Phillies Rumors: Wolf, Feliz, Jenkins
MLB.com’s Ken Mandel has a Phillies update for us tonight.
- Pat Gillick’s honesty is refreshing and funny. On Randy Wolf: "He’s the only guy who’s voiced some concern, but I haven’t heard anyone else voice concern about the ballpark. He’s always voiced concern. I talked to him last year and talked to him this year, and he always makes some remarks about the park which are quite unfounded."
- Gillick also weighed in on Kyle Lohse and Carlos Silva, noting their agents want to keep as many clubs involved as possible. The Phillies expect to sign neither.
- It’s a bottom priority, but the Phils are considering Pedro Feliz as a third base option.
- Trot Nixon isn’t on the Phils’ list of outfield targets. As you know, Geoff Jenkins is under consideration.
Crasnick’s Latest: Kuroda, Marquis, Morris
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick has an in-depth look at the pitching market. I’ll highlight a few new tidbits.
- Hiroki Kuroda might require four years, as some teams are viewing him as the best available free agent starter.
- Scott Boras might wait out the market a bit and then push for five years for Kyle Lohse. That’s right, five years for Kyle Lohse.
- Matt Clement to the Reds is a possibility I hadn’t considered. Clement did pitch for Dusty Baker with the Cubs.
- Crasnick reports there would be huge interest in Mark Prior if the Cubs non-tender him. As in, pretty much every team in baseball. Crasnick’s source indicates that Prior and the Cubs don’t have the best relationship.
- Crasnick spoke to Doug Melvin and confirmed that Claudio Vargas and Chris Capuano will not be non-tendered. But they could definitely be traded.
- The Cubs are listening to offers for Jason Marquis, who is owed $16.25MM over 2008-09. So maybe they are still in on Kuroda.
- New Pirates GM Neal Huntington is shopping Dave Littlefield’s mistake, Matt Morris. Morris makes $9.5MM in ’08 and would be owed a $1MM buyout in ’09.
Odds and Ends: Riske, Bedard, Wolf
And now for your daily jumble o’ rumors. More to come.
- The Twins cleared several spots on their 40-man roster…will they be active next week?
- The Yankees have "reached out" to free agent reliever David Riske. Troy Percival and Ron Mahay have also been linked to the Yanks this offseason.
- The Dodgers have an interest in Tony Clark, which has to bum out James Loney. Dylan Hernandez also notes that the Dodgers’ talks for Erik Bedard have stalled because the Orioles want to see what happens with Miguel Cabrera first. Ned Colletti expects Jeff Kent back, by the way.
- The Cards won’t be afraid to trade their young pitching (Anthony Reyes, Tyler Johnson, and Brad Thompson) for veteran pitching. They also still like Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse, if the price is right.
- Bob Dutton reports that the Royals’ Yasuhiko Yabuta signing will be finalized at week’s end. Meanwhile nothing is imminent with Jose Guillen.
- Linked to this earlier in a D’Backs post…the Phils are in "serious talks" with Randy Wolf. As I said there, that shouldn’t stop them from going after a more reliable starter.
- Things are heating up between the Twins and Red Sox for Coco Crisp, but that’s all Gordon Edes has for us on the topic.
- As expected, the market for Mike Cameron has picked up now that Torii Hunter signed.
Cardinals Interested In Silva, Lohse
Joe Strauss has the latest regarding the Cardinals’ pursuit for starting pitching. The team is interested in free agents Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse. Matthew Leach recently quoted John Mozeliak as searching for a starter with some upside, so maybe the Cards favor Lohse. They’d have to tangle with Scott Boras to get him – I’ve heard some speculate that Lohse could get a Gil Meche 5/55 deal.
Strauss’s article also mentions that the Cards are exploring options besides David Eckstein for shortstop. They’ve recently been linked to Cesar Izturis. Maybe the Cardinals could try to get a shortstop in return for Scott Rolen, someone like Erick Aybar or Rafael Furcal. Derrick Goold recently had a nice breakdown of the available shortstop options.
Finally, Strauss’s report adds that Mozeliak "downplayed any interest in Barry Bonds." It might be tough to fit both Chris Duncan and Bonds into the outfield.
Phillies May Only Have $10MM To Spend
The Phillies need a starting pitcher, maybe two. Problem is, they may only have $10MM left to spend. All of that money is expected to go to pitching, so Aaron Rowand should pack his bags.
Todd Zolecki says the Phils won’t attempt to retain Kyle Lohse. Carlos Silva seems too pricey. Instead, Zolecki names Hiroki Kuroda, Kris Benson, Matt Clement, Livan Hernandez, Tom Glavine, Mark Prior, Shawn Chacon, and Joe Kennedy as possibilities.
Scott Lauber has heard from Ruben Amaro Jr. that the team will definitely consider Japanese options like Kuroda and reliever Masahide Kobayashi. Trading for pitching seems unlikely, as the Phils would probably have to part with Shane Victorino to get anyone decent.
Rosenthal’s Latest: A-Rod, Posada, Cameron
Ken Rosenthal is back with a column loaded with rumory goodness. Rosenthal’s column is like a drug.
- Rosenthal doesn’t think the Red Sox will just ignore the availability of Alex Rodriguez, especially if someone lures Mike Lowell away with a five-year offer. Rosenthal suggests a shorter term of five-years, $150MM with option years and opt-outs so that A-Rod could have one more payday as he theoretically approaches Hank Aaron’s record.
- Jorge Posada will receive a "monster offer" from the Mets. While the Mets can’t move him to DH down the road, they can put him at first base. I’ve been saying 4/56, but 5/70 isn’t out of the question apparently. Posada wants a four-year deal, and won’t sign with the Yanks without fielding other offers first. Apparently the Marlins and Blue Jays are also in on him.
- The Nationals may be kicking the tires on big names Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand, but Jim Bowden is also a big Mike Cameron fan. The Nats do seem a reasonable fit.
- The Cubs are also in on Cameron, in addition to Kosuke Fukudome. Rosenthal suggests the Cubs could put Felix Pie in left if they get Cameron.
- Scott Boras client Kyle Lohse is looking for 4-5 years, $10-11MM annually. No surprise there.
- The Royals are looking to add a starter and a reliever, and maybe a closer if they decide to put Joakim Soria in the rotation.
Boras Starting Lohse Pitch Early
We’ve been interested in Kyle Lohse for a while now, anticipating his upcoming free agent payday. I wrote an extensive post about him in April of this year. One can easily paint a picture of a hothead who couldn’t hack it in the American League.
Not if you’re Scott Boras though. Here’s Boras’ spin:
- "I think Kyle Lohse is going to be very (attractive) because he’s one of the few guys that are in that batch of 27-, 28-year-old arms." Lohse turns 29 in a few weeks.
- "And the other thing about Kyle is, he’s been durable." This is true – Lohse has never been on the DL. Though he’s only topped 200 innings once in his career, in 2003.
- "He’s pitched in the playoffs." Mostly in relief, but he did toss 12 solid innings over 2002-04.
- "He’s got a resume a lot of teams will look at because he’s been successful." Lohse has been above average in the National League, that much is true.
Lohse could return to the Phillies, but it looks like he’s headed to the highest bidder. I don’t fault him for that. In April I said that his contract could fall between Jason Marquis‘s 3/21 and Gil Meche‘s 5/55. The midpoint? Ted Lilly‘s 4/40. Lohse has called the AL "arena baseball," so look for him to stay in the NL. The Cubs and D’Backs have a strong relationship with Boras, while the Padres, Braves, Astros, and Giants aren’t big fans.
Phillies Acquire Kyle Lohse
Ken Rosenthal again. The Phillies just traded for Reds starter Kyle Lohse. They gave up 23 year-old Double A southpaw Matt Maloney. With both Kyle Kendrick and J.D. Durbin in the rotation, the Phils had to try something.
Wayne Krivsky did well here, as Maloney was the Phillies’ ninth best prospect entering the seasona according to Baseball America. He’s more about deception and pitch selection that velocity or electric stuff. His upside is pegged as a #4 starter.
Lohse has been an enigma – quite good in April and July, awful in May and June. Tom Koch-Weser of the STATS, Inc. blog may have unraveled the mystery somewhat.
Mets Hunting For Reliever, Second Baseman
Pretty much the same old story with the Mets, though Joel Sherman and Mark Hale of the New York Post do have some new tidbits.
- The authors name Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, Octavio Dotel, and Eric Gagne as relievers on the radar. However it seems the asking price is too high for Gagne and the Indians have become the frontrunner for Dotel (they may have passed the Dodgers). Shawn Chacon doesn’t catch the Mets’ eye, and they don’t want Chad Bradford‘s three-year commitment. They had that option with Bradford this winter. I think that logic is silly – Bradford’s pitched well this year, and acquiring him now would be akin to a two-year contract. Sometimes it seems GMs pass over certain players because they simply want to add a fresh name.
- You can add Al Reyes to the mix for the Mets, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
- The Mets think many of the available starting pitchers could be traded in August – Jose Contreras, Kyle Lohse, and Steve Trachsel for example. I don’t agree on Lohse – he’ll be traded today or tomorrow. But Contreras’s contract would probably get through waivers without a claim.
- The Post reports no substantive talks to the Royals about Mark Grudzielanek. An inquiry has been made on Mark Loretta.
- Meanwhile, Newsday says the Twins are open to trading Luis Castillo but don’t want any of the current Major League Mets. Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger seems to disagree, citing a Twins scout at Shea yesterday. Graziano does not believe Castillo would get through waivers unclaimed. He believes the Twins want Double A starter Kevin Mulvey and then some (perhaps Ruben Gotay).
- Graziano says a deal for Castillo could be expanded to include 28 year-old righty reliever Juan Rincon. Rincon had been consistently solid for three years (perhaps aided by steroids) but has seen his strikeout rate and overall performance plummet in 2007. Rincon is under control next year and will make at least $2MM again.
- Graziano notes that the Mets have talked to the A’s about Joe Blanton, but Billy Beane wants Lastings Milledge. The Mets can’t do that without damaging the current team. The Mets could actually add an outfielder in Jay Payton; the Cubs’ interest has waned. The Sammy Sosa rumor also has some legs, as the Mets could bring him in to platoon with Shawn Green if they decide they can tolerate the sideshow.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Dye, Lamb, Jennings
Ken Rosenthal has a new article up. Let’s see what’s in there beyond the Teixeira stuff.
- The Angels have a few alternatives to Mark Teixeira in Jermaine Dye and Mike Piazza. However, the team isn’t exactly bursting with open outfield/DH spots, especially once Juan Rivera returns. Troy Glaus still makes a ton of sense, but the Blue Jays would want a lot. Probably 2/3 of the Teixeira package.
- Aside from Mark Loretta, the Padres would also like to acquire Mike Lamb from the Astros. Even tossing aside his awful April, Kevin Kouzmanoff has been about average for his position offensively (.271/.328/.476 since May 1). If the Padres instead used Lamb against southpaws and Kouzmanoff against lefties, they’d have a nifty platoon.
- The Mets have inquired on Joe Blanton and Jon Garland but have found the price prohibitive. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that both are just innings eaters. They’re just elevated by a terrible market for starters.
- The Phillies also asked about Blanton, but are more likely to settle for Kyle Lohse or Jason Jennings. Phil Garner decided to offer Jennings’ ERA up for sacrifice today, leaving him in to allow 11 earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. That was a several million-dollar decision, as Jennings is a free agent after the season.
- The Mets seem to have only mild interest in Luis Castillo and Mark Grudzielanek due to salary and injury concerns.