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Odds and Ends

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Here are some various trade rumors that didn’t quite have enough behind them for individual posts.

  • There’s a gossip section in the Boston Herald called Inside Track, written by Gayle Fee, Laura Raposa, and Erin Hayes.  They heard that Coco Crisp told fans at the recent Division Champs celebration that he expects to be dealt this winter to make room for Jacoby Ellsbury.  By most accounts Crisp has developed into a fine defensive center fielder, and he’s under contract for $4.75MM in ’08, $5.75MM in ’09, and an $8MM club option in ’10.  Perhaps Crisp could be used to acquire a third baseman in the event that Mike Lowell leaves and the Red Sox can’t sign A-Rod. 
  • Phil Wood of the Washington Examiner speculates that the Nationals could get in on Jason Bay.  Not the worst idea, but the Nats don’t seem to have the available young pitching for the deal.
  • Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution likes the Nate Robertson to Atlanta idea, tossing Joe Blanton and Shaun Marcum into the mix as other options.
  • Bob Wickman may quietly retire, bumming out these guys.
  • El Lefty Malo dissects recent comments from Giants GM Brian Sabean.
  • Peter Abraham suggests the Mets trade Carlos Beltran for pitching.

A’s May Explore Long-Term Deal With Street

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According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Alan Hendricks recently spoke to Billy Beane about a possible long-term contract for closer Huston Street.

Street’s just 24 but he’s already got 76 saves in three seasons and great peripheral stats.  His strikeout rate shot all the way up to 11.3 per nine this year.  Slusser notes that his nerve injury earlier this year appeared to be a freak occurrence.

There’s one contract Hendricks can probably use as a comparable.  After J.J. Putz finished his third season, the Mariners gave him a three-year, $13.1MM deal with an $8.6MM club option for what would be his first year of free agency.

Locking Street up through his arbitration years would only improve his trade value, so I expect the A’s to do it.  If I recall correctly, one tactical tenet of Moneyball was to pump up the value of the closer, trade him at his peak, and develop another internally.  Making a deal this offseason is wise given the fairly weak market for closers.  Assuming the Yankees keep Mariano Rivera, Francisco Cordero will be the only available closer in Street’s league.  Since he could cost as much as $40MM over four years, some teams might prefer to pay for Street with young players.  Random thought, but how about the Devil Rays?

A’s Exercise 2008 Option On Mark Ellis

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30 year-old second baseman Mark Ellis has had a solid season, hitting .273/.333/.440 with 19 HR in 568 ABs.  He’s generally regarded as a fine defender.  Today, the A’s exercised their $5MM club option on the second baseman for the 2008 season.

It’s a smart move; the market seems to continually undervalue this position (Brian Roberts signed for $14.3MM over two years).  PECOTA actually figures Ellis to be worth a surprising $13.4MM in ’08, with much of that value coming from his defense.

Billy Beane may still shop Ellis this winter.  Baseball Prospectus’s Kevin Goldstein feels that the club wouldn’t lose much in switching to 25 year-old prospect Kevin Melillo.  Ellis is locked in at a reasonable price and is better than any free agent second baseman.  The Mets, Astros, or Rockies could be possible fits this winter.

More On Bonds

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All the sportswriters have had a chance to weigh in on possible destinations for Barry Bonds in 2008. Here’s a summary.

Bonds For Cust?

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Scott Ostler has a suggestion in today’s San Francisco Chronicle: some kind of Barry Bonds for Jack Cust trade.  How would this work, with Bonds becoming a free agent after the season?  Cust, meanwhile, is under Oakland’s control for another five seasons or so.

Cust has easily been the Athletics’ most valuable hitter this year, despite spending April in the minors.  Bonds’ season currently ranks 16th among all hitters for VORP even in only 458 plate appearances.

The Giants have a chance to save $700,000 this year by keeping Bonds from reaching 525 plate appearances.  It’ll probably go right down to the wire.  Preventing him from reaching the last incentive would seem petty, and could mark the end of Barry’s long relationship with the team.  Problem is, no one can figure out another team that would have him. 

Needs and Luxuries: Oakland Athletics

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Let’s try a new feature here at MLBTR.  I’ll start going through teams and identifying positions they need to fill as well as positions that might be considered surpluses.  For lack of a better name it’ll be called Needs and Luxuries.  We’ll begin with the A’s.

For each team I’m going to set up the roster as seen below.  I won’t include backups for position players.  I won’t go into the full pitching staffs to keep it simple. 

C – Kurt Suzuki
1B – Daric Barton/Dan Johnson
2B – Mark Ellis/Donnie Murphy
SS – Bobby Crosby/Marco Scutaro
3B – Eric Chavez
LF – Travis Buck
CF – Mark Kotsay/Chris Denorfia/Chris Snelling
RF – Nick Swisher
DH – Jack Cust

SP – Dan Haren
SP – Joe Blanton
SP – Chad Gaudin
SP – Lenny DiNardo
SP – Rich Harden/Dan Meyer/Colby Lewis/Dallas Braden

Closer – Huston Street
Setup – Alan Embree/Justin Duchscherer

Needs

The A’s are an interesting club in that they’re trying to compete on a small-time payroll.  Realistically I could say that they need a solid, healthy center fielder to give some stability at that position.  I see Swisher and Buck as future corner guys.  But we know the A’s are not going to make a major signing to fill center field.  They’ll try to eke some value out of Kotsay in the last year of his deal.  They’ll hope Snelling can somehow stay healthy.  I think their best long-term bet is Denorfia, who will be recovered from elbow surgery by next season.  He could be a quiet steady presence in the coming years, and should have the defensive chops.

The A’s have some options in center but I think they should look outside of the organization for a shortstop.  A healthy and productive Crosby seems a long shot at this point.  He’s signed through ’09, so I think you just do what you can with that ugly contract and bring someone else in.  Maybe sign Juan Uribe on the cheap and give him a fresh start.  Perhaps try to match up with the Braves by offering up a Joe Blanton for Yunel Escobar.  The less adventurous and most likely option is to just go with Marco Scutaro.

Luxuries 

First baseman Dan Johnson is a luxury, sort of.  He seems like he might be able to muster up an .800 OPS and help some team like the Twins at DH.  Even though Johnson isn’t great the A’s need to make sure Barton is ready before unloading him.  Barton seemed on the verge after hitting .454 in Triple A in June, but he was very disappointing in July and August.  First base might be a surplus for the A’s at some point but it isn’t right now.

We can probably call starting pitching a luxury for the A’s.  While the cast has changed, Oakland has typically had a strong rotation in recent years.  Even if you’re not sold on Gaudin and DiNardo as 4.00 ERA guys, we have to assume Billy Beane can dig up more of these types.  And if Beane’s best at finding unappreciated starters, then he might be able to part with Blanton or Haren.  Haren is signed cheaply through 2010; Blanton hasn’t reached arbitration yet.  The discussion for either would begin with two top-flight prospects, hopefully position players.  The A’s could revamp the left side of their infield with say, Andy LaRoche and Chin-Lung Hu.  The Angels have the goods as well but don’t match up well.  Almost any team in baseball would have interest in Blanton or Haren.  Beane should shoot for a shorstop, third baseman, and top pitching prospect.

I wouldn’t call Eric Chavez a luxury, though the A’s may shop him because of his contract.  Trading him would require a third baseman in return, or else they’d just open up another hole.  There are no top prospects nipping at Chavez’s heels.

Thoughts on Oakland’s needs and luxuries as well as the new feature?

What’s In Store For Oakland?

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Susan Slusser’s recent article for the San Francisco Chronicle had some interesting rumor tidbits.

  • The Dodgers see the Esteban Loaiza handover as something of a small gift from the A’s.  The team’s talked about sending someone to Oakland – Brett Tomko was mentioned – but ultimately Oakland moved Loaiza only for salary relief.  However, the goodwill between Ned Colletti and Billy Beane from the deal could result in positive offseason discussions about Joe Blanton.  The Dodgers could sweeten a Blanton package beyond what’s necessary, in rememberance of the Loaiza gift.
  • The Tigers haven’t asked about Mike Piazza, and the Twins had only mild interest back in July.  But that might be one last salary the A’s try to unload before tonight’s trade deadline.
  • Interesting thought from Buster Olney the other day – is it time to shop Eric Chavez?  His plus defense might play well in L.A., New York, or Boston.  Olney speculates that the A’s might ask the Dodgers for Clayton Kershaw…can’t see that one happening.  Chavvy makes $11MM in ’08, $11MM in ’09, $12MM in ’10, and a $3MM buyout in ’11.  His limited no-trade clause allows him to block trades to the Blue Jays, Nationals, Devil Rays, Mets, Twins, Brewers, Marlins, and Indians.
  • Slusser writes in another article that the A’s will slice their ’08 payroll by roughly $15MM.

Dodgers Receive Loaiza On Waiver Claim

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Given the $8MM+ owed to 35 year-old starter Esteban Loaiza, Billy Beane chose to hand him over to the Dodgers solely for salary relief.  The Dodgers basically inherit Loaiza on a one-year, $7MM deal for 2008, which is less than he’d cost on the open market.  If healthy he’s a more than credible fourth starter.  He had great success for the Nationals in the NL back in ’05. 

Loaiza slots into the fourth slot for the rest of the season, behind Chad Billingsley but ahead of David Wells.  Ned Colletti did a fine job adding two respectable starters for nothing.  One consequence of the acquisition is that the Dodgers are likely to turn Randy Wolf loose rather than exercise his $9MM option, according to Ken Rosenthal. 

You can read a history of Loaiza’s ailments and misdeeds since the A’s signed him here.

Dodgers Interested In Loaiza

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According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dodgers have "genuine interest" in Oakland starter Esteban Loaiza.  The 35 year-old righty has been excellent in two starts against the Blue Jays since coming off the DL.

Loaiza was coming off a fine 34-start 2005 season for the Nationals when the A’s signed him to a three year, $21MM pact. I wasn’t high on the deal at the time, though it’s more palatable given some of the starting pitching deals that followed.

Loaiza pitched for Mexico in the WBC in March of ’06.  He reached April with a marked decline in velocity, and the A’s blamed his early struggles on the tournament.  Spasms in his non-throwing shoulder surfaced later that month.  On the first of May he hit the DL with a strained trapezius muscle.

He returned in June to mediocre results, but his velocity had returned.  He snagged a DUI later that month, driving 120 mph in his Ferrari while drunk.  The incident prompted the A’s to ban alcohol in both the home and visitor clubhouses.  Loaiza was healthy but awful in July of ’06.  In August he was surprisingly lights out in winning four starts with a 1.48 ERA.  Loaiza even touched 95 on the gun in a start that month.  He ended up making a couple of playoff starts – one decent, one lousy.

This spring, tightness in Loaiza’s pitching shoulder and a bulging disc in his neck surfaced.  His rehab was delayed due to a torn meniscus in his knee, which he had surgery for in June.  He finally returned this month, and is working in the 86-88 mph range.  With $8MM due next year, it’s possible Loaiza cleared waivers.  However, we only have speculation on that currently.  A switch back to the NL would not be a bad move at this stage in his career, and the Dodgers are still short on starting pitching even with David Wells in tow. 

Rosenthal’s Latest Videos: Hunter, Piazza

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A couple of Ken Rosenthal new videos – Inside Pitch and Full Count – are up at FOXSports.com.  Here’s a summary of the rumor-related stuff.

  • Rosenthal says Torii Hunter rejected a four-year, $56MM offer from the Twins.  However, Hunter said today that he received no such offer.  The Twins approached him about a contract extension, but he’ll wait until the winter to negotiate.  At any rate, Rosenthal believes Hunter will end up in the $18MM per year territory occupied by comparables Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells.
  • Mike Piazza could be an option for the Tigers if Gary Sheffield’s shoulder problems linger.  Currently Sheff is looking to return in early September.  Piazza has cleared waivers, so he can be traded to any team.  He hasn’t been hitting this month (.654 OPS).
  • The Orioles have a couple of valuable trading chips in Kevin Millar and Steve Trachsel.  Trax has cleared waivers; Millar is an unknown.  Trachsel is back on the radar with a 2.53 August ERA (though he’s whiffed only five in 32 innings).
  • Rosenthal says the Marlins will almost certainly explore Dontrelle Willis trades this winter.
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