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Joe Blanton

Phillies Acquire Joe Blanton

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According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Phillies have acquired Joe Blanton for minor leaguers Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman, and Matthew Spencer.

Blanton, 27, has a 4.96 ERA in 127 innings.  Compared to ’07, his strikeout rate has fallen while walks have risen.  Still, he can probably eat a lot of innings for the Phillies at an ERA near 4.00.  That’s quite valuable, and the Phillies have him under control for ’09 and ’10.

Cardenas and Outman were ranked as the Phillies’ #2 and #4 prospects coming into this season by Baseball America.  With quality second base prospects in Cardenas and Jemile Weeks (and maybe Eric Patterson), the A’s might not have much use for Mark Ellis long-term.  Or, the A’s could consider moving Cardenas back to shortstop.  The 20 year-old is currently hitting .309/.374/.444 in High A ball. 

Outman has been solid in Double A, posting a 3.20 ERA in 70.1 innings.  The deceptive lefty was switched to relief in May, with the Phils hoping for a quick rise to their big league bullpen.  I imagine the A’s will switch him back to starting.  Spencer, a 22 year-old outfielder, has struggled in High A.

Phillies Eyeing Cain, Blanton

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Randy Miller had some interesting Phillies rumors yesterday.  According to Miller:

The latest has the Phils hoping San Francisco, an NL West pretender, will shop 23-year-old right-hander Matt Cain.  Word is the Giants might part with Cain, who is 5-7 with a 4.06 ERA in 20 starts, if offered an intriguing package of young talent.

However, Jayson Stark wrote on Thursday:

We keep hearing people speculate about the Giants trading Matt Cain. But we can’t find a team that has gotten anywhere in its attempts to even get the Giants to discuss him. "I don’t know who got that rumor rolling," said an official of one club. "But they told us, emphatically, no."

Moving on, Miller says the Phils aren’t interested in A.J. Burnett.  Buster Olney said the same on Wednesday.  Miller also notes that the Phils have interest in lefty relievers John Grabow and Brian Fuentes.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Phillies’ talks for Joe Blanton are "gaining momentum."  Olney believes this deal makes sense, and that it could come together quickly.

Phillies Looking At Joe Blanton

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Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes today that the Phillies are taking a look at Oakland righty Joe Blanton.  Additionally, the Phils will bring Brett Myers back to the Majors on July 23rd.

Blanton, 27, had a rough first half – he has a 4.96 ERA in 127 innings.  All his numbers are worse compared to ’07 – strikeouts, walks, home runs. A move to the NL would help, even if he has to leave the friendly Oakland Coliseum for Citizens Bank Park.

Blanton is under team control through 2010, though he will not necessarily be cheap since he will have to go through the arbitration process twice more. We’ve heard that the Phillies don’t want to discuss prospects Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, or Greg Golson so we’ll have to see if Pat Gillick and Billy Beane can find a match.  Despite their long tenures I cannot find an example of a previous trade between these two GMs.  By the way, Buster Olney says the Phillies are not currently looking at A.J. Burnett.

Sherman’s Latest: Adenhart, Burnett, Niese, Ibanez

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Joel Sherman of the New York Post has been digging up rumors left and right – here, here, and here in recent days.  Let’s discuss.

  • The Angels have "hinted at a willingness to build a deal around pitching prospect Nick Adenhart."  This would apparently involve Mark Teixeira or Matt Holliday.
  • The Phillies made an initial offer last week for A.J. Burnett, and the Jays were thoroughly unimpressed.  The Phillies won’t discuss prospects Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, or Greg Golson in trades.
  • The Yankees have zero interest in Burnett.
  • The A’s are willing to move Joe Blanton.  He’s not perfect, but he can eat innings and is under team control through 2010.
  • Six games out of the wild card with a league-best offense, the Rangers don’t look like sellers.
  • At least ten teams watched Mets’ Double A starter Jon Niese pitch Saturday.  He’s their top trade chip given the unavailability of Fernando Martinez.
  • The Pirates have their eye on the Yankees’ Ross Ohlendorf, if the Yanks become buyers for players like Damaso Marte or Xavier Nady.
  • Three Raul Ibanez suitors are named: the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Red Sox.
  • At least nine teams are monitoring Freddy Garcia: the Yankees, Mets, Astros, Rangers, Royals, Red Sox, Phillies, Tigers, and White Sox.  We’ve seen the Braves, Rays, and Cubs mentioned too.  Garcia’s agent isn’t up for an ’09 option with his client.  A-Rod is said to be pushing for the Yankees to sign him. 
  • Sherman notes a rumor around the game that has Pat Gillick becoming Mariners president next year, and Brian Cashman coming on as his GM.

Odds and Ends: M’s, Giants, Blanton, Maddux

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Nothing major yet this afternoon, but a few minor issues worth noting:

  • Danny Knobler from CBS Sports writes that former Tigers and Padres GM Randy Smith is now in the running for the GM opening in Seattle after the season. He’s been commended for his scouting work with the Padres recently.
  • Mark Dent from MLB.com tells us that Mariners manager Jim Riggleman feels the M’s will be cautious with trade talks, and goes as far as saying he expects very little change. Riggleman says they "won’t move players just to move them." Does this seem like the right strategy for a team with the second-worst record in baseball?
  • Chris Haft from MLB.com writes that the Giants have signed 16-year-old Dominican outfielder Rafael Rodriguez for a $2.55MM bonus.
  • Joel Sherman weighs in with his thoughts on the current pitching market, particularly why Joe Blanton is still appealing despite a poor start. He also discusses the dilemma the A’s, Rangers, and Yankees all have in deciding whether to buy or sell over the next few weeks.
  • Mark Bowman feels that a trade sending Greg Maddux back to Atlanta is unlikely.

Odds and Ends: Kemp, Kearns, Carrasco, Garcia

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Friday linkage…

Rich Harden Links

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It’s only July 9th, and we’ve already seen two huge names moved.  Today let’s round up the Rich Harden links.

  • Susan Slusser says the A’s weren’t discussing Harden with any other teams.  Jim Hendry was persistent for weeks, while Billy Beane has had his eye on Sean Gallagher for years (however, Buster Olney says this deal was pulled together within the last two days).  Chad Gaudin was included in the deal as insurance for Harden.  Slusser wonders whether Joe Blanton could be next to go.
  • Rob Neyer is reminded of the Mark Mulder trade, and thinks the A’s might even be better this year from this deal.  Similarly, Dave Cameron thinks the deal favors the A’s.
  • Keith Law notes that no available pitcher had better stuff than Harden and that Gaudin is "an outstanding second player."  He thinks the move to Oakland will help Gallagher and that Harden was at risk of breaking down at any time.  He seems to consider it a fairly even swap.
  • Joel Sherman sees a Kerry Wood/Mark Prior parallel here.
  • The Phillies didn’t get involved due to Harden’s injury history.

Odds And Ends: Brewers, White Sox, Astros, Harden

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A few minor notes from around the MLBiverse…

  • Jon Heyman came up with a list of 19 pitchers that could be made available prior to the trade deadline. He also presents a list of 12 candidates that the Mariners may consider for their vacant GM position.
  • The Brewers’ assistant GM indicated the team would like to add a starting pitcher to give the pitching staff more depth.
  • Ken Williams says that he is happy with the White Sox’ roster and has not assigned scouts to specific players on other teams that could be available.
  • Richard Justice says that the Astros will not ship off veterans before the trade deadline, but also notes that they might not be able to even if they wanted to be active sellers.
  • Rich Harden struck out 11 in eight shutout innings in front of a number of scouts two nights ago.  Also at this link, Joe Blanton and Chad Gaudin have heard trade rumors about themselves.  Gaudin is "convinced that he’s going to be traded."
  • Derek Jeter vouched for Shawn Chacon’s character.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex and can be reached here.  Tim Dierkes also contributed to this post.

Jayson Stark’s Latest

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Jayson Stark’s latest column is up and as usual he dips into the rumor-mill several times…

  • Indians: According to other clubs, Cleveland is starting to float C.C. Sabathia’s name, but are making it clear that they are not ready to trade him. Stark says the Indians are scouting the Red Sox heavily. One executive says that it is hard to imagine somebody giving up prospects for a guy that will almost certainly test the free agency waters. That same executive says they would have a hard time giving seven years to a pitcher as big as Sabathia.
  • Tigers: One AL executive says the Tigers don’t have any prospects of value left, but wonders if they won’t do something crazy in the trade market because of their "all in" payroll. Stark wonders if they would be willing to trade Jeremy Bonderman or a big bat for an arm.
  • Braves: Atlanta might be more interested in bringing back Kevin Millwood as opposed to Greg Maddux, but Stark says that is very unlikely.
  • Rockies: In addition to Matt Holiday and Brian Fuentes, there is a slim chance that Aaron Cook would be made available, but his salary goes up $1MM per year if he is dealt.
  • A’s: Apparently the bounty sought by Oakland for Joe Blanton ("three young building-block players") has not been lowered since last summer.
  • Royals: The Royals have already started listening to offers for a number of players but one executive says that list does not include their relief pitchers and those are the pieces of highest interest.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Blanton, Furcal, Penny, Burnett, Greinke

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The latest from Ken Rosenthal’s Full Count video:

  • The Braves called the A’s about Joe Blanton but did not even come close to meeting Billy Beane’s price.
  • The Dodgers may not want to lock up Rafael Furcal, the oft-injured shortstop, to a long term contract.  Also, with Brad Penny’s struggles, they may pass on his 2009 club option and trade him this season. They’d get something in return rather than pay his $2MM buyout in the offseason.
  • The only way the Jays will trade A.J. Burnett is if they fall completely out of contention.  Otherwise, he is a cornerstone to their only chance: "pitching teams into the ground."
  • The Royals could field offers for Zack Greinke.  Their farm system has thinned and they could replace Greinke in the rotation with Joakim Soria.

By Nat Boyle

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