Rosenthal On Astros, Marquis, DeRosa, Francoeur
Let's take a look at the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- Rosenthal recommends the Astros trade veterans to improve their bottom-ranked farm system. He'd especially like to see Houston make Roy Oswalt available. They'd have take Oswalt's no-trade clause into consideration.
- The Phillies continue to seek a starter, and they made an inquiry on Colorado's Jason Marquis. Rosenthal finds Erik Bedard "perhaps the most intriguing fit" and notes that the Phils probably have flexibility to add payroll. This question came up in a recent chat…I do think the Phillies have the pieces to pull off a Bedard trade.
- The Brewers are not going after Cleveland's Mark DeRosa, as they cannot spare Major League pitching for him. Rosenthal also finds Jake Peavy unlikely, as the Brewers probably couldn't pull off a deal without creating a new need. Of Peavy, Rosenthal says, "He will not leave easily."
- The Mets are interested in Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson, who is off to a .338/.445/.471 start.
- The Royals might be the top suitor for Jeff Francoeur if the Braves shop him, but not everyone in Kansas City's front office is keen on him. The Red Sox are known to have an eye on Francoeur.
- Rosenthal's heard speculation that the Sox could trade Daniel Bard, whose value may be at a high point.
- Rather than acquire someone like Yuniesky Betancourt, the Padres will stick with in-house options at shortstop (mainly Luis Rodriguez and Everth Cabrera, once they're healthy).
Odds And Ends: Padres, Takatsu, Sano
Links for Friday afternoon…
- SI.com's Tom Verducci heard one GM argue that the Padres should trade Jake Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez to re-stock the farm system.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo breaks down what will happen after Stephen Strasburg's drafted by the Nationals. He predicts that eight or nine college arms could go in the first 20 picks, if you count redrafts like Aaron Crow and Tanner Scheppers.
- According to Mike Rutsey of the Toronto Sun, Travis Snider was sent to Triple A by the Blue Jays. Snider was hitting .242/.292/.394, with 25 strikeouts in 99 at bats.
- According to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker, Shingo Takatsu auditioned in front of the D'Backs and Giants. He threw as hard as 86 mph and impressed scouts with his breaking balls. If the name sounds familiar it's because the 40-year-old sidearmer used to close for the White Sox.
- Steve Melewski of MASN wonders if Nolan Reimold has seen the last of the minor leagues. After a slow start, the left fielder is seven for his last 18, including a homer off Mariano Rviera.
- Via Twitter, Keith Law suggests pitcher Sonny Gray would go in the top three picks of this year's draft if he were eligible.
- Live to Play suggests the list of suitors for Miguel Angel Sano will soon "thin out to the very serious contenders" for the 16-year-old shortstop prospect.
- Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star writes that the ideal trade for the Royals might be Mike Jacobs or Jose Guillen for a "capable shortstop."
Dayton Moore – GM Trade History
Next up in our GM Trade History series, Dayton Moore of the Royals. Thanks to Brendan Bianowicz for putting this together. Click here to download the spreadsheet. Be sure to check out the different tabs at the bottom.
Odds & Ends: Bonds, Armas, Strasburg
Links for Wednesday…
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says the Royals received righty Eric Basurto as the player to be named later in the Ross Gload trade.
- Tom Glavine hopes to pitch in the Majors this month, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman.
- Back on May 3rd, Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times wrote about the possibility of Barry Bonds signing with the independent league Long Beach Armada (the team already employs Hideki Irabu and Jose Lima). But Bonds' agent Jeff Borris said, "He's not going to do that."
- It appears that Tony Armas Jr. signed a minor league deal with the Braves after the Mets released him.
- Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News says Padres beat writer Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune will be out of a job come August. Sorry to hear it; Krasovic does excellent work.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo talked to Tony Gwynn about Stephen Strasburg.
- Johnny Damon talked about his future again, this time with MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
- Jim Thome would like to return to the White Sox next year, based on his comments to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
Odds & Ends: Byrd, Fox, Kobayashi
Links for Monday…
- MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince says the Indians signed 31 year-old reliever Blaine Neal to a minor league deal. Here's a look at Neal's minor league work – nice job for the Tigers' Triple A club last year.
- Masahide Kobayashi explains why he's struggled in the U.S., talking to Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro wrote on Thursday that free agent pitcher Paul Byrd has a $3MM asking price.
- It might be time for Chad Fox to hang up the spikes. He owns a 3.79 ERA in 228 career innings. Would've been 3.45, without his Cubs career.
- Michael O'Keefe of the New York Daily News runs through the list of Scott Boras clients linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
- Rany Jazayerli likes Pedro Martinez as a comparable for Zack Greinke.
- A.J. Hinch's contract runs through 2012.
- RotoAuthority looks at the pitchers who have improved their walk rate the most this year.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo gives an overview of this year's draft.
- Current members of the Newark Bears: Rob Mackowiak, Keith Foulke, Shawn Chacon, Abraham Nunez, Carl Everett, Jay Gibbons, and Michael Tucker.
Rosenthal On Royals, Atkins, Baez, Huff
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has trade speculation in the sidebar of his latest column.
- Rosenthal sees shortstop Mike Aviles as the Royals' weakest link, given his .523 OPS in 97 plate appearances. Most projection systems had Aviles in the .720-.750 range. Rosenthal runs through potential trade targets such as Orlando Cabrera, Jack Wilson, Miguel Tejada, and Marco Scutaro. The first three have their flaws, and Scutaro doesn't figure to be available.
- Rosenthal suggests the Rockies could accomplish their goal of more playing time for Ian Stewart by trading Garrett Atkins. However, Atkins is fairly pricey and is off to a .224/.287/.367 start through 108 plate appearances.
- Orioles reliever Danys Baez is generating trade buzz with his 2.30 ERA through 15.6 innings. Baez is still owed $4.55MM of his $5.5MM '09 salary, and he also gets a $500K bonus if traded. So just moving the contract might be a feat for Andy MacPhail, in my opinion.
- Aubrey Huff, with $6.62MM left on his contract, could eventually draw interest from teams like the Royals and Mariners, in Rosenthal's opinion. Huff seems back to his pre-2008 level; he's hitting .270/.331/.423 in 124 plate appearances.
Brayan Pena Clears Waivers
Who wants a 27 year-old switch-hitting catcher who hit .303/.376/.462 at Triple A last year? No one, apparently. According to MLB.com's Dick Kaegel, Royals catcher Brayan Pena cleared waivers and was assigned to Triple A Omaha. This marks Pena's fifth trip to Triple A. In their 2007 Handbook, Baseball America suggested Pena's defense was at least decent. In a world of $2MM backup catchers, it's surprising Pena wasn't picked up.
2010 Options: Kansas City Royals
Today let's take a look at the 2010 options facing the Royals.
- Coco Crisp – $8MM club option with a $500K buyout. Crisp, 29, is off to a .242/.354/.463 start in his first 115 Royals plate appearances. He also leads all center fielders in UZR/150. It seems likely that the Royals will exercise Crisp's option.
- Miguel Olivo – $3.25MM mutual option. Olivo's big issue was playing time, but he's split the plate appearances behind the plate evenly with John Buck. Olivo hits lefties and catches Zack Greinke, but that may not be enough to justify the Royals exercising their side of the 2010 option.
Stark On Holliday, Relievers, Relocation
The latest from ESPN's Jayson Stark…
- Stark compared 2009 April attendance to 2008, excluding the New York teams given their new stadiums. He found virtually no change, overall. One anonymous agent complained that Bud Selig "overdramatized the potential financial losses so as to limit and to artificially control spending on free agency."
- The Royals may need a bat, but Stark says they're unwilling to discuss any of their best or most advanced prospects in trades.
- Stark talked to one exec about Billy Beane's Matt Holliday situation. If Holliday's power outage continues, could he become a July salary-dump candidate? If the A's keep him all year, will they risk offering him arbitration? And is Holliday headed toward a one-year "redeem yourself" deal on the free agent market?
- Stark says the Marlins would love to add a late-inning reliever via trade. He runs through possible relief trade candidates. In addition to the players I listed on Tuesday, Stark mentions Alan Embree, Octavio Dotel, Matt Thornton, Tom Gordon, Eddie Guardado, and Ron Mahay. The Phillies are also in the market.
- Remember the Zack Greinke trade rumors of years past? Stark talked to one exec who says Royals GM Dayton Moore never wanted to trade him.
- If, down the road, the A's or Rays have to relocate, Stark says San Antonio, Las Vegas, and Mexico were the locations MLB was considering in reference to the Marlins.
Odds & Ends: Nationals, Garcia, Bonds
Links for Wednesday…
- Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com grilled various Nationals about the possibility of the team signing Stephen Strasburg for big bucks.
- Righty Steven Shell elected free agency, while Nats reliever Wil Ledezma accepted a Triple A assignment according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Chico Harlan of the Washington Post discusses the Nationals' bullpen construction in this post.
- Yahoo's Gordon Edes chatted with Evan Longoria as part of his article about David Price and Matt Wieters starting the season in Triple A.
- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen commented about free agent Freddy Garcia, talking to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star thinks the Royals should sign Barry Bonds, and current team members seem receptive to the idea. In separate columns, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle and Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News try to figure out why Bonds hasn't retired.