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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Sabathia

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A few notes on recent rumors involving C.C. Sabathia from the Blogosphere…

  • At the time of the Johan Santana deal with the Mets, many thought the contract would raise the price for Sabathia. The Tribe Time Report wonders if the Santana deal, as well as the Barry Zito deal might actually have been a good thing for the Indians as other teams are more likely to balk at Sabathia’s demands.
  • Tribal Pursuit feels many Indians fans will be unhappy with the package of players the team receives for Sabathia, if dealt.
  • Waiting For Next Year does not believe the Indians have any leverage in their attempt to sign Sabathia to an extension before the trading deadline.
  • Outs Per Swing does not see the Rays mortgaging their future for a rental player like Sabathia.
  • Knuckle Curve sees four teams as the most likely destinations for Sabathia, including the Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs and Dodgers.
  • Bugs and Cranks has an image of what Sabathia might look like if traded to the Brewers.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Stark’s Latest: K-Rod, Burnett, Oliver Perez, Bedard

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It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to dig in and feast on Jayson Stark’s latest rumor-packed column.

  • The Braves have shifted their focus from starting pitching to an impact bat in left field.  Stark suggests Raul Ibanez, Jason Bay, and Xavier Nady would make sense.  Matt Holliday would be too costly; Adam Dunn is not mentioned.
  • We have seen the surprising rumor that the Angels could pursue C.C. Sabathia.  However, Stark’s sources are in agreement with Bill Plunkett – the Angels are likely to stand pat.
  • Francisco Rodriguez wants four years and more than $60MM, a dangerous record-breaking commitment.  The Halos aren’t even sure if they’d do three years and a vesting option.
  • There have been no recent extension talks between the Angels and Vladimir Guerrero, but his $15MM option for ’09 is an easy call.
  • As we’ve written before, A.J. Burnett is like a rental, but worse.  He either pitches well and opts out or pitches poorly and you’re stuck with him.  Stark adds that despite Burnett’s willingness to pitch for the Cubs, he’s not on their list.  The Cubs are still planning a run at Sabathia.  The Brewers are also serious about the Cleveland ace.
  • The Mets might shop Oliver Perez, but I’d be surprised if he draws much interest.
  • The Blue Jays were already one of Adam Dunn’s ten no-trade teams.  His no-trade rights switched from full to ten teams on June 15th.
  • Bill Bavasi talked to the Reds about bringing Ken Griffey Jr. back to Seattle, but Lee Pelekoudas isn’t interested.
  • Interesting Indians players who might be available: Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez, and Franklin Gutierrez.
  • The Yankees aren’t interested in Erik Bedard, but the Phillies are.  The teams have differing opinions on whether Bedard’s surly demeanor would present a problem.

Odds and Ends: Bonds, Davis, Chulk, Ichiro

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Time for some random linkage.

Heyman’s Latest: Mariners, Brewers

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Let’s take a gander at Jon Heyman’s latest column at SI.com.

  • Heyman says three GMs who would have interest in Ichiro Suzuki have been told he’s not available.  Nonetheless, Heyman suggests trading the face of the franchise would be the best way to shake things up in Seattle.
  • The Mariners have other valuable trade commodities: Erik Bedard, Raul Ibanez, and Adrian Beltre.  Most of the team’s other vets aren’t valued highly, though Jarrod Washburn has strung together three decent starts.  Felix Hernandez would draw a ton of interest, but the Mariners aren’t expected to make him available.
  • The Brewers’ have a host of quality prospects to use as trade bait.  However, MLB.com’s Jim Molony did say yesterday that he didn’t expect a major acquisition.

Odds and Ends: Lieber, Tavarez, Oswalt

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We’ve got mostly smaller stuff today, so let’s kick it off with an odds and ends.

Sheets To Test Free Agency

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Brewers ace Ben Sheets is in the midst of a monster contract year, and he’s planning on testing the open market after the season.  The Brewers might’ve had a chance to sign him to an extension, but GM Doug Melvin decided to pass.  After all, Sheets hasn’t topped 160 innings since ’04.  He’s made most of his starts in ’08 as we near the halfway point.

Sheets earns $11MM in ’08, and he’ll be looking for a raise this time around.  Assuming he stays healthy for the rest of the season, I could see a contract similar to Jason Schmidt’s three-year, $47MM deal.  So far we haven’t heard anything about his possible preferred destinations.

Odds and Ends: Bautista, Uehara, Pavano

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I tried busting out my old Super Nintendo last night, to see if I am still the Mario Kart stud I once was.  The console didn’t work right though, so I ordered something called the FC Twin.  It’s a console that came out a few years ago when Nintendo’s patent expired; it plays both NES and SNES games.  I’m excited!  On to the hot stove links.

Salisbury On Phillies’ Trade Chips

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Back on June 19th, ESPN’s Jayson Stark said the Phillies had "at least kicked the tires on C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Bronson Arroyo, and Jarrod Washburn."  He also expected them to inquire on Erik Bedard.  Scott Lauber says the Phils have scouted Sabathia, Burnett, Ben Sheets, and Greg Maddux recently.

Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer weighs in this morning on the Phillies’ trade chips.  He names Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Greg Golson, and Adrian Cardenas as Phillies players other teams may covet.  However, Salisbury believes Pat Gillick might opt for a midlevel acquisition and hang on to his top young players.  Check out our starting pitcher trade market post for ideas.

Salisbury speculates on possible targets aside from the aforementioned names: Roy Oswalt and Rich Harden.  Salisbury is speculating with these names, but notes that "the Astros had a high-ranking scout in Philadelphia on Sunday."

Rosenthal’s Latest: Cashman, Fuentes, Braves, Fielder

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Time for a new Ken Rosenthal column.

  • Rosenthal reminds us that, among other things, Adam Dunn played with a broken hand for a couple of months in ’05.  So maybe he does like baseball.  It’s not fair to criticize a player’s passion simply because he doesn’t make the right facial expressions or throw tantrums (not saying J.P. Ricciardi did this, but many fans do).
  • Mark Teixeira might be looking for eight years and $160MM.  Rosenthal says not to count his hometown Orioles out, though they aren’t the most likely suitor.
  • Brian Cashman "seems likely to sign a contract extension" with the Yankees.  Omar Minaya’s job is safe.
  • The Rockies might trade Brian Fuentes even if they’re in contention.  Add the Rays to the list of teams interested in him.  The Rox still like the Mets’ Aaron Heilman, by the way.
  • The Braves are out of the starting pitching market, content with internal options.
  • If the Brewers are to shop Prince Fielder, they’ll likely wait until the offseason.  Could be a fun rumor to follow this winter.
  • Orioles relievers Jamie Walker and Chad Bradford both can be had (both are signed through ’09).

Phillies Trade Strategy Mired By Parity

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Scott Lauber of the Delaware News-Journal writes in the Phillies/baseball blog about the team’s trade strategy in the looming trade-deadline season.

He spoke to Phillies Assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and GM Pat Gillick, both of whom reiterated the notion that it’ll be tough to trade this year because of the parity among some clubs. There are 15 teams with a .500 record or better, which means some of those teams may still be in contention in mid July. Of course, it also means some of those teams will be out of it by the trade deadline.

To wit: The Brewers reportedly have told teams that they aren’t willing to move Ben Sheets, even though they’re 6-1/2 games behind the Cubs in the NL [Central]. Of course, one losing streak could force them to change their strategy. Within the past week, Gillick has dispatched scouts to evaluate Cleveland’s C.C. Sabathia, Cincinnati’s Bronson Arroyo and Toronto’s A.J. Burnett, a former pupil of pitching coach Rich Dubee in Florida.

This echoes what Buster Olney wrote in his blog about some of the teams contending in the C.C. Sabathia Sweepstakes and how some of them may think they’re in it, but may actually be testing the waters.

***
Speaking of Ruben Amaro Jr., Doc at Balls, Sticks & Stuff writes that a new book by Bob Gordon introduces Amaro Jr. as "currently the club’s general manager." Last year, the actual, current GM, Pat Gillick, said he may step down at the end of the season. Typo? Food for thought?

Alejandro A. Leal writes for UmpBump.com. Rumors? Comments? Email me, alexo05 [at] umpbump [dot] com.

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