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Olney On Deadline Plans For NL Teams

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The trade market is still developing at this point in the season, but it’s starting to take shape. Buster Olney outlines the plans for National League teams in a highly recommended insider-only piece at ESPN.com. Here are the details:

  • The Dodgers can’t make long-term investments in young stars like Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw because of their uncertain financial status. The Los Angeles front office is now gathering information about some of their trade candidates and taking calls on some players. No teams have called on Jamey Carroll yet, though the Rockies are interested.
  • James Loney and Casey Blake have next to no trade value, as Olney explains.
  • No team has called about Jose Reyes, who won’t be traded for anything less than a top prospect and a solid secondary prospect.
  • Rival executives expect the Phillies to acquire proven veterans this summer.
  • Though the Astros will listen to offers on Hunter Pence and Wandy Rodriguez, they will be asking a lot for them.
  • The Braves are checking out available hitters. Some rival executives have speculated on the possibility that the Braves will consider trading Jair Jurrjens, whose stock has never been higher.
  • Some rival executives think B.J. Upton will be a borderline non-tender candidate this offseason. Upton will earn a raise from $4.825MM next year and he currently has a .223/.308/.396 line with 20 steals. I can’t envision the Rays non-tendering Upton, who would presumably have trade value if Tampa made him available.
  • The Padres have told teams that they’re ready to take offers for Heath Bell and Mike Adams. Rival clubs believe Adams will be harder to obtain than Ryan Ludwick.
  • The Rockies will wait a few weeks before deciding whether to buy or sell.
  • The Giants are looking for catching help and Ramon Hernandez is a possible upgrade, as I explained earlier in the week.
  • The Reds are concerned about starting pitching and will consider making moves for upgrades at left field or shortstop. Though rival teams don’t expect Reyes to end up in Cincinnati, GM Walt Jocketty may be aggressive enough to make a deal happen.
  • GM Jim Hendry says there won’t be a fire sale, but the Cubs are “open for business,” Olney reports. Jeff Baker and Kerry Wood are “among the most coveted players in the trade market,” since they’re cheap and useful. Rival executives have mixed opinions about Carlos Pena, who is powerful but streaky.
  • Wood is near the top of Arizona’s list of targets.
  • The 40-39 Pirates will look for modest ways to improve and won’t be selling.

Ryan On Bullpen, Realignment, Astros

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Rangers president Nolan Ryan told reporters yesterday that his team’s biggest problem has been inconsistency. Ryan believes the bullpen, a soft spot so far this year, is improving for the Rangers, who lead the AL West with a 43-38 record. Here are more of Ryan’s thoughts from Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: 

  • It’s “premature” to say the Rangers will go outside of the organization for bullpen help, since it’s not clear which pitchers are available. The Rangers don’t have anything pending, but Ryan would have interest in the right pitcher. GM Jon Daniels said this week that he remains intent on upgrading the Texas ‘pen.
  • Ryan likes the idea of adding the Astros to the AL West, partly because it would mean more games close to home and extra fan involvement. “I think if you had the Astros and Rangers in a pennant race it would stimulate a lot of interest in the state,” Ryan said.
  • Jim Crane, who should officially become the owner of the Astros this year, will have to be patient if he wants to build through a strong farm system, Ryan said. “You have to keep putting people in the pipeline because you’re going to have all type of things happen from injuries to mis-evaluations to players not performing,” Ryan said. “There’s a tremendous fallout rate.”

Astros Claim Luis Durango

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The Astros announced that they have claimed outfielder Luis Durango from the Padres and optioned him to Triple-A. They transferred right-hander Alberto Arias to the 60-day disabled list to create room on the 40-man roster. The Padres had designated Durango for assignment eight days ago.

Durango appeared in 28 games as a backup center fielder last year, but has yet to appear in a Padres game in 2011. The 25-year-old has a .243/.328/.294 line with 10 stolen bases at Triple-A Tucson as a center and left fielder this year.

Quick Hits: Nationals, Pirates, MacPhail, Astros

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Links for Saturday…

  • The Nationals plan on having Davey Johnson meet up with the team tomorrow in Chicago before flying to Anaheim with them, reports Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post (Twitter links). ESPN's Buster Olney, meanwhile, notes that Johnson's contract ensures that he'll be the manager for this year only. The two sides will re-evaluate things after the season.
  • Tim Britton of The Providence Journal says the Pirates were the big losers in the Jason Bay-Manny Ramirez trade.
  • Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun spoke to Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail about his contract, which expires after the season. "I have always taken the position, unlike one of my good friends in the game Jim Riggleman, let's just see how we do," said MacPhail. "Let's get to the end of the year and see how we do and take it from there."
  • Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros transfer of ownership from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane likely won't happen until mid-July (or later) as MLB focuses its efforts on the Dodgers (Twitter link).
  • Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch addressed the speculation about how Albert Pujols' injury could impact his contract negotiations with the Cardinals after the season.
  • McLaren will not be leaving the Nationals, reports Bill Ladson of MLB.com (Twitter links). He will not be bench coach and will instead stay in another capacity.
  • The Nats can expect another resignation, this time from acting manager John McLaren, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. McLaren served as bench coach under Jim Riggleman.
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports spoke to a source that is doubtful the Giants would move any of their big league pitchers to improve the offense (Twitter link). San Francisco has scored just 261 runs this year, the fewest runs in the game.
  • Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun-Times says the Cubs front office plans to give the team a few more weeks to see if they can salvage the season before deciding to sell. The front office will meet next week to sort some of this stuff out.
  • Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun mentioned that Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and Reds GM Walt Jocketty have swung trades in the past and spent some time together yesterday before their clubs played. He notes that the two clubs appear to match up well in a potential trade as well.
  • Baseball America's Matt Eddy has this week's collection of minor league transactions, which includes a slew of draft pick and undrafted free agent signings.

How Many Sellers Right Now?

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Just when you start to count out the Twins and A's, they reel off winning streaks and re-enter the contention picture.  Right now, only six teams are at least eight games out of their division or wild card: the Orioles, Royals, Marlins, Cubs, Astros, and Padres.

Some teams may prefer to make trades now, to get an extra month from their acquisition.  That means the best of the trade market looks like this, assuming the six non-contenders will listen on these players, their contracts don't prevent deals, and the players are healthy:

  • Hitters: J.J. Hardy, Derrek Lee, Mark Reynolds, Luke Scott, Vladimir Guerrero, Melky Cabrera, Jeff Francoeur, Wilson Betemit, Omar Infante, Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, Jeff Baker, Carlos Pena, Reed Johnson, Hunter Pence, Jeff Keppinger, Carlos Lee, Michael Bourn, Clint Barmes, Ryan Ludwick, Brad Hawpe
  • Starting pitchers: Jeremy Guthrie, Jeff Francis, Bruce Chen, Kyle Davies, Javier Vazquez, Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Doug Davis, Brett Myers, Wandy Rodriguez, Aaron Harang
  • Relievers: Jim Johnson, Koji Uehara, Kevin Gregg, Mike Gonzalez, Joakim Soria, Leo Nunez, Randy Choate, John Grabow, Kerry Wood, Chad Qualls, Heath Bell

Cross off the Cubs players with crazy contracts and the Astros and Orioles who may never hit the market, and there's not much out there aside from relievers right now.  In theory, the state of the market should improve the return for guys like Ludwick and Francis, at least until more sellers show up.

Central Notes: Zambrano, Francoeur, Astros, Pirates

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A few items of note coming out of the Central divisions as Carlos Carrasco loses his no-hit bid in the sixth in Cleveland:

  • Cubs righty Carlos Zambrano is trending in trade rumors recently, as he has already said that he would waive his no-trade clause. We've also learned that the Yankees have no interest in acquiring the hurler. However, Buster Olney of ESPN.com reminds us that no team has actually checked in with the North Siders on the hurler's availability (via Twitter).
  • Royals outfielder Jeff Francoeur could draw interest at the trade deadline as a fourth outfielder for a contending team, writes Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. However, Francoeur has a strong relationship with GM Dayton Moore and isn't blocking the imminent arrival of any corner-outfield prospects, so the Royals probably aren't feeling any urgency to deal him, according to Dodd.
  • The Astros have signed Arizona State lefty Mitchell Lambson, their 19th-round pick, according to Stephen Goff of the Houston Examiner (via Twitter). Houston has now signed 28 of its 50 selections, per Goff.
  • The Pirates have signed Louisiana Tech lefty Mike Jefferson, their 22nd-round pick, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (via Twitter).

Rosenthal’s Full Count: Marlins, Wandy, Phillies, Rockies

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Ken Rosenthal has his lastest Full Count video up over at FOXSports.com. Let's go over the highlights:

  • If the Marlins make a managerial change, the most likely candidate would be Nationals' third base coach Bo Porter. Porter spent five years with the Marlins, and three as a Major League coach. Rosenthal wonders if the Nats would let him go to a division rival midseason, and if Porter would accept the job on an interim basis, knowing the Marlins ultimately want Ozzie Guillen. Porter turned down a similar offer last season.
  • Rosenthal asked Yankees GM Brian Cashman if he would consider trading for an ace, and Cashman replied, "I'm not Ruben Amaro," referring to the Phillies GM and his affinity for blockbuster trades. Rosenthal names Wandy Rodriguez as a potential target for New York, but says there could be a hangup since the Astros value Rodriguez as an ace, while the Yanks would view him as a back-of-the-rotation addition.
  • The Phillies are doing their due dilligence in looking for right-handed hitters and left-handed relievers, but are limited by payroll issues. They also don't currently have regular at-bats for any hitter they'd acquire. Rosenthal says someone like Ryan Spilborghs, making $2MM with the Rockies, is the type of hitter that would be appealing to Philadelphia.
  • The Rockies could be buyers or sellers, depending on their play over the next month. If they're buyers, they'll seek innings-eating pitchers (Rosenthal names Hiroki Kuroda of the Dodgers and the Twins' Kevin Slowey as possible targets), while if they sell they could look to move Huston Street, Ty Wigginton, and Aaron Cook.

Astros Looking To Trade Myers, Keppinger

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The Astros are currently an MLB worst 25-45 and are in the process of being transferred to a new owner, so they certainly figure to be sellers at the trade deadline. MLB.com's Bill Ladson hears that they are looking to trade both Brett Myers and Jeff Keppinger, two names that have frequented the trade rumor circuit in recent months (Twitter links). Ladson doubts that the Nationals would have interest in either.

Myers might not be very marketable these days. He'll be 31 in August, and he's pitched to a 5.03 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 87 2/3 innings this season. The 18 homers he's allowed are the most in baseball and his fastball velocity has fallen off considerably. Myers will earn $7MM this season and $11MM next season before a $10MM club option ($3MM buyout) for 2013 comes into play.

Keppinger seems like a much more practical trade candidate. He's hitting .301/.329/.370 since coming off the disabled list following a foot injury, and last year he hit a respectable .288/.351/.393 with more walks (51) than strikeouts (34) in 575 plate appearances. Keppinger has plenty of experience at second, third, and short, and his $2.3MM salary is a little easier on the wallet. He is also under team control next year as an arbitration-eligible player.

The Yankees have been connected to both players at times, though we recently learned that they "don't have a match" for Myers. Keppinger was more of an offseason target for them.

Stark On Dempster, Adams, Reyes, Braves

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Jayson Stark leads his latest column for ESPN with a debate with colleague Buster Olney about realignment possibilities.  He notes that his sources say there's no chance divisions are dissolved and baseball becomes two 15-team leagues.  On to Stark's other rumblings…

  • An NL executive who spoke with Cubs GM Jim Hendry says there's no likely scenario where Ryan Dempster is traded.  Earlier today, there were indications the Yankees at least have an eye on Dempster, who has full no-trade rights and a $14MM player option for 2012.
  • Padres reliever Mike Adams also is likely to stay put, as the Padres are only interested in trading impending free agents Heath Bell and Chad Qualls.
  • Jose Reyes might not be Brian Sabean's type of player, says one baseball man who speaks with the Giants' GM regularly.  Still, Stark's source wondered if the liberation of winning last year's World Series might compel Sabean to take more chances.  Of course, the Mets are looking like potential buyers right now.
  • The Braves are "aggressively positioning themselves to deal for an outfield bat as soon as they can find a team ready to open its sell-off shop for business," writes Stark, and they've already checked in on Josh Willingham and Hunter Pence.  We outlined potentially available power bats earlier this month.

Minor Moves: Carter, Ramirez, Dopirak, Redding

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The latest minor moves…

  • Baseball America's Matt Eddy posted a comprehensive list of recent minor league transactions, including a swarm of draft pick signings and undrafted free agent pickups from the last week.
  • The Rays released Chris Carter according to the Triple-A International League transactions page. The 28-year-old hit .270/.309/.460 with ten homers in 233 plate appearances.
  • The Astros released catcher Max Ramirez and first baseman/DH Brian Dopirak, tweets Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle.  The Astros had signed Ramirez in May after he'd been released by the Cubs.  Dopirak was added in December.  Both players had OBPs under .290 in their brief Triple-A stints.
  • The Phillies signed righty Tim Redding to a minor league deal, tweets MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.  The 33-year-old posted a 6.59 ERA in 13 starts for the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate this year.
  • The Angels inked righty Jerome Williams for their Triple-A rotation, tweeted his agency Full Circle Sports Management.  The 29-year-old was drafted 39th overall by the Giants back in '99, one pick after the Rangers grabbed Colby Lewis.  Williams hasn't pitched in the bigs since '07.
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