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Rosenthal’s Latest Videos: Hunter, Piazza

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A couple of Ken Rosenthal new videos – Inside Pitch and Full Count – are up at FOXSports.com.  Here’s a summary of the rumor-related stuff.

  • Rosenthal says Torii Hunter rejected a four-year, $56MM offer from the Twins.  However, Hunter said today that he received no such offer.  The Twins approached him about a contract extension, but he’ll wait until the winter to negotiate.  At any rate, Rosenthal believes Hunter will end up in the $18MM per year territory occupied by comparables Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells.
  • Mike Piazza could be an option for the Tigers if Gary Sheffield’s shoulder problems linger.  Currently Sheff is looking to return in early September.  Piazza has cleared waivers, so he can be traded to any team.  He hasn’t been hitting this month (.654 OPS).
  • The Orioles have a couple of valuable trading chips in Kevin Millar and Steve Trachsel.  Trax has cleared waivers; Millar is an unknown.  Trachsel is back on the radar with a 2.53 August ERA (though he’s whiffed only five in 32 innings).
  • Rosenthal says the Marlins will almost certainly explore Dontrelle Willis trades this winter.

Olney On Johan Santana

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ESPN’s Buster Olney kicks off his blog today with his thoughts on Johan Santana.  Fresh off a team-record 17 strikeout performance, Santana is a hot topic around baseball.  Olney believes Santana trade talk could dominate the offseason.  It might be a hell of a winter if Alex Rodriguez hits the open market (though that seems unlikely). 

Olney feels that the Twins would be best off trading Santana this winter if they don’t sign him.  Studs like Jered Weaver, Clay Buchholz, Phil Hughes, and Andrew Miller could suddenly lose untouchable status if Santana is in play.  There’s no arguing that an established, MLB-ready young pitcher like the above-mentioned four is worth significantly more than the two draft picks the Twins could receive after ’08 for letting Johan walk.  Terry Ryan would need to acquire a valuable young position player as well, I imagine.

Olney notes that the Twins have made such a deal before with the Chuck Knoblauch trade in February of ’98.  The Twins received Eric Milton, Cristian Guzman, Brian Buchanan, and cash back then.  They’d do significantly better this time.

I know a lot of folks think the Mets can pull this off, but I don’t know that they have the right mix of players.  Here’s my stab at a Santana bounty: Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, and Jonathan Meloan.  Reasonable?  Ridiculous?  Leave your most reasonable proposal in the comments, maybe we’ll vote on the best.  And if your favorite team isn’t a great fit, don’t try to force it!   

Random Rumors: Erstad, Gagne, Podsednik

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Here’s a smattering of random rumors.

  • The Twins have tried and failed to acquire Mike Piazza, Jermaine Dye, and Kevin Mench.  Instead of Dye, the White Sox offered up 33 year-old outfielder Darin Erstad, he of the .671 OPS. The Twins passed.
  • Eric Gagne will apparently earn Type A status as a free agent, despite pitching only two innings in 2006.  Rob Bradford has the details.  This was apparently a big factor for the Red Sox in making the deal.
  • The Chicago Sun-Times debunks a rumor that the Cubs are trying to trade for Scott Podsednik.  How come I wasn’t told about this rumor previously?  Who started it?  I feel left out. 
  • The Pirates and Tigers are still talking about Jack Wilson.  Apparently the deadline version of the deal died when the Bucs asked for Craig Monroe.  Really?  The deal died over that guy?
  • Gordon Edes has a Major League source indicating that the Orioles are "the kind of team that might have interest" in Wily Mo Pena.  That’s not the same as saying that they do have interest, however.

Odds and Ends: Wells, Piazza, Dunn

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Here are some miscellaneous happenings around baseball that weren’t worthy of individual posts…

  • The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the Padres might release starter David Wells this week.  Boomer earns about $175K per additional start, which needn’t continue the way he’s pitching.  He’s tossed up a lot of seven earned run performances lately.  Wells would probably retire if released, though it would be fun to see him hook on with the Dodgers.
  • The Yankees designated ageless LOOGY Mike Myers for assignment on Monday.  That leaves Ron Villone as the only southpaw currently in the bullpen.  Phenom pitcher Joba Chamberlain might join the team today;  the Yankees hope he’ll be their K-Rod.  But they have to make the playoffs first (Baseball Prospectus puts their playoff odds at 55-65% currently).
  • The Indians signed Russell Branyan to a minor-league contract.  He still might be able to provide some pop off the bench against righties.
  • Yes, Mike Piazza passed through waivers.  But he also has a gentleman’s agreement with Billy Beane about accomodating his wishes if Beane trades him.  And one of those wishes might be to avoid Minnesota.
  • The Reds plan to either exercise Adam Dunn’s option and then trade him in the offseason, or else just not exercise the option.  Dunn might command a Carlos Lee-sized free agent deal.  One added wrinkle: Dunn would gain full no-trade protection until June 15th if the Reds pick up the option.

Waiver Trade Candidate: Mike Piazza

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Athletics DH Mike Piazza has about $2.83MM left on his contract this year.  Some teams poked around before the deadline – the Twins, maybe the Angels – but there wasn’t much action on him and he didn’t go anywhere.  The question now is whether the A’s will put him on waivers to try to trade him this month.  There’s no harm in just putting him on waivers, for starters.  The Braves placed Andruw Jones on waivers last year.

Now if the A’s do place Piazza on waivers, teams with the worst records in the AL get priority.  So basically the Twins get first dibs if they want him, followed by Seattle.  I have a hard time seeing the Angels get the claim, because that would mean the Mariners, Yankees, and Indians passed.  I imagine at least one of those clubs would put in a claim and get him if the Twins passed. 

Now once a team is awarded the claim, Billy Beane has three options.  One, he can work out a trade with the winning team, where all players involved on the 40-man roster must also go through waivers.  Two, he can just dump Piazza’s salary on that team.  Three, he can pull Piazza back and not trade him.  Offering Piazza arbitration this winter is kind of risky, because he might just accept it and the A’s would be stuck with him.  He’s not looking at a two-year deal this winter anyway.  So a trade to a team that could actually use him – the Twins – makes all kinds of sense.  I don’t understand why competing teams would allow him to get all the way to the Angels though.  Their chance has passed.

Does Johan Santana Want Out?

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Johan Santana’s comments yesterday caused a stir.  He was upset that the Twins made no acquisitions, and doesn’t seem to think management is trying to win.  It certainly sounds like he wants out or expects to leave.

Does that mean it’s time to start up the rumor mill for all of the large-market teams looking for pitching this winter?  I don’t think so.  It sounds like Santana would waive his no-trade clause, but would the Twins really trade him?  Trading the best pitcher in baseball is a huge concession no matter what the return, and I can’t see the Twins giving up on 2008.

More likely they’ll make their usual patchwork acquisitions this winter.  Maybe make a lowball contract offer to Santana before the season starts, and then watch him leave for the biggest payday a pitcher has ever seen.

Of course, it’s still fun to speculate.  It would be cool to see a stacked team like the Devil Rays or Diamondbacks to make a run at him this winter instead of the usual Yankees, Red Sox, etc.

Twins Pursued Garrett Atkins

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According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins went after Rockies’ third baseman Garrett Atkins with a package that included Juan Rincon.

Given the way Rincon has pitched this year, I would guess he has little trade value.  The Twins would’ve had to offer a good young player like Scott Baker to be taken seriously.

Cubs, Braves, D’Backs, Mets Interested In Carlos Silva

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According to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs have some interest in adding Twins’ starter Carlos Silva for some rotation insurance.  Despite the lack of strikeouts, I think Silva could put up an ERA below 4.50 in the NL Central.

La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune mentions the Cubs, Braves, Mets, and Diamondbacks as teams that like Silva.  He could be used as a starter or reliever. 

Mets Close To Deal For Luis Castillo

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UPDATE: Doesn’t look like the Twins got much here – Double A catcher Drew Butera and High A outfielder Dustin Martin.  Martin might become a fourth outfielder one day.

Ken Rosenthal snags another one: the Mets are close to acquiring Luis Castillo for two minor leaguers. 

If my memory serves me correctly, this would be Omar Minaya’s first deal since December’s acquisition of Ambiorix Burgos. [Edit: Well, the Jake Gatreau acquisition in June counts.] He’s been uncharacteristically inactive.  Is Castillo even an upgrade at second base?  Maybe, but it’d be hard to argue he’s a difference-maker.  The Mets have a 4.5 game lead over the Braves; Atlanta’s Teixeira and Dotel upgrades may be worth right around that difference. 

Finding a lefty-masher to pair with Shawn Green should be Minaya’s next task.  Sammy Sosa makes almost too much sense.  Jonny Gomes or Brad Wilkerson could work too.  Hell, they could throw Damion Easley out there.

Mets Hunting For Reliever, Second Baseman

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Pretty much the same old story with the Mets, though Joel Sherman and Mark Hale of the New York Post do have some new tidbits.

  • The authors name Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, Octavio Dotel, and Eric Gagne as relievers on the radar.  However it seems the asking price is too high for Gagne and the Indians have become the frontrunner for Dotel (they may have passed the Dodgers).  Shawn Chacon doesn’t catch the Mets’ eye, and they don’t want Chad Bradford’s three-year commitment.  They had that option with Bradford this winter.  I think that logic is silly – Bradford’s pitched well this year, and acquiring him now would be akin to a two-year contract.  Sometimes it seems GMs pass over certain players because they simply want to add a fresh name.
  • You can add Al Reyes to the mix for the Mets, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
  • The Mets think many of the available starting pitchers could be traded in August – Jose Contreras, Kyle Lohse, and Steve Trachsel for example.  I don’t agree on Lohse – he’ll be traded today or tomorrow.  But Contreras’s contract would probably get through waivers without a claim.
  • The Post reports no substantive talks to the Royals about Mark Grudzielanek.  An inquiry has been made on Mark Loretta. 
  • Meanwhile, Newsday says the Twins are open to trading Luis Castillo but don’t want any of the current Major League Mets.  Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger seems to disagree, citing a Twins scout at Shea yesterday.  Graziano does not believe Castillo would get through waivers unclaimed.  He believes the Twins want Double A starter Kevin Mulvey and then some (perhaps Ruben Gotay).
  • Graziano says a deal for Castillo could be expanded to include 28 year-old righty reliever Juan Rincon.  Rincon had been consistently solid for three years (perhaps aided by steroids) but has seen his strikeout rate and overall performance plummet in 2007.  Rincon is under control next year and will make at least $2MM again.
  • Graziano notes that the Mets have talked to the A’s about Joe Blanton, but Billy Beane wants Lastings Milledge.  The Mets can’t do that without damaging the current team.  The Mets could actually add an outfielder in Jay Payton; the Cubs’ interest has waned.  The Sammy Sosa rumor also has some legs, as the Mets could bring him in to platoon with Shawn Green if they decide they can tolerate the sideshow.
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