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

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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…

Pirates Claim Chan Ho Park

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The Pirates announced that they claimed Chan Ho Park off of waivers from the Yankees today. Pittsburgh designated Steven Jackson for assignment in a corresponding move and officially announced that they claimed Chris Resop from the Braves.

After trading for Kerry Wood on Saturday, the Yankees designated Park for assignment. The 37-year-old right-hander has respectable strikeout (7.4 K/9) and walk (3.1 BB/9) rates, but has allowed seven homers in 35.1 innings of work. Park also allowed 40 hits with the Yankees, so his season ERA sits at 5.60. 

Park earns a base salary of $1.2MM in 2010 and will hit free agency this fall.

Waiver Trade Candidates: NL Central

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The NL Central picture: the Reds and Cardinals are in the race, and the Brewers, Astros, Cubs, and Pirates are out.  Waiver trade candidates:

Reds closer Francisco Cordero will probably clear waivers, though he's unlikely to change teams.  I view Bronson Arroyo as a similar case.  The Reds could use the depth Aaron Harang will provide when he returns from the disabled list from back spasms, though the chance to shed the remainder of his contract would be appealing.

Newly acquired Cardinal Jake Westbrook might clear waivers, not that he'll be dealt again.  Kyle Lohse should make it through, if he returns from forearm surgery this month.  Skip Schumaker, signed at $2.7MM for next year, could clear waivers as well.

The Brewers should expect Randy Wolf, Trevor Hoffman, David Riske, and LaTroy Hawkins to clear waivers.  Perhaps GM Doug Melvin will try to place the a few of the relievers with contenders.  Dave Bush and Jim Edmonds are two who might be claimed.

The Astros can count on Carlos Lee, Pedro Feliz, and Brandon Lyon clearing waivers.  Most likely Brian Moehler, Tim Byrdak, and Geoff Blum will clear as well.  Perhaps one of the cheaper veterans will be dealt.

A host of Cubs figure to clear waivers: Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Derrek Lee.  Of that group I'd say Fukudome has the best chance of going.  Aramis Ramirez may get through.  He was starting to heat up but recently aggravated a thumb injury.  There's a good chance Xavier Nady clears waivers and is traded.

The Pirates don't have many moderate-sized contracts; newly-acquired Chris Snyder could get through waivers.  Ryan Doumit should also clear once he returns from the DL, and he does appear to be a trade candidate.

For our primer on the waiver trade process, click here.

Tigers Acquire Brandon Jones

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The Tigers acquired Brandon Jones from the Pirates for a player to be named later, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch (Twitter link). Detroit assigned the minor league veteran to AA Erie, so he won't be an immediate addition to the Tigers' injury-depleted lineup.

Back in January, the Pirates claimed Jones from Atlanta, where he spent parts of three seasons. Jones picked up 166 plate appearances with the Braves, hitting one homer and posting a .257/.313/.365 line. In seven minor league seasons, the 26-year-old has shown more power and patience, as his .276/.353/.435 line shows. Jones has spent most of his time in left field, though he can also play right.

Odds & Ends: Lowell, Cardinals, Mets

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On this date in 2001, the Cardinals acquired Woody Williams from the Padres for Ray Lankford.  Lankford was useful for the rest of that season, but Williams went on to have an excellent Cardinals career.  Links for Monday…

Pirates Notes: Bullpen, Payroll, Doumit

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Pirates GM Neal Huntington talked about the state of the club following the Trade Deadline on his radio show this afternoon.  MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch has the goods..

  • In the past week the Pirates have subtracted four veteran relievers, most notably trading Octavio Dotel to the Dodgers and Javier Lopez to the Giants.  In addition to counting on their starters to go deeper into games, Huntington acknowledged that the club may need some outside help:

"We are a little bit concerned that we're going to throw some young, inexperienced pitchers into situations they're not ready to handle. We may explore some options outside the organization to bring in a guy or two who has some experience back there. Or we might just go with the guys that we have to see if they can show us if they can be a part of this team this year and beyond," said Huntington.

  • The GM said that none of the deals that the Pirates made were financially driven and pointed out that Pittsburgh actually sent some cash to the Dodgers in the Dotel deal.  On the whole, the Pirates have loosened their belt somewhat and taken on payroll this year.
  • Upon their acquisition of catcher Chris Snyder, some wondered what the future might hold for Ryan Doumit.  Doumit would have a better chance of factoring into the Bucs' future plans if he could switch positions, but Huntington said that the club hasn't gotten a chance to evaluate his glove in one of the corner outfield spots.  It's possible that Huntington meant to say that he personally hasn't gotten to evaluate Doumit's defense in the outfield as the 29-year-old started 33 games in right field for Pittsburgh in 2007.  Huntington was named the team's GM in September of that year.

Giants Acquire Javier Lopez

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The Giants have acquired lefty reliever Javier Lopez from the Pirates in exchange for John Bowker and Joe Martinez. 

Lopez, 33, has two impressive numbers to his name this year: a 2.79 ERA and a 60.2% groundball rate.  Otherwise he's struck out few and walked many overall.  His splits show that he's somewhat effective against lefties and a poor choice against righties.  He signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh before the season, and is still owed $287K this season. He is under team control as an arbitration-eligible player next year.

Martinez, a 27-year-old righty, posted a 3.32 ERA, 7.2 K/9, and 2.9 BB/9 with six home runs allowed in 81.3 Triple A innings this year.  Baseball America ranked him 30th among Giants prospects heading into the '09 season.  They called him "a groundball machine" with a "sinking 86-88 mph fastball, a true curveball and a plus changeup consistently down in the strike zone."  Martinez has yet to figure things out in his 41 career Major League innings, but he has retained his ability to generate grounders.

Bowker, a 27-year-old outfielder and first baseman, hasn't done much in the Majors aside from a less-than-terrible '08 rookie season.  He has managed to rake in the Pacific Coast League after multiple stints there, for what it's worth.  Baseball America ranked him ninth among Giants prospects before the '08 season, saying "he has strong hands and can hit good fastballs."

Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweeted that Lopez was on the verge of being dealt while Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News later confirmed the deal and added details (all Twitter links). 

Mike Axisa contributed to this post. 

Dodgers Acquire Octavio Dotel

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The Dodgers acquired reliever Octavio Dotel and $500K from the Pirates today for pitcher James McDonald and outfielder Andrew Lambo.  Dotel will move to a setup role for the Dodgers after saving 21 games for the Pirates.  Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan should get a shot to close games in Pittsburgh now.

The 36-year-old Dotel may be a rental for Los Angeles, as his $4.5MM club option for 2011 became mutual upon the trade.  Including the buyout on that option, Dotel has $1.65MM remaining on his contract.  Eddie Bajek's latest Elias rankings have Dotel as a Type B free agent, though an arbitration offer from the Dodgers is no sure thing.  Dotel has a 4.28 ERA, 10.8 K/9, and 3.8 BB/9 on the season with five home runs allowed in 40 innings, though he's been better since May.  One red flag is that Dotel has brutal control against lefties, but Hong-Chih Kuo is more than capable of handling those batters.

McDonald, 25, has fallen out of favor since being voted the organization's minor league pitcher of the year in '07 and '08.  He opened the '09 season as the Dodgers' fifth starter, but was out of the rotation a month later.  This year he's dealt with a hamstring injury while compiling a 4.41 ERA, 8.1 K/9, and 3.4 BB/9 in twelve Triple A starts.  It wasn't long ago that Baseball America projected McDonald as a No. 3 starter or late-inning reliever, and he'll have plenty of opportunities in Pittsburgh. 

Lambo, meanwhile, was slapped with a 50-game suspension in May for violating baseball's drug policy.  BA ranked him seventh among Dodgers prospects before the season.  They profile him as a gap hitter who may grow into his power, but label him a substandard outfielder.  Lambo still hasn't done much in Double A.

The Pirates haven't hit on too many of these types of players yet, but these gambles make more sense than keeping Dotel around.

Pirates Acquire Chris Snyder In Five-Player Deal

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Diamondbacks interim GM Jerry Dipoto further dismantled his team today, sending catcher Chris Snyder, Triple A shortstop Pedro Ciriaco, and $3MM to the Pirates for reliever D.J. Carrasco, infielder Bobby Crosby, and outfielder Ryan Church.  Snyder has about $8.18MM remaining through 2011, assuming his '12 option is declined, while Carrasco, Crosby and Church have roughly $1.2MM remaining.

Snyder signed his extension under previous GM Josh Byrnes in December of '08, coming off a fine .237/.348/.452 performance.  However, he hit the disabled list in June of last year with a back injury and had surgery in September.  Miguel Montero took over as the starter and hit .319/.364/.523 the rest of that season.  The D'Backs shopped Snyder in the offseason and nearly dealt him to the Blue Jays until concerns over his back scuttled the deal.  Snyder was able to prove his health this year when Montero missed two months due to knee surgery.  Current Pirate Ryan Doumit, whose contract might have been the model for Snyder's, is on the disabled list due to a concussion.

Carrasco, Crosby, and Church were signed cheaply as free agents by the Pirates last winter, but only Carrasco has panned out.  On the season he has a 3.88 ERA, 7.3 K/9, and 3.6 BB/9 in 55.6 innings with only four home runs allowed.  Carrasco probably will be tendered a contract by the D'Backs, and he's under team control through 2012.  Church is technically arbitration-eligible after the season, but he's highly likely to be non-tendered.  

Ciriaco, 24, ranked 27th among D'Backs prospects heading into the season according to Baseball America.  They praised him for his defense and speed, suggesting a possible utilityman future.

Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports first broke news of the trade talks, with Nick Piecoro, Jack Magruder, Steve Gilbert, Dejan Kovacevic, and Jenifer Langosch also contributing to the story.

Multiple Teams Discussing Paul Maholm

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SATURDAY, 1:44am: In a deal for Maholm, the Pirates want a starting pitcher who is ready to contribute, two high-ranking team sources told Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

FRIDAY, 8:23pm: The Dodgers and Pirates aren't necessarily close to a Maholm deal, but the sides believe there's a genuine possibility that a trade happens, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).

4:19pm: The Padres are not close to acquiring Maholm, according to Kovacevic (Twitter link).

3:46pm: The Dodgers and Padres are not the only clubs discussing deals with the Pirates, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (on Twitter). The Mets appear to be involved in discussions for Maholm, according to Scott Miller of CBS Sports.

3:12pm: The two teams look close to a deal, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown (on Twitter).

3:10pm: The Padres are discussing Maholm with the Pirates, according to Scott Miller of CBS Sports (on Twitter).

2:59: The Pirates are "close" to trading Maholm, according to Jim Bowden of Sirius XM Radio (on Twitter). However, Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse hears that the Padres are not discussing a deal for Maholm (Twitter link). Meanwhile, ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that the Padres are making progress on a Maholm deal (Twitter link).

2:36pm: The Padres are discussing Maholm with the Pirates, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

1:29pm: The Pirates are willing to trade a starting pitcher for the right price, GM Neal Huntington told Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Huntington referred to starters close to free agency, which implies Paul Maholm or Zach Duke.

Kovacevic figures Maholm to be more popular than Duke, since the latter spent time on the DL this year with an elbow strain.  Maholm is signed reasonably through next year with a club option for 2012, making him appealing to the Dodgers.  The Mets, Cardinals, Padres, Twins, and Tigers may also be in the hunt for a starter.

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