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Nothing Imminent With Orioles

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Sean Welsh of the Baltimore Examiner spoke to Orioles’ president Andy MacPhail, clearing up some rumors that had been buzzing around.  MacPhail would be "very surprised" if the Orioles strike deals for Erik Bedard or Brian Roberts before year’s end.

Welsh says the Cubs are focused on Roberts, while the Reds are still on Bedard’s trail.

Odds and Ends: Roberts, Otsuka, Walker, DaVanon

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A few minor moves to speak of…

  • The Cubs don’t appear to be concerned about Brian Roberts’ steroid admission.
  • The Padres’ talks for Xavier Nady are "on hold," according to Bill Center.  Also, the Friars continue to eye Akinori Otsuka.
  • Aside from the aforementioned Michael Barrett, the Padres signed Robert Fick and Jeff DaVanon.  DaVanon, a switch-hitter, has had some decent years against righties.  Ken Rosenthal believes the Padres may consider their outfield situation settled now after missing out on Geoff Jenkins and signing DaVanon.
  • Todd Walker, remember him?  He was released by the Padres this year in Spring Training and hooked on with Oakland.  After a month and a half there, they designated him for assignment.  He wasn’t picked up, and enjoyed spending the time with his family.  Now, however, the Rockies have had preliminary conversations with him according to Tracy Ringolsby.  Walker played for the Rox in 2000, posting a .929 OPS in limited duty.  He had another half season in Colorado in ’01 before being traded to the Reds for Alex Ochoa.
  • Excellent team blogs are going corporate – Bucco Blog was purchased by Baseball Interactive Media, and MetsBlog partnered with SNY.  Both seem like positive developments for readers – Jake and Matthew maintain editorial control, but perhaps gain additional access and technology.

Stark’s Latest: Prior, Lofton, Otsuka

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ESPN’s Jayson Stark dishes some good rumorage in his latest column.

  • Stark dug around to find all the Mark Prior suitors and came up with this list: Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, Mets, Cardinals, Padres, Astros, Giants, Reds, Nationals (11 teams).  Let’s compare notes.  MLBTR readers have seen the Yankees, Mets, Cards, Padres, Astros, Reds, and Nats linked to Prior already.  So Stark has added the Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, and Giants.  The idea of the Mariners runs contrary to this MLB.com article.  Stark did not name the Rangers, who are said to be aggressively pursuing Prior.  Prior is dead set on a one-year deal and would take a big league mound in May in the best case.
  • The Phils are focused on Geoff Jenkins and Mike Cameron, offering two year deals to each.  They might just take the first one to accept.  Stark says Kenny Lofton could be an option if both decline.  Lofton batted a career-best .335 for the Phils in ’05.
  • Stark rattles off a laundry list of pitchers the Phillies are interested in: Akinori Otsuka, Byung-Hyun Kim, Roberto Hernandez, Kris Benson, John Parrish, Sidney Ponson, Chad Durbin, Kyle Lohse, and Jeremy Affeldt.  Given Stark’s 21 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, I imagine he has a connection or two.  Most of those are new names besides Benson, Lohse, Ponson, and Affeldt.
  • A source of Stark picks the Yankees as the favorite for Johan, but it should be noted that they’re having internal debates about pulling Phil Hughes off the table.
  • For all the crazy Cubs fans we’ve got here: Stark says they’ve talked to the Orioles about both Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard, but couldn’t pull off a deal for both.  They favor Roberts even though they need Bedard much more.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Prior, Bedard, Haren

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The rumor mill is picking up today, thanks in no short part to Ken Rosenthal.  Check out his latest column.

  • Rosenthal believes the Padres are Mark Prior’s first choice, but as usual they won’t pay as much as other teams.  Both Texas clubs are in the lead for Prior currently.  Rosenthal also names the Cards, Mets, and Yankees are suitors, as we knew.  The Pirates, by the way, have not inquired.
  • Talks for Erik Bedard have slowed down, because the Orioles aren’t impressed with the offers.  The Mariners, Reds, and Mets are the top contenders.  Rosenthal indicates that the Reds may be overvaluing Homer Bailey, compared to the perception of other clubs.
  • Interesting late-game suitors for Dan Haren: the Rockies and Braves.  You wonder, then, whether they’ll also inquire on Bedard. 
  • Rosenthal notes that the Chris Burke acquisition could be a sign that the D’Backs won’t re-sign Orlando Hudson.  Burke will have to show something first though.
  • The Orioles don’t seem likely to flip Luke Scott; they like his style.  The guy could hit 30 bombs this year, in the opinion of Ron Shandler and Co.
  • The Twins are up to 39 on their 40 man roster, so they’ll have to be creative to take back four players in a Johan Santana deal.  It could mean including a player with Johan.

Orioles, Pirates Eyeing Dotel

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UPDATE, 12-19-07 at 9:28am: The Bucs also have their eye on Dotel, but are wary of the price and years.

FROM 12-18-07 at 11:13am:

The Orioles don’t have a closer, and Octavio Dotel is the best of the remaining name-brand stoppers.  He’s at least better than Armando Benitez, Keith Foulke, and Bob Wickman (assuming he doesn’t retire).

Normally I wouldn’t support the idea of a non-contending team dropping $6-8MM annually for maybe two years on a guy like Dotel.  But Dayton Moore showed us last year that this strategy can net a decent player at the deadline (he picked up Kyle Davies).  However since Dotel will probably want two years, he’ll be riskier than he was for Moore.  The Royals handled Dotel pretty carefully and his value was high when they dealt him. 

Cubs Interested In Bedard?

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With the volume of rumors that flew around during the Winter Meetings, it’s easy to get confused.  Luckily MLBTR has archives of everything.  That’s how we were able to research the Cubs’ alleged interest in Erik Bedard.

It started on December 4th with Joel Sherman saying the Cubs were part of a pool competing for Bedard that contained 8-10 teams.  Then three days later, Bruce Miles reported that Bedard was "not on the Cubs’ radar screen."

The latest, per an uncredited blurb on ESPN Rumor Central: "In recent days, the Cubs let their interest be known."  The blurb also references the Seattle PI, perhaps this article, but there’s no Cubs reference there.

Anyway, it makes sense that Jim Hendry and Andy MacPhail would at least have a high-level Bedard discussion.  The Cubs need a pitcher like him, they’ve liked him before, and they do have some decent young talent.

Reds Still Searching For A Starter

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John Fay writes of the Reds’ continued search for a starting pitcher.  That’s Wayne Krivsky’s focus; his main limitation is that Jay Bruce is untouchable.

The Reds couldn’t get Dan Haren because they wouldn’t give up young starter Johnny Cueto.  The focus remains on Erik Bedard; the Reds seem willing to offer Homer Bailey as a starting point.  Fay indicates that the Dodgers lead for Bedard, which is odd given their current six-deep rotation.

I have a feeling the hot stove is going to turn to Joe Blanton now.  The Reds may be in the thick of it, especially if they’d give up Bailey for him.  What do you think, would that be a wise move?

Odds and Ends: Garces, Aquino, McPherson

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Let’s round up a few Saturday odds and ends.

  • Pitcher C.J. Nitkowski writes a semi-defense of Brian McNamee.  Nitkowski has his own blog and recently finished up a season in Japan.
  • According to Andrew Baggarly, the Giants have been in touch with Scott Boras regarding free agent corner infielder Dallas McPherson.  He missed the ’07 season with back surgery, but recently appeared in the Arizona Instructional League.  The 27 year-old has a career line of .247/.294/.461 in 360 ABs, including 121 strikeouts in those 117 games.  The 30 HR power may remain but he’ll need to show more than just that. 
  • Peter Abraham has a funny comment regarding the appearance of Rich Garces on the phony steroid list that circulated Thursday morning.  That bogus list actually hit my inbox the night before and it was an obvious delete.  I shouldn’t throw stones, because I have definitely put up a few bad trade rumors in my day.  But it was very surprising to see an NBC affiliate running with that crap on Thursday.
  • Andy MacPhail continues to leave the door open for an Erik Bedard contract extension.  That same article mentions the Orioles’ claim of 30 year-old reliever Greg Aquino.  Fantasy geeks recall Aquino’s stint as D’Backs closer in 2004, when they were the worst team in baseball.  Aquino supplanted Mike Koplove that summer. 

Reds Rumors: Bedard, Prior

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A break from your regularly scheduled steroid talk.  John Fay checks in on the Reds’ pursuit of starting pitching.

  • Fay says the Reds are still hopeful about getting Erik Bedard, and puts their chances at 50/50.  The Orioles still want Jay Bruce, and the Reds are still resisting.
  • Fay notes Dusty Baker told folks at the Meetings that he’d like to have Mark Prior.  Whether Prior would like to be under his watch again is the question.  As a 22 year-old in 2003, Prior ranked third in baseball in Pitcher Abuse Points per start.

Astros Acquire Miguel Tejada

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UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 4:41pm: Richard Justice notes that Tejada can demand a trade after the ’08 season.  That hadn’t occurred to me; it diminishes his value to the Astros.

UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 12:04pm: Rosenthal says Tejada is expected to play short for the Astros; Adam Everett’s time may be up.  Tejada’s offensive output looks a lot better coming from short than it does coming from third, though it may be a moot point if Ty Wigginton is manning the hot corner.

FROM 12-12-07 at 11:42am:

This comes as a surprise, on the heels of a Rosenthal report to the contrary.  Jeff Zrebiec says the Astros have acquired Miguel Tejada for Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Troy Patton, Dennis Sarfate, and Mike Costanzo. 

That’s a fine haul for Baltimore.  The Astros pretty much cleaned out their farm system for two years of an average-hitting third baseman.  The average NL 3B had an .804 OPS in ’07; Tejada was at .799 in the AL.  I know some readers think I’m an Astro-hater but that’s not the case.  I just think they gave up way too much here.  Patton was ranked their third best prospect by Baseball America, Costanzo sixth.  Scott is a cheap quality regular, and Albers was third on the team’s 2007 top prospect list.

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