Marlins Acquire Alfredo Amezaga From Rockies
The Marlins have acquired Alfredo Amezaga from the Rockies for minor league infielder Jesus Merchan, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (via Twitter). Joe Thurston was designated for assignment in order to make room for Amezaga on the active roster.
In nine big league seasons, Amezaga has a slash line of .251/.311/.339. The 33-year-old didn't impress at the plate in 20 big league games for the Rockies this season but managed a .305/.385/.444 slash line in 67 games for their Triple-A affiliate. Amezaga played four seasons for the Fish from 2006 through 2009.
Merchan, 30, hit .268/.313/.328 in 196 plate appearances for Triple-A New Orleans this season.
Stark On Twins, Kuroda, Phillies
The Twins were willing to listen to offers for Francisco Liriano leading up to the trade deadline, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark. However, Minnesota wanted a massive prospect return for the left-hander and no club met their asking price. Here’s the latest on the Twins with more of Stark’s notes from around MLB…
- The chances that the Nationals can restart talks with Minnesota about Denard Span over the winter are not good, Stark reports. Minnesota wanted Drew Storen for their bullpen in an attempt to win now, but the Twins’ sense of urgency figures to disappear this offseason.
- Rival teams say the Tigers and Red Sox each believed they were closing in on a deal for Hiroki Kuroda before the right-hander decided not to waive his no-trade clause.
- The Red Sox and Rockies discussed an expanded deal that would have sent Josh Reddick to Colorado and Seth Smith to Boston while considering possible moves involving Ubaldo Jimenez. Talks between the 2007 World Series foes had essentially stopped by Saturday, though.
- Though GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has publicly said Domonic Brown was not available, Stark hears from three different teams that the Phillies were willing to move the young outfielder in the right deal.
- Teams that have spoken with the Phillies don’t expect them to be active on the waiver wire this month, since they want to avoid paying MLB’s luxury tax.
Quick Hits: Orioles, Beltran, Jimenez, Marlins
Wednesday night linkage..
- Former Orioles pitching coach Mark Connor, who resigned on June 14, has agreed to return to the Rangers organization, several sources tell Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. Connor will assume his former post as player development special consultant.
- Carlos Beltran has already proven to be a valuable addition to the Giants both on the field and in the clubhouse, writes MLB.com's Adam Berry.
- The Red Sox made a substantial offer to the Rockies for Ubaldo Jimenez on Friday, a major league source told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. Howwever, Colorado was looking for near-major league-ready players, the kind that the BoSox were not willing to offer up in such a deal.
- There hasn't been a lot of dialogue recently between the Marlins and first-round pick Jose Fernandez, tweets Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel.
- The Orioles sent Mark Hendrickson to Triple-A Norforlk, but he won't become a free agent thanks to a previous agreement between the pitcher and the club, writes Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. Hendrickson was demoted to make room for Jo-Jo Reyes, who was claimed off waivers from Toronto on Tuesday.
Quick Hits: Marlins, Cust, Jimenez, Angels
It was on this day in 1907 that Walter Johnson made his Major League debut with the Washington Senators. The Big Train retired after 21 seasons in Washington with 417 career wins, 3509 career strikeouts and a case as possibly the greatest pitcher of all time.
Some notes from around the majors….
- The Marlins were quiet at the trade deadline since the club wants to keep its core intact for the move into their new Miami ballpark in 2012, writes CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler.
- The recently-DFA'ed Jack Cust visited some ex-teammates in the Athletics' clubhouse today but he told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that the A's weren't one of a few teams that had shown some interest in him.
- Steve Slowsinski of Fangraphs gives kudos to the Rockies' front office for taking a risk with the Ubaldo Jimenez trade, but "really dislikes the trade from a philosophical point of view." Slowinski feels Colorado could have at least gotten one of Cleveland's top position player prospects (Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall) back in the deal.
- Bobby Abreu's $9MM option for 2012 vested on Sunday night and the veteran slugger tells MLB.com's Jordan Garretson that he's happy to remain with the Angels for the rest of his career.
- From that same piece, Mike Scioscia explained the team's decision to send Mike Trout back to Double-A Arkansas rather than Triple-A Salt Lake City as partially due to the fact that Arkansas is headed for the postseason. "We really feel strongly that in a player's development it's important to experience the playoffs. In Mike's case, he's a guy that's leading a team to the playoffs," Scioscia said.
Rockies Notes: O’Dowd, Pomeranz, Giambi
The Phillies tied the Rockies in the ninth inning of yesterday's game when John Mayberry hit a two-run home run. Shane Victorino led off the tenth inning with another homer and Colorado lost 4-3. Here's the latest on the Rockies, who are 51-57…
- Woody Paige of the Denver Post says the Rockies won't contend next year and argues that GM Dan O'Dowd should take the blame for "his failure at the deal deadline to get rid of the veteran players who have proven they're incompetent."
- Drew Pomeranz, the player to be named in the Ubaldo Jimenez deal, told Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post that he didn't expect to be traded from the Indians, even though he heard some rumors.
- Jason Giambi told O'Dowd that he doesn't mind getting traded this month, as long as it doesn't hurt his chances of re-signing in Colorado after the season, according to Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post. Giambi hopes to re-sign with the Rockies this offseason, instead of pursuing a DH job or joining a different National League team.
Quick Hits: Mets, Overbay, Springer, Storen, Stewart
Thanks to our loyal readers, MLBTR generated 3.1 million pageviews over the weekend! We appreciate you making MLBTR a regular stop, and have a lot of cool things planned in the coming months. On to today's links…
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson told ESPN New York's Adam Rubin that he tried to acquire a reliever before the deadline, but to no avail (Twitter link). He would not rule out a trade before August 31st.
- The Red Sox will not have interest in Lyle Overbay, reports Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe (on Twitter). The Pirates designated Overbay for assignment today, and as Cafardo notes, he has great numbers in Fenway Park: .323/.395/.500 in 177 plate appearances.
- Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (via Twitter) doesn't envision Jason Isringhausen re-signing with the Mets this offseason.
- The Astros are very confident that they'll sign first-round pick George Springer, but it may come down to the last week, tweets MLB.com's Alyson Footer. Last week we learned that Springer's father met with the independent league Long Island Ducks.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick names a bunch of waiver trade candidates in his latest article.
- The Twins wanted closer Drew Storen and minor league second baseman Stephen Lombardozzi for center fielder Denard Span, and the Nationals declined, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson. I think that would have been a solid deal for Washington.
- The Indians announced they signed infielder Argenis Reyes to a minor league deal; he'd been playing independent ball. In slightly more important news, Ubaldo Jimenez will debut for the Tribe Friday in Texas.
- The extent of Boston's interest in Ubaldo? Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald says exec Allard Baird put in a call on Thursday and the Red Sox weren't in touch after that.
- Both sides have denounced the $30MM figure that was floated for Dylan Bundy, tweets MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. Talks are expected to start this week for the Orioles' fourth overall pick. Ghiroli has more on the topic here. Bundy is advised by Jay Franklin at BBI Sports Group; the company also employs his father.
- The Rockies were close to trading third baseman Ian Stewart to an undisclosed National League team yesterday, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, but the deal fell apart with a half hour to go.
- The Mariners and Red Sox are sharing the costs of Erik Bedard's incentives, reports Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.
- Newly-acquired players Zack Wheeler and Jonathan Singelton head updated top ten prospects lists for the Mets and Astros, courtesy of Baseball America's Jim Callis.
O’Dowd, Shapiro Talk Ubaldo Jimenez
As our Transaction Tracker shows, the Rockies and Indians have gotten together for a number of trades throughout the years, but none were more significant than yesterday's Ubaldo Jimenez swap. Colorado acquired four young players in exchange for the greatest pitcher in franchise history (by WAR), and as Troy Renck of The Denver Post explains, a number of factors contributed to the team's decision to trade Jimenez.
First and foremost was performance. Ubaldo has pitched to a 3.98 ERA in 203 1/3 innings over the last calendar year, which is very good put not what the Rockies had come to expect from him. Jimenez's fastball velocity has dropped noticably this season, another factor. The team's recent whiffs in the draft, including failed first rounders Greg Reynolds (2006) and Casey Weathers (2007), took away from their depth, also contributing to the trade. GM Dan O'Dowd was much more diplomatic when asked about why they made the decision to part ways with Jimenez…
"This isn't rebuilding, this is restocking," said O'Dowd to Renck. "Even if we were 10 games up instead of 10 games back, it would have been hard to say no to this deal … We felt to maximize [Jimenez's] value, this was the time to do it. The closer he got to free agency, you would see a falloff in what clubs would offer."
As for the Indians, it's easy to understand why they'd want to add a 27-year-old pitcher with Ubaldo's credentials. Team president Mark Shapiro took to Twitter to explain their end of the trade, saying it was a "rare [and] unique [opportunity] to acquire [a front] of [the] rotation [starter with] multiple [years] of control." He added that Jimenez's contract aligns with some of their best players, "giving us a multi [year opportunity] to field teams we feel can contend."
As Cot's Baseball Contract shows, the Tribe controls their top three starters (Jimenez, Fausto Carmona, and Justin Masterson) through 2013. Travis Hafner, Shin-Soo Choo, and Asdrubal Cabrera will also be under team control through that season. Ubaldo will make his Indians' debut on Friday against the Rangers as Cleveland remains 2.5 games back of the Tigers in the AL Central heading into tonight.
AL East Notes: Rays, Bedard, Hairston, Jimenez
The deadline has passed and the Yankees are the only team in the AL East that didn't make a deal. The Rays were pretty quiet, too, but there may have been a reason for that…
- Rays executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman underwent an appendectomy last night, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. However, that didn't stop Friedman from conducting business from his hospital room this afternoon.
- The Red Sox and Mariners will each cover some of the incentives on Erik Bedard's contract, GM Jack Zduriencik told Larry Stone of the Seattle Times (Twitter link).
- The Red Sox had interest in Scott Hairston, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). However, the Mets weren't interested in minor salary relief or a marginal prospect.
- Boston wasn’t the only interested team, by the way. The Braves talked to the Mets about acquiring Hairston as a bench bat, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter).
- Jack Curry of the YES Network hears that the Yankees wanted a shoulder MRI for Ubaldo Jimenez, but the Rockies declined (Twitter link).
Trade Reaction: Ubaldo, Rangers, Furcal, Mariners
We've seen dozens of deals completed this month. To help you make sense of it all, here are some reactions to the moves from around MLB…
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan breaks down the deadline for all 30 teams. The Astros might receive Passan's harshest criticism. Passan's response to this morning's Michael Bourn trade: "To send him to Atlanta without getting at least Mike Minor or Randall Delgado, let alone Julio Teheran or Arodys Vizcaino, shows a deep misunderstanding by GM Ed Wade of the proper way to rebuild." Ouch.
- The Rangers, Phillies, Braves, Giants and Mets are winners for ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. The Yankees, Angels, Reds and Cubs are losers, Stark writes. The Astros face harsh criticism once again: "They're basically starting to shape themselves for 2015," one NL executive told Stark. "It's almost like they're doing an expansion team."
- Brian Sabean (Giants), Jon Daniels (Rangers), Dan O'Dowd (Rockies) and Jed Hoyer (Padres) are among the general managers on Jim Bowden's list of top deadline deal-makers at ESPN.com.
- In a separate piece, Passan looks back at flameout rates for pitching prospects and concludes that the Indians made a great deal in acquiring Ubaldo Jimenez for a package of players including Drew Pomeranz and Alex White.
- One front office polled its members about winners and losers and the Rangers were the unanimous top choice, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
- ESPN.com's Keith Law says Rafael Furcal is an upgrade for the Cardinals at short because St. Louis didn't have any legitimate alternatives. Furcal, Law writes, is an average defender with a plus arm.
- The Mariners did well to acquire Charlie Furbush, Francisco Martinez, Casper Wells and one of the Tigers' top three picks from the 2010 draft for David Pauley and Doug Fister, who benefit from spacious Safeco Field, Law writes.
- Law says the Mariners did well to obtain Trayvon Robinson for two months of Erik Bedard and Josh Fields ("a throw-in"), but he isn't sure what the Dodgers were doing in this deal.
- The Rangers' bullpen will be substantially better with Mike Adams and Koji Uehara, Law writes at ESPN.com. San Diego gets Robbie Erlin and Joe Wieland from the Rangers, two pitchers who "make up in probability for what they might lack in upside."
Indians Acquire Ubaldo Jimenez
The organization that sent C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee packing in high-profile summer trades is about to acquire an ace of its own. The Indians and Rockies have agreed on a deal that will send Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland for Joe Gardner, Alex White, Matt McBride and a player to be named, the teams announced. The deal, which will apparently include left-hander Drew Pomeranz once he's eligible to be traded in mid-August, became official today when Jimenez passed his physical.
Jimenez, 27, has a 4.20 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 46.8% ground ball rate midway through an up and down season that has included flashes of brilliance, stretches of poor performance and a stint on the disabled list with a cuticle cut on the right-hander’s thumb. The third place finisher in last year's Cy Young voting, Jimenez broke out in 2010, posting a 2.88 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 221 2/3 innings.
Some of Jimenez's value comes from a contract that now seems team-friendly. Jimenez earns $2.8MM this year and $4.2MM in 2012. His contract includes a $5.75MM club option ($1MM buyout) for 2013 and an $8MM club option for 2014 ($1MM buyout), however Jimenez will be able to void that 2014 option with the trade.
GM Dan O'Dowd, who signed Jimenez to his extension, spent a decade in the Indians' front office from 1988-1998, working his way up to assistant GM before moving on to Colorado. He maintained throughout the negotiations that he would have to be overwhelmed to make a deal and said he'd turn down offers unless someone approached him with a Herschel Walker-type deal.
Pomeranz appears to be the key to the trade for Colorado, however the fifth overall pick in the 2010 draft can not officially be traded until August 15th. He will have to be a player to be named later until then. The 22-year-old southpaw has a 1.98 ERA in 91 innings this year, most coming with Cleveland's High-A squad. Baseball America ranked him as the 14th best prospect in the game earlier this month.
White was the 15th overall pick in the 2009 draft, and he made his big league debut earlier this season. He made three starts before being placed on the disabled list with a strained finger ligament, pitching to a 3.60 ERA. White is still on the disabled list but can be traded. He was considered the 47th best prospect in the game by Baseball America before the season.
Unlike Pomeranz and White, McBride was not a first round pick. He was a second rounder in 2006, and Baseball America did not rank him among the Tribe's top 30 prospects in their Prospect Handbook before the season. The 26-year-old has hit .279/.339/.501 in 393 plate appearances this year, most coming with Cleveland's Double-A affiliate.
Gardner, 23, was a third round selection in 2009. The right-hander has a 4.99 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 97 1/3 innings as a starter in his first stint at Double-A.
Troy Renck of the Denver Post broke the news on Twitter and Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Jon Heyman of SI.com added detail. Mike Axisa contributed to this post. Photo courtesy Icon SMI.