Red Sox Have Little Interest In Tejada
10:39pm: Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle says the Red Sox have "almost no interest" in Tejada. Other teams are considering Tejada, but a trade is unlikely.
8:18pm: It’s possible the Tigers are also in the mix for Tejada. They are among many teams scouting the Astros (the Nationals, Mets, Rangers, and Giants are others).
7:04pm: According to ESPN’s Enrique Rojas, the Red Sox and Astros have discussed shortstop Miguel Tejada. Rojas is not sure how far the trade talk has progressed. Tejada seemed open to the idea in a quote given to Rojas.
Tejada is hitting .281/.318/.420 in 431 plate appearances this year. The Astros are hoping a move to the #2 spot in the order will continue to revive his bat. Tejada is owed about $4.6MM more this year, plus $13MM in ’09. It was revealed in April that Tejada is 34 years old rather than 32 as was previously thought.
Theo Epstein and Ed Wade have matched up on trades before, when Wade was working for Phillies. One of those was Jeremy Giambi for Josh Hancock back in ’02.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Sabathia, Blake, Greinke, Tejada
And now…a fresh Ken Rosenthal column.
- An opposing viewpoint: Rosenthal says "any team that acquires C.C. Sabathia would gain an exclusive window to sign him long-term before he reaches free agency." Rosenthal notes that the Brewers and Rays are stacked enough to acquire Sabathia and wouldn’t mind taking draft picks for him after the season.
- Casey Blake is drawing trade interest; his versatility is a plus. Rosenthal likes the fit for the Dodgers, Mets, and A’s.
- An anonymous general manager tossed out this "trade concept": Adam Dunn to the Dodgers for Juan Pierre, Chin-lung Hu, and cash. Thoughts?
- Teams such as the Braves, Phillies, and Brewers have expressed interest in Zack Greinke at some point, but the Royals plan to keep him. He’ll be eligible for free agency after the 2010 season.
- Earlier this year the Cubs inquired on David DeJesus, but now they seem content with their Jim Edmonds–Reed Johnson platoon. Maybe talks will be rekindled after the season?
- The Astros will talk about any player on the roster without a no-trade clause, which would include Miguel Tejada. Does that mean Jose Valverde, Hunter Pence, and Wandy Rodriguez aren’t off limits?
Wade Looking To Add Pitching
MLB.com’s Jim Molony tells us that Astros GM Ed Wade has been working the phones to get a feel for the "general lay of the land." After a busy offseason for Wade, most notably adding Miguel Tejada and Jose Valverde, Wade will likely be in the market for pitching upgrades.
The Astros rank 21st in baseball with a team ERA of 4.50, and their rotation is a combined 20-25 with a 4.77 ERA, and a league-worst 65 home runs allowed.
As Wade himself points out though, starting pitching won’t be easy to come by this year. As usual, there are far more clubs looking to add starting pitching than sell it.
Personal speculation here, but with the Padres nearing a fire sale and Randy Wolf going through a particularly strong stretch, he could make sense for Houston and come at a reasonable price. Wolf is 5-4 this season with a 3.83 ERA through 84.2 innings, and has posted a very nice 75:26 K:BB ratio so far. Even more appealing for the home-run prone Astros, Wolf has allowed a sparkling 0.74 HR per nine innings. His numbers away from Petco, however, are far from impressive, having posted a 5.31 ERA through 40.2 innings. Surprisingly, more of his home runs (4) have been allowed at Petco than on the road. Any other possible thoughts?
Posted by Steve Adams
Odds And Ends: Hamilton, Lowry, Brewers, Tejada
I’m not so happy about kicking off the day with an odds and ends post, but what can I say? I can’t go around making up rumors.
- Evan Grant talks about how well the Josh Hamilton acquisition has worked out. I say acquisition, because the trade worked out smashingly for the Reds, too.
- Looks like there won’t be a six-man rotation in San Fran anytime soon. Noah Lowry isn’t throwing anymore, as the pins and needles in his arm have returned. He could miss the entire first half of the season. So much for being a trade candidate.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin has said that the team will look for pitching, but not to expect anything. It’s a seller’s market right now. In the meantime, David Bush takes a spot in the rotation, and Jeff Weaver remains an option.
- Miguel Tejada promised a sick kid he’d hit a homer, and came through. I could never make such a promise. How could you live with yourself if you failed?
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski, who writes for River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog (though you already knew that, right?). Today is slooooow. Hit me with rumors.
Stark’s Latest: Oswalt, Tejada, Upton, Burrell
Check out the latest column from ESPN’s Jayson Stark.
- Stark talked to one exec who believed the Astros’ baseball people might consider a Roy Oswalt trade, but owner Drayton McLane never would.
- The exec also questioned whether the Astros would’ve given up a bounty of five players to acquire Miguel Tejada if they’d known the player’s true age.
- Stark implies that the Upton brothers are eyeing big bucks and aren’t likely to sign extensions.
- Stark’s sources believe the Phillies will offer Pat Burrell something like two years and $14MM. He’ll probably want significantly more than that.
Odds And Ends II: Longoria, Manny, Giambi, Tejada
Rumors are a bit sparse today…this should be expected in the weeks and month to come. So here are a few articles for your afternoon reading.
- Sabernomics takes a look at the economics of the Evan Longoria deal.
- Tom Verducci puts Manny Ramirez in historical perspective. ‘Ducc thinks that Manny is better than some of us give him credit for. Which is difficult, because you have to give him all the credit in the world (at the dish, at least).
- Rob Neyer (subscription required) talks about the Yankees releasing Jason Giambi. He links to an article saying that Giambi simply cannot hit power pitchers anymore. Unfortunately, that idea is bunk, according to SG of Replacement Level.
- Keith Law (also subscription) has some thoughts on the Miguel Tejada age situation. I’m just wondering that with the way ESPN handled this, aren’t they closing doors to other interviews? If I was a past steroid user, I’d definitely be wary of an interview request from ESPN.
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski, who writes for River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Furcal, Tejada
Ken Rosenthal did an Inside Pitch video yesterday; let’s discuss.
- Rosenthal says Rafael Furcal and the Dodgers are open to discussing an extension during the season. Furcal makes $13MM this year and would be a hot commodity on the free agent market. If the Dodgers re-sign him, shortstop Chin-Lung Hu becomes valuable trade bait.
- Rosenthal notes that the biggest downside to Miguel Tejada‘s age revelation is his reduced trade value. It’s possible the ‘Stros could look to clean house in July or after the season.
Odds and Ends: Tejada, Howard, Johnson
Couple more odds and ends this evening…
- Orioles executive VP Mike Flanagan admitted he wouldn’t have signed Miguel Tejada to a six-year deal if he knew the shortstop’s proper age. But he still would’ve signed him (if possible). People are debating whether ESPN ambushed Tejada with his birth certificate…of course they did.
- Ken Rosenthal believes the optimal course of action for the Phillies is to just let Ryan Howard play out the string and then let him walk as a free agent after the 2011 season.
- Rays Index says the Dan Johnson acquisition signals a "win-now" attitude for the Rays.
Miguel Tejada Age Discrepancy
The Astros learned today that Miguel Tejada is 33 going on 34, rather than 31 going on 32. Astros GM Ed Wade doesn’t seem bothered by the discrepancy at all. I’m surprised – those two years have to be a big consideration when projecting him for his ’08 and ’09 seasons, which the ‘Stros pretty much own. I guess the Astros can’t have a legitimate beef with the Orioles, if the O’s didn’t know either.
Tejada, by the way, can opt out of his contract after this season. He’s due $13MM in ’09.
Odds and Ends: Deeds, Tejada
Some random tidbits for you; I may add to this post if I find a few more.
- RotoAuthority analyzes the hottest fantasy baseball pickups from this week.
- The Twins completed the Craig Monroe deal by sending 25 year-old outfielder Doug Deeds to the Cubs. He looks like a long shot to make the Majors. Monroe hasn’t looked like much of a big leaguer lately, either.
- Richard Justice notes that the Cardinals targeted Miguel Tejada this winter but couldn’t get it done. As if they needed any more steroid stigma. It’s interesting to see the Tejada deal looking so good for Baltimore, without Troy Patton factoring in at all.
- I did a fantasy baseball mailbag over at The Hardball Times.