Devil Rays And Brad Lidge?
Combining a couple of reports this morning, it appears that the Devil Rays may have some interest in acquiring ousted Houston closer Brad Lidge.
Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle has a friend covering an AL East team reporting that his team is talking to Tim Purpura about Lidge. Naturally one might think the Red Sox would be interested in Lidge for a setup role, as they’ve talked to the Astros about him in the past.
However, Jose’s friend may be Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times, who covers the Devil Rays. Topkin reports that the Rays would make a good match with possible trading chips like Rocco Baldelli, Jason Hammel, Andy Sonnanstine, J.P. Howell, and Shawn Riggans. Topkin thinks the presence of former Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker and the previous Aubrey Huff deal could inhibit a Lidge deal now. I imagine the Astros would pounce on a Baldelli for Lidge trade, but I don’t see that happening. The Astros are fairly well set in the outfield.
Drays Bay throws out Joel Guzman as a possibility, and notes that current Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey previously worked for the Astros. Would the Rays really want to take on Lidge’s $5.35MM and give up a solid player for him? This club is not expected to win this year, though Lidge will not become a free agent until after the 2008 season.
The Phillies certainly need some bullpen help, though I’m not sure that Lidge would change things. Scott Lauber of the Wilmington News Journal suggests the possibility, but only as speculation.
It should be noted that de Jesus Ortiz spoke to Purpura, and the GM’s comments do not seem to indicate a trade anytime soon.
Ducksnorts and More
If you’re a Padres fan or just enjoy good blogging, bookmark Geoff Young’s Ducksnorts. Plus, Geoff just finished a book examining the Padres in detail in all sorts of ways. The book includes a foreword by Padres CEO Sandy Alderson. Check out the Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual here.
Another blog to check out: I Remember Dome-Dogs, a new Astros blog. Intelligent writing, worth a look.
I missed this when it came out: PECOTA predicts the standings.
More Ken Rosenthal
Ken Rosenthal has been working overtime, posting a second column tonight. To summarize:
- The Astros plan on keeping their relief core of Brad Lidge, Chad Qualls, Dan Wheeler, and Trever Miller, despite interest from the Red Sox in Lidge and Qualls.
- In Marcus Thames, Chris Shelton, and Ramon Santiago, the Tigers appear to have a surplus of players. However, Rosenthal spoke to another team’s exec who thinks the trio will stay with the club. It’s nice to have depth. Speaking of which, top pitching prospect Andrew Miller will start his season in A ball but could make an impact in the second half.
- The Cubs and Rangers would like to add shortstop Clint Barmes as a utility man (might even make sense for the Cubs to start him). The Rox still like Barmes though and may keep him around as a 2B option for ’08. Rosenthal mentions the Royals as another fit for Barmes. The Royals need a shortstop like the Marlins need a center fielder.
- The Dodgers want to add a right-handed slugger. Assuming the price tag on Rocco Baldelli remains too high, L.A. could go after Kevin Mench or Reggie Sanders. The Royals would love to get rid of Sanders or Emil Brown. The O’s have some mild interest in Sanders. I guess the offseason helped the Dodgers and Orioles forget that Sanders is 39, makes $5MM, and posted a .729 OPS last year.
Olney: Boston Tracking Lidge
In his blog today, Buster Olney mentioned that the Red Sox are still interested in Houston closer Brad Lidge. This rumor dates back to July.
Lidge’s control and HR rate slipped last year, though he was still dominant in terms of racking up strikeouts. Olney indicates that the Astros aren’t shopping him and the Red Sox would have to overpay, perhaps with Jacoby Ellsbury, Craig Hansen, and more.
Additionally, Peter Gammons mentioned a couple days ago that Chad Qualls might be a target for Boston.
Marlins Trade Rumors
The Fish might do some minor dealing in the coming days. Let’s see what they have cooking.
For one, Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel thinks they should bring Armando Benitez back, now that he’s healthy. He says it would probably only cost the Marlins a million bucks in addition to the player(s) they trade. Benitez says he hasn’t been in shape like he is now since he played for the Orioles.
The Marlins may have their eye on a couple of Red Sox: center fielder David Murphy and pitcher Kyle Snyder. The Nationals also have interest in Snyder. Snyder, 29, hails from Florida for what that’s worth. He can probably post an ERA below 5 in the NL, so he belongs on someone’s roster. Murphy still has a chance to become a credible CF, especially if his new build adds a little power. Houston also likes Murphy.
Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post has another tidbit: though the Marlins scouted Jorge Julio, they’re not close to proposing a deal.
Finally, the Marlins have no interest in Javy Lopez but are drawing interest for outfielder Cody Ross.
Gammons Rumors: Qualls, Garland
In today’s blog post at ESPN.com, Peter Gammons slips in a couple of trade tidbits.
While discussing the Boston bullpen, Gammons remarks:
"They’ll keep looking at relievers on other teams — like Houston’s Chad Qualls — and figure they’ll get a mess of innings out of the starting rotation."
Gammons may be speaking in the hypothetical, but he may be implying that the Red Sox are looking into Qualls’ availability. The 28 year-old righty has been tough to hit the last two seasons, but a K/9 below 6 isn’t closer material.
Another Gammons bullet point regarding the Red Sox:
"The Red Sox were told that Jon Garland is not available. Period."
That suggests they called on him, though I’m not sure at what point. There’s something to be said for a 210 inning, 4.50 ERA guy to add some stability to the rotation. The Astros seemed inches from acquiring Garland in December, but got Jason Jennings instead.
Last Year’s Oswalt Trade Details Surface
Mark Hale of the New York Post was able to dig up some new details on the machinations that almost left Roy Oswalt a Met. He’d certainly look good with this group.
The Mets were dying to get him last July, but didn’t have the goods to make a direct swap with Houston. The Astros wanted a hitter, perhaps Hank Blalock from the Rangers or Miguel Tejada from the Orioles. Morgan Ensberg, Brad Lidge, John Danks, Thomas Diamond, Mike Pelfrey, Aaron Heilman, and Brian Bannister were all names that surfaced in connection to a possible trade.
Clemens Has 80% Chance Of Retiring
Take it with a grain of salt, but Roger Clemens said today in a radio interview that he told his son "80-20 that I wasn’t going to play." He also said: "I’m not leaving anybody hanging. I don’t want to play."
The thing is, he is leaving everyone hanging. Leaving someone hanging is delaying a decision about something. As long as he leaves that door open 20% to play baseball, he’s leaving the Astros, Yankees, Red Sox, and baseball fans hanging. If I ask a girl on a date, and she says there’s a 20% chance she’ll go but she’ll get back to me in a few months…actually I would take that as a no. Never mind.
Clemens Has 80% Chance Of Retiring
Take it with a grain of salt, but Roger Clemens said today in a radio interview that he told his son "80-20 that I wasn’t going to play." He also said: "I’m not leaving anybody hanging. I don’t want to play."
The thing is, he is leaving everyone hanging. Leaving someone hanging is delaying a decision about something. As long as he leaves that door open 20% to play baseball, he’s leaving the Astros, Yankees, Red Sox, and baseball fans hanging. If I ask a girl on a date, and she says there’s a 20% chance she’ll go but she’ll get back to me in a few months…actually I would take that as a no. Never mind.
Nats Not Interested In Trachsel
Apparently Steve Trachsel has priced himself out of the Nationals’ range ($3 million is too much I guess). Washington is not one of the three teams in the running for him, according to Bill Ladson.
A few days ago, Ken Rosenthal reported that the Astros were talking to Trax but that Tim Purpura did not consider it hot and heavy. The Twins are out now too. So who are these two other teams?
Trachsel was born in Oxnard, CA, so maybe he’d like to play on the west coast. The Dodgers and Angels would be closest to his hometown, but those teams have fully booked rotations. The Padres, Giants, and A’s are further away. I wouldn’t put it past the Giants to sign Trachsel to use instead of Jonathan Sanchez. Or maybe Trachsel could help as the veteran presence in Tampa Bay’s rotation? Perhaps some Kyle Davies insurance for the Braves?
Honestly, I have no idea who the other teams would be.