Rosenthal’s Latest: Holliday, Burnett, Rauch, Ibanez
Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up.
- The Angels are not interest in Matt Holliday, while the Dodgers and Red Sox "could play" on him. Rosenthal names the Nationals as an "intriguing dark horse," saying they’ve been checking up on Holliday. They like the idea of having him for ’09, and could even entertain signing him long-term.
- The Phillies have minimal interest in A.J. Burnett, plus they’re on his 15 team no-trade list. Rosenthal notes that Burnett nearly signed with the Cardinals a few years back, but their interest is not mutual.
- Jon Rauch is a hot commodity, drawing interest from the Rays, Red Sox, and Diamondbacks. His price will exceed that of Brian Fuentes, since he’s under team control through 2010.
- The D’Backs would like to add a left-handed hitting outfielder, and Raul Ibanez is under consideration. Rosenthal suggests Matt Stairs or Tony Clark as possible bench additions.
Rosenthal and Fuentes Q&A
Ken Rosenthal sat down for a Q&A session with Rockies’ closer Brian Fuentes in light of all the recent trade speculation. Some highlights:
On being mentioned in trade rumors:
…Now that I’m going into my sixth year and free agency, it seems like it’s coming up more. You hear a lot of speculation, a lot of rumors. It’s hard to tell what’s true. I know there’s a lot of posturing going on among the GMs.
On possibly receiving a warm reception if he does indeed get traded (ala C.C. Sabathia):
(chuckling) I don’t know. We’ll see what happens. They gave CC a standing ovation when he came out and played catch. It was pretty amazing.
On his approach to free agency:
I knew going into free agency that I wanted to have a really good year. I also knew I’d be setting up. My main objective was to close. I feel I can close in Colorado or anywhere else. But it’s not my choice.
On talking about trade rumors with his teammates:
It’s almost like a running joke. We all know there’s nothing we can do about it. There’s speculation they might want to move Matt, (Yorvit) Torrealba, Willy Taveras, myself. We joke about it. It’s a relaxed atmosphere in the clubhouse.
Angels Enter Mix For Fuentes
When we last checked, nine teams had expressed interest in Rockies closer Brian Fuentes at some point: the Marlins, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Phillies, A’s, Cubs, Cardinals, and Rays. Today Ken Rosenthal adds a tenth team to the mix: the Angels. The Rays are considered the frontrunner.
Rosenthal did a phone interview with Fuentes, asking about his geographic preference once he becomes a free agent. Fuentes notes that he’s a West Coast guy, but most importantly he wants to remain a closer.
Molony’s Latest: Mahay, Loretta, Erstad, Guzman
Let’s check in with MLB.com’s Jim Molony.
- The Rays are scouting lefty relievers Brian Fuentes and Ron Mahay. The issue? The price for Fuentes seems exorbitant, and Mahay may not be available. Troy E. Renck names the Yankees, Mets, Cardinals, and Marlins as the main suitors for Fuentes aside from the Rays.
- A few contenders have inquired with the Astros as to the availability of Mark Loretta and Darin Erstad.
- As you might imagine, the Rangers are open to trading Frank Catalanotto. We mentioned yesterday that his contract is a bit of a burden.
- It seems that Jim Bowden is listening to offers for Cristian Guzman while also trying to sign him to an extension. From Guzman’s point of view, it might make sense to enter a weak shortstop market this winter.
- The Matt Capps injury apparently affects Damaso Marte‘s availability.
- The Marlins may make Mark Hendrickson available. The big lefty was replaced in the rotation by top prospect Chris Volstad.
Odds and Ends: Taveras, Kemp, Mota
Today’s random linkage.
- Correction to the Justin Duchscherer post – he only has one more arbitration year, not two. He’s set to reach free agency after the ’09 season.
- Rob Neyer points us to a quality interview with Yankees beat writer Tyler Kepner over at NoMaas.org.
- MLB.com’s Jim Molony says the Marlins have renewed interest in Rockies center fielder Willy Taveras.
- LEN3 thinks the Twins need a reliever more than anything.
- Dave Cameron wonders if Matt Kemp is overrated.
- Craig Brown of Royals Authority examines the team’s trade candidates.
- The Padres’ Paul DePodesta runs through his team’s top trade candidates as well as general considerations in trading.
- The Dodgers are close to signing their first-round pick, Ethan Martin.
- Oscar Villarreal refused the Astros’ assignment to the minors and may be released. Also at this link, the Astros have an offer out to first round pick Jason Castro.
- The Indians signed Bryan Bullington, the Pirates’ first overall pick in ’02.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Sabathia, Burnett, Fuentes, Guillen
Ken Rosenthal has a new column up. I updated the second bullet about Burnett – I had omitted an interesting rumor accidentally.
- The Dodgers could’ve gotten CC Sabathia, Casey Blake, and Jamey Carroll without giving up Matt Kemp. Owner Frank McCourt may have killed the deal, though he denies it. Rosenthal describes the Dodgers as a "near-impossible trading partner."
- Rosenthal reminds us that A.J. Burnett can veto trades to 15 teams and would probably require compensation to waive that right or his opt-out rights. Rosenthal also says the Jays offered Burnett to the Brewers for J.J. Hardy, but the Brewers passed and then acquired CC Sabathia.
- The Rays are named as the frontrunner for Brian Fuentes. Fuentes has been linked to nine clubs in various reports.
- Players such as Orlando Cabrera, Cristian Guzman, Jack Wilson, and Hardy may be hot commodities this winter given the large number of teams looking for a shortstop.
- The Royals received inquiries on Jose Guillen in the wake of his scuffle with the team’s pitching coach. However, the Royals plan to keep him.
- The Padres hope to acquire up-the-middle players. On a related note, Randy Wolf had a nice start last night.
Odds and Ends: Resop, Myers, Gallardo, Fuentes
Today’s link collection:
- Joel Sherman says the Mets would be willing to eat some money on a contract to reduce the prospect price for a corner outfielder. He suggests names like Xavier Nady, Raul Ibanez, Randy Winn, and Adam Dunn. The salary-eating strategy would probably only help with Winn.
- The Hanshin Tigers purchased reliever Chris Resop‘s contract from the Braves.
- Ricky Bottalico says Brett Myers wants to be traded, but Myers and the Phillies denied it.
- It would be cool to see Yovani Gallardo return this year, if only to see him line up with CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets for a brief period of time. That’s three aces.
- The Yankees are still interested in Rockies closer Brian Fuentes; the Rox might be interested in Mark Melancon.
- More rumblings that the Dodger front office is confusing other teams.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman ranks the most impactful potentially available players, raising the question of whether impactful is a word. Heyman also includes odds of each player being dealt.
Red Sox Rumors: Bonds, Fuentes
Checking in on the Red Sox…
- The rumor that the Red Sox quietly worked out Barry Bonds at Fenway made its way to GM Theo Epstein, who dismissed it. Tony Massarotti is in favor of the idea, nonetheless. David Ortiz felt no pain following batting practice, so it may be a moot point.
- According to Ed Price, Rockies reliever Brian Fuentes remains on Boston’s radar. Epstein admitted he is monitoring the relief market.
- Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal profiles prospects the Sox could use as trade chips.
Reds Rumors: Weathers, Ross, Harang, Dunn
Time for a look at the Reds. They’re currently 11.5 games back in the NL Central and 8 out of the wild card.
- You might imagine the Reds are sellers, but GM Walt Jocketty won’t commit yet. The Reds’ current road trip against division foes may be the deciding factor.
- Jocketty says he’s been getting more phone calls since the CC Sabathia trade. Apparently interest has centered on reliever David Weathers and catcher Dave Ross. The Marlins could make sense for both, though they’re only said to have interest in Ross. The Fish are eager to snare a backstop, and are put off by Yorvit Torrealba‘s salary.
- On July 3rd, ESPN’s Jayson Stark said the Reds would accept bids on Aaron Harang. He cautioned that the Reds would have to be bowled over. Jocketty, however, downplayed the idea of a Harang trade. And with Harang possibly hurt, a trade is even less likely.
- Why is there no buzz on Adam Dunn yet? It might be because Dunn "hasn’t yet been made available," according to Will Carroll. I still think interest in Dunn will heat up in coming weeks. Joel Sherman wonders if the Reds would be hesitant to offer Dunn arbitration after the season for fear that he might accept. That could reduce the asking price.
Rockies Rumors: Holliday, Fuentes
Let’s dig into those recent Rays-Rockies rumors.
- Southpaw reliever Brian Fuentes has been linked to the Marlins, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Phillies, A’s, Cubs, Cardinals, and Rays. Troy E. Renck wrote Saturday that the Rays are the most aggressive suitor, noting that the Rockies like Wade Davis and Jeremy Hellickson. Trading either for Fuentes does seem crazy and unlikely. Nonetheless, MLB.com Rays beat writer Bill Chastain verifies the Rockies’ interest in Davis.
- As for Matt Holliday, Chastain says the Rockies want David Price. While Price is probably untouchable, we have seen top prospects like Cameron Maybin, Elvis Andrus, Carlos Gonzalez, and Matt LaPorta traded in recent months.