Giants Not Planning To Make Trades Soon
Last night's loss dropped the Giants below .500 and placed them as close to last place in the NL West as it did to first place. Prior to the game, however, general manager Brian Sabean spoke with reporters, including Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, and said he and his front office team wouldn't take a reactionary approach. Sabean noted that the asking price for players this early in the trading season is too steep:
“You’re not going to do anything without getting your clock cleaned as of this date. If somebody’s going to trade somebody this early, they’re going to have to win the deal and you’re going to have to let them win the deal."
The team isn't keen on adding rental players, though Sabean noted that the Giants will be more willing to add players who are viewed as a salary dump by the other team, as opposed to trading top prospects. The long-time GM said that money won't be the issue when acquiring players this summer and also noted that he'd be more open to adding a rental who is amenable to a long-term deal with the Giants.
Schulman notes that the Giants still like California native Ricky Nolasco, and the Marlins are more concerned with shedding his $6MM salary than obtaining highly regarded prospects in potential trades. That would bode well for the Giants, but many teams are in on the right-hander. Schulman reported last night that the Dodgers are hot after Nolasco, and he adds the Orioles into that mix in this most recent update.
Meanwhile, Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area adds that Sabean and his staff have made lists of available hitters, starters and relievers, but Sabean wouldn't reveal which was the top priority. He told Baggarly that the team doesn't view the current crop of available starters as much better than No. 4 and No. 5 pitchers. Sabean also hinted that a center field upgrade would be nice now that Angel Pagan is on the shelf for 10 weeks.
Stark On Astros, Ethier, Brewers, Papelbon, Stanton
The latest column from ESPN's Jayson Stark is jam-packed with trade-related information. Highlights:
- One National League executive predicted that the Cubs' Matt Garza will be the first pitcher traded; he's thought to be eminently available, as the Cubs are not comfortable with his asking price on a potential new contract. The Padres and Dodgers are among the teams pursuing Garza, reported Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports earlier today.
- The Astros are looking for volume in any deal they make, one NL exec told Stark. Bud Norris is an obvious trade chip for Jeff Luhnow and company, while I imagine Carlos Pena, Jose Veras, Erik Bedard, Lucas Harrell, Wesley Wright, Ronny Cedeno, and others can be had as well.
- The Dodgers are not actively dangling right fielder Andre Ethier. What's more, the team still views itself as a buyer despite being eight games out. They may be interested in adding a third baseman they can control for multiple years, implies Stark.
- Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche could be dealt, hears Stark, in a scenario where Ryan Zimmerman moves to first base, Anthony Rendon moves back to third base, and Danny Espinosa gets healthy. LaRoche's name is not out there at present, however.
- The Brewers will "gladly listen" on third baseman Aramis Ramirez, as well as any position player other than Jean Segura, Carlos Gomez, and Ryan Braun. I wonder if that means names such as Jonathan Lucroy and Norichika Aoki will be in play next month.
- Execs who spoke to Stark seem divided on whether the Brewers want to trade Yovani Gallardo, with one saying, "To be honest, I think they would love to move him." Click here for thoughts from Brewers GM Doug Melvin on the situation.
- The Phillies are talking to the Red Sox and Tigers about closer Jonathan Papelbon right now, one exec tells Stark, even if they say otherwise.
- Officials of three teams that have talked to the Marlins about slugger Giancarlo Stanton are convinced owner Jeffrey Loria won't trade him this summer. In an April poll of over 13,000 MLBTR readers, over 40% thought Stanton would be dealt this summer.
- Other teams say the Tigers are willing to surrender top prospects Nick Castellanos or Avisail Garcia if necessary. The team is focused on finding a closer.
- The Braves are "all over the bullpen market," which jives with a couple of other reports today.
- The Giants "have taken on a whole new fervor in the last week in their hunt for another starter." They've been connected often to Nolasco, but there are around 20 viable candidates out there of varying quality. The Orioles could make a move before the All-Star break, hears Stark, and they seem to be prioritizing starters over relievers.
AL East Links: Sternberg, Hughes, Teixeira, Orioles
The Blue Jays' 11-game win streak was snapped tonight at Tropicana Field in a 4-1 loss to the Rays. Jeremy Hellickson delivered seven shutout innings of one-hit ball while James Loney, Wil Myers (in his home debut) and Sam Fuld connected on three straight solo homers in the second inning. One more victory would've given Toronto a new franchise record for consecutive wins.
Here's the latest from around the AL East…
- "If it’s up to me, it’s very unrealistic," that the Rays would leave the Tampa area, Rays owner Stuart Sternberg tells FOX Sports' Jon Morosi, though Sternberg warns that "the decision can be taken out of my hands at some point" by Major League Baseball if the Rays' stadium situation isn't resolved. Sternberg discusses several topics in this wide-ranging chat, from his team's future in Tampa Bay to David Price and Evan Longoria's contracts to even the prospect of MLB returning to Montreal.
- An AL executive sums up the Yankees' decision about trading Phil Hughes as "If he’s good, why trade him? If he’s struggling, what will you get?", according to Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger (Twitter link). Hughes hasn't pitched well this year (a 5.09 ERA in 14 starts) and will be a free agent this winter, though it has been speculated that the homer-prone Hughes could still be targeted by teams who play in pitcher-friendly stadiums.
- Mark Teixeira received a cortisone shot over a week ago but is "still experiencing soreness" in his right wrist, Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters (including Andy McCullough) in a conference call today. Teixeira's lack of progress renews speculation that he may have to undergo season-ending surgery, though Cashman didn't want to comment on the possibility or possible future moves at first base until more was known about the injury.
- The Orioles are known to be looking for pitching help but since they aren't willing to move any top prospects or core players, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun thinks the O's will have to wait until close to the trade deadline "to see if they can get a bargain" since they currently wouldn't be able to find a true upgrade at their price.
- Orioles manager Buck Showalter told reporters (including MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko) that "we would have liked, in a perfect world, to have [Mark Reynolds] back" this season. "I know our guys liked Mark. He's a good teammate, a good guy, an easy guy to manage. We'd like to have had him, but it just didn't work out," Showalter said. Reynolds signed with the Indians last winter and took a .741 OPS and 14 homers into tonight's action, so while the O's could've used Reynolds at DH, they're very set at the corner infield spots thanks to Manny Machado and Chris Davis.
Minor Moves: Vasquez, Alvarado, Upperman, Moskos
Here's today's rundown of minor moves from around the league…
- The Twins have released right-hander Esmerling Vasquez, according to Jeremy Nygaard of the Twins Daily blog (Twitter link) and the International League's transactions page. Vasquez signed a new minor league deal with the Twins in November but spent the entire season on the Triple-A disabled list. Vasquez posted a 5.68 ERA in six starts for Minnesota last season and a 4.66 ERA over 137 relief innings with the Diamondbacks from 2009-11.
- The Mets have signed 35-year-old righty Giancarlo Carlos Alvarado to a minor league deal, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. Alvarado had been pitching in the Mexican League, where he compiled a 4.03 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 38 innings.
- Right-hander Casey Upperman has signed a minor league deal with the Orioles and been assigned to Class A Delmarva, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The 22-year-old Upperman was a 47th-round pick by the D-backs in 2010 but was pitching for the Normal CornBelters of the independent Frontier League this season. In 11 1/3 innings for the CornBelters, he posted a 3.97 ERA, fanned 17 and walked eight.
- The White Sox have released lefty Daniel Moskos from Triple-A Charlotte, according to the International League's transactions page. The 27-year-old posted a 4.97 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 29 relief appearances for the Knights. Those numbers are right in line with his career marks in 122 innings at Triple-A. Moskos, who was the No. 4 overall pick by the Pirates in the 2007 draft, has just 24 1/3 Major League innings under his belt — all with the Buccos in 2011.
- The Rockies released right-hander Brett Jacobson from Triple-A Colorado Springs, according to the Pacific Coast League's transactions page. Jacobson's biggest claim to fame was being included as part of the Twins' return in 2010's ill-fated J.J. Hardy trade. The 26-year-old has walked 78 batters over his past 63 2/3 minor league innings. Jacobson's release cleared a spot for the recently acquired Hisanori Takahashi.
- There are currently nine players in DFA limbo: Wade LeBlanc of the Astros, Quintin Berry of the Royals, Eric Thames of the Mariners, Josh Wilson of the Diamondbacks, Jose Valverde of the Tigers, Reid Brignac of the Yankees, Collin Cowgill of the Mets, Ross Seaton of the Astros and Yamaico Navarro of the Orioles. Navarro is presently on outright waivers and Brignac has cleared waivers and could elect free agency.
Padres Expected To Pursue Starting Pitching
The surprising Padres are off to a 38-38 start despite a 4.56 ERA from their starters that ranks as the second-worst mark in the National League. In fact, only five teams in all of baseball have a worse ERA from their rotation. It isn't surprising to see Jon Heyman of CBS Sports report that the Friars will be on the lookout for candidates to improve their starting rotation in the coming five to six weeks as the trade deadline draws near.
Heyman reports that the Padres have more money to spend than in previous years, and while it's a long-shot, they've discussed Jake Peavy internally. A more realistic target could be the Orioles' Jake Arrieta, whom Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported as a possible Padres target over the weekend. Heyman adds that younger starters like Arrieta are probably more realistic targets for the Padres, as they could add to an emerging core of controllable talent like Yonder Alonso, Jedd Gyorko and Everth Cabrera.
Martino’s Latest: Hughes, Joba, Nats, O’s, Nolasco
Andy Martino of the New York Daily News has a new column up that is loaded with trade deadline info after speaking to several Major League executives over the past few days. Here are some highlights from his excellent article…
- One National League executive told Martino that the Yankees won't be able to get a useful bat or prospect back for either one of Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain.
- The Nationals are the most aggressive buyer on the market at this point, and their primary focus is on starting pitching. "They're calling everybody, said Martino's source. The Nationals recently placed the struggling Dan Haren on the disabled list, and Chris Young has been worse at Triple-A with a 7.88 ERA.
- The Orioles are also making calls as part of a search for starting pitching, which lines up with reports from last week.
- Martino spoke with another NL official who told him that the Marlins are "aggressively" shopping their pitchers. Ricky Nolasco is known to be available, and they're said to be open to dealing Ryan Webb as well. I'd imagine that the team will be willing to listen to offers on Kevin Slowey and Chad Qualls also. It would make sense to listen on Mike Dunn and Steve Cishek, though previous reports state that the Fish would like to hold onto both relievers.
- Nolasco's name came up in February trade talks with the Mets, and one NL executive says that the Marlins are still "desperate" to move him. The Mets aren't a fit for Nolasco at this point, but Martino reiterates that the team could act as buyers this July, despite their losing record, as they look to add outfielders with multiple years of team control.
East Notes: Davis, Haren, Arrieta
The AL East is home to the hottest team in baseball as the Blue Jays tied a franchise-record by winning their 11th consecutive game this afternoon and is the only division in baseball where every team has a winning record. Joel Sherman of the New York Post asked executives and scouts from the other five divisions to predict the finishing order in the AL East. The stunning result? The Red Sox are the favorite to win the division and no one polled sees the Yankees finishing higher than third. The consensus is the Yankees will be the AL East cellar-dwellers citing age, injuries, lack of depth in the minors, and a reluctance to add future payroll. Sherman also breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of the entire division and adds his summation for each team. Elsewhere in MLB's East divisions:
- The Mets had an oppportunity to recall Ike Davis when Lucas Duda landed on the disabled list, but the club decided against such a move. According to Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News, the Mets wanted to protect Davis as they are entering a stretch where they face several left-handers. "You don’t want to put him back in a funk right away," manager Terry Collins told reporters, including Ackert. Davis is hitting .310/.463/.690 with four home runs in 54 plate appearances since being sent to Triple-A Las Vegas.
- The Nationals may try to bolster their starting rotation with a trade after Dan Haren was placed on the disabled list, reports the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore. Haren signed a one-year, $13MM contract with the Nationals after his option was declined by the Angels when a proposed trade with the Cubs fell through over reported injury concerns.
- The name of the recently demoted Jake Arrieta keeps coming up as a possible trade chip for the Orioles. Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun writes the Orioles are eventually going to have to think long and hard about how the right-hander fits and what's best for his development. Encina guesses a move to the bullpen could be part of that plan, which would allow Arrieta to concentrate on pitching in smaller spurts.
- ESPN's Buster Olney (Insider subscription required) sees Arrieta as a Chris Davis-type situation: the talent is there, but the question is whether it will translate at some point.
Rosenthal On Nolasco, D’Backs, Rockies, Gallardo
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports posted his latest edition of Full Count. Here's a look at the highlights..
- The Rockies and Marlins recently had talks about Ricky Nolasco, but money was an obstacle as he is still owed about $6MM on his deal. The Diamondbacks are another possible destination for the Miami pitcher, and it makes sense that NL West clubs have interest given his success against the Giants and at AT&T Park throughout his career. Nolasco is a native of Southern California, so if the Padres acquire him, he could be open to an extension before he hits the open market this winter.
- The Orioles can forget about acquiring Yovani Gallardo as they are on his ten-team no-trade list and the Brewers would prefer to make a clean deal with no restrictions. Meanwhile, the Brewers' pitchers are getting hot at the right time – Gallardo, Francisco Rodriguez, and John Axford have all looked strong as of late and could draw interest from contending clubs.
- in the likely event that the Twins become sellers, their only untouchable veterans figure to be Joe Mauer and Glen Perkins. Trading the remainder of Justin Morneau's $14MM salary would be helpful, but his lack of power hurts his value.
Cafardo On Morneau, Perez, Cishek, Bard, Papelbon
NIck Cafardo of the Boston Globe asked 30 people from around baseball who they would build their team around, regardless of age or experience. The leading vote-getter was Yadier Molina, with Buster Posey in second place. Here's more from today's column..
- There's a lot of uncertainty in the Twins' organization surrounding Justin Morneau. People wonder what happened to his power, which hurts his trade value. The Twins are a very loyal organization so they certainly won't give him away. If a deal for a prospect comes up, however, they would likely let him go.
- When closer Chris Perez is back in action he may be a piece the Indians would look to move. Despite his troubles, he would draw interest considering the shortage of available closers out there. “If a team can get him and he’s amped up because of a change of scenery, that’s all they’re looking for,” said one special assistant to an American League GM. “It’s all about getting bang for your buck during those two months-plus after you acquire him, if you don’t have to give up a lot of inventory to get him.”
- Speaking of closers, the Marlins' Steve Cishek is garnering attention and the Red Sox seem to have interest. However, clubs will have to consider whether he can handle the adjustment of going to a bigger market like Boston or Detroit.
- One National League GM believes that the Red Sox will have to give up on Daniel Bard at some point if things don't turn around. Because of his natural talent, a lot of teams would line up to trade for him in hopes that a change of scenery would turn him around.
- The Phillies declared last week that Jonathan Papelbon was not available, but Cafardo cautions not to believe it, especially in the wake of his public criticism of teammates.
- Nationals right-hander Drew Storen is an interesting alternative for a team looking for a closer. Storen was the Nationals’ closer two years ago but hasn't been as sharp in 2013 as he was in years past.
- Marlins right-hander Ricky Nolasco could be the first pitcher dealt as we near the deadline, even ahead of Bud Norris. Cafardo says not to be shocked if teams like the Orioles or Giants make a move on him sooner rather than later.
- One scout who saw Manny Ramirez in Taiwan said, “He can still hit with the best of them.” That doesn't mean that a team will be bold enough to sign him, however.
Edinson Volquez Drawing Interest
Padres pitcher Edinson Volquez is drawing trade interest from other clubs, according to Bill Center of U-T San Diego. A number of teams had scouts at yesterday's game to check out the right-hander in person.
The Orioles could be among those clubs with interest in Volquez and they have "apparently" mentioned the name of former top pitching prospect Jake Arrieta. The 27-year-old had a solid debut campaign in 2010 but has been inconsistent on the hill ever since. One scout suggested the Orioles might also be interested in swapping Arrieto for Anthony Bass.
Volquez, soon to be 30, has an ERA of 5.67 this season with 7.3 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9. The right-hander is earning $5.725MM this season and will be a free agent this winter.