Rockies Inquire About Octavio Dotel
Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post mentioned today that the Rockies have inquired about Royals’ closer Octavio Dotel. This confirms Ken Rosenthal’s report from Friday. Rosenthal had also mentioned that the Indians were looking into Dotel.
The Rockies’ interest in a rental reliever like Dotel indicates to me that they won’t be trading Brian Fuentes this year. Renck spoke of that possibility today in his mailbag, noting that the Phillies, Red Sox, and Yankees have interest in Fuentes if the Rox make him available. The Rockies are 5.5 games out of the divison lead and 4.5 games out of the Wild Card. It would be exciting to see them as buyers at the deadline.
Royals’ Bradley Trade Cancelled
UPDATE: The trade of Bradley to the Royals has already fallen through. Turns out Bradley had an oblique injury that neither team was aware of. Maybe the GMs can still work something out, since Bradley could’ve been expected to have an oblique injury within a week or two anyway.
According to ESPN, the Royals have acquired Milton Bradley from the A’s for reliever Leo Nunez. It’s a surprising move for Kansas City.
Nunez is a 23 year-old righty reliever. He’s been compared to Julian Tavarez. He’s got a decent hitter but his secondary pitches need work. Nunez has been knocked around in 67 big league innings. He’s pitching well in Double A this year but A) he probably belongs in Triple A and B) his strikeout rate is poor.
Bradley will presumably be the Royals’ regular left fielder, at least until he finds his way back to the DL. If Dayton Moore doesn’t spin him off for something better than Nunez before the deadline, I don’t get the move.
Rosenthal’s Latest
Ken Rosenthal has a new column up. A summary appears below.
- Rosenthal thinks the Tigers are unlikely to acquire Eric Gagne or Akinori Otsuka, perhaps preferring to look at internal options. That’s a shame, as I think they really need to add someone.
- The White Sox won’t be granting a 72 hour negotiating window if they trade Mark Buehrle. Strictly a rental. That could limit the market for him, but Kenny Williams will come up with at least one quality prospect.
- The Dodgers don’t seem likely to trade for Adam Dunn or Jermaine Dye, but could go after Mark Teixeira. Dye seems most likely to end up in the NL West somehow, but only if he is healthy and hitting.
- Possible Dontrelle Willis suitors: the Rockies or Diamondbacks. They’ve got the young trading chips, and the need in the present day. The Rox could offer Aaron Cook plus prospects, and the D’Backs could try Livan Hernandez and youngsters. If the D’Backs dare offer up Justin Upton, the Marlins would jump. Of course, D-Train needs to be healthy and the Marlins would need to fall out of contention.
- Barry Bonds‘s agent really doesn’t see a trade happening. Well, no one does, but it’s fun to speculate. Rosenthal thinks only the Yankees could accomodate him.
- Aside from the Pirates and Padres, the Astros, Cardinals, and Rangers could go after Milton Bradley.
- Rosenthal has a GM source who thinks the Reds could wait until this winter, exercise Adam Dunn’s $13MM option for ’08, and then trade him. Dunn, however, would gain no-trade protection until June 15, 2008 and then be able to block 10 teams thereafter.
- Troy Glaus isn’t going anywhere. Even if the Jays wanted to trade him, his contract is prohibitive.
- The Indians or Rockies could trade for Octavio Dotel for bullpen depth. Dotel is developing into a fine trading chip for Dayton Moore, just as planned. The Tribe has had interest in Dotel in past offseasons.
Cardinal Trade Rumor Roundup
My apologies for posting some rumors from a few days ago; I’m still catching up. Today’s let’s look at some recent Cardinals trade rumors.
The first question is whether the team should conduct some form of a fire sale. Right now, they’re still mired in the NL Central race at 6.5 games out. But if the team does spiral out of contention by July 31st, it might make sense to trade Jason Isringhausen. He’s probably their best trading chip. Cards beat writer Joe Strauss mentions the Braves, Indians, and Cubs as teams that would have interest in the 34 year-old closer. After Izzy was nearly left for dead/retired in ’06, he’s bounced back with 13 saves in the season’s first two months. He makes $8.75MM this year with an $8MM club option for ’08. That includes a $1.25MM buyout.
The Isringhausen trade option represents the worst case scenario. Let’s consider what the Cardinals might do to improve in the short term. Catcher Yadier Molina should be sidelined for at least a month with a broken wrist. One option is Royals catcher Jason LaRue, who’s owed about $1.65MM on the season by KC. The one concern is that LaRue is 7 for 57 on the season, and didn’t hit at all last year. At 33, he may have to permanently join the Brotherhood of Backup Catchers, if he hasn’t already. Yadier’s brother Jose may be an option as well.
Also on the radar: comeback kid Troy Percival. The Cards will watch him throw, if they haven’t already. St. Louis joins roughly a half-dozen teams in the Percival pursuit. More than that, if you add the Giants and A’s to the mix.
Greinke to the Bullpen
As Tim wrote the other day, with Luke Hudson and Scott Elarton coming back from the DL, something had to give. Apparently that "something" is Zack Greinke, who is going to be a relief pitcher for the time being. How odd.
Greinke looked great in his April start against Daisuke Matsuzaka; since then he’s been mostly terrible with a couple of strong outings mixed in. I can’t imagine this is anything remotely permanent, but perhaps the Royals are showcasing all of their marginal guys–Hudson, Brian Bannister, Odalis Perez, etc.–to see what they can get in trade. Heaven knows they have some needs to fill.
By Jeff Sackmann
Brew Crew Ball
Royals Have Arms To Spare
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star discusses the Royals’ surplus of starting pitching with GM Dayton Moore in today’s article. The Royals have Luke Hudson and Scott Elarton coming back from injuries very soon, so they may have an arm or two to spare.
The one obvious trade candidate right now is southpaw Odalis Perez, who turns 30 in June. Elarton would come next, but he’s recovering from a torn labrum. Perez at least has no health issues. He simply has performance issues, with just 14 strikeouts in 34.2 innings.
Perez began throwing a sinker this year, and it’s at least helped him get his groundball rate up to where it was in L.A. He deserves to be someone’s fifth starter, probably in the NL. While he’s earning $7.75MM in the last year of his contract, the Dodgers covered most of that. From what I can determine, an acquiring team would probably have to pay him around $2MM.
Clark Fosler gives his take on the team’s oddly configured roster over at Royals Authority.
Angels Interested In Garrett Atkins
Last year, Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins was the second-best hitter at his position, behind only Miguel Cabrera. Atkins isn’t set to reach free agency until 2011, making him a very valuable commodity. The Rockies had talks with him this offseason about a deal covering his arbitration years and first year of free agency, but no agreement could be reached.
Now, both the Denver Post and L.A. Times are reporting that the Angels are interested in trading for Atkins. Troy E. Renck of the Post says Atkins’s name first came up during the Winter Meetings when the two clubs were discussing a Todd Helton deal. Renck writes that Ervin Santana would be a must in any trade and that the Angels also have interest in Brad Hawpe and Jeff Baker. He also says Atkins is still considered a core member of the team, so a deal is unlikely. I wonder if Bill Stoneman is trying to take advantage of a subpar start for Atkins – his defense hasn’t been pretty and his power has been MIA.
From the L.A. side, Mike DiGiovanna adds several players on the Halos’ radar: Kevin Mench, Jacque Jones, Pat Burrell, Emil Brown, Morgan Ensberg, and Edwin Encarnacion. DiGiovanna agrees that Santana is the top trading chip. Santana could really blossom in the National League. With Freddy Garcia and Adam Eaton struggling and Brett Myers in the pen, the Phillies probably have the strongest need. Starters Joe Saunders and Dustin Moseley could be used if the Angels want to make a smaller deal.
As long as the Angels are making an all-out blitz for a third baseman, let’s speculate on some other possibilities. Mike Lowell, Chad Tracy, Hank Blalock have all been rumored in the past; the Rangers clearly have the biggest need for a starter. Santana, however, could be Brandon McCarthy all over again with his flyball tendencies.
Too Many Outfielders In KC
The Royals have a Cub-like situation – five outfielders. You’ve got the injury-prone guy who still might have something left (Cliff Floyd/Reggie Sanders), the rookie stud who needs to play every day (Felix Pie/Billy Butler), the developing, pre-arb solid guy (Matt Murton/Mark Teahen), and the veteran league average guy (Jacque Jones/Emil Brown). I couldn’t think of a clever link between Alfonso Soriano and David DeJesus though.
Since the injury-prone guy is often on the DL, that leaves the Jones/Brown type as the one to trade. The Cubs haven’t had any luck finding the right deal for Jones, though. And the Royals would probably have to eat most of Brown’s contract to move him. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star says a release is possible.
The Royals at least have the DH spot to fill the gaps, if and when Mike Sweeney lands on the DL. But I still don’t get the Butler call-up. Unlike the Cubs, the Royals don’t have a shot at the playoffs. Their outfield doesn’t need Butler’s defense. Why start his clock early? It would’ve made more sense to play Brown every day in left and hope for a couple of 3 HR, 15 RBI type months from him. Then you find a little more desperate team in June or July and get a decent arm in return. Now that Butler’s up, there’s no chance to build up Brown’s trade value.
Royals Trade Rumors
I received a request for some Royals action here at MLBTR. I thought to myself, who better to fill us in than Craig Brown of Royals Authority and Heater Magazine? Craig obliged, and his Royals trade rumor update follows.
It’s a new season, but the results are the same in Kansas City as once again the Royals are struggling to win games in April. The slow start means trade talk will begin sooner rather than later. But despite the struggles, the Royals feel they’re headed in the right direction with a solid nucleus of young ballplayers. The trade options will be limited to the few remaining veterans on the roster.
As the season rolls on, more and more teams will be paying attention to Reggie Sanders. Sanders, who was linked to a deal with the Orioles in spring training, is off to a good start in a part time role hitting .391/.440/.696. Although the Baltimore deal fizzled out, there’s still some interest as the Orioles would like to add a right-handed power bat to their thin bench. Sanders has no problem coming off the bench, but would like to do it for a contender. Other teams that could be in the market include Toronto, St. Louis or even the Angels.
Other than Sanders, it’s been relatively dry on the rumor front. But keep an eye on Emil Brown. Another member of the Royals crowded outfield, Brown will come cheap (he’s due $3.4 million for 2007) and has a consistent track record over the last two seasons. He’s gained a reputation as a defensive liability, so he could appeal to a contender looking for a right-handed bat for the bench. If the Royals are asking too much for Sanders, Brown could be Plan B.
One name that seems to come up in trade rumors every year is Mike Sweeney. Unfortunately, Iron Mike’s bad back and hefty salary have put the kibosh on any prospective deal. He’s stayed healthy so far (no small feat) but has struggled at the plate, hitting just .162/.238/.162. At this point, it looks like he’ll play out the season in Kansas City before hitting the free agent market this winter. If Sweeney gets dealt, it will be to a team in the AL since his back keeps him off the field.
Don’t look for any deals that include the Royals giving up any pitching. GM Dayton Moore’s first priority since taking the job last summer has been restocking the team and system with arms. He’s made some progress, but it’s still a thin staff and with pitching at a premium, it wouldn’t make sense for the Royals to let go of any of their pitchers.
By Craig Brown of Royals Authority and Heater Magazine
Orioles Considering Reggie Sanders
Somewhere, Dayton Moore is praying that the Orioles take Reggie Sanders off his hands. Sanders, now 39, was signed in December of 2005 for two years and $10 million. He’s one of a handful of Allard Baird mistakes still residing on the Royals’ roster.
I imagine Moore has struggled to find a team willing to take Sanders and most of the $5MM he’s owed. What team would want to do that?
Enter the Orioles. Baltimore wants a right-handed bat and the Royals just want a reliever with his arm attached. The two sides are talking, so maybe Moore can unload Sanders before the season begins. Bob Dutton adds that the sticking point is how much of Sanders’s salary the Royals would consume.