Will D’Backs Add A Starter?
There are two schools of thought regarding the young, successful Arizona club. The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro seems to think Josh Byrnes will stay quiet this winter, re-signing Tony Clark and letting Randy Johnson replace Livan Hernandez. The East Valley Tribune’s Scott Bordow would rather not rely on The Big Unit, instead trading a young position player for a young starter.
Specifically, Bordow notes that Carlos Quentin and Conor Jackson could be expendable. However, injuries complicate possible trades of either player. With Quentin it’s direct – he had surgery to repair the rotator cuff and labrum of his non-throwing shoulder in October. It’s a six-month timeline for recovery, so he could be ready for Spring Training. Jackson is fine and healthy, but trading him becomes easier if Chad Tracy can prove his health. He had microfracture knee surgery and also expects to be ready in March.
Jackson seems to be the best trading chip – even if Tracy has complications, Clark wouldn’t be a terrible full-time stopgap. Jackson, who turns 26 next May, has a respectable if not spectacular .280/.362/.441 line in 310 games. He slugged .555 after the break this year. Which team has an available young starter and badly needs position players? The Giants, with Noah Lowry. I’m not sure if Lowry would impress the D’Backs, though. Plus, the teams are in the same division. The Twins also make for an interesting match, as they might be able to use Jackson in left field. The D’Backs could ask for Matt Garza or Kevin Slowey. The White Sox could use an outfielder; would one year of Jon Garland be an even swap?
Molony On Jennings, Slowey
Jim Molony’s column today at MLB.com has many good trade rumors that I haven’t seen elsewhere. Let’s discuss.
- Molony says at least a dozen scouts watched Jason Jennings toss a quality start last night. He needed it; I was beginning to think he wasn’t right. Still, the performance probably isn’t enough to cause some team to offer a package for Jennings superior to two draft picks.
- The Diamondbacks and Pirates had a scouting presence at the Astros-Dodgers game. Interesting players appearing in the contest included James Loney, Andre Ethier, Wilson Betemit, Mark Loretta, Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, Chad Qualls, Dan Wheeler, and Brad Lidge. You connect the dots, I have no idea.
- The Red Sox suggested sending Joel Pineiro to the A’s for Bobby Kielty in a swap of unwanteds; they were rebuffed.
- The Phillies and Braves watched Matt Morris allow four runs in six innings on Tuesday. They also may have been monitoring Steve Kline, who also pitched.
- A Devil Rays scout watched the Twins in Toronto on Tuesday. Ty Wigginton is thought to be a target for Minnesota. Perhaps the Rays’ scout fancied Scott Baker, who started for the Twins and went seven innings. Baker would be a stupendous return for Wiggy, in my opinion.
- The Phillies had their assistant GM scouting Kevin Slowey‘s start on Saturday. Molony suggests Minnesota might want Pat Burrell. That would involve a ridiculous amount of salary relief and a lack of Slowey. Slowey allowed one run in six innings in the game.
- UPDATE: Just realized that the above pair of bullets seem to have originated from La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The scout watching the Twins on Tuesday was Lee Elia. Not sure why Molony didn’t cite this source, but I suppose he may have come across the info independently.