Phillies Rumors

Rockies Hope To Trade Torrealba, Baker

By Tim Dierkes | March 25, 2009 at 10:30am CDT

Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post writes today about the Rockies desire to trade catcher Yorvit Torrealba and infielder Jeff Baker.

Torrealba was signed in November of '07 after coming close to a deal with the Mets. The Rockies had reached the World Series with Torrealba behind the dish, and Chris Iannetta had yet to emerge. Now, though, the Rox would love to move Torrealba and the $4MM owed to him for '09. Renck says they shopped him hard this winter but came up empty. The Rockies like Sal Fasano as the backup catcher and don't have much use for Torrealba.

Baker, 27, hit .268/.322/.468 in 333 plate appearances for the Rockies last year, crushing lefties while struggling away from Coors. Baseball Prospectus likens Baker to former Padre Archi Cianfrocco, circa 1994. Baker has spent time at first base, second base, third base, left field, and right field in his career. Yesterday Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports said the Phillies, Astros, and Pirates were interested. Rosenthal suggested Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick as a possible target for the Rockies, but Phils GM Ruben Amaro Jr. doesn't see that as a fair trade. Renck says the Pirates and Astros have interest in Baker while the Yankees, Braves, and Phillies have a need. Baker is trying to bounce back from elbow soreness this spring.

Rosenthal On White Sox, Pedro, Baker

By Tim Dierkes | March 24, 2009 at 8:35am CDT

The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…

The White Sox are still trying to figure out their center field situation, but they are not involved on pricey veterans such as Juan Pierre and Gary Matthews Jr.
Fantasy alert: Rosenthal names David Aardsma as the likely leader for the Mariners closer job, with Chad Cordero and Brandon Morrow lingering.
The Dodgers "continue to balk at Pedro Martinez's $5MM asking price."
Rockies utility man Jeff Baker, who is out of options, is drawing interest from the Phillies, Astros, and Pirates. Rosenthal suggests recently-demoted Kyle Kendrick as a possible target for Colorado, assuming the Phils can move Geoff Jenkins or Matt Stairs to clear a spot. Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post says the Yankees are unlikely to acquire Baker.
The Blue Jays have been scouting shortstops Chin-Lung Hu, Juan Castro, and others in hopes of finding someone they can stash at Triple A for insurance.
Was Willy Taveras a bad move for the Reds? Rosenthal says rival executives think so.

Rudy Seanez Pondering Future

By Tim Dierkes | March 23, 2009 at 8:00pm CDT

Diamond Leung is no longer writing for the Riverside Press-Enterprise, but he's blogging about baseball at Diamond Notes. Today he has an update regarding free agent reliever Rudy Seanez.

Seanez, 40, is still considering playing in 2009. He turned down an offer to return to the Phillies, and has interest from the Padres and others. Fun fact, Seanez owns a Cold Stone Creamery with his family. Delicious yet pricey.

Seanez has already pitched for the Padres in roughly 14 different stints. Last year with the Phils he had some control problems but still managed a 3.53 ERA in 43.3 innings.

Gammons On Matthews, Teahen, Harang, Peavy

By Tim Dierkes | March 23, 2009 at 12:07pm CDT

12:07pm: John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer asked Reds GM Walt Jocketty about Gammons' Harang note. Jocketty said, "I'm not going to comment on something when he doesn't know what he's talking about."

9:19am: ESPN's Peter Gammons had a new blog post yesterday discussing available players.

Gammons names Geoff Jenkins ($8MM remaining, limited no-trade), Brian Giles ($9MM remaining, full no-trade), Gary Matthews Jr. ($33.5MM remaining, full no-trade), Marcus Thames ($2.275MM salary), Nick Johnson ($5.5MM salary), Jason Repko, and Jeff Baker as players being dangled. Gammons links Matthews to the Yankees but admits his contract will be an issue.
Mark Teahen has drawn interest from the Astros, Red Sox, and Yankees.
Gammons says the Reds "have let teams know that they will wait and see whether they need to move Aaron Harang during the season." It'd be a shame to see the Reds break up that rotation. Harang has about $36MM coming to him over the next three seasons if his 2011 option is exercised.
Brewers third baseman Bill Hall expects his team to pursue Padres ace Jake Peavy if available this summer. Unlike C.C. Sabathia, Peavy is more than a rental.

Rosenthal On Jeter, Jenkins, Keppinger

By Tim Dierkes | March 23, 2009 at 10:03am CDT

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports posted a new column last night.

Rosenthal wonders if the eventual emergence of Yankees shortstop prospects Ramiro Pena and Eduardo Nunez will prompt the team to ask Derek Jeter to change positions in the future. Neither player ranked among the Yankees' top 30 prospects in the Baseball America 2009 Handbook, however. Jeter's current contract runs through 2010.
Rosenthal says Boston's talks for catchers Miguel Montero and Jarrod Saltalamacchia "remain stalled because of those clubs' respective asking prices."
Rosenthal believes the Phillies are unlikely to trade Geoff Jenkins or Matt Stairs.
The Reds are considering trading infielder Jeff Keppinger, and Rosenthal wonders if the Astros would be a fit. He also speculates on Juan Uribe for Houston. John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer talked about the Keppinger possibility on Friday.

Curt Schilling Retires

By Tim Dierkes | March 23, 2009 at 9:25am CDT

Pitcher Curt Schilling announced his retirement today via a blog post at 38 Pitches. He finishes with a 3.46 ERA and 216 wins in 3,261 innings for the Orioles, Astros, Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox. He also won 11 postseason games with a 2.23 ERA in 133.3 innings.

Stark On Cameron, Ohman, Jenkins

By Tim Dierkes | March 19, 2009 at 3:44pm CDT

ESPN's Jayson Stark has a new blog post up.

The Astros plan to give Chris Johnson a chance to win the third base job, but Stark says Juan Uribe, Jose Bautista, and Jeff Baker "could still show up on their shopping list in the next two weeks."
Stark heard "rumblings the Yankees are poking around again on Mike Cameron's availability." Back in December, the Yanks and Brewers were pretty close on a deal.
Eric Milton is looking decent and appears to be the frontrunner for the Dodgers' fifth starter job (given Pedro Martinez's asking price).
Will Ohman seeks a one-year, $1.75MM deal with easily-reachable incentives for another million. He also prefers the West Coast, and Stark believes the Padres and Giants are more likely than the Dodgers. Like the Dodgers, the Phillies and Marlins have interest at a lesser price. Stark has also heard the Phils connected to Giants lefty Jack Taschner.
Shawn Camp, Geoff Geary, John Buck, and Geoff Jenkins are currently available. The Phillies would eat almost all of the $8MM owed to Jenkins.

Odds & Ends: Suzuki, Zambrano, Nationals

By Tim Dierkes | March 17, 2009 at 4:12pm CDT

Links for Tuesday…

Remember Mac Suzuki? According to MLB.com’s Dick Kaegel, the Royals’ first Japanese pitcher worked out for Kansas City and Cleveland and will audition for the Dodgers as well. He’s spent the last three years in the Mexican League.
Carlos Zambrano’s second-favorite team is the White Sox, according to Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times. Big Z’s contract with the Cubs runs through 2012 or 2013.
Nationals acting GM Mike Rizzo told Chico Harlan of the Washington Post he’s received a lot of phone calls about his outfield/first base logjam.
RotoAuthority runs through all 30 closer situations. Print it out and bring it to your draft.
Cole Hamels update: no structural damage to his elbow. ESPN’s Buster Olney says it’s inflammation.
Hal McCoy heard from a scout that the Reds might be shopping pitcher Nick Masset, who is out of options.
Baseball America’s Jim Callis says about 42-44% of first-round draft picks have significant big league careers.
"Only a physical and minor details" remain on Ivan Rodriguez’s one-year, $1.5MM deal with the Astros, according to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle.
Free agent outfielder Luis Gonzalez still hopes to play in 2009. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says the D’Backs’ interest only lies in post-retirement employment.
According to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News, the Mets have begun the process of returning Rule 5 pick Rocky Cherry to the Orioles. UPDATE: Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post says the O’s rejected Cherry and the Mets released him.
This week’s chat has been moved to Thursday at 2pm CST.

Odds & Ends: Hamels, Giants, Yankees

By Tim Dierkes | March 16, 2009 at 9:36am CDT

Links for Monday…

Cole Hamels is flying to Philadelphia to have his sore left elbow examined. Hamels threw 3,914 pitches in total last year, the most in baseball (two more than C.C. Sabathia). Hamels thinks he’s fine and it’s not a big deal.
Julian Tavarez on why he chose the Nationals.
MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says the Marlins returned Rule 5 lefty Zach Kroenke to the Yankees.
Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball looks at postseason ticket revenue over the last decade.
Dan Brown of the San Jose Mercury News talked to John Dewan about the Giants’ defense.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes about the fraternity in the Yankees’ revamped rotation.
Athletics Nation talked to Jason Giambi, who was very close to re-signing with the A’s before he signed with the Yankees.
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker asks if Yankees starter Kei Igawa, owed $12MM over the next three years, is movable.

Odds and Ends: Selig, Wrigley, Ordonez, Wade, Macha

By Brian Shephard | March 14, 2009 at 9:05pm CDT

A few links for your Saturday night enjoyment:

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times details Bud Selig’s concern about how the state of the economy will effect baseball. Selig says that he "used to think we were recession-proof" but that "this is different."
The economy might also effect the business of selling rooftop seats near Wrigley Field, writes Nancy Armour of the Associated Press.
Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated writes about the political stance that has Magglio Ordonez getting booed at the WBC.
Scott Lauber of the Wilmington News Journal has excerpts from a press conference with Astros GM Ed Wade. Wade, the former Phillies GM, talks about last year’s World Series and discusses the Brad Lidge trade.
John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Ken Macha’s challenge with the Brewers is reminiscent of one he faced with the A’s in 2005.

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