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Jays Shopping Burnett For Shortstop?

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5:55pm: Robert MacLeod talked to Jays President Paul Godfrey, who said J.P. Ricciardi is not shopping Burnett but has received calls.

2:23pm: According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, the Blue Jays are shopping starter A.J. Burnett for a shortstop.  Elliott notes that the Phillies and Orioles have had scouts at recent Burnett starts.  Neither of those organizations figures to match up on the shortstop front though.

Any contenders with an MLB-ready shortstop to spare?  The Cubs have Ronny Cedeno, who may or may not have a future as a regular.  The Brewers have J.J. Hardy and Alcides Escobar in the organization.  The Braves have Brent Lillibridge, and the Dodgers have Chin-lung Hu.  The Dodgers might need to hang on to Hu, however.

White Sox May Trade Juan Uribe

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According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Juan Uribe trade talks are rumored to be heating up.  Kenny Williams may be trying to finish a deal before Paul Konerko returns from the disabled list.  Manager Ozzie Guillen talked about finding "the best opportunity" for Uribe, so it’s no secret the Sox are trying to make a trade. 

Uribe, 29, is hitting .215/.269/.341 in 147 plate appearances as a utility infielder this year.  He’s making $4.5MM, so that’ll be an issue.

The Orioles seem the most likely suitor, unless they complete a deal for Felipe Lopez.  The Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales says the Orioles had a scout in attendance for yesterday’s White Sox-Indians game (Uribe did not play).

Olney’s Latest: Wolf, Lohse, Sabathia, Fuentes, Oswalt, Bailey

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Buster Olney has a new column up. Let’s take a look:

  • He suggests Randy Wolf as a "possible trade chip" with the Padres looking increasingly out of it this year. One problem: Wolf has veto power over trades to 14 teams. He’s been decent this year, with a 4.13 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 98 innings, but nothing to get too excited over.
  • Gossip item: the Mets could have had Kyle Lohse for what the Cardinals are paying ($4.25MM), only Omar Minaya passed.
  • Olney doesn’t see much in the speculation about the Angels wanting C.C. Sabathia. With Kelvim Escobar’s rehab going well, great first-half performances from Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana, and John Lackey likely to improve going forward, why should they make a push for C.C.? Olney sees the Brewers and the Cubs as more interested parties. (Ken Rosenthal mentioned the Brewers and the Rays as C.C. suitors yesterday.) Later in the post, Olney notes that Sabathia has a 1.96 ERA in his last fourteen starts. Yowza.
  • How the Rockies fare over the next two weeks could determine what becomes of Brian Fuentes.
  • Olney can’t decide whether the Orioles should buy or sell. What do you think?
  • Roy Oswalt won’t get traded, with Olney linking to the Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice for his evidence. (Oswalt has, of course, been talking like he’d prefer to be somewhere else.) Also working against a deal for Oswalt: his continued experiments with pitching to contact (to keep the ol’ pitch count down) haven’t been going very well this year, either. His K/9 has been declining for years, of course, but it may have reached a point of no return this season. Whatever happens, I’m sure the ’stros would prefer to move him at peak value, not right now when he has a 4.77 ERA.
  • Homer Bailey, back in Triple A Louisville, isn’t getting any love from the scout quoted here, who says he threw "batting practice fastballs." Bailey was 0-3 with a 8.73 ERA in the majors this year after a hotly anticipated call-up. Given the bounty of young arms they already have, the Reds would probably prefer to trade him…but alas, his value has dropped the way his curveball used to. 

Sarah Green writes for UmpBump and the Boston Metro and can be reached here.

Orioles Interested In Felipe Lopez

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12:37pm: Ken Rosenthal says the O’s "have engaged in substantive conversations" to acquire Lopez.  The likely return: just a marginal prospect.

9:49am: According to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles have intensified their hunt for a starting shortstop.

Zrebiec runs through some options and suggests Felipe Lopez would make sense.  The O’s have scouted him before.  Jim Bowden’s asking price shouldn’t be too high – Lopez becomes a free agent after the season and hasn’t hit well for years.

Here’s a look at our shortstop market post.  One player I omitted from there who has been connected to the Orioles in the past is Juan Uribe. 

Rosenthal’s Latest: Cashman, Fuentes, Braves, Fielder

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Time for a new Ken Rosenthal column.

  • Rosenthal reminds us that, among other things, Adam Dunn played with a broken hand for a couple of months in ’05.  So maybe he does like baseball.  It’s not fair to criticize a player’s passion simply because he doesn’t make the right facial expressions or throw tantrums (not saying J.P. Ricciardi did this, but many fans do).
  • Mark Teixeira might be looking for eight years and $160MM.  Rosenthal says not to count his hometown Orioles out, though they aren’t the most likely suitor.
  • Brian Cashman "seems likely to sign a contract extension" with the Yankees.  Omar Minaya’s job is safe.
  • The Rockies might trade Brian Fuentes even if they’re in contention.  Add the Rays to the list of teams interested in him.  The Rox still like the Mets’ Aaron Heilman, by the way.
  • The Braves are out of the starting pitching market, content with internal options.
  • If the Brewers are to shop Prince Fielder, they’ll likely wait until the offseason.  Could be a fun rumor to follow this winter.
  • Orioles relievers Jamie Walker and Chad Bradford both can be had (both are signed through ’09).

On The Failed Brian Roberts Talks

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Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun dug up some information about the failed Brian Roberts trade talks from the past offseason.

  • Zrebiec says one of the Cubs’ offers included Ronny Cedeno, Sean Gallagher, and Donald Veal.  According to Andy MacPhail, a deal was never close.  The O’s continue to hunt for a shortstop.
  • MacPhail also talked to the Indians and Twins about Roberts (the Twins are a new one for me).  It seems that MacPhail may also have spoken to the White Sox.
  • The Orioles don’t seem to be planning to trade Roberts anymore, as they’re 5.5 games out of the wild card.  No talks have occurred yet, but the Orioles could even extend Roberts past ’09.

Orioles Designate Bynum

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Roch Kubatko of the Baltimore Sun informs us that the Orioles have designated infielder Freddie Bynum for assignment. The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Bynum, 28, had posted an underwhelming line of .192/.238./.242 in 99 ABs for the O’s this season.

Baltimore has recalled RHP Ryan Bukvich in his place. Bukvich, 30, was 4-1 at AAA Norfolk with a 3.89 ERA in 34.2 IP. Oscar Salazar will take over Bynum’s role of backing up Alex Cintron at shortstop.

Posted by Steve Adams

Odds and Ends: Kouzmanoff, Ricciardi, Wilson

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Today’s linkage…

Odds and Ends: Viciedo, Broussard, Rincon, Threets

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Time to round ’em up.

  • The A’s are leading the charge for international free agent pitcher Michael Inoa; they could offer him $4MM.  All teams have scouted him.
  • MLB.com’s Jim Molony names the Astros, Yankees, Cardinals, Angels, Mets, and Pirates as teams considering Cuban defector Dayan Viciedo (assuming he becomes a free agent).
  • The Orioles would like to sign Ben Broussard, if he’ll accept a minor league assignment.  Broussard if mulling his options and should sign within 24 hours.  He could step in if the Orioles trade Kevin Millar.
  • Jeff Weaver has been released by the Brewers.  Weaver’s lost it; he has a 6.22 ERA in nine Triple A starts.
  • The Twins have asked Juan Rincon to accept a minor league assignment.  If he refuses, the Twins will be on the hook for his salary and he’ll become a free agent.  Rincon’s last decent year was 2006.
  • No team was willing to keep lefty reliever Erick Threets in the Majors.  He cleared waivers and will head to Triple A as a member of the Giants organization.
  • Andy Pettitte wouldn’t commit, but admitted it’d be a "joy and an honor" to pitch at the new Yankee Stadium next year.
  • Tigers backup catcher Vance Wilson may retire after a setback in his elbow recovery.

Mets May Pass On Millar

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Kevin Millar is hitting .249/.333/.421 for the Orioles, as opposed to Carlos Delgado’s .246/.324/.411 line.  The Mets could decide not to pursue Millar simply because he’s not a clear improvement.  None of the available first basemen are.

Nonetheless, MetsBlog picked up some interesting chatter from a Jon Heyman radio appearance.  Apparently Millar has his detractors within the Mets organization, perhaps because he crossed the picket line in ’94.

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