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Baltimore Orioles Rumors

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Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has a slew of Orioles rumors for us this morning.

A trade has been discussed that would send Hayden Penn and Brian Roberts to Atlanta for Marcus Giles and Adam LaRoche.  The Orioles love Roberts, though, so it’s a long shot.  The Braves are pushing for him.  Tim Hudson could be part of a package as well.

Zrebiec calls the O’s a long shot for Luis Gonzalez with something near a one-year, $7MM offer.  Rosenthal calls it the best offer, though Gonzo may not accept it because of geographical preference.

A Miguel Tejada possibility is raised.  It’s also mentioned that the Mariners want Erik Bedard for Richie Sexson.  Shooting for the stars I guess.

The Orioles like the idea of importing Rocco Baldelli, but would hesitate to send both Adam Loewen and Chris Ray to Tampa Bay.

Teams Interested In Rodrigo Lopez

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Rodrigo Lopez is suddenly a hot property.  The O’s talked to at least five teams looking for starting pitching.  The Brewers and Mariners have inquired specifically about Lopez.

Lopez will turn 31 later this month.  He’s a 200 inning back-rotation guy with good control; he probably belongs in the NL.  He earned $3.75MM in 2006 and will be a free agent after the 2007 season.

Other Oriole tidbits from MLB.com’s Spencer Fordin:

Baltimore met with Doug Melvin of the Brewers, presumably to discuss outfielders Kevin Mench and Geoff Jenkins.  Chris Shelton could be another target.

Negotiations with Luis Gonzalez are ongoing; Jay Payton and Cliff Floyd seem unlikely. 

Pitchers on the move

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Jason Schmidt has been offered $45 million over three years to join the Cubs.  If that offer has been leaked already, $60M/4 seems within the realm of possibility.  Strangely, Schmidt has already said he’s not interested in the East Coast–you’d think he’d wait until Cashman made an offer and drove up his price before saying no.  Once Schmidt signs, it’ll be fun to watch Scott Boras conduct the sure-to-be-insane bidding for Barry Zito.

Some team (to be announced tonight) won the bidding for Kei Igawa for $25 million.  Hanshin has accepted.  That’s the second largest posting fee ever–somebody must think Igawa is pretty good, definitely on the high side of the typical #3/#4 projection he’s gotten.  I’m guessing it’s not the Cubs, or we wouldn’t be hearing so much about the other pitchers they’re after.  That leaves plenty of other possibilities, though.

The Baltimore Orioles are continuing their quest to build the most expensive bullpen of all time: Chad Bradford is close to a three-year deal with them.  Anybody think it’s a little odd that the O’s traded Chris Britton for a reclamation project and are now probably spending about $8M a year for Bradford and Danys Baez?  (Odd?  Yes.  In character? Absolutely.)

And, this just in: the O’s are also adding Scott Williamson.  He’s cheap–only $900K for the year.  Oddly enough, he could be the best of their new additions.  I’m a little surprised nobody else was willing to go higher for him on a one-year deal.

Many of you have emailed me about a possible Angels-White Sox trade involving Ervin Santana and Chone Figgins for Freddy Garcia and Joe Crede.   As Rotoworld points out, this could be a recycled rumor; regardless, Kenny Williams says no.  And there’s no way Bill Stoneman deals Santana for Garcia without getting a lot more in return.  Five years of a good pitcher under the team’s control for one year of Garcia?  Right.

By Jeff Sackmann

Wolf, Baez to new homes

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Looks like Randy Wolf is about to become a Dodger.  Apparently LA is set to sign him to a one-year deal with an option for 2008; I’d guess it’s in the $6-7M range.  The same article speculates that Greg Maddux is looking for a raise on his $9M salary from last year–a two-year deal for Mike Mussina money.  I guess I didn’t realize quite what a stud he was after the trade last year, but I don’t know who’s going to give him that kind of cash.  I’ve been a Maddux fan since the first time he was with the Cubs, but if you had the choice between Maddux at $22.5M/2 and Ted Lilly at $27M/3, isn’t that a no-brainer?  Then again, we don’t know that Lilly won’t get more than that.

Also, Danys Baez looks to be headed to Baltimore.  The Orioles seem to think that, whatever their problems were last year, they can be solved with a very expensive bullpen.  It’s a three-year deal, according to the Baltimore Sun, and I suppose it could open up the possibility that Chris Ray could be traded for something that the Orioles really need.  Like, oh, I don’t know, an 1B/OF/DH type who can hit  above replacement level?  (Otherwise known as "the Fahey line.")

By Jeff Sackmann

Carlos Lee Sweepstakes

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The Houston Chronicle provides the latest update on the chase for Carlos Lee.  It suggests that Tim Purpura could ultimately decide to give El Caballo an Aramis Ramirez-type contract–5 years, $73 million.  Right now, the deal the Astros have offered Lee is believed to be 5 years for $60 million.

The Chron has a source saying that an AL team (gotta be the Orioles) has floated a $70M/5 deal.  It sounds like the Phillies haven’t made an offer; maybe Pat Gillick will realize that signing Lee just to replace Pat Burrell would be a bizarre waste of time.  As it is, it seems like the Astros are banking on getting some kind of hometown discount, while the Orioles are hoping that Carlos wants to play for a mediocre team for the remainder of his productive career.

Then again, it’s always possible that the Cubs will sweep in and sign Lee and Julio Lugo this weekend.  Once you spend $200M, what’s another $70M?

UPDATE: Roch Kubatko reports that the Orioles are willing to go six years, for between $80 and $90 million.  Carlos loves his cattle ranch, but the gap between the O’s and the ’Stros seems to be widening.

By Jeff Sackmann

Assorted updates: Alou, Hudson, Garland, Okajima

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Earlier today, we found a report that Moises Alou was about to sign with the Mets.  Now Rosenthal is saying that it could be a two-year deal.  With Carlos Gomez right behind Lastings Milledge, putting two established vets in the outfield through 2008 would seem to make Milledge expendable. 

Yesterday, Phil Rogers speculated that Mark Buehrle could be headed to Texas.  Rosenthal says it’s Jon Garland, and hints (as Rogers did) that John Danks and Brian Anderson could be part of the package, especially if the deal gets bigger.

And, Buster Olney is reporting chatter about Tim Hudson heading to the Orioles.  If, as Olney speculates, the return could include Adam Loewen or Hayden Penn, it would seem to be ideal for Atlanta: free up payroll for Tom Glavine, and get another (cheap) potentially decent starter in the deal as well.

And here’s something out of nowhere: Hideki Okajima, a lefty reliever, may be coming to the states.  Okajima, a longtime Yomiuri Giant and recently a Nippon Ham Fighter, had a great 2006 but a mediocre ’05.  Sounds like your typical middle-bullpen fodder.

By Jeff Sackmann

O’s Close On Jamie Walker

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According to Ken Rosenthal, the Orioles are close to signing southpaw reliever Jamie Walker to a three-year, $10MM pact.  Walker has been solid since coming to the Tigers in 2002.

Should the Orioles close the deal, the White Sox and Tigers will have to look elsewhere for top-notch lefty relievers.  Alan Embree, Steve Kline, Darren Oliver, and Mike Stanton may be the best options.

Here’s my 2007 Team Outlook for Baltimore.  They’ll probably add more relief help, a starter, and some 1B/LF types.  They snagged one possibility today.  The O’s would have to increase payroll past $80MM to make it work.

Kevin Mench for Rodrigo Lopez?

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Rodrigo Lopez has been on the trading block for what seems like years.  And anyone who has taken the time to count the Brewers outfielders know that some of them–including Kevin Mench and Geoff Jenkins–will be on the block this offseason.  So, it’s only logical that the Brewers and Orioles have chatted about Lopez for Mench.

I wrote about Lopez in a post on my blog when it was first reported that the Brewers had inquired after him–he had a disastrous year last year, posting a 5.90 ERA, but he’s not too old, he’s been a reliable innings eater, and he has had a couple of decent years pitching in the brutal AL East.  A switch to the NL Central, with a steady diet of the Pirates and Astros, could do wonders for his fantasy value.

Contract-wise, the deal makes sense: both are entering their final year of arbitration, and both are coming off of years that could make a case for non-tenders.  Rosenthal points out in the article that having Lopez would free up the Brewers to trade Doug Davis, another innings eater coming off a so-so year.  Their contract situations are the same, but Davis probably has more trade value than Lopez (if only because Davis’s ERA wasn’t near 6 last year).

Posted by Jeff Sackmann

Orioles Interested In Drew?

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Word from the Washington Post is that the Orioles have discussed signing right fielder J.D. Drew.  I’m not sure where they’d play him, as Corey Patterson is manning CF and Nick Markakis is in right.  Moving one of the three to left field would create a solid outfield defense, though.

While Peter Angelos might not be best friends with Drew’s agent Scott Boras, the O’s did have some Boras clients on the roster this year.  Bruce Chen, Patterson, and David Newhan are all represented by the uberagent.  The O’s have missed out on Boras clients like Vladimir Guerrero, Kevin Millwood, Ivan Rodriguez, and Magglio Ordonez in the past.

UPDATE:  The Red Sox may have made Drew an offer right out of the gate.

Orioles To Acquire Jaret Wright

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The Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles will acquire Jaret Wright for Chris Britton, pending commissioner approval.

Wright, who turns 31 soon, could benefit from a reunion with pitching coach Leo Mazzone.  Still, the over/under on his innings pitched is 150.  Wright is hard-pressed to make 30 starts or go past five innings in any of those. I would call 2007 a success for him if he posts an ERA below 5.  I have my doubts on that.

Besides Wright not being very good, another reason I dislike the deal for Baltimore is that they already have a staff of guys who don’t go deep into games.  Erik Bedard, Adam Loewen, and Daniel Cabrera average less than six innings per start, while Kris Benson and Rodrigo Lopez a touch over six.  The Orioles needed a Jason Jennings, a Freddy Garcia, a Jon Garland in my opinion.  Guys who go seven innings more often than not. 

Basically the Orioles managed to both increase their already heavy reliance on a lousy bullpen while subtracting one of their better relievers.

Britton, who turns 24 soon, is a big guy who throws strikes.  He has a couple of decent pitches and can be a useful bullpen piece for New York.  The deal is a clear win for the Yankees.  Getting Wright out of the rotation is a plus, and adding a warm body to the bullpen is just gravy.   

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