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Twins Seek Infielders; No Holliday For Tigers

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The Twins continue their search for infielders and the Tigers don't seem likely to acquire Matt Holliday. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports has the details:

  • The Twins, who could use infield help, have discussed an Orlando Cabrera trade with the A's.
  • The Twins could also pursue Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez or Marco Scutaro.  
  • Mark Teahen could be an option, but it's unclear whether the Royals would deal within the division.
  • Ken Rosenthal hears that the Giants and Tigers will not be serious players for Matt Holliday.  
  • The A's gave the Tigers a list of prospects to discuss for Holliday, but talks didn't develop.
  • The Tigers didn't want to discuss lefty Casey Crosby. 

Rosenthal On Royals, Atkins, Baez, Huff

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has trade speculation in the sidebar of his latest column.

  • Rosenthal sees shortstop Mike Aviles as the Royals' weakest link, given his .523 OPS in 97 plate appearances.  Most projection systems had Aviles in the .720-.750 range.  Rosenthal runs through potential trade targets such as Orlando Cabrera, Jack Wilson, Miguel Tejada, and Marco Scutaro.  The first three have their flaws, and Scutaro doesn't figure to be available.
  • Rosenthal suggests the Rockies could accomplish their goal of more playing time for Ian Stewart by trading Garrett Atkins.  However, Atkins is fairly pricey and is off to a .224/.287/.367 start through 108 plate appearances.
  • Orioles reliever Danys Baez is generating trade buzz with his 2.30 ERA through 15.6 innings.  Baez is still owed $4.55MM of his $5.5MM '09 salary, and he also gets a $500K bonus if traded.  So just moving the contract might be a feat for Andy MacPhail, in my opinion.
  • Aubrey Huff, with $6.62MM left on his contract, could eventually draw interest from teams like the Royals and Mariners, in Rosenthal's opinion.  Huff seems back to his pre-2008 level; he's hitting .270/.331/.423 in 124 plate appearances.

Verducci On Hamels, Shields, Lowe, Manny

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Let’s take a look at the latest from SI.com’s Tom Verducci.

  • Interesting line: "One journeyman reliever, for instance, turned down a $2 million offer, saying he would retire before taking that kind of money."  Many veterans will choose between swallowing their pride and retiring this spring.
  • Verducci makes a comparison between Cole Hamels and James Shields, who were called up 19 days apart.  The extra service time for Hamels gave him Super Two status, meaning he became arbitration-eligible four times instead of three.  That decision probably cost the Phillies more than $10MM.
  • The Mets were willing to give Derek Lowe $14MM per year.
  • The Giants don’t believe Manny Ramirez is anywhere near a decision right now.  He’s a special case for them (they’re not in the market for an outfielder) but they won’t enter a bidding war.
  • The Blue Jays aren’t interested in Orlando Cabrera; they’re content with Marco Scutaro.

Ricciardi On Burnett, Manny, Shortstop

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports talked to Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi today.

Re-signing A.J. Burnett is one of Ricciari’s primary goals, but Rosenthal says J.P. won’t spend $15-18MM on another free agent starter if Burnett leaves.

The Jays also want to add a hitter.  Ricciardi’s take on Manny Ramirez:

"Manny is not priority No. 1. I can’t even say he’s priority No. 2.  It would really be a long shot for us to bring him to Toronto. He’s on our radar, but maybe not on our radar like some people will report.  I don’t see us getting involved in unbelievable, astronomical numbers. We would not go down that path."

The Jays are expected to add some kind of hitter, with free agent Raul Ibanez a person of interest from July.  Rosenthal has also mentioned Jason Giambi as someone to consider.  A shortstop signing seems unlikely.  Ricciardi said he would "really need to be knocked over" to replace Marco Scutaro as the starter.

Angels Eyeing Backup Shortstops

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FRIDAY: Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi confirmed he’s in discussions with the Angels about his shortstops.

THURSDAY: With Maicer Izturis out for the season and Erick Aybar day-to-day, the Angels are looking to acquire a veteran backup shortstop.  Backup at second base wouldn’t be a bad idea either, in case Howie Kendrick’s injury is serious.  Mike DiGiovanna names John McDonald, David Eckstein, Marco Scutaro, Juan Castro, and Jamey Carroll as targets.  The numbers on these guys:

  • McDonald: .222/.269/.292 in 162 PAs.  Owed $350K in ’08, $1.9MM in ’09.
  • Eckstein: .274/.353/.357 in 293 PAs.  Owed $830K in ’08.
  • Scutaro: .265/.347/.348 in 475 PAs.  Owed $290K in ’08, $1.1MM in ’09.
  • Castro: .194/.233/.250 in 118 PAs.  Owed minimum, Reds paying contract.
  • Carroll: .271/.355/.346 in 314 PAs.  Owed $400K in ’08, $2.5MM club option for ’09 with $0.15MM buyout.

Scutaro seems like the best fit; Carroll has not played shortstop this year.  It is not known whether any of these players have cleared waivers.  Who do you think the Angels should target?

Odds and Ends: Hart, Ellis, Mientkiewicz, Varitek

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