Indians Get Mitch Talbot In Kelly Shoppach Trade
Righty Mitch Talbot is the player to be named later from the Kelly Shoppach trade, writes MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince. The Indians traded Shoppach to the Rays on December 1st. The Rays also received cash in the deal, according to a team press release.
Talbot, 26, pitched mostly at Triple A this year. He posted a 4.47 ERA, 6.6 K/9, and 3.0 BB/9 in ten starts. He missed a few months with an elbow injury, so the Rays had him make six starts in the Arizona Fall League to get more work. He's out of options, so he'll presumably compete for a spot in the Indians' rotation. Heading into the season, Baseball America had this scouting report on Talbot:
Talbot has an 89-91 mph fastball with good movement, a hard slider with impressive late cutting action and a changeup that continues to show better fade and depth.
Shipping Aubrey Huff to the Astros in July of '06 really paid off for the Rays. They received Talbot and eventually spun him into Shoppach. They also received Ben Zobrist, who was immensely valuable this year.
Odds & Ends: Lackey, Bay, Matsui, Wilson
Some links to start off your weekend…
- Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe says the Red Sox are just doing their due diligence by touching base with John Lackey's agent, reminding us that they also spoke to CC Sabathia's and A.J. Burnett's representatives last offseason.
- WEEI.com's Alex Speier breaks down Joe Urbon's pitch for his client, free agent outfielder Jason Bay.
- Hideki Matsui acknowledged that he'd be disappointed if he didn't return to the Yankees, according to Anthony McCarron of The NY Daily News. Godzilla says that his agent Arn Tellem is taking care of the situation, but he doesn't think the two sides have had any discussions yet.
- ESPN's Rob Neyer says that Jack Wilson's defense is definitely worth the $10MM the Mariners gave him yesterday.
- Steve Slowinski at DRays Bay goes back and evaluates the deal that brought Mitch Talbot and Ben Zobrist to Tampa in exchange for Aubrey Huff.
- Edgardo Alfonzo still thinks he could be valuable utility player and has two or three years of baseball left, according to The NY Post's Kevin Kernan. The 36-year-old hasn't played in the big leagues since 2006.
Jeremy Hermida Rumors
7:12pm: MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says Mariners catcher Rob Johnson and Rangers catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia were discussed in these Hermida talks, but no match was found.
6:31pm: Baker says the Marlins wanted catching prospect Adam Moore from the Ms in a Hermida deal. Baseball America ranks Moore as the Mariners’ sixth best prospect. They say he looks like a future big league starting catcher; he’ll start ’09 at Triple A.
5:31pm: Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald says the Ms and Rangers initiated the Hermida talks, and they didn’t get far.
4:44pm: Geoff Baker says the Marlins offered Hermida to the Mariners and Rangers for catching.
12:34pm: Rays Index found a note from MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan on Monday – the Rays like Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz.
12:26pm: Berardino has an update. He says the Marlins proposed trading Hermida to the Rays for two pitchers, likely among Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis, Jeremy Hellickson, and Mitch Talbot. The Rays rejected the offer and it’s unlikely to be revisited.
Berardino now says the Reds have yet to inquire on Hermida.
12:04pm: Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel discusses Jeremy Hermida trade possibilities in a blog post today (hat tip, Rays Index). He says the Reds have definitely shown interest, and also discusses the Rays. Berardino’s sources believe Micah Owings could be had, but not Johnny Cueto. In the case of the Rays it’d apparently take Andy Sonnanstine rather than Edwin Jackson.
By the way, the Marlins have talked about the possibility of moving Hermida to left field if they keep him. Hermida has been a slightly above-average right fielder according to the plus/minus system.