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Gerald Laird

Rosenthal’s Latest: Laird, Washburn, Nady, Bay

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Ken Rosenthal has more new material.  I’ve updated the post, as Rosenthal updated his.

  • The Yankees are looking for catching – Rosenthal and Jon Heyman do not agree with Peter Abraham. Rosenthal says the Yanks have expressed interest in Gerald Laird and Miguel Olivo.  The Rangers want young pitching for Laird, however.
  • Jarrod Washburn’s limited no-trade protection includes the Yankees.  He might want compensation to waive that, putting him out of the Yanks’ price range.  Washburn, a Boras client, wouldn’t mind pitching in New York though.  The Mariners are looking for young pitching for him.  It sounds like the Yankees aren’t willing to eat the entire contract and send good prospects.
  • The Yankees may explore other trades, and are said to have interest in A.J. Burnett and Bronson Arroyo.
  • The Nationals were apparently locked in on a second baseman for Jon Rauch, perhaps explaining why they traded him for just Emilio Bonifacio.  The jury is still out on the speedy young infielder.
  • The White Sox explored a scenario where they would’ve acquired Brian Roberts from Baltimore, traded Orlando Cabrera to the Dodgers, and moved Alexei Ramirez to shortstop.  That obviously didn’t work out.  The Sox may be currently trying to decide whether to part with third baseman Josh Fields, their best trade chip and third baseman of the future.
  • Suitors for Xavier Nady, such as the Rays, Yankees, and Phillies, are balking at Pittsburgh’s asking price.  The Bucs continue to insist they’re being reasonable.
  • Interestingly, the A’s are still talking to the Pirates about Jason Bay.  Rosenthal says a trade seems unlikely.
  • The Cardinals had scouts in Baltimore yesterday, and their interest in George Sherrill is well-known.  But they might not match up with the Orioles’ needs.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Hudson, Turnbow, Laird, Kershaw

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Rumorland Ambassador Ken Rosenthal has posted yet another Full Count video.  Let’s get sifting:

  • Rosenthal thinks Orlando Hudson could be shown the money this offseason if he opts to explore free agency.  Hudson most likely won’t be offered market value by the Dbacks.  Rosenthal posits the Orioles, Cards, Dodgers, and Mariners as potential buyers.
  • 4 unnamed teams are interested in Derrick Turnbow, who is making $3.2MM this year.  According to KR, the Brewers would need to throw money in a deal or get a comparable salary in return – as the saying goes, you trade contracts, not players.  Turnbow needs a fresh start and middle relief is always in demand; however, a lot of teams have better internal options and could see Turnbow as a project for better or worse.
  • Gerald Laird update: Reds, Yankees, and Brewers all passed.  But Rosenthal still expects Laird to end up somewhere and notes that whoever gets him has him through 2010.
  • The Dodgers are planning on "integrating" Clayton Kershaw soon to throw a limit of 150 IP; however this doesn’t (yet) make Esteban Loaiza expendable as they would alternate the two in the rotation, Kershaw starting twice, and then Loaiza twice, and so on.  I say "(yet)" because Rosenthal doesn’t mention that the rotation will get crowded if/when Jason Schmidt returns in early June.  I would expect they’ll explore options, but be content using Loaiza out of the bullpen.  By the way, Kershaw has a 1.40 ERA with 31 K in 25.2 IP for Double-A Jacksonville.

By Nat Boyle

Will Salty Callup Lead To Laird Trade?

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Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been called up, and GM Jon Daniels has no plans for him to warm the bench. Salty performed well at AAA Oklahoma, and when backup backstop Adam Melhuse broke a bone in his hand on Thursday, the call-up seemed imminent. However, incumbent Rangers catcher Gerald Laird has also been solid to start the season. Given the organization’s desire to get Saltalamacchia regular at-bats and the lackluster hitting of first baseman Ben Broussard, I think it’s likely that the defensively sub-par Salty will see at least some time at the "cold corner."

But with the Rangers off to an absolutely abysmal start–Buster Olney cites a scout today saying that the team looks "out of control"–we have to wonder when the Rangers will open up the treasure chest and share some of their backstop bounty with the rest of the league. As previously noted in this space, the team is expected to be sellers come July. In addition to Laird and Saltalamacchia, the Rangers also have three decent catching prospects. With catching talent so scarce, other GMs will likely come knocking sooner rather than later. Rumors about Laird have been flying to and fro since Texas acquired Saltalamacchia in the Mark Teixeira deal last summer, but Salty’s call-up means the clock has officially started ticking. Although Daniels said recently he wasn’t planning on trading Laird, I have a feeling he’s just playing hard to get. Some possible suitors? The Reds, the Mets, the Blue Jays, or the Red Sox.

Sarah Green writes for the Boston Metro and UmpBump.com. She can be reached here.

Reds Seek Catching Help

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John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer is hearing a rumor that the Reds are "actively seeking a catcher."  He speculates that Ryan Freel could be trade bait.

Fay’s note conveniently gels with some info from a Jeff Brantley radio appearance that a reader passed along.  Brantley reportedly said the Reds have been scouting the Rangers’ Gerald Laird.  On a not necessarily related note, Brantley also mentioned that they may look to trade Matt Belisle.

MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan recently wrote that the Rangers don’t intend to trade Laird despite some interest.  On the other hand, Jon Daniels admitted in Sullivan’s article that he wouldn’t turn a deaf ear to anything.  Laird is set to be the Rangers’ starting catcher this year.  Jarrod Saltalamacchia would take on a smaller role or try Triple A.

The Reds could also consider trying to acquire San Diego’s Michael Barrett, who has played under Dusty Baker with the Cubs.  Bengie Molina and Ramon Hernandez may also be available.

Laird Likely To Stay Put

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According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers don’t plan on trading catcher Gerald Laird despite some interested parties.  In fact, Laird could catch 100+ games this year despite last year’s Jarrod Saltalamacchia acquisition.  Salty could take a smaller role with the big club or get some Triple A seasoning.  It’s easy to forget that he skipped that level. 

The Rangers prefer Laird’s strong defense and spotty offense to Salty’s subpar defense and offensive potential.  And it’s not fair to write Laird off offensively quite yet; he hit well in a half-season in ’06.  ’07 was his first year catching full-time. 

The Rangers have a third future MLB-quality backstop in Taylor Teagarden.  They’ve also got Cristian Santana and Max Ramirez in the organization, two guys who are less certain to become starting catchers in the bigs.  Interesting prospects nonetheless.  Jon Daniels has an uncommon surplus on his hands.

Heyman’s Latest: Piazza, Matthews, Milledge

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in with a new Daily Scoop column full of rumors.

  • A lot of the standard trade talk we’ve seen regarding Miguel Cabrera, Johan Santana, Miguel Tejada, and Dan Haren.  All these guys require two good young players or more in a trade.
  • Mike Piazza is considering DHing in Japan if he doesn’t find anything he likes in the U.S. 
  • Heyman talked to an AL exec who speculated that the Angels may try to unload Gary Matthews Jr.  GMJ makes $9MM in ’08, $10MM in ’09, $11MM in ’10, and $12MM in ’11.  He currently has a full no-trade clause.
  • Juan Uribe and Vicente Padilla are two salary-dump types whose names have surfaced in recent trade talks (unrelated to each other).  Padilla is owed $24.75MM over the next two seasons.
  • Heyman believes the Mets are very willing to trade Lastings Milledge and have discussed him often.
  • We knew the Mets had discussed Ramon Hernandez and Gerald Laird.  Heyman adds the Nats’ Brian Schneider to the mix.  He makes $4.9MM in ’08 and another $4.9MM in ’09.

Rangers Rumors

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T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com has some Rangers notes. Of course, much of it revolves around the outfield, since they missed out on Torii Hunter.

On that front, they’re exploring Kosuke Fukudome, who is reportedly seeking three years and $30 million. Add the Rangers to the Cubs, the Phillies, the Yomiuri Giants and his former team, the Chunichi Dragons. I would toss the Nats and possibly the Twins in that group, and there are probably other teams where Fukudome would fit.

The Rangers have a level of interest in both Aaron Rowand and Andruw Jones, but not nearly to the level that they were interested in Hunter. They won’t go five years at $75 million for Rowand like they did Hunter, and are concerned with Jones’s 2007 drop-off. Mike Cameron is also mentioned, but Jon Daniels has said that "we would like to find a long-term fit for us." Cameron would be little more than a stopgap.

Jose Guillen is also mentioned, though there is little elaboration. I’d bet that many teams are going to wait on the Mitchell Report, in hopes that it drops Guillen’s price tag. Then again, at that point it would only take one aggressive team to scoop him up. I’m betting it won’ be the Rangers, but as we saw with the Hunter deal, many of these moves seemingly come out of nowhere.

Internal candidates include Marlon Byrd and David Murphy, who was acquired in the Eric Gagne trade. The only other options would be available via trade. Sullivan mentions Coco Crisp, Rocco Baldelli, Reggie Willits, and even free agent Scott Podsednik, though he mentions that each has his shortcomings.

Other than mentioning the big names on the trade market, Sullivan brings up the Mets interest in Gerald Laird. He notes that the Mets won’t part with Carloz Gomez or "Felix" (though he really means Fernando) Martinez. There’s a mention of the Mets being willing to talk about Mike Pelfrey or Philip Humber, but that seems foolish. Even if their stocks have fallen over the past year, I don’t see any reason to trade them for a catcher who has had one good year — in part-time duty — and flopped in his first year of over 300 plate appearances.

Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.

Mets Acquire Estrada For Mota

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UPDATE: Non-tendering Estrada is still an option for the Mets, but they’ve unloaded Mota’s contract.  The Mets may shop around for better options, knowing they have an adequate fallback.  According to Jamey Newberg, the Mets found the asking prices for trade targets Gerald Laird and Ramon Hernandez to be unacceptable.

The Mets found their catcher today in the person of Johnny Estrada.  To get him from the Brewers, Omar Minaya only had to surrender Guillermo Mota.

It was a swap of a couple of unwanted guys.  The Brewers would’ve non-tendered Estrada rather than pony up $4MM+ for him.  However they’ll probably plop down something close to that for Jason Kendall, who is superior to Estrada only in the intangibles department.  Doug Melvin offered Estrada to the Mets while naming six different players he’d accept in return.

Mota was actually decent in terms of his 2.6 K/BB ratio this year, but he was hittable and home run prone.  Maybe the Brewers can make something of him, though at $3.2MM it’s a slightly pricey gamble.  Mota of course brings more steroid stigma to Milwaukee’s pen, which already has Derrick Turnbow.   

Odds and Ends: Kendall, Crisp, Gagne

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I’m back in the swing of things, kind of.  We’re still living out of boxes, but I’ve got a laptop and I’m digging into all the rumors I missed.  Joe did a great job the last couple of days.  Be sure to visit his Yankees blog, River Ave. Blues.  On to today’s random rumors…

  • I’m hearing that Jason Kendall could be a fallback for the Mets if they can’t pry Ramon Hernandez loose from the Orioles.
  • The Blue Jays have about $4MM to spend, and J.P. Ricciardi likes the idea of Michael Barrett splitting time behind the plate with Gregg Zaun.  It seems unlikely, though, because the Padres would have to not offer arbitration to Barrett.  And Barrett would have to take a one-year, $4MM deal.
  • Jamey Newberg discusses the idea of a Coco Crisp for Gerald Laird swap.  He notes that the market for Laird should be picking up, but the Red Sox might prefer to wait to trade Crisp.
  • Haven’t heard this one much yet…how about Eric Gagne for the Houston closer vacancy?  Would Scott Boras present a problem?
  • David Wells could be an option for the Mets, if he doesn’t retire or end up on the West Coast.
  • One free agent from Japan who hasn’t gotten much press is Marc Kroon.  He didn’t catch on in MLB but has been doing well for Yokohama the past few years.  Kroon holds the record for the fastest pitch ever thrown in a Japanese game (161 km/h, which is about 100 mph).  You can see that in this video (the second pitch he throws, the crowd loves it).  Kroon is considering trying the Majors again; he says so on his website (note that his site plays music when you visit). 

MetsBlog: Lo Duca The Best Choice

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Matthew Cerrone at MetsBlog takes on the question facing the Mets since mid-day yesterday: Who starts at catcher next year?

Ramon Hernandez, who was offered a contract by the Mets two years ago when he was a free agent, is said to be Omar Minaya’s top choice. However, this presents a problem. Hernandez won’t come cheap, and the Mets would need to retain their best trading chips if they want to acquire a front-line starter. This would seemingly rule Hernandez out, since "word from Baltimore had been that Hernandez would cost a high-end prospect."

A cheaper trade option would be Miguel Olivo, though it’s likely he will be non-tendered by the Marlins, who probably don’t want to give him a raise over his $2 million 2007 salary. Gerald Laird is another option, as the Rangers have Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, and Max Ramirez in tow. The Mets might be able to acquire him without giving up a piece of the puzzle to acquire an ace.

Olivo and Laird would be more likely to platoon in some capacity with Ramon Castro, while Hernandez would be more likely take on a starting role.

Cerrone says the Mets prefer to sign a catcher. He mentions Michael Barrett, but notes his Type A status, which may be a deterrent for many teams. Maybe he’d make sense for a bottom-15 team, since Barrett would then cost a second rounder. Jason Kendall is also mentioned, though his horrid 2007 is giving pause to potential suitors.

So, in the end, Paul Lo Duca appears the best choice. He costs neither draft picks nor prospects. True, he might not be able to hold up over an entire season, but that’s why the Mets signed a capable backup in Castro.

Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.

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