Rosenthal’s Latest: Victorino, Hatteberg, Paul Byrd
The Padres stuff got its own post; let’s see what else Ken Rosenthal has for us today.
- Rosenthal thinks it makes sense for the Phillies to shop Shane Victorino for pitching, since Jayson Werth is playing well. That’d increase reliance on Geoff Jenkins, though. The Marlins expressed some interest in Victorino last year.
- Rosenthal expects the Reds to move Scott Hatteberg and a catcher before they get down to the more serious business of mullling offers for Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr.
- Trading Paul Byrd would make sense for the Indians. Rosenthal says the Brewers, Braves, and Astros "likely would show interest." Byrd sports a 3.61 ERA and 4.4 K/BB.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Delgado, Sexson, Crisp, Byrd
Ken Rosenthal has some items worth discussing in his latest Full Count video:
- Trade Carlos Delgado for Richie Sexson? Rosenthal doesn’t see why not. They’re both in walk years, neither have a no-trade-clause, and they’re both making roughly the same amount. I’ll add to that by noting both have arguably met more success hitting in each other’s league.
- The Indians may put Paul Byrd on the block in an effort to acquire pieces that could eventually lead to an upgrade at 2B or 3B later this season. The Indians currently have 7 capable starters in Sabathia, Carmona, Lee, Byrd, Westbrook, Sowers, and Laffey.
- Crisp’s Latest: It may be in the best interest of the Red Sox to wait to deal Coco Crisp in the offseason when the demand increases. The Padres could use him now but the 2009 Free Agent class is thin at centerfield. Coco could be maintained for $5.75MM in ’09 and a club option in 2010 for $8MM, or a $0.5MM buyout.
- Two Byrds in one post! Marlon Byrd‘s return from the DL could mean more time at DH for Josh Hamilton in an effort to keep him rested throughout the season. Hamilton only played 90 games last year after missing about 4 years due to drug suspensions and injury. If Byrd performs then this would take the Rangers out of the DH market. So far, so good.
By Nat Boyle
Indians Prefer Infield Acquisition?
Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer believes the Indians’ preference to be to acquire an infielder, if they are to explore the trade market. If so, they might pass on discussing potentially available outfielders such as Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, and Jason Bay. However, Hoynes notes the Indians’ past interest in Dunn.
Hoynes believes the Brian Roberts rumblings could resurface, perhaps a month or two from now. Peter Gammons suggested in April that the Orioles’ decent start might cause Peter Angelos to mandate retention of Roberts.
Some other possibly available infielders: Garrett Atkins, Nick Johnson (perhaps six weeks from now), Aubrey Huff, Mark Grudzielanek, Jose Castillo, Cristian Guzman, Felipe Lopez, Melvin Mora, Chad Tracy, and Mark Ellis (once he recovers from a strained hamstring). It seems easier to acquire an impact outfielder. Regardless, Hoynes believes the Indians would use their starting pitching surplus to engineer a trade.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Braun, Holliday, Kouzmanoff, Greene, Sabean
Let’s take a look at what is being said about some recent rumors, trades and signings in the Blogosphere…
- Right Field Bleachers sees the signing of Ryan Braun and Corey Hart to long-term deals as a "must" for the Brewers.
- Brewers Nation sees the Braun deal as evidence that Prince Fielder will not sign an extension even if the two situations are very different.
- Oleanders and Morning Glories thinks that if Nats’ management was hoping to sign Ryan Zimmerman to a Troy Tulowitzki-type deal, Braun’s deal may have raised the bar.
- Squawking Baseball sees the recent trend in giving long-term deals to young stars and wonders if the absence of top-level free agents in a few years will drive up free agency prices. If that happens, players may stop signing these extensions and the market will correct itself…The point is valid, but these players will still become free agents eventually. The difference is only that they will be free agents in their age 30 season (approximately) instead of their age 28 season. If there is a correction, it will only be minimal and would only last a year or two.
- The Tribe Time Report explains why Matt Holliday would be a perfect fit for the Indians even if it is only for a season and a half.
- Friar Forum does not seem surprised about the notion of the Padres selling off pieces sooner, rather than later. However, they would be surprised to see Kevin Kouzmanoff moved, noting that it is much more likely that the slew of free agents-to-be will be shipped to other clubs.
- The Southpaw would love to see the Jays make a push for Khalil Greene, but their scenario is contingent on the Padres also dealing Kouzmanoff.
- Sorry we missed this before, but in light of Brian Sabean’s recent comments, I felt it was worth noting that Bucs Dugout has been running a series of polls to determine the worst GM in baseball. The finals featured Sabean easily out-distancing his opponent, Ed Wade of the Astros.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Hanley, Salcedo, Torrealba
Time to round ’em up…
- Rob Neyer guesses B.J. Upton is the next to get a long-term deal from the Rays. Back on April 24th, Jayson Stark wrote that the Upton family "has its own ideas about the market value of both brothers."
- Expect a Hanley Ramirez press conference today, or this weekend at the latest.
- Tribe Report walks us through the Edward Salcedo confusion.
- Yorvit Torrealba‘s agent has filed a grievance against the Mets over their nearly-signed three-year deal.
- Jon Heyman says nothing’s imminent with Ken Griffey Jr. Buster Olney wrote today that the Mariners are "not especially gung-ho" about trading for Junior.
- The Indians DFA’d Jason Tyner.
- A.J. Pierzynski attempts to dispel all those negative stories about his time with the Giants.
Odds And Ends: Reyes, Colon, Indians, Nationals
A few notes from the MLBiverse…
- Anthony Reyes, who has been the object of much trade speculation, made his first start at AAA on Friday night. Reyes pitched 3+ scoreless innings with a strict pitch-count. The Cardinals appear to be reconverting Reyes into a starter in the hopes of increasing his value for potential trade partners.
- Jim Bowden hinted that he may implement a full-fledged youth movement in the near future, noting that a number of top prospects are close to being ready. Specifically, he mentioned two outfielders which would likely mean that Bowden will seek to move Austin Kearns and/or Wily Mo Pena. Kearns is due $8MM next year and there is a $10MM option for 2010 ($1M buyout). Pena may be easier to move with only a $5MM team option for 2009.
- Justice B. Hill suggests that the Indians are now paying the price for their inability to swing a deal this past offseason for another offensive weapon at one of the corner outfield spots or third base. The timing of the story was unfortunate as the Tribe laid a 12-spot on the Jays last night.
- The Red Sox do not have a need for a starting pitcher at this point, but they may soon have one too many arms for the rotation if Bartolo Colon continues to progress. Colon allowed one run in three innings, touching 97 on the radar gun. The obvious move would be to move somebody to the bullpen, but if somebody does go down with an injury, Colon’s availability likely means that the Red Sox will not be in the market for an extra arm down the stretch.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
On The Hot Seat: Giambi, Hafner, Sexson, Timlin
I love lists, and here’s one from Peter Abraham at The Journal News that details who he thinks is in the hot seat. In other words, who might be traded or released if current trends continue. There are a number of managers and GMs on the list, but we like to focus on players here. I’m going to go through the list and take stabs-in-the-dark whether a player is likely to be dealt or if they’re just fluff for Mr. Abraham’s article – and then we can discuss in the comments.
Jason Giambi – An announcer this year said that Giambi’s defensive range extended from his right knee to his left knee. As a fielder, he’s decent with no range; however, as a hitter Giambi has never been considered a slow starter, as Abraham notes he is a career .281 hitter in April. Still, like Carlos Delgado, Giambi has shown some recent spurts of life in his bat, and he does have 7 HR (one shy of the league leading 8) and 20 RBI. PECOTA projects .230-24-73 with a .362 OBP. If he can bring his average up, he’ll be roughly on target for that projection. If he can’t, Abraham thinks the Yankees "might as well give someone else a chance." So far, Joe Girardi’s been supportive and patient calling the slump a product of bad luck. Prediction: Staying put.
Travis Hafner – Abraham sees .256 with 27 HR in almost 700 ABs and wonders if the Indians would rather trade him to a team who believes he can turn it around than risk eating the remaining $56MM on Hafner’s contract. At 31, Hafner is an oddity. Last year the slumping behemoth of a man saw his power drop by almost 20 HR. He’s currently continuing that trend with his OPS at a mere 640 and w/o a homerun since April 17 (!). During an ESPN game, they were discussing how his timing – particularly with his front foot-plant – is off making it hard for him to get ahead of pitches. So his problem seems both perceptual and mechanical – but why can’t Pronk seem to correct this? I’d be worried because his contract is slowly going from bothersome to disastrous. PECOTA is not a believer, projecting .275-28-98 – hardly a rebound. He’s making $6.3MM this year and is on the books for another $70MM until 2013 (with a $2.75MM buyout in his last year). Is there a batting coach out there on a big-market team that can fix this? Wouldn’t count on it. Prediction: Staying put.
Richie Sexson – In the Year of the Slumping First Basemen, Richie Sexson is not at all unlike Giambi or Delgado. Abraham pulls no punches with Richie, calling him "one of the worst hitters in baseball during the last two seasons and shows no signs of coming around." He’s making $14MM this year, owed approx. $11.2MM more, and then he’s surely done in Seattle. I agree with Abraham that $11.2MM will "buy him another month or two" but the Mariners have options and I’d expect them to explore them by trading Sexson and eating some of the contract – maybe sooner rather than later as cutting your losses is (almost) acceptable practice this season. Sexson has never been the hitter Delgado, Giambi, or Hafner have been and has been intolerably bad for just too long. Prediction: Shipping off.
Mike Timlin – Making $3MM this year, Abraham notes Timlin has allowed 9 runs in 7 1/3 IP and with a small contract would be an easy piece to move. But I ask why? Relief pitching is a commodity, and Timlin – known to the Red Sox as the captain of the bullpen – brings to the team a fair deal of intangible value, particularly as they integrate Craig Hansen and Justin Masterson into their relief corps. 7.1 IP is hardly a sample worth examining as he’s basically still in spring-training-form. Last year he had a 3.42 ERA in 50 IP and while he’s not the 2.24 ERA Timlin that saved 13 games when Keith Foulke went down, he’s serviceable. If he fails to progress and becomes a liability then maybe the Red Sox will move him from mop up duty to another team. Still, I doubt it. Prediction: Staying put.
Let’s hear your thoughts. Who did Abraham forget? Who disagrees?
By Nat Boyle
Odds and Ends: Bay, Roberts, Cliff Lee
And here we have some random links I’ve collected over the past day or so.
- The Bucs will try to fill their open 40-man spots through low profile moves, not unlike the Jason Michaels one. They won’t move Jason Bay or Xavier Nady until they’re truly out of it. 4.5 games out of the wild card, they still have a prayer here on May 9th.
- Keith Law’s top 60 prospects list for the June draft has been published. Shortstop Tim Beckham heads the list.
- Gordon Wittenmyer looks back on the Cubs players rumored to be traded for Brian Roberts.
- Juan Uribe, partially on the strength of a great takeout slide, still has life with the White Sox.
- Nick Piecoro reminds us that the D’Backs were close to acquiring Cliff Lee in a deal for Carlos Quentin this winter. That would just be unfair, Lee as a part of that rotation. Ken Davidoff notes that the Mets discussed Lee as well.
- So…did the Yankees really have a shot at Micah Owings in the Randy Johnson deal?
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Wells, Griffey, Olney, Tavarez, Edmonds
A lot of links today, so let’s get to what is being said about some trade and signing possibilities in the Blogosphere…
- The Darth Boss George Brigade wants Hank Steinbrenner to sign David Wells to prove that Hank is indeed his father’s son.
- River Ave. Blues says the Yankees are too smart to sign Wells and then goes on to list about 87 pitchers that should be given a shot in the Highlanders’ rotation before Wells.
- Redlegs Rant feels that Ken Griffey Jr. is behind the recent stories that speculate on him being traded.
- Mariners Central speculates on some of the names that it might take to land Ken Griffey Jr., noting that the M’s are not likely to part with either of their top two prospects, Wladimir Balentien and Jeff Clement.
- The Tribe Time Report sees plenty of holes in Buster Olney’s recent theory that Garret Atkins would be a good fit for the Indians.
- Brewers Nation agrees with Olney that the Brewers should trade Ben Sheets.
- Sox & Pinstripes doesn’t want to just give away Julian Tavarez but they also note that the bullpen needs help and Tavarez isn’t the answer.
- Batter’s Box says Brad Wilkerson should fit in well with the rest of the Jays lineup, which also lacks the ability to hit for average or power.
- One writer at Fanhouse doesn’t understand why Kevin Towers is so disappointed in the play of Jim Edmonds. They feel it was pretty obvious that the Pads were getting a player well past his prime.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Botts, Red Sox, McLouth
Roundup of links!
- According to Jamey Newberg, Jason Botts has cleared waivers. He probably won’t get another chance with the Rangers though.
- Gordon Edes notes that the Red Sox have five picks in the first three rounds of the June draft. Even though they don’t start until the 30th pick, the Sox have had much success in recent years.
- No extension talks have begun with Nate McLouth, but Dejan Kovacevic does expect it to happen.
- I updated the fantasy baseball closers depth chart over at RotoAuthority.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman says Freddy Garcia is "progressing nicely" in rehab and will throw off a mound about a week from now.
- Marc Topkin wonders if the Rays should consider Jason Michaels (among others) if they aren’t satisfied with their current right field options.