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White Sox Looking For Pitching

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According to CBSSports.com’s Danny Knobler, the White Sox are hunting for pitching of both the starting and relieving variety.

Based on previous reports, GM Kenny Williams is eyeing Oakland’s Huston Street and Washington’s Jon Rauch.  With the success of southpaws Matt Thornton and Boone Logan, it appears that Williams is focused on right-handers.  Most of the top available names aside from Street and Rauch are lefties, unless you’re a David Weathers fan.

With Jose Contreras on the DL with elbow tendinitis, the Sox also may explore the starting pitching market.  So far they’ve only been linked in published reports to Freddy Garcia, and that was before the Contreras injury.  Plus, Ozzie Guillen doesn’t seem terribly optimistic on Garcia.  The best available starters are probably Justin Duchscherer and A.J. Burnett.  Knobler says more than a dozen scouts watched Burnett’s last start.

Heyman’s Latest: Street, Durham, Holliday

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman just posted a new column.

  • The Brewers and White Sox inquired on A’s closer Huston Street.  However, A’s GM Billy Beane said "there is nothing going on" in regards to Street.  The Sox were linked to both Street and Jon Rauch today, so Kenny Williams is clearly monitoring the relief market.
  • Heyman says the Rays have not discussed Street with the A’s, and the Dodgers "aren’t believed to be heavily involved."
  • Heyman is on board with the recent rumors about Ray Durham and Jack Taschner possibly heading to Milwaukee.
  • Heyman also confirms Ken Rosenthal’s report of the Phillies’ interest in Matt Holliday.  He agrees that these talks have cooled, but notes a good relationship between GMs Dan O’Dowd and Pat Gillick.  Gillick and O’Dowd have matched up for three deals, two occuring while Gillick worked for the Mariners.
  • The Dodgers continue to consider shortstop a priority.  Heyman wonders if Cristian Guzman would be a fit, especially if extension talks sour.  Jack Wilson and David Eckstein are other possibilities.

Brewers Working On Durham Deal?

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11:23pm: The San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman comments on the rumor, noting the convenient timing of Durham’s bout with the flu. 

As was Haudricourt, Schulman is skeptical about a separate Rickie Weeks-to-San Francisco rumor floating about.  But both beat writers acknowledged the rumor, so someone’s putting it out there.

9:31pm: An update from Haudricourt.  He believes the Brewers are working on a smaller deal for Jack Taschner or Ray Durham, rather than Street.

Haudricourt says the Brewers scouted Street but the scouts were not impressed.  He’s not coming to Milwaukee.

7:21pm: Brewers beat writer Tom Haudricourt thinks Oakland closer Huston Street is Milwaukee-bound. He says the word on the street is outfielder Darren Ford, 22, is the price. Ford was pulled from Brevard County’s lineup before its game against Clearwater. Says Haudricourt:

The fact that Ford was pulled from the lineup makes me believe something could be up. He has no injury that I know of.

Baseball America did not list Ford among the Brewers’ top 10 prospects before this season, but he was named the organization’s fastest baserunner and best defensive outfielder. So far this year in the Florida State League, Ford is hitting .232 with a .321 OBP and a .307 SLG. He’s got 44 steals in 87 games.

Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com. You can reach him here.

Brewers Eyeing Huston Street?

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11:34pm: Haudricourt says the Brewers dispatched their top special assistant to watch the A’s play the Yankees.  Haudricourt speculates that the Brewers might have an eye on Huston Street, who is under team control through 2010.  Street’s had an off-year, mainly due to a rising home run rate.

4:38pm: As usual, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has the latest Brewers hot stove chatter.

  • GM Doug Melvin is calling around about relief help, but as you might imagine prices are high.
  • Melvin would not confirm Ken Rosenthal’s rumor that the Brewers are interested in the Giants’ Jack Taschner and Ray Durham.  Melvin is always honest with Haudricourt, so it’s worth noting that he didn’t deny it either.
  • Melvin seemingly has a little room in the payroll to make a reasonable addition.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Fuentes, Holliday, Sherrill

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Ken Rosenthal tops off the day with a column full of rumors.

  • Signing Mark Teixeira as a replacement for Manny Ramirez doesn’t make sense for the Red Sox, who don’t want to take on that kind of mega-contract.
  • The Phillies were recently working on a blockbuster with Colorado that would have netted them Brian Fuentes and Matt Holliday for something like Shane Victorino, J.A. Happ, Carlos Carrasco, and Lou Marson.  Those talks have stalled, and the added payroll might’ve been a problem for the Phillies anyway.
  • Though Frank McCourt denies it, Rosenthal says the Dodgers owned vetoed a CC Sabathia/Casey Blake/Jamey Carroll blockbuster because of a desire to keep trades payroll-neutral.
  • The Rockies, as well as the many suitors for Brian Fuentes, fear he could accept an offer of arbitration and saddle them with an $8MM salary in ’09 instead of two draft picks.  Given Fuentes’ stated desire to close, I find this unlikely.
  • A Pirates scout watched David Price’s last start, though he was likely looking at other members of the Montgomery Biscuits.  The Rays are known to be interested in Xavier Nady.
  • The A’s, stacked with second base candidates, are already getting calls on Adrian Cardenas.  Trading Mark Ellis would make more sense though.
  • Rosenthal believes the Orioles are reluctant to trade George Sherrill because they don’t have a suitable replacement for him in the ninth inning this year.
  • Brewers minor league shortstop Alcides Escobar is untouchable, and his ascent could lead the team to shop J.J. Hardy this winter.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Joe Blanton

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A few notes on the Joe Blanton trade from around the Blogosphere…

  • The Fightins wonder if acquiring Blanton was a good move and feel that J.A. Happ deserved another shot to grab a spot in the rotation.
  • The 700 Level says that Blanton is not the #2 starter that the Phils needed, but he does add depth to the rotation.
  • Phillies Nation wonders if the Phils could now flip Brett Myers (and change) to the Rockies for Matt Holliday.
  • Philliesflow feels that trading for Blanton was a move that needed to be made, but wonder if the Phillies overpaid for a starter who was struggling in a pitcher’s park.
  • Beerleaguer feels that at worst Blanton is a Jon Lieber-type, but could be a strong starter for the rest of ’08. However, they are worried about Blanton beyond this season.
  • Athletic Supporters feels that the Blanton deal will have little impact on the ’08 A’s but could put the team in a better position to dip their feet into the free agency waters after the season.
  • Catfish Stew is surprised at the quality of the prospects that the A’s were able to land for Blanton.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Blanton Reactions

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I’m on record as liking the Phillies’ acquisition of Joe Blanton.  Let’s round up other reactions to the trade today.

  • Bill Conlin isn’t a fan of Blanton.
  • The Transaction Guy sees nearly a 1.5 win gain for the Phillies this year, and isn’t too impressed by Oakland’s return.
  • Keith Law thinks the Phillies’ gain could approach two wins this year, even while considering the smaller park and inferior defense for Blanton.  He considers the prospect package reasonable.
  • Joel Sherman considers Blanton the pitcher Adam Eaton was meant to be.
  • Tom Goyne says Blanton is the B-level acquisition we expected the Phillies to make.  He doesn’t think the Phillies will miss the prospects they gave up.
  • Dave Cameron believes Phillies fans will ultimately be frustrated with Blanton, as his low home run per flyball rates are not sustainable.
  • Rob Neyer says Justin Duchscherer is at peak value, and Billy Beane hasn’t given up on ’08 unless he moves Duke.
  • Or could Huston Street be the next to go?
  • Ken Davidoff is surprised Pat Gillick and Billy Beane matched up for a trade, and gives the edge to the Phillies.  This does appear to be the first Gillick-Beane matchup, but I wonder how much of the work A’s assistant GM David Forst did.
  • SI.com’s Jon Heyman thinks the A’s waiting too long to trade Blanton, noting their spring demand for Johnny Cueto and then some.
  • With all the deals this month, it’s nice to not read the tired annual story about how the trade deadline is mostly talk and little action.

Phillies Acquire Joe Blanton

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According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Phillies have acquired Joe Blanton for minor leaguers Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman, and Matthew Spencer.

Blanton, 27, has a 4.96 ERA in 127 innings.  Compared to ’07, his strikeout rate has fallen while walks have risen.  Still, he can probably eat a lot of innings for the Phillies at an ERA near 4.00.  That’s quite valuable, and the Phillies have him under control for ’09 and ’10.

Cardenas and Outman were ranked as the Phillies’ #2 and #4 prospects coming into this season by Baseball America.  With quality second base prospects in Cardenas and Jemile Weeks (and maybe Eric Patterson), the A’s might not have much use for Mark Ellis long-term.  Or, the A’s could consider moving Cardenas back to shortstop.  The 20 year-old is currently hitting .309/.374/.444 in High A ball. 

Outman has been solid in Double A, posting a 3.20 ERA in 70.1 innings.  The deceptive lefty was switched to relief in May, with the Phils hoping for a quick rise to their big league bullpen.  I imagine the A’s will switch him back to starting.  Spencer, a 22 year-old outfielder, has struggled in High A.

Odds and Ends: Nady, LaHair, Garcia, Bonds

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Baseball is back today, but rumors are a bit light.  We’ll kick it off with odds and ends.

Phillies Eyeing Cain, Blanton

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Randy Miller had some interesting Phillies rumors yesterday.  According to Miller:

The latest has the Phils hoping San Francisco, an NL West pretender, will shop 23-year-old right-hander Matt Cain.  Word is the Giants might part with Cain, who is 5-7 with a 4.06 ERA in 20 starts, if offered an intriguing package of young talent.

However, Jayson Stark wrote on Thursday:

We keep hearing people speculate about the Giants trading Matt Cain. But we can’t find a team that has gotten anywhere in its attempts to even get the Giants to discuss him. "I don’t know who got that rumor rolling," said an official of one club. "But they told us, emphatically, no."

Moving on, Miller says the Phils aren’t interested in A.J. Burnett.  Buster Olney said the same on Wednesday.  Miller also notes that the Phils have interest in lefty relievers John Grabow and Brian Fuentes.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Phillies’ talks for Joe Blanton are "gaining momentum."  Olney believes this deal makes sense, and that it could come together quickly.

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