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Ervin Santana

Ervin Santana Trade Hinges On Saunders, Colon

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Today comes word from Halos Heaven that any deal of righty Ervin Santana will hinge on the performances of Bartolo Colon and Joe Saunders. 

Slowed by a couple of surgeries in his career, Saunders is putting it together in Triple A for the first time.  He’s got a 2.51 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 13 starts this year.  He’d slot into the rotation in place of Santana.  The Angels can deal from their strength, as this rotation could become:

Bartolo Colon
John Lackey
Kelvim Escobar
Jered Weaver
Joe Saunders

That is a deep group, with Jeff Weaver serving as a tolerable sixth starter for the rest of the season.  He’s been decent in two starts this month, but could end up in the ’pen.  The Halos can have Saunders and Jeff Weaver competing for the fifth starter spot.

Halos Heaven mentions Carl Crawford, Torii Hunter, and Vernon Wells as targets of Bill Stoneman.  Stoneman has also had Alfonso Soriano, Manny Ramirez, Miguel Tejada, and Miguel Cabrera in his sights for months. It certainly seems that the Angels, currently five games back in the West, will acquire a big bat before the trading deadline.

D-Rays Shopping Crawford

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Back on December 5th, a source close to Tampa Bay’s scouting department threw out the idea that Carl Crawford could be dealt.  In particular, the Devil Rays had interest in 23 year-old righthander Ervin Santana.  Despite new management since then, the rumor has picked up steam.

My source tells me that talks have resumed between the Devil Rays and Angels and the Halos may even consider adding a second prospect with Santana to acquire Crawford.  Brandon Wood is a possibility. 

The Rays would like to deal an outfielder now with a Delmon Young callup in the cards for September or Opening Day 2007.

In his sophomore season, Santana has sharpened his control and lessened his home run rate to become a solid #3 starter behind Kelvim Escobar and John Lackey.  Component ERA says Santana’s 4.32 ERA should actually be closer to 3.29 based on his peripherals.

Crawford is at .303/.349/.454 after 56 games, well ahead of PECOTA’s .287/.321/.426 projection.  He’s signed for 2007-09 for a total of $17.5MM, while PECOTA puts his worth at about $21MM over those three seasons.  The Rays know they can leverage their outfield surplus to add a solid young starter behind Scott Kazmir. 

Carl Crawford On The Block?

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A source close to the Devil Rays’ scouting department filled me in recently on their outfielder extravaganza. 

It’s well known Joey Gathright is on the block.  If you’re looking for a scrappy player with no power who runs real fast, Gathright is your man.  It’s unknown whether Gathright can make his on-base skills shown at Triple A Durham translate to the big leagues, but some team besides the Rays will find out soon enough.  I’m not yet able to narrow down the list of his suitors to a single digit number.

Infinitely more interesting than Gathright is the possibility (albeit slim) that Carl Crawford could be dealt.  Crawford was "a little shocked" by Rocco Baldelli’s deal, and rightfully so.  After all, where was Baldelli while Crawford was busy being the 10th best LF in the game in ’05?  2006 could be the year Crawford busts out and hits 20 HR.

According to my source, the Angels are hot on the trail of Baldelli, Gathright, and Crawford.  The Rays are quite enamored with 22 year-old righthander Ervin Santana.  Santana had a solid rookie season in ’05, winning 12 games for the Angels.

Another team in the running for Crawford is the White Sox.  They’re not entirely sold on Brian Anderson in center field for a defending World Champion, and the Devil Rays are asking for Brandon McCarthy and/or Josh Fields. 

McCarthy pitched with a vengeance in September and October of 2005, tossing 43 innings of 1.69 ERA ball.  He led the Minor Leagues in strikeouts in 2004. 

Third baseman Josh Fields is in the Sox’s top ten prospect list for sure.  However, he was just OK at Double A Birmingham in ’05, hitting .252/.341/.409 in 477 at-bats.  Fields is a hard worker, but still needs plenty of seasoning in the minors.

Thanks to Matt

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