Phillies Rumors

Odds and Ends: Kemp, Kearns, Carrasco, Garcia

By Tim Dierkes | July 11, 2008 at 10:32am CDT

Friday linkage…

Yesterday I linked to Dave Cameron’s piece, in which he wondered whether Matt Kemp is overrated. Here’s the other side of the debate, a response from Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness.
Joe Sports Fans names the seven worst trades of the decade. I have some arguments here; what do you think? I wrote this post on the Pierzynski/Nathan/Liriano/Bonser deal two years ago, but I still think it holds that Brian Sabean’s trade looked reasonable at the time.
Joel Sherman wonders if the Mets and Yankees should consider trading for Washington outfielder Austin Kearns.
Matt Gelb takes a look at Phillies prospect Carlos Carrasco, who does not want to be traded.
The Yankees rightfully don’t view Freddy Garcia as much of an upgrade, since he won’t be ready until late August at the earliest.
Tracy Ringolsby runs through various players on the trade market. Interestingly, he does not see A.J. Burnett being traded.
Cardinals Diaspora suggests the Cards tangle with Billy Beane again, this time for Joe Blanton.
Dave Dombrowski doesn’t see Ryan Perry in the Tigers’ bullpen this year, after all.
Armchair GM challenges SI.com’s Jon Heyman to put his money where his mouth is.

No One Wants Bonds

By Tim Dierkes | July 11, 2008 at 9:25am CDT

FRIDAY: Just to hammer it home a little further, we have Bonds rejections from the Dodgers, Yankees, Cardinals, and Phillies today.

THURSDAY: Barry Bonds’ agent Jeff Borris makes it clear that none of the 30 teams are interested in his client:

"I am not talking to any club about Barry Bonds, because they all made it very clear to me they are not interested in him. Every club. I can’t believe he doesn’t have a job. No one has offered even the minimum salary. He made the All-Star team last year, and there’s no reason to believe he wouldn’t have a repeat performance in 2008, except for the conspiracy against him."

Borris says Bonds could be ready in ten days. Contenders such as the Angels, Rays, Tigers, and A’s have gotten subpar performance out of the DH spot but they’ve all decided to pass on Bonds for various reasons. Borris would have to admit that even some of these clubs would have trouble fitting Bonds onto the roster.

Phillies Like Burnett, Lowe

By Tim Dierkes | July 10, 2008 at 12:58pm CDT

12:58pm: Jeff Blair of The Globe and Mail has details on the Phillies’ pursuit of Burnett. He says the Jays are scouting the Phils’ Double A club, and like Greg Golson, Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Donald, and Brad Harman. It seems that Carrasco, Golson, or Marson would have to be in a deal. Blair says the Phillies might try to convince Burnett not to opt out of his contract so he can remain near his Baltimore home for the 2009-10 seasons.

Additionally, the Phillies inquired about Derek Lowe’s availability with the Dodgers.

11:46am: Pitching and hitting…two things you need to win baseball games. Insightful, eh? The Philles are looking for both – manager Charlie Manuel wants a "blue-chip pitcher" as well as a "good bat."

Pitching is the team’s priority. David Murphy bandies about names like A.J. Burnett, Roy Oswalt, and Erik Bedard. Or the Phillies could look to the B list, like they did last year when they acquired Kyle Lohse. Lohse, by the way, wasn’t a fan of the "B list" comment by Pat Gillick.

So who’s on the ’08 B list? I’ll suggest Bronson Arroyo, Joe Blanton, Boof Bonser, Greg Maddux, Randy Wolf, Jarrod Washburn, Odalis Perez, Jason Marquis, Tim Redding, and Paul Byrd. Most of these guys appeared on my June 4th look at the starting pitching market. I’ll try to revisit that list this afternoon with a fresh post.

On the hitting side, the Phillies don’t have an obvious position to upgrade. Thoughts?

Odds and Ends: Resop, Myers, Gallardo, Fuentes

By Tim Dierkes | July 9, 2008 at 11:23am CDT

Today’s link collection:

Joel Sherman says the Mets would be willing to eat some money on a contract to reduce the prospect price for a corner outfielder. He suggests names like Xavier Nady, Raul Ibanez, Randy Winn, and Adam Dunn. The salary-eating strategy would probably only help with Winn.
The Hanshin Tigers purchased reliever Chris Resop’s contract from the Braves.
Ricky Bottalico says Brett Myers wants to be traded, but Myers and the Phillies denied it.
It would be cool to see Yovani Gallardo return this year, if only to see him line up with CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets for a brief period of time. That’s three aces.
The Yankees are still interested in Rockies closer Brian Fuentes; the Rox might be interested in Mark Melancon.
More rumblings that the Dodger front office is confusing other teams.
SI.com’s Jon Heyman ranks the most impactful potentially available players, raising the question of whether impactful is a word. Heyman also includes odds of each player being dealt.

The Phillies-Bedard Situation

By Tim Dierkes | July 9, 2008 at 9:57am CDT

The Phillies-Erik Bedard situation is an intriguing one. The details:

As you know, the Phillies have had longstanding interest in the lefty. Bedard recently appeared on a Philadelphia radio show, an odd choice given that he avoids the Seattle media.
Possible conflict of interest: what if Pat Gillick trades a bevy of prospects to the Mariners for Bedard, and then gets a high-ranking position with the Ms in ’09?
Will Carroll notes that Rich Harden, A.J. Burnett, Randy Wolf, and Bedard all carry injury risk. However, the Phillies do not seem concerned about Bedard’s health. He says Gillick wants Bedard at a discount, however. Bedard has been shut down until after the All-Star break to recover from nagging injuries.
I imagine Bedard would command a package similar to the one the A’s got for Harden. Both pitchers have ace potential and injury risk and are controlled through ’09. The situations do differ, though – Bedard is less risky than Harden, and the Cubs deal was complicated by adding a good pitcher in Chad Gaudin. Anyway, I think the Phillies could pull off a Bedard deal if centered around a healthy Carlos Carrasco.

Rich Harden Links

By Tim Dierkes | July 9, 2008 at 8:26am CDT

It’s only July 9th, and we’ve already seen two huge names moved. Today let’s round up the Rich Harden links.

Susan Slusser says the A’s weren’t discussing Harden with any other teams. Jim Hendry was persistent for weeks, while Billy Beane has had his eye on Sean Gallagher for years (however, Buster Olney says this deal was pulled together within the last two days). Chad Gaudin was included in the deal as insurance for Harden. Slusser wonders whether Joe Blanton could be next to go.
Rob Neyer is reminded of the Mark Mulder trade, and thinks the A’s might even be better this year from this deal. Similarly, Dave Cameron thinks the deal favors the A’s.
Keith Law notes that no available pitcher had better stuff than Harden and that Gaudin is "an outstanding second player." He thinks the move to Oakland will help Gallagher and that Harden was at risk of breaking down at any time. He seems to consider it a fairly even swap.
Joel Sherman sees a Kerry Wood/Mark Prior parallel here.
The Phillies didn’t get involved due to Harden’s injury history.

CC Sabathia Links

By Tim Dierkes | July 8, 2008 at 3:28pm CDT

The CC Sabathia trade is complete, but there’s still some good info floating about.

Michael Silverman says the Brewers wanted players such as Michael Bowden, Lars Anderson, Jed Lowrie, and Josh Reddick from the Red Sox in various Sabathia scenarios.
The Dodgers apparently talked about dealing Matt Kemp and one of Jonathan Meloan/James McDonald for Sabathia, Casey Blake, and Jamey Carroll.
Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheehan analyzes the trade.
Turns out Sabathia prefers CC over C.C.
The agent for Brewers prospects Michael Brantley and Taylor Green believes both are in play as the player to be named later in the Sabathia deal.
MetsBlog reports that Mark Shapiro approached Omar Minaya, suggesting the Mets had the necessary players to make a trade for Sabathia. Matthew Cerrone believes the Mets would’ve had to give up Fernando Martinez and two pitching prospects.
The Phillies were the Indians’ backup plan in case the Milwaukee deal fell through. The Phillies weren’t a great fit because the Indians preferred a young power hitter to a young pitcher.
The Yankees had interest, but the price was too high for Brian Cashman. That price may have included Phil Hughes. The Yanks reportedly required a signing window in any Sabathia deal, also.
Cubs GM Jim Hendry says nothing’s changed for his team.
Brewers fans are ecstatic to have Sabathia.

Odds and Ends: Bedard, Teixeira, Longoria, Durham

By Tim Dierkes | July 8, 2008 at 12:18pm CDT

Rounding up today’s links…

Live chat here today at 2pm CST.
Geoff Baker has a link and commentary on Erik Bedard’s Philadelphia radio appearance. I’m with Baker – this was an odd choice by Bedard, who typically avoids the media.
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Brewers are interested in the Giants’ Ray Durham and Jack Taschner.
MLB.com’s Mark Bowman believes the Braves will shop Mark Teixeira if they decide they can’t contend. They’re currently six games out.
Dave Cameron concluded his MLB Trade Value series at FanGraphs. He considers Evan Longoria the most valuable asset in the game, partially because of his team-friendly contract.
Ken Davidoff runs through starting pitching trade candidates now that CC Sabathia is off the market.
Sam Mellinger wonders what it would’ve been like if the Royals had successfully signed Hiroki Kuroda. Of course, they were eyeing Andruw Jones and Carlos Silva too.
With Matt Treanor DL-bound, the Marlins’ search for a catcher may intensify.

Odds and Ends: Jack Wilson, Victor Zambrano, Bedard

By Tim Dierkes | July 7, 2008 at 9:52am CDT

Time to round up some non-Sabathia links.

The Dodgers are restructuring their offer for Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson, according to Ken Rosenthal.
Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times has sources who believe at least one general manager is under suspicion as part of the Dominican player bonus-skimming investigation. Additionally, MLB might look into the Michel Inoa signing on the Rangers’ behalf.
The Yankees plan to scout starter Victor Zambrano. He’ll be 33 soon, and has a 9.45 ERA in 40 Triple A innings.
Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times talks about Erik Bedard, who is now the best available southpaw starter.
The Brad Lidge extension means Brett Myers will not close for the Phillies again.

Brewers Close To Acquiring C.C. Sabathia

By Steve Adams | July 6, 2008 at 1:58pm CDT

10:11pm: Haudricourt has names. He says the Indians are getting LaPorta, Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson, and maybe Taylor Green. Green could end up in the deal as a player to be named later.

Also, Rosenthal has commentary on the deal, explaining that "in baseball’s new-world order, prospects are power." The ability to draft brilliantly could trump payroll as a competitive advantage.

7:59pm: ESPN’s Buster Olney chimes in, citing sources that say the teams have agreed in principle to a deal. Sabathia himself sent a text message to ESPN’s Amy Nelson implying the same. All signs point to Sabathia making his Brewers debut on Tuesday, with an official trade announcement tomorrow.

By the way, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan has sources saying LaPorta and Green are in the deal.

6:29pm: MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince talked to Indians GM Mark Shapiro, who said "it is definitely not a done deal." We don’t know whether that comment refers to the standard physical, or something more. Meanwhile, Scott Miller says the deal is all but done.

6:05pm: Haudricourt says the Indians and Brewers have reached an agreement on a Sabathia trade. The Brewers will send LaPorta and two lower level minor leaguers to Cleveland for the southpaw ace.

5:53pm: Haudricourt checks back in, stating that a deal is nearly complete. The Brewers will send LaPorta and two other minor leaguers in exchange for Sabathia. One of them could likely be Class A third baseman Taylor Green, but the other will not be Lorenzo Cain, Mat Gamel, or Alcides Escobar. Cain has been promoted to Class AA Huntsville, likely to take LaPorta’s place on the roster.

The Brewers are insisting that the deal be closed tonight, in order to allow Sabathia to arrive in Milwaukee in time to make his next scheduled start on Tuesday.

5:41pm: LaPorta is absent from tonight’s game in AA Huntsville; Alcides Escobar is not. Definitely a sign that LaPorta could be on the move and a deal is getting closer to completion.

4:50pm: Tom Haudricourt tells us that the Brewers and Indians are still in "heavy negotiations." Haudricourt notes that with the Indians having a day off tomorrow, it makes an ideal time for a press conference to announce a big move. Additionally, he reiterates that the Brewers should try to get the deal done in time to have Sabathia make his next scheduled start in a Brewers uniform.

3:54pm: Jon Heyman weighs in on the impending Sabathia deal, stating that the Indians have been trying to pry top shortstop prospect Alcides Escobar away from the Brewers as well. Heyman re-affirms that the Brewers would like a deal complete as soon as possible, in order to get two starts from Sabathia – one Tuesday and one Sunday – before the All-Star Break.

No mention of the unconfirmed report of the deal being completed from Heyman just yet.

3:15pm: Anthony Castrovince from MLB.com takes Rosenthal’s rumor one step further, citing a "Major League source," that says a trade with the Brewers and Indians for C.C. Sabathia has been "completed." If correct, the trade is indeed centered around Double-A outfielder Matt LaPorta, though the other two prospects are not yet named.

Further updates as soon as they are available.

1:58pm: Ken Rosenthal writes that the Dodgers are officially out of the C.C. Sabathia sweepstakes, meaning that the Brewers could be extremely close to securing a deal to bring the 2007 American League Cy Young Award winner to Milwaukee.

Rosenthal says that the Rays and Phillies are still in the race, but are also likely unable to top the Brewers’ offer, centered around Class AA outfielder Matt LaPorta. Rosenthal points out the Indians’ strong need for power in the future and LaPorta’s 20 HR and 66 RBI in AA Huntsville. According to Rosenthal, Cleveland will also receive two more prospects from Milwaukee in the current offer. Taylor Green and Lorenzo Cain were mentioned previously on MLBTR.

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