More Halladay Chatter
GMs' phones must be ringing off the hook tonight, and most of the incoming calls are probably from your friendly neighborhood baseball beat writer. Let's scope out the latest news from Buster Olney:
- Olney has updated his previous post on the news, and gets word that Halladay might be open to waiving his no-trade clause.
- Olney goes on to say that since Halladay would depart after 2010 as a likely Type A, he will command two high draft choices. Thus, all trade offers would have to begin with such talent.
- Angels manager Mike Scioscia says GM Tony Reagins has talked to Toronto about Doc.
- Olney runs through more suitors: the Red Sox, who have "stubbornly clung to their young pitching," the Mets and Cubs, who may or may not have the proper package of prospects, Yankees, and the Phillies.
In other news around the beat:
- MLB.com's Jordan Bastian has a source that says over a dozen teams have asked about Halladay, with the most serious interest expressed by the Cardinals, Yankees, Mets, Brewers, Dodgers, Angels and Red Sox.
- Adam McCalvy at MLB.com has this quote from Brewers GM Doug Melvin on the matter: "I'm open to talking about anybody…I'm also realistic to know that not everybody is available all the time."
- Dave van Dyck at the Chicago Tribune talked to White Sox GM Kenny Williams, who reiterated his concerns about finances and doesn't think he can afford to ship the young talent Halladay will require.
Halladay Season: Link Round-Up
The baseball realm is a-twitter with the news that the Blue Jays will listen to offers on Roy Halladay. Let's run down the latest bullet points on this front:
- MLB.com's Jordan Bastian has a bevy of quotes from Roy himself: "It's a situation where I think if it's best for the team, if it's best for me, then you go from there."
- SI's Jon Heyman hears that the Jays may want a top SS prospect for the Doc, which could bode well for the Phillies, White Sox and Brewers, who all harbor chips in Jason Donald, Gordon Beckham and Alcides Escobar, respectively.
- Scott Gregor at the Daily Herald doesn't believe a deal with the White Sox for Halladay to be a likely scenario.
- Scott Lauber of the News-Journal says the Blue Jays already have a scout at the Phillies game tonight.
- Bill Shaikin at the L.A. Times asks Dodgers fans what their package deal for the Doc would be.
- Ken Davidoff at Newsday says it'd be "irresponsible" for the Mets and Yankees to not inquire on Halladay. Davidoff talked to Ricciardi, who insinuates that he wants a bigger package than what the Braves gave for Mark Teixeira a couple years ago.
- Tony Massarotti at the Boston Globe wonders just how unlikely an intra-divisional trade would be, and according to J.P. Ricciardi via WEEI.com's Rob Bradford, he apparently wouldn't hesitate to deal to an AL East competitor.
Odds And Ends: O’s, Phillies, Braun, DeRosa
More links for the afternoon…
- Today's chat will take place in a little over an hour, at 2pm CST.
- It's worth checking out this Jerry Crasnick article at ESPN.com just for the photo of Nick Markakis balancing a folding chair on his chin. As Crasnick says, Markakis, Adam Jones, Nolan Reimold and Luke Scott will be an impressive group of outfielders on improved O's teams in the near future.
- In the midst of his mid-season awards, SI.com's Tom Verducci says the Tigers and Dodgers deserve credit for well-thought-out offseason moves.
- David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News lays out five possible packages the Phillies could offer the Jays for Roy Halladay. Every deal is headed by Dominic Brown or Kyle Drabek and includes other quality prospects.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Doug Melvin and Ryan Braun will meet today to discuss Braun's recent suggestion that the Brewers need pitching.
- One of this year's big acquisitions, Mark DeRosa, will hit the 15-day DL, according to Roger Hensley of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Odds & Ends: Grabow, Yankees, Orioles
One more roundup of links for the night…
- George. A. King III of The New York Post mentions that the Pirates had two scouts watch the Yankees earlier this week, possibly in advance of a deal involving lefty reliever John Grabow.
- He mentions that the Dodgers and Rockies had scouts on hand as well. The Yanks have already expressed interest in Huston Street earlier this season.
- King also says that the Yanks refuse to talk about prospects Austin Jackson and Austin Romine in trade talks according to other organizations.
- Peter Schmuck of The Baltimore Sun recaps the first half of the Orioles' season and says they're building towards something, he's just not quite sure what. He does however praise the performance of young players like Nolan Reimold.
- On the day of his tragic and untimely death, let's not forget that Steve McNair was quite the baseball player as well, getting selected by the Mariners in the 35th round of the 1991 Draft. (hat tip: Jesse Spector of The NY Daily News)
Olney’s Latest: Atlanta’s Potential Trade Partners
ESPN.com's Buster Olney chimes in with some players and teams that could matchup in a trade with the Braves, who could dangle Javier Vazquez and/or Yunel Escobar as bait. Most of the rumors are just Olney's own speculation, but let's round 'em up anyway.
- The Red Sox have liked Escobar for a while, but don't match up very well for a trade.
- Olney mentions that Jacoby Ellsbury might be the only fit since JD Drew is owed a ton of money and Jason Bay will be a free agent after the year, but that wouldn't work for Boston since they would then need to find another centerfielder.
- Olney speculates that the Red Sox could use their young pitching to engage a third team in a trade, mentioning that Matt LaPorta, Shin-Soo Choo and Corey Hart could be a good fit.
- Boston could eat some of the money left on Julio Lugo's deal to give Atlanta a stop-gap shortstop should they deal Escobar.
- The Red Sox are not interested in Jeff Francoeur.
- If Milwaukee and Atlanta discussed a Vazquez-Hart swap, the Brewers would likely have to kick in another piece.
- The Twins could offer one of their many outfielders in exchange for Escobar. Delmon Young might not be enough to entice the Braves, but Michael Cuddyer or Denard Span could be.
- The Dodgers would love to add Vazquez to their rotation, but Juan Pierre probably wouldn't be enough given his lack of power.
- The A's could package Matt Holliday and Orlando Cabrera, both free agents after the season, for Escobar, who would step in as Oakland's shortstop of the future.
Odds & Ends: Boras, Nationals, Bedard, White Sox, Giants, Astros
Some evening links for those of you who haven't checked out for the long holiday weekend yet.
- Billy Witz of the NY Times wrote about the relationship between the Dodgers and superagent Scott Boras.
- The Nationals have agreed to terms with five international players according to Bill Ladson. A formal announcement of the signings will come in a few days.
- Pete McElroy of MASNsports.com notes that the Nats have signed a pair of draft picks, including fourth rounder AJ Morris.
- Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times notes that Erik Bedard threw a 54-pitch simulated game today and will start on Tuesday. Teams will have just enough time to evaluate him before the trade deadline.
- Will Carroll tweets that the Giants and White Sox "want to make a deal quick." He later backs off a bit and says that the two teams won't necessarily made a trade with each other, but both are looking for good deals.
- Kiley McDaniel has a list of four international players the Astros have signed.
- Remember, you can get all your rumors instantly via MLBTR's Twitter feed.
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.
Odds And Ends: Renteria, Lugo, Phillies
It's a busy day for international signings, but lots is going on at the major league level, so let's take a look:
- The Dodgers are looking for pitching, but how about Jason Schmidt? He pitched well at Triple A for the second time yesterday, according to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff creates a history of recent deadline deals.
- Edgar Renteria told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle that he turned down two multi-year offers to sign with the Giants.
- Think it's too early to talk about Bryce Harper? Well Joe Dunand Jr., Alex Rodriguez's nephew, is just 13 years old and, as Ian Begley of the New York Daily News reports, he's already quite a slugger.
- The relative of another superstar signed with the Angels. Mike Piazza's second cousin will go pro, according to the Florida Tech Sports site.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times crunches some numbers and suggests Franklin Gutierrez could be more valuable than Adam Jones this year.
- Kevin Towers says the addition of Bob Melvin to the Padres' staff wasn't meant to threaten Bud Black, according to Nick Canepa and Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
- Julio Lugo admits that his deal with the Red Sox hasn't worked out, according to Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald.
- Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the Phillies have more minor league pitching depth than ever.
Odds and Ends: Duran, Ichiro, Wright, Manny, Wilson
The Pirates are dominating the rumors lately, but there have been a few other noteworthy items:
- The Astros claimed infielder German Duran off unconditional waivers from the Rangers. Ken Rosenthal writes that Duran will be put on the DL and will end up in the minors.
- Though money is tight for many American franchises, SI reports that the earnings for the world's twenty richest non-American athletes are at an all-time high. Ichiro, with $22.5MM, is the only ballplayer on the list.
- David Wright shook off criticism from former Met John Franco, telling reporters that Franco "doesn't know what's going on" in the Mets clubhouse.
- Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that the Dodgers prepared for the return of Manny Ramirez with a series of roster moves.
- And Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson apologized for remarks made yesterday that criticized the team's trading strategy.
Odds And Ends: Halladay, Yankees, Rangers
Links for Tuesday morning…
- Today's chat will take place at 2pm CST.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports looks ahead to the end of next season when Roy Halladay becomes a free agent if the Jays don't lock him up before then.
- As Diamond Leung notes, the Dodgers traded minor league pitcher Brian Mazone to the Phillies for future considerations. Mazone already spent three years in the Phillies organization.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post speculates on an imagined deal: Luis Castillo for Milton Bradley.
- Peter Abraham of the Journal News reports that the Yankees signed two independent leaguers: third baseman Yurendell DeCaster and lefty Edwin Walker.
- Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe offers five possible solutions for the Red Sox in case Mike Lowell has to miss much time.
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun asks Orioles fans which player they would pluck from the Red Sox roster if possible. Kevin Youkilis and Jon Lester would sure be nice additions.
- Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post answers his readers' trade questions.
- Anthony Andro of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers signed second rounder Tommy Mendonca.