By Tim Dierkes | at
Steve King reported yesterday that the Phillies were interested in third baseman/outfielder Melvin Mora. Not so, according to Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The specific words were "no chance." I saw this debunked elsewhere as well; can’t recall where at the moment.
As I said before, Mora doesn’t have much value and I’d imagine any team willing to pay his entire salary could have him for a song.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec was recently named Rumor Royalty for the Orioles. Jeff answered a few questions for MLBTR.
MLBTR: Andy MacPhail has said he doesn’t expect to be in on many free agents, but there was a rumor that the O’s are entertaining Jose Guillen [note: written prior to debunking]. Do you expect them to spend any money on free agents this winter?
Zrebiec: First, the Guillen report was inaccurate. He’s exactly the type of player the Orioles are not interested in at this stage. As for other free agents, I see the Orioles making a couple of small, low price/low risk signings to fill out their roster.
For example, I could see them signing a veteran starter on the cheap, somebody in the Steve Trachsel mold. I wouldn’t rule out them signing a reliever, though it won’t be at anywhere close to the contracts they gave out last year for Bradford, Walker and Baez. And if Tejada is traded and I fully expect him to be, signing a guy like Cesar Izturis could appeal to them. They’ve liked him in the past.
But for the most part, I think you’ll see them try to fill their holes in trades and then patching a couple of spots up with one or two signings. I think it was telling that MacPhail didn’t have one extensive meeting with an agent at the GM meetings.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Melvin Mora doesn’t figure to be a hot commodity on the trade market. He’s got name recognition because of two very good seasons in from 2003-04. But he turns 36 in February and will earn $17MM over the next two years. He also has a no-trade clause, but he’d probably waive it to go to a competitor.
The Phillies are interested in Mora for their third base vacancy, according to Steve King. I don’t think the Phils would have to give up much in the way of prospects to get him; they could probably send over a bag of baseballs if they’re willing to take on the entire contract.
By Tim Dierkes | at
We’ve discussed this before…it seems like the Mets don’t stack up with certain other clubs trying to acquire available frontline starting pitching. Ken Rosenthal definitely feels this way – Carlos Gomez is considered a blue-chipper but the others may not be.
Rosenthal notes that a package starting with Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman doesn’t do much for Billy Beane. The A’s don’t see Milledge as a long-term center field solution, and Heilman is a reliever. Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber aren’t the top-shelf pitching prospects the A’s covet in return for Dan Haren or Joe Blanton. It seems as if the very best package the Mets can assemble might only be enough for Blanton.
The Mets are also after Johan Santana and Erik Bedard, but it’s the same story. Unless they create a huge hole by trading Jose Reyes, it doesn’t seem they can offer the best package. Though the Twins still want Reyes, Adam Rubin and Joel Sherman indicate that’s not an option.
Dipping into the free agent market for Hiroki Kuroda or Carlos Silva seems to make more sense. One option the Mets have been linked to in the past, Dontrelle Willis, may be off the market now.
By Tim Dierkes | at
I recently named the Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec as Rumor Royalty for the Orioles. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for the site.
MLBTR: Give us an example of a reasonable trade bounty for a team acquiring Miguel Tejada. Do you think the Orioles are targeting a certain number of players or certain positions? If the acquiring team intended to move him to third base, would this become a problem?
Zrebiec: All indications are that the Orioles are still looking for two high-level prospects for Tejada. I’m not sure they’ll get that now with Tejada’s defensive concerns and declining power numbers, but that could change when Miguel Cabrera is no longer on the market. The Orioles are in desperate need for young position player talent, but president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has acknowledged that he is in no position to discriminate. He wants to bring in as much young talent as possible this offseason, regardless of position. "We’ll sort it out later," he has said.
Tejada has given conflicting answers in the past about whether he’ll move to 3B. He has made it clear that he’d prefer to stay at shortstop. However, he has also said that he would make the move for a playoff-caliber team. I don’t foresee it being a problem at all. Everybody that knows Miguel insists that all he wants to do is win, and he’ll do what he has to do to make that happen.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Rumor Royalty is an MLBTR feature that honors the best journalist for each team in terms of hot stove material. The Newark Star-Ledger’s Dan Graziano recently snagged the honor for the Yankees.
The choice for the Baltimore Orioles was really easy for me. The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec owns Orioles hot stove chatter; he gets all the scoops. Here’s a link to the Sun’s baseball page, where his work can be found. I asked Jeff three hot stove questions, which will be posted here separately over the next couple of days.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss has an excellent update on the Cardinals’ pursuit of a new starting shortstop.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Back on November 18th, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas said that the Royals and Orioles the leaders among eight clubs competing for the services of Jose Guillen. However, the Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec said today that the O’s do not have interest in him.
It didn’t make much sense from the start. Andy MacPhail has already stated his lack of interest in free agents. Guillen would bring more steroid stigma to a franchise with plenty. And Guillen plays the same position as Nick Markakis.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Ken Rosenthal recently dished out a slew of fresh rumors for us to devour.
By Tim Dierkes | at
And now for your daily jumble o’ rumors. More to come.
MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com
Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information
hide arrows scroll to top
