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Padres Interested In Loretta, Iguchi

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The Padres have gotten a woeful .244/.315/.328 line out of their second baseman, most of it from Marcus Giles.  They’re starting to work Geoff Blum in more often, but it’s a clear area for an upgrade.

The two names on the radar, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune, are Mark Loretta and Tadahito Iguchi. 

Iguchi’s slugging percentage is down this year, mostly from an awful May.  But he still represents an upgrade on Giles. 

The more versatile Loretta is hitting .297/.373/.390 this year; he’s done a nice job drawing walks.  Loretta pushed to sign with the Padres, but Kevin Towers stood him up.  Now the Friars have come crawling back.  The problem is that the Phillies and Mets have sustained injuries to their second basemen and could get in on him.

Stark’s Latest:

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Jayson Stark has a new column over at ESPN.com.  Some highlights:

  • Octavio Dotel is almost a lock to be traded, and Chin-Lung Hu remains a possibility.  Stark adds that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti scouted reliever John Malone, which I think means Jonathan Meloan.  The 23 year-old Meloan throws in the low 90s with a hard slider; he commands his fastball well but carries some health concerns.
  • Regarding Jon Garland, we’ve already heard that the Mariners, Braves, and Yankees are interested.  Stark adds the Dodgers, Mets, and Phillies to that list.  However, he thinks Kenny Williams really just wants to trade Jose Contreras.
  • The Astros, surprisingly, have yet to open shop on their relievers. 
  • Michael Bourn is the Phillies’ top trading chip.  Some possible targets: Kameron Loe, Scott Olsen, Ervin Santana, Noah Lowry, and Dontrelle Willis.

Molony On Jennings, Slowey

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Jim Molony’s column today at MLB.com has many good trade rumors that I haven’t seen elsewhere.  Let’s discuss.

  • Molony says at least a dozen scouts watched Jason Jennings toss a quality start last night.  He needed it; I was beginning to think he wasn’t right.  Still, the performance probably isn’t enough to cause some team to offer a package for Jennings superior to two draft picks.
  • The Diamondbacks and Pirates had a scouting presence at the Astros-Dodgers game.  Interesting players appearing in the contest included James Loney, Andre Ethier, Wilson Betemit, Mark Loretta, Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, Chad Qualls, Dan Wheeler, and Brad Lidge. You connect the dots, I have no idea.
  • The Red Sox suggested sending Joel Pineiro to the A’s for Bobby Kielty in a swap of unwanteds; they were rebuffed.
  • The Phillies and Braves watched Matt Morris allow four runs in six innings on Tuesday.  They also may have been monitoring Steve Kline, who also pitched.
  • A Devil Rays scout watched the Twins in Toronto on Tuesday.  Ty Wigginton is thought to be a target for Minnesota.  Perhaps the Rays’ scout fancied Scott Baker, who started for the Twins and went seven innings.  Baker would be a stupendous return for Wiggy, in my opinion.
  • The Phillies had their assistant GM scouting Kevin Slowey’s start on Saturday.  Molony suggests Minnesota might want Pat Burrell.  That would involve a ridiculous amount of salary relief and a lack of Slowey.  Slowey allowed one run in six innings in the game.
  • UPDATE: Just realized that the above pair of bullets seem to have originated from La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.  The scout watching the Twins on Tuesday was Lee Elia.  Not sure why Molony didn’t cite this source, but I suppose he may have come across the info independently.

Phillies Scouting Rangers?

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Another one of those scouting guessing games: Peter Gammons mentioned on Friday that Phillies GM Pat Gillick and assistant GM Mike Arbuckle were at the Indians-Rangers game on Thursday.  Here’s the box score.

A reasonable guess would be that the Phillies’ execs were scouting the Rangers.  I imagine they were disappointed, as Joaquin Benoit did not pitch.  He would be a reasonable target and useful addition for Philly.

Other possibilities?  Starting pitcher Kameron Loe probably isn’t available, and the Phils don’t have much use for Kenny Lofton or Mark Teixeira.  Other trade candidates who appeared in the game include Sammy Sosa, Brad Wilkerson, Ron Mahay, and Frank Francisco.  Sosa is being shopped as a lefty-masher, but the Phillies are third in the league in OPS vs. southpaws.  Wilkerson doesn’t seem like a great fit either.  If anyone, it seems the Phillies had their eye on Francisco and Mahay as bullpen additions.  Trade deadline fever: catch it!

Graziano’s Latest: Livan, Wily Mo

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Dan Graziano at the Newark Star-Ledger has really stepped up in recent days with a lot of insider trade talk.  Let’s see what he has in store for us this morning.

  • Apparently Josh Byrnes is calling around, actively shopping Livan Hernandez.  According to Graziano, the Mets, Braves, and Mariners have expressed interest.  To the contrary, Ken Rosenthal wrote last night that the Mets and Braves are not interested.  Who to believe?  Hopefully the Mariners do better than Livan if they make a move for a starter.  To hear Nick Piecoro tell it, the Diamondbacks are more likely to just opt for the draft picks they’ll get if they let Hernandez leave via free agency.
  • The Yankees are in a quandary when it comes to dealing Scott Proctor or Kyle Farnsworth.  For Proctor, they want more than just a role player like Ty Wigginton.  They want a reliever back, which begs the question – why not just keep Proctor?  With Farnsy, the Yanks are reluctant to pay a big chunk of his $5.5 salary for ’08.  They should toss in $2MM and see if that’s enough to get Wiggy.
  • If the Red Sox can snag Bobby Kielty, they might turn around and trade Wily Mo Pena to the White Sox.  Wily Mo in that ballpark with 600 plate appearances?  40 home runs.  Might make Theo look bad.  Dejan Kovacevic mentions that Epstein is "actively shopping" Pena, and seems to like the idea of the Bucs sending Salomon Torres to Boston for him. 
  • The Brewers, Phillies, and Dodgers are looking at Oakland lefty and impending free agent Joe Kennedy.  Kennedy is only 28 and he has had National League success as a starter.

Phillies Assistant GM Scouting Toronto

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According to the Toronto Sun, Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. was in attendance on Saturday at the Rogers Centre.  Naturally, the speculation would be that Amaro was evaluating Josh Towers, the Blue Jays starter that day.

For the day, Towers threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a 1-0 win over the Seattle Mariners.  On the season, Towers has a 4.97 ERA (92 ERA+) but sports a nice 60/14 K/BB ratio in 83 1/3 innings pitched.  Towers had good years in 2003 and 2005 before a disastrous 2006 (8.42 ERA).

What interests the Phillies, or at least it should, is that Towers can keep the ball on the ground, a key to success at Citizens Bank Park.  In addition, Towers is eligible for arbitration at the end of the season, so he would not be a long-term commitment if the Phillies decided to non-tender him.

Complicating matters, though it’s a nice problem to have, is the success of Kyle Kendrick and J.D. Durbin the in the Phillies rotation, combining for a 6-2 record as starters.  Kendrick has turned in quality start after quality start and Durbin has allowed only one run in his previous two starts combined.  The likelihood of the Phillies making a deal is directly dependent on their confidence in these two pitchers.

No word on what the Blue Jays would be seeking in return for Towers.

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.  He can be reached via email at trg at ballssticksstuff dot com.

Olney: D’Backs Could Trade Livan Hernandez

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ESPN’s Buster Olney brings up one available starting pitcher we haven’t mentioned here anytime recently: Livan Hernandez.  It hadn’t really occurred to me that the Diamondbacks could be sellers.  But according to various playoff odds reports, their chances of making the playoffs have slipped to 3-8%.  Our good friend Jeff Sackmann took a look at teams on the bubble in a recent column at Hardball Times and recommended the Diamondbacks sell off players such as Hernandez, Eric Byrnes, and Orlando Hudson.

Hernandez reaches free agency after this season, and it seems likely the D’Backs would let him leave.  Trading him now could make some sense.  He’s got about $2.7MM left on his contract this year.  As Olney says, Hernandez’s main virtue is durability.  He will take the ball every fifth day and give you six innings.  He’s no longer the seven inning per start horse he was from 1998-2005; his average is now around 6.3 innings per start.

As far as playoff experience…would a team like the Mets really want to give him a playoff start?  I wouldn’t think so.  No doubt the NLCS MVP version we saw in ’97 is a distant memory, and even his work for the Giants in ’02 is five years removed. 

Olney believes strong offensive NL teams like the Braves, Mets, or Phillies could take a look at Livan.  The Brewers, Dodgers, and Padres may also be looking to add a starter.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Lohse, Hunter, Contreras

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The latest trade and signing rumors from Ken Rosenthal:

  • Rosenthal believes Alex Rodriguez’s ability to play shortstop could increase the number of suitors.  Take a look at the free agents – there may not be a single viable option at short this winter.  Still, the number of suitors for Rodriguez is severely limited by his massive contract requirement.  Not too many clubs aside from the Yankees and Red Sox can get in on $240MM over eight years or whatever.  The lack of available, reasonably priced shortstops could compel the Braves and Orioles to aggressively shop Edgar Renteria and Miguel Tejada.
  • As a 29 year-old free agent starter with decent stuff, Scott Boras could sell Kyle Lohse as the next Gil Meche this winter.  Meche’s work in the season’s first three months would only aid the wishcasting.  I put up a little Lohse history here, writing that his deal will likely fall somewhere between Jason Marquis and Meche.  Other free agent starters who will be under 30 for the 2008 season: Carlos Zambrano, Jason Jennings, Joe Kennedy, and Byung-Hyun Kim.
  • Rosenthal believes the Rangers will bid on Torii Hunter this winter unless they acquire a proven center fielder this summer.  He mentions that Jon Daniels set his sights on Shane Victorino but the Phils would rather trade Michael Bourn.  Unless the Rangers get a proven guy they will still go after Hunter.
  • The Mariners scouted Jose Contreras and Matt Morris recently, but both were lousy.  I still think Jennings could sneak in there as the best available starter, but he too hasn’t pitched well in July.  Definitely seems like the Mariners will snag some kind of starter.
  • Rosenthal disputes Evan Grant’s report of the Brewers and Indians showing interest in Kenny Lofton.  The Brewers are getting Bill Hall back soon and the Indians have some outfielders on the road to recovery as well.  Perfect, this frees him up for the Cubs!
  • Rosenthal mentions the same teams I did for Kevin Millar, but sees an August deal as a possibility.  Waiting until August doesn’t seem to make sense for the Orioles, as things get trickier then.
  • The Padres could trade Scott Linebrink in order to make payroll room for a starter.  Or they could just sign Brian Lawrence.  I discussed some other options for the Friars here.

All Eyes On Contreras

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Buster Olney says that Jose Contreras may be the best available starting pitcher at the moment, which speaks to how weak the market is.  Olney lists the Cubs, Braves, Marlins, Indians, and Phillies as teams on hand to watch his six inning, five run performance Sunday night in Baltimore.

To call Contreras the best available indicates that Javier Vazquez is off the market.  Contreras’s challengers still include Matt Morris, Dontrelle Willis, and Jason Jennings.  If the Pirates were to inexplicably consider trading Ian Snell, he’d easily jump to the forefront.  That he’s even available is a dubious rumor at this point.

As for Contreras, his junk might work over in the NL.  Maybe that’s why four of the five teams watching his start reside in that league.  Olney’s scout said he was working at 87-91, though he did touch 94 last night.

Contreras makes another $4MM this year, $10MM in ’08, and another $10MM in ’09.  That shouldn’t scare off too many clubs.  Maybe the Marlins.  With a 2-4% chance at making the playoffs this year the Marlins would be acquiring Contreras more for 2008-09.

Phils Targeting Longer-Term Contracts at Trade Deadline

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As the non-waiver trade deadline appears on the horizon, it is natural to focus on players that are just a few months away from free-agency as likely trade candidates.

But that doesn’t mean players who still have a few years left on their contracts won’t be dealt.  Pat Gillick, Phillies GM, recently stated that those are just the types of pitchers the Phillies are interested in acquiring over the next month or so.  From Phillyburbs.com: “We’re looking at guys who would have contracts that run for 2008 and 2009,” he said. “Really, we have to find the right situation. We’re not necessarily looking for a rental player. We want someone who could be a piece for us.”

It makes sense to focus longer-term as Freddy Garcia and Jon Lieber, who are both injured and likely lost for the season, will depart via free agency in the fall.  That leaves Cole Hamels, Adam Eaton, and possibly Jamie Moyer and Brett Myers for the rotation.  But Moyer could retire and Myers may keep his role as closer so the back end of the rotation is by no means set beyond 2007 (heck, it’s not even set beyond the All-Star break).  To make matters worse, there is little to no help on the horizon in the Phillies farm system.  Kyle Kendrick has held his own in recent weeks, but until we see more of him, the jury is out.

The trick will be finding a pitcher who is under contract whose team is far enough out of contention — not only for 2007, but also 2008 — that they would be willing to part with him.  Scanning the standings, it’s hard to envision a scenario, but when it comes to Pat Gillick, it’s helpful to look at his past history since he often brings in players and front office personnel from his previous stops.  Once such stop is Baltimore, and Erik Bedard, who is blossoming into a frontline starter is under control there for two more seasons.  Even though Gillick departed before Bedard was drafted, it’s possible that he was on his radar nonetheless.

If the Orioles don’t feel they can retain Bedard long-term, they might be wise to listen to offers and begin another rebuilding.

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.

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