Brian Roberts Deal Dead?
A trusted emailer wrote in to tell me about a report today from Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio 1000. According to Levine, Brian Roberts is no longer available. The Orioles were apparently asking for Tyler Colvin or Felix Pie plus multiple pitchers, and the Cubs wouldn’t do it.
Levine says the Cubs may turn their attention to the Rangers’ Marlon Byrd or free agent Jon Lieber.
Reds To Stand Pat On Rotation?
The Cincy Enquirer’s John Fay thinks the Reds are backing off on Erik Bedard as well as the second-tier free agent pitchers. He’s talked to some baseball people on the topic and believes the price is too high for the Reds in any case.
Honestly they’re not in that bad of shape with Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez, and Matt Belisle.
Erik Bedard Mariners/Reds Rumors
UPDATE, 1-10-08 at 5:38pm: Churchill has further updated his right-hand sidebar referencing the Reds possibility. He says the O’s want Bailey, Votto, Cueto, and Edwin Encarnacion. This is particularly lopsided, and pushing Melvin Mora back to Cincy wouldn’t make it any less so. Mora may have negative value at this point. Meanwhile John Fay says nothing new has happened on the Reds/Bedard front.
UPDATE, 1-09-08 at 9:07pm: Rosenthal checks in with an update. If the Mariners would give up Chris Tillman, they could have a done deal. Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein ranks the 19 year-old righty as Seattle’s second best prospect, giving him a number two starter ceiling. Rosenthal confirms that Jones is the centerpiece, while George Sherrill and Carlos Triunfel are in play.
Meanwhile, Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider says on the right-hand sidebar of this page that the Reds might step up their offer in an attempt to make a late play. He thinks they could give up Homer Bailey, Joey Votto, Johnny Cueto, and a fourth player, which would be absurd.
FROM 1-09-08 at 9:03am:
On Tuesday, both Ken Rosenthal and Jason Churchill carefully stated that the Orioles and Mariners were making progress on an Erik Bedard trade. The deal would center around Adam Jones but include other good young players as well. The Reds and Indians were named as other lingering Bedard suitors.
Larry Stone of the Seattle Times checked in on the Bedard situation today. His MLB source agreed that talks between the Mariners and Orioles have heated up. Andy MacPhail, however, would not use the words "heating up." Stone goes on to mention that the Mets "could be players" for Bedard in addition to the Ohio teams. Contrary to earlier reports, Stone was able to extract a quote from Ms GM Bill Bavasi that indicated Brandon Morrow was not off limits.
John Hickey admits that the rumors won’t die but doesn’t think the Mariners have made any actual progress on a deal. He agrees that Morrow seems a bit more available than he did before. Hickey suggests Josh Fogg could be a backup plan to Bedard for Seattle, noting that Fogg likes the idea of pitching in Safeco. The Reds are also believed to have interest in Fogg.
Brian Roberts Cubs Rumors
UPDATE, 1-9-08 at 6:06pm: WGN Radio’s Dave Kaplan checked in on this situation on his blog. He has "great sources" saying the price for Roberts is much higher than was previously reported. The Orioles want Rich Hill, Felix Pie, or Tyler Colvin. Hill is known to be off-limits.
UPDATE, 1-9-08 at 10:58am: Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune believes this deal "is almost certainly going to happen." He expects it to be for the same players Orioles Hangout mentioned. However, an Orioles official contacted Orioles Hangout to tell them their report was inaccurate.
UPDATE, 1-9-08 at 9:22am: Roch Kubatko (via a team spokesman) and Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun talked to Andy MacPhail and report that nothing has changed since last night on the Roberts talks and no deal is done.
FROM 1-9-08 at 7:53am:
Orioles Hangout is reporting that the trade of Brian Roberts to the Cubs is final. They’re saying it’s for Sean Gallagher, Sean Marshall, and Ronny Cedeno. I’ll update the post as info comes along.
Odds and Ends: Mantei, Foulke, Cairo, Guardado
Here are this morning’s random rumors and links.
- Matt Mantei will throw for the Tigers this week, and hopes to get a minor league deal. The 34 year-old hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2005 for Boston.
- The D’Backs will watch Keith Foulke throw later this month as he attempts his comeback after a year off. The Indians and Red Sox are other teams Foulke may have special interest in.
- The Mariners signed Miguel Cairo in an effort to push incumbent second baseman Jose Lopez. Cairo has a career line of .267/.315/.367, while Lopez is at .261/.295/.379. Cairo is the lesser of two evils, I guess.
- Andy MacPhail is talking about (or at least posturing that) he’s going to start looking to fill holes via free agency since he’s not getting the right trade offers. I imagine Octavio Dotel is still on the Orioles’ radar to close.
- The Rangers were close to signing Eddie Guardado in December, and now they’re…still close.
Erik Bedard Rumors: Mariners, Reds, Indians
Erik Bedard staying put in Baltimore this winter? Maybe not. Ken Rosenthal and Jason Churchill both busted out brand new material this evening with the latest Bedard chatter. The upshot is that the Mariners seem to have a decent shot at him.
- Rosenthal says the Mariners will put Adam Jones, Jeff Clement, and Matt Tuiasosopo in the deal. He indicates that the Orioles could push to substitute and get one of Tony Butler, Chris Tillman, and Carlos Triunfel. Looks like Bill Bavasi is sticking to the idea of keeping Brandon Morrow. Rosenthal hedges his bets, but admits to "growing indications that the teams could be moving closer to a deal."
- Churchill says something similar: the Mariners and Orioles "may very well be making significant progress." Churchill sees a package of Jones, Triunfel, and George Sherrill as the likely scenario.
- Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein recently listed his Top 11 Prospects for the Mariners. Clement was a five-star, Tillman and Triunfel four-stars, Butler a two-star, and Tuiasosopo an honorable mention. Jones would be first were he still considered a prospect.
- Both Ohio teams have interest in Bedard as well, but a trade to the Indians or Reds seems less likely. The Reds still won’t give up Jay Bruce.
Cubs, Indians Interested In Roberts
Ken Rosenthal is back with a bang, penning a new article about Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts trade possibilities. We already updated you on the Bedard situation over yonder.
Rosenthal says the Cubs are still the best fit for Roberts, also noting interest from the Mets and Indians. Last we heard, the Cubs’ offer included Sean Gallagher and Matt Murton but not Rich Hill or Felix Pie. Ronny Cedeno, Sean Marshall, and Donnie Veal could also be in the mix.
Interesting to hear that the Tribe is quietly taking a look at both Roberts and Bedard, just as they were quietly players for Dan Haren. Bedard could fill the void if C.C. Sabathia were to leave via free agency. What would a Roberts acquisition mean? Asdrubal Cabrera to short, Jhonny Peralta to third or traded?
Orioles Could Re-Sign Corey Patterson
It seemed the Orioles had no interest in retaining Scott Boras client Corey Patterson. However, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles have renewed their interest in the 28 year-old center fielder.
My guess is that the Orioles backed off when Boras told them his initial demands for Patterson (three years, $24MM maybe?) But now Patterson is still hanging around and no teams seem to be actively pursuing him. Connolly mentions the Cardinals, Braves, Twins, and Pirates as possible fits, but admits they’re long shots. Patterson was born in Atlanta.
Patterson has a chance to be a mild bargain if he rediscovers his power stroke. He’s striking out less and less, which could mean an improvement in batting average. The offensive bar is pretty low for center field if you play good defense.
The Orioles are still entertaining possible trades that could bring them a center fielder and take them out of the mix for Patterson. They could get Adam Jones in an Erik Bedard trade, or a "Chicago Cubs outfield prospect" in a Brian Roberts deal. I doubt this would be Felix Pie.
Odds and Ends: Estrada, Payton, Kielty
Random rumors from the day…
- The Bucs are set with their starting five, unless they can trade Matt Morris. Dejan Kovacevic adds that the Pirates and Johnny Estrada have mutual interest but haven’t spoken in a while.
- Roch Kubatko expects the Orioles to shop Jay Payton now that they’ve acquired Chris Roberson. Really, all of their vets should be fully available.
- Bobby Kielty has interest from three or four teams, but his first choice is Boston. The likelihood of that increases if Coco Crisp is sent elsewhere. Kielty is willing to give up switch-hitting if his new team so desires.
- Troy E. Renck has salary details on Mark Redman and Kip Wells. Redman gets $1MM, with another possible $500K in incentives. Wells gets a $3.1MM base with another possible $1.5MM in incentives.
Mariners Offering Three Players For Bedard?
On Monday, Phil Rogers wrote of the Mariners’ continuing pursuit of Baltimore’s Erik Bedard. He says the Ms are shopping a package including Adam Jones, Jeff Clement, and Yung Chi Chen. Rogers notes that the O’s would probably require Brandon Morrow. This is the first time we’ve seen Chen’s name as part of a Bedard deal. He doesn’t fall within Seattle’s top 14 prospects, according to Kevin Goldstein.
Our previous Bedard update came four days ago, with info supplied by Jeff Zrebiec and John Fay. At that time Andy MacPhail said there was a "strong likelihood" that Bedard is the Orioles’ Opening Day starter in 2008.