Daisuke Matsuzaka Video
A little more on Japanese hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka. Check out this video of him throwing his various pitches. It’s the best look I’ve had at his breaking ball. It might be a screwball or something weird, but let’s remember that Jeff Passan has established that it’s not a gyroball.
When we last checked in, there was a 50/50 chance of Matsuzaka being posted by the Lions. Here’s a rundown on the suitors:
This Boston Herald article informed us that the Red Sox, Yankees, and Mets are currently scouting Matsuzaka in Japan. As of September 11th, his numbers looked like this. Newsday tells us the Mets will be aggressive in their pursuit. The Rangers are scouting Matsuzaka as well. The Orioles expressed interest in August.
The Dodgers and Mariners are often linked to Matsuzaka, but I haven’t seen anything lately on those clubs.
Trade To Padres Likely For David Wells
As you well know, the Padres are the frontrunners to acquire David Wells by midnight tonight. The name that’s been bandied about is catcher George Kottaras. Keep an eye on tonight’s 7:05 contest between the Portland Beavers and the Fresno Grizzlies to see whether Kottaras starts for the Beavers. If not, he’s probably the guy. He went 0 for 4 last night. According to the Boston Globe, the Dodgers could have Wells if they would step in with one of Matt Kemp, Andy LaRoche, or James Loney.
Here’s the tricky part. Based on info from a Steve Phillips article a year ago, I learned that "all 40-man roster players must go through waivers in order to change teams even if they are in the minor leagues." All four prospects mentioned above are indeed on the 40-man roster. So how does this work? The key, I believe, is slipping the player through as a player to be named later. The rule for waiver trades is that the PTBNL cannot be an active Major League player. So, the Red Sox can acquire a top-notch prospect in exchange for Wells if they are willing to wait until spring to see him in a Sox uniform. I think these rules debunk the notion that the Red Sox could somehow acquire Adam Wainwright in a deal. It’s a moot point, as Wells won’t play in St. Louis.
The Padres are three games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. San Diego currently holds a half-game lead over the Phillies for the wild card. If the Padres were to sneak into the playoffs once again, their playoff rotation would boast Jake Peavy, Chris Young, David Wells, and Woody Williams. All have pitched decently or better this month; it would be a fairly deep group. And fifth starter Clay Hensley has a 1.82 ERA and 1.25 WHIP this month, so maybe he’d be in the mix instead of Williams.
Red Sox Ask For Matt Kemp In David Wells Deal
According to both the Boston Herald and the Los Angeles Daily News, the Red Sox have asked for 21 year-old outfielder Matt Kemp in exchange for David Wells.
Tony Jackson of the L.A. paper actually suggests that the Red Sox requested a package of prospects including Kemp. As in, more than just Kemp. Jackson states that the request "probably makes the deal impossible unless Boston general manager Theo Epstein reduces his asking price."
That’s an understatement. Six years of Matt Kemp for a month or two of David Wells? That’d be even worse than two or three months of an infielder you don’t really need in exchange for Joel Guzman. The Dodgers are also talking about adding John Mabry, for some reason.
Kemp turns 22 in September. Baseball Prospectus’s Kevin Goldstein named him as the fourth-best center field prospect in the game, behind Cameron Maybin, Chris Young, and Justin Upton. Most of those will be household names in two or three years. Goldstein mentions that Kemp’s size could force a move to a corner outfield position eventually. Much has been made of Kemp’s power outage at Triple A, where he has three home runs in 43 games. However, he’s still slugging .554 due to 14 doubles and six triples. The power is fine. His plate discipline may need a little fine-tuning though.
Another reason Kemp and other top-flight prospects are probably staying put: anyone on the 40-man roster has to pass through waivers. Why would the 29 other teams allow a stud outfield prospect to pass by unclaimed? That would be one hell of a gentleman’s agreement.
Julio Lugo Traded To Dodgers
Word comes via ESPN that the Dodgers have acquired Julio Lugo for Joel Guzman and Sergio Pedroza.
I definitely didn’t see this one coming. Jeff Kent should begin swinging a bat right around now after hitting the DL with an oblique strain on July 18th. The Lugo acquisition gives the Dodgers excellent depth in their infield. Former second base fill-ins Willy Aybar and Cesar Izturis have been sent out in other, solid deals. Once Kent is 100% and ready to play Wilson Betemit becomes an excellent bench player for the rest of the year. He’d still remain the second baseman of the future.
Dodgers Acquire Greg Maddux
Ken Rosenthal tells us that the Dodgers have acquired Greg Maddux. Will be interesting to see who the Cubs end up with.
UPDATE: CBS Sportsline indicates that the Cubs received Cesar Izturis in return. The Chicago Tribune’s Dave van Dyck has a different take, but ESPN has confirmed the Izturis part.
ESPN: Dodgers Want Maddux
A report from ESPN’s Amy Nelson indicates that the Dodgers are the "hottest team on Greg Maddux." According to Nelson:
"The deal would be two L.A. prospects for Maddux; one would be a position player, the other a pitcher. And both would be high-level, likely coming from their loaded Triple-A team in Las Vegas."
Well, let’s have a look at Las Vegas’s roster. I could see Delwyn Young as a part of this, and maybe Hong-Chih Kuo as the pitcher. Southpaw starter Greg Miller would be an impressive bounty. Anything above that – Andy LaRoche, Joel Guzman, or Matt Kemp – seems highly unlikely to me. Nelson mentions that the quality of the prospects involved increases the more the Cubs pay Maddux’s salary. About $3.2MM remains; the Cubs should really just eat all of it and get one top-notch prospect.
Probably meaningless tidbit: Guzman sat out tonight’s wild affair against Iowa.
Miguel Tejada Trade Update
Next up, Miggy. Tejada got cold feet yesterday, saying that he wanted to stay in Baltimore and didn’t want to move to third base.
Also, the Orioles have rejected the offer of Ervin Santana and Erick Aybar. Seems foolish. According to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun:
"If the Angels added another prospect to their package of Santana and Aybar, like possibly first base prospect Casey Kotchman, the trade could be completed. It is believed that the Angels’ top two offensive prospects – Double-A shortstop Brandon Wood and second baseman Howie Kendrick – are not available."
Angelos! We are talking about a young, established, effective starter in Santana. Don’t let this one slip away. Jorge Arangure Jr. of the Washington Post adds Nick Adenhart‘s name to the mix as the possible third player coming from L.A. My Angels source had named Adenhart as an untouchable player back on July 13th.
The Astros came in with a fairly weak offer of Morgan Ensberg, Adam Everett, and Fernando Nieve, as Will Carroll mentioned yesterday. Zrebiec tells us that Baltimore turned this one down but is still talking with Tim Purpura. Zrebiec calls Houston one of the favorites at this point.
The Rangers are in the game with Hank Blalock and prospects available, which would create a logjam at third for the Orioles. The Dodgers are offering Cesar Izturis and prospects, and Rafael Furcal‘s name has come up as well.
Braves Swap Betemit For Baez, Aybar
I step out for a twenty minute jog, and another deal goes down. Ned Colletti and the Dodgers made a nice move by snagging Wilson Betemit from the Braves for Willy Aybar and Danys Baez.
The Braves add another free-agent-to-be reliever with closer credentials in Baez. While the 28 year-old has been more hittable than ever this season, he’s compensated by posting career-low walk and home run run rates. The hits may stem from a strikeout rate that’s become dangerously low at just 5.26 per nine innings. While Baez is a decent reliever overall, he’s not the shutdown guy the Braves needed to differentiate their bullpen.
In Betemit, the Dodgers get an acceptable stopgap at third base for the rest of the season. More importantly, though, they’ve acquired a young, cheap second base candidate who could put up an .800 OPS in regular duty for several years.
Willy Aybar profiles as a poor man’s Betemit and profiles as more of a utility infielder. There’s a good chance Willy can commiserate with his brother Erick soon enough. Erick is the Angels’ primary trade bait.
Seems like John Schuerholz and Wayne Krivsky are a step behind the other GMs lately, trading away solid, affordable regulars for very questionable bullpen help.
Royals Trade Dessens, Graffanino
Busy day for Dayton Moore, as he acquired all sorts of pitchers for his veterans.
Let’s start with his first trade: Elmer Dessens to the Dodgers for Blake Johnson, Julio Pimentel, Odalis Perez, and cash. If you’re like me, you’ve never heard of Johnson or Pimentel, so let’s start there.
Pimentel and Johnson were ranked 16th and 17th among Dodgers prospects entering the 2006 season by Baseball America. Pimentel is a 20 year-old converted outfielder currently struggling in High Class A. Pimentel’s teammate Blake Johnson is a 21 year-old righty who was drafted in the second round in ’04. Just a couple of live arms to help the Royals’ system; collect enough and someone’s bound to pan out.
Odalis Perez is an intriguing pickup for a team like the Royals. He immediately becomes their most talented pitcher despite his awful 2006. Looking at his peripherals, his strikeout rate dropped this season and his hits allowed skyrocketed. Perez’s control remains excellent. The southpaw had mixed results in the World Baseball Classic this March. He claimed to be in the best shape of his life in February following an ’05 season marred by an oblique strain, shoulder inflammation, and biceps tendinitis.
Financials: Perez is due around $2.75MM for the rest of this season, $7.75MM next season, and a $1.5MM buyout for ’08 if the Royals don’t want him for $9MM. Of that $12MM, the Dodgers are paying $8MM. That leaves KC with just a $4MM obligation to Perez for the rest of this year and his age 29 season. He’s projected to be worth that much in ’07 alone, and the Royals don’t have much to lose.
As for Dessens, he’s your run-of-the-mill 34 year-old reliever. He’ll earn roughly $640,000 for the rest of ’06 and $1.7MM next year.
The Royals also shipped Tony Graffanino to the Brewers for Jorge De La Rosa. De La Rosa, a 25 year-old southpaw, has fared poorly in the Majors with a 5.12 ERA in 65 innings. He was traded to the Diamondbacks in the Curt Schilling deal in ’03 and then bounced to the Brewers in the Richie Sexson trade a few days later. De La Rosa has dealt with elbow and control issues (they go hand in hand), but he’s still got a bit of promise.
Trade Rumor Roundup: 8 Days Left
To begin with, this just isn’t true. With the Kearns deal and probably Soriano trade, the 2006 deadline just can’t be classified as a dud. That honor belongs to 2005 for sure. The trading action never matches the buildup, but this year’s still a good one.
Read Ken Rosenthal’s latest. The White Sox are in the Soriano game, the Rangers have interest in Luis Gonzalez, the Braves could add another reliever, Julio Lugo still might become a Blue Jay, and the Brewers look like sellers. In my opinion, some Brewers besides Carlos Lee that could be unloaded: Geoff Jenkins, Corey Koskie, Brady Clark, and Dan Kolb. Koskie will need to recover quickly from his concussion, however.
Still hearing that the Cubs like Willy Taveras, which would definitely fit their m.o. of players who don’t get on base. Phil Rogers also mentions that Seattle’s Rafael Soriano is being asked about. It would be surprising to see the Mariners deal that kind of young talent.
Tons of great rumors coming from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. He’s got a rundown of the Red Sox, all sorts of teams scouting Humberto Sanchez, and more.
Buster Olney mentioned in his blog today that the Astros are among various teams scouting Elmer Dessens. The Astros are also looking at Damaso Marte.
Unfounded rumor department: Could the Dodgers be after Aramis Ramirez? Ramirez has picked a fantastic time to heat up, and L.A. has some top shelf young talent…is there anywhere Julio Lugo could go besides Toronto? How about the Rockies?