Odds and Ends: Bowden, Strasburg, Draft
Today’s link collection.
- Joel Sherman puts on his GM hat and proposes five trade offers the Yankees should make.
- Troy E. Renck doesn’t believe the Rockies are ready to start trading off veterans.
- Jon Heyman heard rumblings that Nationals GM Jim Bowden "could be in trouble."
- Dave Cameron discusses next year’s frontrunner for the #1 draft pick, college pitcher Stephen Strasburg. The pick could be made by Bill Bavasi’s replacement.
- The MLB draft is definitely gaining popularity, but Nick Friedell’s suggestions would provide a big boost.
Jayson Stark’s Latest
Jayson Stark’s latest column is up and as usual he dips into the rumor-mill several times…
- Indians: According to other clubs, Cleveland is starting to float C.C. Sabathia’s name, but are making it clear that they are not ready to trade him. Stark says the Indians are scouting the Red Sox heavily. One executive says that it is hard to imagine somebody giving up prospects for a guy that will almost certainly test the free agency waters. That same executive says they would have a hard time giving seven years to a pitcher as big as Sabathia.
- Tigers: One AL executive says the Tigers don’t have any prospects of value left, but wonders if they won’t do something crazy in the trade market because of their "all in" payroll. Stark wonders if they would be willing to trade Jeremy Bonderman or a big bat for an arm.
- Braves: Atlanta might be more interested in bringing back Kevin Millwood as opposed to Greg Maddux, but Stark says that is very unlikely.
- Rockies: In addition to Matt Holiday and Brian Fuentes, there is a slim chance that Aaron Cook would be made available, but his salary goes up $1MM per year if he is dealt.
- A’s: Apparently the bounty sought by Oakland for Joe Blanton ("three young building-block players") has not been lowered since last summer.
- Royals: The Royals have already started listening to offers for a number of players but one executive says that list does not include their relief pitchers and those are the pieces of highest interest.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Lane, K-Rod, Adam LaRoche
Random linkage…
- Jason Lane has agreed to remain a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankee.
- Francisco Rodriguez would like to play nine more seasons. Four or five or those might come with his next contract, which may set a record for a reliever.
- Pirates prospect Steve Pearce is getting some time at first base in Triple A. Despite that development, Dejan Kovacevic says there is no Adam LaRoche trade chatter yet. LaRoche followed up his standard awful April with an .804 OPS in May.
- RotoAuthority looks at the fantasy studs of May.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman speculates that it’d require at least two of a team’s best young players to get Matt Holliday.
The Holliday Situation
Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post talks about how opposing executives are waiting to see if the Rockies will make Matt Holliday available. The Rockies have talked with Scott Boras about extending their slugger past ’09, but both sides are mum on the state of those discussions. Presumably, the Rockies would exhaust that avenue before putting Holliday on the market.
ESPN’s Buster Olney lays out the options for Dan O’Dowd: shop Holliday this summer and aim for a Teixeira-like bounty, sign Holliday to a staggering extension now, or let him play out the string while hoping he finds the free agent market disappointing. Olney opines that Holliday "is worth more to the Rockies than he is to any other team."
Teams are always going to be wary of trading for a Colorado slugger. If I was in charge, I’d deal Holliday for 75% of the Teixeira return. What would you do?
The Yankees And Brian Fuentes
Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post advises:
Keep an eye on the Yankees’ interest in Brian Fuentes, whom they have liked for years. New York needs a reliable late-inning setup man to replace Joba Chamberlain, who joins the rotation Tuesday.
Keep in mind that Renck is not saying discussions have occurred recently. But Fuentes would certainly be a nice addition for the Yanks. He has a 2.78 ERA and 2.63 K/BB in 22.2 innings this year.
Surely the Rockies are looking for a young player or two in return. The trades of Octavio Dotel and Eric Gagne last year might be comparables. Dotel required Kyle Davies, a promising pitcher who had not experienced much big league success. The Gagne package was headed by raw prospect Engel Beltre, and also included useful MLB-ready pieces in Kason Gabbard and David Murphy.
Also keep in mind that if the price for Fuentes is too high, Brian Cashman can turn to familiar target Damaso Marte of the Pirates.
Odds and Ends: Alvarez, Zimmerman, Vizcaino, Hawkins
Some random musings around the league:
- As MLBTR noted before, Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also believes the Pirates will take Pedro Alvarez if the Rays pass on him.
- Ryan Zimmerman may be looking for David Wright money (six years, $55MM), but the Nationals may be willing to pay him Ian Kinsler money (5 years, $22MM), according to Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post.
- In this piece by Tony Jackson on the LA Daily News, 39 year-old Jose Vizcaino may try to make a comeback in 2009. He’s currently a special assistant with the Dodgers.
- Troy Renck suggests the Rockies could be interested in LaTroy Hawkins if he continues to struggle for the Yankees.
By Nat Boyle
Should Rockies Deal Holliday?
The Denver Post has split opinions on whether or not the Rockies should deal Matt Holliday this season. Columnist Troy E. Renck says the Rockies have been bad "from top to bottom." He cites the rotation, situational hitting, leaky bullpen, and dealing with pressure as problem spots and that they would need to go "70-36 in their final 106 games" to be in contention.
As MLBTR has covered here, Woody Paige reports that the Rockies can’t tie up $40MM in three position players and that Scott Boras won’t accept a hometown discount. Paige proposes:
Holliday would be a significant addition for Cleveland, and the Rockies also could send best friend Garrett Atkins or Brad Hawpe… [for] starting pitcher Cliff Lee (8-1, 1.88 ERA and four superb pitches), a middle reliever and an outfield prospect. The Rox, depending on the second player in the deal, play Ian Stewart at third or in left, and Ryan Spilborghs becomes a full-time starting outfielder who could be the next Holliday.
Alternatively, Mark Kiszla believes trading him would not bring enough back to justify not re-signing him and that trading him would send the wrong message to players and fans. Instead, they should actively work to re-sign the slugger through negotiations. Kiszla’s argument:
"When the Texas Rangers decided it could not pay to keep powerful young first baseman Mark Teixeira a year ago, the offer the Rangers finally accepted from Atlanta was for a rookie catcher and four minor-league prospects."
Interestingly, Jon Heyman thinks the Rockies won’t be able to get as good a deal as the Rangers got for Teixeira, a deal that’s not good enough for Mark Kiszla.
By Nat Boyle
Heyman On the Rockies and Holliday
The idea of the Rockies trading Matt Holliday this summer is not a new one. Ken Rosenthal speculated on the possibility two weeks ago. Today, Jon Heyman goes a little deeper. While he feels trading Holliday is certainly possible, there are at least a couple of executives who think it is unlikely. To sum up:
- The Rockies are tied for the worst record in baseball and several executives are now wondering if they will be willing to trade Garrett Atkins and/or Holliday.
- Willy Taveras and Brian Fuentes will almost certainly be made available.
- One GM thinks that last year’s mid-season turnaround may make Dan O’Dowd less likely to pull the trigger on a trade.
- One exec said that the Rockies will have a tough time matching the deals that the Indians received for Bartolo Colon in ’03 and the Rangers received for Mark Teixera last year, as those were highly specialized situations.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Julian Tavarez To Sign With Brewers
MONDAY: Tom Haudricourt reports that the Brewers are set to sign Tavarez for bullpen depth.
SUNDAY: The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo writes that Bartolo Colon, a close friend of Julian Tavarez, said Tavarez told him that he would prefer to pitch for the New York Mets. Tavarez was recently DFA’d by the Red Sox and elected free agency rather than accepting an assignment to Triple A Pawtucket.
Tavarez could make sense for the Mets in many roles. Jason Vargas and Matt Wise have been ineffective in limited use, while Mike Pelfrey has been very inconsistent over the first two months of the season. The Mets, however, have yet to indicate whether they have interest in the veteran right-hander. Baseball Prospectus’ John Perrotto has the Orioles and Brewers as the top suitors; I hadn’t heard Baltimore in the mix until now.
Perrotto’s Latest: Atkins, Holliday, Howard
Baseball Prospectus’ John Perrotto has a new column up; let’s discuss the hot stove tidbits.
- Perrotto wouldn’t be surprised to see Clay Buchholz rejoin the Red Sox as a reliever, though some have suggested he’ll just remain in Pawtucket. The Red Sox have an embarrassment of starting pitching right now.
- The Indians are "bringing up Garrett Atkins and Matt Holliday in trade talks." Holliday just hit the DL, but there’s plenty of time before the deadline.
- Perrotto’s sources suggest the Phillies may deal Ryan Howard before the ’09 season, to avoid his probable large salary. Can you think of any reasonable fits for him?