Teams Scouting Yankee Pitching Prospects
According to Jim Baubach of Newsday, Yankee farmhands Ian Kennedy and Joba "The Hutt" Chamberlain have become quite popular. The stands become packed with scouts each team either pitches for the Yanks’ Double A Trenton club.
The White Sox sent one of their top pro scouts to watch the Trenton Thunder recently, despite the Yankees’ insistence that Kennedy and Chamberlain are not available.
All sorts of other teams have been scouting both pitchers, including the A’s, Rockies, and Orioles. Chamberlain is the upside choice, while Kennedy is the back-rotation command guy.
Jacque Jones Trade Near?
According to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday, the Cubs are trying to trade another position player by Monday so they can add a 12th pitcher.
That position player probably is our good friend Jacque Jones. Wittenmyer named the Padres, Rangers, and White Sox as interested parties. Bruce Miles adds the Mets to the mix. The Cubs would have to eat some of the $7.2MM or so remaining on Jones’ contract, which runs through 2008. Another option would be to move shortstop Cesar Izturis, who has about $2.6MM left on his deal (assuming his ’08 option is bought out).
Buster Olney yesterday mentioned that the Cubs were one of the teams in one Milton Bradley, in addition to the Yankees and Padres. Bradley is still fair game, and the Cubs may be looking to replace Jones with him.
Royals’ Bradley Trade Cancelled
UPDATE: The trade of Bradley to the Royals has already fallen through. Turns out Bradley had an oblique injury that neither team was aware of. Maybe the GMs can still work something out, since Bradley could’ve been expected to have an oblique injury within a week or two anyway.
According to ESPN, the Royals have acquired Milton Bradley from the A’s for reliever Leo Nunez. It’s a surprising move for Kansas City.
Nunez is a 23 year-old righty reliever. He’s been compared to Julian Tavarez. He’s got a decent hitter but his secondary pitches need work. Nunez has been knocked around in 67 big league innings. He’s pitching well in Double A this year but A) he probably belongs in Triple A and B) his strikeout rate is poor.
Bradley will presumably be the Royals’ regular left fielder, at least until he finds his way back to the DL. If Dayton Moore doesn’t spin him off for something better than Nunez before the deadline, I don’t get the move.
Possible Milton Bradley Suitors
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle mentions several potential suitors for Milton Bradley in today’s column. She names the Padres and Pirates as possibilities, citing connections to Paul DePodesta and Jim Tracy. Additionally, Slusser quotes Billy Beane in saying that he worked on a Bradley trade within the past three weeks but it fell through.
The Pirates, as a noncontender, really don’t need to be picking up impending free agents. There’s just no reason for it. They need to give as much playing time to young players as possible.
The Padres, though, make a fine fit. Bradley could help them in all three outfield spots, when healthy. John Perrotto confirms interest from both teams.
Meanwhile, the Mets will apparently pass because of Bradley’s baggage. Bradley, though, had a relatively peaceful stay in Oakland.
A’s Designate Bradley For Assignment
In a surprising move, the Athletics designated Milton Bradley for assignment today. The A’s will have to trade Bradley and his $4MM contract within ten days or just release him and eat the cost. Around $2.2MM remains. He’ll become a free agent after the season.
Bradley is one of the most fragile players in all of baseball, the Kerry Wood of position players. He spent 2006-07 as an Athletic, hitting .279/.371/.447 in 416 ABs. Bradley remains a very useful center fielder when he’s able to play, so a number of teams should pursue him. At least at this moment, he is relatively healthy. The Marlins and Cardinals could have interest.
Athletics Nation isn’t sure why Billy Beane made this decision, but trusts his judgment.
A’s Looking At Nate Robertson
Interesting note from a Tuesday night MLB.com article:
"An Oakland scout was in attendance on Tuesday, specifically to evaluate Tigers left-hander Nate Robertson."
Robertson was battered around that night against the Rangers. He insisted he was healthy, but hit the DL the next day with a tired arm. It’s obvious that Robertson does not believe he belongs on the DL and the Tigers decided this was best.
The 29 year-old southpaw was excellent in April, but has really tanked starting May 9th. He’s making $3.26MM this year and won’t become a free agent until after the 2009 season. Robertson has a lot in common with teammate Kenny Rogers, and it would be wise for a team to buy low on him if possible.
The former Marlin has dealt with a dead arm before in 2005, and it’s likely he’ll snap out of this and return to form. His 223.6 innings last year (playoffs included) were easily a career high.
The Percival Saga Continues
For all the ink being spilled over the soon-to-be home of Troy Percival, is this guy really going to make much of a difference? For all of his career saves, he really didn’t have that many dominating seasons, and of course it’s been a few years since he put together a full healthy season, regardless of quality.
Anyway, Rosenthal checks in with a report on the teams present at Troy’s most recent workout, notably new additions the Braves and the A’s. Atlanta shouldn’t come as a surprise: John Schuerholz has been on a mission to have a solid pen ever since last year’s debacle, and with Mike Gonzalez going on the shelf for the rest of the year, it’s only natural that he’d seek another late-inning option. The A’s are less obvious, but also make sense in their way: they’ve been aggressive in acquiring high-risk, high-reward type players, and they are also short a couple of relief arms due to injury.
Finally, the Philly Inquirer cites reports that the Phillies and Tigers are most interested in Percival.
By Jeff Sackmann
Brew Crew Ball
A’s Acquire Dee Brown
It doesn’t get much more minor than this, but the A’s have made yet another move to bolster their outfield depth, grabbing Dee Brown from the D-Backs for cash. I guess when you have a ton of minor league outfielders on the major league roster, you have to find somebody to man the position in Sacramento.
What strikes me as odd, though, is that a few weeks ago the A’s sent Charles Thomas to Milwaukee for catcher J.D. Closser. Oakland did need the catching insurance, but in a depth-for-depth swap, you’d think that Billy Beane could convince Doug Melvin to take someone other than Thomas in exchange.
By Jeff Sackmann
Brew Crew Ball
Blanton’s Durability Makes a Trade Unlikely
Also from K-Ro’s latest, Billy Beane isn’t ruling anything out, but at the same time, he has a hard time envisioning trading Joe Blanton any time soon:
"He’s a lot better than he gets credit for, and he’s incredibly durable, too. He’s a 200-inning pitcher with quality stuff. And he’s getting better and better."
Blanton’s peripheral stats are also cited as being on the rise, and we all know how Beane values such things, but don’t underestimate how much he and the A’s value the durability. Year after year, the A’s are riddled with injuries — Bobby Crosby, the outfielders, Rich Harden, the list goes on and on — and having someone as dependable as Blanton to pencil in for 30+ starts a year has to be comforting.
Come mid- to late-July, you know the A’s will be active, they always are, but don’t look for Blanton to be someone involved in any deal.
Tom Goyne is the author of Balls, Sticks, & Stuff, a Phillies-centric site, and maintains the Phloggers’ Pheeds page, a source for the latest commentary from around the "phlogosphere". Recently, he teamed up with his brother to launch Roto Front Office.
Rosenthal’s Latest
Ken Rosenthal posted a new article this afternoon. A good read as usual, though not chock full of new rumors.
- Rocco Baldelli remains the Devil Rays’ best trading chip; they hope to see the 25 year-old return and re-establish the trade value he had in 2006. Many are already saying the Rays waited too long on Baldelli, but let’s see what they get for him before making that judgment.
- Reggie Willits has hit his way into a starting job for the Angels. Nice to see an Angel drawing walks 12% of the time. That will enable Willits to remain effective after his batting average regresses. Rosenthal says third base is the clear position for upgrade for the Angels. Garrett Atkins is desired, and Rosenthal would consider Brandon Wood a reasonable bounty. If I’m Dan O’Dowd, I’m making that deal. Meanwhile, Bill Shaikin believes the Blue Jays would ask for Wood for Troy Glaus, but would settle for Ervin Santana and 1B/3B/DH Matt Brown. Shaikin’s source says J.P. Ricciardi is not yet prepared to trade Glaus, however.
- Rosenthal speculates that the Braves would like to add a big-time starter to get away from the current plan of "Hudson and Smoltz and pray for lightning bolts." Sorry, that was the best weather rhyme I could come up with. He mentions Rich Harden and Dontrelle Willis, accompanied by the obligatory Jarrod Saltalamacchia rumor. Poor Salty.