want to remain competitive.” Byrd is hitting .267/.313/.498 with 15 homers while the Mets are 40-50, 12 games back from the first place Braves.
- Domonic Brown is shining for the Phillies, but they almost let him get away, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Brown was an untouchable during talks in 2009 with Toronto for Roy Halladay but two baseball sources said Brown's name was discussed in the 2011 trade with the Astros for Hunter Pence.
- The Red Sox aren't feeling pressured to make a trade before the deadline, writes Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Even if Clay Buchholz has another setback, the BoSox can still get by with what they have, in Silverman's estimation.
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Chasing Puig, Cespedes
SATURDAY: For his part, Cespedes says that he has no intentions of leaving his agent, Adam Katz of Wasserman Media Group. As the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser reports, Cespedes says he is "very happy with Adam and with the work he's done for me."
THURSDAY: "We're not inflicted with that disease," Jay-Z said in reference to other agents' belief in doing only one thing, speaking yesterday on The Breakfast Club Power 105.1 (hat tip to Forbes contributor Darren Heitner). "It's insane to even say that, 'What does he know about sports?' Uh, everything. More than you," he added. In regard to other agents, he said, "They've been sitting around for 20-30 years just not doing anything, so me coming, that's a problem for them. Now they have to go to work, now they have to wake up." The agency talk begins around the 10:20 mark in this video.
WEDNESDAY: Jay-Z made waves earlier this year when he entered the sports representation world with his Roc Nation Sports venture and lured Robinson Cano away from Scott Boras (whom he dissed in song). Now, the company is wooing Dodgers star Yasiel Puig and also has an eye on Athletics slugger Yoenis Cespedes, sources tell Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.
When the Yankees hosted the Dodgers in mid-June, Puig was invited to a party at a club owned by Jay-Z after a Dodgers teammate passed along the rapper's contact information, one source said, and Puig left the meeting intrigued. Puig has also talked with at least one other marketing agency in New York, but the prospect of joining Roc Nation remains a possibility.
Jay-Z is also known to be interested in signing A's outfielder Cespedes, who will be in New York for the Home Run Derby. Puig could be in town as well if he wins the Final Vote for the last slot on the National League All-Star team.
As the MLBTR Agency Database shows, Puig is currently represented by Jamie Torres and Cespedes is with Adam Katz of Wasserman Media Group. Puig is in the early portion of the seven-year, $42MM deal he signed in June 2012. Meanwhile, Cespedes' four-year, $36MM deal will take him through the 2015 season.
Jay-Z burst onto the agent scene in April, taking Cano from Boras as the Yankees' second baseman heads toward a nine-figure contract. As Passan notes, Jay-Z rapped on the recently-released song "Crown," "Scott Boras, you over, baby. Robinson Cano, you coming with me." Talking to Yahoo's Tim Brown on July 3rd, Boras didn't respond directly to the shot, but hammered home, "All I can offer the player is, all my time will be spent only on baseball."
Odds & Ends: Thornton, Soriano, Mariners, Rockies
Here's today's look around baseball..
- Other teams passed on Matt Thornton because they felt that he hasn’t been throwing well and that the cost of acquiring him outweighed the possible reward, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd). The cost for the Red Sox was giving up a 22-year-old minor league outfielder in Brandon Jacobs and taking on the remainder of Thornton's salary, less the $750K that came from the White Sox.
- Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com sized up the trade market for Windy City outfielders Alfonso Soriano and Alex Rios. Recently, our own Steve Adams sized up the trade market for corner outfielders and center fielders as the deadline approaches.
- Teams are waiting on the Mariners, Phillies, and Giants to decide their strategy before the trade deadline as they all have "useful players", tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- The Rockies could conceivably go out-of-house to replace Todd Helton once he retires, but they have a couple of options to turn to in their farm system, writes Irv Moss of The Denver Post.
East Notes: Red Sox, Mets, Byrd, Buchholz
The Red Sox bolstered their bullpen last night when they acquired Matt Thornton (and cash) from the White Sox in exchange for minor league outfielder Brandon Jacobs. The left-hander hasn't been quite as sharp this season as he has in years past, but Boston hopes that he'll help fill their need for a quality southpaw after losing Andrew Miller for the season. Here's more out of the AL and NL East..
- Mets assistant GM J.P. Ricciardi told Jim Bowden of SiriusXM (via Twitter) that the club will only move Marlon Byrd if they can get a serious return. Andy Martino of the Daily News heard earlier this week that the Mets were unlikely to trade the veteran, though one scout noted that GM Sandy Alderson & Co. could just be looking to drive up the price.
- Clay Buchholz's timeline for returning has been pushed back a bit, which could lead the Red Sox to put a little more thought into acquiring a starter before the deadline, writes Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. Buchholz was originally scheduled to make a rehab start tomorrow, but he'll instead spend some time regaining his arm strength with bullpen sessions.
- In speaking to season ticket holders, Orioles Executive Vice President Dan Duquette explained that the club has the financial resources to make deals that are worthwhile, writes Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com. “The addition of Scott Feldman to our team was a sign that we want to be in this thing,” Duquette said.
- Ed Rendell of the Philadelphia Daily News suggests that the Phillies should look to add a quality reliever like Jesse Crain of the White Sox while moving Carlos Ruiz, who he has value given the lack of quality catching out there.
NL Central Notes: Cubs, Theo, Garza, Pirates
While most in the baseball world will fly out to Queens for the upcoming All-Star festivities, Cubs president Theo Epstein will miss out on the fun and Pat LaFrieda's steak sandwiches in order to man the phones back in Chicago, writes Tom Ginnetti of the Sun-Times. "These days, more is done on the cellphones,’’ Epstein said of trade talk. "It’s almost harder to get things done when you’re at the All Star Game trying to find people." Here's more out of the NL Central..
- We've been hearing that the price tag on Matt Garza is rather high and with 18 days to go until the trade deadline, it hasn't dipped, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
- The Cubs have put a lot of work into their farm system in recent years and it appears to be in great shape, particularly with this year's addition of No. 2 overall pick Kris Bryant, writes Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald.
- The Pirates' unpopular trade of Nate McLouth in 2009 has yielded tremendous results, writes Mike Petriello of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required). While McLouth has been up-and-down in the four years since the deal, Pittsburgh landed promising pitchers Jeff Locke and Charlie Morton.
Cubs Claim Cole Gillespie Off Waivers
The Cubs announced that they have claimed Cole Gillespie off waivers from the Giants. The outfielder was designated for assignment by San Francisco earlier this week.
Gillespie, 29, played in just three games for the Giants' varsity squad this season. In 269 plate appearances for the club's Triple-A affiliate this season, the outfielder slashed .277/.361/.455 with nine homers. Gillespie is expected to provide the Cubs with depth in the outfield but will not yet report to the club today, according to the press release.
Red Sox Acquire Matt Thornton
The Red Sox bolstered their bullpen tonight when they acquired left-handed pitcher Matt Thornton from the White Sox in exchange for outfielder Brandon Jacobs. The White Sox also sent $750K out east to help take care of a portion of Thornton's salary.
Thornton, 36, is owed about $3.5MM over the remainder of the season. A fixture in the White Sox's bullpen since 2006, the lefty owns a 3.86 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 28 innings this year. In ten big league seasons, eight of which have been in Chicago, Thornton owns a career 3.53 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9.
Thornton's name has come up quite a bit on the pages of MLBTR as speculation has increased that the White Sox would look to sell at this year's deadline. The deal brings GM Rick Hahn a decent prospect while freeing them from the bulk of Thornton's remaining 2013 salary. For Boston, the veteran could theoretically be more than a rental as he has a $6MM club option with a modest $1MM buyout for 2014.
Jacobs, a 22-year-old outfielder, was recently promoted to Double-A Portland in the Red Sox's system after hitting .244/.334/.440 for the club's High A affiliate. Baseball America's 2013 Prospect Handbook had him ranked at the 13th best prospect in the BoSox system coming into this season. According to BA, he had one of the more intriguing bats of anyone in the Red Sox farm system despite his dip in production from his breakout Low-A season in 2011 to his last two seasons in Advanced-A ball.
A source told Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (via Twitter) that the two clubs have been discussing a deal for Thornton, but talks picked up when Andrew Miller was ruled out for the season. Meanwhile, Hahn says that he had serious talks about the lefty with seven or eight clubs before pulling the trigger on this deal, tweets Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com.
The White Sox still have a number of key trade chips that could be moved, including Alex Rios, Matt Thornton, Matt Lindstrom, and possibly Jake Peavy and Jesse Crain when they return to action. Crain figures to bring back the best return of any White Sox reliever if he can come back healthy in time.
Alex Speier of WEEI (on Twitter) reported the cash amount headed to the Red Sox in the deal. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AL West Notes: Perez, Mariners, Norris, Astros
Here's a look at the latest out of the AL West..
- Peter Gammons of MLB.com tweets that every General Manager he has spoken with says the Mariners are asking for "premier prospects" in exchange for lefty relievers Oliver Perez, Charlie Furbush and Brian Moran. We learned recently that Perez has drawn interest from the Orioles, Braves, and others.
- In his latest Scouts Corner column, CBS Sports' Danny Knobler cites an executive who suggests that the Astros' Bud Norris could be the next starting pitcher to be traded. "He's got good stuff. It's about the consistency of command. I think most contending teams will see him as a fourth starter. The problem is they're going to ask a lot for him," a scout tells Knobler. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com wrote earlier tonight that the asking price is high for Norris as Houston is seeking two highly-rated prospects in return.
- An executive on the hunt for pitching tells Andy Martino of the New York Daily News that the Astros' Norris is basically one of three decent available starters right now. The others are the Cubs' Matt Garza and Yovani Gallardo of the Brewers. The asking price for all three is really high, according to the exec, which is consistent with what we've been hearing.
Aaron Steen contributed to this post.