Odds and Ends: Lowell, Carroll, Saltalamacchia
Time to gather up today’s links.
- With Mike Lowell headed to the DL, Jeff Horrigan wonders if a waiver trade for an infielder could be in order.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney mentioned the Indians’ Jamey Carroll as a possibility for the D’Backs on Monday, though he noted the two teams have not talked.
- Evan Grant suggests the Rangers trade Engel Beltre or Elvis Andrus for pitching this winter. Additionally, he thinks the Rangers might end up trading Jarrod Saltalamacchia rather than Gerald Laird.
- Aaron Gleeman revisits the ’03 trade of Bobby Kielty for Shannon Stewart.
- Patrick Newman runs down some lesser-known Japanese free agents.
- Rany Jazayerli has an interesting post about Royals first base prospect Kila Kaaihue.
- Jeff Passan’s list of this year’s 25 most improbable success stories is a good read.
- MLB.com’s Justice B. Hill has a story about a kid who had Tommy John surgery at age 14.
- ESPN did a bunch of mini-features about this year’s hired guns for their magazine.
Tim Brown’s Latest: Peralta, McPherson, Putz
Yahoo’s Tim Brown posted a new column this evening.
- The Nationals got an OK return for Jon Rauch, acquiring second baseman Emilio Bonifacio. That could set the pace for reasonable reliever prices.
- The Indians are listening on Casey Blake, Paul Byrd, and Jamey Carroll, as you know. Jhonny Peralta isn’t off-limits either.
- Here’s a new name of interest for the Dodgers: Marlins minor league third baseman Dallas McPherson. He’ll be 28 soon, and carries a .287/.400/.650 line with 32 home runs in 314 Triple A at-bats. This could be the second time McPherson blasts 40 home runs in a minor league season.
- The Red Sox inquired on J.J. Putz, but the Mariners say he’s not available.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Fuentes, Holliday, Sherrill
Ken Rosenthal tops off the day with a column full of rumors.
- Signing Mark Teixeira as a replacement for Manny Ramirez doesn’t make sense for the Red Sox, who don’t want to take on that kind of mega-contract.
- The Phillies were recently working on a blockbuster with Colorado that would have netted them Brian Fuentes and Matt Holliday for something like Shane Victorino, J.A. Happ, Carlos Carrasco, and Lou Marson. Those talks have stalled, and the added payroll might’ve been a problem for the Phillies anyway.
- Though Frank McCourt denies it, Rosenthal says the Dodgers owned vetoed a CC Sabathia/Casey Blake/Jamey Carroll blockbuster because of a desire to keep trades payroll-neutral.
- The Rockies, as well as the many suitors for Brian Fuentes, fear he could accept an offer of arbitration and saddle them with an $8MM salary in ’09 instead of two draft picks. Given Fuentes’ stated desire to close, I find this unlikely.
- A Pirates scout watched David Price‘s last start, though he was likely looking at other members of the Montgomery Biscuits. The Rays are known to be interested in Xavier Nady.
- The A’s, stacked with second base candidates, are already getting calls on Adrian Cardenas. Trading Mark Ellis would make more sense though.
- Rosenthal believes the Orioles are reluctant to trade George Sherrill because they don’t have a suitable replacement for him in the ninth inning this year.
- Brewers minor league shortstop Alcides Escobar is untouchable, and his ascent could lead the team to shop J.J. Hardy this winter.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Sabathia, Burnett, Fuentes, Guillen
Ken Rosenthal has a new column up. I updated the second bullet about Burnett – I had omitted an interesting rumor accidentally.
- The Dodgers could’ve gotten CC Sabathia, Casey Blake, and Jamey Carroll without giving up Matt Kemp. Owner Frank McCourt may have killed the deal, though he denies it. Rosenthal describes the Dodgers as a "near-impossible trading partner."
- Rosenthal reminds us that A.J. Burnett can veto trades to 15 teams and would probably require compensation to waive that right or his opt-out rights. Rosenthal also says the Jays offered Burnett to the Brewers for J.J. Hardy, but the Brewers passed and then acquired CC Sabathia.
- The Rays are named as the frontrunner for Brian Fuentes. Fuentes has been linked to nine clubs in various reports.
- Players such as Orlando Cabrera, Cristian Guzman, Jack Wilson, and Hardy may be hot commodities this winter given the large number of teams looking for a shortstop.
- The Royals received inquiries on Jose Guillen in the wake of his scuffle with the team’s pitching coach. However, the Royals plan to keep him.
- The Padres hope to acquire up-the-middle players. On a related note, Randy Wolf had a nice start last night.
CC Sabathia Links
The CC Sabathia trade is complete, but there’s still some good info floating about.
- Michael Silverman says the Brewers wanted players such as Michael Bowden, Lars Anderson, Jed Lowrie, and Josh Reddick from the Red Sox in various Sabathia scenarios.
- The Dodgers apparently talked about dealing Matt Kemp and one of Jonathan Meloan/James McDonald for Sabathia, Casey Blake, and Jamey Carroll.
- Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheehan analyzes the trade.
- Turns out Sabathia prefers CC over C.C.
- The agent for Brewers prospects Michael Brantley and Taylor Green believes both are in play as the player to be named later in the Sabathia deal.
- MetsBlog reports that Mark Shapiro approached Omar Minaya, suggesting the Mets had the necessary players to make a trade for Sabathia. Matthew Cerrone believes the Mets would’ve had to give up Fernando Martinez and two pitching prospects.
- The Phillies were the Indians’ backup plan in case the Milwaukee deal fell through. The Phillies weren’t a great fit because the Indians preferred a young power hitter to a young pitcher.
- The Yankees had interest, but the price was too high for Brian Cashman. That price may have included Phil Hughes. The Yanks reportedly required a signing window in any Sabathia deal, also.
- Cubs GM Jim Hendry says nothing’s changed for his team.
- Brewers fans are ecstatic to have Sabathia.
Jamey Carroll Traded To Indians
UPDATE, 12-7-07 at 8:19pm: Troy E. Renck says this deal is done, and right now it’s for a player to be named later. Dan O’Dowd said he wasn’t eating any of the $2.15MM owed to Carroll, so that’s some pocket change to put toward a free agent reliever. Yes, I just referred to two million dollars as pocket change.
FROM 12-7-07 at 9:46am:
Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News says the Rockies are set to trade utility infielder Jamey Carroll to the Indians. It was to be for minor league starter Sean Smith, but that part has changed. The teams will talk today and figure out the return. The Rockies will save a few million bucks by moving Carroll. The Rox previously offered Carroll to the Indians for Josh Barfield, by the way.
As for their second base vacancy, Tadahito Iguchi and David Eckstein remain on the radar. There are complications with both.
Iguchi is said to want three years, but could settle for two. He likes the idea of playing second base, and the Rox are the current suitor offering that (though the Orioles could enter the picture). However Iguchi’s agent told Ringolsby that replacing countryman Kaz Matsui concerns Iguchi.
As for Eckstein, he’s said to want four years. I could see him settling for three, but two would be a pretty big concession.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Santana, Fuentes, Heilman
The execs may be on a plane home right now, but the writers are still filing all sorts of rumors. Here’s Ken Rosenthal’s latest piece.
- Rosenthal says the Mets did not talk to the Twins about Johan Santana today, which is surprising. But they did talk earlier this week, at which point the Twins gave the Mets a list of players they liked. The Mets were fine with everyone on the list, which probably included Carlos Gomez and Mike Pelfrey. Rosenthal adds that the Mets are the only NL team firmly in the mix for Santana, and shipping him to the other league might be a factor for the Twins.
- The Giants turned down an offer of Delmon Young for Tim Lincecum before Young was sent to the Twins. This leaves skepticism that the Giants will accept three years of Alex Rios after turning down five of Young.
- The Mets made a straight up offer of Aaron Heilman for Brian Fuentes. As far as I can tell Heilman doesn’t reach free agency until after the 2010 season, so the Rockies would be doing pretty well here. Plus, they could plug him into the rotation. Oddly the dealbreaker was the Rox asking for Scott Schoeneweis as well. I thought the 34 year-old had negative trade value. Rosenthal adds that the Tribe took a glance at Fuentes as well.
- The Rox offered Jamey Carroll for Josh Barfield, which is pretty lopsided even with the year Barfield had. Of course the Indians declined.
Rockies Rumors: Iguchi, Grudzielanek, Rusch, Fukumori
UPDATE, 12-6-07 at 12:20am: Troy Renck says that if the Rox do acquire a second baseman, Dan O’Dowd is ready to trade both Clint Barmes and Jamey Carroll. The Cardinals, Marlins, and Indians would be suitors for those two.
FROM 12-5-07 at 10:09pm:
MLB.com’s Thomas Harding checks in with a slew of new Rockies rumors.
- The Rockies have their eye on Tadahito Iguchi and could offer him a two-year deal. However, Iguchi is craving a contract similar to Kaz Matsui’s three-year, $16.5MM pact. Should one bad contract beget another one?
- Mark Grudzielanek can be had, but the Rox aren’t interested.
- The Rockies will take a gander at the suddenly popular Glendon Rusch.
- The Rox will pass on Kazuo Fukumori – they’re worried about his elbow.
Odds and Ends: Loretta, Pettitte, Affeldt
Random Winter Meetings rumors…
- Doug Melvin confirms that the Nats offered Chad Cordero for Rickie Weeks. Melvin is adamant that he won’t be trading Weeks or J.J. Hardy for a closer.
- Mike Timlin for $3MM, done.
- Mark Loretta would like to return to San Diego but the Padres will pass. The Rockies may yet sign him.
- Rob Biertempfel thinks the Pirates could send a reliever to the Rockies for Jamey Carroll, if the Rockies would eat some of Carroll’s salary. That’s right, a Jamey Carroll trade rumor. For a man of his abilities Carroll is a tad pricey at $2.3MM.
- Andy Pettitte deal is official at $16MM with no option year.
- Jeremy Affeldt might be looking for four years, $16MM. Say whaaaat? The Rox offered him a mere $4MM over two years.