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Dunn Could Stay, Says Fay

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Reds beat writer John Fay says he thinks the Reds will hold on to Adam Dunn and take the draft picks when he leaves as a free agent, because Cincinnati’s outfield is so thin that they can’t afford to lose Dunn.

With Ryan Freel done for the year, the Reds currently have four healthy outfielders on the roster. That means if they traded Adam Dunn or Ken Griffey Jr. right now, you’re looking at Corey Patterson playing every day. That might blow up this blog.

This makes no sense to me. The Reds would only trade Dunn if they were prepared to give up on the season. And since they’re four games under .500 and 11 games back of the Cubs, it’s probably about time to give up on the season. So, if you’re looking ahead to next season, who cares if Patterson is playing everyday in August and September?

Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com and can be reached here.

Odds and Ends: Phillips, Chacon, Hewitt, Griffey

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Random links for Tuesday. 

Stark’s Latest: K-Rod, Burnett, Oliver Perez, Bedard

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It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to dig in and feast on Jayson Stark’s latest rumor-packed column.

  • The Braves have shifted their focus from starting pitching to an impact bat in left field.  Stark suggests Raul Ibanez, Jason Bay, and Xavier Nady would make sense.  Matt Holliday would be too costly; Adam Dunn is not mentioned.
  • We have seen the surprising rumor that the Angels could pursue C.C. Sabathia.  However, Stark’s sources are in agreement with Bill Plunkett – the Angels are likely to stand pat.
  • Francisco Rodriguez wants four years and more than $60MM, a dangerous record-breaking commitment.  The Halos aren’t even sure if they’d do three years and a vesting option.
  • There have been no recent extension talks between the Angels and Vladimir Guerrero, but his $15MM option for ’09 is an easy call.
  • As we’ve written before, A.J. Burnett is like a rental, but worse.  He either pitches well and opts out or pitches poorly and you’re stuck with him.  Stark adds that despite Burnett’s willingness to pitch for the Cubs, he’s not on their list.  The Cubs are still planning a run at Sabathia.  The Brewers are also serious about the Cleveland ace.
  • The Mets might shop Oliver Perez, but I’d be surprised if he draws much interest.
  • The Blue Jays were already one of Adam Dunn’s ten no-trade teams.  His no-trade rights switched from full to ten teams on June 15th.
  • Bill Bavasi talked to the Reds about bringing Ken Griffey Jr. back to Seattle, but Lee Pelekoudas isn’t interested.
  • Interesting Indians players who might be available: Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez, and Franklin Gutierrez.
  • The Yankees aren’t interested in Erik Bedard, but the Phillies are.  The teams have differing opinions on whether Bedard’s surly demeanor would present a problem.

Odds and Ends: Bedard, Griffey, Minaya

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A very nutritious Odds and Ends for lunch:

Alejandro A. Leal writes for UmpBump.com.

Stark’s Latest: Sabathia, Bedard, Phillies, Freel

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It’s Thursday, and you know what that means.  Time for another installment of Jayson Stark’s Rumblings and Grumblings at ESPN.com.

  • Stark runs through a laundry list of candidates for the Mariners’ and Mets’ manager and GM vacancies.
  • The Indians will not be giving a negotiation window for a team hoping to sign C.C. Sabathia while acquiring him.
  • Erik Bedard is "now officially on the market."  Bedard’s value has diminished since the Mariners acquired him, however.
  • The Phillies have already inquired on Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Bronson Arroyo, and Jarrod Washburn.  Stark sees Bedard joining that group, but believes it’d require Carlos Carrasco and Antonio Bastardo.
  • Ryan Freel is drawing strong interest; Stark names the Phillies, Braves, Mets, and Marlins as suitors.
  • Ken Griffey Jr. apparently still wants to finish his career in Seattle.
  • Stark agrees with Ken Rosenthal – Mark Teixeira is not available.  Nor is Ben Sheets, by the way.
  • The Marlins are looking for center field, catcher, and bullpen help.  Stark believes they’d be willing to give up a near-arb Josh Willingham type for players with less service time.
  • The Yankees seem open to bringing back Jason Giambi next year, after they buy out his option.  Giambi is currently third in the AL in OPS at .979.

Odds And Ends: Bradley, Haren, Griffey, Holliday, Atkins

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A few minor notes from the MLBiverse…

  • Evan Grant wonders if the Rangers might try to trade Milton Bradley if they fall even farther back in the standings and then try to resign him in the off-season when he is a free agent.
  • The D-Backs have begun negotiations with Dan Haren on a contract extension. Haren is signed though ’09 with a $6.75MM team option in ’10.
  • Ken Griffey Jr says that he wants to win a championship in Cincinnati.
  • With the Rockies playing the Indians, it was inevitable that the Matt Holliday- or Garrett Atkins-to-the-Indians speculation would resurface.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex and can be reached here.

Griffey’s Agent Denies Rays Rumor

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman recently wrote that Ken Griffey Jr. was telling friends he was monitoring the Rays as a possible destination.  Heyman’s source indicated Junior would consider waiving his no-trade rights to play near his Orlando-area home.  Heyman admitted that no serious trade talks have occurred, though.

Today, Griffey’s agent Brian Goldberg apparently debunked the story.  Goldberg considers it to be "a media member thinking out loud."  He adds that Griffey has not been approached with any trade proposals, though no one was claiming that.

Rosenthal Talks Griffey

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Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tackles Ken Griffey, Jr. and where Reds’ slugger might finish the season. Rosenthal explores all the options. He speculates that the Reds could keep Griffey and collect two draft picks if he leaves as a free agent, but that gets complicated:

However, to gain draft-pick compensation, the Reds would need to decline Griffey’s option, pay him a $4 million buyout and then offer him salary arbitration — a process they almost certainly would prefer to avoid. The Reds could also get the picks if a team signed Griffey before the deadline to offer him arbitration. But such a scenario is unlikely.

Ultimately, Rosenthal concludes that if Griffey requests it, the Reds should do everything in their power to ship Junior to a contender, including eating a chunk of his 2008 salary.

Where could Griffey land? Rosenthal speculates the Rays are an option, though, as he points out the Rays’ biggest need is pitching. The Indians and Blue Jays could be buyers, but they could just as easily be sellers.

The Mets could be an option. They’ve already got Moises Alou and Trot Nixon. Why not corner the market on injury prone outfielders?

Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com. He can be reached here.

Heyman’s Latest: Griffey, Garcia, Sabathia

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up.

  • Ken Griffey Jr. is reportedly telling friends that the Rays are his preference if he is to be traded.  He’d be close to his Orlando home, always a major consideration for him.  Heyman says Junior would prefer to be dealt after the All-Star game.  It’s not known whether the Rays have interest in Griffey, though.  Jayson Stark suggested yesterday that Griffey could sign there as a free agent next year.
  • Freddy Garcia hit 85 mph in a recent session.  It’s been suggested he could be in the Majors by late August.
  • Heyman talked to a "hopeful competing GM" who expects C.C. Sabathia to be traded.

Off Topic: The Griffey Ball

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Cody Ross’ recent comments about Ken Griffey Jr.’s 600th home run ball really irked me.  A Marlins season ticket holder, Joe, caught the ball and hasn’t decided what to do yet.  Here’s what Ross said:

Just give it to the Hall of Fame, get to meet him, get an autograph, whatever.  But people get greedy. They want to make some money.  I guess the whole Internet thing kicked all of this stuff off.  It didn’t use to be like this, but it’s a different era. People get money hungry now.

This is coming from Cody Ross, a man who will have made over a million dollars for three years of baseball.  A guy whose ’09 salary alone should be close to a million bucks.  It’s ridiculous for Ross to flippantly suggest Joe would be greedy to make money off the ball.

The ball might be worth anywhere from $15,000 to $100,000.  For many people, that’s a life-changing amount of money.  A down payment on a new house, maybe.  Joe is right to take his time with this choice, and he’s under no moral obligation to give up the ball for some signed Reds bats and jerseys.  He doesn’t owe it to baseball to give it up.  If anything, baseball owes him.  He’s a Marlins season ticket holder.

Actually, that’s the perfect solution.  MLB, the Reds, or Griffey himself should offer a paltry $50,000 to Joe for the ball.  It’s not going to set MLB back if they offer up fifty grand for every future milestone home run ball.  They could probably find corporate sponsorship for it. 

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