Odds and Ends: Wells, Piazza, Dunn
Here are some miscellaneous happenings around baseball that weren’t worthy of individual posts…
- The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the Padres might release starter David Wells this week. Boomer earns about $175K per additional start, which needn’t continue the way he’s pitching. He’s tossed up a lot of seven earned run performances lately. Wells would probably retire if released, though it would be fun to see him hook on with the Dodgers.
- The Yankees designated ageless LOOGY Mike Myers for assignment on Monday. That leaves Ron Villone as the only southpaw currently in the bullpen. Phenom pitcher Joba Chamberlain might join the team today; the Yankees hope he’ll be their K-Rod. But they have to make the playoffs first (Baseball Prospectus puts their playoff odds at 55-65% currently).
- The Indians signed Russell Branyan to a minor-league contract. He still might be able to provide some pop off the bench against righties.
- Yes, Mike Piazza passed through waivers. But he also has a gentleman’s agreement with Billy Beane about accomodating his wishes if Beane trades him. And one of those wishes might be to avoid Minnesota.
- The Reds plan to either exercise Adam Dunn‘s option and then trade him in the offseason, or else just not exercise the option. Dunn might command a Carlos Lee-sized free agent deal. One added wrinkle: Dunn would gain full no-trade protection until June 15th if the Reds pick up the option.
Olney: Tejada, Piazza Put On Waivers
ESPN’s Buster Olney has some waiver activity for us this evening. Keep in mind that many, many players are put on waivers; there’s no risk for a team in doing so.
Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada was placed on waivers, and the White Sox made a claim. Olney simply says that the two sides "did not work out a deal," but doesn’t say whether they negotiated. The Sox have had their eye on Tejada for a while; they had talks with the Orioles about him back in December of 2005. Olney says the Orioles will now keep Tejada for at least the rest of the season. There’s no real rush for the Orioles; they can get more teams involved during the winter meetings.
Tejada makes another $3.85MM this year plus $13MM in each of the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He’s also owed $4MM in signing bonus money spread over those last two seasons. So, $33.85MM for 2.32 seasons. That’s an average annual value of about $14.6MM. He’d certainly create some much-needed excitement on the south side of Chicago.
Olney also adds that Mike Piazza passed through waivers without being claimed. Any team in baseball could’ve had Piazza if willing to pay the remaining $2.6MM on his contract. Instead, the A’s will try to work out a trade and would most likely have to assume some of Piazza’s salary. The Twins, Angels, and Mariners seem to be the main possibilities.
Waiver Trade Candidate: Mike Piazza
Athletics DH Mike Piazza has about $2.83MM left on his contract this year. Some teams poked around before the deadline – the Twins, maybe the Angels – but there wasn’t much action on him and he didn’t go anywhere. The question now is whether the A’s will put him on waivers to try to trade him this month. There’s no harm in just putting him on waivers, for starters. The Braves placed Andruw Jones on waivers last year.
Now if the A’s do place Piazza on waivers, teams with the worst records in the AL get priority. So basically the Twins get first dibs if they want him, followed by Seattle. I have a hard time seeing the Angels get the claim, because that would mean the Mariners, Yankees, and Indians passed. I imagine at least one of those clubs would put in a claim and get him if the Twins passed.
Now once a team is awarded the claim, Billy Beane has three options. One, he can work out a trade with the winning team, where all players involved on the 40-man roster must also go through waivers. Two, he can just dump Piazza’s salary on that team. Three, he can pull Piazza back and not trade him. Offering Piazza arbitration this winter is kind of risky, because he might just accept it and the A’s would be stuck with him. He’s not looking at a two-year deal this winter anyway. So a trade to a team that could actually use him – the Twins – makes all kinds of sense. I don’t understand why competing teams would allow him to get all the way to the Angels though. Their chance has passed.
Olney: Dodgers, A’s Still Talking Blanton
ESPN just had Buster Olney on to say that the Joe Blanton to the Dodgers talks are still ongoing. Rosenthal had indicated that the Dodgers’ offer last night fell short.
By the way, I changed the front page of this site to display 30 posts instead of 20, so that you can see everything I’ve written today just by scrolling.
Dodgers Pursuing Joe Blanton
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Dodgers are going after 26 year-old Oakland starter Joe Blanton. Blanton would add some stability and would find the NL to his liking.
The discussion is centered around three frontline prospects going to Oakland. Olney names Andy LaRoche, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, and Jonathan Meloan as possibilities. I’m thinking the A’s wouldn’t mind Chin-Lung Hu either.
It figured that Billy Beane would see what Blanton might bring in a market devoid of decent starting pitchers.
Mets Hunting For Reliever, Second Baseman
Pretty much the same old story with the Mets, though Joel Sherman and Mark Hale of the New York Post do have some new tidbits.
- The authors name Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, Octavio Dotel, and Eric Gagne as relievers on the radar. However it seems the asking price is too high for Gagne and the Indians have become the frontrunner for Dotel (they may have passed the Dodgers). Shawn Chacon doesn’t catch the Mets’ eye, and they don’t want Chad Bradford‘s three-year commitment. They had that option with Bradford this winter. I think that logic is silly – Bradford’s pitched well this year, and acquiring him now would be akin to a two-year contract. Sometimes it seems GMs pass over certain players because they simply want to add a fresh name.
- You can add Al Reyes to the mix for the Mets, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
- The Mets think many of the available starting pitchers could be traded in August – Jose Contreras, Kyle Lohse, and Steve Trachsel for example. I don’t agree on Lohse – he’ll be traded today or tomorrow. But Contreras’s contract would probably get through waivers without a claim.
- The Post reports no substantive talks to the Royals about Mark Grudzielanek. An inquiry has been made on Mark Loretta.
- Meanwhile, Newsday says the Twins are open to trading Luis Castillo but don’t want any of the current Major League Mets. Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger seems to disagree, citing a Twins scout at Shea yesterday. Graziano does not believe Castillo would get through waivers unclaimed. He believes the Twins want Double A starter Kevin Mulvey and then some (perhaps Ruben Gotay).
- Graziano says a deal for Castillo could be expanded to include 28 year-old righty reliever Juan Rincon. Rincon had been consistently solid for three years (perhaps aided by steroids) but has seen his strikeout rate and overall performance plummet in 2007. Rincon is under control next year and will make at least $2MM again.
- Graziano notes that the Mets have talked to the A’s about Joe Blanton, but Billy Beane wants Lastings Milledge. The Mets can’t do that without damaging the current team. The Mets could actually add an outfielder in Jay Payton; the Cubs’ interest has waned. The Sammy Sosa rumor also has some legs, as the Mets could bring him in to platoon with Shawn Green if they decide they can tolerate the sideshow.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Dye, Lamb, Jennings
Ken Rosenthal has a new article up. Let’s see what’s in there beyond the Teixeira stuff.
- The Angels have a few alternatives to Mark Teixeira in Jermaine Dye and Mike Piazza. However, the team isn’t exactly bursting with open outfield/DH spots, especially once Juan Rivera returns. Troy Glaus still makes a ton of sense, but the Blue Jays would want a lot. Probably 2/3 of the Teixeira package.
- Aside from Mark Loretta, the Padres would also like to acquire Mike Lamb from the Astros. Even tossing aside his awful April, Kevin Kouzmanoff has been about average for his position offensively (.271/.328/.476 since May 1). If the Padres instead used Lamb against southpaws and Kouzmanoff against lefties, they’d have a nifty platoon.
- The Mets have inquired on Joe Blanton and Jon Garland but have found the price prohibitive. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that both are just innings eaters. They’re just elevated by a terrible market for starters.
- The Phillies also asked about Blanton, but are more likely to settle for Kyle Lohse or Jason Jennings. Phil Garner decided to offer Jennings’ ERA up for sacrifice today, leaving him in to allow 11 earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. That was a several million-dollar decision, as Jennings is a free agent after the season.
- The Mets seem to have only mild interest in Luis Castillo and Mark Grudzielanek due to salary and injury concerns.
Backwards Center Field Trade Bait
Most of Joel Sherman’s column today is filled with the Mark Teixeira stuff you’ve been reading about everywhere else. (I, for one, am now absolutely sure of how to spell Tex’s name. A couple of weeks ago? Not so much.)
But, there are two tidbits buried in the column that are interesting both on their own and juxtaposed.
First, Sherman corroborates Buster Olney’s claim that the Yankees are hot after Dan Johnson. But he gives us more: Billy Beane asked for Brett Gardner and was rejected. Uh, Brett Gardner? Useful player, perhaps, but the Yanks are interested in Johnson because he’s a useful player too, and one who is a lot more likely to help them this year (and next, too, in all likelihood). Sherman interprets that as New York’s new protectiveness of their prospects. Too bad there isn’t another ~$15M rental like Bobby Abreu out there this year … unless you count Richie Sexson, whom I don’t.
Second, he repeats the common Gerald Laird-to-the-Cubs refrain, but adds a twist:
The Cubs have interest in Laird and Rangers relievers, and might include center field prospect Felix Pie to get that.
I suppose Laird + Eric Gagne might merit Pie. Maybe. It would certainly make the Cubs more credible contenders immediately, but…Felix Pie?
What an odd world it is, when Brett Gardner is off the block, and Felix Pie is on.
By Jeff Sackmann
Brew Crew Ball
Angels Out On Teixeira?
According to Mike DiGiovanna and Ben Bolch of the L.A. Times, the Angels are done trying to acquire Mark Teixeira. Casey Kotchman and Joe Saunders were agreed upon. The Angels wanted the Rangers to settle on Terry Evans or Nathan Haynes as the third player. The Rangers, however, wanted one of Brandon Wood, Nick Adenhart, Howie Kendrick, and Ervin Santana.
Perhaps there is some middle ground, like a Hank Conger, Sean Rodriguez, or Erick Aybar? The L.A. Times says the door is not completely closed on Teixeira but the Angels won’t relent to Jon Daniels’ list.
Meanwhile, the L.A. Daily News sings a different tune. Doug Padilla suggests an offer of Kotchman, Adenhart, and Reggie Willits. He does not believe the talks to be dead.
Jermaine Dye or Mike Piazza look like the logical alternatives for the Angels. Buster Olney believes Piazza to be a fine idea, and I agree. Interestingly, the Angels kicked the tires of Miguel Cabrera but were rebuffed.
Teixeira may now be left to the Braves, Dodgers, and Red Sox. I still expect a deal to be made. The sticking point for an Atlanta appears to be John Schuerholz’s demand to get a solid reliever back with Teixeira if he is to include Elvis Andrus.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Dunn, Wheeler, Izzy
Ken Rosenthal posted a new column last night, and has updated it very recently. I’ve already spoken about the Teixeira stuff, but there’s other good material in there too.
- Some of the wilder speculation out there has been that the Twins might trade Torii Hunter or Johan Santana if they decide they’re out of it. Various Baseball Prospectus reports put the Twins’ playoff chances between 5-10%. Rosenthal debunks the idea that Minnesota would shop Hunter without first making him an offer, and keeping Santana for at least 2008 makes sense. Plus, Santana has a no-trade clause.
- Rosenthal does have some Twins for us who might be traded: Luis Castillo and Carlos Silva. Castillo has already been connected to the Mets in rumors, though Silva is a new one. One could definitely envision Silva’s style working in the National League (I know, I say that a lot). There was a recent Silva to Atlanta rumor, though Silva’s agent seems to have debunked it.
- Rosenthal says Dontrelle Willis is not available. Perhaps he and Tim Brown will engage in fisticuffs over this disagreement.
- The Diamondbacks have kicked the tires on Adam Dunn. He might make sense as a rental – the D’Backs playoff changes sit between 16-27%, worth fighting for. No doubt they’ve got a stable of young players to offer.
- Rosenthal says the Astros have yet to receive interest on the Lidge/Wheeler/Qualls troika, while Jayson Stark said yesterday that the Astros hadn’t opened shop on them. Thunderdome match #2, Rosenthal vs. Stark. Assuming Ken survives Tim Brown. Anyway, word is that the Rockies have their eye on Wheeler.
- Parties interested in Zack Greinke: Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Braves, and Cubs. This gels with Dan Graziano’s findings. Of course, trading a player like Greinke requires an equally talented youngster in return.
- The Royals may not be able to do better than Cleveland’s Ben Francisco as a bounty for Octavio Dotel. More on him in a separate post.
- Trades of Joe Blanton and Huston Street are "highly unlikely." So you’re saying there’s a chance?
- The chances of the Cardinals trading Jason Isringhausen are described as "remote." The Cards would have a hard time replacing him next year; he’s got a reasonable $8MM option. He also has no-trade protection, so he’d probably want a better extension if he was to accept a trade.