Gammons’ Latest: Sabathia, Dunn, Harden
ESPN’s Peter Gammons has a new blog post up.
- The Indians are "thoroughly scouting" eight teams that may be interested in C.C. Sabathia, including the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, and Dodgers (the Mets may be another). Gammons agrees with Ken Rosenthal that Mark Shapiro may trade Sabathia soon to maximize his value. Gammons does not see the Yanks jumping in with Phil Hughes or a multi-prospect offer, unless Chien-Ming Wang‘s injury forces their hand. He does not think the Cubs or Phillies have the goods, but suggests the Rangers as a dark horse.
- If the Cubs don’t have enough for Sabathia, Plan B could be Randy Wolf, Greg Maddux, or even Erik Bedard. The Padres and Mariners have been informed of the Cubs’ interest.
- Gammons seems to indicate that Mark Teixeira could be available if the Braves fall out of the race (although Tex is not mentioned by name).
- The Dodgers may have been open to trading Brad Penny, but his shoulder injury puts the kibosh on that.
- Adam Dunn‘s whifftastic ways scare the Red Sox, who might pass even if David Ortiz needs surgery. Gammons suggests Josh Willingham would be a better fit.
- Rich Harden could be a huge acquisition, one of the game’s most dominating pitchers. It’s the same story though – will any team be willing to meet Billy Beane’s asking price given Harden’s injury history?
Rosenthal’s Latest: Dunn, Sabathia, Teixeira
Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up.
- Adam Dunn‘s no-trade protection narrows from all teams to ten teams today. Dunn told Rosenthal he’d like a resolution soon rather than another round of rumors. He’d be open to an extension with the Reds, but the team has not made contact. Will Walt Jocketty attempt to re-sign Dunn before shopping him?
- Tough situation for the Indians – at 6.5 games out, they’re not ready to give up. However, Mark Shapiro could maximize the return for C.C. Sabathia by trading him now rather than late July. As many have noted, Sabathia is more than just a rental given the certain Type A draft pick compensation.
- Rosenthal says the Braves (also 6.5 games out) are even less likely to concede than the Indians. So don’t look for another summer of Mark Teixeira rumors. The Braves may be buyers, hunting for a left fielder and a young controllable starting pitcher.
Heyman On the Rockies and Holliday
The idea of the Rockies trading Matt Holliday this summer is not a new one. Ken Rosenthal speculated on the possibility two weeks ago. Today, Jon Heyman goes a little deeper. While he feels trading Holliday is certainly possible, there are at least a couple of executives who think it is unlikely. To sum up:
- The Rockies are tied for the worst record in baseball and several executives are now wondering if they will be willing to trade Garrett Atkins and/or Holliday.
- Willy Taveras and Brian Fuentes will almost certainly be made available.
- One GM thinks that last year’s mid-season turnaround may make Dan O’Dowd less likely to pull the trigger on a trade.
- One exec said that the Rockies will have a tough time matching the deals that the Indians received for Bartolo Colon in ’03 and the Rangers received for Mark Teixera last year, as those were highly specialized situations.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Royals, Cashman, Tavarez
4:45pm: Updating the Tavarez item – the Boston Herald reports that he’s accepted a minor league assignment in order to buy the Red Sox more time in trading him.
10:38am: Here’s today’s link collection.
- MLB.com’s Dick Kaegel hears the Royals are leaning toward an impact bat in the June draft. Baseball America predicted catcher Buster Posey, while Jonathan Mayo went with first baseman Eric Hosmer. First baseman Justin Smoak is another possibility.
- Paul DePodesta tells a story about the gamesmanship of the draft.
- Hank Steinbrenner says there’s a chance Brian Cashman will be the Yankees’ GM next year, if he wants to be. He might be able to find a better situation. If there’s a new GM, his first task might be negotiating with Scott Boras for Mark Teixeira.
- The Rockies still might have mild interest in Julian Tavarez, who will become a free agent today.
- The Marlins, Rockies, and Rangers were the three clubs interested in Edinson Volquez when he was a kid in the Dominican.
Heyman On Teixeira
Jon Heyman’s latest column does a fine job analyzing Mark Teixeira‘s future. To sum it up:
- Heyman’s source expects the asking price to be around ten years and $200MM. Personally, I don’t see him getting a term nearly that long.
- Heyman and his sources do not see the Braves re-signing Tex.
- The suitors, in order of likelihood: Yankees, Mets, Orioles, Mariners, Braves, Red Sox, Giants. A battle of the New York powers is a reasonable prediction – both clubs should have first base open and the market for the position is otherwise poor.
- In a February MLBTR poll, the Yankees were picked as Tex’s most likely future club.
Will Salty Callup Lead To Laird Trade?
Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been called up, and GM Jon Daniels has no plans for him to warm the bench. Salty performed well at AAA Oklahoma, and when backup backstop Adam Melhuse broke a bone in his hand on Thursday, the call-up seemed imminent. However, incumbent Rangers catcher Gerald Laird has also been solid to start the season. Given the organization’s desire to get Saltalamacchia regular at-bats and the lackluster hitting of first baseman Ben Broussard, I think it’s likely that the defensively sub-par Salty will see at least some time at the "cold corner."
But with the Rangers off to an absolutely abysmal start–Buster Olney cites a scout today saying that the team looks "out of control"–we have to wonder when the Rangers will open up the treasure chest and share some of their backstop bounty with the rest of the league. As previously noted in this space, the team is expected to be sellers come July. In addition to Laird and Saltalamacchia, the Rangers also have three decent catching prospects. With catching talent so scarce, other GMs will likely come knocking sooner rather than later. Rumors about Laird have been flying to and fro since Texas acquired Saltalamacchia in the Mark Teixeira deal last summer, but Salty’s call-up means the clock has officially started ticking. Although Daniels said recently he wasn’t planning on trading Laird, I have a feeling he’s just playing hard to get. Some possible suitors? The Reds, the Mets, the Blue Jays, or the Red Sox.
Sarah Green writes for the Boston Metro and UmpBump.com. She can be reached here.
Rangers DFA Tejeda, Cruz
As expected the Rangers DFA’d outfielder Nelson Cruz and pitcher Robinson Tejeda over the weekend. Tejeda is a casualty of the Rangers’ Friday deal for Dustin Nippert, and has been undergoing a thus far unsuccessful transition to the bullpen. He went 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA during the spring, but did manage to run a streak of four scoreless appearances prior to giving up a game-ending RBI triple to Felix Pie last week.
Cruz’s release was expected. There was some light talk of him possibly being moved to Tampa last week, but that evaporated when the Rays acquired former Angels prospect Nathan Haynes. Ironically, according to Lone Star Ball, Haynes was once offered to Texas along with Casey Kotchman in a proposed deal for Mark Teixeira. Sands through the hourglass…
Control problems have always plagued Tejeda (67/60 K/BB in 2007), but he’s got a live fastball that touches the upper 90s and a decent change to compliment it. Plus he owns Orlando Cabrera (1 for 10 lifetime). It seems likely someone might give the 6′ 3" Dominican another shot.
Aaron Shinsano writes for East Windup Chronicle.
Heyman’s Latest: Crede, Ethier, Teixeira
SI.com rumor guru Jon Heyman has a new column up; let’s take a gander.
- Heyman talked to an NL scout who considers Joe Crede a below average third baseman right now. If that scout’s opinion is the consensus, it makes sense that Kenny Williams is inclined to wait for Crede to build more value.
- The Rangers pushed hard to acquire Andre Ethier from the Dodgers, both in a Mark Teixeira deal and after L.A. signed Andruw Jones. If I were a Dodger fan, I’d be angry to see the team put its pride ahead of winning by playing Juan Pierre over Ethier.
- Heyman talked to a general manager who felt the Braves have no chance of signing Tex. That GM named the Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees, Giants, Mariners, Dodgers, and Angels as potential suitors. In a survey of almost 1,700 MLBTR readers, the Yankees were picked as the team most likely to sign Teixeira (followed closely by the Braves).
Where Will Teixeira Sign?
In today’s Baltimore Sun, Dan Connolly hashes out the oft-rumored idea of the Orioles signing hometown boy Mark Teixeira after this season. He opines:
If Peter Angelos sets a club salary record, it would be for Teixeira.
Connolly also notes the team’s repaired relations with Scott Boras and the agent’s occasional tendency to push clients to bad teams to maximize paydays. For his part, Teixeira’s not saying much. There’s plenty of reason to stay in Atlanta if they offer something competitive.
If Teixeira has a huge 40 HR, 120 RBI year, he’d seemingly be in line for at least Connolly’s predicted six years, $120MM. In my mind, the legitimate possible suitors are the Orioles, Braves, Red Sox, Yankees, Royals, Mariners, Mets, and Giants. You could throw the Los Angeles teams into the mix, though they have solid young first basemen.
Your turn: which of the above-mentioned teams will Teixeira sign for, if any? Take the survey here; view the results here.
Odds and Ends: Crisp, Stewart, Meyer
Let’s round ’em up!
- I’m doing a fantasy baseball mailbag feature at The Hardball Times. Check out the first entry.
- Nothing really new from Coco Crisp…if he loses the center field battle, he’ll probably prefer a trade.
- The Brewers are close to a minor league deal with Russell Branyan, who might have a hard time sniffing the big league roster anytime this season.
- The Toronto Star relays from J.P. Ricciardi that the Blue Jays no longer have an offer on the table for Shannon Stewart.
- Turns out Oakland’s Dan Meyer has a fourth option, meaning he’s likely to lose the fifth starter battle to Dana Eveland.
- I can’t help it…I love the Juan Gonzalez story. I’m rooting for him for no apparent reason.
- Mark Teixeira didn’t offer much info regarding extension talks with the Braves. He did refute that report about building a home in Atlanta and another about a rift with Scott Boras.
- Peter Abraham thinks the Yanks should trade Hideki Matsui.