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AL East Notes: Bundy, Cervelli, Upton, Red Sox

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Some news from the AL East…

  • The Orioles have begun negotiations with fourth-overall draft pick Dylan Bundy, reports Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com.  Denver Bundy, Dylan's father and also part of his representation team from BBI Sports Group, said today's meeting was "a feeling out process" and the two sides would hopefully discuss figures at their next session on August 10.
  • The Yankees and Pirates almost agreed to a deal that would've seen Francisco Cervelli go to Pittsburgh in exchange for right-hander Brad Lincoln, reports George A. King of the New York Post.  King hears from a Pirates source that the trade "was very close but [the teams] couldn’t agree on the value of the players."  Such a move would have given the Yankees room to call up Jesus Montero as both a backup catcher and as a potential DH platoon partner for Jorge Posada.  Brian Cashman said Montero could potentially be called up once the rosters expand in September.
  • The trade deadline has passed and B.J. Upton is still wearing a Rays uniform, so Steve Slowinski of the DRaysBay blog is already thinking about what a potential Upton extension might cost Tampa Bay.
  • With the Red Sox facing a crunch of prospects for 40-man roster spots this winter, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal wasn't surprised that the Sox moved three of those on-the-bubble prospects in the Erik Bedard trade.  Boston would've risked losing Chih-Hsien Chiang, Tim Federowicz, and Stephen Fife for nothing in the Rule 5 draft had the club not been able to send Chiang to the Mariners and Federowicz/Fife to the Dodgers.
  • By acquiring two first basemen (Chris Davis and prospect Aaron Baker) from their deadline deals, the Orioles appear to be taking themselves out of the Prince Fielder sweepstakes this winter, writes Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun.  I respectfully disagree with Schmuck — if the O's have a chance at Fielder, they won't hesitate to sign him for the sake of Davis (who has struggled against lefties at the Major League level) or a minor prospect like Baker.  Davis could also be moved into a DH role, or moved to third base while Mark Reynolds become the designated hitter.

Olney On Bell, Yankees, Pirates

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As ESPN.com's Buster Olney points out, the American League Cy Young race is shaping up to be a compelling three-way contest. Justin Verlander, C.C. Sabathia and Jered Weaver rank first, second and third, respectively, in MLB in innings pitched and are among the leaders in just about every other category. Here are Olney's latest notes from around the league…

  • The Padres kicked around the idea of signing Heath Bell to a multiyear deal as they got closer to the trade deadline without seeing offers they liked for their closer. Bell says he would accept an offer of arbitration from San Diego, so Olney outlines the Padres' options. They could work out a trade involving Bell this month (with less leverage than before), they could sign him to a multiyear deal or, they could offer arbitration in the offseason and be prepared for Bell to accept if another club doesn't dangle a major deal.
  • The Yankees are well-positioned to pursue the next starting pitcher who becomes available on the trade market, since they kept their top prospects this July. They also figure to pursue Weaver when he hits free agency after the 2012 season.
  • The Pirates made modest upgrades (Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick) instead of paying more for better players and Olney says the approach makes sense given their modest chances of winning the NL Central.

Minor Moves: Flores, Stokes, Ward, Carson

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Let's keep track of the day's minor moves here…

  • The Yankees will release Triple-A left-hander Randy Flores tomorrow according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Both sides agreed to the move. Flores pitched to a 2.54 ERA in 28 1/3 innings for New York's top minor league affiliate, but he gave up 14 hits in 14 innings against lefties.
  • The Diamondbacks have signed Brian Stokes and assigned him to Triple-A Reno according to the team's Twitter feed. The righty reliever spent last season with the Angels organization, throwing 16 2/3 innings in the majors and 17 2/3 innings in the minors.
  • The D'Backs also signed infielder Daryle Ward according to the club's Twitter feed. The 36-year-old had been playing with the independent Newark Bears, and he hasn't appeared in the big leagues since 2008. He's headed to Double-A Mobile.
  • The Rays have acquired Matt Carson from the Athletics according to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League transactions page. The 30-year-old outfielder hit .285/.338/.538 with 19 homers and 11 stolen bases in exactly 400 plate appearances for Oakland's Triple-A affiliate this season. He's seen time with the A's in each of the last two seasons, posting a .200/.210/.370 batting line with five homers in 105 plate appearances from 2009-2010.
  • The Astros have released right-hander Brad Hennessey according to Zachary Levine of The Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The 31-year-old pitched to a 7.76 ERA in 26 2/3 innings for Houston's Triple-A affiliate,

Rosenthal On Yankees, Wandy, Ubaldo, Bailey

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The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…

  • Yesterday's push by the Yankees to acquire Astros lefty Wandy Rodriguez came from ownership, not GM Brian Cashman.  SI's Jon Heyman wrote yesterday that the Yankees offered to pay $21MM of the $38MM left on Rodriguez's contract, implying they feel that Rodriguez is worth less than $7MM a year.  Rosenthal says the Astros were willing to pay $2MM of Rodriguez's salary this year (essentially all of it) "or $5MM if his [player] option for 2014 were exercised."  I'm in the minority, but I'm with the Astros in thinking paying Wandy down to the range of Ted Lilly's contract is reasonable.  At any rate, Rosenthal says the Astros and Yankees never even got to the point of discussing names.
  • Cashman has seven untouchables in trade discussions, a rival GM told Rosenthal.
  • More than a handful of teams called the Indians "to gauge the club’s willingness to flip Ubaldo Jimenez less than 24 hours after acquiring him."  The Indians wanted Jimenez for themselves though.  Rosenthal adds that the Indians entertained a "flurry of offers" for starter Fausto Carmona before the deadline.
  • Rosenthal says he was unfair to print a rival executive's quote last week about how Astros GM Ed Wade was trying to make a "job-saving" deal for Hunter Pence.
  • Athletics GM Billy Beane explained to Rosenthal that "ultimately a trade is a bilateral and not a unilateral process," suggesting that teams were not engaging in back-and-forth negotiations for his players.  Also, Rosenthal hears that the Rangers offered Robbie Erlin and Joe Wieland (who ultimately got them Mike Adams) plus shortstop prospect Leury Garcia for closer Andrew Bailey.

AL East Notes: Rays, Bedard, Hairston, Jimenez

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The deadline has passed and the Yankees are the only team in the AL East that didn't make a deal. The Rays were pretty quiet, too, but there may have been a reason for that…

  • Rays executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman underwent an appendectomy last night, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. However, that didn't stop Friedman from conducting business from his hospital room this afternoon.
  • The Red Sox and Mariners will each cover some of the incentives on Erik Bedard's contract, GM Jack Zduriencik told Larry Stone of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). 
  • The Red Sox had interest in Scott Hairston, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). However, the Mets weren't interested in minor salary relief or a marginal prospect.
  • Boston wasn’t the only interested team, by the way. The Braves talked to the Mets about acquiring Hairston as a bench bat, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter).
  • Jack Curry of the YES Network hears that the Yankees wanted a shoulder MRI for Ubaldo Jimenez, but the Rockies declined (Twitter link).

The Latest On Wandy Rodriguez

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The Astros traded two of their three starting outfielders before this afternoon's trade deadline, but they were unable to find a taker for Wandy Rodriguez. Let's round up the latest news regarding the left-hander, all courtesy of SI.com's Jon Heyman on Twitter…

  • The Yankees offered to pay $21MM of the $38MM left on Wandy's contract, but that wasn't enough for the Astros.
  • The Indians and Blue Jays were both interested in Rodriguez, both only in a three-team scenario that would have sent him elsewhere. Presumably, the Yankees were that third team.
  • The $38MM left on Rodriguez's contract makes him a prime August waiver trade candidate, but is there a chance a team claims him? "None," said one executive Heyman.
  • The Yankees are unlikely to revisit talks with Houston after Wandy clears waivers this month.

AL East Trades

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This month's AL East trades..

Blue Jays

Orioles

Rays

Red Sox

Yankees

  • The Yankees didn't make any July trades for the first year since 1999.

 

Heath Bell Rumors: Sunday

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The latest on Padres closer Heath Bell, who is owed $2.47MM on the season and projects as a Type A free agent in either league…

  • There has been some discussion between the Padres and Bell's agents within the last 24 hours, tweets MLB.com's Corey Brock.  The Padres will not trade Bell unless the Yankees or Phillies offer an astronomical package, tweets Scott Miller.
  • The Phillies still seem to be in on Bell, tweets Heyman.  The Padres just traded setup man Mike Adams to the Rangers.
  • The Angels have minimal interest in Bell, tweets Jon Paul Morosi.
  • The Cardinals are sensing no traction for Bell, GM John Mozeliak tells Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link).
  • The Rangers appear to be losing momentum on Bell with the Cardinals still possible, tweets Rosenthal.
  • The Rangers are still in on Bell, but don't want to pay big now that they've gotten Koji Uehara, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.  The Yankees are in the mix, the Cardinals are on the fringes, and the Phillies have slight interest.  The Yankees are still viewed as a long shot, tweets Buster Olney.  The Rangers are also still in on Oakland closer Andrew Bailey, tweets Bob Nightengale.
  • The Yankees are in on Bell, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.  However, Joel Sherman tweets that as of this morning the two teams are not optimistic there is a common ground for a deal.  Last night, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote that the Yankees were showing late interest in Bell, but the Rangers were the frontrunner and the Cardinals were still involved.

Padres Reliever Rumors: Saturday

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The Padres have right-handed relievers Heath Bell, Mike Adams, and Chad Qualls on the trading block.  Here are yesterday's rumors, and below is the latest.

  • The Rangers continue talking to the Padres about Bell, even after acquiring Koji Uehara, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (on Twitter).
  • The Padres have always said they'd be fine with two compensatory draft picks for Bell if the trade offers aren't compelling, Yahoo's Jeff Passan reports (on Twitter).
  • The Cardinals and Rangers remain the most persistent on Bell, tweets Joel Sherman, while the Yankees haven't called the Padres in days about Bell or Adams.
  • The Tigers have talked to the Padres about their group of relievers, tweets Ken Rosenthal, including Qualls.
  • The Rangers, Cardinals, and Blue Jays are the clear leaders for Bell, tweets ESPN's Jim Bowden, with the Angels, Yankees, and Phillies still kicking the tires.  Ken Rosenthal has the Rangers as the frontrunner with the Cardinals hanging on.
  • Interest in Adams continues to rise, tweets Rosenthal, but the Padres would still need to be compelled to move him.  Meanwhile, trusted Yankees scout Bill Livesey is watching the Padres' relievers, tweets Joel Sherman.
  • The Cardinals are still alive for Bell, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
  • The Rangers "have gone deep into negotiations with the Padres about Bell, and both sides are optimistic they can strike a deal," reports Yahoo's Jeff Passan.  Yesterday, word from Scott Miller of CBS Sports was that Friday's talks between the two clubs did not advance much.  MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan feels that logically, the two teams should strike a deal.
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