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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Gillies, Oswalt, Hart, Lilly

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On this date ten years ago, a 36-year-old Barry Larkin signed a three-year contract extension with the Reds worth $27MM. This came a day after Larkin invoked his ten-and-five rights to block a trade to the Mets, who agreed to send then-top prospect Alex Escobar and two others to Cincinnati. New York dealt Melvin Mora and three other players to Baltimore for Mike Bordick five days later, filling their shortstop hole. Larkin, the first 30-30 shortstop in baseball history, hit just .257/.328/.372 during the life of the extension.

Here are some links with the trade deadline seemingly right around the corner…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Olney On Hart, Bautista, Soria

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The White Sox would love to trade for a big bat, but rival executives don’t see much depth in their system, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. That may make it tough for GM Kenny Williams to create an enticing offer for Prince Fielder without including Gordon Beckham (that kind of offer just doesn’t seem likely). Here are the rest of Olney’s rumors:

  • Lots of teams are interested in Corey Hart.
  • Yesterday Olney reported that some executives thought Jose Bautista could earn an eight-figure salary through arbitration next year. We crunched the numbers and concluded that it would be a surprise to see him make much more than $6MM. Other officials contacted Olney to say that they would be “stunned” if the slugger made more than $5-6MM in 2011.
  • Rival executives say Joakim Soria’s contract is so team-friendly that it would be difficult for the Royals to trade him. The team has affordable options for 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Heyman On Werth, Fielder, Uggla, Mets

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The Phillies have asked the Rays about B.J. Upton and Wade Davis, but someone familiar with the trade talks tells Jon Heyman of SI.com that the Phils may attempt to obtain prospects from Tampa Bay and flip them to Houston to acquire Roy Oswalt. Here’s the latest on the Phillies, plus the rest of Heyman’s rumors:

  • The Phillies offered Jayson Werth a long-term deal, but he didn’t accept it right away.
  • The Blue Jays are looking for middle-infield help, according to Heyman. That’s surprising, since they can retain Aaron Hill through 2014 and Yunel Escobar through 2013. Perhaps the club seeks a versatile depth option.
  • Prince Fielder is not likely to be traded, according to Heyman.
  • One GM tells Heyman that Dan Uggla does not yet appear to be available.
  • The Mets seem to prefer Brett Myers to Ted Lilly. Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported earlier today that the Mets maintain interest in Lilly and have cooled on Myers. The reports are not necessarily contradictory, but let’s just say the Mets have some interest in both pitchers.

Giants Interested In Bautista, Hart, DeJesus

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The Giants are interested in MLB home run leader Jose Bautista, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter). ESPN.com's Buster Olney reported today that the Blue Jays are asking for elite young players in exchange for Bautista, but the Giants must be getting used to such demands, since they're eyeing other top hitters.

The Giants remain interested in Corey Hart and David DeJesus, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Adam Dunn and Jorge Cantu are also on the team's radar.

Cantu has drawn interest from the Rangers and Angels; the Nationals are reluctant to trade Dunn; the Brewers want Jonathan Sanchez or Madison Bumgarner for Hart; and the Royals have a steep asking price for DeJesus but teams are still interested. None of those bats will come cheap and the Giants know that better than anyone. They're presumably willing to give up talent to improve an offensive attack that ranks ninth in the NL.

The Braves, Padres, White Sox, Rays and Rangers are among the teams that could also be bidding for hitters, so the price could remain high until the July 31st deadline.

White Sox “Trying To Accelerate” Talks For Fielder

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The White Sox are "trying to accelerate" talks with the Brewers for Prince Fielder, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Unsurprisingly, Rosenthal says the problem is that the Brewers view Daniel Hudson as only a No. 3 or 4 type.  Yesterday ESPN's Buster Olney wrote that the Brewers' "clear preference will be for young power pitching."  Olney tweets today that the Sox "probably can't make a deal unless they offer Gordon Beckham in the package."

Just yesterday, Rosenthal tweeted that the Sox were not on Fielder due to financial concerns and the difficulty matching up.  The market for Fielder appears to be picking up, as evidenced by Rosenthal's tweet today that the first baseman is generating more calls than Corey Hart.  MLBTR provided a full profile of the Fielder market yesterday.

Crasnick On The Bullpen Market

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ESPN's Jerry Crasnick does a nice job profiling the underwhelming market for relievers.  The Red Sox, Tigers, Angels, Dodgers, Yankees, Rays, Phillies, and Twins could be looking to make an acquisition.  A few tidbits…

  • The Astros "will gladly talk about Brandon Lyon, but aren't so interested in discussing Matt Lindstrom."  Lyon is still owed $12.48MM through 2012.
  • Crasnick points out that Octavio Dotel is not a pitcher you want facing lefties.  How about D.J. Carrasco?  He's quietly having another decent year, he's cheap, and he's under team control through 2012.  Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweeted yesterday that at least five teams have inquired.
  • Crasnick finds "the consensus" to be that Mariners closer David Aardsma will be dealt before the deadline.  The Tigers have been linked to the hard-throwing righty, whose ERA is up several runs this year despite his strikeout and walk rates remaining stable.  Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times feels the Mariners would need their socks knocked off to move Aardsma. 
  • Chad Qualls, Clay Hensley, and most of the Brewers' and Royals' pens also merit consideration as trade bait.

White Sox Focused On Dunn, Not Fielder

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TUESDAY, 12:07pm: The Sox are focused on Dunn, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, and they're not in on Prince Fielder or Lance Berkman.

MONDAY, 11:15pm: White Sox GM Kenny Williams has been trying “desperately” to acquire Adam Dunn from the Nationals, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Cowley’s source says the White Sox don’t want to move Carlos Quentin or Gordon Beckham to acquire Dunn, but would move any minor leaguer, and would trade Dayan Viciedo or Daniel Hudson. But Williams still finds that Nats GM Mike Rizzo is asking a lot, according to Cowley’s source.



"The problem Kenny is finding out is that Rizzo is acting like Dunn is Ryan Howard,'' the source said.


Though the White Sox appear to have interest in Dunn, Williams said that he isn’t optimistic about completing deals this summer.


"If I'm being honest and completely transparent right now of the price that is being asked for some of the players that we've inquired about, for us, it's more detrimental to our present and our future than we'd like,” Williams said.

The White Sox could definitely use an upgrade at DH, but as Williams pointed out, the team could still add a player in August. The White Sox acquired Alex Rios from the Blue Jays in an August 2009 waiver claim.

The Prince Fielder Market

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Earlier this month we learned that the Brewers are listening to offers for first baseman Prince Fielder.  One school of thought is that Fielder's value is at its highest since, as one GM told ESPN's Buster Olney, "he can impact two pennant races."  Another is that Brewers GM Doug Melvin can get more teams involved in the offseason and drive up the price.  At any rate, let's summarize the current Fielder situation.

Contract

Fielder, a Scott Boras client, signed a two-year, $18MM extension in January of 2009.  $4.34MM remains on that contract through the end of the season, and then Fielder will be arbitration-eligible for 2011.  One exec I spoke to feels the slugger could earn around $15-16MM in '11 before reaching free agency and seeking $100MM+ on a multiyear deal.

Performance

Fielder's power is down overall this year, as he's hitting .265/.396/.509 and striking out more than ever.  However, he's slugging .618 since June 1st – more in line with his '09 performance.  And even though doubles and triples are down, Fielder leads the NL with 23 home runs.

Asking Price

In today's blog Olney writes that "the Brewers' clear preference will be for young power pitching."  The deal would have to be built around a household name – a hurler found on Baseball America's midseason top 50 prospects list or a flamethrower who was recently promoted.  I'm guessing the Brewers would want a top 100 prospect as well, and those two players would form the foundation of the deal.

Interested Teams

  • White Sox: GM Kenny Williams says "only a small group of players" can help him, and many baseball writers feel that Fielder is probably on Williams' list.  Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes that the Brewers scouted Daniel Hudson last night.  Is Hudson the type of player you can build a Fielder deal around?  It may be a moot point, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Sox are "not on Fielder." 
  • Rays: They certainly have the goods, with pitchers such as Jeremy Hellickson and Wade Davis.  However, a source of Yahoo's Jeff Passan says the Rays "won't go near" Fielder, perhaps because of his likely 2011 salary.
  • Giants: With Madison Bumgarner or Jonathan Sanchez, Passan feels the Giants could swing a Fielder deal.  They've also got Zach Wheeler, who is further away but rates very highly.  On the other hand, ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted on July 3rd that there had been no recent trade talks between the teams.  That same day Olney opined that he didn't think the Giants could acquire Fielder without Matt Cain.
  • Angels: It's believed they prefer a rental at first base, since Kendry Morales will be ready for the '11 season.  For what it's worth, Torii Hunter would like to see the Angels acquire Fielder or Adam Dunn.
  • You could dream up various other scenarios, though we haven't seen anything about the Mets, Dodgers, or Rangers being interested in Fielder.  Things could open up in the winter, as a surprise team could splurge for a year of Fielder in the way that the Athletics acquired Matt Holliday.

Red Sox Rumors: Relievers, Beltre

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Red Sox rumors from those covering the team…

Rosenthal On Iannetta, Athletics, Bautista

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports kicks off his latest column with a look at Alex Rodriguez's $30MM worth of home run incentives.  The chase isn't generating the buzz the Yankees anticipated when they re-signed A-Rod.  On to Rosenthal's rumors…

  • Talks are on again between the Red Sox and Rockies regarding catcher Chris Iannetta.  The Rockies would want to improve their big league club with an in-season deal, so perhaps we'll hear heightened Iannetta buzz during the offseason if Miguel Olivo is retained.
  • The Nationals do not seem to have chosen a course with Adam Dunn in terms of trading or extending him now.
  • The Athletics have no intention of trading Coco Crisp or Mark Ellis, as both players have club options for 2011.
  • Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli is "a frequent trade target of rival clubs," but the team likes having depth at the catcher position.
  • As part of the Yunel Escobar–Alex Gonzalez talks, the Braves and Blue Jays discussed Jose Bautista.  For now, the Braves still have time to evaluate Nate McLouth's recovery from a concussion.  MLB.com's Mark Bowman wrote today that the Braves have considered David DeJesus, Cody Ross, Corey Hart, and Josh Willingham as potential trade targets. 
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