Athletics Rumors

Market For Mike MacDougal

By Tim Dierkes | December 17, 2009 at 2:22pm CDT

ESPN's Jayson Stark looks at the market for recently non-tendered reliever Mike MacDougal in a Rumor Central post today. Stark says eight to ten teams are "actively pursuing" MacDougal, with the Phillies most interested. Stark names the Orioles, Pirates, Cardinals, Mets, and A's as other suitors.

The Nationals had the worst bullpen ERA in baseball in 2009 (5.09), so their decision to non-tender MacDougal isn't a good sign. The righty, 33 in March, struck out only 34 while walking 38 in 54.3 innings this year. Despite a 96 mph fastball and a strong groundball rate, MacDougal would be a risky late-inning bullpen addition if he costs several million.

Multiple Teams Watching Kelvim Escobar

By Tim Dierkes | December 16, 2009 at 10:53pm CDT

WEDNESDAY, 10:52pm: Peter Greenberg, Escobar's agent, informed FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi that representatives from the Yankees and Twins were also at the throwing session (via Twitter).

WEDNESDAY, 2:54pm: Zavarce tweets that the Rays, Cubs, Brewers, Giants, Pirates, Tigers, Mariners, and A's are on hand to watch Escobar throw. Several of those clubs are new additions to the list of suitors.

TUESDAY, 10:17am: If you speak Spanish and would like to read Zavarce's full article about Escobar, click here to download a PDF.

MONDAY, 1:08pm: The Mets offered a minor league deal to pitcher Kelvim Escobar, reports Efrain Zavarce for Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional. According to Zavarce, the Rays are also interested. We cannot find Zavarce's article online, but follow him on Twitter if you speak Spanish. Hat tip to ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr., who pointed followers to Zavarce's article and provided translation.

We learned during the Winter Meetings last week that the Mariners, Brewers, Orioles, Mets, and Yankees are other suitors for Escobar, who will pitch as a reliever in 2010 in hopes of preserving his shoulder.

Roy Halladay-Cliff Lee Trade Finalized

By Tim Dierkes | December 16, 2009 at 3:27pm CDT

3:27pm: Over at BlueJays.com, Blue Jays Alex Anthopoulos talked about the players the Jays received in the Halladay deal, as well as recent signing John Buck. A few notes: Anthopoulos sees Wallace as a first baseman, and he has still has ongoing trade talks about other players.

1:48pm: The Mariners announced the trade in a press release, with GM Jack Zdruriencik congratulating the Phillies and Blue Jays on the way the deal was handled. ESPN's Jayson Stark notes that the deal will be complete all-around once Bud Selig signs off on the $6MM going to the Phillies. Elliott says an MRI on Wallace's shoulder cleared the Taylor part of the swap.

1:31pm: Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail heard that the report of a failed physical is a "totally false rumour." ESPN's Shannon Drayer tweets that the deal is official and Lee is a Mariner. MLB.com's Todd Zolecki agrees, saying a Halladay press conference is set for 4pm CST.

12:38pm: Davidi passes along an AP report that has Phils GM Ruben Amaro Jr. saying he's hopeful the trade can be completed today but talks may go into Thursday. Larry Stone of the Seattle Times doesn't expect the deal to unravel, and is hearing it's not a Mariners prospect who failed a physical.

11:47am: The three/four-way trade involving Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee is not yet official; here's our post yesterday for a refresher. The latest bit of news kicking off today's post: Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun tweets that he heard someone involved in the trade flunked their physical (one of the minor leaguers). Shi Davidi of The Canadian Press says Phillippe Aumont passed. There appears to be six other prospects involved in the deal, if you include the Michael Taylor–Brett Wallace component. Drabek had Tommy John surgery in July of '07, while Aumont had elbow issues toward the end of the '08 season.

A recap of the expected deal:

The Phillies get Roy Halladay, Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, Juan Ramirez, and $6MM. The Phillies will give Halladay a three-year extension plus vesting options.
The Mariners get Cliff Lee.
The Blue Jays get Kyle Drabek, Brett Wallace, and Travis d'Arnaud.
The A's get Michael Taylor.

Odds & Ends: Carroll, Crisp, Cameron, Hermida

By Tim Dierkes | December 16, 2009 at 11:18am CDT

Links for Wednesday…

The Tigers signed lefty Brad Thomas out of Korea, and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that they paid $1MM.
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette confirmed our report of the Pirates' interest in Kelly Johnson, explaining that the Pirates view him as a corner outfield option.
FanGraphs' Dave Cameron wonders why teams seem to undervalue Cliff Lee. In a related story, Lee's agent Darek Braunecker believes their position has been mischaracterized.
ESPN's Buster Olney expects Jamey Carroll to choose between two-year offers from the A's and Dodgers, probably today (I mistakenly wrote the Angels earlier).
Mentioned first on Twitter: I've heard that Coco Crisp would prefer a one-year deal with the Padres or A's.
Boston's Mike Cameron signing was officially announced today. Michael Silverman and John Tomase of the Boston Herald have details on the two-year, $15.5MM contract. John Lackey's deal was also announced.
WEEI's Alex Speier says the Red Sox told Jeremy Hermida they'd trade him if they re-signed Jason Bay. Speier wonders if the Cameron signing will prompt a Hermida deal.
The Angels' one-year, $6.5MM deal with Hideki Matsui was also announced, as was John Buck's one-year, $2MM deal with Toronto and Ross Gload's two-year, $2.6MM deal with the Phillies.
The Royals put out word they've re-signed outfielder Shane Costa to a minor league deal. Costa, 28, missed almost the entire '09 season with a leg injury.
USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweets details on LaTroy Hawkins' two-year, $7.5MM deal with the Brewers.
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker examines the reports about reliever Ryota Igarashi, who might be headed to the Red Sox or Mets.
The Mariners signed 19-year-old shortstop Pedro Okuda to a minor league deal, according to a team press release. Okuda was born and raised in Brazil but attended high school in Japan.

Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Overbay, Nady, Holliday

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 15, 2009 at 12:33pm CDT

Some links for your Tuesday morning…

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says there's no guarantee the Dodgers will spend the money they saved in the Juan Pierre deal.
Newsday's David Lennon says Omar Minaya had plans to speak with John Lackey today and concludes that the pitcher wasn't interested in joining the Mets.
ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick says there's speculation that the Jays will deal Lyle Overbay now that they're set to obtain Brett Wallace.
ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that the Red Sox are looking at righty outfielders such as Xavier Nady to contribute in a utility role.
Newsday's Ken Davidoff doesn't expect the Yankees to commit to another nine-figure salary and sign Matt Holliday, especially since they need pitching.
Rob Neyer of ESPN.com says the $130MM or so the Cardinals have apparently offered Holliday is "too much risk for too many years."
The Marlins signed Clay Hensley to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. The 30-year-old righty didn't pitch in the majors last year.
Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says the Marlins, who will watch Aroldis Chapman throw, have "legit" interest in the 21-year-old lefty.
Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston points out that the Red Sox have tons of cash, even if they like to downplay their wealth.
Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe likes the Lackey signing for the Red Sox.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that Kelvim Escobar will pitch in front of teams this week in Venezuela. We know the Mets recently offered him a minor league deal.
Lots of people have said the Brewers are a threat to sign Mark Mulder. GM Doug Melvin confirmed on 1250 WSSP in Milwaukee that he thinks the Brewers are the "frontrunners" to sign the lefty (Hat Tip: MLB.com's Adam McCalvy).
Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner says the Mariners could use a player like Luke Scott.
Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun wonders how seroiusly the Orioles are interested in Japanese pitcher Hisanori Takahashi. The O's met with his agents at the Winter Meetings.
Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News says the Yankees are glad to see Roy Halladay leave the AL East. I'm sure Yankees fans agree.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Yanks would be comfortable playing Melky Cabrera in left and using Johnny Damon as the primary DH.
The A's sent three people to watch Aroldis Chapman throw in Houston, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Michael Taylor Will Be Traded For Brett Wallace

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 15, 2009 at 11:04am CDT

The Blue Jays will trade outfielder Michael Taylor to the A's for third base prospect Brett Wallace, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney.

The A's acquired Wallace from the Cardinals when they sent Matt Holliday to St. Louis in July. The Jays drafted Wallace in 2005 and were rumored to have interest in him last summer when Roy Halladay first hit the trade market.

Wallace went to college and signed with the Cards as a first rounder in 2008. The 23-year-old hit .281/.403/.438 in the upper minors for the A's and Cards last year. Ben Badler of Baseball America isn't crazy about the deal for the Jays, but Keith Law of ESPN.com says Wallace can be a better hitter than Taylor.

Taylor, who's eight months older than Wallace, hit .320/.395/.549 in the upper minors for the Phillies and fits into Oakland's system better, in Law's opinion.

Odds & Ends: Glaus, Carroll, Capps, Fossum

By Tim Dierkes | December 14, 2009 at 2:48pm CDT

Links to kick off the work week….

Free agent Troy Glaus prefers a full-time infield corner job over a DH role, and has made his medical records available to all 30 teams reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has Randy Wolf's contract details, courtesy of the AP.
ESPN's Keith Law provides his take on recent non-tenders Capps, Wang, Ryan Langerhans, Gabe Gross, and Kelly Johnson.
Jamey Carroll is deciding between multiple two-year offers, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. He notes that the Angels, Dodgers, and A's have shown interest. Perhaps today's Craig Counsell signing will lead to a deal for Carroll.
Chien-Ming Wang might not sign for months, his agent Alan Nero told ESPN's Buster Olney. Speaking to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cards pitching coach Dave Duncan said Wang would interest him.
Pirates GM Neal Huntington explained to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday that Kovacevic's December 8th report of a non-tender threat caused Matt Capps to lose all trade value. As if the possibility couldn't have crossed the minds of Capps' suitors otherwise. But note that Huntington took issue with the leak itself rather than Kovacevic printing it.
The Blue Jays announced on their official Twitter page that they've agreed to terms with Jose Bautista ($2.4MM) and Dustin McGowan ($500K). McGowan gets a raise of about $80K after missing all of '09 with a shoulder injury. Bautista will receive no raise. Perhaps the Jays had told him that they'd only tender him if he took the same salary.
Newsday's Ken Davidoff explains that "the whole notion of an 'offer' is overblown," mainly a publicity move.
Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times wrote about the emergence of Twitter in baseball coverage, and I contributed a few thoughts.
The Hanshin Tigers inked lefty Casey Fossum to a one-year deal worth $600K, reports Kyodo News. Fossum, 32 in January, pitched at Triple A for three organizations this year, compiling a 3.55 ERA in 129.3 innings.
NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman reports that pitcher Colby Lewis will return to MLB after a couple of very effective years starting in Japan.

Non-Tender Reactions: Buck, Wang, Capps, Cust

By Luke Adams 2 | December 13, 2009 at 12:42pm CDT

Yesterday, MLBTR recapped some of the more interesting names not to receive contracts at baseball's non-tender deadline. Those players, along with the rest of the non-tender list, have inspired plenty of discussion and speculation. Let's check out some links….

ESPNDallas's Richard Durrett and MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan are in agreement: John Buck should be of interest to the Rangers.
MLB.com's Bryan Hoch wonders if the Dodgers have some interest in Chien-Ming Wang. The Cardinals could also be interested, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Pirates' decision to non-tender Matt Capps shocked Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who has some reaction quotes from the right-hander. Capps makes sense for the Rays, writes Tommy Rancel at DRays Bay. Meanwhile, the Cubs are interested, says Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
ESPN.com's Buster Olney was less surprised about the Capps decision, and gives his opinion on a few of the other big moves.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says that, despite not tendering him a contract, the Athletics could still potentially retain Jack Cust. ESPN.com's Rob Neyer, however, says that the A's handled Cust well, avoiding paying a higher price for declining numbers.
Chad Jennings of LoHud.com lists some new free agents that might intrigue the Yankees, while Scott Lauber of the News Journal mentions some possible options for the Phillies.

Athletics Non-Tender Jack Cust

By Zachary Links | December 12, 2009 at 5:32pm CDT

Oakland has announced that they will not tender Jack Cust an offer, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The writing has been on the wall for Cust since the A's acquired Jake Fox from the Cubs.

Cust is coming off of his weakest showing in his three years as a member of the Athletics, posting .240/.356/.417 with 25 homers. What teams should look into signing the soon-to-be 31-year-old slugger?

Olney On Damon, Halladay, Molina, Carroll

By Tim Dierkes | December 11, 2009 at 12:48pm CDT

ESPN's Buster Olney kicks off his latest blog post with a poignant look at his relationship with Peter Gammons. As for the rumors…

Olney says the Yankees and Johnny Damon appear to be far apart in early contract negotiations. Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News believes the Yanks will turn to Hideki Matsui, Mike Cameron, or Mark DeRosa if Damon won't take a two-year offer within two weeks or so. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says Damon seeks three or four years at $13MM annually, while the Yanks are at two years, $19MM (Bobby Abreu's contract).
Olney heard the Blue Jays' asking price of the Phillies for Roy Halladay "is about the same" as it was in July. That doesn't seem logical, but we are talking about two different GMs here. Olney was able to confirm the reported Halladay demands the Jays made of the Yankees: Jesus Montero, Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes, and more.
The Mets' initial offer to catcher Bengie Molina contains a vesting option. Olney doesn't speculate, but do you think the Mets were willing to guarantee the first two years?
The Dodgers, Indians, and A's are among the teams eyeing Jamey Carroll, who seeks a two-year deal. Carroll may look at Craig Counsell's yet-unsigned deal as a precedent.

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