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Mets Rumors: Manny, Ibanez, Bullpen

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12:06pm: ESPN’s Buster Olney ranks the Mets’ priorities as reliever, corner outfielder, and starter, in that order.  They’re currently discussing Ibanez with the Mariners, but not much has come of it yet.

10:17am: Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger doesn’t buy the denials – he says Mets GM Omar Minaya remains interested in Manny Ramirez.  The Mets rank Ramirez above alternatives like Raul Ibanez, Adam Dunn, and Randy Winn, and might make certain prospects available just for Manny.  Is Jon Niese among them?  Niese is thought to be untouchable, and was promoted to Triple A today.

Meanwhile Mets manager Jerry Manuel endorsed Fernando Tatis at the everyday left fielder.  David Lennon doesn’t expect a trade unless the price comes down on Ibanez.  Can Tatis continue to channel his glory days, when he posted a .957 OPS with 34 home runs for the ’99 Cardinals?

Graziano also talked to an NL official familiar with the Mets’ plans.  That person said the Mets are considering a bullpen overhaul where they would ship out Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis and bring in different relievers.

Pirates Rumors: Grabow, Bay, Wilson

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Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the latest Pirates buzz.

  • Lefty John Grabow is drawing interest from the Rays, Cardinals, Phillies, Red Sox, and Angels.  Grabow gave up a couple of homers in his last outing; he missed time earlier this month with arm fatigue.  The 29 year-old southpaw is under team control through ’09.
  • Calls are still coming in on Jason Bay and Jack Wilson, though the Rays are backing off on Bay.  Kovacevic says the Red Sox might provide competition for the Dodgers in the Wilson sweepstakes.  The Bucs interestingly called up shortstop Brian Bixler when Adam LaRoche hit the DL, but that simply may be to cover for an ailing Freddy Sanchez at second base.
  • Nothing to yesterday’s MLB.com report of Pirates’ ownership nixing a Bay-to-Atlanta deal.

Mark Teixeira Rumors: Monday

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12:10am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman is hearing the Braves are locked in on the D’Backs, so I’m not sure who to believe.  Heyman believes the Rays could be the fallback.

11:42pm: Jack Magruder of the East Valley Tribune has a source saying there’s "no way" the D’Backs acquire Teixeira or Manny Ramirez.  The Braves proposed a package of Scherzer, Parker, and Tracy for Tex.  Sounds like these two teams are not close to being on the same page.

11:29pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman checks in.  His source says the Yankees, Rays, and Angels are more likely to acquire Teixeira than the D’Backs.  Frank Wren isn’t having the Tracy over Jackson idea.

11:06pm: Buster Olney heard from sources that the Braves are leaning toward the D’Backs.  He believes a deal could be structured around Tracy and a non-Scherzer pitching prospect.  Will Carroll believes the Braves have two solid offers and a third on the way, and Tex could be traded by tomorrow.

10:32pm: Ken Rosenthal has the D’Backs as frontrunners for Tex, noting that they’ll trade Tracy but not Jackson.  Micah Owings or a prospect not named Scherzer or Parker could also be included.  Tracy and Owings does seem superior to two draft picks.  Rosenthal notes that the D’Backs would not attempt to re-sign Teixeira after the season.  Meanwhile, Will Carroll heard that the Orioles and Dodgers also inquired.

9:39pm: Steve Gilbert of MLB.com has a source saying the D’Backs don’t want to part with Conor Jackson, Max Scherzer, or Jarrod Parker for Teixeira.

7:12pm: David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to GM Frank Wren, who says the Braves have deals on the table right now for Teixeira.  Wren is still trying to find the best deal.

6:38pm: The Braves are now taking bids for Teixeira.  ESPN’s Jayson Stark says the teams in the mix are the D’Backs, Red Sox, Rays, and Angels.  Still, Arizona seems the most logical fit.  The Angels won’t trade Casey Kotchman, and the Braves don’t care for Kendry Morales.

5:08pm: According to Yahoo’s Steve Henson, negotiations between the Braves and Diamondbacks for first baseman Mark Teixeira are "pretty far along."  Henson talked to a front office source from another team interested in Tex.  The Braves reportedly want a prospect plus Chad Tracy or Conor Jackson. 

ESPN’s Keith Law wrote earlier today that the Braves have at least four suitors for Teixeira.

Red Sox Have Little Interest In Tejada

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10:39pm: Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle says the Red Sox have "almost no interest" in Tejada.  Other teams are considering Tejada, but a trade is unlikely.

8:18pm: It’s possible the Tigers are also in the mix for Tejada.  They are among many teams scouting the Astros (the Nationals, Mets, Rangers, and Giants are others).

7:04pm: According to ESPN’s Enrique Rojas, the Red Sox and Astros have discussed shortstop Miguel Tejada.  Rojas is not sure how far the trade talk has progressed.  Tejada seemed open to the idea in a quote given to Rojas.

Tejada is hitting .281/.318/.420 in 431 plate appearances this year.  The Astros are hoping a move to the #2 spot in the order will continue to revive his bat.  Tejada is owed about $4.6MM more this year, plus $13MM in ’09.  It was revealed in April that Tejada is 34 years old rather than 32 as was previously thought.

Theo Epstein and Ed Wade have matched up on trades before, when Wade was working for Phillies.  One of those was Jeremy Giambi for Josh Hancock back in ’02.

Manny Ramirez Rumors: Monday

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9:35pm: The D’Backs are considered "highly unlikely" to acquire Ramirez.  So now we have denials from all four teams named this morning.

9:08pm: The Dodgers would only be interested in Ramirez if the Red Sox took Andruw Jones back.

8:42pm: Peter Gammons has some unkind words for Manny.

6:46pm: Cross the Mets off the list too, according to Jayson Stark.

3:06pm: GM Pat Gillick says the Phillies have no interest in Ramirez.  He makes the fairly obvious point that the Phils don’t have an open position for Manny.

9:26am: Click here for a refresher on yesterday’s Manny Ramirez rumors.  He said he would approve a trade, if the Red Sox can find one.  Todd Zolecki noted that the Phillies have discussed Manny internally.

  • Dan Graziano and Ed Price of the Newark Star-Ledger talked to an official who says the Mets and Phillies are both in "serious pursuit" of Ramirez.  If so, why do both teams have no interest in Adam Dunn?  Graziano and Price think Ramirez would command big-name prospects like Fernando Martinez or Lou Marson.
  • Sean McAdam says the Sox have spoken to four teams about Manny: the Phillies, Mets, Diamondbacks, and Dodgers.  McAdam says Ramirez will waive his no-trade clause for a guarantee that his options will be declined.  Additionally, the Red Sox might consider kicking in money to get better players in return.
  • Ken Davidoff of Newsday says the Mets aren’t interested in Ramirez and continue to eye Raul Ibanez. However, the asking price may be too high.
  • Paul Hagen finds no indication that the Phillies are interested.  And unless Pat Burrell is included in a deal, he or Ramirez would have to play right field.  Umm…no.
  • Jeff Passan thinks that all things considered, Manny still might be worth keeping in Boston for $20MM in ’09.

Mets Unlikely To Acquire Outfielder

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Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes about the Mets’ unsuccessful search for a corner outfielder. 

The Mets find the prospect price too high on players such as Raul Ibanez and Jason Bay.  They don’t seem to care for Adam Dunn or Brian Giles.  They don’t like Randy Winn’s contract or lack of power.   And Manny Ramirez is unlikely for numerous reasons.

While the Mets are fans of Ibanez, they’ve made all of their interesting prospects untouchable.  The Mets may prefer to use some of those prospects in offseason deals.  For now they will stick with the red-hot Fernando Tatis and other internal options.

Manny Would Approve Trade

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10:02pm: Jon Heyman provides some Manny musings.  Despite Manny’s comments, he doesn’t believe he’d waive his no-trade rights for nothing.  Like others, Heyman doesn’t find a trade likely.

8:36pm: Todd Zolecki finds a Manny acquisition unlikely for the Phillies, though he says they have discussed him internally.  Signing Ramirez as a free agent might be more feasible, if Pat Burrell leaves.

5:40pm: Jayson Stark puts the kibosh on the idea of the Phillies pursuing Ramirez.  Never made much sense anyway.  Stark says the Phils remain focused on relief help.      

3:56pm: Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez said today that he’d approve a trade if the team can reach one.  The implication is that Ramirez would not require additional compensation to waive his no-trade power, but that’s uncertain.

The quote:

"If they can get a trade, I’d approve it. If they can’t trade me, then they will simply have to inform me by the end of the season that they won’t use the options and we’ll go separate ways."

Notice how Manny doesn’t mention the possibility of his ’09 option being exercised.

Manny Ramirez Speculation: Phils, D’Backs, Mets

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Theo Epstein told Tim McCarver he’d try to trade Manny Ramirez if he’d waive his 10-and-5 no-trade rights.  If Ramirez were to be dealt, I’m guessing he’d either require an extension or reassurance that his $20MM option would not be picked up so he could reach free agency. Here’s some reverb from Epstein’s remarks:

  • Ken Rosenthal doesn’t see a good match anywhere.  He notes that Manny got himself into this odd contractual situation in the first place.
  • Jon Heyman says the Mets have no interest in Manny.  His string of bad behavior this year has been undoubtedly a turnoff.  They’d rather pursue Raul Ibanez.
  • The Boston Herald’s Tony Masarotti doesn’t think the team needs "to find a Hall of Fame-caliber player to replace him anymore because Ramirez no longer is a Hall of Fame-caliber player."  He even cites David Murphy as a more productive outfielder since April.
  • Joel Sherman and Mike Puma speculate on Manny to the Phillies, noting how Charlie Manuel and Ramirez have remained close since Manuel was his hitting coach in Cleveland.  They go on to list Arizona as having interest as well.

Mark Teixeira Roundup

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More on the Mark Teixeira front:  Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution names four guys the Braves have been reportedly targeting in deals for Teixeira.  Nobody new appears, but it’s good fodder for conversation:

Kevin Youkilis: Ortiz is healthy and Youkilis has been arguably the Red Sox MVP so far this season, not far off from Teixeira in production. Both sides deny it. Mixed reviews from MLBTR readers. Can we put this to rest?

James Loney: Keith Law reported yesterday on the Dodgers as a good fit with the caveat that Loney would have to either be included in the deal or default to the bench. If included, Loney would be a good a catch for the Braves. At age 24, he’s getting paid $411,000 to hit .301 and drive in a team-high 57 RBI. He won’t hit free agency until 2013. Far be it from me to predict what the Dodgers will do, but Loney has to be at least somewhat untouchable.

Conor Jackson:  These rumors have been dispelled for now.

Casey Kotchman: Maybe the only intriguing possibility on this list, Kotchman is 25 and not eligible for free agency until 2012. The Angels dangled him and Joe Saunders in a deal for Teixeira before the Braves one-upped them.  The Halos’ offense has picked it up this month and Scioscia’s saying they don’t need help. Still, with the addition of Teixeira, the Angels would be scary.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Teixeira, Dodgers, Washburn

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Ken Rosenthal spoke before today’s Yankees-Red Sox game on Fox and had a few items for the Hot Stove…

  • The Braves have yet to decide if they are going to be buyers or sellers at the deadline. If they do decide to sell, they will start taking bids for Mark Teixeira. Earlier this week we heard from Jayson Stark that the Rays, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels and Yankees have contacted the Braves about Teixeira. Today Stark told us that we can scratch the Rays off that list. Rosenthal adds the D-Backs to the list and says they make the most sense, but it is unlikely that they will be willing to offer the right players.
  • The acquisition of Casey Blake means the Dodgers will probably not seek a better bat to play shortstop.
  • The Yankees and Mariners have yet to discuss who the Yankees would give up for Jarrod Washburn.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

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