Carroll’s Latest: Duchscherer, Burnett, Ibanez, Cabrera
Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus has some rumors to consider this afternoon.
- The Tigers are 5.5 games out, but are still on the fence about buying or selling.
- Carroll says there’s "much more substance to rumors of the White Sox going after Justin Duchscherer" as compared to the one about the A’s pursuing Jason Bay.
- The Phillies could jump back in on A.J. Burnett if the price comes down. Also – could Burnett clear waivers in August?
- The Rockies’ demands for Brian Fuentes might be holding up the relief market.
- Regarding Raul Ibanez, the Mariners either want to tack Jose Vidro on in a deal or get back premium prospects.
- The White Sox have become aggressive, and apparently had failed talks about Orlando Cabrera with the Red Sox. Josh Fields is not considered untouchable.
Odds And Ends: Lo Duca, Cabrera, Nady, Bay
A few more minor notes from the MLBiverse…
- Jay Gibbons joins the Long Island Ducks.
- The Giants may have to trade for a long-reliever. Bruce Bochy admits that his team is without a long-reliever and will work to find extra innings from his middle relievers.
- With Paul Lo Duca coming off the DL, the Nationals will now have three catchers. Chico Harlan feels the Nats will hope that Lo Duca plays well in his return to increase his trade value.
- Nick Cafardo believes that the White Sox will let Orlando Cabrera walk at the end of the season as a free agent, feeling that their double-play combination of the future is in the system and not far away.
- Bob Smizik doesn’t see the Pirates landing any top prospects for Xavier Nady or Jason Bay, should they be dealt.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Padilla, Greinke, Hatteberg
Let’s discuss Ken Rosenthal’s lastest column.
- There’s some chatter that the ’09 draft class will be weak. This could motivate teams to trade their impending free agent stars this July rather than collect compensation picks.
- Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson has "fallen out of favor with some in the organization." Rosenthal believes he’d be a hot commodity if fired.
- The Rangers are open to trading Vicente Padilla, as you’d expect. We’ve heard some crazy things about the asking price.
- While the Royals don’t seem to consider Zack Greinke untouchable, they’d have to be bowled over to trade him.
- The Yanks probably don’t have room for Ben Broussard, and the Orioles could swoop in and sign him if he’s granted free agency this month.
- Look for Scott Hatteberg to become a free agent today; interest appears to be tepid.
- The Florida teams are willing to spend money for midseason upgrades. They’re understandably reluctant to trade prospects.
- Doesn’t seem like Orlando Cabrera will be signing long-term with the White Sox.
Orlando Cabrera Contracts Talks Will Wait
According to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, the White Sox will not have further contract discussions with shortstop Orlando Cabrera until after the season. While an extension is still possible at that time, the chances seem to decrease as he reaches the cusp of free agency. Often when a guy is that close, he’ll then say he wants to explore the market.
Cabrera makes $9MM this year, with the Angels paying $1.5MM. It’s a solid price for the Sox, but Cabrera has to be looking for three years and at least $20MM. He’ll turn 34 in November, so it’d be a risky move. Alexei Ramirez is the only viable replacement in the organization, but he’s no sure thing. Kenny Williams could consider other free agent shortstops, of which there are a handful of decent options.
Gonzales’ article also has one line about the Sox waiting until season’s end to consider an extension for Joe Crede. An extension would surprise me, but I could see them sticking with him all year.
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.
Orlando Cabrera Extension Talks May Carry Into Season
Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times couldn’t get much commenting out of Kenny Williams or Orlando Cabrera regarding the state of contract extension talks. The Sox do want to sign their shortstop, who can become a free agent after the season. Cabrera doesn’t mind letting talks carry into the season.
I imagine Cabrera wants something in the neighborhood of three years and $24MM. PECOTA would give a little more than half that amount; Cabrera is already 33.
Next year’s free agent market has perhaps three viable shortstop options aside from Cabrera: David Eckstein, Adam Everett, and Rafael Furcal. Cristian Guzman could become one with a nice year. Furcal is obviously the cream of the crop; it might make sense for the Cubs to renew their interest.
White Sox Considering Jenks, Cabrera Extensions
Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times says the White Sox "began preliminary talks last month on a contract extension" for closer Bobby Jenks. GM Kenny Williams also hopes to extend new shortstop Orlando Cabrera before the season begins.
Jenks, 27 in March, has a 3.26 career ERA with 87 saves in 174 innings. Last year he traded some missed bats for improved command, while also maintaining a strong groundball rate. By my count he is eligible for arbitration after the ’08 season and free agency after 2011.
Cabrera, 33, hit .301/.345/.397 for the Angels in ’07. Bill James’ panel of ten experts ranked his defense 11th among shortstops. He makes $9MM in ’08, though the Angels are paying $1.5MM of it.
Crisp/Lugo For Cabrera Speculation
Been getting this Phil Rogers blog post emailed to me quite a bit lately. In it he speculates that the White Sox could send Orlando Cabrera to the Red Sox for Julio Lugo and Coco Crisp. Or, they could send Cabrera to the Cubs for prospects. Third, he suggests the Sox could sign Cabrera for around four years and $50MM, the offer they made to Kosuke Fukudome.
Nothing wrong with the speculation, Phil is just spitballing here it seems. However, this talk gets passed around a couple of times, people don’t actually read what Phil wrote, and then people start saying this is a rumor or that there have been talks of this nature. To me, speculation doesn’t graduate to a rumor until someone reports that it’s been discussed by execs of one or more teams. Just my two cents on why this is not a trade rumor. But, feel free to discuss.
White Sox Trade Jon Garland For Orlando Cabrera
UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal reports that the White Sox received $1.5MM in the deal. It certainly seems that the Sox are clearing payroll for Torii Hunter. Mark Gonzales notes that while the Sox hope to sign Cabrera long-term, they’ll still benefit from this trade if they don’t. Cabrera is likely to be a Type A a year from now while Garland will probably be a B.
According to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, the White Sox acquired shortstop Orlando Cabrera for starter Jon Garland today.
In a vacuum, this seems like a pretty even swap to me. Just comparing the two players involved, it’s fair. Garland is a solid if not spectacular starter, and Cabrera is the same at shortstop. Both players’ contracts run through 2008. Garland is at $12MM and Cabrera $9MM, so the Sox save a few bucks here. Plus, they will get some cash from the Angels.
But trades aren’t made in a vacuum; you have to look at their effects on the teams involved.
The White Sox will seemingly put Juan Uribe at second base, if they don’t trade him. They could potentially have one of the game’s finest defensive double play combinations. And Cabrera’s .345 OBP last year, while nothing amazing, is good for a shortstop and looks great for an OBP-starved team like the Sox. The question is whether the Sox can sustain the loss of Garland in the rotation. They’ll now go with Buehrle, Vazquez, Contreras, Danks, and maybe Gavin Floyd or Gio Gonzalez. That group could work but you could see Contreras and the kids flopping and Buehrle coming back down to Earth.
Kenny Williams has shown some ability to dig up starting pitching, so maybe he’s playing to his strength. How about the return of Bartolo Colon?
The Angels now have an embarrassment of starting pitching. They’ve got Lackey, Escobar, Weaver, Garland, Saunders, and Ervin Santana. Nick Adenhart should be around soon also. The Angels may now be compelled to flip Santana for a bat. Meanwhile they have plenty of solid options at shortstop with Brandon Wood, Erick Aybar, Chone Figgins, and Maicer Izturis.