Graziano’s Latest: Dunn, Putz, Laird
Time to check in with Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger.
- Graziano calls Adam Dunn "the man without a rumor." Even with his flaws this one is hard to figure out. [UPDATE: SI.com’s Jon Heyman is finally hearing a couple of teams are in on Dunn.]
- John Maine‘s rotator cuff strain has the Mets looking at pitching. Graziano suggests names like Livan Hernandez, Paul Byrd, and Jarrod Washburn.
- The Mets have talked to the Tigers about Scott Schoeneweis. They’d have to replace him, maybe with Arthur Rhodes or Eddie Guardado.
- The Mariners will listen on J.J. Putz, but he won’t come cheap. The Cardinals and Red Sox have interest. Putz is signed through ’09 with an option for ’10.
- The Yankees and Marlins have asked about catcher Gerald Laird, while many teams like Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
- The Braves are willing to trade Will Ohman and Mark Kotsay.
Odds and Ends: Alvarez, Kotsay, Street
Time to round up today’s links.
- Hank Steinbrenner admits Barry Bonds‘ name will be mentioned at today’s meeting of Yankees execs.
- Mark Cuban is a finalist to buy the Cubs.
- Pirates president Frank Coonelly expressed frustration with the Pedro Alvarez negotiations, in the first public comments on those talks.
- Dejan Kovacevic’s source says the Pirates aren’t requiring two prospects for Xavier Nady or Damaso Marte. One elite prospect would work.
- Mark Kotsay wonders if he’ll be traded this year. As with Mark Teixeira, it’ll depend heavily on the next week.
- Richard Justice takes Drayton McLane to task.
- DRays Bay relays a Peter Gammons report that the A’s are shopping Huston Street to the Red Sox, Rays, and White Sox.
- David Weathers doesn’t remember which teams are on his limited no-trade clause.
- Tom Henke’s Army is back, with reinforcements.
- Sam Mellinger thinks the Royals should sign Rafael Furcal this winter. I concur.
- Joe Posnanski believes that the Royals should try Tony Pena Jr. as a pticher, all kidding aside. He bemoans the lack of "outside the box" thinking in baseball.
Kotsay Traded To Braves For Devine, Richmond
UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 5:07pm: Kotsay passed his physical; he’s a Brave. The Braves also got most of his salary covered. In return the A’s receive Joey Devine and Jamie Richmond. Devine is a 24 year-old righty reliever with a 92-94mph sinker, according to Baseball America. Richmond turns 22 in March; he’s the type of pitching prospect who doesn’t light up the radar gun but has "command of three pitches and advanced feel for pitching" according to BA.
FROM 1-13-08 at 12:11pm:
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports today via a Braves official that the Mark Kotsay trade is "still kind of a tentative thing." He doesn’t take his physical until Monday, and there’s no deal until the Braves deem him healthy. Slusser notes that the A’s acquisition of Kotsay several years ago was delayed by concerns over his health.
Slusser also says the A’s could receive an A ball pitcher in addition to Joey Devine. She confirms that the Devine acquisition could be a precursor to a Huston Street trade, something many emailers have speculated.
Odds and Ends: Adam Jones, Weaver, Jocketty
You know how it works…random rumors and links to clear out my inbox.
- Adam Jones left winter ball early, perhaps as a prelude to a trade.
- The Cardinals’ interest in Jeff Weaver is "at best, tepid" according to Derrick Goold. However, Goold thinks they should bring him back.
- Walt Jocketty said on XM Radio: "I don’t want to be a GM again." I guess that settles that, Wayne Krivsky can rest easy.
- This is kind of funny. Mark Teahen on meeting Jose Guillen: "For the most part he didn’t rub me the wrong way – he seemed like a good guy." Hmmm….for the most part?
Kotsay Traded To Braves For Devine
UPDATE, 1-12-08 at 5:01pm: According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, an agreement is in place for the A’s to send Kotsay to the Braves for reliever Joey Devine. The A’s will also eat $5.325MM of Kotsay’s ’08 salary, leaving the Braves on the hook for only $2MM. Essentially Billy Beane bought Devine.
UPDATE, 1-11-08 at 3:54pm: MLB.com’s Mychael Urban has a source who believes the Braves would not pay more than $3MM of Kotsay’s $8MM salary.
FROM 1-11-08 at 3:09pm:
David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution just posted his upcoming story in the comments of his blog. He says Billy Beane called Mark Kotsay this morning, informing him that he is discussing a trade with Atlanta. The Braves would get salary relief and give up a mid-level prospect, as expected.
Odds and Ends: Morneau, Jocketty, Santana
Your usual dose of random rumors and links…
- Justin Morneau says he has had no extension discussions with the Twins.
- The Reds brought Walt Jocketty aboard as a special advisor to President and CEO Bob Castellini today. For now, Wayne Krivsky’s job appears safe. But jeez, with Walt in the house he has to be feeling a little pressure, doesn’t he? In other news, the Reds talked with Brett Tomko‘s agent this week.
- The Tigers signed Matt Mantei for the league minimum. He can ask for his release if he’s not in the bigs by May 1st. As Jon Paul Morosi notes Mantei hasn’t pitched in the Majors for more than two years.
- RotoAuthority ranks the third basemen for fantasy baseball.
- Buster Olney says the A’s talks with the Braves for Mark Kotsay "have a chance of becoming serious today."
- Gotham Baseball’s Mark Healey has a source who believes the Mets will get Johan Santana "no matter what they have to do."
- The Rangers made the Eddie Guardado deal official, and also brought Jamey Wright back on a minor league contract. Guardado got a bit more than I expected – $2MM base plus $4MM in incentives for games pitched and finished.
Braves May Be Interested In Kotsay, Patterson
As I mentioned in my Braves Needs and Luxuries post, the one piece missing from this puzzle is a decent big league center fielder. According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mark Kotsay and Corey Patterson could be options.
In regards to Kotsay, O’Brien doesn’t specifically say the Braves are interested. It’s more implied based on the fact that no one has told him the Braves aren’t interested. Kotsay has one year left on his deal at $8MM, and it’s thought that the A’s might eat half of that to ship him out. Who knows, maybe he can toss up 500 ABs with a .700 OPS one more time. I doubt he would require much in the way of a prospect.
Patterson is another option, though O’Brien thinks the Braves would top out at a one-year, $3MM deal. Surely Scott Boras can do better than that, right? He’s young and plays solid defense!
I still think the Braves should go after Cameron…he’s the best option and this is not the time to be cheap. Even going to one year and $6MM for Patterson makes more sense than Kotsay.
Beane Has High Asking Price For Haren
Did you expect anything different? Billy Beane is happy to field offers on Dan Haren and Joe Blanton, but he’ll require a king’s ransom for either pitcher. Jayson Stark says Beane asked the Yankees for two of Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy for Haren. With the Red Sox it was two of Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester, and Jacoby Ellsbury. The Mets would have to pony up Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez. With two starters under contract through 2010, Beane and the A’s are sitting pretty.
One source of Stark echoes the popular sentiment that Miguel Cabrera in an Angels uniform would prompt a full-on A’s firesale. That would include Huston Street, Dan Johnson, Mark Kotsay, and Rich Harden. You have to admit, that would be fun. Maybe the Brewers won’t give up Rickie Weeks for Chad Cordero, but how about Street?
Rangers Rumors: DeJesus, Lamb, Millar
Evan Grant writes for the Dallas Morning News, but he posted this column at night. Go figure. He’s got some new info regarding the Rangers.
- As you know, the Rangers have had difficulty finding a long-term center fielder. That’s the main focus of this offseason. The team has already shown interest in Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand, the top center fielders available. Other free agents such as Andruw Jones and Mike Cameron appear to be in play as well. Grant’s trade candidates: Coco Crisp, David DeJesus, Mark Kotsay, and Carlos Beltran. We’ve speculated on DeJesus to Atlanta in the past. With DeJesus signed cheaply through 2011 and the market at the position robust this winter, it might make sense for Dayton Moore to wait a year to shop him aggressively.
- Grant adds that Jon Daniels is considering some affordable options for first base. They’ve already talked to Mike Lamb‘s agent and like Kevin Millar as well. Lamb came up through the Rangers’ system but was traded to the Yankees in ’04. Millar is under contract for ’08 but it’s in the $3-4MM range and the Orioles should be open to a trade. Grant says Ben Broussard could pique the Rangers’ interest if he’s non-tendered.
- Grant concludes with five Rangers whose names will be bandied about in trade talks: Gerald Laird, Vicente Padilla, Joaquin Arias, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Nelson Cruz. Salty’s not being shopped but Grant expects teams to ask. He proposes some kind of bad contract swap for Padilla – Jason Giambi, Richie Sexson, or Adam Eaton are named. I still think it’s funny the way Padilla crawled away from the brawl he started this year.