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Heyman On Phillies Rotation Options

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SI.com's Jon Heyman spoke with Ruben Amaro Jr. and heard that the Phillies GM is after "depth at the top of the rotation." Here are the specifics of Heyman's analysis:

  • The Phillies want a "more established" player than Antonio Bastardo to replace the injured Brett Myers.
  • Amaro admits that swinging a deal is "tough to do" even with expendable young players like John Mayberry Jr., Lou Marson, Carlos Carrasco and Jason Donald.
  • Jake Peavy remains a logical fit, but there's no indication he'd accept a deal to Philly.  
  • Erik Bedard, at $7.75MM this year, fits within the Phillies' budget.  
  • Heyman agrees with Buster Olney: there's no guarantee Roy Oswalt will be dealt, but he would interest the Phillies.
  • Cliff Lee hasn't hit the market and Blue Jays people maintain that Roy Halladay isn't available, but Amaro isn't shying away from any top pitchers that become available. He says he wants "the best [he] can get." It appears that Brad Penny would not be enough for Philadelphia.
  • Chris Young and Aaron Harang are names to watch out for, as they could become available. 

Stark On Peavy, Oswalt, Phillies, DeRosa, Giants

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Let's take a look at the latest Rumblings and Grumblings column from ESPN's Jayson Stark.

  • The Padres' recent winning streak has not changed their intention of trading Jake Peavy.  The Dodgers and Cubs are in Peavy's first tier of choices, follwed by the Giants, Cardinals, and Astros.  The Angels would be the one AL team he'd consider.  The East Coast is a long shot.  Also, Peavy will want his 2011-13 partial no-trade clause to become a full no-trade.  Peavy's friend Roy Oswalt has been unsuccessful in lobbying Astros owner Drayton McLane, as the 'Stros can't take on Peavy's contract.  As for the Dodgers, GM Ned Colletti told the L.A. Times he hasn't talked to the Padres about Peavy since the pitcher vetoed the White Sox deal.
  • Stark talked to scouts who believe Oswalt has "lost his edge" and needs a change of scenery.  The Phillies have inquired on him, but they've asked about everyone: Peavy, Brandon Webb, Roy Halladay, Doug Davis, Erik Bedard, Cliff Lee, Aaron Harang, Brad Penny, Chris Young and Jason Marquis.  Popular Phillies trade targets include Lou Marson, Jason Donald, Carlos Carrasco, Travis D'Arnaud, Freddy Galvis, Kyle Drabek, Dominic Brown, and Antonio Bastardo.
  • The Braves are interested in bringing Mark DeRosa back to Atlanta.  He came up with them and was non-tendered in '04 after tearing his ACL.  But to deal young arms, the Braves would want an impact bat.  Stark says they're "mostly listening" rather than shopping Jeff Francoeur.  His trade value is difficult to gauge.
  • The Mets seem content to wait out the first base trade market.
  • The Giants seek a middle-of-the-order bat, and Jonathan Sanchez is being dangled.  Three targets they haven't had success on are Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu, and possibly Carlos Lee.  Lee, according to one Stark source, doesn't intend to waive his no-trade for anyone.

Season-Ending Surgery For Prior

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MLB.com’s Corey Brock reports that San Diego Padres pitcher Mark Prior will have season-ending surgery to repair a torn muscle in his shoulder. The Padres signed the injury-plagued starter to a $1MM contract this offseason.

While the news of Prior having to miss a season due to surgery doesn’t come as much of a surprise, a healthy rebound would have been a bright spot in what has otherwise been a tough season for the Padres. The team saw Jake Peavy, Chris Young, and Josh Bard all hit the DL in May.

It’s unfortunate, but it seems like this will make teams even more hesitant to look at Prior this offseason. The right-hander undoubtedly has great talent, but has pitched just 43.2 innings since the beginning of the 2006 season.

D’Backs Sign Chris Young To Extension

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TUESDAY: Young gets about $28MM over five years (2009-13).  2013 would’ve been his first year of free agent eligibility.  There’s also a club option for 2014.

MONDAY, 2:22pm: Steve Gilbert says the six-year agreement has been reached and will be announced tomorrow.  ESPN says it’s a five-year deal.

8:17am: According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks "appear to be closing in on a long-term contract" with 24 year-old center fielder Chris Young.  It may be similar to but less than Troy Tulowitzki’s six-year, $30MM deal.  Young has five seasons left under team control, including this one.  Certainly Kenny Williams wishes he’d sent Brian Anderson to Arizona for Javier Vazquez instead, but the deal has still benefitted both clubs.

The only knock on Young in his near 30/30 rookie season was his .295 OBP.  It seems that he will improve on that this year, perhaps drawing 70 walks and hopefully raising his batting average.

Dan Haren Rumors: Wednesday

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UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 11:20am: Joel Sherman says Stephen Drew, Mark Reynolds, and Tony Pena are also off the table in the Haren talks.

UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 8:09am: Susan Slusser adds that the A’s aren’t being unreasonable with Arizona – they haven’t asked for Justin Upton or Chris Young. Slusser also notes that Billy Beane wouldn’t sit down with the Tigers unless they’d discuss Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin.  That’s when the Tigers turned to the Marlins.  Beane downplayed the chances of trading Haren, but what else is he going to say?

FROM 12-5-07 at 12:09am:

Technically it’s Wednesday now, and some of the more rumor-filled threads were getting really long.  So I’m happy to start a set of new ones.  You can check out Tuesday’s Dan Haren thread here.

According to Jack Magruder of the East Valley Tribune, the D’Backs are willing to discuss a package of Carlos Gonzalez, Emilio Bonifacio, and Brett Anderson for Haren.  That the D’Backs could spare these three very talented youngsters without skipping a beat speaks to how deep their farm system is.  Magruder’s source says the A’s could ask for a staggering six players. 

Jose Valverde, Dustin Nippert, and/or Alberto Callaspo could be involved to give the A’s some MLB-ready talent.  From previous reports, we know that Conor Jackson and Max Scherzer will not be involved.  Ken Rosenthal had suggested last night that the A’s initial request scared the D’Backs off, but he’s since corrected that information. 

The A’s, however, want to wait for something to happen with Johan Santana before trading Haren.

Additionally, Magruder adds that the D’Backs have a touch of interest in Noah Lowry.

Padres Sign Chris Young To Four-Year Deal

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Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Padres will announce a four-year contract for starter Chris Young tomorrow.  There’s also a club option for the fifth year.  Rosenthal also mentions that the club is working on a three-year deal for Mike Cameron; they had been reluctant to add the third year.

The dollars haven’t been revealed yet, but Young’s deal could be in the neighborhood of $10MM guaranteed with a $7-8MM option for 2011.  However, Young may have wanted more money than the Noah Lowry/Rich Harden/Matt Cain standard package.  He entered 2007 with 69 big league starts under his belt, more than any of the aforementioned three.  Interestingly, PECOTA doesn’t like Young.  It doesn’t see him ever reaching 200 innings in a season.

I don’t want to irritate Rangers fans so I won’t go on and on about how badly Kevin Towers ripped off Jon Daniels to acquire Young, Adrian Gonzalez, and Terrmel Sledge.  Let’s just say it was one of the most lopsided deals of the decade and leave it at that.

Pitchers like Cole Hamels, Rich Hill, and Scott Kazmir may be in line for similar deals if they post strong 2007 seasons.

UPDATE: Young himself denied Rosenthal’s report last night, yet the Padres have a press conference scheduled for this morning.

UPDATE 2: Despite yesterday’s denial from Young, the Padres made the deal official today.  The terms: four years, $14.5MM, with an $8.5MM option for the fifth year. 

Additionally, Mike Cameron’s agent expects a resolution soon according to MLB.com.

Adam Eaton Dealt To Rangers

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Kevin Towers made a great trade today, acquiring promising youngsters Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez (plus Terrmel Sledge) for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka.  I didn’t think a deal was imminent yesterday, but I also didn’t think Jon Daniels would surrender a comparable, younger pitcher in the trade.

In what way is Adam Eaton better than Chris Young?  Putting their numbers side by side, I’d say Young is already the preferable pitcher.  Their strikeout rates are comparable, and Young’s superior control results in fewer baserunners.  Young’s durability is an unknown, but it couldn’t be much worse than Eaton’s.  Eaton’s had a nice assist from Petco, while Young threw well in his initial exposure to the pitchers’ hell that is Ameriquest.  Throw in the fact that Young is four years away from a big payday while Eaton is right around the corner, and this looks like Jon Daniels’s first misstep.

What’s more, Adrian Gonzalez is a better bet than Akinori Otsuka.  Gonzalez hit .338/.399/.561 in his third crack at Triple A this year.  He never stuck with the Rangers, but only received 192 at-bats in the Majors.  He’s a useful player at his current level, and at 23 years old he can certainly improve.

Otsuka showed some serious signs of decline in his second Major League season.  He’s 33 years old and had a dangerously bad walk rate in ’05.  Strikeouts were down as well.  He still may be helpful to the Texas bullpen, as he appears to keep the ball in the yard.  But keep in mind that’s based on just 66 non-Petco Major League innings. 

The Otsuka-Gonzalez part of the deal is still fairly reasonable in light of each team’s needs.  Replacing Eaton with Young, however, heavily favors the Padres. 

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