Julian Tavarez Designated
8:12pm: The Rockies have strong interest in Tavarez, and Troy Renck thinks a deal could be reached within a couple of days. The Red Sox are just trying to get some kind of prospect out of it.
2:07pm: The Red Sox have designated Tavarez for assignment. Nick Cafardo says trade talks with the Rockies and at least two other teams didn’t lead anywhere, even when the Sox offered to eat most of the contract. The Red Sox asked for a pitching prospect from the Rockies but couldn’t get it.
MONDAY, 9:57am: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post says the Rockies’ talks for Tavarez are dead. His guess is that the Rockies will end up with Josh Fogg and won’t have to give up anyone.
SUNDAY: On May 8th, Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald reported that the Rockies remained interested in trading for Julian Tavarez, but no advancements had been made in the talks. On May 9th, Rockies owner Dick Monfort said the team had no plans to acquire a fifth starter. First, the Rox wanted to try 22 year-old rookie Greg Reynolds. Today in his big league debut Reynolds allowed four runs in 5.2 innings to the woeful San Diego offense. Franklin Morales could return to the team in a couple of weeks; he tossed five no-hit innings in Triple A today.
This evening, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe learned that the Rockies’ talks for Tavarez are ongoing. The Red Sox already traded Bryan Corey; Tavarez could be next. Bartolo Colon could join Boston’s rotation before month’s end.
Tavarez, 35, pitched in 51 games for the Rockies in 2000. He set a career high with 11 wins that year. His groundballing style sounds like a decent fit in Coors. He has about $2.9MM left on his contract this year.
Odds and Ends: Millwood, Posey, Igawa
Here’s the latest link collection.
- Former Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta is now blogging for the public. He currently works for the Padres as Special Assistant for Baseball Operations.
- In his words, Kevin Millwood felt a stabbing pain even though he hadn’t been stabbed. He’s on the shelf with a groin injury, taking him off the trade market temporarily.
- Rays Index had some quality draft links yesterday about the Rays and their #1 pick. Jim Callis of Baseball America says catcher Buster Posey is "the current favorite."
- Joel Sherman wonders what might’ve been if the Yankees had signed Ted Lilly instead of Kei Igawa.
- Ken Davidoff reminds us of the Padres’ past claim on Igawa, and also notes Boston’s interest.
- Giants owner Peter Magowan may move on.
- This email exchange between Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger and Carlos Delgado‘s agent David Sloane is entertaining.
- Here’s a valuable free agent to consider: Leo Mazzone.
Odds And Ends: Reyes, Colon, Indians, Nationals
A few notes from the MLBiverse…
- Anthony Reyes, who has been the object of much trade speculation, made his first start at AAA on Friday night. Reyes pitched 3+ scoreless innings with a strict pitch-count. The Cardinals appear to be reconverting Reyes into a starter in the hopes of increasing his value for potential trade partners.
- Jim Bowden hinted that he may implement a full-fledged youth movement in the near future, noting that a number of top prospects are close to being ready. Specifically, he mentioned two outfielders which would likely mean that Bowden will seek to move Austin Kearns and/or Wily Mo Pena. Kearns is due $8MM next year and there is a $10MM option for 2010 ($1M buyout). Pena may be easier to move with only a $5MM team option for 2009.
- Justice B. Hill suggests that the Indians are now paying the price for their inability to swing a deal this past offseason for another offensive weapon at one of the corner outfield spots or third base. The timing of the story was unfortunate as the Tribe laid a 12-spot on the Jays last night.
- The Red Sox do not have a need for a starting pitcher at this point, but they may soon have one too many arms for the rotation if Bartolo Colon continues to progress. Colon allowed one run in three innings, touching 97 on the radar gun. The obvious move would be to move somebody to the bullpen, but if somebody does go down with an injury, Colon’s availability likely means that the Red Sox will not be in the market for an extra arm down the stretch.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Red Sox Send Corey To Padres
This morning, Tom Krasovic noted that the Padres were close to acquiring a relief pitcher. That deal has now been finalized with the Pads obtaining Bryan Corey from the Red Sox for either cash or a player to be named later.
Corey, a right-hander who made seven appearances for the Sox this season, was DFA’d on April 30. He cleared waivers and accepted a demotion to AAA.
This is Corey’s second stint in the Padres organization. Corey, 34, has appeared in parts of five seasons with four different major league teams.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
On The Hot Seat: Giambi, Hafner, Sexson, Timlin
I love lists, and here’s one from Peter Abraham at The Journal News that details who he thinks is in the hot seat. In other words, who might be traded or released if current trends continue. There are a number of managers and GMs on the list, but we like to focus on players here. I’m going to go through the list and take stabs-in-the-dark whether a player is likely to be dealt or if they’re just fluff for Mr. Abraham’s article – and then we can discuss in the comments.
Jason Giambi – An announcer this year said that Giambi’s defensive range extended from his right knee to his left knee. As a fielder, he’s decent with no range; however, as a hitter Giambi has never been considered a slow starter, as Abraham notes he is a career .281 hitter in April. Still, like Carlos Delgado, Giambi has shown some recent spurts of life in his bat, and he does have 7 HR (one shy of the league leading 8) and 20 RBI. PECOTA projects .230-24-73 with a .362 OBP. If he can bring his average up, he’ll be roughly on target for that projection. If he can’t, Abraham thinks the Yankees "might as well give someone else a chance." So far, Joe Girardi’s been supportive and patient calling the slump a product of bad luck. Prediction: Staying put.
Travis Hafner – Abraham sees .256 with 27 HR in almost 700 ABs and wonders if the Indians would rather trade him to a team who believes he can turn it around than risk eating the remaining $56MM on Hafner’s contract. At 31, Hafner is an oddity. Last year the slumping behemoth of a man saw his power drop by almost 20 HR. He’s currently continuing that trend with his OPS at a mere 640 and w/o a homerun since April 17 (!). During an ESPN game, they were discussing how his timing – particularly with his front foot-plant – is off making it hard for him to get ahead of pitches. So his problem seems both perceptual and mechanical – but why can’t Pronk seem to correct this? I’d be worried because his contract is slowly going from bothersome to disastrous. PECOTA is not a believer, projecting .275-28-98 – hardly a rebound. He’s making $6.3MM this year and is on the books for another $70MM until 2013 (with a $2.75MM buyout in his last year). Is there a batting coach out there on a big-market team that can fix this? Wouldn’t count on it. Prediction: Staying put.
Richie Sexson – In the Year of the Slumping First Basemen, Richie Sexson is not at all unlike Giambi or Delgado. Abraham pulls no punches with Richie, calling him "one of the worst hitters in baseball during the last two seasons and shows no signs of coming around." He’s making $14MM this year, owed approx. $11.2MM more, and then he’s surely done in Seattle. I agree with Abraham that $11.2MM will "buy him another month or two" but the Mariners have options and I’d expect them to explore them by trading Sexson and eating some of the contract – maybe sooner rather than later as cutting your losses is (almost) acceptable practice this season. Sexson has never been the hitter Delgado, Giambi, or Hafner have been and has been intolerably bad for just too long. Prediction: Shipping off.
Mike Timlin – Making $3MM this year, Abraham notes Timlin has allowed 9 runs in 7 1/3 IP and with a small contract would be an easy piece to move. But I ask why? Relief pitching is a commodity, and Timlin – known to the Red Sox as the captain of the bullpen – brings to the team a fair deal of intangible value, particularly as they integrate Craig Hansen and Justin Masterson into their relief corps. 7.1 IP is hardly a sample worth examining as he’s basically still in spring-training-form. Last year he had a 3.42 ERA in 50 IP and while he’s not the 2.24 ERA Timlin that saved 13 games when Keith Foulke went down, he’s serviceable. If he fails to progress and becomes a liability then maybe the Red Sox will move him from mop up duty to another team. Still, I doubt it. Prediction: Staying put.
Let’s hear your thoughts. Who did Abraham forget? Who disagrees?
By Nat Boyle
Heyman On Teixeira
Jon Heyman’s latest column does a fine job analyzing Mark Teixeira‘s future. To sum it up:
- Heyman’s source expects the asking price to be around ten years and $200MM. Personally, I don’t see him getting a term nearly that long.
- Heyman and his sources do not see the Braves re-signing Tex.
- The suitors, in order of likelihood: Yankees, Mets, Orioles, Mariners, Braves, Red Sox, Giants. A battle of the New York powers is a reasonable prediction – both clubs should have first base open and the market for the position is otherwise poor.
- In a February MLBTR poll, the Yankees were picked as Tex’s most likely future club.
Odds and Ends: Botts, Red Sox, McLouth
Roundup of links!
- According to Jamey Newberg, Jason Botts has cleared waivers. He probably won’t get another chance with the Rangers though.
- Gordon Edes notes that the Red Sox have five picks in the first three rounds of the June draft. Even though they don’t start until the 30th pick, the Sox have had much success in recent years.
- No extension talks have begun with Nate McLouth, but Dejan Kovacevic does expect it to happen.
- I updated the fantasy baseball closers depth chart over at RotoAuthority.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman says Freddy Garcia is "progressing nicely" in rehab and will throw off a mound about a week from now.
- Marc Topkin wonders if the Rays should consider Jason Michaels (among others) if they aren’t satisfied with their current right field options.
Pie-Greene Rumor Denied
MAY 7th: Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald discussed the Pie-Greene rumor with Cubs officials, and it was "emphatically shot down."
APRIL 30th: Yesterday Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote of Kevin Towers’ pursuit of a long-term center field option. Jim Edmonds remains a question mark, and his contract is up after ’08 anyway.
Krasovic says the Cubs "have kept tabs" on shortstop Khalil Greene, while the Padres are still eyeing Felix Pie. The Cubs’ win-now approach could lead to that move, as Reed Johnson is doing fine in center field so far. Greene is signed through the ’09 season. Trading Greene would leave a gaping hole at the position for the Padres though. Another point is that the Cubs have gotten fine production at shortstop so far this year.
Krasovic notes past center field considerations for the Padres such as Jeremy Reed and Tony Gwynn Jr. Reed doesn’t seem to have a future in Seattle. As for Coco Crisp, Towers balked at Theo Epstein’s asking price of Chase Headley.
Rockies Looking For Starting Pitching
7:22pm: Walt Jocketty did not deny the Fogg-Rockies rumor when asked. Maybe he’ll be a little more loose with the rumors than Krivsky was.
9:18am: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post has details on the Rockies’ pursuit of starting pitching. Their search includes some familiar names.
- Josh Fogg seems like the most likely acquisition; he’s a DFA candidate for the Reds. Fogg received an early one-year offer from the Rockies this winter that was later pulled back.
- Julian Tavarez, another former Rockie, is on the radar again. The Red Sox don’t seem to have much use for him.
- Kevin Millwood figures to be a popular name in the coming months. Renck says the Rangers want "the right players in return, not salary relief." Millwood makes $8.5MM in ’08, $11MM in ’09, and $12MM in ’10 (if he reaches certain innings incentives). He also has a limited no-trade clause.
- Rich Harden may come off the DL soon, but he’d have to remain healthy for probably a month before teams become seriously interested.
- Renck says Joe Blanton is "currently not available." The A’s are the current Wild Card leader, after all.
Odds and Ends: Doue, Furcal, Kuroda
Here are today’s links.
- Dave Cameron notes Nelson Cruz‘s video game numbers in Triple A and suggests he deserves another shot.
- Japanese catcher Hayato Doue was expected to join the Red Sox organization, but visa problems have gotten in the way.
- Buster Olney notes that Rafael Furcal will test free agency if he can’t hammer out an extension with the Dodgers by midseason.
- Shigetoshi Hasegawa denies the notion that he pushed Hiroki Kuroda toward the Dodgers.
- Athletics Nation sees Billy Beane targeting pitcher Tanner Scheppers if he’s available with the 12th pick. Also, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com has an overall look at the ’08 draft class.