Heyman On Jays, Gonzalez, Peavy
Jon Heyman of SI.com calls Toronto's team the "Blew Jays" because he believes GM J.P. Ricciardi blew the Roy Halladay trade talks. Here are the details and a couple other rumors:
- Heyman says too much talk, too much candor and an overly steep price prevented Ricciardi from making a deal.
- Heyman hears that Halladay would have approved trades to a variety of teams in the East and Midwest.
- The Jays never agreed on prospects with the Rangers, but would have sent $5MM to Texas in a possible Halladay deal.
- One executive says the Jays "overplayed their hand."
- The Padres wanted more than Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson and Jed Lowrie for Adrian Gonzalez.
- GM Kevin Towers had a deal more or less in place to send Jake Peavy to Atlanta last offseason before the righty told the Padres he didn't want to go to Atlanta.
Odds And Ends: Mets, Mora, Peavy, Pirates
Some links to start the week off…
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post believes the Mets are more likely to trade for a number two starter than sign a free agent like John Lackey or Jarrod Washburn this offseason. Sherman can see the Mets pursuing Jose Contreras, who will also be a free agent after the season.
- Steve Melewski of MASN.com suggests it's time for the Orioles to move on from Melvin Mora, who has become unhappy in Baltimore.
- Mora told Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun that he'll play for "somebody else" next year.
- Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune says it's "not in the best interest of baseball" that the Padres had to trade Jake Peavy.
- There's a $7.3MM difference between what the Pirates will spend this year and what they expected to spend at the beginning of the season, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Odds & Ends: Peavy, Pirates, Deadline
A couple more links for your Saturday evening enjoyment…
- The White Sox introduced Jake Peavy at a press conference this afternoon and Scott Gregor of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald grabbed a few quotes. "I’ve never been more happy to be in a place where they’re committed to winning," said the former San Diego ace.
- Evan Grant of Dallas Magazine breaks down the "winners" and "losers" from this season's non-waiver trade deadline, going beyond simply naming teams. Check it out.
- According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have suspended highly-touted pitching prospect Bryan Morris indefinitely for displaying "unprofessionalism" during his Thursday start for Single-A Lynchburg.
- The trade deadline has passed, but we here at MLBTR are not slowing down. Keep in mind the August draft-pick signing (August 17) and waiver (August 31) deadlines. And if you haven't already, check us out on Twitter.
More Trade Reactions
A few more trade discussions on a calm Saturday afternoon…
- John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer believes the Scott Rolen deal has left the Reds with no payroll flexibility heading into 2010. "That's not good," he writes, "when you need a shortstop and an outfielder with some pop — among other things."
- Tracee Hamilton of the Washington Post writes the Nationals "did absolutely the right thing" in shipping off left-hander Joe Beimel and first baseman Nick Johnson.
- Longtime Padres beat writer Tom Krasovic has a look at the Jake Peavy trade: "This looks like a potentially big victory for the Padres and new CEO Jeff Moorad — if, and it's a big if, the club can parlay the $56 million saved into good investments throughout its baseball operations and future payrolls."
- Michael Salfino of SNY thinks the Mets should have made a move or two at the deadline. "The frustrating thing for Mets fans," Salfino writes, "is that catcher Victor Martinez was there for the taking. The cost reportedly was one of two Double-A pitchers Brad Holt or Jenrry Mejia plus Jon Niese."
- For all full look at the deals that went down Friday, check out MLBTR's transactions-only archive.
More Trade Reactions
Lots of ink and keystrokes are being spent on analyzing yesterday's big deals. Here are a few, with more to be added on throughout the day:
- The Peavy deal, despite its earlier iteration in May, came "out of nowhere," says Scott Miller at CBS Sports. A rival executive says that White Sox GM Kenny Williams has "the biggest balls in sports," according to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal, who calls it one of his "all-time favorite" trades. Both of these stories, though similar, are good reads.
- Jayson Stark at ESPN lays out his top winners and losers at the deadline.
- South Side Sox notes that since the Peavy deal had the future in mind as well as the present, they "can't complain in the slightest" about the trade.
- Keith Law at ESPN thinks the Jays came out "extremely well" in the Scott Rolen deal. He also likes the versatility now afforded to the Red Sox in acquiring Victor Martinez.
- Rob McQuown at Baseball Prospectus says that in the Rolen deal, "Walt Jocketty undersold his assets. Badly."
Jake Peavy Dealt To White Sox Again
4:45pm: Two White Sox officials tell USA Today's Bob Nightengale that the Sox will pay all of Peavy's contract. That means they'll pay him $56MM by the end of 2012 and maybe more afterwards.
4:12pm: Peavy's agent, Barry Axelrod, told Tom Krasovic that his client accepted the deal because there was no guarantee that the Cubs and Dodgers, Peavy's preferred teams, would have made a move for the righty in the offseason. Axelrod knows Peavy's contract no longer looks like a bargain, so he says he wasn't expecting a deal.
"Frankly I am flabbergasted that the White Sox would want to make this deal with him in his physical condition," Axelrod said.
3:35pm: USA Today's Bob Nightengale, via Twitter, says the White Sox confirmed they just got Peavy. Brock agrees – Peavy approved the trade this time. Peavy is owed $56MM through 2012, or $74MM through 2013 if the Sox exercise his option.
3:29pm: MLB.com's Corey Brock via Twitter: Aaron Poreda's in the deal. Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse has righty Adam Russell in the trade as well. Righty Dexter Carter and southpaw Clayton Richard are also going to San Diego, according to multiple reports.
3:22pm: Not sure what to make of this, but SI's Jon Heyman tweeted that Padres pitcher Jake Peavy was dealt to the White Sox again. Heyman is not sure if Peavy OK'd it. He says the Padres get minor leaguers. Peavy is currently recovering from a torn ankle tendon.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Overbay, Halladay, Peavy, LaRoche
On this date 45 years ago Barry Bonds was born. And even though he hasn't played in a game since September 26, 2007, Bonds has not yet retired. We are one week from the trade deadline, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- Statistician Magician makes a case for the Braves going after Lyle Overbay.
- The Oriole Report lists the players most likely to be dealt by the O's before the deadline.
- The Phrontiersman feels the Phillies can win without Roy Halladay but still feels Philadelphia should make the deal.
- The Fowl Balls says the Mets made the right decision in passing on Roy Halladay.
- We're The Team To Beat looks at how Jake Peavy's injury is impacting the current trade market, driving up the price for Roy Halladay.
- SoxSpace dissects what the Adam LaRoche deal means for the Red Sox.
- Around the Majors takes a look back at Oakland's offseason moves and what went wrong.
- Hot Foot examines the Mets' expiring contracts.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.
Odds & Ends: Escobar, Peavy, Mets, Cardinals
A gaggle of links for your Thursday evening reading pleasure…
- In response to someone mentioning the Yunel Escobar–Matt Holliday rumors, MLB.com's Mark Bowman says "There is zero truth to those Escobar rumors. The Braves have NO and I repeat no intention to move him. Believe me, if they move him, it will simply be a deal that they simply can't refuse and that wouldn't include anything involving Holliday."
- Tom Krasovic notes that Jake Peavy is out of his walking boot, and is ready to begin "ramping it up."
- David Lennon of Newsday says that earlier today Mets GM Omar Minaya twice mentioned "that he talked with five or six teams today."
- Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says that the Cardinals may search for starting pitching if Todd Wellemeyer doesn't show more consistency over his next 2-3 starts.
- Scott Lauber of The News Journal notes that the Phillies promoted one of their best prospects, outfielder Michael Taylor, to Triple-A. He speculates that Taylor may best serve the club as trade bait, considering all three of their regular outfielders were All Stars.
- When asked who the best prospect was if matched up head to head, Baseball America's Jim Callis said he'd go with Bryce Harper over Justin Upton, citing Harper's advantage in power.
- MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports that the Reds gave Venezuelan shortstop Humberto Valor a $690k bonus. Valor signed with Cincinnati earlier this month.
- David Villavicencio of MLB.com mentions that the Marlins have signed eight of their first ten draft picks. First rounder Chad James remains unsigned, however.
Gammons’ Latest: Red Sox, Washburn, DeRosa
In his latest blog post at ESPN.com, Peter Gammons writes that "unless someone comes up with a Justin Smoak, Matt LaPorta or Brett Wallace," the Red Sox will hold on to Brad Penny and enjoy the depth. He says no one will offer up a prospect like that for a few months of Penny.
Here's the rest of Gammons' rumors:
- Takashi Saito is the pitcher on Boston's staff most likely to be traded.
- Jake Peavy and Erik Bedard "probably won't be tradeable before Aug. 1" because of their injuries.
- Jarrod Washburn could be had.
- The Red Sox have talked to the Angels about infielder Maicer Izturis, but the talks haven't gone anywhere
- Mark Mulder "made considerable progress refinding his delivery after one session with pitching coach Rick Peterson."
- The Mets are looking for an outfield bat. They made a run at Mark DeRosa, but wouldn't discuss Bobby Parnell.
- The Cardinals wouldn't discuss Jason Motte or Chris Perez in exchange for DeRosa.
- The uncertain situation surrounding the Cubs' ownership will likely prohibit any major additions.
Odds And Ends: Wagner, Peavy, Melhuse
Some links for Wednesday morning…
- Billy Wagner says he could be pitching in the majors within 30 days, according to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News. If he returns in mid-July, the Mets would have time to evaluate Wagner before deciding whether to acquire more arms via trade.
- The Royals signed ten of their draft picks, according to MLB.com's Rustin Dodd.
- Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post reports that Evan Longoria never wonders what it would be like to play for the Rockies. Colorado, who selected Greg Reynolds instead of Longoria back in 2006, has probably wondered what it would be like to have Longoria.
- Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Padres have an insurance policy in place that would potentially recoup money for the team should Jake Peavy miss much time. The details aren't clear, as GM Kevin Towers hasn't looked at the policy yet.
- Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that catcher Adam Melhuse retired. He had been playing for the Pirates' Triple A affiliate.
- Carlos Quentin has had second thoughts about his decision to turn down an extension from the White Sox, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.