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Odds & Ends: Dunn, Beltre, Lee, Sabathia

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Links for Tuesday, as we wait for David Price to throw the first pitch of the All-Star Game to Hanley Ramirez…

Rosenthal On Marlins, Crawford, Dodgers

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Good stuff from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports; let's get into it…

  • The Marlins have made Jorge Cantu and Cody Ross available, but are currently holding off on Dan Uggla and Ricky Nolasco.  Rosenthal finds Cantu to be a fine fit for the Rockies, although it might leave Melvin Mora without much of a role.  President Larry Beinfest said yesterday that the Marlins will be active one way or another, but their moves will not be financially motivated.  I'll still note that Cantu, a free agent after the season, has $2.74MM left on his contract.  He's just below Type B status at the moment.  Ross has $2.03MM left on his contract this year and is under team control through 2011.
  • Unlike nearby teams such as the Giants and Padres, the Angels prefer a rental player if they are to acquire a first baseman.  One reason is that Kendry Morales will be back next year, and the other is that the Halos "intend to pursue Carl Crawford as a free agent."  A blockbuster signing of that nature would push Bobby Abreu to the DH spot.
  • The Dodgers would like to add a reliever and a starter, though they may look internally at Kenley Jansen for the 'pen.

Minor League Transactions: Meyer, Colome

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The latest minor league transactions from Baseball America's Matt Eddy…

  • The Astros released second baseman Drew Meyer, who was then signed by the Angels.  Meyer has already racked up 39 plate appearances for the Salt Lake Bees.
  • The Dodgers released reliever Jesus Colome.  They'd signed him on June 24th, but he made only three appearances for the Isotopes before being let go.
  • Other familiar names were cut, including Brian Buscher (Indians), Ruddy Lugo (Tigers), and Mike Koplove (Mariners).  The Red Sox signed Argenis Reyes, who had been playing independent league ball.  

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Dunn, Oswalt, Haren

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In his latest Full Count video at FOX Sports, Ken Rosenthal looks at possible next moves for the Angels, Yankees, Mets, and White Sox. Let's check out the highlights….

  • The Angels are expected to respond in some form to the Rangers' acquisition of Cliff Lee, with a corner infield bat still their top priority. While Rosenthal agrees that the Halos would like a third baseman who's under team control past this season, he thinks they could look at a rental for first base, since Kendry Morales will be back next spring.
  • Besides Adam Dunn, Rosenthal names Jose Bautista, Adam LaRoche, Ty Wigginton, and Jorge Cantu as potential fits for the Angels, suggesting Bautista makes the most sense. Rosenthal also speculates that, if their respective teams made them available, Mark Reynolds and Casey McGehee would intrigue the defending AL West champs.
  • Lee was the only starting pitcher the Yankees really coveted, so don't expect them to pursue players like Roy Oswalt or Dan Haren now that they missed out on the left-hander.
  • Rosenthal expresses skepticism that Oswalt or Haren will get dealt at all. Houston doesn't appear willing to take on enough of their ace's contract, while the D'Backs would need to be "blown away" to trade Haren.
  • The Mets' search for pitching has them looking at Jake Westbrook and a handful of other arms. Rosenthal notes that the team has had interest in Octavio Dotel as a free agent in the past, and that some members of the Mets' organization are "wary" of Ted Lilly.
  • The White Sox made a run at Cliff Lee, but never got close to landing him. Although a left-handed bat remains their biggest need, there aren't many on the market who appeal to them besides Dunn, whose price tag is "exorbitant." They might settle for acquiring a right-handed hitter, and could also pursue another starter if Daniel Hudson struggles.

Odds & Ends: Jays, Haren, Nolasco, Lee, Hunter

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Some links before Cliff Lee makes his Rangers' debut this evening…

Olney’s Latest: Lee, Mets, Ibanez, Fukudome, DeJesus

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In today's blog post at ESPN (Insider req'd), Buster Olney names the winners and losers in yesterday's Cliff Lee deal. Beyond the obvious, he says the Red Sox and Rays win because Lee stays away from the team they're chasing in the AL East while the Athletics and Angels lose because he's going to the team they're chasing in the AL West. Olney also dubs the Phillies losers because yesterday's trade again showed that they didn't receive as much as they could have for Lee when they traded him last winter.

Here are the rest of Buster's rumors…

  • People within the Mets' front office are working under the assumption that they will not be able to expand payroll. Earlier this week we heard that the team liked the idea of acquiring Ted Lilly and taking on the now $5.55MM left on his deal as a way to move fewer prospects.
  • The Phillies would prefer to move Raul Ibanez and the $17MM left on his deal to make room for top prospect Domonic Brown, but I can't imagine anyone will bite. Impending free agent Jayson Werth might go instead.
  • Kosuke Fukudome's stock is falling, but the Cubs are still keeping the eye on the market for his services.
  • The Royals are telling teams that they are going to hang on to David DeJesus until the trade deadline before deciding whether or not to move the outfielder.

Angels Looking For Depth, Not Rental Players

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The Angels have been linked in rumors to names like Adam Dunn or Prince Fielder, but judging from manager Mike Scioscia's comments today to MLB.com's Alex Espinoza, L.A. may not go quite so big with any midseason deals.

"Our lineup needs to get deeper," Scioscia said. "If there's someone out there who is going to make us deeper, Tony [GM Tony Reagins] is going to act on it. As of right now, there hasn't been a lot presented that is going to be doable for what other teams are looking for and what we might have."

Scioscia also noted that he would like for any potential acquisition to be under contract for longer than just then end of the season, which would seem to remove Dunn from the discussion.  Fielder is signed through 2011, but Milwaukee would expect quite a bit more in a trade for Fielder than Washington would for Dunn.  Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com points out that "other teams aren't exactly tripping all over themselves to get at the Angels' minor-league talent," so there's even a question as to whether or not the Halos have the right prospects to land a major player in a trade. 

Saxon suggests that Texas' deal for Cliff Lee may have sealed up the AL West for them, and thus L.A. should start looking ahead to next year.  If Lee ends up being the spark that the Rangers expect him to be, it's likely that the Angels will start thinking like Saxon.  A short-term addition like Hank Blalock (who L.A. is rumored to be interested in) might be the extent of the Halos' pre-deadline moves. 

2011 Vestings Options Update

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The season started with nine vesting options to watch, but we're down to just five a little beyond the season's halfway point…

  • Trever Miller, Cardinals. The southpaw's $2MM option vests with 45 appearances. He's appeared in 31 of the team's 85 games, so he's on pace for 59. He should get there easily.
  • Alex Cora, Mets. Cora's $2MM option vests with 80 games (not necessarily starts), and he's already appeared in 48. He's on pace for 91 games. Luis Castillo's foot and Ruben Tejada's emergence could stand in Cora's way.
  • Darren Oliver, Rangers. His $3.25MM option will lock in with 59 appearances. He's already appeared in 37 games, so he should get there without a problem.
  • Ramon Hernandez, Reds. Hernandez must play in 120 games for his $3.25MM option to vest. He's appeared in just 57 of Cincinnati's first 86 contests, putting him on pace for 107 games. 
  • Magglio Ordonez, Tigers. Ordonez's $15MM option vests with 135 starts or 540 plate appearances. He's on pace for 141 and 615, respectively, so it'll take a lengthy stint on the disabled list to knock him off track.

The vesting options for Kerry Wood, Brian Fuentes, Billy Wagner, and Matt Cain have already been addressed.

Delgado Eyeing July, Open To Minors

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Carlos Delgado was in Manhattan yesterday, but don't read too much into it. So said the recuperating slugger to Puerto Rican reporter Jose L. Delgado from El Nuevo Dia (link in Spanish), who caught up with Delgado at a downtown restaurant and managed to squeeze in a few pointed questions.

Among the lunchtime topics were rumors of the Yankees and Angels having interest in Delgado, of which the 38-year-old said, "They were basically just rumors," spurred by injuries to Nick Johnson and Kendry Morales. While admitting that the connections made sense, as both injured players are DH/first baseman who hit from the left side (Morales is a switch hitter), Delgado says he and his agent have focused on "planting the seed" with a couple of other teams that he wouldn't name. Neither is he committed solely to DH work for AL teams, acknowledging that while the extra rest has appeal, he doesn't want to take that too much into consideration "as an athlete who wants to give 100 percent."

Delgado says he has been hitting for the last six weeks and could be ready to return to the majors within the month. Delgado wants to return in good enough condition to play all of next season, because "I still have things I want to do," including reaching 500 home runs (he's 27 away). To that end, he says he has "no problem" starting off in the minors this season.

Hunter: Angels Could Use Fielder Or Dunn

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Torii Hunter has never been one to be shy in the media. According to a tweet from FOX Sports' Jim Bowden, Hunter recently opined that his Angels could use an addition like sluggers Prince Fielder or Adam Dunn. When asked if he's talked to GM Tony Reagins or manager Mike Scioscia, Hunter wouldn't say, though Bowden believes he has.

The Angels are without first baseman and heart-of-the-order bat Kendry Morales following a bizarre injury suffered when celebrating a walk-off grand slam. Since then, catcher Mike Napoli has seen the lion's share of playing time at first base. As a first baseman, Napoli is hitting .253/.329/.453. Some may say he's held his own, but he's not living up to Morales' .290/.346/.487 line from 2010, and especially not his .306/.355/.569 breakout from 2009.

Fielder, 26, is eligible for free agency following the 2011 season. As we learned in late June, he's not currently discussing an extension with the Brewers, and you have to imagine that as a Scott Boras client, he's going to test the market. Off to a slower start than 2009, Fielder's still hitting .266/.390/.488 with 18 HR. Due to his age and contract status, he's likely tougher to acquire than Dunn. There's also the issue of what to do with Fielder following 2010 when Morales is healthy.

Dunn, 30, is a free agent following 2010 and off to a better start. He's hitting .276/.363/.549 with 17 homers. Finishing up a two-year, $20MM contract, Dunn has just $6MM of the $12MM he's earning remaining on his contract as of today. We learned yesterday that he'd hoped to have an extension worked out by the All-Star Break, but that seems unlikely.

The Angels sit a manageable 4.5 games behind Texas in the AL West, and we've seen them acquire rentals before, as they did with Mark Teixeira in 2008. A deal for either Fielder or Dunn would likely require far more than they dealt in that trade (Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek), but we've heard there's no limitation on their spending this July.

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