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Odds & Ends: Posey, Maybin, Penny

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Links for Wednesday…

  • Due to Bengie Molina's injury, the Giants have changed their mind and called up top prospect Buster Posey according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.  So Posey's clock starts earlier than planned.
  • Speaking of service time, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith tells me Cameron Maybin's call-up gives him 129 days of service time after this year.  That puts him on the fringe of Super Two status after the 2011 season.
  • ESPN's Jerry Crasnick ranks the impact of trades made by contenders in July.  He talked to an exec who thinks Matt Holliday "could make an extra $3MM a year as a free agent this winter because of his strong finish."
  • Yahoo's Gordon Edes has his trade deadline winners and losers.
  • Ryan Doumit's agent Matt Sosnick shot down recent negativity surrounding his client, while Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gets to the bottom of the catcher's recent benching.
  • Brad Penny still hates the Dodgers, a team he'll face twice this month according to Baggarly.  Baggarly also has a quote from Penny ripping on the Marlins.
  • Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has more from Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy, who knows he gained trade value when the team delayed his free agency.
  • J.C. Bradbury of Sabernomics wonders whether the Braves should pick up Tim Hudson's $12MM option for 2010.  Hudson has the right to void that option, not that he would.  Back in January Dave O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said the Braves "fully intend to exercise it, barring some unexpected turn of events."
  • Dave Cameron of FanGraphs notes that Kendry Morales has matched the production of the Angels' former first baseman, $180MM man Mark Teixeira.
  • Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic has comments from Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes on the team's Jon Rauch–Kevin Mulvey swap.  Piecoro says the D'Backs have about $23MM to work with this winter as they presumably look to add pitching.
  • Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times guesses Ken Griffey Jr. will retire after this season.

Twins Acquire Jon Rauch For Kevin Mulvey

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TUESDAY: Arizona will receive pitcher Kevin Mulvey as the player to be named later in the Rauch trade, according to John Gambadoro of Sports 620 KTAR.  Mulvey, of course, joined the Twins in February of last year as part of the Johan Santana trade.  The 24 year-old righty has a 3.93 ERA with 113 strikeouts and 54 walks in 149 Triple A innings this year.

FRIDAY: The Twins acquired Jon Rauch from the Arizona Diamondbacks for a player to be named later, according to an MLB.com press release. Rauch, who should become a free agent after next season, makes $2MM this year and his contract includes a $2.9MM club option for 2010. 

The 6'11'' righty has allowed 57 hits and 17 walks in 54.1 innings, striking out 35. Rauch, who turns 31 next month, has seen his strikeout rate dip and his walk rate rise this year, though his ERA is identical to last year's 4.14 mark.

Heath Bell Rumors: Friday

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2:54pm: USA Today's Bob Nightengale, via Twitter, says the Twins' talks for Bell are all but dead.  However, they're in on Arizona's Jon Rauch.

2:38pm: Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports report that the Marlins are no longer pursuing Bell or Nick Johnson.  That should leave the Angels or Dodgers if anyone.

2:11pm: ESPN's Buster Olney says the Twins have interest in Bell, as well as Oakland's Michael Wuertz.

1:18pm: Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times says the Angels and Dodgers are battling for Bell.

9:19am: Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the Padres wanted Cameron Maybin and Miller for Bell.  The Fish have seen other trade ideas dry up as well, leading Rodriguez to suggest "it might be Nick Johnson or bust for the Marlins."  SI's Jon Heyman agrees.

7:02am: The latest on Padres closer Heath Bell, who is under team control through 2011…

Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune says that "late Thursday night, both the Angels and Marlins were still talking to the Padres regarding Bell."  We learned yesterday that the Padres requested Andrew Miller or Sean West from the Marlins, and Florida declined.  Marlins president David Samson appeared on the radio yesterday to discuss the trade deadline, and Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald has a nice summary of that.

Odds And Ends: Huff, Ackley, Strasburg

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Some more links to pass along…

Bullpen Roundup: Who Should Rays Get; Is Rauch Out In Arizona?

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While Tampa Bay is still reeling from another loss due to a faulty bullpen, R.J. Anderson of DRaysBay.com has some suggested additions to the beleaguered group.

  • Winston Abreu, currently dominating at Triple-A Durham, could simply be called up.
  • Jason Grilli, recently designated for assignment by the Rockies, could be had for nothing.
  • Joel Hanrahan, recently taken out of the closer's role by Washington, would require a trade.

Considering that Grant Balfour, Joe Nelson and Dan Wheeler all have ERAs of 5.50 or higher, some fresh arms in the Tampa Bay bullpen would certainly be welcome.

Meanwhile, a less-treasured member of a major-league bullpen is Jon Rauch, who had a closed-door meeting with manager A.J. Hinch after Saturday night's game.

Rauch is still only utilized in low-leverage situations, and it seems he's worn out his welcome in Arizona. But his ERA dropped from 9.31 in April to 3.46 in May, and he's pitched two scoreless innings so far in June.

Whether the Rays, desperately seeking saves, and Rauch, America's tallest reliever, get together remains to be seen. No smoke here yet, let alone fire, but this seems like a natural connection to make.

Cardinals Reliever Rumors

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5:57pm: K-Rod’s agent Paul Kinzer said the Cardinals did not offer his client a similar contract.

9:08am: According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals made a bid for Francisco Rodriguez in the neighborhood of the Mets’ successful three-year, $37MM bid.  The search continues.  Strauss says the Cards plan to explore trades before escalating talks with Brian Fuentes.  Potential trade targets: J.J. Putz, Matt Capps, and Jon Rauch.  Talks for Jose Valverde "stalled abruptly earlier in the week."  The trade bait will probably be on of the Cardinals’ outfielders.

Strauss adds that GM John Mozeliak met with Scott Boras yesterday, possibly to discuss Oliver Perez.

D’Backs Rumors: Hudson, Dunn, Johnson, Rauch

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8:19pm: According to the AP, the D’Backs exercised Rauch’s $2.9MM option for 2010.  He’ll earn $2MM in ’09.

9:49am: Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic has the latest D’Backs hot stove chatter, here and here.

  • The D’Backs figure to have nine draft picks in the first 75 or so next year.  They will probably offer arbitration to Orlando Hudson, Adam Dunn, Juan Cruz, and Brandon Lyon, and see all of them decline to sign elsewhere.  They could end up spending $8-12MM on next year’s draft, but at least the farm system will be restocked.
  • Team CEO Jeff Moorad says he inquired on Hudson’s contract demands and received no response.  The D’Backs have $10-15MM to spend and probably cannot afford him.
  • Moorad admitted that they will not look to sign Dunn.
  • The D’Backs want to bring Randy Johnson back, but only at a discount.  If Johnson wants to be paid what he’s worth he’ll hit the open market.
  • Jon Rauch’s 2010 option decision is due by Monday.  The option is for $2.9MM, but the D’Backs could decline it and go to arbitration with him that year.
  • Piecoro does not expect the D’Backs to be in on Japanese free agent starter Kenshin Kawakami.

D’Backs Face Decisions On Lyon, Rauch

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Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic wrote Saturday about the tough decisions the D’Backs face on relievers Brandon Lyon and Jon Rauch.

With Lyon, the D’Backs have to decide whether to risk an arbitration offer.  Would they want him back for ’09 on a $4-5MM contract?  Lyon may make the decision easier for Arizona by falling out of Type B status.  Then, there’d be no draft pick to gain.  Lyon has a 7.52 ERA since June 1st.

Meanwhile Rauch’s contract requires the D’Backs decide on his 2010 option five days after this year’s World Series.  The option is for $2.9MM; an easy call if you ignore Rauch’s last 20 innings or so.

The D’Backs also have Juan Cruz hitting free agency; he’s expected to sign elsewhere.

Perrotto’s Latest: Royals, Ibanez, Rauch, Gregg

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It’s Sunday, which means that John Perrotto has his Every Given Sunday column up over at Baseball Prospectus. Here’s the highlights…

  • Royals GM Dayton Moore will likely make a big splash in the free agent market once again. Two years ago, he signed Gil Meche to a five-year, $55MM deal. Last year, he signed Jose Guillen to a three-year, $36MM contract. This year, his big target appears to be Rafael Furcal, which would allow the Royals to move Mike Aviles to second base. Moore is also believed to be willing to trade anyone on the team with the exceptions of Meche, Zack Greinke, and Joakim Soria.
  • Raul Ibanez isn’t likely to be back with the Mariners as a free agent next season. Perrotto feels that Ibanez is a good bet to become the Rays’ designated hitter for 2009.
  • The Diamondbacks originally wanted to use Jon Rauch as their closer for 2009 and let Brandon Lyon leave through free agency. Rauch’s recent string of rough outings has them reconsidering that train of thought.
  • The Marlins will try to trade Kevin Gregg this offseason, and will likely non-tender him if they don’t find match.
  • The Braves are looking to add two starters for the 2009 campaign. General manager Frank Wren has traveled overseas to scout Japanese pitchers Koji Uehara and Kenshin Kawakami already this year.
  • The Nationals have a crowded situation at first base with both Nick Johnson and Dmitri Young under contract, but they’ll still be looking to improve at the position in the offseason.

Rays Scouting Jayson Werth

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Mike Tingle of ESPN 840 in Charlottesville spoke to Rays scout Mike Cubbage yesterday.  Cubbage said that he plans to scout Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth, and that Werth may be available in the right deal.  Werth, 29, is hitting .272/.358/.485 in 268 plate appearances (most of the damage done against lefties).

Additionally, the Rays offered a package of players for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte but the Bucs chose the Yankees’ offer.  The Rays also looked at Jon Rauch previously, though he was not at the top of their list.  And of course, the Rays would like to acquire Brian Fuentes.

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