Odds and Ends: Garcia, Gordon, and Falkenborg
Astros GM Ed Wade is taking a close look at pitcher Freddy Garcia, currently rehabbing in Miami. Houston is currently 13.5 games out of first place. About 15 teams in all watched Garcia work out, leading to much speculation. His agent told ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick that the 33-year old "would prefer to sign a contract for the rest of 2008, show that he’s fully recovered from shoulder surgery, then go on the open market as a free agent in November." Here’s the full list of teams who watched him work out: The Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, Tigers, Rangers, Mets, Phillies, Astros, Brewers, Cubs, Rockies, and Dodgers, and possibly the White Sox and Marlins. The Phillies aren’t interested. Garcia is expected to make a decision soon.
It’s looking like Tom Gordon‘s season is done. He was on the DL for inflammation in his elbow, but it’s now starting to look like he’ll need surgery. Philadelphia was hoping the righty set-up man would be back in time for their stretch run.
The Dodgers have DFA’d Brian Falkenborg to make room for Brad Penny. The thirty-year-old righty has a 6.17 ERA in 11 and two-thirds innings with LA this year. He has never pitched more than 20 innings per season in the big leagues.
Marlins Sign Lo Duca, Claim Ausmus
According to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, the Marlins signed Paul Lo Duca to a minor league deal today. Lo Duca will head to Triple A as the team’s insurance plan.
The Nationals signed Lo Duca for a hefty $5MM in December of ’07, three days before he was named in the Mitchell Report. The 36 year-old hit just .230/.301/.281 in 153 plate appearances, hobbled by knee surgery and a broken bone in his throwing hand. Lo Duca was a Marlin for part of the ’04 season and all of ’05, though he did not hit well for them.
Additionally, Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post reports that the Marlins claimed Brad Ausmus off waivers from the Astros. It’s unclear whether they’ll work out a deal or salary dump. Ausmus is owed another $590K this year.
Odds and Ends: McLouth, Doumit, Eyre, Bradley
Here’s today’s link roundup.
- Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus rates the best remaining fits for Barry Bonds. The Angels come out on top.
- The Mets seem pessimistic about Ryan Church returning this season.
- MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has the latest buzz on the unsigned draft picks.
- The Astros dug up a pitcher in the independent leagues who is said to touch 100 mph. He’s a 21 year-old righty named Jack Tilghman.
- The Pirates plan to offer long-term contracts to Nate McLouth and Ryan Doumit.
- Sean McAdam says the Red Sox still have some interest in Scott Eyre.
- Dave Cameron can’t figure out what kind of contract Milton Bradley will get. Did you realize Bradley leads the American League in both OBP and SLG?
- Patrick Newman ranks Hitoki Iwase, Kenshin Kawakami, and Koji Uehara as MLB prospects.
At Least 15 Teams Watched Freddy Garcia
9:13pm: Additional teams confirmed in attendance: the Red Sox, Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Marlins, and White Sox. Garcia’s agent says he’d like to sign by this weekend, and plans to sign only for ’08. Troy Renck says the Rockies are a long shot now that they’ve added Livan Hernandez.
WEDNESDAY, 9:28am: Surprisingly, the Phillies were in attendance at Garcia’s audition yesterday. David Murphy finds the idea intriguing, but says the Phils don’t have major interest. The Phillies traded Gavin Floyd to the White Sox for Garcia in December of ’06, but he only gave them 11 starts while earning $10MM.
Also confirmed at the audition: the Tigers, Yankees, Mets, Rays, Rockies, Astros, and Rangers. MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez thinks the Rangers might be the most interested party.
TUESDAY: Today’s the big day…free agent Freddy Garcia will audition for teams in Miami. He’s recovering from labrum surgery.
We’ve compiled reports over the past few months. Teams interested in Garcia at one point: the Mets, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, White Sox, Rangers, Tigers, Rays, Astros, Cubs, Cardinals, Dodgers, Twins, Indians, Mariners, and Royals. That’s 16 of 30 teams, though the non-contenders may have dropped out.
Garcia’s friend and former manager Ozzie Guillen doubted the pitcher’s ability to contribute at the big league level this year. Garcia was upset by the comments.
Week in Review: 7/27 – 8/2
We saw the non-waiver trade deadline come and go this week, and plenty of action to go along with it. Let’s recap the big moves of the week:
- The Dodgers, Pirates, and Red Sox completed a three-team, blockbuster trade that sent Manny Ramirez to Los Angeles, Jason Bay to Boston, and Andy LaRoche, Bryan Morris, Craig Hansen, and Brandon Moss to Pittsburgh. The Pirates got a pretty nice haul, and while Bay won’t necessarily replace Manny’s production, he’s much more affordable, signed through ’09, and doesn’t disrupt the clubhouse. The Dodgers add the big bat they need for a push in the NL West, though are now overloaded with overpaid outfielders. All in all, I don’t think any team made a bad deal in this one.
- The Angels made a big move in adding Mark Teixeira to their lineup, sending Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek to Atlanta in exchange. The Angels didn’t need help at the time – they’re running away with the AL West – but this move will undoubtedly be significant in the postseason. Great boost to the Halos’ lineup.
- The White Sox and Reds completed a trade that sent Ken Griffey Jr. to Chicago in exchange for Nick Masset and Danny Richar. I don’t understand this trade from the Sox perspective. Griffey was only hitting .245 at the time of the trade, and his range in center field isn’t close to what it once was. Still, he’s a presence in both the lineup and the clubhouse. Will playing for a contender rejuvenate him?
- The Yankees acquired future hall-of-famer Ivan Rodriguez from the Tigers in exchange for Kyle Farnsworth. With Jorge Posada out for the season, New York did a good job of solidifying their catcher’s spot, while the Tigers got some much-needed improvement in their bullpen.
- The Twins aren’t known for making big trades at the deadline, and they held true to that in 2008. However, they made a move that could be bigger than any trade they might have made, when they designated Livan Hernandez for assignment, and recalled Francisco Liriano from Triple-A Rochester. The Twins DFA’ed Craig Monroe as well. The Rockies are looking for a fifth starter, and could have interest in Hernandez.
- Relievers on the move: Arthur Rhodes was traded to the Marlins, giving them another effective lefty option in the bullpen. The Astros acquired LaTroy Hawkins, still buying despite being 9.5 games out of the wildcard race at the time.
- The Nationals released Paul Lo Duca and Felipe Lopez. Both were highly unsuccessful this season, though they could generate interest from other teams.
- Tim explained the rules behind waiver trades for those who are unfamiliar with how the process works after the July 31st non-waiver deadline. He also takes a look at some noteable names who stayed put at the deadline.
- Minor moves: The Yankees signed Victor Zambrano to a minor league contract, while the Red Sox did the same with former Cleveland closer Joe Borowski.
- The Diamondbacks are talking extension with their second ace, Dan Haren.
- USA Today wrote an article on MLBTR. Check it out!
Odds And Ends: Royals, Rockies, Rhodes, Braves
Let’s round up some remaining links in this lazy Saturday afternoon:
- The Royals DFA’d Yasuhiko Yabuta. The White Sox had tried to sign the Japanese reliever last winter but were unsuccessful. Yabuta was 1-3 with a 5.46 ERA and had signed a two-year, $6MM deal with Kansas City.
- The Rockies tried desperately to acquire a fifth starter before the non-waiver deadline but couldn’t match-up with the Mariners for Jarrod Washburn or the Nationals for Tim Redding; and Paul Byrd had Colorado on his no-trade list. The Rockies will continue to look for a starter via waiver wire claims.
- Arthur Rhodes was shocked when he learned he had been traded to the Marlins. ”There had been a lot of talk about me being traded to a couple of other teams, but I guess Florida wanted me more."
- The Braves DFA’d back-up catcher Corky Miller yesterday, and Royce Ring today.
- Also today (and in that Ring link), the Astros DFA’d Chad Paronto.
Alejandro A. Leal writes for UmpBump.com. Post-deadline rumors? Comments? alexo05 [at] umpbump [daught] com.
Players Not Traded
Assigning contender status is subjective, but I’m going to say that the following teams are not in the playoff mix: the Orioles, Royals, Indians, Mariners, Braves, Nationals, Reds, Astros, Pirates, Giants, and Padres. The Blue Jays and Athletics just missed the cut as fringe wild card contenders. With those 11 non-contenders in mind, let’s take a look at players not traded at the ’08 non-waiver deadline.
- Orioles: Aubrey Huff, Ramon Hernandez, Brian Roberts, Jay Payton, Jamie Walker, Kevin Millar, Chad Bradford, George Sherrill. Millar and Payton are free agents after the season, but there probably wasn’t much of a market for either. The rest are under team control through at least ’09, so Andy MacPhail still has time to find the right deal; read his comments here. Hernandez is an August trade candidate.
- Royals: Jose Guillen, Mark Grudzielanek, Ron Mahay, David DeJesus, Miguel Olivo. Moving the Guillen contract would’ve made sense, but we don’t know whether that was on the table. Kind of surprised to see Grudz still around. Mahay could be an offseason move, but the Royals might just want him for ’09. DeJesus’ name will probably come up at the Winter Meetings.
- Indians: Paul Byrd, David Dellucci, Jamey Carroll. Only Byrd was thought to generate a bit of interest. He could go in August.
- Mariners: Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn, Raul Ibanez. The Ms still have time to move Beltre and Washburn if they feel so inclined. Ibanez is a possible Type A free agent, so the Mariners asked for a lot. Jayson Stark spoke to teams who characterized the Ms demands as "outrageous" in general. Geoff Baker gives his take on the Mariners’ deadline day.
- Braves: Mark Kotsay, Will Ohman. Wouldn’t be surprising to see Kotsay moved this month. Ohman we discussed here.
- Nationals: Austin Kearns, Dmitri Young, Cristian Guzman, Luis Ayala, Ron Belliard, Tim Redding, Odalis Perez. Some of these players have little trade value, while the Nationals prefer to keep others for ’09.
- Reds: Adam Dunn, Bronson Arroyo, Jeremy Affeldt, David Weathers, David Ross, Josh Fogg, Paul Bako. It seems that the offers just weren’t there for Dunn, who should net a pair of draft picks unless the Reds are gunshy about offering arbitration. I’m surprised Weathers and Fogg weren’t moved.
- Astros: Miguel Tejada, Randy Wolf, Jose Valverde, Ty Wigginton, Mark Loretta, Doug Brocail, Geoff Geary. The ‘Stros are acting like contenders. The worst outcome for fans would be if Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins add a few wins and worsen the team’s ’09 draft position.
- Pirates: Jack Wilson, John Grabow, Doug Mientkiewicz. The Pirates were quite active, and could still trade Wilson and Grabow this winter.
- Giants: Randy Winn, Dave Roberts, Bengie Molina, Rich Aurilia, Tyler Walker, Jack Taschner. Winn and Roberts are August trade candidates. The others might’ve made sense to trade.
- Padres: Greg Maddux, Brian Giles, Khalil Greene, Josh Bard. Maddux, with just one possible suitor, couldn’t be moved. Keeping Giles and Bard around makes sense for ’09, while trading Greene now would be selling low. The Padres did talk to seven different teams in the last few days.
Odds And Ends: Giants, Maddux, Grudzielanek, Arias
A few post-deadline notes from the MLBiverse…
- Brian Sabean is confident that he will be able to sneak some of his veteran players (Rich Aurilia, Omar Vizquel, Randy Winn, Bengie Molina, etc.) through waivers in the coming month for the purpose of making a trade. Chris Haft feels that the large number of teams remaining in contention will make that very difficult.
- Kevin Towers does not sound optimistic about the possibility of trading Greg Maddux in the next month noting that such a move would be "dicier" and any trade would still require the Dodgers to "step up and give us the prospect package [the Padres want]."
- Bob Dutton reports that the Royals will still try to move Mark Grudzielanek.
- The Astros claimed relief pitcher Alberto Arias off waivers from the Rockies. Arias had been DFA’d on Tuesday and the Astros will send him to triple-A.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here .
LaTroy Hawkins Traded To Astros
According to Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros acquired LaTroy Hawkins from the Yankees. The Yanks will receive minor league second baseman Matt Cusick in return. Does this set up a deal for another Astros reliever, or are the ‘Stros just trying to close the 9.5 game wild card gap?
Odds and Ends: Street, Zaun, Guardado, Blalock
Let’s round up some odds and ends for a rumor-packed day.
- The Reds had a scout at a recent Rangers-A’s game; they may have been eyeing a Texas catcher.
- Billy Beane is still fielding offers for Huston Street; Jon Heyman mentions the same teams we’ve heard in the past.
- Ed Wade told Miguel Tejada he’s staying put.
- Gregg Zaun would welcome a trade. GM J.P. Ricciardi responded by saying "someone has to want you." The Marlins could make sense; their catcher hunt may hinge on Matt Treanor‘s decision whether to have surgery.
- John Maine has a mild rotator cuff strain. I wonder if this will affect the chances of long-term extension talks with Maine. Anyway, it’d make sense to bring in some rotation insurance.
- Geoff Baker says the Brewers, Marlins, and Tigers are eyeing Eddie Guardado.
- Hank Blalock is on the DL and off the trade market.
- Ken Davidoff believes the Mets are scouting George Sherrill.