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Rockies Eyeing Burke, Ohman, Capuano

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Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News has a list of available players the Rockies like.  He names Chris Burke, Mark Redman, Steve Trachsel, Will Ohman, and Chris Capuano as the targets.

Trachsel and Redman we know about; they are two among a slew of starters the Rockies are considering.  Capuano is new to the list, however.  They’ll have some competition from the Cardinals on him.

Burke is an option for second base and a player the Rox liked a year ago for the Jason Jennings deal.  Now he’ll come ultra-cheap.  Mark Loretta is considered a long shot.

The Rockies like Ohman, who the Cubs consider expendable.  It’s strange, though, because the Rockies are currently shopping a better southpaw reliever in Brian Fuentes.  Fuentes wants to close, so Dan O’Down will listen to offers.  But it doesn’t make sense that a team would surrender a young, eighth-inning ready reliever for Fuentes.

Odds and Ends: Burke, Nathan, Adam Miller

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Here we go, another collection of random rumors.

Astros Sign Kaz Matsui

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UPDATE, 12-2-07 at 4:30pm: The Matsui signing is official at three years, $16.5MM – even more than we thought.  How is a signing like this even possible?  Was there actually a group of executives who all agreed that this move was smart?  The speed obsession is perplexing. 

FROM 11-29-07 at 11pm:

Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 reports had it first: the Astros have signed second baseman Kaz Matsui to a three year deal worth $15-16MM.  Ed Wade saved Jim Hendry from himself.  Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald and Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle confirm the signing.  Richard Justice speculates that the ’Stros could shop Chris Burke now, and maybe even package him with Luke Scott. 

Matsui is the early favorite for worst free agent signing of the winter.  He is probably not worth half the money, and a three-year commitment for him is insane.  Since he joined the Rockies in August of 2006, Matsui hit .256/.305/.370 away from Coors Field.

Not that Matsui is a legitimate starting second baseman, but the signing clearly leaves Tadahito Iguchi as the one free agent starter at the position.  That is, unless David Eckstein opts to market himself as a second baseman.

MLB Trade Rumors: Astros Sign Kaz Matsui

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Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 reports had it first: the Astros have signed second baseman Kaz Matsui to a three year deal worth $15-16MM.  Ed Wade saved Jim Hendry from himself.  Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald and Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle confirm the signing.  Richard Justice speculates that the ’Stros could shop Chris Burke now, and maybe even package him with Luke Scott. 

Matsui is the early favorite for worst free agent signing of the winter.  He is probably not worth half the money, and a three-year commitment for him is insane.  Since he joined the Rockies in August of 2006, Matsui hit .256/.305/.370 away from Coors Field.

Not that Matsui is a legitimate starting second baseman, but the signing clearly leaves Tadahito Iguchi as the one free agent starter at the position.  That is, unless David Eckstein opts to market himself as a second baseman.

Renck’s Latest

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Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post has a host of trade rumors in his recent column.  Let’s break it down:

  • Time to restart those Todd Helton rumors, as the first baseman is hitting a robust .360/.473/.533.  Renck thinks a trade to Detroit is unlikely, but that the Yankees, Red Sox, or Braves could make a play for him this summer.  The Yanks came up recently via Mark Healey.  Maybe with Helton’s strong start, the Rockies can get their part of Helton’s $90MM contract down to $30MM.
  • Renck likes the Rockies, Braves, and Red Sox as suitors for Rocco Baldelli.  Rocco hopes to return in early June from a strained left hamstring.  I wouldn’t expect a deal until at least late June.
  • The Astros apparently are not making Chris Burke available despite his demotion.  That’s a shame, because the Rockies like him.  The Rox are hoping to see Kaz Matsui return from a back strain this week, so we’ll see how that goes first.
  • The Angels still have interest in Garrett Atkins but talks haven’t been serious.  Seems odd that Dan O’Dowd would sell low on Atkins at this point, but I guess it depends on the return and the Rockies’ projections for him.

Chris Burke Demoted; Trade Next?

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This afternoon, the Astros made the tough decision to demote CF/2B/LF Chris Burke to Triple A.  With Craig Biggio and Hunter Pence playing every day, and Mark Loretta hitting .375, the Astros preferred to send Burke down to play more consistently.

Burke will report to Round Rock within his three day limit, but his comments suggest he wouldn’t mind a trade:

"I’d like to play in the Major Leagues for somebody.  Hopefully it will be [Houston], but I don’t know what will happen. [Going elsewhere] is obviously something I have no control over. I just want to play."

Burke, now 26, set a career high with 366 ABs for the Astros last year.  He began the year as the Astros’ starting center fielder but has already been supplanted by hot prospect Pence.  Last year, Burke had a strong first half (.298/.376/.483) and became a full-timer in June.  He didn’t show much power after that, and finished on a low note with a .583 OPS in September.

Burke still carries a pretty strong PECOTA projection (.278/.348/.452).  Looking at his comparable players list, Robby Thompson appears to be Burke’s upside.  He was the 10th overall pick in ’01 as a shortstop.  Burke eventually moved to second base before the ’04 season.  He made a lot of top prospect lists after posting a .912 OPS in Triple A that year.  He was given a shot in ’05 but didn’t hit much. 

It should be noted that Burke had shoulder surgery last October, and his slow start could be related. I think plenty of teams would show some interest in a versatile, cheap player with a decent pedigree.  The Mets could consider him for some additional help at second base, or the Marlins could pursue him to play center field.

Miguel Tejada Trade: Update

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Some more quality details on the possible Miguel Tejada trade:

First issue: White Sox payroll.  My source is saying that adding Tejada would not be a problem – the team’s board of directors are willing to take the payroll up to $105 million.  Should the Orioles accept one of their offers, they’ll still have flexibility for more additions at the July trading deadline as needed.

UPDATE:  There was a miscommunication between my source and I about this deal.  He was not telling me that the Astros were in on Tejada, but rather Jose Contreras.  I’ll go into more detail on this in a separate post.  Sorry for the confusion.

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