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Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Rosenthal On Teixeira, Dunn

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I neglected to mention a Ken Rosenthal article from yesterday, chock full of rumory goodness as always.

  • Rosenthal believes the Yankees need a backup plan in case they are not able to retain Alex Rodriguez.  Wilson Betemit definitely makes sense in that he’d be useful even if they do keep A-Rod.  Rosenthal basically names every third baseman you can think of.  The most likely option, to me, is to simply sign Mike Lowell as a free agent.  Would he switch sides?  Perhaps, if the Red Sox don’t make an offer or try to lowball him.
  • The Braves apparently won’t give up Yunel Escobar or Jarrod Saltalamacchia to get Mark Teixeira.  Neither of ’em.  No doubt John Schuerholz will spend the next ten days trying to get Jon Daniels to settle for less.
  • The Reds have a "co-Dunn-drum," as Rosenthal puts it.  Now that’s good stuff.  The basic codunndrum here is that no team that can afford Adam Dunn wants him.  Rosenthal likes the Tigers as a dark horse.  I know Dunn isn’t much with the glove, but I’m surprised the market isn’t stronger for him right now.
  • Dan Wheeler is more likely than Chad Qualls to be moved, because he’s closer to free agency (after 2008).
  • Rosenthal believes the Royals could not even acquire a Tony Abreu from the Dodgers for Octavio Dotel.  Previously it had been said that the Dayton Moore was asking for Matt Kemp or James Loney.  And Duke Snider plus Sandy Koufax.
  • Bronson Arroyo does not appear to be available.  Jose Contreras or Matt Morris: which is the lesser of two evils?

Braves Want Young Impact Pitcher For Salty

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Back on June 24th, Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mentioned that the Pirates inquired as to the availability of catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.  At that point the required bounty was thought to be a frontline starting pitcher like Mark Buehrle.

Today, Kovacevic clarifies: the Braves want an impact-caliber young pitcher.  That makes sense.  The Pirates have a couple of those: Tom Gorzelanny and Ian Snell.  They’d have to give one up to get Salty.  Such a trade would be excellent for Atlanta but wouldn’t really seem to move the Pirates forward.

While shaky in terms of confirmation, we do have one report that indicates the Pirates could trade Snell this month.  Snell is 25, healthy, and a long ways from free agency.  He’s been the eighth best pitcher in the National League this year according to VORP.  Better than Roy Oswalt, Brandon Webb, Carlos Zambrano, or Cole Hamels.  It’s been quite a breakout season for Snell, and he’s improved his efficiency greatly.  He averaged 5.81 innings per start in ’06 and increased that all the way to 6.76 per start this year.

Braves Still Interested In Teixeira?

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We’ve seen the Braves connected in Mark Teixeira rumors before; in late June Kat O’Brien included the Braves in a sizeable list of interested teams.  Speculation for quite a while now has placed catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the discussion.

David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the Teixeira-to-Atlanta rumor was still making the rounds at the All-Star Game.  He seems to be speculating when he says Jon Daniels would require Salty and another young player, but that sounds about right.  Perhaps the Braves wouldn’t be daunted by Teixeira’s free agency after 2008.  They could definitely let him walk and collect some valuable draft picks.  That’d bypass a lot of the Boras factor, though they’ll still have to arrive at a 2008 salary.

Braves’ first basemen have amassed an ugly .211/.264/.374 line in 318 ABs, most of it coming from Scott Thorman and the since-departed Craig Wilson.  But if they went with Saltalamacchia exclusively from here on out, would he be significantly worse than Teixeira?

The Braves are fourth in the NL in OBP and sixth in slugging, with Andruw Jones perhaps primed for a much better second half.  The bigger need is in pitching, specifically the starting rotation.  Atlanta’s 4.60 rotation ERA is just 10th in the NL, and they have to be at least slightly worried about John Smoltz.

The problem is that Teixeira is definitely on the market, while an ace starter may not be.  Javier Vazquez might be the best pitcher available.

Pirates Inquire On Saltalamacchia

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According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have inquired regarding the availability of Braves catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. 

Kovacevic says the Braves want frontline pitching for Salty (ie, Mark Buehrle).  This makes a deal unlikely for the Bucs.  What would John Schuerholz want from the Pirates?  I can’t see how it would get done without Ian Snell or Tom Gorzelanny included.  A trade of either would be shocking.  Kovacevic mentions that multiple teams have an eye on Zach Duke, but he’s not comparable to the aforementioned pair.

Stark’s Latest

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Jayson Stark has an assessment of the trade market over at ESPN.com.

  • Aside from the usual Mark Teixeira/Eric Gagne mentions, Stark believes many Rangers may be headed out at the trading deadline.  Specifically, he names Brad Wilkerson, Kenny Lofton, and Sammy Sosa.  Lofton is always a good midseason mercenary.  He’s like a Mike Stanton in that way.
  • Ken Griffey Jr. would approve a trade to Atlanta and might consider certain other teams.  Junior is making $12.5MM this year and next, plus a $4MM buyout for ’09.  Quite a bit of the contract is deferred, also.  $29MM over 2007-08 is still pretty steep, but now would be the right time to trade Griffey. 
  • Nationals – still asking too much for Chad Cordero.  Bowden’s got time to wait around for the right deal, I suppose.
  • Best option for Todd Helton still appears to be the Angels, in Stark’s mind.  That does not seem workable to me, because Casey Kotchman has broken out and Vlad needs access to the DH spot.
  • Speaking of DHs, this might finally be the year Mike Sweeney gets traded and gets to play for a contender.  If he heats up, maybe the Twins could snag him.
  • Michael Bourn could be a trade candidate, if the Phillies decide he’s only a future fourth outfielder.  Probably makes sense to keep him around if Aaron Rowand is going to walk after this season.
  • The Astros are buyers, and they have all sorts of needs.  A young catcher would be nice, but those are always in short supply.
  • Speaking of young catchers, Jarrod Saltalamacchia has received interest but the Braves are not biting.  A lot hinges on Scott Thorman’s performance and, of course, which young player the Braves are offered for Salty.  Most teams would love to have him.

Rosenthal’s Latest

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Ken Rosenthal posted a new article this afternoon.  A good read as usual, though not chock full of new rumors.

  • Rocco Baldelli remains the Devil Rays’ best trading chip; they hope to see the 25 year-old return and re-establish the trade value he had in 2006.  Many are already saying the Rays waited too long on Baldelli, but let’s see what they get for him before making that judgment.
  • Reggie Willits has hit his way into a starting job for the Angels.  Nice to see an Angel drawing walks 12% of the time.  That will enable Willits to remain effective after his batting average regresses.  Rosenthal says third base is the clear position for upgrade for the Angels.  Garrett Atkins is desired, and Rosenthal would consider Brandon Wood a reasonable bounty.  If I’m Dan O’Dowd, I’m making that deal.  Meanwhile, Bill Shaikin believes the Blue Jays would ask for Wood for Troy Glaus, but would settle for Ervin Santana and 1B/3B/DH Matt Brown.  Shaikin’s source says J.P. Ricciardi is not yet prepared to trade Glaus, however.
  • Rosenthal speculates that the Braves would like to add a big-time starter to get away from the current plan of "Hudson and Smoltz and pray for lightning bolts."  Sorry, that was the best weather rhyme I could come up with.  He mentions Rich Harden and Dontrelle Willis, accompanied by the obligatory Jarrod Saltalamacchia rumor.  Poor Salty.

The Salt of New York?

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As far as Retrosheet and I can tell, the last time the Mets and Braves hooked up for a trade was November 25, 1996, when the Mets sent Paul Byrd and a PTBNL (the inestimable Andy Zwirchitz) to the Braves for Greg McMichael.  Over the years John Schuerholz has preferred to trade with Milwaukee, Kansas City or Oakland over the Mets.

But with a friendly new GM in Omar Minaya and a player with all the promise and last name of Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Salt-uh-la-ma-chee-a) on the board, anything is possible.  As was pointed out in this space a week ago, the young catcher is a good fit with the Detroit Tigers.  But with the Braves’ obvious dilemma of having one good young catcher too many, combined with the recent freak double-injury of Brian McCann and Brayan Peña forcing the Braves to give the youngster a major league debut for his 22nd birthday, other catching-starved organizations are bound to stand up and take notice.

The Mets’ 2008 catching situation was the subject of this MLBTR post.  Without repeating what was said there, I’ll add that the Mets committed a big blunder by keeping single-A catcher Jesús Flores off their 40-man roster, allowing him to be taken by the Washington Nationals in the Rule 5 draft.  While he is seriously overmatched in the big leagues, he could still develop into a solid, power-hitting backstop.

What, then, would it take for the Mets to acquire Salty? A Mets/Braves trade wouldn’t happen this year, so we shouldn’t be talking about improving the Braves’ 2007 rotation, at least not in this context.  But would Philip Humber be of interest?  The Braves also lack a solid left fielder, and will likely be short a center fielder come 2008.  The Mets have three great prospects for these positions in Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martínez.  Finally, at first base the Mets could offer Mike Carp, who was so impressive this spring that he spent most of it with the big league Mets before being sent to AA-Binghamton.

If it took both Humber and Milledge to do it for the Mets, I think it would be worth it.

John Peterson writes for the Mets blog Blastings! Thrilledge.

Let’s Make A Deal: Jarrod Saltalamacchia

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Double A catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia is a rare player: a bona fide top prospect at the position.  The Braves might be able to maximize his value not by switching Salty or Brian McCann to first base, but by trading the minor leaguer.  Saltalamacchia is off to a hot start after a lost ’06, and one team especially interested in acquiring a young catcher is the Tigers.

As a 22 year-old in Double A, Salty is at the perfect stage in his career as the Tigers would be able to exercise Pudge’s 2008 option and have Saltalamacchia ready to take over in 2009.  So what do the Braves need?

So far Atlanta is getting on base well and hitting for power, and whatever regression Kelly Johnson experiences will be matched by Andruw Jones hitting his stride.  With a healthy Chipper Jones and an improved Jeff Francoeur, this team can hit.

John Schuerholz already went all-in to improve the bullpen, leaving starting pitching as the most glaring weakness.  It’s looking good on the front end – two possible aces plus a solid third in Chuck James.  Still, giving 40% of the starts to Kyle Davies/Mark Redman/Lance Cormier is undesirable.

David O’Brien says there are no good pitchers on the trade market for Atlanta, but a month or two from now some opportunities will probably appear.  One nice fit could be Carlos Zambrano; Michael Barrett is a free agent after this season.  I’ll discuss Rich Harden in another post, but the A’s have Kurt Suzuki waiting in the wings. 

Back to the Tigers – I doubt Justin Verlander or Jeremy Bonderman can be had.  Could Nate Robertson plus a good prospect be enough to snag Salty?  The 29 year-old southpaw doesn’t reach free agency until after 2009, and he’s been a healthy 32 start guy.  Bring him over to the National League, and we could see the Ted Lilly/Bronson Arroyo/Kyle Lohse effect.

The White Sox have A.J. Pierzynski signed through 2008, which gels nicely with Saltalamacchia’s ETA.  If Mark Buehrle has another solid month or two, the Braves might covet the lefty and his playoff experience.  Plus, an acquisition and possible extension could keep Buehrle away from the NL rival Cardinals.  Moving Salty to the Marlins for Dontrelle Willis could work as well.

Really, with a commodity like Saltalamacchia, one could devise many different scenarios where he’s swapped for a frontline starter.   

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