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Olney On Guzman, Hardy, Rays, Rios

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ESPN.com's Buster Olney says we should know today whether anyone has successfully claimed Cristian Guzman off waivers. However, some executives say Guzman isn't worth the $8MM he makes annually. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors:

  • J.J. Hardy hasn't yet cleared waivers and Olney wonders if the Red Sox could target him. They had interest in Hardy earlier in the year, but the two teams couldn't agree on the shortstop's value.
  • The Rays are one of the teams claiming many players. They don't expect to acquire all the cheap youngsters they claim, but they could face a roster issue if they're handed multiple players. 
  • Every talent evaluator Olney speaks with believes the Jays need to take advantage of the club that claimed Alex Rios and dump the right fielder's salary while they can. 

Several Clubs Interested In Smoltz

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We touched on this earlier tonight, but let's expand on it a bit. ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that the Texas Rangers and some National League clubs have expressed interest in acquiring the recently DFA'd John Smoltz, which is an indication that he'll have another opportunity to pitch this year if he's up to it. The other night we heard from Cardinals GM John Mozeliak that they were unlikely to pursue the future Hall of Famer, and it seems unlikely that Boston would made a deal with Texas since the two clubs are in a tight race for the American League Wildcard.

The Red Sox would not only like Smoltz to accept a minor league assignment so he could transition to the bullpen, but they also want to restructure a clause in his contract that pays the righty $35K for every day he's on the Major League roster. Olney mentions that teams like the Dodgers, Cubs, Brewers, and Astros were looking for pitching, but he says that it's "highly unlikely that any NL team would be willing to take Smoltz in a trade without some financial adjustment from the Red Sox, perhaps with Boston kicking in money to pay off a large portion of his base salary and roster bonus." Interested clubs could also wait it out and see if Boston releases Smoltz, when they could sign him for nothing more than the pro-rated minimum.

The 42-yr old Smoltz pitched to an 8.32 ERA in six starts with Boston, but teams will line up to take a chance on a player with his track record and pedigree. Of course, before anyone goes and acquires him, Smoltz will first have to decide if he wants to keep pitching.

Brewers Acquire David Weathers

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3:14pm: Fay has more on the trade. The Reds will have a pool of young players to choose from, and will have until October 15 to make a decision. They can also receive cash instead of taking a player from the pool. Fay also has comments from Weathers about the move.

2:27pm: John Fay reports that the Brewers have acquired David Weathers from the Reds for a player-to-be-named. We'll keep you updated as things develop. Tom Haudricourt confirms, via Twitter, adding that it was a waiver claim.

Weathers, 39, has pitched well this year, posting a 3.32 ERA and holding opponents to just a .199 batting average, striking out 27 through 38 innings. He has, however, allowed seven home runs this year, after allowing just six through 69.1 innings in 2008 and four through 77.2 innings in 2007.

Odds & Ends: A’s, Yankees, Brewers

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Some links to peruse with your Sunday brunch:

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Rios, Mulder, Moyer, Masterson

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Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has a new Full Count video up. Let's dive in…

  • Whatever the Blue Jays do with Alex Rios will tell us everything we need to know about the team's financial state and their opinion of Rios. Toronto could shed more than $60MM in obligation by letting the claiming team have him.
  • Some executives believe Rios still has some trade value, and if the Jays wait until the offseason they'd be able to negotiate with all 29 other clubs. The problem is that the free agent market will again be flooded with outfielders.
  • Free agent southpaw Mark Mulder could be throwing for teams within 7-10 days. Mulder is working with Rick Peterson, his former pitching coach, in New Jersey this weekend, The pair recently corrected a "minor mechanical flaw," and Peterson told Mulder's agent Greg Clifton that he was shocked the pitcher was in such good shape.
  • Teams are looking at Mulder for September, with the Yankees, Brewers, Dodgers and Rangers are among the cubs that have expressed interest. Just as a reminder, if Mulder joins a big league team after August 31st, he would be ineligible for the playoff roster.
  • Forget about all that talk from Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. about going with a six-man rotation, Jamie Moyer will "almost certainly" head to the bullpen once Pedro Martinez is ready. The team just hasn't figured out how to break the news yet.
  • Justin Masterson was throwing 93-97 in his first appearance with Cleveland, causing some club officials to wonder if he should be a closer down the line. Short term, the Indians need him in the rotation and he has the everything needed to become a third or fourth starter.

Brewers DFA R.J. Swindle; Rays Claim Him

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1:21pm: Haudricourt reports that the Rays claimed Swindle. He suspects their interest comes from Swindle's one remaining option, which means the team can send him to the minors.

12:18pm: According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Brewers designated lefty R.J. Swindle for assignment to make room on the roster for Jesus Colome. Swindle, 26, allowed at least one earned run in every one of his six appearances with the Brewers this year for a season line of 6.2 innings, 12 hits, 4 BB and 8 Ks.

Which Teams Took On Salary At The Deadline?

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As the trade deadline approached, we heard many writers and executives suggest teams would be unable to add payroll this year. Here's a breakdown of the teams that added at least $1MM in salary to their 2009 payrolls this summer. All totals are approximate:

In total, 12 teams added payroll, but only one took on more than $5MM. The prognosticators were right about one thing: teams didn't take on much payroll. However, few predicted 12 teams would take on salary at the deadline. Looks like many teams set economic concerns aside when presented with the chance to win.

Haudricourt On: Hall, Pitching, Cain

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Tom Haudricourt from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has some topics of discussion for your reading pleasure this Sunday afternoon:

  • Haudricourt says that there's a best case scenario for Bill Hall, and it's not returning to the Brewers' lineup. Haudricourt feels the best thing for both sides is for Hall to play strongly at the Triple-A level, draw interest from a team needing infield help, and get traded. This would require the Brewers eating a significant portion of the roughly $10MM Hall has left on his deal, but with Casey McGehee's emergence and Mat Gamel waiting in the wings, Hall is an odd man out.
  • It's not fair to blame the Brewers' lack of minor league pitching depth on injuries to first round picks such as Mike Jones and Mark Rogers. As Haudricourt says, at some point, you have to develop a mid- or late-round pick into a viable major leaguer. His example: Randy Wells – a 38th round pick – and his 2.84 ERA.
  • Matt Cain's dominance this season serves as a testimonial as to why the Brewers were unable to acquire him when they were rumored to be pursuing the San Francisco righty in the past. Haudricourt says the Giants never intended to deal Cain, and his 12-2 record and 2.12 ERA are the reasons for that.
  • Haudricourt wonders aloud how nice Zack Greinke would look in a Brewers uniform, and offers this quote from the Kansas City ace: "The way we've been playing, it's as bad as any team I've played for." Strong words from someone who's been with the Royals since 2004. Greinke is just 10-6 despite leading the Majors with a 2.08 ERA, and has a 2.97 ERA over his five no-decision this season. Ouch.
  • Haudricourt discusses the Indians as well, pointing out that no team had ever traded the AL Cy Young winner in back-to-back seasons. He quotes Cliff Lee:
"I'll miss the guys, but this is an opportunity to help a first-place team and the defending world champions. So I'm excited."

Brewers Sign Corey Patterson

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MLB.com's Adam McCalvy tweets that the Brewers have signed outfielder Corey Patterson to a minor league deal, assigning him to Triple-A Nashville. The 29-yr old Patterson hit .133-.133-.133 in 15 plate appearances with the Nationals earlier in the year, but spent most of the season in Triple-A. Washington released him last week.

The Yankees had also expressed interest in signing Patterson.

Odds & Ends: Giants, Tigers, Brewers

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Some more links as we unwind from yesterday:

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