Heyman On Adrian Gonzalez, Peavy, Sabathia
The latest from SI's Jon Heyman…
- Heyman believes the Padres could bring in a haul for Adrian Gonzalez beyond what the Rangers received for Mark Teixeira. However, when asked if he's considering trading his slugging first baseman, Padres GM Kevin Towers responded, "Not at this point in time."
- The Cubs don't seem anxious to make a deal for Jake Peavy, and the Dodgers have the same-division hurdle. The Brewers might not have the pitching (or inclination) to get it done. Towers will continue to try to find a team Peavy likes while also matching the package offered by the White Sox: Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, and two minor league pitchers.
- Heyman says the Angels bid about $140MM for C.C. Sabathia last winter, making the Yankees' $161MM winning bid appear more appropriate.
Dodgers Sign Korean Pitchers
The Dodgers inked a couple pitchers to minor league deals yesterday, Ji-Mo Lee and Hyang-nam Choi. The 22-year-old Lee was released by the Lotte Giants in 2008 and recently changed his first name "for good luck." Nice. Dodgers' Assistant General Manager of Scouting Logan White claims he has "two types of pitches that are already at a Major League level."
Choi, a 38-year-old journeyman, seemed close to signing a minor-league deal with the Cardinals this January but it looks like the signing might have fallen through because of issues with the posting system. Choi has spent the last two years also pitching for the Lotte Giants, but appeared in the Indians organization in 2006, where he posted a 2.37 ERA and a 103/35 K/BB ratio in 106.1 IP. The East Wind-Up Chronicle says he may not have a powerful arsenal but does have a black belt in Taekwondo.
Rangers, Dodgers Eyeing Yusei Kikuchi
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a Nikkan Sports article indicating the Rangers sent two scouts to watch high school lefty Yusei Kikuchi. Newman notes that the Dodgers had Logan White watch Kikuchi practice back in March.
Kikuchi is highly regarded, but how does he compare to Junichi Tazawa? Newman told me:
The way I look at it is, Kikuchi is younger, taller, and lefthanded, whereas Tazawa was a older, more polished and had faced better competition. Kikuchi appears to have similar velocity to Tazawa. Tazawa was definitely closer to the big leagues; you wouldn't sign Kikuchi and have him start the season opener in AA. But Kikuchi is a better prospect than Tazawa was when he was 18. So Kikuchi may have a little more upside, but I don't think he would command the same kind of offers Tazawa got. A key difference is that Tazawa had basically made up his mind to come to America by the time I started writing about him. We don't know what Kikuchi's plans are.
Dodgers Complete Delwyn Young Trade?
The Dodgers have acquired minor leaguer Eric Krebs from the Pirates as one of the players to be named later for Delwyn Young, according to Diamond Leung.
Krebs, 24, is a right-hander with a 4.86 ERA to go along with a 2-4 mark. He's posted a very nice 8.9 K/9 rate and has allowed just nine HR over 195.1 innings in his five minor league seasons, but has also posted an ugly 5.0 BB/9 to go along with those otherwise impressive numbers. He was a 16th round pick out of high school by the Buccos in the 2005 draft.
Leung doesn't mention any other players yet.
Jake Peavy Will Not Accept Trade to White Sox
6:10pm: Ken Rosenthal argues that Peavy's decision to nix the deal was justified, saying, "If I were Jake Peavy, I would not go to the White Sox."
Rosenthal thinks back to the offseason, when the Padres "blew two chances" to trade Peavy. "The Braves clearly offered a better package than the White Sox. The Cubs' deal might have turned out better, too." He writes tha the longer the Padres take to deal Peavy, the less they will get in return.
Rosenthal has doubts about the White Sox's ability to compete in the future, and he says that this may have been on Peavy's mind when he rejected the trade.
5:53pm: Jon Heyman writes that Peavy will speak to the media shortly after 6pm CST. He also mentions that the White Sox were asked by the Padres earlier in the day if they had "any ideas on how to persuade" Peavy to accept the deal.
5:41pm: Joe Cowley and Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times are reporting that sources close to Peavy say that he has notified the Padres that he will not accept a trade to the White Sox. Peavy talked it over with his family and decided not to make the move. Manager Ozzie Guillen admitted he was surprised the Sox were willing to take on the $60MM commitment.
5:25pm: Via Twitter, Jon Heyman reports that the White Sox will not try to convince Peavy to agree to the deal by committing to pick up the $22MM option in his contract for 2013. This is still in Peavy's hands.
1:27pm: Gonzales has more from Linebrink about his conversation with Peavy. Linebrink didn't see the AL/NL thing as a big concern for Peavy.
Also, Diamond Leung passes along a Ned Colletti interview with Dan Patrick today. The Dodgers GM spoke to Towers about a Peavy trade as recently as a month ago but the asking price was too high. Meanwhile the Red Sox have not been involved, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
12:47pm: Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Peavy will likely not be traded to the White Sox, presumably because he'll veto the deal if it reaches that point. Krasovic notes that in addition to Poreda and Richard, Lance Broadway has been discussed.
Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times explains why the trade would make sense for the Sox and why it wouldn't.
12:21pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says beyond Poreda and Richard, the Padres would choose two players to be named later from a list of four. Axelrod explained the situation to Rosenthal:
"Approval or disapproval is not necessarily black or white. Depending on what is involved could make it more desirable or less desirable. There may be certain things he has to have as conditions. We're not near the point of talking about that, what he would want to see adjusted if he were to approve."
11:52am: ESPN's Jerry Crasnick talked to Axelrod, who gave the impression that Peavy is leaning against accepting the trade:
"If I had to make a bet on it, I would guess that Jake would say he's not ready to take that step today. But he wouldn't necessarily preclude it at any time in the future."
Peavy maintains his strong preference for the NL.
11:31am: Brock talked to Peavy's agent Barry Axelrod. Axelrod hasn't spoken to Peavy yet today, but was asked by the Padres "about Jake's feeling about the possibility of (playing for) the White Sox."
10:11am: ESPN's Peter Gammons says Beckham is not part of the deal. CBS' Danny Knobler says it would be Poreda, Richard, and one or two others. The others would also be pitchers, says Knobler. Yahoo's Gordon Edes says the White Sox have agreed to send four pitching prospects including Poreda and Richard.
ESPN's Bruce Levine talked to White Sox pitcher and former Peavy teammate Scott Linebrink, who gave Peavy a 50-50 chance of accepting the deal.
9:39am: MLB.com's Corey Brock and Scott Merkin say Poreda and Clayton Richard are believed to be part of the deal.
9:19am: Jon Heyman says the White Sox and Padres have agreed to a Peavy trade, and await the pitcher's approval. MLB.com's Corey Brock agrees. Ken Williams, always operating under the radar. Now we get to see just how much Peavy hates the AL.
Peavy is owed an additional $8.35MM this year, $15MM in '10, $16MM in '11, $17MM in '12, and a $4MM buyout for '13. Total: $60.35MM guaranteed through 2012. It is surprising to see the White Sox willing to take on such a commitment to a pitcher.
No idea if he's involved, but yes, the Sox could trade Gordon Beckham in this deal as a player to be named later.
9:09am: Via Gonzales on Twitter: "Waiting for approval from Peavy on SD trade, according to source."
6:51am: Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that the Padres are in discussions to send Jake Peavy to the White Sox.
According to Padres personnel, Peavy met with Padres manager Bud Black late Wednesday night to discuss a trade overture from the Sox.
It is apparently a four-player offer, which would presumably gut Chicago's farm system. Peavy would have to approve any trade and according to Krasovic Peavy is telling people that the trade is "something to think about." However, Krasovic says Peavy "may have reservations about pitching for Ozzie Guillen."
MLB.com's Corey Brock asked Peavy about the rumor. He said, "I only know what you guys [media] know." Brock expects the Padres would require a frontline pitcher like Aaron Poreda. Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald makes the Poreda link as well, but finds Peavy's contract prohibitive. Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune says the Padres had a scout watching the White Sox last weekend in Toronto. Meanwhile, SI's Jon Heyman says Peavy still prefers the West or Midwest and the NL. Heyman likes the Cubs or Brewers.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here. Tim Dierkes also contributed to this post.
Odds & Ends: Bray, Fox, Manny, Crow
Links for Wednesday…
- Today's chat will be at 3pm CST.
- According to Andy Martino, the Phillies claimed righty Steven Register off waivers from the Rockies today and sent him to Triple A.
- Reds reliever Bill Bray will miss the rest of the season due to Tommy John surgery, according to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon yesterday.
- Dave Cameron at FanGraphs says Jake Fox belongs in the Majors, given his ridiculous Triple A numbers (.431/.513/.954 in 130 ABs with 17 HR and 50 RBI). The Cubs, though, are already trying to find ways to get Micah Hoffpauir into the lineup.
- ESPN's Buster Olney pictures what would've unfolded if Manny Ramirez hadn't used PEDs.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle on the Noah Lowry situation.
- Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe speculates on possible moves for the Red Sox.
- Baseball America's Jim Callis says Nationals GM Mike Rizzo has been talking to Randy Hendricks about getting Aaron Crow's consent in the event the Nationals want to draft him again.
Heyman On Mets, Trades, Billingsley
The latest from SI's Jon Heyman…
- Heyman wonders why the Mets aren't giving Daniel Murphy a chance as their regular first baseman. He names trade possibilities, in order of likelihood: Nick Johnson, Aubrey Huff, Russell Branyan, Victor Martinez/Mark DeRosa, and Garrett Atkins.
- Heyman names 22 players who might hit the trading block this summer, headed by Jake Peavy, Matt Holliday, and Erik Bedard. The A's could potentially have a lot of veterans to spin off.
- Heyman says "the Dodgers briefly tried to lock up Chad Billingsley this winter, and probably wish they had." Billingsley will be eligible for arbitration for the first time after this season, so his salary figures to jump up past $4MM.
Gammons On Ackley, Red Sox, Relievers
ESPN's Peter Gammons has a new blog post up. Let's take a look.
- Gammons writes in praise of North Carolina's Dustin Ackley, who is likely to be chosen by the Mariners at #2 in June. Ackley may wind up at center field or second base.
- The Red Sox don't appear willing to trade young pitchers like Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, and Nick Hagadone. The Sox have looked at bats such as Colorado's Matt Murton and Ryan Spilborghs, but for now aren't desperate enough to trade pitching. Gammons wonders if, for the right bat, Boston would part with Manny Delcarmen. He believes Delcarmen could close in the NL.
- Gammons says the Mets think they could have Carlos Delgado back by August if he has hip surgery, allowing them to stay in-house for his replacements.
- The Dodgers, Indians, Yankees, and Twins are looking for relief help. Gammon names Jose Valverde, Huston Street, Danys Baez, Russ Springer, and John Grabow as future trade candidates.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Trades Possibilities
On this date 11 years ago, the Marlins traded Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson and two others to the Dodgers for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile. Piazza's tenure with the Marlins would last five games in which he was 5-18 with a triple and 5 RBI. Seven days later he was traded to the Mets for Preston Wilson and two minor league pitchers that would combine for 5 career appearances. To this day, Mike Francessa of WFAN in New York City will tell anybody that listens that he was responsible for convincing the Mets to make the deal. So far this season we have seen a couple of minor deals. Let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- Feeling Dodger Blue feels now is a good time to trade James Loney and wonders if Jorge Cantu can be had.
- Fire Brand of the American League addresses the possibility of the Red Sox trading Brad Penny and looks at some players the Red Sox might pursue.
- 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba takes an early look at the teams that might be buyers and sellers at the deadline.
- Around the Majors takes a look at the 2010 free agents that are represented by Scott Boras.
- Jorge Says No! discusses whether Koji Uehara was the best free agent signing this year.
- The Bottom Line wonders if the Red Sox missed an opportunity to sign Jason Bay to an extension.
- El Lefty Malo takes a look at several players the Giants let go and whether the moves were smart in hindsight.
- Goat Riders of the Apocalypse proposes some names that can be brought in to fix the Cubs bullpen.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.
Manny Suspension Only Frees Up $2.7MM For L.A.
According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports the Manny Ramirez suspension frees up just $2.7MM in payroll this year for the Dodgers- or about $5MM less than originally expected. Because Manny's contract is deferred over the course of many years, he'll lose the money gradually, instead of all at once. Though Manny was originally expected to lose close to $8MM in total, he'll only lose $6.8MM. The Dodgers save $2.7MM this year and $1.37MM in each of the next three seasons.