Odds & Ends: Stanton, Hechavarria, Cordero, Haeger
Monday night links..
- The Marlins won't rush prospect Mike Stanton to the majors, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos says that the club is hoping to make an announcement in the next day or two, tweets Shi Davidi of The Canadian Press. However, Anthopoulos wouldn't confirm that the announcement could have to do with the signing of Adeiny Hechavarria. Last week, Hechavarria's visa was approved, opening the door for him to take his physical.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer believes that Chad Cordero could be a "useful" major leaguer again. The 28-year-old has been out of MLB for nearly two years and is attempting to mount a comeback with the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate.
- Charlie Haeger went through a long journey before becoming a member of the Dodgers' rotation, writes MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.
Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Guillen, Marlins, Posey
Some links as the first week of baseball comes to a close…
- Stephen Strasburg, who struck out eight over five innings of work in his pro debut today, will be limited to about 100 innings this year, according to MLB.com's Peter Gammons (via Twitter). Gammons says Scott Boras negotiated that condition into the righty's deal with the Nationals last summer. However, Nationals farm director Doug Harris told MASN.com's Ben Goessling that a 100 inning cap for Strasburg "doesn't hold water" (Twitter link). Harris says 150-160 innings would be reasonable for Strasburg (Twitter link).
- MLB.com's Jason Beck explains that Carlos Guillen nearly became an Indian six years ago.
- Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post wonders how long the Marlins will let Cameron Maybin struggle before calling on top prospect Mike Stanton.
- Buster Posey had a huge opening week in Triple A, so Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News wonders (via Twitter) how long the Giants can keep him in the minors. The timing of Posey's call up matters a great deal to the Giants, as I explained here.
Odds & Ends: Stanton, Daigle, Bell, Mariners
A round-up of some of Wednesday's newsbits….
- The Marlins assigned top prospect Mike Stanton to Double-A, but MLB.com's Joe Frisaro writes that by keeping Stanton in the minors until "around Memorial Day, or June 1," the club can delay Stanton's Super Two status.
- RHP Casey Daigle, a non-roster invitee signed by the Astros in December, has a shot at winning a spot on the Houston roster, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Daigle last pitched in the majors in 2006.
- MLB.com's Corey Brock (via Twitter) hears from GM Jed Hoyer that the Padres haven't heard from other teams interested in Heath Bell, nor are they "actively shopping" the closer themselves.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports calls the Mariners "a disappointment waiting to happen" and feels they won't live up to the hype generated by their busy offseason.
- Carroll Rogers of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on new TBS analyst John Smoltz popping by the Braves camp. Smoltz said he is "not officially [retired], but close" and noted that the Nationals offered a deal over the winter for him to pitch and eventually coach for the club.
- MLB.com's Steve Gilbert writes that Arizona GM Josh Byrnes' interest in Kelly Johnson dated back to the infielder's high school days, and that Byrnes tried to deal for Johnson back in 2006.
- LHP Danny Duffy, one of Kansas City's top pitching prospects, is quitting baseball, reports Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star.
- WEEI.com's Rob Bradford reports that reliever Joe Nelson has an opt-out clause in his contract with the Red Sox that allows him to become a free agent if he isn't on Boston's major league roster by June 1.
- Prospective Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg won't have the deal finalized to buy the team by Opening Day, reports Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com. Mid-April is the new target date.
- Matt Klaassen of Fangraphs looks at the battle for the last spot on the Oakland roster, while also dropping several hints that the A's would be helping themselves by releasing Eric Chavez.
- Matt Eddy of Baseball America looks at seven out-of-options players who he figures will either make their team's roster or be traded in the coming days. Eddy also gave us a shout-out by linking to MLBTR's full list of players who are out of options.
ESPN On Qualls, Adrian Gonzalez, Mahay
11:19pm: Olney reports that the Padres and Red Sox had made very little progress in their discussions about Adrian Gonzalez as of 9pm CST.
4:19pm: In regard to the Qualls item below, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick has an update. His source says the D'Backs are "very unlikely" to trade their closer.
11:58am: All kinds of good stuff from ESPN's Buster Olney (Insider required and recommended).
- The big news: the Red Sox and Padres talked "at length" about an Adrian Gonzalez trade Wednesday night. Those discussions are expected to resume today; of course you can expect top prospects to be involved.
- On the D'Backs front, there has been interest in Doug Davis and Jon Garland. Jeff Wilson of the Dallas Morning News says the Rangers have spoken to the D'Backs about a deal for starting pitching, but would probably have to unload salary (Hank Blalock?) first. A D'Backs scout took a look at Rangers reliever Guillermo Moscoso. However, Arizona is actually considering whether to extend Davis. Might make sense, with Brandon Webb going under the knife.
- Olney says there's momentum building toward a Chad Qualls trade, but the closer won't come cheap. Chad Tracy would be a fourth available D'Back, but Bob McManaman and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic feel that August trades are more likely for the club.
- The Royals would like to move the contract of southpaw reliever Ron Mahay (.274/.292/.468 against lefties). He's got about $1.5MM left.
- ESPN's Jayson Stark tosses in this nugget: the Marlins made a run at Roy Halladay but balked at an asking price that included Cameron Maybin and Mike Stanton.
Odds & Ends: Stanton, Halladay, Sonnanstine
Even more links on a slow rumors day…
- Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post spoke to Marlins GM Larry Beinfest about top prospect Mike Stanton. Beinfest wouldn't say as much, but it sounds like Stanton is untouchable in trade talks.
- ESPN's Keith Law tweets that a Roy Halladay trade was unlikely two days ago, but seems even less likely now after some conversations.
- Andy Sonnanstine has been placed on the minor league disabled list with mononucleosis according to Joe Smith of The St. Petersburg Times. If he's out for a while, could it impact the club's ability to make a deal given the lessened pitching depth?
- Southpaw reliever Alan Embree is out for the season with a broken tibia according to MLB.com's Cheng Sio. Just two games back of the wild card, will the Rockies look to add a reliever?
- Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball has a complete list of 2009 All Star bonuses.
Odds & Ends: Bowden, Stanton, Baker
Sunday night linkage…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Dodgers "will not restructure Juan Pierre's contract to make him go away."
- Murray Chass likes Jim Bowden, while Hal McCoy has a negative recollection.
- ESPN's Peter Gammons wrote about teams clamoring for Marlins prospect Michael Stanton last July.
- Jesse Spector of the New York Daily News talked to Baseball-Reference mastermind Sean Forman.
- Aaron Gleeman analyzes Scott Baker's new extension with the Twins.
- RotoAuthority recently looked at catcher tiers for fantasy baseball drafts.
Odds & Ends: Gload, Pierre, Beimel
Links for Friday…
- The Dodgers designated Justin Orenduff for assignment to make room for Manny Ramirez, according to Tony Jackson.
- The A's contracts with Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra are official.
- WEEI's Alex Speier talked to Marlins prospect Mike Stanton and manager Fredi Gonzalez about the near-acquisition of Manny last summer.
- In another column, Speier looks at the players the Red Sox and Yankees have battled for in recent years.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says a bunch of relievers are vying for one bullpen spot for the Cardinals, now that they've signed Dennys Reyes.
- Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star suggests there's a chance the Royals release first baseman Ross Gload and eat the $1.9MM owed to him in 2009. Rany Jazayerli talks about Gload as well as the chances of the Royals competing this year.
- Tom Tango says Juan Pierre would have to defer his contract for 50 years to be worth acquiring.
- Tracy Ringolsby of Inside The Rockies says the Rox offered Joe Beimel more than $1MM but so far he's passed. Beimel's home run prevention trend might be challenged at Coors Field. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says the A's are in on Beimel but "have not yet have substantive talks" with his agent.
- Check out a Giants Spring Training preview from the guys behind El Lefty Malo and McCovey Chronicles.