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Odds And Ends: Beltre, Rusch, Percival, Price

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Links for Friday evening…

  • As Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times explains, Adrian Beltre's trade value is diminishing because teams are no longer confident that he'll be a Type A free agent. This means the team that trades for Beltre can't expect two compensation picks for losing the third baseman to free agency.
  • MLB.com's Mark Bowman argues that the Braves need to make an immediate change to their outfield and says there's an "indication that we'll begin to see it in the near future." He says the Braves must consider dealing the powerless Jeff Francoeur, or at least finding a more productive outfielder.
  • According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post Glendon Rusch is staying at home instead of reporting to Triple A Colorado Springs. The Rockies are expected to put him on the restricted list.
  • Via Twitter, Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune reports that Troy Percival, who was just placed on the DL, has gone home to ponder a future "which could be in doubt." Joe Maddon has said he "wouldn't be surprised" to see Percival hang it up, according to Marc Lancaster.
  • Another piece of Rays news from the same Lancaster report – With Scott Kazmir headed to the DL, it's likely that David Price will make his long-awaited season debut in Kazmir's place on Monday.
  • As MLB.com's Brian Hoch reports, Chien-Ming Wang is returning to the Yankees as a long reliever because of the team's depleted bullpen.

Heyman On Peavy, Pedro, Blalock

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Jon Heyman of SI.com has a number of rumors in his latest column:

  • He believes the Cubs and Brewers have the best shot at acquiring Jake Peavy, because of the pitcher's preference for the National League and his desire to play in "middle America." Heyman believes Peavy would accept a deal to either team, but there are never guarantees with a no-trade clause.
  • The Yankees and Indians both say they cannot add payroll.  
  • One AL executive believes Pedro Martinez would sign for $3MM plus incentives at this point.  
  • The Rangers would listen to offers for Hank Blalock and ask for relief help in return. 

Gammons On Indians, Nationals, Mauer

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Here are the highlights from Peter Gammons' analysis on Mike and Mike in the Morning. Joe Haggerty of the Boston Metro has the interview transcript on his blog, Hacks with Haggs.

  • The Padres will have a hard time dealing Jake Peavy because there aren't many takers who have the resources to acquire him. The Braves don't figure in now that they have enough pitching and the Cardinals aren't a likely fit either. 
  • "Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee are not on the trade block," according to Gammons.  
  • The Indians would deal Mark DeRosa for "major league ready pitching."
  • Washington would like to deal Nick Johnson, Austin Kearns and some of their "semi-attractive" relievers. 
  • The Nationals offered Johnson to the Red Sox for Manny Delcarmen.
  • Gammons says he believes it's in the best interest of the buyer and the seller to deal earlier, rather than later.
  • The Yankees and Red Sox could offer Mark Teixeira money ($180MM) to Joe Mauer if the catcher hits free agency after the 2010 season.  

Keith Foulke Attempting Comeback

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Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe talked extensively with Keith Foulke, who currently closes for the Newark Bears.  It's an amusing read.

Foulke hopes the independent league stint is a springboard back to the bigs:

"I'm not hoping to lead the Atlantic League in saves.  I hope the phone rings today and it's the Diamondbacks and I can pack my stuff and get out of here.  Any big league city is better than being here.  I'd even play for the Yankees. I still think I have something to offer."

Grossfeld talked to a couple of scouts who gave Foulke mixed reviews, but he does have an 0.75 ERA in 12 innings with seven saves.  Other members of the Bears' pitching staff include Armando Benitez, Bobby Brownlie, Ryan Bukvich, Shawn Chacon, and Aaron Fultz.

You may recall that Foulke walked away from $5MM from the Indians in 2007, choosing to retire due to injuries.  Foulke commented on Curt Schilling, who was paid $8MM last year without pitching for the Red Sox: "He's got to wake up and look himself in the mirror every day."  Grossfeld adds that Foulke hinted the A's did not pitch him in September last year due to his incentive-laden contract.

Pirates Claim Steven Jackson

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The Pirates have added another Yankees pitcher, claiming righty reliever Steven Jackson off waivers today according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Injured pitcher Jimmy Barthmaier was released to make room.

Jackson, 27, posted a 1.88 ERA in 14.3 Triple A innings this year.  This is his third stint at that level.  He'd joined the Yanks in the Randy Johnson-Arizona deal, and was the last remnant of that 2007 trade.  Jackson works with a low-90s sinker, according to Baseball America.

Damon Doesn’t Expect To Be Back

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With the future in his sights, Johnny Damon is on pace for a big contract year. Columnist Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News says Damon, who has spent time on four different clubs despite years of consistent production, is not sure he'll be brought back in pinstripes next year. Harrington provides Damon's quote:

"I don't think it will be too much of a surprise if they don't bring me back," Damon said. "I would love to be able to say I'll be back. This would definitely be the best place for me. I feel like this could be my last chance to be on a winner. I understand the free agent game, how it is. I know they have a bunch of young outfielders coming up."

Bryan Hoch of MLB.com says Damon's aiming to play for 5 more seasons and retire at 40. He has played in at least 140 games in 13 straight seasons. He could join Paul Molitor, Rickey Henderson, and Craig Biggio as the only players to have 200 homeruns, 400 stolen bases, 1,000 RBI, 1,500 runs and 3,000 hits.

Gammons On Ackley, Red Sox, Relievers

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ESPN's Peter Gammons has a new blog post up.  Let's take a look.

  • Gammons writes in praise of North Carolina's Dustin Ackley, who is likely to be chosen by the Mariners at #2 in June.  Ackley may wind up at center field or second base.
  • The Red Sox don't appear willing to trade young pitchers like Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, and Nick Hagadone.  The Sox have looked at bats such as Colorado's Matt Murton and Ryan Spilborghs, but for now aren't desperate enough to trade pitching.  Gammons wonders if, for the right bat, Boston would part with Manny Delcarmen.  He believes Delcarmen could close in the NL.
  • Gammons says the Mets think they could have Carlos Delgado back by August if he has hip surgery, allowing them to stay in-house for his replacements.
  • The Dodgers, Indians, Yankees, and Twins are looking for relief help.  Gammon names Jose Valverde, Huston Street, Danys Baez, Russ Springer, and John Grabow as future trade candidates.

Pirates Acquire Hacker For Sanchez

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2:21pm: According to MLB.com's Noah Coslov, the Yankees will receive right-handed reliever Romulo Sanchez.  The 25-year-old was one of the Pirates' first cuts this spring.  As of Friday, he had a 4.38 ERA and 15/5 K/BB ratio in 12 1/3 innings for Triple-A Indianapolis. 

1:17pm: According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dejan Kovacevic, the Pirates have acquired minor league right-hander Eric Hacker from the Yankees.  It's not yet clear who, or what, the Yanks were given in return.

Hacker, 26, was designated for assignment by the Yankees last Saturday.  He posted a 2.43 ERA and a 115/37 K/BB ratio in 144 1/3 innings last season between Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton.  He was tried at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season and had a disappointing 7.88 ERA in three starts, prompting his departure.

Odds And Ends: Jones, Peralta, Liriano

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Lins for Saturday morning…

  • As ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports, Adam Jones is pleased that the Orioles have so much pitching approaching the majors, but he wants to win now.
  • SI.com's Tom Verducci calls Jones baseball's most improved player and breaks down the outfielder's hot start.
  • Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Jhonny Peralta is playing third base for now.
  • Rob Neyer of ESPN.com writes that there are no guarantees for Francisco Cervelli once Jose Molina and Jorge Posada are fully healthy. 
  • Neyer adds that the Twins need Francisco Liriano to take his game to the next level and regain the form that saw him dominate the American League in 2006. 
  • In a third piece, Neyer weighs in on the White Sox, concluding that there's no reason to panic in a division that the Sox could take with 85 wins. Still, the team has issues in center field and in the middle infield.

Odds & Ends: Bonds, Armas, Strasburg

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Links for Wednesday…

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