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Padres, Dodgers Remain Interested In Dye

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Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times has a couple of trade rumors for us this morning.

  • Shaikin reiterates Ken Rosenthal’s scoop that the Padres and Dodgers have interest in White Sox slugger Jermaine Dye.  Shaikin believes the "we won’t trade for prospects" edict from Kenny Williams could be stretched if Jonathan Broxton or Chad Billingsley were made available.    Those guys may have graduated from prospectdom anyway.  Ned Colletti is definitely working the phones for a slugger. 
  • Scott Linebrink is named as an available Padre, but I would not expect Kenny Williams to go for that.  Throw in Clay Hensley or Chase Headley and maybe we have something.
  • Shaikin also mentions that the Tigers have interest in Rangers closer Eric Gagne.  Yes, I understand that most contending teams with bullpen issues will at least show a passing interest in him.  Shaikin seems to indicate that Gagne’s "no-trade protection" is full and would give him leverage to change his current incentive-based contract.

A’s Looking At Nate Robertson

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Interesting note from a Tuesday night MLB.com article:

"An Oakland scout was in attendance on Tuesday, specifically to evaluate Tigers left-hander Nate Robertson."

Robertson was battered around that night against the Rangers.  He insisted he was healthy, but hit the DL the next day with a tired arm.  It’s obvious that Robertson does not believe he belongs on the DL and the Tigers decided this was best.

The 29 year-old southpaw was excellent in April, but has really tanked starting May 9th.  He’s making $3.26MM this year and won’t become a free agent until after the 2009 season.  Robertson has a lot in common with teammate Kenny Rogers, and it would be wise for a team to buy low on him if possible.

The former Marlin has dealt with a dead arm before in 2005, and it’s likely he’ll snap out of this and return to form.  His 223.6 innings last year (playoffs included) were easily a career high.

Tigers Trade Rumors

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Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press has the trade chatter surrounding the Tigers.

The first issue is the bullpen, which is having all sorts of problems. Joel Zumaya is out for three months after finger surgery, Fernando Rodney has been on the DL with biceps tendinitis, Jose Mesa predictably bombed, and Todd Jones has struggled recently.  Logically, the Tigers are scouring the trade market for relief pitching.  They still might sign Troy Percival.  The main competition there seems to be the Phillies.  Morosi also indicates that a trade could be worked out with the Rangers for Eric Gagne or Akinori Otsuka.  Peter Gammons confirms Gagne’s availability, and also mentions Al Reyes as a trade candidate.

Last December, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski showed interest in Renyel Pinto of the Marlins and C.J. Wilson and Ron Mahay of the Rangers.  That was back when the need was though to be a lefty specialist rather than just relievers in general.

One expendable player for the Tigers might be 29 year-old southpaw Mike Maroth.  The Tigers were offering him up in December but couldn’t find a deal.  Maroth had surgery a year ago to remove bone chips from his elbow, and was never right in ’06.  While he’s made all his starts this year, Maroth isn’t pitching like he did from 2003-05.  This year, his K rate is down even further, his control is off, and he’s allowed an unacceptable number of home runs (15 in 61 innings).  Morosi confirms Maroth’s availability via an NL exec.  The return of Kenny Rogers later this month may push him out of the rotation. 

Maroth makes $2.95MM this year and then will be eligible for arbitration afterwards.  He’ll become a free agent after the 2008 season.  He alone probably won’t bring a useful reliever, but could be part of a larger deal.   

The Percival Chase

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My apologies to the loyal readers hoping for more posts this weekend – my wife and I are painting the condo.  Good times.

For those keeping score at home, here’s a summary of Troy Percival’s suitors.  He won’t be returning to the Angels, but plenty of other clubs want in.

Though interest hasn’t been confirmed, Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon thinks highly of Percival.  The Indians are another club where only speculation exists.  Let’s add the Cubs to that list; Phil Rogers notes the team’s interest in the 2004-05 offseason.  Back then, the Cubs wisely decided to open the season with LaTroy Hawkins at closer given Joe Borowski’s broken hand.  OK, maybe not so wisely. 

Last week, two teams publicly showed interest in the Tigers and Phillies.  Now we know the Marlins are "closely monitoring" Percival as well.  It wouldn’t be right to have a Marlin season go by without the club resurrecting a closer.

Speculated interest: Devil Rays, Indians, Cubs
Confirmed interest: Tigers, Phillies, Marlins
Not interested: Angels

Percival Possibilities

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The Angels aren’t interested in reliever Troy Percival, but several other clubs will be in attendance when he works out for teams in a week or two.

The Tigers are publicly showing interest, as Percival left the club on good terms despite barely pitching for them.  He was voted a playoff share last year and used the money to buy a suite for the players’ wives.  With Joel Zumaya out for quite a while, the Tigers could use another arm at the back of the bullpen.  Contrary to previous reports of 97 mph (subtract five mph from anything an agent says) Percival is topping out around 92 these days.

The Phillies also want in; they remain desperate for relief help.  They’ll attend his workout.  The Indians gave a "no comment" on the Percival topic, but I can’t see why they wouldn’t send someone to observe the workout.  I also can’t see why Rafael Betancourt isn’t closing, but that’s my fantasy side talking.

Mets Sign Brian Lawrence

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UPDATE: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post spoke to Lawrence’s agent, and he’s signed with the Mets.  Omar is just stockpiling arms.

Is it just me, or has there been a ton of interest in Brian Lawrence, dating back to this offseason?  He was admittedly a decent innings eater for the Padres for four years, but he missed all of ’06 and couldn’t crack the Rockies’ rotation.

Nonetheless, the Tigers have offered Lawrence a Triple A contract.  I suppose there’s nothing to lose here except a million bucks or so.  The Tigers have received excellent work from their front three starters, but are rightfully concerned about Chad Durbin and Mike Maroth eating up 40% of the starts until Kenny Rogers returns.

UPDATE: The Detroit Free Press says Lawrence likely won’t sign with the Tigesrs.

The Baltimore Sun says Lawrence’s name has come up within the Orioles’ front office; they’re currently running with both Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Burres in the rotation.  That was not the plan.  Lawrence might not be any better than those two, but it makes sense to stockpile some arms when Steve Trachsel is your third starter.

UPDATE: According to the Washington Post, the O’s contacted Lawrence’s agent on Saturday. 

Also, the Denver Post lists the Padres, Mets, and Mariners as other possible suitors.  Perhaps we can add the Cardinals to that list in the wake of the news about Chris Carpenter’s surgery.

Three Teams Interested In Lawrence

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Brian Lawrence couldn’t crack Colorado’s rotation, so the 31 year-old soft-tosser is now a free agent.  Since teams aren’t willing to give up much on May 2nd, Lawrence has multiple suitors.  The Denver Post reports that the Orioles, Tigers, and Padres have interest.

Tim Brown reported yesterday that Detroit is on the prowl for pitching, and the loss of Jaret Wright created a vacancy for the O’s.  Most likely, though, Lawrence returns to the Padres and tries to re-establish himself at Triple A.  He had flirted with San Diego in the offseason before David Wells signed. Boomer has not fared well in the early going.  Nor has Clay Hensley, but both have earned another month to set things right based on past results.

The Padres may feel an extra need for pitching depth if top pitching prospect Cesar Carrillo needs elbow surgery.  A healthy Carrillo likely would’ve been better than Hensley, Wells, or Lawrence (PECOTA called for a 4.63 ERA; ZiPS said 4.21).

Tim Brown’s Latest

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I hadn’t really noticed the MLB Experts Blog from Tim Brown and Jeff Passan until recently.  Yahoo’s main baseball guys have some quality rumors, and I’ve been missing out.  Let’s catch up by digging through some recent posts:

Rosenthal’s Latest

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The always-interesting Ken Rosenthal has another column up, chock full of rumory goodness.  The man knows how to work the phones like no other.  Some highlights:

  • Rosenthal considers the possibility that Curt Schilling could be the easy choice for the best available free agent starter after this season, with John Smoltz off the board.  Even if Carlos Zambrano is out there, Schill would be a better option for teams looking to go short-term.  Rosenthal says the Red Sox could revisit extension talks, even though it seemed just a month ago that Schilling was certain to hit the open market.  One year and $13MM still looks pretty solid for the Sox.
  • The Orioles may make an offer to Alex Rodriguez, should he opt out of his contract at year’s end.  It’s admittedly a longshot, though the O’s did win the bidding for Miguel Tejada back in December of ’03.  If not A-Rod, then the Orioles will chase a "premium center fielder."  Translation: Ichiro, Andruw, or Torii.  Seems unlikely that Corey Patterson, a Scott Boras client, returns to Baltimore in 2008.
  • Rosenthal feels that the Tigers are "almost certain" to exercise Ivan Rodriguez’s $13MM option for 2008.  I agree with that one, especially given the $3MM buyout price.  If the best available catchers are indeed Michael Barrett and Paul Lo Duca, Barrett has the clear advantage.  The Cubs don’t have any catchers in the pipeline (most teams don’t) so I can’t see why they wouldn’t just give him what he wants.  Most likely the Cubs would get a discount.

Let’s Make A Deal: Jarrod Saltalamacchia

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Double A catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia is a rare player: a bona fide top prospect at the position.  The Braves might be able to maximize his value not by switching Salty or Brian McCann to first base, but by trading the minor leaguer.  Saltalamacchia is off to a hot start after a lost ’06, and one team especially interested in acquiring a young catcher is the Tigers.

As a 22 year-old in Double A, Salty is at the perfect stage in his career as the Tigers would be able to exercise Pudge’s 2008 option and have Saltalamacchia ready to take over in 2009.  So what do the Braves need?

So far Atlanta is getting on base well and hitting for power, and whatever regression Kelly Johnson experiences will be matched by Andruw Jones hitting his stride.  With a healthy Chipper Jones and an improved Jeff Francoeur, this team can hit.

John Schuerholz already went all-in to improve the bullpen, leaving starting pitching as the most glaring weakness.  It’s looking good on the front end – two possible aces plus a solid third in Chuck James.  Still, giving 40% of the starts to Kyle Davies/Mark Redman/Lance Cormier is undesirable.

David O’Brien says there are no good pitchers on the trade market for Atlanta, but a month or two from now some opportunities will probably appear.  One nice fit could be Carlos Zambrano; Michael Barrett is a free agent after this season.  I’ll discuss Rich Harden in another post, but the A’s have Kurt Suzuki waiting in the wings. 

Back to the Tigers – I doubt Justin Verlander or Jeremy Bonderman can be had.  Could Nate Robertson plus a good prospect be enough to snag Salty?  The 29 year-old southpaw doesn’t reach free agency until after 2009, and he’s been a healthy 32 start guy.  Bring him over to the National League, and we could see the Ted Lilly/Bronson Arroyo/Kyle Lohse effect.

The White Sox have A.J. Pierzynski signed through 2008, which gels nicely with Saltalamacchia’s ETA.  If Mark Buehrle has another solid month or two, the Braves might covet the lefty and his playoff experience.  Plus, an acquisition and possible extension could keep Buehrle away from the NL rival Cardinals.  Moving Salty to the Marlins for Dontrelle Willis could work as well.

Really, with a commodity like Saltalamacchia, one could devise many different scenarios where he’s swapped for a frontline starter.   

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