Odds & Ends: Glaus, Prospects, Mariners
Some evening appetizers as (most) games commence this evening:
- Marc Hulet at Fangraphs gives part two of his rankings of the prospects moved this past deadline.
- A "back issue" has sidelined Troy Glaus yet again, reports Joe Strauss at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This would seem to lessen the chances he gets traded this month even further.
- Matt Eddy at Baseball America has a comprehensive list of the most recent minor league transactions.
- Ben Badler at Baseball America gets official confirmation on all the Mariners' international signings, including the highly-touted Guillermo Pimentel, who received a $2MM bonus. In all, they signed ten amateurs, eight from Latin America and two from Korea.
- Impending free agent Adrian Beltre is back in the Mariners' lineup, says Geoff Baker at the Seattle Times, and says he's not concerned about his contract going forward.
- The Cubs signed their sixth-round pick, LHP Brooks Raley, for $750k, reports Jim Callis at Baseball America. That's a notable figure, as it's $600k more than the recommended slot and the highest figure above-slot we've seen before the deadline, Callis says.
Cubs Acquire John Grabow, Tom Gorzelanny
4:50pm: The Pirates' return of Hart, Ascanio, and Harrison is confirmed by a press release from the Cubs. Gorzelanny will head to Triple A Iowa. The Pirates keep adding arms; I guess this means they like Hart more than Gorzelanny.
4:47pm: ESPN Chicago says the Cubs sent pitchers Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio to Pittsburgh for Grabow and Gorzelanny. Ed Price, via Twitter, says the Cubs are also sending third baseman Josh Harrison.
4:43pm: Finally a possible name as part of the package going to Pittsburgh. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus, via Twitter, hears pitching prospect Jay Jackson may be in the deal. Jackson, a starting pitcher, was a ninth-round pick last year and ranked ninth on Baseball America's list of Cubs prospects.
3:22pm: Via Twitter, Kovacevic says Grabow and Gorzelanny to the Cubs is almost or "just about" done, while Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times says they closed the deal for Grabow. ESPNChicago's Jon Greenberg says the Cubs are "in the process of finalizing" the deal for Grabow. Heyman terms the deal for both hurlers as "very close."
Gorzelanny, who is from Evergreen Park, IL, has a 2.48 ERA in 15 Triple A starts this year. He won 14 games in the bigs in '07, but was derailed by back, shoulder, and finger problems in '08. We still don't know what the Pirates will get back in this deal, but it ought to be something decent.
2:56pm: Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Cubs and Pirates are discussing a deal that would send Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny to Chicago. No deal is in place and other teams remain interested in Grabow.
2:21pm: Heyman (via Twitter) thinks the Cubs are getting closer on Grabow, and could acquire another pitcher as well.
1:27pm: SI's Jon Heyman says the Cubs and Pirates are in "serious discussions" about Grabow.
11:58am: ESPN's Jayson Stark says the Cubs are "strictly mining the lefthanded reliever market" and not looking for a bat. Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald concurs.
10:51am: Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports say the Cubs prefer Pittsburgh's John Grabow over Washington's Joe Beimel, and they continue to discuss the lefty reliever with the Pirates. The FOX report suggests the Cubs will stay internal for their Reed Johnson replacement.
Grabow currently ranks as a Type A free agent in the wacky world of Elias, but for his team to have a chance at draft picks they'd have to offer him arbitration and risk paying him more than $2.3MM if he accepts.
9:02am: The Cubs are looking for a left-handed hitter who can play right field, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. While they're not optimistic about a deal, the plan would be to create a platoon with the disappointing Milton Bradley. Wittenmyer says the Cubs have about $2-3MM of payroll room to work with.
Two players on the radar: Mark Teahen of the Royals and Jeremy Hermida of the Marlins. The Royals are looking for a center fielder in return, however. Teahen has $1.37MM left on his contract. Hermida has $847K remaining. Both players can be under team control through 2011. Either player would still leave some wiggle room for the Cubs to acquire a left-handed reliever.
Odds & Ends: Bradley, O’s, Mariners
Some more interesting nuggets we've mined as we reel from the madness today:
- Paul Sullivan at the Chicago Tribune got comments from Cubs GM Jim Hendry, who called rumors that Milton Bradley could head to the Tigers "unfair to the player."
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun hears that Danys Baez, Aubrey Huff and Melvin Mora, who are all about to become free agents, have attracted minimal interest on the trade market.
- The Mariners signed second round pick Rick Poythress, who'll be immediately shipped to the AA affiliate, reports Geoff Baker at the Seattle Times.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick takes a look at some of the all-time hyped prospects who have turned out to be busts.
- In a similar piece to Crasnick's, Yahoo's Jeff Passan looks at how once-hot prospect Brandon Wood has seen his value as a trade chip diminish.
Odds & Ends: Felix, DiPoto, Red Sox, Marlins
More links as we count down the hours to the deadline…
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times asks if the Mariners should listen to offers for Felix Hernandez, in the event they cannot sign him long-term.
- SI's Tom Verducci sees Arizona exec Jerry DiPoto as "the frontrunner for the Nationals GM job."
- Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald says the Red Sox are looking for a right-handed hitting fourth outfielder who plays good defense. He mentions Willie Bloomquist and Cody Ross as possible fits.
- The Marlins are looking to make moves, but it's unclear where they'd want to upgrade, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. They could add a starter, a reliever or a position player, but don't expect them to trade prospects Logan Morrison and Mike Stanton. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Fish "are split on whether to acquire a hitter or starting pitcher."
- Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Cubs GM Jim Hendry wants to make a deal, but doesn't expect to make a "splashy" one.
- The Rockies could use an experienced lefty reliever, according to MLB.com.
Odds And Ends: Mora, Mariners, Cubs, Rizzo
Some links to start your morning off…
- Melvin Mora told Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun that he wants to play four more years, until his quintuplets turn 12.
- A number of GMs told USA Today's Bob Nightengale how trade rumors impact their jobs. Nightengale also talked to Tim, Peter Gammons and Ken Rosenthal, so check the article out.
- I'll be chatting live at USA Today beginning at 11am CST. But one chat isn't enough, so check in to MLBTR a few hours later and I'll chat here at 2pm CST.
- Larry Stone of the Seattle Times would be surprised if the Mariners don't become sellers this week.
- East Windup Chronicle passes on a report saying the Cubs signed their third Taiwanese player of the year, Wang Tsu-an. The Cubs awarded the righty a bonus over $300k.
- Every scout Phil Wood of MASN.com talks to sings the praises of Nats acting GM Mike Rizzo.
Odds & Ends: Holliday, Red Sox, Pirates, Kazmir
Things are picking up, so we've got a fresh batch of links for you…
- The recently acquired Matt Holliday was non-committal when talking about his impending free agency, according to R.B. Fallstrom of the AP. "I'm going to enjoy myself and try to help this team get to the playoffs and to the World Series and work every day I can to be the best player I can be," Holliday said. "And leave it there. I think there's a time and a place for all those other things and when that time comes is when I'll do my evaluating."
- Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse tweets that the Red Sox have told people "they are trying to pull off something huge." Earlier today we learned that the Sox were talking about Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez with the Indians.
- Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review asked Pirates team president Frank Coonelly about the possibility of re-opening extension talks with Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson should they remain with the team past Friday's trade deadline, to which Coonelly responded "At this juncture, I wouldn't say anything is definitely closed. We'd have to see where we are. But, developments in the organization could create a situation that could make it less likely, or more likely, we'd want to extend Jack or Freddy."
- Scott Kazmir's agent, Brian Peters, reached out to Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman about recent trade rumors involving his client. Friedman indicated the rumors were "merely speculative," according to MLB.com's Zach Schonbrun.
- Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times writes that Jarrod Washburn has "let it be known he is open to a contract extension to stay in Seattle," but indicated that there has not been much discussion.
- Bruce Miles of The Daily Herald said he expects the Cubs to look for bullpen help before anything else. He names Joe Beimel and George Sherrill as players of interest.
- The Cubs have signed third round pick Austin Kirk according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, while Bill Ladson reports that the Nats have signed seventh rounder Andrew Weaver.
Odds & Ends: Reds, Braves, Cards, Cubs, Red Sox
A few links to start your evening off right…
- Reds CEO Bob Castellini says he believes "we’re not at that point" of selling players yet, according to John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer. The Reds were rumored to be making a move earlier.
- The Braves are "confident that they could stand pat through Friday's Trade Deadline and still have the pieces to continue their run toward the postseason," according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman.
- MLB.com's Matthew Leach writes that "John Mozeliak sounded like it's all but certain that the Cardinals will not trade any more prospects before the deadline." He does mention that if they can move Troy Glaus, they will look into it.
- Alfonso Soriano said he doesn't think the Cubs need any big trades, according to Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune. The Cubbies were reportedly looking for a lefty reliever over the weekend.
- Ben Collins of The Boston Globe has an interesting quote from Red Sox manager Terry Francona: “I listen to the talks. I don’t listen to the radio, but I talk to Theo. Some of the people I hear talked about on the radio — you guys have no idea.”
- Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune mentions that Twins starter Kevin Slowey is going to have season ending surgery on his right wrist. The club has been looking for infield help, but this could have them searching a little harder for pitching help.
- SI.com's Cliff Corcoran wrote about the five contenders with the biggest pitching needs and the biggest offensive holes.
- ESPN's David Schoenfield listed the 15 players with the least trade value. Barry Zito and the $89.1MM owed to him through 2013 tops the list.
- ESPN's Howard Bryant penned a long but very interesting piece about Billy Beane and his legacy since Moneyball.
Cubs Looking For A Lefty Reliever
With starter Ted Lilly on the shelf for approximately three weeks, ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine says Cubs GM Jim Hendry may have been pushed in the direction of adding a starter before Friday's trade deadline. The team could opt to move Sean Marshall back into the rotation, but that would leave manager Lou Piniella without a reliable lefthanded option in the pen.
The Cubbies have spoken to the Pirates about reliever John Grabow, but Levine says a move for Zach Duke or Tom Gorzelanny "may be the right avenue to follow with the loss of Lilly." He lists Carl Pavano, Jon Garland and Doug Davis as other starters available right now.
Tigers Interested In Milton Bradley?
3:01pm: Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports "there has been no conversation with any team about Bradley." We can probably now put these rumors to rest.
2:47pm: MLB.com's Jason Beck tweets, "Milton Bradley to Tigers? Not happening. According to one source, his name hasn't come up in Tigers discussions all year."
2:44pm: For what it's worth, the Chicago Sun-Times is also now reporting the rumor, but basically echoes the information below. We've yet to recieve word from a major media outlet on possible negotiations.
1:41pm: ChicagoNow.com's David Kaplan has heard from "two very solid baseball sources" that the rumor is true.
As Kaplan writes, "the Tigers have scouted Bradley and are interested depending on how much of his contract the Cubs are willing to eat." A change of scenery would probably do the 31-year-old outfielder some good. He's currently batting .242/.375/.368 with six home runs and 22 RBI in 231 at-bats.
1:32pm: According to Steve Stone of WSCR Chicago, the Tigers have shown some level of interest in Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley. The rumor isn't being reported by any other source, and with Carlos Guillen back in the fold in Detroit, it doesn't make a ton of sense. Perhaps Bradley could serve as the Tigers' DH. We'll keep you updated if the rumor grows any more legs.
Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Diamondbacks, Indians
Lots of trade talk means lots of links, so let's get right to the madness:
- Corey Brock at MLB.com examines the possibility presented by Chico Harlan at the Washington Post that Stephen Strasburg could end up a Padre.
- Bernie Miklasz at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at the Cardinals' five biggest winners in the Matt Holliday trade. Rick Hummel looks at other memorable trades in which the Cardinals dealt top prospects.
- According to Nick Piecoro at the Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks are currently in a "holding pattern" with no. 16 overall pick Bobby Borchering.
- Geoff Baker at the Seattle Times wonders if the Mariners' brutal 9-0 loss last night will mark the team's transition into selling mode.
- Paul Hoynes at the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Indians will have a look at recently departed reliever Rafael Betancourt when he hits the free agent market.
- Hoynes also outlines the Indians' payroll obligations for next season, and wonders if low attendance and revenues will force them to trim the team's "luxury items."
- Toni Ginnetti at the Chicago Sun-Times talked to Cubs GM Jim Hendry, who expects some upgrades will come after the non-waiver deadline.
- Jamey Newberg takes a look at the concept of trading prospects through the lens of the Rangers.
- Tom Haudricourt at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel chatted with Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, who will take an "aggressive but smart" approach at the deadline.
- Jeff Zrebiec at the Baltimore Sun says director of scouting Joe Jordan is "irked" by the fact that only 20 of the Orioles' 50 picks have signed with the team.
- Rumors are swirling that Luis Gonzalez might be heading back to the Diamondbacks as a team official, says Jesse Sanchez at MLB.com.