NL Central Notes: Garza, Astros, Brewers
The Cardinals beat the Brewers in extra innings last night, and Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun got hit by pitches in the process. Here are some NL Central links for Wednesday, before the division rivals take the field again…
- Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times that he's glad to have Matt Garza under team control for 2012.
- Matt Eddy of Baseball America looks back at the Astros' forays into free agency and their subsequent trades for prospects in a subscriber-only piece. It's clear, Eddy writes, that the Astros are well-positioned to land the top pick in next year's draft. Houston has an MLB-worst 36-74 record.
- The Brewers announced that they've already sold more tickets for 2011 than they did in 2010, when they drew 2,776,531 fans. More fans mean more revenue for the Brewers, who have already committed $59MM to next year's payroll.
Brewers To Sign Randy Flores
6:03pm: The Brewers are still finalizing details of Flores' contract, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
4:24pm: The Brewers will sign left-hander Randy Flores to a minor league deal, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). The Yankees agreed to release the reliever over the weekend, and the Brewers, who don't have a left-handed reliever on their 25-man roster, picked him up without any delay.
The 36-year-old posted a 3.07 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 29 1/3 innings for New York's Triple-A affiliate after signing with the Yankees in May. Before joining the Yankees, Flores appeared in 19 games for San Diego's top affiliate then opted out of his contract. The eight-year veteran posted a 3.19 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 for the Rockies and Twins last year.
AL Central Notes: Hunter, Thornton, Rauch, Indians
The American League Central welcomed a handful of new players this week – most notably right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez. Yet many other trades didn't materialize. Here are the details on some deals that could have impacted the division…
- The Tigers tried to acquire Tommy Hunter from the Rangers before the Orioles obtained him in the Koji Uehara deal yesterday, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Tigers did acquire Doug Fister for their rotation.
- The Brewers called on every good left-handed relief option out there, including White Sox southpaw Matt Thornton, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (on Twitter).
- The Twins talked to the Blue Jays about re-acquiring Jon Rauch, but talks went nowhere, according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
- The Indians discussed as many as 75 players leading up to the deadline, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian (on Twitter).
NL Central Trades
The month of July proved to be a busy one for the NL Central..
Astros
- Acquired center fielder Jordan Schafer, southpaw Double-A starter Brett Oberholtzer, righty Double-A starter Paul Clemens, and righty Triple-A reliever Juan Abreu from the Braves in exchange for Michael Bourn and cash.
- Acquired prospects Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid, and a player to be named later from the Phillies for Hunter Pence and $2MM.
- Acquired right-handed pitchers Henry Sosa and Jason Stoffel from the Giants for Jeff Keppinger.
Brewers
- Acquired infielder/outfielder Jerry Hairston Jr. from the Nats for Double-A outfielder Erik Komatsu.
- Acquired Felipe Lopez from the Rays for cash considerations.
- Received cash considerations from the Braves for catcher Wil Nieves.
- Acquired Francisco Rodriguez and cash from the Mets for two players to be named later. The Mets will choose the players from a list of five Brewers minor leaguers by a date in September.
Cardinals
- Acquired Rafael Furcal from the Dodgers for Alex Castellanos and roughly $2.5MM.
- Acquired starter Edwin Jackson, relievers Marc Rzepczynski and Octavio Dotel, outfielder Corey Patterson, and three players to be named later or cash considerations from the Blue Jays for center fielder Colby Rasmus and pitchers Trever Miller, Brian Tallet, and P.J. Walters.
Cubs
- Acquired minor leaguer outfielder Abner Abreu and reliever Carlton Smith from the Indians for right fielder Kosuke Fukudome and about $3.9MM.
Pirates
- Acquired right fielder Ryan Ludwick from the Padres for a player to be named later.
- Acquired Derrek Lee from Baltimore for minor league first baseman Aaron Baker.
Reds
- Acquired outfielder Bill Rhinehart and left-hander Chris Manno from the Nationals for Jonny Gomes and cash considerations.
Brewers Designate Brett Carroll For Assignment
The Brewers designated outfielder Brett Carroll for assignment to clear an active roster spot for newly-acquired Jerry Hairston Jr., tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Carroll, 28, was acquired by the Brewers from the Royals in March. He spent most of the year at Triple-A, hitting .281/.356/.469 in 381 plate appearances, playing mostly center field.
Brewers Acquire Jerry Hairston Jr.
The Brewers acquired infielder/outfielder Jerry Hairston Jr. from the Nationals for Double-A outfielder Erik Komatsu today, the teams announced.
Hairston, 35, gives the Brewers additional depth at second base in the wake of Rickie Weeks' injury, as well as an occasional option for third base and shortstop. He's hitting .268/.342/.385 in 238 plate appearances on the season and has $670K remaining on his contract, plus performance bonuses.
GMs Mike Rizzo and Doug Melvin matched up on a trade back in March, when the Brewers acquired Nyjer Morgan, according to our Transaction Tracker.
ESPN's Chris Singleton and CBS Sports' Scott Miller broke the story.
Bedard, Guthrie Have Contrasting Starts
10:42pm: The Mariners appeared to be waiting until after this start to advance Bedard talks, a source tells WEEI's Alex Speier. The start won't necessarily cause suitors to drop out.
10:04pm: Mariners lefty Erik Bedard missed a month between starts due to a knee strain, and the rust showed tonight against the Rays. He threw 57 pitches, about half of them strikes, allowing four walks, three hits, and five earned runs in 1 1/3 innings (Aaron Laffey allowed a couple of inherited runners to score). The game was reportedly scouted by at least the Red Sox, Yankees, and Tigers. Bedard's character also took a couple of hits tonight courtesy of former Orioles executive Jim Duquette, though Bruce Chen had his back.
Orioles righty Jeremy Guthrie, on the other hand, fired seven innings of one-run ball against the Yankees to lower his ERA to 4.18. The contest was scouted by the Cardinals, Tigers, Brewers, and Rangers at the least, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. The Red Sox have also been linked to Guthrie, though Ken Rosenthal tweeted earlier today that the Orioles have been unmoved by the offers for their ace.
Multiple Teams Interested In Jamey Carroll
4:40pm: The D'Backs and Pirates are also looking at Carroll, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
11:48am: The Brewers would like to acquire Dodgers infielder Jamey Carroll more than ever with Rickie Weeks hitting the DL for an ankle sprain, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. However, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that the Indians are continuing to show interest in Carroll.
Though they acquired outfielder Kosuke Fukudome earlier today, Indians president Mark Shapiro tweeted that the front office is "still working to improve the team with other additions." Potential targets vary from Ryan Ludwick to Ubaldo Jimenez, based on tweets from Jon Heyman and Troy Renck.
Brewers Acquire Felipe Lopez
The Brewers acquired infielder Felipe Lopez from the Rays for cash considerations, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. He'll head to Triple-A Nashville for the time being. Brewers GM Doug Melvin moved quickly to add infield depth after Rickie Weeks injured his ankle yesterday. Melvin told Tom Haudricourt that no second basemen are on the market at a price he'll meet so he'll probably mix and match a variety of players.
Lopez, 31, was a July addition for Milwaukee back in 2009 as well. He struggled with the Rays this year but hit .305/.357/.474 in 207 plate appearances for their Triple-A club. Lopez was designated for assignment and cleared waivers twice already this year, so the cash the Brewers are considering sending shouldn't amount to much.
Rafael Furcal Drawing Interest
1:52pm: The Brewers are doing background work on Furcal and are also interested in Jamey Carroll, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, but the Dodgers will only trade one.
1:30pm: The Giants have talked to the Dodgers about Furcal, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark. Before the two rivals matched up on a 2007 deal involving Mark Sweeney, they hadn't made a trade since 1985.
9:57am: Multiple teams are showing interest in Dodgers infielder Rafael Furcal, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney, though L.A. would have to eat a major portion of the $4.8MM owed to him. Though he's having a terrible season, Furcal is a good hitter when he's right and looks better in a weak market for middle infielders. The Cardinals are known to be focused on middle infield help.
Furcal, 33, is hitting .195/.267/.241 in 147 plate appearances. He was hampered by a broken thumb and oblique strain, each injury knocking him out for about a month.