Odds And Ends: Beltre, Capuano, Blanton
More links to read in anticipation of John Smoltz's Red Sox debut…
- Larry Larue of the News Tribune reports that Adrian Beltre will need surgery on his shoulder at some point, but he's trying to play through the pain for now. He says he doesn't want teams to question his health when he becomes a free agent this winter.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says we shouldn't expect to see Chris Capuano pitch in 2009.
- Check out RotoAuthority for a closer look at a pitcher who may have value in fantasy leagues: Joe Blanton.
- ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure says the Pirates, Brewers and Tigers are among the teams with the strongest scouting presence in Cuba.
Heyman: Ten Teams That Could Add Payroll
Jon Heyman of SI.com provides a list of ten teams that could add payroll. He adds the Angels, Brewers, Red Sox and Brewers to the list we assembled last week. Here are his ten teams:
- The Red Sox could add payroll, but they don't have significant needs.
- The Mets could add payroll and they need a hitter who can play first, the outfield, or both.
- The Phillies could add payroll to acquire pitching.
- The Angels, with several contracts expiring this year (Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey, Chone Figgins), could add salary.
- The Giants could take on payroll to add a bat.
- The Brewers and Cardinals could both free up money to add a pitcher or hitter.
- The Tigers, White Sox and Dodgers round out Heyman's list, but he warns us not to rule out the Yankees.
- Don't look for the White Sox to deal prospects away to increase their playoff chances, even though they trail the Tigers by just 5.0 games.
- On another note, no one's called the Mariners about Adrian Beltre.
Mariners Trade Talk
Rounding up links involving possible Mariners trades…
- Start with Jon Paul Morosi's article at FOX Sports. Morosi talked to Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik, who is in no hurry and has not received any offers yet. Seattle, at six games out in the AL West, is technically still focused on the pennant race.
- SI's Jon Heyman writes about Erik Bedard, who may just be the best pitcher available this summer. His contract's not a problem, and I should mention that unlike Jake Peavy, Bedard does not have no-trade protection. Heyman believes that Bedard would probably require a better package than the one the White Sox were going to send to San Diego for Peavy. He likes the Phillies, White Sox, and Brewers as possible suitors.
- Heyman rattles off other Mariners trade candidates when the time comes: Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista, Adrian Beltre, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Russell Branyan. In his article, Morosi wondered if now is the time to sell high on reliever David Aardsma.
- Larry LaRue of The News Tribune has the local take.
Odds And Ends: Beltre, Rusch, Percival, Price
Links for Friday evening…
- As Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times explains, Adrian Beltre's trade value is diminishing because teams are no longer confident that he'll be a Type A free agent. This means the team that trades for Beltre can't expect two compensation picks for losing the third baseman to free agency.
- MLB.com's Mark Bowman argues that the Braves need to make an immediate change to their outfield and says there's an "indication that we'll begin to see it in the near future." He says the Braves must consider dealing the powerless Jeff Francoeur, or at least finding a more productive outfielder.
- According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post Glendon Rusch is staying at home instead of reporting to Triple A Colorado Springs. The Rockies are expected to put him on the restricted list.
- Via Twitter, Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune reports that Troy Percival, who was just placed on the DL, has gone home to ponder a future "which could be in doubt." Joe Maddon has said he "wouldn't be surprised" to see Percival hang it up, according to Marc Lancaster.
- Another piece of Rays news from the same Lancaster report – With Scott Kazmir headed to the DL, it's likely that David Price will make his long-awaited season debut in Kazmir's place on Monday.
- As MLB.com's Brian Hoch reports, Chien-Ming Wang is returning to the Yankees as a long reliever because of the team's depleted bullpen.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Peavy, Giants, Rays, M’s, Lidge, Beltre
On this date seven years ago, the A's traded Jeremy Giambi to the Phillies for John Mabry. At the time of the deal, Giambi was hitting .274/.390/.471 with 8 home runs and Mabry was essentially a pinch-hitter. Giambi would go on to hit 12 more home runs for the Phils but would play only one more season in the big leagues. As rumors start to fly in the '09 season, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- Fire Ned Colletti Now would be happy to see a team other than the Dodgers trade for Jake Peavy.
- Jorge Says No! says the Brewers should look into trading for Jake Peavy.
- McCovey Chronicles takes a look at some deadline deal possibilities for the Giants, including Matt Holliday, Carl Crawford and Ichiro.
- The Rays Party notes that Jason Isringhausen makes for a crowded bullpen which may indicate that the Devil Rays ($29) are about to make a deal.
- Phlavio's Corner takes a look at some options to replace Carlos Delgado.
- Around the Majors takes a look back at the Brad Lidge extension and wonders if it was a mistake.
- Bleeding Blue and Teal would like to see the Mariners make a deal for Ben Zobrist.
- The Detroit Tigers Weblog now admits that the Edwin Jackson-Matt Joyce trade may have been good for the Tigers.
- MLB Notebook sees a few possible trade destinations for Adrian Beltre including both Chicago franchises.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and on Twitter here.
Odds & Ends: Sheffield, Morillo, Perdomo
I think you would all agree that today should be a federal holiday. Monday links to tide you over until games start…
- According to David Lennon of Newsday, Gary Sheffield expected to get a call from Albert Pujols about possibly playing for the Cardinals, before the Mets signed him.
- Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post says the Rockies' acquisition of Jason Hammel may mean Juan Morillo's time with the team is drawing to a close. Morillo throws in the high 90s with poor control, and he's out of options.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic talked to John Dewan about The Fielding Bible and the D'Backs' defense.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News says the Giants continue to try to work out a trade for Rule 5 pick Luis Perdomo, who will otherwise have to be offered back to the Cardinals.
- Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City Star has a great profile of Zack Greinke.
- Baseball America's Matt Eddy has the latest minor league transactions.
- John Hickey recently wrote about Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre. Beltre, a Boras client, is entering his contract year.
Odds and Ends: Maddux, Beltre, Cordero
Links for Monday…
- RotoAuthority discusses possible lineup position changes for star players.
- Baseball America has the latest minor league transactions.
- Greg Maddux has joined the Padres as a Spring Training instructor, says MLB.com’s Corey Brock.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News learned that Adrian Beltre enjoys hitting in AT&T Park and would be excited to play for the Giants. Baggarly wonders if the Giants could attempt to acquire Beltre this summer. The third baseman and Scott Boras client will be a free agent after the season.
- Shawn Estes, currently in camp with the Dodgers, will retire if he can’t make a Major League roster according to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times.
- A Mets official told Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News that the team is unlikely to sign free agent reliever Chad Cordero.
- Jake Peavy talked more about the failed attempts to trade him during the winter (Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune reporting).
- The Mariners added catcher Jason Phillips on a minor league deal, according to Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Mariners, Young, Shouse
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports compiles a number of rumors from around the majors:
- The Mariners need to free up money, but to do so, they’d likely have to trade one of Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn or Miguel Batista. All three will be free agents after the season, but moving one of them would be "extremely difficult."
- The Mariners and Yankees considered a Hideki Matsui-Washburn swap, but Matsui’s contract ($13MM) pays him more than Washburn’s ($10.35MM) so they didn’t find a match.
- The Twins are looking to move Delmon Young.
- They showed interest in Washburn last year, but only some of Rosenthal’s sources believe he and Delmon Young could be the foundation for a larger deal.
- Rosenthal has a source who says the Yankees are not currently pursuing Juan Cruz. Yesterday, we had a discussion about the rules regarding free agent quotas.
- The Yanks like their bullpen, but they could try to add an arm if they trade Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher.
- The Rays are making a strong run at Brian Shouse.
- The Orioles would not likely have to give up much more than a low-level prospect to deal for Rich Hill.
Wigginton Too Pricey For Twins?
According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
The Twins like Ty Wigginton but believe he’s looking for a bigger contract than the three-year, $17.5 million deal the Los Angeles Dodgers gave Casey Blake. So the Twins have had little to no dialogue with Wigginton’s agent, Dan Lozano.
I had Wigginton pegged for two years and $12MM or so, but he is four years younger than Blake and outhit him in 2008 (though he had 172 fewer plate appearances and was largely aided by Minute Maid Park). If Wiggy can really get a better contract than Blake, it would’ve made sense for the Astros to tender him a contract and then trade him.
Christensen adds that the Twins still have hope for acquiring Mark DeRosa, but talks for Garrett Atkins and Adrian Beltre hit dead ends. Also, Jon Heyman tosses the Twins into the mix for Michael Young. We’d previously heard about the Mets, Angels, Dodgers, and Royals discussing him. Heyman did not find evidence talks for Young got serious with any team, though, and he wonders if Young would approve a trade to Minnesota.
In other Twins news, Christensen notes that the Twins expressed interest in free agent reliever Brandon Lyon, who seems to be waiting until Brian Fuentes signs.
Mark Teixeira Rumors: Thursday
9:56:
2:38pm: Tim Brown and Gordon Edes talked to involved execs (not with the Angels) who believe the Boras camp is "using the media to ratchet up the price beyond what any team had actually offered."
Brown and Edes say the Angels were told the Red Sox and Nationals offered eight years at about $20MM per. The Angels don’t want to do an eighth year, so they’ll look into trades for Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, and possibly Adrian Beltre. Raul Ibanez is the top free agent backup plan.
Brown and Edes believe Boras could insist on an opt-out clause in a deal with the Nationals.
8:59am: Mike DiGiovanna says the Angels "are believed to be willing to offer at least seven years for something in the $160-million range" for Tex.
8:51am: Jon Heyman says the Yankees have re-entered the Teixeira sweepstakes.
2:40am: Summing up the reported offers made to Mark Teixeira:
- Orioles: seven years, $140-150MM
- Nationals: eight years, $160MM
- Angels: reluctant to exceed seven years; no offer yet? (Boras implied there was)
- Red Sox: making progress; no offer yet? (Boras implied there was?)
By the way, Joe Haggerty transcribed the full Scott Boras talk from yesterday at his site.