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Stark’s Latest: Manny, Fuentes, Livan, Dunn

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ESPN’s Jayson Stark has a new Rumblings and Grumblings column up.

  • Some teams won’t go anywhere near Manny Ramirez given the way he exited Boston.  Opinions range on whether he’ll get two, three, or four years this winter.  Will he turn it off again after signing a long-term deal?  And will other players use the same strategy to escape their contracts?
  • The Rays are likely to stand pat, despite recent injuries.
  • Rockies players haven’t hit the waiver wire yet; Dan O’Dowd plans to wait until month’s end.  Stark wonders whether the Cards could win a claim on Brian Fuentes.  Not likely, given the contenders in front of them in waiver order.
  • All kinds of near-deals in the final minutes on deadline day – John Grabow to the Phillies, Ian Snell to the Rockies, and Jason Bay to the Rays.
  • Livan Hernandez’s incentives get expensive in a hurry once he hits 160 innings, and the Twins are on the hook for those.
  • Stark talked to officials from two teams who didn’t think the Reds would’ve offered Adam Dunn arbitration.

Gammons’ Latest: Sheffield, Pujols

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ESPN’s Peter Gammons has a new blog post up.

  • The Tigers called the Rays, shopping perpetually unhappy DH Gary Sheffield.  The Rays’ baseball people were not interested.
  • Albert Pujols’ elbow is barking a bit, but he expects to finish the season.  I wonder what a healthy Albert could do.
  • Gammons notes a failed waiver trade back in ’03.  The Cubs acquired Rafael Palmeiro, but Raffy nixed the deal when they wouldn’t add a year to his contract.

Rockies Acquire Livan Hernandez

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9:52pm: ESPN’s Peter Gammons has a blog post contradicting a piece of info from Ringolsby.  Gammons says the Mets did not put in a waiver claim on Hernandez.  They prefer in-house options.

4:04pm: Ken Rosenthal says Livan is now officially a Rockie.  The Rockies will pay the rest of his contract.  August is a fine time for teams to unload millions owed to mediocre veteran pitchers.

WEDNESDAY, 9:52am: Some additional information from Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News: the Rockies will make a waiver claim on Josh Fogg in the unlikely event the Twins pull Hernandez back.  The Twins might be trying to wrangle a player out of the Rockies in addition to the salary relief.

Ringoslby says the Mets and possibly the Cardinals also made claims on Hernandez.

TUESDAY: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Rockies won their waiver claim on Livan Hernandez.  Apparently the Rox beat out another NL team with a better record.  Apparently no American League team put in a claim.

At the least, the Twins will dump off Hernandez just to be free of his contract.  At most, they might be able to snag some kind of fringe prospect.  Hernandez is owed another $1.5MM, plus incentives.

Felipe Lopez Signs With Cardinals

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The Cardinals announced yesterday evening that they have signed infielder Felipe Lopez for the remainder of the season.  The Nationals released him on Thursday.  The Cardinals will use Lopez as a utility infielder and occasional outfielder.

Lopez, 28, hit .234/.305/.314 this year in 363 plate appearances.  He had a similar season in ’07.  He banged out 23 home runs in ’05, which apparently was his career year.  The Scott Boras client is earning $4.9MM this year, most of which the Nationals will cover.

Odds and Ends: Bay, Clement, Fuentes, Cabrera

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We’ve got plenty of links today.

  • There is speculation that Andruw Jones could be sent back to the minors.
  • Joel Sherman wonders if MLB should’ve gotten involved when Manny Ramirez decided to orchestrate his own exit.  Kind of reminds me of Gary Sheffield intentionally botching plays to force a trade out of Milwaukee in ’92.
  • Gordon Edes stands by his report that Manny pledged to give full effort if the Red Sox dropped his options.  That phone call between Scott Boras and Theo Epstein occurred within an hour of his trade to the Dodgers.
  • Jon Heyman takes us inside the Manny trade.  He says Ramirez signed an agreement in advance that he’d accept a trade to any team if his options were dropped.  Heyman believes Omar Minaya fibbed in saying he had failed trade discussions with Boston.
  • The Red Sox are still waiting to hear whether Joe Borowski will accept their offer of a minor league deal.
  • Dejan Kovacevic gives as inside look at the Jason Bay trade talks here and here.  Did the Rays offer Reid Brignac and Jeff Niemann?  Reports are conflicting.
  • The Cardinals released Matt Clement on Saturday.  Let this serve as another reminder of how hard it is to come back from shoulder surgery.
  • The Cardinals weren’t willing to trade catching prospect Bryan Anderson plus a pitching prospect for Brian Fuentes.  Also, GM John Mozeliak confirmed failed talks for Bay.
  • RotoAuthority takes a look at young pitchers who may face innings caps this year.
  • Another failed deal: Orlando Cabrera to the Orioles in a Brian Roberts deal.
  • Geoff Baker believes that when inside information related to the Blue Jays leaks out, GM J.P. Ricciardi is likely responsible.
  • Please continue to email me if you see a pop-up or full-page ad on MLB Trade Rumors.

Lefty Relievers: Ohman, Grabow, Eyre, Mahay

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2:50pm: Stark says Ohman’s probably staying put despite interest from ten teams.

2:39pm: Buster Olney says the Phillies will probably come up empty on a lefty reliever.

2:02pm: Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald says the Braves asked for a pitching prospect for Ohman, and the Red Sox passed.  Mahay remains a possibility.

1:07pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the Braves could keep Ohman.  So far they’re not finding offers superior to the supplemental draft pick they could get after the season.

THURSDAY, 12:24pm: Jayson Stark has the Yanks and Red Sox battling for Eyre.

WEDNESDAY, 11:50pm: Let’s talk lefty relievers.

  • David O’Brien names the Red Sox, Cardinals, Rays, Tigers, and White Sox parties interested in Will Ohman.  But the Sox might end up with John Grabow, and the Tigers may be content with Kyle Farnsworth as their relief addition.  Grabow may also be on the Rays’ radar.
  • MLB.com’s Mark Bowman has the Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox after Ohman, with the Cardinals out of the bidding.
  • Sean McAdam sees Boston’s interest in Ohman as minimal.  Instead, they’re eyeing Scott Eyre and Ron Mahay.  They’ve even offered Brandon Moss for Mahay, which seems solid.  Nick Cafardo believes righties Huston Street and J.J. Putz are still in the mix.
  • 15 scouts watched Arthur Rhodes struggle tonight.

Jason Bay Rumors: Wednesday

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8:37pm: Bay doesn’t seem to be on the Cardinals’ radar.  However, talks continue with Tampa Bay according to John Perrotto.  Bay could also end up in Boston in a three-team deal.

5:59pm: Jayson Stark reports that the Rays and Pirates haven’t had much dialogue today, and that talks have slowed.  The Pirates have backed off just a bit, but may want to see what happens with Manny Ramirez in case they can get the Red Sox interested.

3:16pm: Kovacevic has more.  Brignac and Jeff Niemann’s names are coming up in the Tampa Bay talks.  ESPN’s Jayson Stark heard the same, and adds that Hellickson, David Price, and Wade Davis are off-limits.

The Cardinals are in on Bay but not John Grabow.  Kovacevic says Colby Rasmus is untouchable, making the Pirates lean toward the Rays.  He adds that the Mets seem out of the running.

1:23pm: The Pirates and Rays are still talking, with the Cardinals lingering.  Dejan Kovacevic says Reid Brignac and Jeremy Hellickson are on the Bucs’ radar.

12:30pm: Heyman talked to one NL source who puts the chances of a Bay trade at 50-50.  The Pirates are looking around to see if they can beat the Rays’ offer.

11:13am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in on Bay.  He says the Rays are flirting, while the Mets, D’Backs, and Cardinals are also in the mix.  ESPN’s Buster Olney says the Rays and Pirates are "talking constructively to bridge the gap."  Rays manager Joe Maddon admits some "very interesting stuff" is on the table.

8:43am: According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates are deep into talks with the Rays and other teams about left fielder Jason Bay.  However, no "truly elite prospect" has been offered yet, and the chances are better than 50-50 that Bay stays.  And who would move to right field for the Rays – Bay or Carl Crawford?  The Braves are considered out of the mix.

Shortstop Jack Wilson seems likely to stay, while reliever John Grabow will probably be dealt.

Stark’s Latest: Ibanez, Washburn, Redding, Rhodes

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Some additional notes from ESPN’s Jayson Stark:

  • The Mariners still want Jon Niese and another prospect for Raul Ibanez; the Mets are not biting.  Similar situation with the Ms asking the Cubs for Felix Pie and another player.
  • The Mets aren’t in on Jarrod Washburn or Tim Redding.
  • The Marlins are making it clear that there is no done deal for Arthur Rhodes.  Clark Spencer had written the Fish "could be closer" to a deal for Rhodes than a catcher.  Stark says the Mariners are driving a hard bargain for Rhodes, with the Red Sox, Marlins, Phillies, Brewers, Tigers, Mets, Cardinals, and Rays checking in.

Odds and Ends: Roberts, Ohman, Kotsay, Eyre

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Rumor roundup…

  • ESPN’s Buster Olney implies that another website backdates timestamps in an attempt to fake scoops.  I was following the Mark Teixeira rumors like a hawk; I gave the scoop to ESPN’s Jayson Stark with an assist to MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer.
  • Joe Christensen says Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts is not available.
  • MLB.com’s Mark Bowman guesses Will Ohman will land with the Cardinals.  He also puts the odds of a Mark Kotsay deal at 50%.
  • With Mark Teixeira out of the picture, Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes doesn’t expect to make any more trades.
  • Will Carroll says the Dodgers had a "passing discussion" with the Cubs about Scott Eyre and Ronny Cedeno.
  • Nothing cooking with the Royals.
  • Talked to Eddie Bajek, who is working on reverse-engineering the Elias formula.  He has A.J. Burnett on the Type A/Type B borderline.  Ivan Rodriguez and Edgar Renteria should both be Type As.
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