Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Phillies Rumors

Quick Hits: Athletics, Phillies, Burnett, Drew, D’Backs

By | at

Here's a look at today's links as players settle in for Spring Training..

  • Athletics skipper Bob Melvin expects to see roster additions on pitching and position player sides before the full camp opens, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter).
  • The Phillies were exploring a three-way trade to land A.J. Burnett, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  A third team would have been brought in to allow the club to unload Joe Blanton.
  • The Diamondbacks might have to find a more permanent solution at shortstop if Stephen Drew doesn't fully recover from his ankle injury, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com.  Arizona holds a $10MM mutual option on Drew for 2013.
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter) be surprised to see the Angels make two trades before the end of Spring Training due to the amount of redundancy on their roster.  
  • Manny Ramirez worked out for the Athletics and the club could sign the slugger within the next week, writes Jane Lee of MLB.com.

Quick Hits: Uehara, Burnett, Diamondbacks, Tigers

By | at

Friday Night Links..

  • While one source told Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram that a trade of Koji Uehara could free up enough money for the Rangers to sign free agent Roy Oswalt, another source said that any money saved would be pocketed rather than be used on Oswalt or Mike Gonzalez.
  • The other team involved in the A.J. Burnett talks was the Phillies, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com. However, the club would've had to clear Joe Blanton's to make the deal work.
  • The Diamondbacks will be on the lookout for catching depth through Spring Training, Olney tweets.
  • In his blog for the Detroit Free Press, Jamie Samuelsen writes that the Tigers should stay in-house when it comes to their fifth starter position rather than scour the open market for an affordable arm.  The highly-touted Jacob Turner is among the candidates for the backend of the rotation.

Phillies Notes: Soler, Valdez, Wigginton

By | at

Here's the latest from the City Of Brotherly Love…

  • "Industry insiders" consider the Phillies to be a longshot for Jorge Soler, reports Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com.  Though the Phils are known to be one of Soler's top suitors, the team has never been big spenders on the international market and may balk at Soler's price tag.  Salisbury hears from one baseball executive who predicts Soler will end up with the Cubs, who are reportedly ready to offer the 19-year-old Cuban outfielder as much as $27.5MM.
  • The Phillies traded Wilson Valdez to the Reds since GM Ruben Amaro felt his team already had several other utility options in place, reports MLB.com's Todd Zolecki as part of a reader mailbag.  Zolecki says he was personally a little surprised by the Valdez deal.
  • One of those other utility options, Ty Wigginton, is excited to play for a contender, reports Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  In that piece, Amaro mentioned that Wigginton had been highly regarded by several Phillies scouts over the last few years.
  • David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News looks at five key questions surrounding the Phillies as they open Spring Training.

Quick Hits: Arbitration, Hamilton, Castillo, Kazmir

By | at

Condolences go out to the family of Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, who passed away today following a long bout with cancer. He was 57. Carter hit .262/.335/.439 and made eleven All-Star Games in his 19 seasons, 12 of which came with the Expos. He backstopped the Mets to the 1986 World Championship. Here is some news from around the league…

  • The 142 players who filed for arbitration last month averaged a 112% raise reports the AP (via ESPN). That's down from 123% last offseason and the lowest average raise since 106% in 2007. Check out our Arbitration Tracker for the answers to all of your arbitration questions.
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels reiterated that contract extension talks with Josh Hamilton are on hold, reports Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas. "The priority needs to be his recovery and his family and, secondarily, getting ready for the season," said the GM. "We're not going to get in the way of those things with contract talk.
  • The Diamondbacks have signed 16-year-old Dominican right-hander Luis Castillo for $80K according to a release, which said his fastball sits 84-87 mph. He also throws a curveball and a changeup.
  • The trade market is likely to heat up as the season progresses, writes MLB.com's Richard Justice. As he explains, most GMs feel confident in their team this time of year and prefer to take their time evaluating needs.
  • Scott Kazmir, who had been scheduled to pitch in front of scouts yesterday, won’t audition until Friday, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. The left-handed free agent is feeling well, Olney writes.
  • Brandon Webb is throwing painlessly off of flat ground, agent Jonathan Maurer told Olney. Webb will throw in front of scouts at some point, Olney tweets.
  • Newsday’s Ken Davidoff adds up teams’ payroll commitments for 2015 and beyond and finds that nine clubs — the Orioles, Cubs, Indians, Astros, Royals, Mets, Padres, Giants and Mariners — haven’t committed a thing for ’15 or beyond.
  • Yahoo’s Jeff Passan examines the market for the top remaining free agents, including Roy Oswalt, Mike Gonzalez and a crowd of designated hitters.
  • Joe Jordan, the Phillies' new director of player development, breaks down a number of the team's top prospects with Joe Berkery of the Philadelphia Daily News.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

Latest On Jorge Soler

By | at

At least seven teams have interest in 19-year-old Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler, according to the most recent rumblings from around MLB. The Yankees and Phillies are said to have serious interest, and the Blue Jays, Orioles, Red Sox, Cubs and White Sox also appear to be in the mix. Soler isn't a fully fledged free agent yet, but that hasn't slowed the rumor mill down. The latest:

  • GM Ruben Amaro Jr. confirmed the Phillies' interest to Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It may come down to where he wants to play and, of course, the money," Amaro said.The Phillies have stayed in close contact with Soler, taking him to dinner several times, according to Brookover.
  • The Indians have worked Soler out at their Dominican academy several times, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets.
  • Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN The Magazine tweets that he would be very surprised if the Yankees sign Soler.

Latest On Jorge Soler

By | at

7:57pm: The Yankees and Phillies are in hardest on Soler now, Yahoo's Jeff Passan tweets.

5:21pm: Marlins president David Samson said on 790 the Ticket that the club doesn't have interest in Soler, MLB.com's Joe Frisaro tweets.

2:51pm: The Marlins are interested, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal hears Soler's power is comparable to that of Miami outfielder Mike Stanton — high praise to say the least.

12:59pm: The Blue Jays watched Soler and others Wednesday at the team's complex in the Dominican Republic, writes MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez.  The Orioles will be in the D.R. to watch him Sunday.  Sanchez lists the Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Phillies, and Cubs as other interested parties.

WEDNESDAY, 8:26am: The Phillies are also interested in Soler, reports Olney.

TUESDAY, 2:18pm: The Yankees have serious interest in Soler, ESPN.com's Buster Olney tweets.

12:33pm: Many teams remain involved in the bidding for 19-year-old Cuban prospect Jorge Soler, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). The Cubs have been extensively linked to the outfielder, but they’re not the only club involved. 

The Yankees are in on the bidding, tweets David Kaplan of CSN Chicago, and Heyman suggests the Marlins could be involved. Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald hears that “a good number” of teams have interest (Twitter link). Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus explained yesterday that Soler would rank 38th or 39th on his list of top prospects.

NL East Notes: Kazmir, McCann, Hamels, Oswalt

By | at

The Mets took a chance on Jason Isringhausen exactly one year ago, signing him to a minor league deal. Isringhausen collected his 300th career save in 2011, and the Mets obtained 46 2/3 innings of 4.05 ERA baseball from the 39-year-old right-hander. We haven’t heard much about Isringhausen’s free agent prospects in recent weeks, but we do have some links from the NL East…

  • Ten years ago the Mets made Scott Kazmir their first round pick. Much has changed in the last decade, but the Mets have some interest in bringing the left-hander back, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News tweets. The Mets were expected to have someone in attendance at Kazmir's audition in Houston today. 
  • Brian McCann said he's not concerned about signing an extension for 2014 and beyond, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. The Braves have a 2013 option for McCann on his current contract and they figure to exercise if after the season.
  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. joined Jim Duquette and Kevin Kennedy on MLB Network Radio and said he's still hoping to work out an extension with left-hander Cole Hamels. The sides haven't set a deadline for a long-term deal. 
  • Amaro suggested the Phillies don't have the payroll flexibility required to add Roy Oswalt. "I just don't know that it's a fit for us right now," he said.
  • The Phillies and Marlins are among the teams eyeing Cuban outfield prospect Jorge Soler.

NL East Notes: Hamels, Bonifacio, Jurrjens

By | at

The two biggest free agent contracts handed out by NL East teams this offseason went to Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle of the Marlins. They signed deals worth $106MM and $58MM, respectively, in December. Here are the latest links from the division…

Phillies Confident In Hamels Talks

By | at

With an ever-increasing payroll, it would seem difficult for the Phillies to find room to sign Cole Hamels to a lucrative new deal.  However, team president David Montgomery told Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer that he is confident that a deal can be reached.

"I don't think it's difficult," said Montgomery. "We've let [Hamels] know we're anxious to have him stay here. Cole enjoys it here…It'll probably come down to what we think is an appropriate length and what they think. You try to minimize risk by not going longer than necessary. And a player is looking for as much security as he can get. It's an equation that takes time to hopefully get worked out."

Recently, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote that the Phillies will have trouble re-signing the left-hander for anything less than market value after giving hefty deals to Ryan Howard, Cliff Lee, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jimmy Rollins.  Hamels' agent John Boggs also says that he doesn't consider Jered Weaver's team-friendly five-year, $85MM deal as a parallel.

Cafardo On Oswalt, Burnett, Phillies, Rodriguez

By | at

In today's column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe takes a look at what we can expect out of David Ortiz's arbitration hearing on Monday.  The only way the hearing can turn bad, according to one source with experience in arbitration cases, is if the Red Sox mention that Ortiz's positive test for a banned substance in 2003. However, Boston may be reluctant to go there, for risk of inviting bad feelings.  Here more from Cafardo..

  • The Red Sox are willing to give Roy Oswalt a one-year deal worth $5-$7MM, but the veteran remains reluctant to pitch in Boston.  However, as we've heard elsewhere, the 34-year-old hasn't ruled Boston out.
  • Any money that the Yankees save in a potential A.J. Burnett trade will be put toward a lefthanded-hitting DH/outfielder type, with Raul Ibanez and Johnny Damon likely in that mix.
  • Don't be surprised if Vladimir Guerrero, Magglio Ordonez, Xavier Nady, or Manny Ramirez wind up with the Phillies.  The Phillies really want to add a righthanded hitter who can pinch hit and occasionally play the outfield.  However, they’re extremely close to luxury tax territory.
  • The Athletics, Orioles, and Blue Jays remain the main teams interested in Ramirez.
  • Mike Gonzalez remains the most high-profile lefty reliever on the market and agent Scott Boras is hoping teams reassess their needs right before camp.  The Phillies could be a fit, but they have budget concerns.  The Orioles also want to add one more bullpen piece but they might not want to go down that road again.
  • The lack of interest in Astros left-hander Wandy Rodriguez is surprising considering that the club would assume a fair portion of the $36MM left on his deal.  Houston is also surprised at the lack of interest in righty Brett Myers, who would appear to be a good piece for a contending club.
  • While interviewing for the Red Sox managerial job, Tigers third base coach Gene Lamont felt confident that he was going to get the nod.  Lamont met with Ben Cherington and Larry Lucchino in Boston, John Henry in Boca Raton, Florida, and Tom Werner in New York City.
  • After watching Ryan Flaherty in camp with the Orioles, Cafardo believes that the infielder and Rule 5 draft pick can win a spot with the club.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top