Red Sox Ask For Matt Kemp In David Wells Deal
According to both the Boston Herald and the Los Angeles Daily News, the Red Sox have asked for 21 year-old outfielder Matt Kemp in exchange for David Wells.
Tony Jackson of the L.A. paper actually suggests that the Red Sox requested a package of prospects including Kemp. As in, more than just Kemp. Jackson states that the request "probably makes the deal impossible unless Boston general manager Theo Epstein reduces his asking price."
That’s an understatement. Six years of Matt Kemp for a month or two of David Wells? That’d be even worse than two or three months of an infielder you don’t really need in exchange for Joel Guzman. The Dodgers are also talking about adding John Mabry, for some reason.
Kemp turns 22 in September. Baseball Prospectus’s Kevin Goldstein named him as the fourth-best center field prospect in the game, behind Cameron Maybin, Chris Young, and Justin Upton. Most of those will be household names in two or three years. Goldstein mentions that Kemp’s size could force a move to a corner outfield position eventually. Much has been made of Kemp’s power outage at Triple A, where he has three home runs in 43 games. However, he’s still slugging .554 due to 14 doubles and six triples. The power is fine. His plate discipline may need a little fine-tuning though.
Another reason Kemp and other top-flight prospects are probably staying put: anyone on the 40-man roster has to pass through waivers. Why would the 29 other teams allow a stud outfield prospect to pass by unclaimed? That would be one hell of a gentleman’s agreement.
Red Sox May Trade David Wells
Buster Olney has the word: the Red Sox are shopping southpaw David Wells. The 43 year-old has a deserved reputation as a big game pitcher, and any contender would love to have him.
Olney speculates that the Mets, Twins, D’Backs, Padres, Dodgers, Phillies, Cardinals, A’s, and Reds could get involved. I suppose the White Sox, Giants, or even the Marlins could be interested as well. Did you know Florida is just two games out of the wild card?
UPDATE: Padres, Dodgers, and Cards are frontrunners according to Nick Cafardo.
Will Roger Clemens Pitch In 2007?
Deja vu all over again: it looks like we’re in for another winter of Roger Clemens rumors. With a 2.50 ERA in 80 innings, his delayed debut has been a smashing success. The only problem is that the Astros have a nearly unsurmountable deficit in the playoff standings.
As Buster Olney speculates in his blog today, the Red Sox will probably be willing to pay the Rocket $4MM a month to get them to the World Series in 2007. Olney figures the chances of this happening are better than 50%. Would the Yankees counter with $5MM a month and a game-used Luis Sojo baseball bat? Perhaps.
Olney: Waiver Trade Candidates
In case you missed it, Buster Olney posted a list of players who have passed through waivers and can be traded to any team before Thursday’s deadline. Here’s the list:
David Wells
Shawn Chacon
Jae Seo
Sidney Ponson
Bruce Chen
Jeromy Burnitz
Jeff Conine
Jay Payton
Bobby Kielty
Reggie Sanders
Luis Matos
Jay Gibbons
Geoff Jenkins
Gabe Kapler
Rosenthal: Red Sox May Make Eric Hinske Trade
According to our good friend Ken Rosenthal, Toronto 1B/3B/RF/DH Eric Hinske has cleared waivers and the Red Sox are discussing a trade. Rosenthal mentions that Hinske was pulled from the lineup tonight.
Moving Hinske and his contract makes good sense given the emergence of outfielder/DH Adam Lind. Hinske, who turned 29 this month, will make $5.626MM next year to finish his contract. Hinske has declined over the years since winning the ROY in 2002 by hitting .279/.365/.481 and playing third base. This season, he’s learned how to play right field and has a career high .513 SLG.
As a rookie, Hinske’s numbers were boosted by limited exposure to southpaws. He faced them in about 22% of his plate appearances that year. In 2003-04, the Jays set him loose to face lefties in about 29% of his PAs. He did terribly. He didn’t really do much against righties either during those seasons either. This year and last, they’ve cut him back to face lefties less than 20% of his PAs. Maybe just the prospect of facing southpaws on a regular basis frightens Hinske into performing poorly against all pitchers.
He wouldn’t have that problem in Boston, where he’d form a formidable platoon with Wily Mo Pena. It’d be a fine move by Theo Epstein for this year and ’07, though there are some decent short term options for rightfielders this winter.
UPDATE: According to Gordon Edes, the deal is done pending commissioner approval.
Red Sox Acquire Javy Lopez
As you well know, the Red Sox have picked up their 3-5 week catcher replacement in Javy Lopez. The Red Sox are sending 26 year-old outfielder Adam Stern to the Orioles in return.
Multiple reports mention that the Devil Rays could claim Stern as revenge for the Red Sox illegally talking to Julio Lugo‘s agent. Ah, the drama. If the D-Rays try it the Red Sox can just send Stern as a player to be named later this winter.
Lopez makes $8.5MM in the last year of his deal. He’s another data point for not signing catchers over age 30 to multi-year deals. Didn’t work well for Jason Kendall, Mike Lieberthal, and many others. Jason Varitek declined drastically with the bat this season. No catcher on the market this winter will get a long-term deal, anyway.
Red Sox Pursuing Javy Lopez
Newspapers from both Boston and Baltimore are confirming that the Red Sox have contacted the Orioles about catcher Javy Lopez. The 35 year-old Lopez has only caught twenty games this season, but he could certainly provide acceptable offense for the rest of the month until Jason Varitek comes back.
The Boston Herald indicates that Lopez could clear waivers today. A source tells me that the Red Sox may part with 23 year-old southpaw starter Abe Alvarez. Alvarez is the guy who wears his hat crooked to compensate for being legally blind in one eye. He’s proven quite hittable in Triple A this year. Back in June, the Red Sox offered Alvarez for Ryan Shealy. Alvarez seems to get mentioned in a lot of trade rumors.
The Yankees wouldn’t be able to block a claim of Lopez, as they have a slight lead in the standings today. It’s hard to picture another American League team blocking the claim, but you never know. Should Lopez fall through, here are some other options the Red Sox might consider. Among those, a couple of Philly papers have already indicated that the Sox aren’t interested in Mike Lieberthal.
Red Sox Need A Catcher
Jason Varitek needs knee surgery, and WEEI in Boston is saying he may be out 4-6 weeks. I’m sure Will Carroll will have the definitive word on this Wednesday morning.
In the meantime, the Red Sox are scrambling for a catcher who can hit above the Mendoza line. They’re going to have to shop for the high-salary, waiver-passing guys. Who’s available?
Javy Lopez is the first name that comes to mind. Lopez wants a flat-out release, but the Orioles won’t do that. According to the Baltimore Sun, the team would like to pass him through waivers and cover some, but not all, of his salary in a trade. He’s only caught 20 games this year. There’s always the possibility the Yankees put in a claim on Lopez just to thwart the Sox. Lopez has worked with current Yankees Jaret Wright and Sidney Ponson before.
Bengie Molina was a name thrown out by Jerry Crasnick today as a possible waiver trade candidate. Molina makes $5MM on the season and the Jays are 6.5 games back (3-7 in their last ten games).
Mike Lieberthal is in the last year of a huge contract with the Phillies. Liebs has experience catching Mike Timlin and Curt Schilling. As a 10 and 5 player he can reject any waiver claim.
Jason LaRue is a player the Reds wouldn’t mind sending off. He makes $3.9MM this year and $5.2MM in ’07. LaRue is not happy as Dave Ross‘s backup.
Rod Barajas is being pushed aside in Texas, and he’ll hit free agency after the season. He was a teammate of Curt Schilling‘s for several years in Arizona.
UPDATE: According to Will Carroll, Varitek’s procedure is minor and should keep him out about three weeks.
Carroll: Red Sox Looking At Craig Wilson, Geoff Jenkins, Moises Alou
In his latest update, Will Carroll tell us:
"The Sox are also looking for cheap outfield help as a backup in case tests on Trot Nixon come up with a poor result. There are several names in play, including Craig Wilson, Geoff Jenkins, and Moises Alou. The question here will be price and fit. The Sox, even if Nixon is out for the year, could go with Gabe Kapler and Wily Mo Pena if the price is too high on an acquisition."
My hunch is that the BoSox go with the latter solution, but I’m surprised how little action there has been on Alou.
McAdam: Red Sox Discussing Extension With Lugo
Via RotoWorld:
"The Providence Journal’s Sean McAdam said on WEEI radio that the Red Sox have been in contact with Julio Lugo‘s agents to discuss a contract extension."
Nothing on this from the Boston Globe guys just yet. The D-Rays are going to have to scramble if they want to get something better than a couple of compensation draft picks for Lugo. One hour left.