Pirates Rumors

Huntington: Snell Deal A “Mistake”

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 29, 2009 at 12:08pm CDT

As Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, Pirates GM Neal Huntington says signing Ian Snell made "all the sense in the world" on paper, but the move failed.

"It certainly feels like a mistake on out part," Huntington said.

Before last season, the Pirates signed Snell to a multi-year deal that guaranteed him $8.6MM. They have the option of keeping him through 2012, but, as Kovacevic points out, it's unlikely they'll pick up the options on his contract.

Snell, who just struck out 17 in Triple A, could soon be someone else's concern. Huntington's been trying to trade him for months and he may be content to dump the $5.75MM remaining on Snell's deal at this point.

Odds And Ends: Snell, DeRosa, Kearns

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 29, 2009 at 10:45am CDT

Some links to start the week off…

East Windup Chronicle reports that the Pirates signed a Taiwanese high schooler to a minor league deal. Chi Ping-hong is small and speedy with good range.
Ian Snell faced 24 batters in his first Triple A start this year and struck out 17 of them, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Neal Huntington says the Pirates are trying to "salvage some value" from Snell, who has $5.75MM remaining on his contract.
Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch gathered some of the Cardinals' responses to the Mark DeRosa deal and they all agree the move shows the Cards are built to win now.
Bud Shaw of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says the Indians' "summer garage sale" shows the best and worst sides of the club.
Ben Goessling of the Washington Times wonders whether the Nats will trade Austin Kearns, release him, or simply buy him out for $1MM after the season.

Odds & Ends: Indians, Pirates, Zambrano

By Eddie Schmid | June 28, 2009 at 8:46pm CDT

Some links to wrap up a relatively busy weekend, with more on the way:

ESPN's Jorge Arangure says the Yankees, Red Sox, Reds and Padres in on 16-year-old Dominican RHP Cristopher Cabrera.
John Perrotto at Pirates Report says if he were Neal Huntington, he'd go ahead with the rumored swap of Nyjer Morgan for Lastings Milledge with the Nationals.
Phil Rogers at the Chicago Tribune is fed up with Carlos Zambrano and thinks the Cubs should waive him and take anything another club is willing to give. Not a great week for Cubs fans, eh?
Bud Shaw at the Cleveland Plain-Dealer notes that the Indians have had more success making deals than with their draft picks.
Paul Hoynes at the Plain-Dealer gets some more player reactions to the Mark DeRosa deal.
Andrew Baggarly at the San Jose Mercury News wonders if Jermaine Dye and Mark Teahen could be on Giants GM Brian Sabean's radar screen.

Odds & Ends: Morgan, Brewers, Phillies

By Nat Boyle | June 28, 2009 at 2:18pm CDT

Some odds and ends around the league:

Nyjer Morgan was caught off-guard by recent trade rumors, says Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Morgan said he was "flattered."
Adam McCalvy of MLB.com says the Brewers are still pursuing potential deals after not matching up to acquire Mark DeRosa. Doug Davis is mentioned in the piece.
Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer rounds up who will be buyers and who will be sellers over the next month. Nothing too surprising. He lists the Phillies as buyers, in need of pitching, and suggests they're looking at Chien-Ming Wang and "have been all over" Brad Penny.

Royals Ink Nicaraguan Prospect

By Eddie Schmid | June 27, 2009 at 6:00pm CDT

According to Dejan Kovacevic at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Royals have come to terms with Cheslor Cuthbert, a 3B prospect out of Nicaragua. The 16-year-old will sign for a bonus around $1.5 million.

Kovacevic reports that the Pirates had been in hot pursuit of Cuthbert for about two years and had been named as favorites to sign him. Rumors had swirled the past few days from ESPN's Jorge Arangure that the Royals had become the more likely destination.

Pirates, Nationals Discussing Swap

By Nat Boyle | June 27, 2009 at 3:51pm CDT

SATURDAY, 3:51pm: MLB.com's Bill Ladson has confirmed through a source that the Nationals are in hot pursuit of Morgan. Milledge was offered, but the Pirates are seeking a starting pitcher or middle infielder.

Washington infielders Alberto Gonzalez and Danny Espinosa probably aren't going anywhere, and the Nats seem to like their young nucleus of starters (mainly Stammen, Jordan Zimmermann and John Lannan). Ladson suggests Anderson Hernandez could be part of the move, but he surely won't "wow" Pittsburgh's upper management.

FRIDAY, 9:58pm: Via Twitter, Ed Price of Fanhouse.com says the Pirates and Nationals have been discussing an outfield swap of Nyjer Morgan for Lastings Milledge but that talks stalled when Pittsburgh asked for right handed starter Craig Stammen as well.

Milledge is currently recovering from a broken finger sustained in Triple-A. Morgan is having a fine breakout season hitting .267 with 18 stolen bases; however, Pittsburgh has a glut of up-and-coming outfielders in Andrew McCutchen, Delwyn Young, and Steven Pearce.

Odds And Ends: Snell, Tigers, Dotel

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 25, 2009 at 3:47pm CDT

Some more links for a quiet Thursday…

MLB.com's Jen Langosch says it's "almost certain" that Ian Snell will be demoted to Triple A and Dejan Kovacevic confirms the news. Snell has been mentioned in some rumors, but his value's pretty low at this point.
Chris Iott of MLive.com reports that the Tigers signed two of their picks and a non-drafted free agent.
Octavio Dotel realizes he could be traded and says nothing will surprise him, according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
In a piece for MLB.com, Jamey Newberg says Justin Smoak and Martin Perez lead the list of top Rangers prospects.
Don't forget to tune in at 6:20 CST when I'll be talking rumors on the TEAM 1380 in St. Louis.

Pirates Interested In Luis Ayala

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 24, 2009 at 9:28pm CDT

9:28pm: John Perrotto has another article up, saying the Pirates are only interested in Ayala at a "greatly reduced cost," i.e. the "vast majority" of the $700k still owed to him would need to be picked up by the Twins.

8:22am: The Pirates are interested in trading for reliever Luis Ayala, according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. John Perrotto of PiratesReport.com confirms the Pirates' interest in the 31-year-old righty, who was designated for assignment by the Twins on Monday.

Ayala requested a trade weeks ago because he wanted a bigger role in the Twins' bullpen. He makes $1.3MM this year.

Vesting Options For 2010

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 23, 2009 at 12:47pm CDT

Magglio Ordonez's 2010 vesting option has created a small stir in the last week or so, but there's a group of players with less-publicized vesting options. Here are updates on a few of them, and please add anyone I missed in the comments below:

Freddy Sanchez will earn $8MM in 2010 if he makes 635 plate appearances this year. The option will also kicks in if he makes the All Star team and bats 600 times. With 290 plate appearance already, it looks like Sanchez will make $8MM next year.
Kevin Millwood has a $12MM option that kicks in after 180 innings pitched. He hasn't pitched that much since 2006, but with a league-leading 106.2 innings logged already, Millwood will likely see his option vest.
It's no surprise that we've heard little about Dmitri Young's $6MM option for next year. It only vests if he bats 500 times, but he hasn't hit yet in 2009. It's safe to say the Nats won't be stuck paying him that much next year.
Josh Beckett's $12MM 2010 option will kick in if he starts 28 games this year. He's already at 14, so that number seems attainable.
Milton Bradley's 2011 option will vest if he plays 75 games in 2009. In other words, Bradley will earn $12MM in 2011 if he plays 22 more games this year.

Odds And Ends: Phillips, Mets, Pirates

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 23, 2009 at 11:20am CDT

Links for Tuesday morning…

It's time for another MLBTR chat. We'll go live at 2pm CST.
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes on a report suggesting former Yankee Andy Phillips could soon be playing in Japan for the Hiroshima Carp.
Chico Harlan of the Washington Post heard from former college standout Ben McDonald that agent Scott Boras never pressured him into anything back in 1989.
Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says Neal Huntington is trying to build a young, athletic, defensive-minded outfield around Andrew McCutchen in Pittsburgh.
Newsday's Ken Davidoff says the Mets shouldn't part with their trading chips for short-term benefit, even if it costs them their 2009 season.
After looking at the Rangers' problems yesterday, Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News shows that lots is going well for them.
Mike White of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Matt Clement is coaching basketball at his former high school.
WEEI.com's Alex Speier takes his readers behind the scenes of the Red Sox draft.
Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times says a Juan Pierre for Jarrod Washburn swap wouldn't work for the Mariners because of Pierre's contract.

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