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Brandon Inge

Phillies, Dodgers Not Interested In Inge

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According to Jayson Stark yesterday, the Tigers are indeed shopping ousted 29 year-old third baseman Brandon Inge.  He says the Dodgers and Phillies have already said no.  My guess at the rationale: the Dodgers will go internal and are less concerned with the position, and the Phils want a good hitter at the position.

Inge seemingly peaked in ’06, hitting 27 HRs with fine defense.  That earned him a four-year, $24MM extension.  He’s got three years and $19.1MM left.  His stock is down after posting a .688 OPS last year.  Inge was a catcher as recently as 2004, so maybe he can don the tools of ignorance once again.  There, his offense wouldn’t look nearly as poor.  Still, it’s hard to figure out a team that would pursue him.

Phillies Rumors: Iguchi, Inge, Silva, Ensberg

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Sounds like there’s a whole lot of ’nothin’ going on with the Phillies.

  • As you know, the Phils are out on Hiroki Kuroda.
  • Yesterday the Phillies made an offer and a second improved offer to Tadahito Iguchi.  Iguchi is looking for a three-year deal for around the $16.5MM Kaz Matsui received.
  • Todd Zolecki says the Phils have "kicked around" Brandon Inge’s name; he’s definitely available. The general sentiment is that the Tigers would have to eat some of the $19.1MM owed to Inge over the next three seasons.  Plus, the Phillies already tried the defense-first idea at third base.
  • Talks with Mike Cameron went nowhere, as the Phillies didn’t want to consider a multiyear deal. Aaron Rowand is also a long shot.  Not a very exciting Meetings for Phillies fans.
  • Scott Lauber checks in this morning and says Carlos Silva would like to return to the Phillies.  The interest isn’t mutual, however, if Silva continues to ask for four or five years.
  • Lauber suggests Morgan Ensberg is a strong non-tender candidate and someone the Phils should look at.

Rios For Cain Or Lincecum?

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UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 6:16pm: Jeff Blair says the Jays’ offer on the table is Rios for Lincecum, straight up.

UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 12:34pm: Brian Sabean wants more than just Rios for Lincecum (yes, the Jays prefer Lincecum based on service time).  The Giants want an improved proposal from the Jays, and Toronto could add Robinzon Diaz, Curtis Thigpen, or Brett Cecil.  Cecil would have to be a player to be named later since he was drafted in 2007.  He signed on June 22nd, so he can’t even be named as a PTBNL until December 22nd. 

UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 10:56am: Peter Gammons via Amy Nelson is saying it’s Lincecum for Rios currently rather than Cain.

UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 10:10am: Ken Rosenthal has some more details on these talks.  He says the Jays won’t add pitching to their side of the deal.  Additionally, they don’t want to move A.J. Burnett.  The Jays have a potentially elite rotation for 2008 if they can get Lincecum for Rios. 

FROM 12-4-07 at 10:46pm:

The San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea verifies that the interesting proposal Brian Sabean referred to involved the Jays’ Alex Rios.  The Jays want to swap him for Matt Cain. The Jays prefer Cain to Tim Lincecum, as they worry Lincecum might have durability issues.

It almost sounds like Lincecum alone wouldn’t get the Giants Rios, which is surprising.  Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi is serious about trading Rios; he laid out to reporters what the Jays’ outfield would look like without him.  By the way, the Giants have no interest in taking Troy Glaus in a deal.  For their third base vacancy, the Giants are looking at Brandon Inge.

Meanwhile MLB.com’s Chris Haft believes the Jays want Lincecum for Rios.  John, Chris – just talk to each other and sort this thing out.

Crasnick’s Latest: Hamilton, Figgins, Andruw, Inge

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Jerry Crasnick filed more rumors ripe for discussion.

  • The Reds may consider trading Josh Hamilton, but not to an NL Central team.  There was nothing to the Hamilton-Cubs rumor anyway, according to Bruce Levine.  And now officials from both teams have debunked it.
  • The Cubs actually want to add two left-handed hitting outfielders, for some reason.  Beyond Kosuke Fukudome, Geoff Jenkins remains on the radar.  Jim Hendry likes Chone Figgins, but the Angels would ridiculously ask for Aramis Ramirez in that one.
  • Scott Boras is still saying Andruw Jones isn’t looking for a one or two-year deal.
  • The Rays have checked into Shawn Green, Geoff Jenkins, and Cliff Floyd.  No truth to the rumor that Green is considering retirement.
  • Brandon Inge hits the market, though he’s got three years and $19.1MM left on his deal.  Plenty of clubs are in the market for a third baseman assuming the Tigers will eat some of the contract.  Inge probably won’t be moving back behind the plate, by the way.

Tigers Acquire Cabrera, Willis For Six Players

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UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 6:04pm: Jon Paul Morosi reveals the three remaining players, and they’re all pitchers: Burke Badenhop, Eulogio de la Cruz, and Dallas Trahern.  Based on Kevin Goldstein’s Tigers prospect list, the team surrendered its #1, 7, and 11th ranked prospects. Miller’s not on the list due to big league experience but he’d be third if he was. 

Morosi also notes that Marcus Thames, Brandon Inge, and Chad Durbin are now on the block.

Baseball Prospectus’ Nate Silver weighs in on the big trade here.

FROM 12-4-07 at 5:30pm:

ESPN’s Peter Gammons is reporting that the Tigers have acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis for Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Mike Rabelo, and three minor leaguers.

This is what the hot stove league is all about, unexpected massive eight-player blockbusters.  All the talk was that the Tigers would have a quiet Winter Meetings.  Instead they traded for one of the best hitters in the game, adding an immediate 5-7 wins in the process.  Swapping out Willis for Miller will probably be a push in 2008 before things swing toward the Fish.

Maybin and Miller are both elite prospects; it seems packaging Cabrera with Willis was the only way they could get both.  Interestingly, it seems like Sports Review Magazine may have scooped this trade way back at 9:52am CST.  I am surprised this link didn’t get in my hands until now.

Odds and Ends: Aramis, La Russa, A-Rod

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A random smattering of links this morning…

  • I wrote a postmortem on why the D’Backs beat the Cubs over at The Hardball Times.
  • Just a whisper at the moment, but I’m hearing that the Angels could pursue Aramis Ramirez if the Cubs make him available.  They were in hard on him last year when he was briefly a free agent.
  • Seems that Joe Torre is done as Yankees manager, but Tony La Russa is not interested.
  • Another important date to mark down: November 10th.  That’s when Alex Rodriguez decides whether to opt out of his contract.  Right after the GM meetings.
  • The Tigers will stick with Brandon Inge at third base next year, perhaps feeling that his defense justified his .236/.312/.376 line.  There is hope for a rebound, since he slugged .463 the previous year.  Plus Inge is locked in for $6.2MM in ’08, $6.3MM in ’09, and $6.6MM in ’10.
  • The Mariners had a $2.7MM option on Chris Reitsma with a $0.7MM buyout and apparently some kind of option on Arthur Rhodes.  Both were declined.  Reitsma, coming off ulnar nerve transposition surgery in ’06, was supposed to be Seattle’s setup man.  He tried to pitch this year but the elbow wasn’t fully healed.  Rhodes had similar problems in ’06 and went under the knife for TJ in April.
  • You may have noticed some of the in-post ads are showing as ugly blank white space or "This page cannot be found" errors…please bear with me as I try to get it back to normal. 

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