Royals Rumors

Rosenthal’s Latest: Padilla, Manny, Beltre, Dunn

By Tim Dierkes | July 1, 2008 at 2:07pm CDT

Rumor man Ken Rosenthal has a new column up.

At least three teams have inquired on the Rangers’ Vicente Padilla: the Mets, Yankees, and Brewers. Jon Daniels is looking for "quality young pitching."
Manny Ramirez’s $20MM option for ’09 isn’t a lock. It’s a tough call – .900 OPS players on one-year deals don’t grow on trees.
Rosenthal suggests David DeJesus or Melky Cabrera would be nice fits for the Diamondbacks, who aren’t looking for a rental. He also speculates on names like Brian Giles, David Dellucci, and Randy Winn. Note: Rosenthal is playing GM here, not relaying inside info of trade talks.
Rosenthal believes Matt Stairs would be a nice addition for the Dodgers, and notes that the Dodgers and Blue Jays have spoken. The Jays’ direction for ’08 is still uncertain though.
Still sounds like it’d take a "knockout offer" to pry Rich Harden loose from the A’s.
The A’s are said to like Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre. He can block trades to eight unknown clubs though.
Adam Dunn isn’t generating much trade interest yet.
KC’s Ron Mahay is "drawing significant interest." The trade market for lefty relievers is fairly robust.

Grudzielanek Wants To Play Two Or Three More Years

By Tim Dierkes | July 1, 2008 at 1:17pm CDT

According to the Kansas City Star’s Bob Dutton, Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek would like to play two or three more years. Grudzielanek, 38, is hitting a healthy .307/.365/.406 in 269 plate appearances. He’s earning $4.5MM this year.

Dutton notes the Royals’ other second base options, and wonders if the team will shop Grudzielanek this month. Grudzielanek is undecided as to whether he’d prefer to stay in Kansas City beyond this year.

The Blue Jays and Dodgers seem like possibilities. However, the Jays have Joe Inglett playing well and Jeff Kent had a decent June for the Dodgers. There is not an obvious suitor for Grudzielanek.

Rockies Rumors: Holliday, Fuentes, Torrealba

By Tim Dierkes | July 1, 2008 at 9:02am CDT

The Rockies have been even worse than the Padres – 19 games under .500, 10 games out in a lousy division. According to Tracy Ringolsby, they’ll decide at the All-Star break whether to officially become sellers.

Let’s start with closer Brian Fuentes, whose ERA jumped from 2.56 to 3.94 last night. Reports had the suitors at the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Phillies, and A’s. Ringolsby says to cross the A’s off the list and add the Rays, Cubs, and Cardinals. Ken Rosenthal tossed the Cubs into the mix on June 12th, but then changed that report. Troy E. Renck adds the Cardinals to the list.

Ringolsby rattles off teams interested in Matt Holliday: Cardinals, Rays, Angels, Dodgers, and Royals. Definitely some new names in there. Holliday is hitting .332/.415/.538 in 299 plate appearances (.309/.401/.472 on the road). Ringolsby says the A’s will "kick the tires" on Holliday but are more likely to pursue Willy Taveras.

We also have RotoWire, which reports that catcher Yorvit Torrealba told the Tigers’ radio network that he wants to be traded. After nearly signing with the Mets, Torrealba inked a two-year, $7.25MM deal with the Rockies. He is hitting as badly as expected: .252/.291/.387 in 180 PAs. He’s thrown out only 24% of runners, up slightly from last year. Torrealba has been splitting time with Chris Iannetta since May.

Odds and Ends: Meche, Horne, Manny, Uggla

By Tim Dierkes | June 30, 2008 at 1:29pm CDT

Today’s random hot stove links…

Gil Meche wants to stay with the Royals.
Yankees pitching prospect Alan Horne may be injured. This could have hot stove ramifications – Horne could’ve been a top trade chip or even a rotation addition this year.
Peter Abraham does not think Barry Bonds makes sense for the Yankees. Hideki Matsui will be out at least a couple of weeks with a knee injury, with surgery as a last resort.
Manny Ramirez shoved the Red Sox’s traveling secretary. This is slightly different than the Shawn Chacon situation, in that Chacon had his hands around Ed Wade’s neck. But is Manny getting off easy because he’s Manny?
CBS’s Scott Miller weighs in on the starting pitching market.
Dan Uggla is in line for at least a tenfold raise in arbitration next year. The Marlins haven’t decided whether to talk extension with him.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Sabathia, Blake, Greinke, Tejada

By Tim Dierkes | June 27, 2008 at 1:48pm CDT

And now…a fresh Ken Rosenthal column.

An opposing viewpoint: Rosenthal says "any team that acquires C.C. Sabathia would gain an exclusive window to sign him long-term before he reaches free agency." Rosenthal notes that the Brewers and Rays are stacked enough to acquire Sabathia and wouldn’t mind taking draft picks for him after the season.
Casey Blake is drawing trade interest; his versatility is a plus. Rosenthal likes the fit for the Dodgers, Mets, and A’s.
An anonymous general manager tossed out this "trade concept": Adam Dunn to the Dodgers for Juan Pierre, Chin-lung Hu, and cash. Thoughts?
Teams such as the Braves, Phillies, and Brewers have expressed interest in Zack Greinke at some point, but the Royals plan to keep him. He’ll be eligible for free agency after the 2010 season.
Earlier this year the Cubs inquired on David DeJesus, but now they seem content with their Jim Edmonds–Reed Johnson platoon. Maybe talks will be rekindled after the season?
The Astros will talk about any player on the roster without a no-trade clause, which would include Miguel Tejada. Does that mean Jose Valverde, Hunter Pence, and Wandy Rodriguez aren’t off limits?

Odds and Ends: Chacon, Minaya, Inoa

By Tim Dierkes | June 27, 2008 at 9:18am CDT

Nothing major cracking on the hot stove this morning, so we’ll kick it off with odds and ends.

The Padres haven’t finalized the deal with top pick Allan Dykstra due to concerns with his physical.
Sorry Pirates fans, but the team does not have interest in bringing back Shawn Chacon.
David Lennon believes Omar Minaya’s job is safe. Minaya could seek an extension after the season (he’s signed through ’09).
In a non-subscriber article, Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheehan gives his take on whether certain teams should be buyers or sellers.
Saberscouting gives a scouting report on Michel Inoa.
Henry Schulman asks C.C. Sabathia whether San Francisco will be on his list.
A case for the Braves to sign Barry Bonds.
Sam Mellinger continues his look at Dayton Moore’s work in Kansas City.
Theo Epstein expects Red Sox execs Ben Cherington and Jed Hoyer to become GMs soon.

Odds and Ends: Bonds, Davis, Chulk, Ichiro

By Tim Dierkes | June 26, 2008 at 2:28pm CDT

Time for some random linkage.

I’ll be on XM Radio today at about 5pm CST – channels 176-189 with Mike Ferrin.
The Dodgers signed Jerome Williams – remember him?
Viva El Birdos runs through starting pitchers who might be on the Cardinals’ radar.
Sam Mellinger of the KC Star takes a look at Dayton Moore’s trade record. Meanwhile, Joe Posnanski explains why the Royals should sign Barry Bonds.
Ken Rosenthal doesn’t want to let Ed Wade off the hook in the Shawn Chacon dustup.
Red Reporter thinks the Reds are winning the Edinson Volquez–Josh Hamilton swap.
Rangers first base prospect Chris Davis is getting the call.
Russell Branyan has been training his eyes.
"Unsubstantiated report" – the Phillies might have interest in recently-designated reliever Vinnie Chulk.
Mariners beat writer Geoff Baker expects the team to shop Ichiro.
Buster Olney sees the Rays as a sleeper in the C.C. Sabathia derby.
Omar Minaya defends the Luis Castillo signing.

Draft Roundup: Skipworth, Crow, Hosmer

By Tim Dierkes | June 25, 2008 at 11:05am CDT

Got a few draft items today, so let’s put them into one post.

According to MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo, the Marlins have signed top draft pick Kyle Skipworth to a $2.3MM bonus. There was never any doubt. Skipworth, a high school catcher, was chosen sixth overall. This video gives a brief look at the kid.
Negotiations are dragging between the Nationals and Aaron Crow, disappointing GM Jim Bowden.
No deal is imminent for the Royals and top pick Eric Hosmer.

Royals Claim Robinson Tejeda

By Tim Dierkes | June 24, 2008 at 3:10pm CDT

The Royals snagged 26 year-old pitcher Robinson Tejeda today off waivers.

The story on Tejeda: poor control, mid-90s heat. Carlos Silva’s build, according to Baseball America. Not a bad project for KC to take on. Speaking of Silva…Royals fans must be happy they didn’t sign him last winter!

Odds and Ends: Bernazard, Sexson, Rangers

By Tim Dierkes | June 19, 2008 at 11:34am CDT

Time for another link roundup.

I hadn’t realized this – the Royals offered Billy Butler for Yuniesky Betancourt a few years back.
The Jays acquired pitcher Jonah Bayliss for a player to be named later.
Buster Olney heard that Brian Sabean doesn’t like the idea of the Giants bringing in Rick Peterson. Wouldn’t be fair to Dave Righetti.
Ken Davidoff of Newsday says Mets VP of Development Tony Bernazard has a bad reputation.
David Andriesen of the Seattle PI has a source saying the Mariners are not ready to pull the trigger Richie Sexson’s release. Still seems likely though.
I did a Q&A on the Rangers with Uwe Blog.
Speaking of the Rangers, I’m high on Chris Davis as a fantasy baseball pickup.

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