Latest On Octavio Dotel
You know what I love about the Kansas City Star? The enormous, extreme close-up pixellated player photo that seems to accompany every article. It’s bizarre in a good way.
Anyway, Bob Dutton gives us the latest on hot commodity Octavio Dotel. According to Dutton, the Dodgers and Indians are at the forefront, with the Red Sox, Mets, and some other teams monitoring the situation.
As before, Dutton indicates that the Dodgers are the best possibility. They refuse to part with Tony Abreu, however. Abreu is seen as Jeff Kent‘s replacement at second base, though Kent is still going strong and his 2008 option becomes guaranteed with 550 plate appearances this year. Barring injury, he’ll reach that.
This seems parallel to the shortstop situation, where Rafael Furcal is signed through 2008 and Chin-Lung Hu is knocking on the door. For some reason Dutton seems to view Hu as more available than Abreu.
The Indians won’t give up outfielders Franklin Gutierrez or Ben Francisco, at least not yet. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer confirms the info. Is Francisco really anything more than a fourth outfielder?
The Red Sox could go after Dotel and Reggie Sanders in a package deal, perhaps with Wily Mo Pena going to KC.
If Dayton Moore gets anything close to his asking price, the Dotel rental will end up a fantastic move.
Rockies Hunting For Relief Help
Playoff odds reports put the Rockies’ chances at 6-8% currently, but they still view themselves as buyers. After all, they’re still just 4.5 games out of the Wild Card and 5.5 games out in the NL West.
Though a crude metric, the Rockies’ bullpen currently ranks 12th in the NL with a 4.42 ERA. Among contenders in the league, only Philadelphia has been worse. Brian Fuentes seems at least another week or two from returning. According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd has been burning up the phone lines looking for a reliever. Renck says the Rockies have inquired on Jon Rauch, Chad Cordero, Akinori Otsuka, Julian Tavarez, and Manny Delcarmen.
Of that list, only Rauch or Cordero are clearly available and would help the team. Otsuka is hurt, Delcarmen is cheap and an essential part of the Boston bullpen, and Tavarez isn’t a great pitcher. However, both Rauch and Cordero are flyball pitchers and may not succeed at Coors Field. Given the high price for either, the Rockies don’t have any attractive options.
Graziano’s Latest: Livan, Wily Mo
Dan Graziano at the Newark Star-Ledger has really stepped up in recent days with a lot of insider trade talk. Let’s see what he has in store for us this morning.
- Apparently Josh Byrnes is calling around, actively shopping Livan Hernandez. According to Graziano, the Mets, Braves, and Mariners have expressed interest. To the contrary, Ken Rosenthal wrote last night that the Mets and Braves are not interested. Who to believe? Hopefully the Mariners do better than Livan if they make a move for a starter. To hear Nick Piecoro tell it, the Diamondbacks are more likely to just opt for the draft picks they’ll get if they let Hernandez leave via free agency.
- The Yankees are in a quandary when it comes to dealing Scott Proctor or Kyle Farnsworth. For Proctor, they want more than just a role player like Ty Wigginton. They want a reliever back, which begs the question – why not just keep Proctor? With Farnsy, the Yanks are reluctant to pay a big chunk of his $5.5 salary for ’08. They should toss in $2MM and see if that’s enough to get Wiggy.
- If the Red Sox can snag Bobby Kielty, they might turn around and trade Wily Mo Pena to the White Sox. Wily Mo in that ballpark with 600 plate appearances? 40 home runs. Might make Theo look bad. Dejan Kovacevic mentions that Epstein is "actively shopping" Pena, and seems to like the idea of the Bucs sending Salomon Torres to Boston for him.
- The Brewers, Phillies, and Dodgers are looking at Oakland lefty and impending free agent Joe Kennedy. Kennedy is only 28 and he has had National League success as a starter.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Nats After Dunn
Ken Rosenthal’s got a new column up; let’s dive in.
- Fun new rumor: the Nationals are pursuing Adam Dunn. Huh? Makes no sense on the surface. Jim Bowden’s possible motivation would be to sign Dunn long-term and make him the cornerstone of the franchise. If he fails at that, all would not be lost given the draft pick compensation. Rosenthal says the market for Dunn beyond Washington is a bit foggy – the Twins, Angels, Yankees, Red Sox, and Padres could all get involved but none stand out.
- Rosenthal adds some color to my recent Nationals post. He mentions that Ron Belliard is a name that might interest the Mets, an idea that has come up before. Rosenthal says the Mets will not do a Lastings Milledge for Chad Cordero trade.
- The Dodgers have jumped to the forefront on Octavio Dotel, with Takashi Saito ailing. According to Rosenthal, the Royals aren’t demanding the very specific bounty Joel Sherman claimed. Instead, they just want a near MLB-ready player. Rosenthal says Tony Abreu is out of reach but Chin-Lung Hu might not be. He suggests moving Hu to second base to accomodate Tony Pena Jr., which should probably be reversed. It appears the Indians wouldn’t surrender Franklin Gutierrez or Ben Francisco for Dotel. I’d give one up, personally.
- I didn’t know this: Jermaine Dye can veto a deal to four clubs. With his solid play, interest is picking up. As are Kenny Williams’ demands; he wants an elite prospect. The Indians and Red Sox have inquired; the Cubs might make sense too. I thought we had ruled out the Red Sox earlier though.
- The Padres are looking for bench help, perhaps in the name of Ryan Klesko, Mike Piazza, Mark Loretta, or Mike Lamb. Couple of prodigal sons there. Would Piazza be happy as a pricey bench player? Rosenthal says Matt Stairs isn’t available. Why not?
Tim Brown’s Latest: A’s, Yankees
Yahoo’s Tim Brown has a new post up, with some trade rumors we’ve heard before and some we haven’t.
- Clearly the A’s are sellers, and they’re offering up Mike Piazza, Joe Kennedy, and Bobby Kielty. Brown names the Twins as the club most interested in Piazza. He also feels the Yankees, Angels, Mariners, and Red Sox would be good fits. But where would Piazza play on the Red Sox?
- The Red Sox were apparently close to a deal for Kielty, a 31 year-old switch-hitting extra outfielder. He hasn’t played much center since ’02, so maybe the Sox have relaxed that requirement. Kielty was supposed to be moved in a three-team deal that would have sent Wily Mo Pena somewhere. The deal has stalled, but it’s really starting to look like Pena is on the move.
- The Yankees and Rangers are still discussing Mark Teixeira. My guess is that Brian Cashman just wants to see if this can be done without involving Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain. Failing that, the Yanks have Ty Wigginton and Shea Hillenbrand on their list. Wiggy would be a useful addition. Joe Maddon would still find a way not to play Jonny Gomes though.
McAdam On Red Sox Trade Possibilities
Yesterday, Sean McAdam of The Providence Journal posted an article discussing trade possibilities for the Red Sox. Let’s discuss.
- It seems that the Red Sox will add a bullpen arm despite the fine work of Manny Delcarmen. Apparently they want someone with experience. Eric Gagne doesn’t seem likely, nor does Brad Lidge. Instead, Chad Qualls, Dan Wheeler, and maybe Salomon Torres or Scott Linebrink could be acquired. The focus is said to be on the Houston relievers. Wheeler seems like a solid buy-low option. You can add Octavio Dotel to the radar as well. And let’s throw Brian Fuentes into the mix. UPDATE: Today, McAdam added Damaso Marte as a reliever the Red Sox like. He says the price for Torres is "way too high" at present. And according to the Boston Globe, Drayton McLane will not even consider moving Lidge.
- The Sox would get involved on a top-flight starter like Roy Oswalt or Dontrelle Willis. Calling Willis "top-flight" is a stretch, but that’s what McAdam said. They also like Jon Garland, if they can pry him loose for a reasonable price. Other available starters don’t seem markedly better than internal options.
- The Royals would love to pawn Reggie Sanders off, but the Red Sox don’t have interest. Instead, they could reacquire Kevin Millar or even go after Jermaine Dye. Is Dye really a perfect fit, though? Wouldn’t his acquisition make he and J.D. Drew part-time players? That wouldn’t be good for the clubhouse. UPDATE: McAdam says today that this playing time issue will indeed thwart a trade. On the Millar front, the Boston Globe debunks that rumor on the basis that the Sox want someone who can play center field.
- Speaking of people who can play center field, the Boston Herald mentions Randy Winn and Dave Roberts as possibilities. The fans would love a Roberts acquisition, I imagine.
- The trade Mike Lowell/acquire Mark Teixeira scenario is highly unlikely.
- The Boston Globe is saying that the Red Sox are "actively shopping" Wily Mo Pena. I discussed Wily Mo in a post yesterday. The Boston Herald today said that he might be the trading chip for a deal with Houston.
Reggie Sanders Likes Red Sox
Is the feeling mutual? 39 year-old outfielder Reggie Sanders is finally back from his hamstring tear, pinch-hitting on Monday and playing left field last night against the Red Sox. Sanders spoke positively of the possibility of playing for the Red Sox when asked.
In the half-month he’s played this year, Sanders has hit well. He has about $2.1MM left on his contract currently. The Royals would probably trade him for some salary relief and an A ball long shot prospect. The motivation for the Red Sox would be replacing Wily Mo Pena as the fourth outfielder, as the 25 year-old has really been scuffling this year outside of May.
Pena is a guy who really got the short end of the stick. After hitting 45 homers in 647 ABs for the Reds from 2004-05, he was traded to the Red Sox and stopped playing regularly. Surely that’s hurt his development. His comparables list is littered with 40-50 HR types, and as a baseball fan I want to see if he can realize that potential. Hopefully there’s a power-hungry team that values Pena as much as Epstein does and a deal can be made. The Padres have been mentioned, and that sounds reasonable.
Red Sox Will Pursue A-Rod This Winter
According to Bill Madden and Mark Feinsand, the Red Sox will make a "huge push" for Alex Rodriguez this winter if he opts out of his contract. The New York Daily News writers heard this from multiple sources.
Madden and Feinsand’s source seems to indicate the push for A-Rod would be driven by team president and CEO Larry Lucchino. In other words, this wil go past Theo Epstein (Buster Olney indicated today that he’d be loathe to tie up 20% of the payroll in one player).
The Red Sox entered 2007 with a $143MM payroll, up $23MM from 2006. Here are the major changes we can expect for 2008:
Additions:
$2MM more for Manny Ramirez
$1MM more for Julio Lugo
$2MM more for Daisuke Matsuzaka
$3.5MM more for Josh Beckett
$1.25MM more for Coco Crisp
An additional $9.75MM in escalating salaries
Subtractions:
$13MM for Curt Schilling
9.5MM for Matt Clement
$9MM for Mike Lowell
$2.81MM for Eric Hinske
$4MM for Joel Pineiro
$2.8MM for Mike Timlin
$41.11MM off the books
The Red Sox are essentially gaining $31MM to play with for 2008, if they are to keep payroll around $143MM. That gels nicely with the expected salary of Rodriguez. And the team isn’t overflowing with needs – they could conceivably just replace Schilling with Clay Buchholz and keep Julian Tavarez around as the fifth starter. And maybe they’ll toss another $6MM or so toward crappy veteran relievers. The trio of Papelbon, Okajima, and Delcarmen could be cheap and effective.
Bottom line: the Red Sox could sign A-Rod this winter and enter 2008 with a reasonable $150MM payroll (less than a 5% increase and still far less than the Yankees).
Teixeira Trade Talk Continues
A host of clubs are currently in on Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
We’ve heard the most about the Dodgers and Angels competing to acquire him. However, as Buster Olney notes, both clubs have promising young cheap first basemen. Though Teixeira has the track record, is he significantly better than James Loney or Casey Kotchman? Grant says the Dodgers have been scouting the Rangers and could go for one of their relievers as well. Meanwhile, the Rangers are scouting the Angels.
Grant says additional contenders like Teixeira: the Braves, Red Sox, and Yankees. Kevin Youkilis has been Boston’s first baseman this year. However, they could shift him back to third base and trade impending free agent Mike Lowell for something useful. The Braves and Yankees definitely have room at first base for Tex.
In the Braves’ case, though, there would truly be nowhere for Jarrod Saltalamacchia to play if he wasn’t included in the deal. The Braves are in an odd place, with two excellent young starting catchers on the roster. Atlanta’s strongest need right now is starting pitching, however. The Baseball Opinion connects the dots and finds a Javier Vazquez acquisition possible.
Grant believes noncontenders such as the Orioles and Giants could be interested in Teixeira as well. The Giants could use some star power if they cut ties with Barry Bonds after the season. Brian Sabean now has the job security to think about the post-Bonds Giants. The Orioles would be bringing in their hometown boy and could make a corresponding trade of Miguel Tejada.
Buehrle’s Counteroffer Rejected
More Buehrle! You know you love it. According to Buster Olney, Mark Buehrle‘s camp proposed an alternative to the full no-trade clause contract. Buehrle’s side asked for the same four-year, $56MM deal, but with a $17MM player option for 2012 that would kick in in the event of a trade. That’d put Buehrle’s deal on par with Roy Oswalt‘s. The White Sox rejected the counteroffer. Ken Rosenthal confirms the info.
There must be something the Sox don’t like about Buehrle, or some secret rebuilding plan in the near future. The fact remains that the team rejected a heavily discounted contract to retain their 28 year-old ace. It’s damn near inexcusable to me, and I’m not even a Sox fan.
We’ve been down this road before – but it really looks like a trade is coming in the near future. Phil Rogers mentioned Kenny Williams’s affinity for Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox and Carlos Gomez of the Mets. Gomez will be out for four to eight weeks with a fractured wrist bone, but that shouldn’t affect his trade value. Don’t forget the Dodgers – they could really use some rotation certainty. It’d probably cost them Matt Kemp.
Thanks to loyal reader Kramerica Industries for the tips.