Yankees Rumors

Arangure Jr. On International Prospects

By Eddie Schmid | June 30, 2009 at 9:01pm CDT

ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. has been all over the market for potential signings from Latin America ahead of July 2nd, the first day teams are officially eligible to sign international free agents. Let's check out his latest action on the beat:

The Braves and Reds supposedly watched the workouts for shortstop prospect Humberto Valor. One scout called him "the best position player in Venezuela," and he's expected to get a bonus in the range of $1.5MM-$2.2MM.
The Red Sox are apparently set to sign Dominican right-hander Raul Alcantara for $500k. Here's a scouting report, and one scout said he's "better than [Michael] Ynoa."
The Brewers and Yankees are said to be "all over" SS prospect Damian Arredondo, touted for his "raw speed."

Ben had a round-up of more international signing tidbits yesterday. Keep an eye out for a flurry of news as the deadline approaches.

Odds & Ends: Zambrano, Royals, Hinske

By Eddie Schmid | June 30, 2009 at 7:26pm CDT

A dosage of links to soothe and satisfy between innings:

Paul Sullivan at the Chicago Tribune got Carlos Zambrano to respond to the poll that 57.2% of Cubs fans think he should be traded: "Fine, trade me to Boston," he joked.
Joe Posnanski gives an in-depth look at the problems facing the Royals. "The Royals execs are smart people. But the more they do to this offense, the worse this offense gets," he says.
Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, cricket players from India who won a reality T.V. show called "Million Dollar Arm" and had never picked up a baseball until recently, are now set to play their first game for rookie-level Pirates affiliate Bradenton.
M.A. Mehta at the Newark Star-Ledger talked to Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who says the deal for Eric Hinske "made some sense…he's a pro."
Bart Hubbuch at the New York Post tweets that the Mets "inquired repeatedly" on Mark DeRosa but didn't like the price.
ESPN's Keith Law takes a look at some intriguing pitchers in the Cape League (Insider).
Kiley McDaniel tweets that Baltimore is a "serious darkhorse" for the services of Miguel Angel Sano, with the Pirates and Twins still favorites.
According to MLB.com's Rustin Dodd, the Royals have begun discussions with first-round pick Aaron Crow.

Yanks Considered Trading Rivera For Wells In ’95

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 30, 2009 at 12:55pm CDT

Former Yankees GM Gene Michael told John Harper of the New York Daily News that he considered dealing Mariano Rivera to the Tigers for David Wells back in 1995. Rivera was still considered a starter then, and he was one of the players the Tigers had interest in. Michael, now a scout, says he held onto Rivera because of his control and mid-nineties fastball.

"But nobody ever could have foreseen him doing all of this – and really with just one pitch."

The Tigers dealt Wells to Cincinnati, where he pitched to an ERA of 3.59 in 11 starts. The Yankees would ultimately sign him two different times as a free agent. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports caught up with Joe Klein, who was the Tigers GM at the time. Klein assures Tigers fans that he would have made the deal if Rivera had been available. Imagine if Mariano had been closing games for the Tigers in place of Todd Jones, Troy Percival, Matt Anderson and others.

Yankees Acquire Eric Hinske

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 30, 2009 at 10:38am CDT

Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Yankees acquired Eric Hinske from the Pirates for two minor leaguers, Casey Erickson and Eric Fryer. Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Yankees are getting $400k in the deal, which is about half of what's still owed to Hinske. Sherman also offers eight reasons the Yankees made the deal.

Erickson, 24 in August, has 37 strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA in 44 innings of A ball this year. Fryer, who will turn 24 two days before Erickson does, has an OPS under .700 and 11 steals as a catcher and outfielder in A ball.

Odds And Ends: Halladay, Yankees, Rangers

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 30, 2009 at 10:36am CDT

Links for Tuesday morning…

Today's chat will take place at 2pm CST.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports looks ahead to the end of next season when Roy Halladay becomes a free agent if the Jays don't lock him up before then.
As Diamond Leung notes, the Dodgers traded minor league pitcher Brian Mazone to the Phillies for future considerations. Mazone already spent three years in the Phillies organization.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post speculates on an imagined deal: Luis Castillo for Milton Bradley.
Peter Abraham of the Journal News reports that the Yankees signed two independent leaguers: third baseman Yurendell DeCaster and lefty Edwin Walker.
Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe offers five possible solutions for the Red Sox in case Mike Lowell has to miss much time.
Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun asks Orioles fans which player they would pluck from the Red Sox roster if possible. Kevin Youkilis and Jon Lester would sure be nice additions.
Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post answers his readers' trade questions.
Anthony Andro of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers signed second rounder Tommy Mendonca.

International Free Agent Update

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 29, 2009 at 1:37pm CDT

ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure relays the latest on a pair of international players with his Twitter account.

Cheslor Cuthbert, who agreed to terms over the weekend, will receive a bonus of about $1.2MM from the Royals.
The Rangers appear to be closing in on Jurickson Profar.
It looks like he'll receive a bonus of about $700k to play short.
He could probably have received more if he'd signed as a pitcher, but he doesn't want to pitch.

Our own Mike Axisa questioned Baseball America's Ben Badler about some other international players over at River Ave. Blues:

It looks like top Latin catching prospect Gary Sanchez will sign with the Yankees for about $3MM.
The Mariners seem to be the favorites to sign Guillermo Pimentel.
Ugueth Urbina's son, Juan, will likely sign with the Mets.
Badler says Miguel Angel Sano would have gone somewhere between fourth overall and the end of the first round if he'd been eligible in this month's draft.

Yankees Rumors: DeRosa, Molina, Duncan

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 29, 2009 at 9:24am CDT

Joel Sherman of the New York Post tells us why the Yankees weren't serious about Mark DeRosa and adds a couple other rumors:

They never made a strong push for DeRosa, since they had no logical place to put him.
The Yankees will have three catchers when Jose Molina joins Francisco Cervelli and Jorge Posada, but they have no plans to deal Molina.
They would consider promoting Shelley Duncan, who has 21 homers in Triple A, if they want a right-handed bat.

Odds & Ends: Indians, Pirates, Zambrano

By Eddie Schmid | June 28, 2009 at 8:46pm CDT

Some links to wrap up a relatively busy weekend, with more on the way:

ESPN's Jorge Arangure says the Yankees, Red Sox, Reds and Padres in on 16-year-old Dominican RHP Cristopher Cabrera.
John Perrotto at Pirates Report says if he were Neal Huntington, he'd go ahead with the rumored swap of Nyjer Morgan for Lastings Milledge with the Nationals.
Phil Rogers at the Chicago Tribune is fed up with Carlos Zambrano and thinks the Cubs should waive him and take anything another club is willing to give. Not a great week for Cubs fans, eh?
Bud Shaw at the Cleveland Plain-Dealer notes that the Indians have had more success making deals than with their draft picks.
Paul Hoynes at the Plain-Dealer gets some more player reactions to the Mark DeRosa deal.
Andrew Baggarly at the San Jose Mercury News wonders if Jermaine Dye and Mark Teahen could be on Giants GM Brian Sabean's radar screen.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Bradley, Red Sox, Nady, Corcoran, Giants

By Mike Axisa | June 27, 2009 at 12:48pm CDT

Let's take a look at what some fans are writing about their favorite teams around the worldwide netweb…

Bleed Cubbie Blue says Milton Bradley must go. Bradley is hitting just .237-.355-.379, but the riff with Lou Piniella and off-the-field issues are the real problem.
Fire Brand of the American League wonders if shortstop might end up being a position of strength for the Red Sox.
River Ave. Blues looks back on the Xavier Nady trade, and says that even though Nady and Damaso Marte are hurt, it was the right move because the Yankees were just one game back of a playoff spot at the time.
USS Mariner says it's time for the team to wave goodbye to reliever Roy Corcoran. Considering he's allowed 37 baserunners in just 13.2 IP, can you blame them?
McCovey Chronicles muses about trade philosophies for the Giants.

Odds & Ends: Moore, Schmidt, Atkins

By Mike Axisa | June 27, 2009 at 11:59am CDT

On this date back in 2003, Johnny Damon hit a single, a double, and a triple in a 14-run first inning against the Marlins. The Red Sox set a league record by scoring ten runs before making an out.

On to the linkage…

Matthew Pouliot of Circling The Bases says that Dayton Moore's moves over the last season and a half are enough to warrant his dismissal. He notes they have a more than qualified replacement already in-house in senior advisor Mike Arbuckle.
Ben Bolch of The LA Times notes that Jason Schmidt threw 104 pitches over 7.2 shutout in a rehab start yesterday. We know the Dodgers are looking for pitching, but a healthy and reasonably effective Schmidt could lessen that urgency.
Tracy Ringolsby writes that Garrett Atkins' recent hot streak creates "more of a possibility of another team having interest in acquiring him." Atkins is hitting .340-.415-.553 in June.
The Rangers have been getting good production from unexpected sources like Jason Jennings, says Ken Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News.
Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez says he's happy to be in Colorado, according to Susan Slusser of The SF Chronicle.
Joe Cowley tweets this Ozzie Guillen quote: "The people that run baseball teams now are soft." I wonder what Kenny Williams thinks about that.
Marc Carig writes that the Rockies had begun combing through the Yankees' farm system in advance of a potential Huston Street trade back in May.

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