Pirates Rumors

Odds & Ends: Glaus, Orioles, Figgins, Papelbon

By Luke Adams 2 | August 15, 2010 at 1:48pm CDT

Links for Sunday, as Jeremy Hellickson aims for his third win in his third career start….

Troy Glaus earned an additional $350K for making his 450th plate appearance last night, tweets Dave O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Glaus will earn another $350K for his 500th plate appearance.
Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun tells us that the Orioles are unlikely to sign a pair of pitchers: sixth and seventh round picks Dixon Anderson and Matthew Bywater. The club is still working toward a deal with #3 overall pick Manny Machado, but expect to get a deal done.
Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times (Twitter link) hears that, although a deal is unlikely, the Braves will probably "kick the tires" on Chone Figgins. Baker reported on Friday that Atlanta had yet to ask the Mariners about Figgins.
John Tomase of the Boston Herald argues that moving Jonathan Papelbon and making Daniel Bard the closer before 2012 would be a mistake for the Red Sox. In yesterday's MLBTR poll, only about 20% of you said the Sox should keep Papelbon past this season.
The New York media is always tough on the Mets, but today's coverage seems especially harsh: Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News breaks down the ways in which the Mets have wasted the last four seasons, while the New York Post's Joel Sherman says the club's future doesn't look much better.
Talking to the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan, Derrek Lee discusses his decision to veto a trade to the Angels.
Jeremy Hermida tells Rob Bradford of WEEI that he was "kind of surprised" to be designated for assignment by the Red Sox.
A couple updates on top draft picks: Reds' first-rounder Yasmani Grandal has already taken a physical, while the Pirates met with the agents for Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie for nearly seven hours yesterday. MLB.com's Mark Sheldon and Chuck Finder of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have the details.

Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Harper, Canseco, Figgins

By Mike Axisa | August 14, 2010 at 4:33pm CDT

Saturday afternoon linkage..

Boston sent catcher Michael Thomas to Texas to complete the trade for Jarrod Saltalamacchia, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.
Dusty Baker has no interest in becoming a general manager, writes MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
A former teammate of Bryce Harper's doesn't see the first overall pick going back to school, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
The Laredo Broncos, an independent minor league team, say they have signed Jose Canseco to a short-term contract, according to the Associated Press. Canseco will serve as a bench coach and designated hitter during two Laredo homestands.
Chuck Finder of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Pirates GM Neal Huntington and scouting director Greg Smith are expected to sit down with agents Randy and Alan Hendricks in Houston this weekend to discuss a contract for second overall pick Jameson Taillon. MLB's slot recommendation for that pick is $3.25MM, though Taillon is expected to receive more than that.
We know the Braves have not asked the Mariners about the availability of Chone Figgins in the wake of Chipper Jones' injury, but ESPN's Buster Olney says a deal is unlikely anyway. It would be pretty tough for GM Jack Zduriencik to tell ownership they have to eat tens of millions of dollars to move a player they just signed this past offseason.
Ken Fidlin of The Toronto Sun says that Blue Jays' second round pick Griffin Murphy and his father were on the field at Angels Stadium talking with club officials, "a surefire sign that a deal is done." MLB's slot recommendation for the 61st overall pick is just short of $600K.
The Yankees have come to terms on well-overslot bonuses with a pair of draft picks. Baseball America's Jim Callis reports that they signed ninth rounder Taylor Morton for $450K while Kendall Rogers of Yahoo! Sports reports an agreement with tenth rounder Ben Gamel (Mat's brother) for $500K. Both deals are more than three times over MLB's recommendation, and Gamel's is the largest given to a player selected in a double digit round so far.

Indians Acquire Luke Carlin

By Tim Dierkes | August 10, 2010 at 1:17pm CDT

The Indians acquired catcher Luke Carlin from the Pirates for a player to be named later, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The backstop had signed a minor league deal with the Pirates in mid-January.

Carlin, 29, has big league time with the Diamondbacks and Padres. This year in Indianapolis he hit .239/.331/.317, a big dropoff from his work in the Pacific Coast League the previous two years.

Odds & Ends: Gibbons, Anderson, Pirates, Francoeur

By Zachary Links | August 8, 2010 at 9:51pm CDT

Sunday night linkage..

Jay Gibbons, who retired from baseball a season ago, is grateful for his latest opportunity with the Dodgers, writes Evan Drellich of MLB.com.
Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times wonders why the Dodgers waited until now to designate Garret Anderson for assignment.
The Pirates fired pitching coach Joe Kerrigan and bench coach Gary Varsho, writes Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Mets manager Jerry Manuel told reporters that Fernando Martinez and Jeff Francoeur won't platoon all of the time, according to Michael Baron of MetsBlog. Yesterday we learned that Francoeur was unsatisfied with the arrangement and was ready to meet with GM Omar Minaya to discuss trade possibilities.

Odds & Ends: Cardinals, Blue Jays, Morrow, Delgado

By Mike Axisa | August 8, 2010 at 6:30pm CDT

Some links to check out as Brandon Morrow just misses no-hitting the Rays…

Jim Callis of Baseball America (via Twitter) doesn't like the chances of the Cards signing their 12th-round pick, outfielder Austin Wilson.
Toronto's negotiations with first-round pick Deck McGuire will likely go down to the wire, writes MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
Morrow told FOX Sports' Jim Bowden (Twitter link) that he was happy to be traded to the Blue Jays this offseason because he knew he would be a starter and not a reliever.
Baseball America's Jim Callis tweets that the Indians signed 13th-rounder Michael Goodnight for $315K. Goodnight has a fastball that reaches 94 mph and a plus slider.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that the Tigers aren't pursuing the recently DFA'ed Jose Guillen.
Carlos Delgado told Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal that he and his agent spoke to the White Sox, Rockies, and Mariners before deciding to sign with the Red Sox. In a separate article, WEEI's DJ Bean writes that Delgado is more focused on winning a championship than anything else.
Joel Sherman of The New York Post explains how the Yankees have to develop their own bench players because no free agents want to sign with them only to sit on the bench most of the time.
Jason Churchill and Keith Law of ESPN take a look at some teams that need to land a few of their tough-to-sign draft picks before the August 16th deadline (Insider req'd).
Karen Price of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes about the newest Pirates and the difficult transition they've had to make following the trade deadline.
Meanwhile, the Chris Snyder pick up does not make a Ryan Doumit trade inevitable, says Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times says that Ozzie Guillen and Paul Konerko are happy with the moves the White Sox did not make.
The Cardinals are trying to find a long-term fix at the hot corner, writes Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. David Freese will be out indefinitely after suffering a setback as he rehabbed from an ankle injury.

Nationals Acquire Brian Bixler

By Zachary Links | August 7, 2010 at 3:34pm CDT

The Nationals have acquired Brian Bixler from the Pirates for cash considerations, tweets William Ladson of MLB.com. This marks the third time that the shortstop has been dealt this year.

Pittsburgh dealt Bixler to the Indians in January and re-acquired him from the Tribe less than a month ago for a player to be named later. In 75 Triple-A games this season, Bixler has hit .264/.327/.362 with three homers.

Odds & Ends: Reds, Giants, Harper, Dodgers, Prior

By Luke Adams 2 | August 7, 2010 at 1:42pm CDT

Links for Saturday, as J.P. Arencibia homers on the first pitch he sees in the majors….

John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that he has not seen a year in which the Reds have faced so many difficult roster decisions in the last decade.
Jim Callis of Baseball America (via Twitter) expects the Giants to eventually sign their first-round pick, center fielder Gary Brown.
Barry Shlachter of the Dallas Morning News examines whether the group headed by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan overpaid for the Rangers.
Jim Callis of Baseball America passes on news of a pair of draft picks signing for over-slot deals: The Blue Jays signed their second-round pick, while the Pirates locked up their fourth-rounder.
Tigers owner Mike Ilitch acknowledged to Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News that he'd signed off on some bad contracts in the past, but said that won't stop him from spending money in the future.
MLB.com's Bill Ladson hears that negotiations between the Nationals and Bryce Harper could "heat up" by Tuesday. The first overall pick in this year's draft enrolled for classes at the College of Southern Nevada, but that doesn't mean he won't end up signing with the Nats.
The Dodgers still seem to be buyers, leading Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times to wonder if they put a waiver claim on Adam Dunn.
Although he's pitching for the Orange County Flyers now, Mark Prior hopes to make his way back to the bigs, according to MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Mets, Park, Garza, Wieters

By Mike Axisa | August 6, 2010 at 5:30pm CDT

On this date four years ago, the Mets locked up franchise cornerstone David Wright to a six-year deal worth $55MM guaranteed. A club option for 2013 could put another $15MM in his pocket, and he's already earned an extra $300K in award based incentives. Wright, just 23 at the time and now a .307/.387/.517 career hitter, would have become a free agent after this season had he not opted for the long-term security. Can't say I blame him.

Here's a look at what's being written in the baseball corner of the blogging universe…

Mets Paradise hosts a post-trade deadline roundtable discussion with fellow Mets bloggers.
1 Blue Jays Way interviews Toronto prospect Danny Farquhar.
NPB Tracker recaps the deals made on the July 31st trade deadline in Japan.
River Ave. Blues wonders what would have happened if Alex Rodriguez hadn't opted out of his contract after the 2007 season.
Pittsburgh Lumber Co. defends the Pirates' Chan Ho Park pick-up.
Bright House Sports Network thinks Matt Garza's time with the Rays may soon come to an end.
Camden Crazies looks at what's wrong with Matt Wieters.
SD Sports Net deciphers the Padres' deadline deals.
More Hardball breaks down the young players the Pirates have coming up through the system.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Cardinals Interested In Andy LaRoche

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 6, 2010 at 8:22am CDT

The Cardinals have interest in Andy LaRoche and are eyeing the infielder as a possible trade target, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Cardinals recently found out that David Freese will miss the rest of the season, but they've been getting by at the hot corner with Felipe Lopez and (for one game) Allen Craig. For the Cardinals to acquire LaRoche from their division rivals, every NL team with a worse record than St. Louis would have to let LaRoche slip through waivers.

The former top prospect has just a .223/.290/.299 line this year after a solid 2009 season. LaRoche has spent most of his major league career at third base, though he has played a handful of games at second. He earns $450K this year and will go to arbitration for the first time this winter. The Pirates have LaRoche under team control through 2013.

Odds & Ends: Martin, Sweeney, Red Sox, D’Backs

By Mark Polishuk | August 5, 2010 at 9:17pm CDT

On this day in 1999, Mark McGwire hit his 500th career homer, reaching that plateau faster than any other player in history. It was McGwire's second consecutive season with a home run milestone, as he hit homer #400 during his (then) record-breaking 1998 campaign. But since we're not here to talk about the past, let's get to some news items…

Jon Weisman of ESPNLosAngeles.com looks at Russell Martin's hip injury and how it might spell the end of his tenure with the Dodgers. Weisman also notes that L.A.'s chances of acquiring another catcher to replace Martin this season are "slim to none."
Mike Sweeney is excited to get his first taste of a pennant race, writes Charles Nobles of MLB.com.
The Red Sox dealt former Mets infielder Argenis Reyes and minor league catcher Juan Apodaca to Cleveland for future considerations, reports Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.
J.P. Ricciardi discussed the waiver wire, the Jarrod Saltalamacchia deal, the Kevin Youkilis injury and other Boston-related news on WEEI's The Big Show today. Maryalice Gill of WEEI.com has the full transcript here.
Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall took questions from Arizona fans in an MLB.com web chat.
Speaking of the Snakes, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic looks at how the D'Backs might reallocate the $2MM they had earmarked for first-round draft pick Barret Loux before he failed his physical.
Pittsburgh has yet to sign 10 of its top 13 picks from the June amateur draft, reports MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.

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