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Odds and Ends: Manny, Johan, Saarloos

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Here are some links I’ve rounded up for today.  I like the analogy that the Odds and Ends posts are like a pack of baseball cards.  You never know what you’ll get, and sometimes there’s gum.

Odds and Ends: Stewart, Shelton, LaRoche

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Today’s smattering of random rumors and links.  Question for you readers: how do you feel about the Odds and Ends posts in general?  Interesting?  Lame?  Do you skip them, or are they worthwhile?

Kotsay Traded To Braves For Devine, Richmond

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UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 5:07pm: Kotsay passed his physical; he’s a Brave.  The Braves also got most of his salary covered.  In return the A’s receive Joey Devine and Jamie Richmond.  Devine is a 24 year-old righty reliever with a 92-94mph sinker, according to Baseball America.  Richmond turns 22 in March; he’s the type of pitching prospect who doesn’t light up the radar gun but has "command of three pitches and advanced feel for pitching" according to BA.

FROM 1-13-08 at 12:11pm:

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports today via a Braves official that the Mark Kotsay trade is "still kind of a tentative thing."  He doesn’t take his physical until Monday, and there’s no deal until the Braves deem him healthy.  Slusser notes that the A’s acquisition of Kotsay several years ago was delayed by concerns over his health.

Slusser also says the A’s could receive an A ball pitcher in addition to Joey Devine.  She confirms that the Devine acquisition could be a precursor to a Huston Street trade, something many emailers have speculated.

Blanton To Stay Put?

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MLB.com’s Jim Molony talked to an A’s source who expects Joe Blanton to stay put and be Oakland’s Opening Day starter.  The offers so far must not have been encouraging.

We haven’t really heard the specifics of any Blanton offers.  The closest we came to learning Billy Beane’s asking price was on December 20th, when Buster Olney said:

Have heard that the Mets could land Joe Blanton with this package: center fielder Carlos Gomez, pitcher Aaron Heilman and pitcher Kevin Mulvey.

Aside from the Mets, the Reds, Indians, and Mariners reportedly had some level of interest in Blanton.

Reds Have Preliminary Discussions About Blanton

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We’ve heard the rumblings for some time.  Now there’s word from the Cincinnati Enquirer’s John Fay that the Reds have "had some preliminary discussions with Oakland about right-hander Joe Blanton."  The Reds also made some kind of offer for Erik Bedard, but Fay admits that neither trade is likely to occur.  That’s because the Reds won’t trade Jay Bruce and only want to part with one of Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto, and Joey Votto (though all three are very good prospects).  Note that Billy Beane reportedly wanted Cueto in a Dan Haren deal.

Instead, the Reds are entertaining all sorts of second tier free agents.  Wayne Krivsky runs a tight ship, so it’s tough to narrow down who the Reds have actually talked to.  Fay implies that Livan Hernandez or Jon Lieber could be possibilities.  We do know from previous reports that the Reds have shown interest in Lieber, Runelvys Hernandez, Brett Tomko, Josh Fogg, and David Wells. 

Odds and Ends: Adam Jones, Weaver, Jocketty

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You know how it works…random rumors and links to clear out my inbox.

Kotsay Traded To Braves For Devine

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UPDATE, 1-12-08 at 5:01pm: According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, an agreement is in place for the A’s to send Kotsay to the Braves for reliever Joey Devine.  The A’s will also eat $5.325MM of Kotsay’s ’08 salary, leaving the Braves on the hook for only $2MM.  Essentially Billy Beane bought Devine.

UPDATE, 1-11-08 at 3:54pm: MLB.com’s Mychael Urban has a source who believes the Braves would not pay more than $3MM of Kotsay’s $8MM salary.

FROM 1-11-08 at 3:09pm:

David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution just posted his upcoming story in the comments of his blog.  He says Billy Beane called Mark Kotsay this morning, informing him that he is discussing a trade with Atlanta.  The Braves would get salary relief and give up a mid-level prospect, as expected.

Slusser On The Dan Haren Trade

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Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was recently named Rumor Royalty for the A’s.  She answered a few questions for MLBTR for the series.

MLBTR: Some have called Billy Beane’s return on Dan Haren "quantity over quality."  Do you agree?  What is your opinion on the Haren haul?

Slusser: My understanding is that the A’s felt that Arizona might be the best match all along for Haren and that they received pretty much exactly what they asked for, so clearly these are prospects the A’s valued highly, Carlos Gonzalez and Brett Anderson in particular. Maybe there’s some belief the A’s should have gotten one of the Diamondbacks’ young big-leaguers, but that was never on the table. I’m not sure they would have done better elsewhere, and they got some quality and certainly quantity – which isn’t a bad thing. Mark Ellis was a throw-in in the Damon deal, essentially; no one really noticed him at the time. He turned out to be the most valuable piece, long-term.

Emil Brown Signs With A’s

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The A’s signed 33 year-old outfielder Emil Brown to a one-year deal today.  Terms are not yet known; Brown made $3.45MM in 2007.

Mychael Urban’s sources say the Brown signing is linked to Oakland’s likely Mark Kotsay trade, a deal that might be finalized on Monday.

Brown had a dreadful ’07, slumping to .257/.300/.347 in 113 games.  Before that, though, he posted a respectable .800+ OPS in 2005-06.  The KC Star recently summed up Brown’s Royals career, including the pellet gun incident.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Feliz, Ellis, Lohse

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Ken Rosenthal checks in with a new column of hot stove material.

  • Rosenthal says some suitors are popping up for third baseman Pedro Feliz: the Dodgers, Brewers, Phillies, and Giants.  Phillies Assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. confirmed interest today in an MLB.com chat.  Rosenthal admits that the Dodgers don’t seem like a great fit.  He says Bill Hall would have to be traded to make room for Feliz, though Tom Haudricourt implied today that Hall would stay put.  It was said Wednesday that the Giants’ talks with Feliz were stalling over his three-year demand.
  • Rosenthal suggests Mark Ellis would be a nice fit for Colorado, though keep in mind that the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser told us that he was the best bet among veterans to remain with Oakland for 2008.  The Rockies’ current plan is to go with Jayson Nix and keep Marcus Giles around as another option.  I’d be surprised if either pans out.
  • Instead of the four or even five-year demands we were hearing about for Kyle Lohse, Rosenthal says three years with a vesting option for the fourth would now be acceptable.  He believes Lohse’s salary could near $12MM.  Lohse recently said he’s down to about three suitors.
  • Rosenthal still expects the A’s to sign a free agent outfielder, with possible target Mike Cameron headed to Milwaukee.  Take a look at our newly updated free agent list to see who’s out there.

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