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Odds and Ends: Alvarez, Zimmerman, Vizcaino, Hawkins

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Some random musings around the league:

  • As MLBTR noted before, Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also believes the Pirates will take Pedro Alvarez if the Rays pass on him.
  • Ryan Zimmerman may be looking for David Wright money (six years, $55MM), but the Nationals may be willing to pay him Ian Kinsler money (5 years, $22MM), according to Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post.
  • In this piece by Tony Jackson on the LA Daily News, 39 year-old Jose Vizcaino may try to make a comeback in 2009.  He’s currently a special assistant with the Dodgers.
  • Troy Renck suggests the Rockies could be interested in LaTroy Hawkins if he continues to struggle for the Yankees.

By Nat Boyle

Rosenthal’s Latest: Sabathia, Bay, Wolf

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Hot stove guru Ken Rosenthal has a new column up.

  • Rosenthal tosses around some fun ideas in case the Indians want to trade C.C. Sabathia for another free-agent-to-be.  Presumably they’d target a slugger in return.
  • Rosenthal applauds the Pirates’ decision not to sell low on Jason Bay this winter.  Signed cheaply through ’09, Bay may have more trade value than Adam Dunn (in my opinion).
  • Randy Wolf is expected to be "among the most available Padres."  The 31 year-old southpaw sports an 8.2 K/9.  A strong, healthy June would give Wolf’s trade value a boost.

Gammons On Available Pitchers

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ESPN’s Peter Gammons names ten starting pitchers who could be available in the coming months.  We’ll try to devise a comprehensive list when we get to the position in our Trade Market series.

Gammons’ trade possibilities: Paul Byrd, Jeremy Sowers, Derek Lowe, Rich Harden, Odalis Perez, Brett Tomko, Jarrod Washburn, Zach Duke, Vicente Padilla, and Kevin Millwood.  Byrd, Lowe, Perez, and Tomko will be free agents after the season.  Sowers and Duke are the kids.  Harden is the oft-injured ace.  Washburn, Padilla, and Millwood bring burdensome contracts.

Gammons also five "unlikely, but not impossible" scenarios.  He suggests A.J. Burnett, Bartolo Colon, Joe Blanton, Greg Maddux, and Ben Sheets could be moved under the right circumstances.

Kovacevic Chats Draft With Pirates Execs

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There’s been quite a bit of conjecture that the Pirates will draft Pedro Alvarez with their #2 pick.  Alvarez, a Scott Boras advisee, may require a Major League contract.  The Bucs’ new management team will be making a statement to fans if they pony up for Alvarez.

Devan Kovacevic did a Q&A on the draft with Pirates GM Neal Huntington and team president Frank Coonelly.  He didn’t shy away from tough questions, touching on the Matt Wieters subject.  Kovacevic also referenced Alvarez, asking how a player demanding a big league deal would impact the team’s draft choice.  Said Coonelly:

The preference is to sign any amateur player to a minor-league contract. It gives the club more flexibility. With a player signed to a major-league contract right out of the draft, you have to use an option immediately to get him to the minors. If he has a minor-league contract, you can have him for three years in the minors before having to use an option.  Does that mean I’m saying the Pirates would never consider that? No. We would if there were a unique set of circumstances.

So…is Alvarez special enough to warrant it for the Pirates?

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: 2008 Amateur Draft

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With last year’s top pick, David Price, making his pro debut yesterday, we are now two weeks from the 2008 "Rule 4 Draft" and the top of the draft is not as clear this time around. There are five candidates that could go in the top slot: Buster Posey, the FSU catcher; Vanderbilt’s third baseman Pedro Alvarez; San Diego lefty Brian Matusz; Southern California high school catcher Kyle Skipworth, and Georgia high school shortstop Tim Beckham. Earlier this week we heard that the Rays were leaning towards Posey or Alvarez, while the Pirates were said to be torn between Alvarez and Beckham with the second pick. Recent mock drafts from Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, have Beckham going to the Rays with the top pick.

Let’s take a look at what is being said about the upcoming draft in the Blogosphere…

  • Minor League Ball ranks the top 30 prospects, with Posey and Beckham at the top of the board, while Alvarez’ injury knocks him down to #8.
  • Baseball Mastermind would like to see a push for a little more hype in the baseball draft and feels that baseball fans would benefit from more debate on the merits of the available talent. They also can’t see the Rays taking Alvarez with the top pick now that they have Evan Longoria locked up to a long-term deal.
  • DRays Bay wonders if recent reports of the Rays drafting Beckham or Posey were just smoke-screens to lower the price on Alvarez, who is a Scott Boras client.
  • Rays of Light note that Alvarez would be the ideal choice, but believe signability may be too big of a factor to ignore, making Posey more attractive.
  • Bucs Dugout feels a team should select the best available player with the second pick, but suggests that a team like the Pirates, that is still several years away from contending, may be better off drafting high school talent. The idea is that an Alvarez will not help a Bucs club in ’09 or ’10 while a Beckham will remain under the team’s control for more years.
  • Camden Depot doesn’t sound very excited about the prospect of the Orioles drafting Matusz.
  • McCovey Chronicles is hoping that Alvarez falls to the Giants at #5.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Odds and Ends: Griffey, Baek, German, Wells

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Here’s today’s link collection.

Pirates Likely To Draft Pedro Alvarez

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John Perrotto of the Beaver County Times chronicles the Pirates’ recent draft blunders.  So many wasted picks.  Under different management, the Pirates could have David Wright, B.J. Upton, Carlos Quentin, Tim Lincecum, and Matt Wieters in the organization.  Sounds like a fantasy team.  Such hindsight cherry-picking is unfair, but the Pirates should have Upton and Wieters right now.

Anyway, the depressing trend of bad picks for the Pirates is likely to change this year.  For the first time, the Bucs might give out a Major League contract to a draft pick.  That pick would be Pedro Alvarez, who Perrotto believes the Pirates will take at #2.  Rumblings do not indicate the Rays want Alvarez.  Both Jonathan Mayo and Baseball America believe the Pirates will get their man.

Odds and Ends: Bay, Roberts, Cliff Lee

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And here we have some random links I’ve collected over the past day or so.

Pirates Acquire Jason Michaels, Brewers Mull Turnbow

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After being designated for assignment back on May 5, Jason Michaels has been traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for, what else, a player to be named later. As Tim noted on Monday, Michaels has been pretty terrible so far this year. Not that he was so hot during his tenure in Cleveland. He wasn’t able to get his OBP above .330 or his SLG above .400. Not so hot for a corner outfielder.

The Pirates options OF Nyjer Morgan to Triple A to make room for Michaels.  The Bucs now have two open spots on the 40-man roster.  Feel free to speculate.

In other recently-designated news, it is believed that the Brewers have placed reliever Derrick Turnbow on waivers. The former closer was DFA a week ago, so something needs to be done soon. Tom Haudricourt believes he could clear waivers by Friday.

If he clears, he could accept an assignment to Triple A with the Brewers. Otherwise he’d become a free agent and forfeit the remainder of this $3.2MM salary.

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski.

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