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Tigers Acquire Jose Capellan

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The Brewers finally traded reliever Jose Capellan; the Tigers snagged the 26 year-old for southpaw Chris Cody.

Many teams kicked the tires on Capellan, but I hadn’t seen the Tigers mentioned previously.  His work at Triple A was OK.  His 7.1 K/9 was nothing special, and his control wasn’t great.  Same story since his recall to the bigs.  I’m not sure how much he’s going to help the Tigers, but they will take anything they can get right now.

Cody, 23, had just earned a promotion from the Low A Michigan Whitecaps to the High A Lakeland Tigers after posting a 6.1 K/BB.  He was old for his level, and still isn’t anyone to get excited about.  Doug Melvin originally expected "something big" in return for Capellan.

Gagne/Otsuka Suitors

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Teams are lining up to pluck away the top two members of the Rangers’ bullpen, and Jon Daniels is in "listening mode."

MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan has the scoop: the Diamondbacks, Cubs, Red Sox, and Yankees are the top suitors for Eric Gagne.  The Mets, Braves, Phillies, Tigers, and Brewers are focused on Akinori Otsuka.  And the Tribe likes both relievers. 

Benefits of Gagne: he can be unhittable and he’ll give you two good draft picks after the season.  Plus he seems to be finally healthy.  The Indians, despite their interest, are not on Gagne’s list of 12 teams he can be dealt to without his consent.    

The benefit of Otsuka is that you have him through 2009.  That’s why the Rangers are more likely to hang on to him.  Conversely, a team like the Mets would prefer him because he’s not a rental.

Rosenthal’s Latest

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Ken Rosenthal has a new column up.  A summary appears below.

  • Rosenthal thinks the Tigers are unlikely to acquire Eric Gagne or Akinori Otsuka, perhaps preferring to look at internal options.  That’s a shame, as I think they really need to add someone.
  • The White Sox won’t be granting a 72 hour negotiating window if they trade Mark Buehrle.  Strictly a rental.  That could limit the market for him, but Kenny Williams will come up with at least one quality prospect.
  • The Dodgers don’t seem likely to trade for Adam Dunn or Jermaine Dye, but could go after Mark Teixeira.  Dye seems most likely to end up in the NL West somehow, but only if he is healthy and hitting.
  • Possible Dontrelle Willis suitors: the Rockies or Diamondbacks.  They’ve got the young trading chips, and the need in the present day.  The Rox could offer Aaron Cook plus prospects, and the D’Backs could try Livan Hernandez and youngsters.  If the D’Backs dare offer up Justin Upton, the Marlins would jump.  Of course, D-Train needs to be healthy and the Marlins would need to fall out of contention.
  • Barry Bonds’s agent really doesn’t see a trade happening.  Well, no one does, but it’s fun to speculate.  Rosenthal thinks only the Yankees could accomodate him.
  • Aside from the Pirates and Padres, the Astros, Cardinals, and Rangers could go after Milton Bradley. 
  • Rosenthal has a GM source who thinks the Reds could wait until this winter, exercise Adam Dunn’s $13MM option for ’08, and then trade him.  Dunn, however, would gain no-trade protection until June 15, 2008 and then be able to block 10 teams thereafter.
  • Troy Glaus isn’t going anywhere.  Even if the Jays wanted to trade him, his contract is prohibitive.
  • The Indians or Rockies could trade for Octavio Dotel for bullpen depth.  Dotel is developing into a fine trading chip for Dayton Moore, just as planned.  The Tribe has had interest in Dotel in past offseasons. 

Cardinals Acquire Mike Maroth

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According to Ken Rosenthal, the Cardinals have traded for Tigers lefty Mike Maroth.  Maroth, a 30 year-old southpaw, is most famous for his 21 loss season in 2003.

Maroth has always been hittable, but his normally fine control has been off this year.  He seems to be healthy following surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow over a year ago.  Maroth makes $2.95MM this year and won’t be a free agent until after 2008.  It’s a smart move by Walt Jocketty, who, by the way, could be looking to leave the Cardinals after this season or 2008.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the deal was finalized today and it’s for a player to be named later.

Braves/Tigers Reliever Swap

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The Braves and Tigers swapped relievers today, with the Braves sending Macay McBride over to Detroit for Wilfredo Ledezma.

McBride, a 24 year-old left-handed reliever, has experienced control problems for most of his Braves’ career.  The Braves drafted the little lefty 24th overall in 2001, and he was converted to relief in ’04.  He did have a solid second half year, crediting a change in his delivery.  His control was again terrible in April of this year but he seems to have corrected that.

Ledezma, 26, is also a southpaw.  He was a Rule V pick out of the Boston system, which caused him to jump from A ball to the Majors.  It’s been an odd development path for him.  A sore elbow surfaced in ’05, but he’s been OK since. Ledezma can be used as a starter if necessary; he’s got a good curveball.

Gagne’s List

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We know Rangers closer Eric Gagne has some kind of no-trade protection in his contract, but further details were unknown.  Jon Heyman of SI.com recently clarified a bit.

Apparently Gagne has given the Rangers a list of 12 teams he can be traded to.  Heyman says that almost all of those allowable 12 are not in contention or would have no motivation to trade for him.  Heyman also believes that the Tigers, Indians, and Phillies are not among the 12 allowable teams.  So if one of those wants Gagne, they’ll need his approval and his salary will escalate.

Meanwhile, Bill Madden of the New York Daily News speculates that Lou Piniella might urge Jim Hendry to acquire Gagne to solidify the Cubs’ bullpen.

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

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