Marlins Acquire Ross Gload; Royals Release Peralta
3:11pm: Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star says the Royals also released reliever Joel Peralta, saving about $380K in the process. Peralta, 33, posted a 5.98 ERA, 6.5 K/9 2.4 BB/9 last year in 52.6 innings while allowing 15 home runs.
11:47am: According to a press release, the Royals traded first baseman Ross Gload to the Marlins for a player to be named. Gload, 33 in a few days, hit .273/.317/.348 in 418 plate appearances for the Royals last year. He's owed $1.9MM this year and has a $2.6MM club option for '10. It's surprising to see the thrifty Marlins make this seemingly pointless acquisition. Previously their corner options consisted of Jorge Cantu, Emilio Bonifacio, and Wes Helms.
Marlins Release Dallas McPherson
10:39pm: Frisaro says the Marlins released McPherson, as they were unable to find a trade.
10:36am: Joe Frisaro of MLB.com has the latest on the Marlins.
- Out of options Marlins shortstop Robert Andino remains on the Pirates' radar; the interest dates back to at least the Winter Meetings. Frisaro wonders if the idea of an Andino-Brian Bixler swap could be reignited. However, with Andino being out of options and Bixler raising his profile during Spring Training, that seems unlikely. My own speculation – the San Diego would be a good destination for Andino.
- Frisaro says the Marlins appear to be shopping third baseman Dallas McPherson, who is also out of options. McPherson, 28, hit .275/.379/.618 with 42 home runs in 448 at-bats last year at Triple A. Projection systems remain unimpressed, but I'd like to see what he could do in Minute Maid Park.
- The Marlins are eyeing lefty relief help, with Frisaro naming Pittsburgh's Sean Burnett and free agent Ron Villone as possibilities.
Tigers Release Gary Sheffield
7:36pm: MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says Sheffield has interest in the Marlins, but Frisaro believes Geoff Jenkins would be a better fit.
5:12pm: Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer learned from a team source that the chances of the Phillies signing Sheffield are "very slim." Martino did learn from Sheffield's agent Rufus Williams that a part-time role is not off the table for his client.
SI.com's Jon Heyman looks at the situation, and has a hard time finding a match for Sheffield.
2:49pm: Zolecki learned from Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. that the team did contact Sheffield's agent. The Reds haven't discussed it, says Walt Jocketty.
1:15pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Rangers and Blue Jays will pass on Sheffield. In talking to J.P. Ricciardi, Jeff Blair confirms the Jays' lack of interest.
9:15am: More from Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press. He says this isn't even a club record – the Tigers ate $14.3MM on Damion Easley back in '03. Morosi says Sheffield said "it ain't close" to the end of his career, and he has a preference for the Rays.
MLB.com's Todd Zolecki wonders whether the Phillies could be a fit for Sheffield.
8:41am: According to Tom Gage of the Detroit News, the Tigers released DH Gary Sheffield. They'll eat the $14MM owed to him for '09. It's quite surprising to see the team assume all that money to make him go away, especially since he's healthy right now. Plus he's just one home run shy of 500 for his career.
Let the speculation begin on where Sheff will end up. Obviously his options will open up if he can play the outfield. To kick off the discussion…would the Blue Jays make sense?
Niemann/Hammel Rumors: Padres, Pirates, Rockies
4:53pm: According to John Perrotto of Pirates Report, the Pirates are also interested in Niemann. He says the Bucs also remain interested in Robert Andino and Jeff Baker.
Additionally, Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse says the Rockies have jumped in on Hammel.
11:16am: Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote Saturday regarding the Padres' interest in Rays pitcher Jeff Niemann:
In return, the defending American League champions have inquired about Padres prospects Simon Castro, Wynn Pelzer, Juedy Valdez and Nick Schmidt. The Padres have deemed the price too high. Niemann is out of minor league options, reducing the Rays' trade leverage.
Out of those four Baseball America likes righty Castro the most, ranking him 14th among Padres prospects. Pitchers Pelzer (16) and Schmidt (21) also make their top 30.
Niemann will make a minor league start today, perhaps his last chance to win the fifth starter job. The decision will probably be made today; Jason Hammel appears to be the favorite. UPDATE: Niemann tossed six scoreless innings.
Odds & Ends: Smoltz, Cubs, Melky, Lima
Links for Monday…
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes about the Giants' lack of interest in Adam Melhuse and considers other players who could help.
- Alex Speier of WEEI looks back at the Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz trade of 1987. According to former Tigers GM Bill Lajoie, the Braves would have taken Steve Searcy instead of Smoltz.
- Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald says the Cubs "appear to be getting some trade feelers" on out of options relievers Chad Gaudin and Angel Guzman. Moving one could create space for Rule 5 pick David Patton.
- Tyler Hissey of Around The Majors looks back at the Delmon Young/Matt Garza swap. What did MLBTR commenters think when the deal went down on November 28th, 2007? Click here to find out. Garza will face the Twins for the first time today.
- Eddie Bajek of Detroit Tigers Thoughts says the Tigers are apparently trying to recreate the bullpen of the 2007 Rays.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post believes Melky Cabrera would be best served as an NL bench player.
- T.J. Simers of the L.A. Times discusses the Dodgers' $47MM bust, Jason Schmidt.
- Aaron Shinsano of East Windup Chronicle has more Korean prospect news: the Royals signed catcher Shin Jin-ho, while the Mariners signed catcher Choi Ji-man.
- Jose Lima is back playing baseball in the U.S., according to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times.
- Will Sommer of Mets Fans Forever talked to GM Omar Minaya.
- Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post looks at the Marlins' decision to non-tender reliever Joe Nelson. It would've made a lot of sense to bring him back.
Odds And Ends: Braves, Bernie, Boras
Links for Saturday…
- MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports that the Braves are considering dealing outfielder Josh Anderson. Bowman suggests the White Sox could be a fit even though Ozzie Guillen said he expects to find a center fielder internally. Bowman also passes along some fun anecdotes about Chipper Jones and Santonio Holmes.
- MLB.com's Sarah D. Morris likes the bench assembled by Dodgers GM Ned Colletti.
- MLB.com's Ed Eagle reports that Bernie Williams wants to play in the majors again, but not if it means playing in the minors or an independent league first.
- In this article by Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune Scott Boras says the Padres will spend more liberally on amateur talent now that Jeff Moorad's taking over the club.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer offers his take on a female knuckleballer from Japan.
- Tim recently did a Q&A about the Jays at The Blue Jay Hunter blog.
- Steve Melewski of MASN Sports breaks down the minor league free agents in Orioles camp.
- ESPN The Magazine's Jeff Bradley profiled Manny Ramirez.
- The Astros, Marlins and Pirates made decisions about their respective backup catchers.
Marlins Roster Spots
- The Marlins appear to be looking for a left-handed bench player who can pinch hit and spot start. Sounds like Luis Gonzalez could be a fit.
- They're also interested in lefty relief help.
- Frisaro mentions Adam Melhuse as a backup catching option, but Florida has since acquired Ronny Paulino.
Taschner To Phils; Paulino To Fish; Correa To SF
SATURDAY, 2:01am: The Giants quickly turned Paulino around in a trade to the Florida Marlins for right-handed pitcher Hector Correa, MLB.com reports.
Correa, 21, has a career 8-10 record with a 4.52 ERA in 34 games (29 starts) in the minor leagues.
Paulino will likely be the backup catcher to John Baker. Paulino, 27, hit .278 in 304 games with Pittsburgh from 2005 to 2008.
FRIDAY, 9:08am: According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Phillies acquired lefty reliever Jack Taschner today for catcher Ronny Paulino. The Phils had acquired Paulino from the Pirates on December 10th.
Taschner, 31 in April, allowed lefties to hit .279/.339/.394 line last year. They knocked him around in '07 even worse, so he's not the perfect fill-in for J.C. Romero.
Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Cabrera, Waivers
Links for Friday…
- RotoAuthority asks: who is the next Carlos Quentin?
- The Cubs may trade or lose whoever doesn't win their backup catcher job, Paul Bako or Koyie Hill (according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times). By the way, Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker says the Cubs signed a Korean high school outfielder named Don-Yeop Kim.
- Hanley Ramirez was upset about the Marlins' new hair and jewelry policies, but cooled down after meeting with the team's brass.
- Excellent Stephen Strasburg profile by Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated (hat tip to Rob Neyer).
- Rays Index talked to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- Murray Chass believes suggestions of hostility between the players union and owners are misguided.
- A's shortstop Orlando Cabrera talked to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle about how his reputation unfairly took a hit last year.
- Bart Given explains the four types of waivers.
Pirates Ramp Up Interest In Ohman
According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have ramped up their interest in free agent lefty Will Ohman. The Bucs made an offer Saturday for one year plus an option, and Ohman's agent countered yesterday. Ohman's still looking for a $2MM salary. Dialogue is ongoing with the Pirates.
Kovacevic names a slew of other teams in on Ohman: the Giants, Dodgers, Marlins, Nationals, and Indians. He says the Nats and Indians are new to the mix.
My opinion – it'd be odd to see the Nationals sign Ohman after Joe Beimel, but they could be trying to build up a trade surplus. The Pirates would have one given the presence of John Grabow.