Odds And Ends: Dodgers, Chapman, Kepler
Some more links as we count down to the big weekend…
- Diamond Leung reports that the Dodgers traded minor-league pitcher Stephen Randolph to the Royals. Randolph, who was named in the Mitchell Report, pitched well as a starter in Triple A this month.
- Aroldis Chapman's whereabouts remain unknown, according to ESPN.com.
- Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post says "Clint Hurdle would not have fallen on his sword had the 'pen been mighty under his watch." Or, in less poetic terms, the Rockies have an improved bullpen.
- Signees from the Dominican Republic will now have to take DNA tests to prove their identity before leaving the country, according to Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus.
- As ESPN.com's Keith Law reports, the Twins have agreed to sign German catcher Max Kepler for an undisclosed amount.
Stark On Royals, Phillies, Holliday
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark asks some thoughtful baseball people why we're not greeting Manny Ramirez like the "team-wrecking, alibi-distorting, female-fertility-drug-popping scoundrel he is." And, of course, Stark has piles of rumors. Here they are:
- The Mets were never willing to move Bobby Parnell or other top young arms for Mark DeRosa, so they weren't as close to acquiring him as the Reds and Cubs were. The Phillies, Marlins and Giants were also in the mix.
- The Indians are more interested in dealing Rafael Bentancourt than Kerry Wood, whose contract ($15MM remaining) would be hard to move.
- The Royals will listen on anyone but Zack Greinke, but that doesn't mean they're looking to deal starters. They're "reluctant" to deal Brian Bannister, Kyle Davies or Gil Meche, who has a no-trade clause.
- The Phillies were looking at Juan Cruz, who the Royals say they'd only deal for an upper-tier prospect ready to make a big-league impact.
- The Reds will wait it out and ramp up their pursuit of a bat if they're in the race later in the month.
- One executive says Pedro Martinez didn't look bad in last month's workout; Pedro's just demanding too much money.
- The Phillies haven't given up on pursuing Cliff Lee, Erik Bedard or Roy Oswalt.
- The Braves are trying to deal Jeff Francoeur everywhere, but no one's interested. One front-office guy says his team would be interested if Francoeur's non-tendered.
- Officials are divided on whether Yunel Escobar could be dealt, but a trade is unlikely at best.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels says he is now looking to bolster his rotation.
- As expected, Daniels confirmed that the Rangers will have "limited" ability to take on salary at the deadline.
- The A's will want "two prospects with tremendous upside" for Matt Holliday if they deal him. It's unclear how much of the $6.75MM remaining on his contract the A's would pick up.
- Could Josh Willingham be the next-best bat on the market? One exec says he might be if Russell Branyan and Miguel Tejada don't become available.
- Another official says Willingham's unappealing because of his back issues.
Royals Ink Chad Orvella
According to John Marshall of the Associated Press, via USAToday.com, the Royals have signed Chad Orvella to a minor league contract.
The 28-year-old right-hander was released by the Rays in early June after posting a 6.12 ERA in 32 1/3 innings for Triple-A Durham. The Royals immediately assigned him to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, where he'll work in middle relief.
Odds And Ends: Mariners, Webb, Donnelly
Some links for the afternoon…
- John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune says Greg Dobbs could be the answer for the Mariners at third base.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times considers the possibility that the Mariners could deal Erik Bedard or Jarrod Washburn and still contend. He concludes that the team needs both pitchers to make the playoffs.
- Dayn Perry of FOX Sports looks at projected stats for a handful of trade candidates.
- Brandon Webb won't have to undergo shoulder surgery, according to MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. Instead, he'll aim for a September return.
- Mike Aviles isn't so lucky. He'll miss the rest of the season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, according to MLB.com's Dick Kaegel
- Diamond Leung reports that Brendan Donnelly left the Astros organization to become a free agent.
- Tune in to 1570 WSCO in Green Bay at 5:05 CST as I'll be talking rumors.
Odds & Ends: Zambrano, Royals, Hinske
A dosage of links to soothe and satisfy between innings:
- Paul Sullivan at the Chicago Tribune got Carlos Zambrano to respond to the poll that 57.2% of Cubs fans think he should be traded: "Fine, trade me to Boston," he joked.
- Joe Posnanski gives an in-depth look at the problems facing the Royals. "The Royals execs are smart people. But the more they do to this offense, the worse this offense gets," he says.
- Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, cricket players from India who won a reality T.V. show called "Million Dollar Arm" and had never picked up a baseball until recently, are now set to play their first game for rookie-level Pirates affiliate Bradenton.
- M.A. Mehta at the Newark Star-Ledger talked to Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who says the deal for Eric Hinske "made some sense…he's a pro."
- Bart Hubbuch at the New York Post tweets that the Mets "inquired repeatedly" on Mark DeRosa but didn't like the price.
- ESPN's Keith Law takes a look at some intriguing pitchers in the Cape League (Insider).
- Kiley McDaniel tweets that Baltimore is a "serious darkhorse" for the services of Miguel Angel Sano, with the Pirates and Twins still favorites.
- According to MLB.com's Rustin Dodd, the Royals have begun discussions with first-round pick Aaron Crow.
Odds And Ends: DeRosa, Royals, Jays
The runner-up for Mark DeRosa, thoughts on the Blue Jays and a pair of discussions to listen in on…
- Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News says the Reds came in second in the DeRosa sweepstakes.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that DeRosa's already fitting in well with the Cards.
- The Phillies, who are scouring the league for starters, could have interest in Gil Meche and Brian Bannister so, as David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News reports, the Royals scouted Lou Marson and others in Triple A.
- MLB.com's Mark Bowman notes suspicion that the Braves are unhappy with Yunel Escobar's behavior.
- Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail gets the sense that the Jays are ready to move Vernon Wells and/or Alex Rios for just about anything to free up enough money to keep Roy Halladay after next year.
- Watch my discussion with Sid Rosenberg right here. We talked about the Mets, Matt Holliday and the best pitching available.
- I will also be talking trades on SportsTalkSoup tonight at 10pm CST, so listen in.
International Free Agent Update
ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure relays the latest on a pair of international players with his Twitter account.
- Cheslor Cuthbert, who agreed to terms over the weekend, will receive a bonus of about $1.2MM from the Royals.
- The Rangers appear to be closing in on Jurickson Profar.
- It looks like he'll receive a bonus of about $700k to play short.
- He could probably have received more if he'd signed as a pitcher, but he doesn't want to pitch.
Our own Mike Axisa questioned Baseball America's Ben Badler about some other international players over at River Ave. Blues:
- It looks like top Latin catching prospect Gary Sanchez will sign with the Yankees for about $3MM.
- The Mariners seem to be the favorites to sign Guillermo Pimentel.
- Ugueth Urbina's son, Juan, will likely sign with the Mets.
- Badler says Miguel Angel Sano would have gone somewhere between fourth overall and the end of the first round if he'd been eligible in this month's draft.
Discussion: Mark Teahen
Earlier today, Peter Gammons tweeted this tidbit (his account is protected):
"Best name today Mark Teahen. SF, Bos, Cubs, WS, Mets…on."
Gammons squeezed as much as he could under the character count, but it's enough information to make it interesting. Teahen was the subject of discussion earlier this week, as the Royals were said to be open to dealing their "non-core players." Jon Paul Morosi at Fox Sports speculated Teahen could soon develop suitors.
Teahen, who will turn 28 in September, is making $3.575MM this year and won't become a free agent until after the 2011 season. He had a breakout year in 2006 when he posted an .874 OPS in 439 plate appearances, and while he hasn't approached those numbers since then, he has an .800 OPS in 280 plate appearances this year while manning outfield, second base, third base and first base for the Royals. That profile makes him a sort of poor man's Mark DeRosa, who has been on many teams' radars this summer.
If the Royals are indeed listening to offers for Teahen, on what team do you see him as the best fit? What could a player of his stature command? Share your thoughts.
Royals Ink Nicaraguan Prospect
According to Dejan Kovacevic at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Royals have come to terms with Cheslor Cuthbert, a 3B prospect out of Nicaragua. The 16-year-old will sign for a bonus around $1.5 million.
Kovacevic reports that the Pirates had been in hot pursuit of Cuthbert for about two years and had been named as favorites to sign him. Rumors had swirled the past few days from ESPN's Jorge Arangure that the Royals had become the more likely destination.
Odds & Ends: Moore, Schmidt, Atkins
On this date back in 2003, Johnny Damon hit a single, a double, and a triple in a 14-run first inning against the Marlins. The Red Sox set a league record by scoring ten runs before making an out.
On to the linkage…
- Matthew Pouliot of Circling The Bases says that Dayton Moore's moves over the last season and a half are enough to warrant his dismissal. He notes they have a more than qualified replacement already in-house in senior advisor Mike Arbuckle.
- Ben Bolch of The LA Times notes that Jason Schmidt threw 104 pitches over 7.2 shutout in a rehab start yesterday. We know the Dodgers are looking for pitching, but a healthy and reasonably effective Schmidt could lessen that urgency.
- Tracy Ringolsby writes that Garrett Atkins' recent hot streak creates "more of a possibility of another team having interest in acquiring him." Atkins is hitting .340-.415-.553 in June.
- The Rangers have been getting good production from unexpected sources like Jason Jennings, says Ken Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News.
- Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez says he's happy to be in Colorado, according to Susan Slusser of The SF Chronicle.
- Joe Cowley tweets this Ozzie Guillen quote: "The people that run baseball teams now are soft." I wonder what Kenny Williams thinks about that.
- Marc Carig writes that the Rockies had begun combing through the Yankees' farm system in advance of a potential Huston Street trade back in May.