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Ryan Freel

Orioles Shopping Ryan Freel

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FRIDAY, 12:01pm: Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports expects that Freel will be dealt or released. Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that Andy MacPhail expects "resolution in a day or two that will be to everyone's satisfaction." 

THURSDAY: According to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun, Orioles baseball operations president Andy MacPhail has been calling around to gauge interest in utility man Ryan Freel.  Freel is done with his rehab assignment, and Schmuck says he's probably the odd man out.  One small problem: Freel is still owed $3.3MM this year.

Freel made it clear in late April that he'd weclome a trade.

Ryan Freel Is Unhappy

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Ryan Freel's Orioles career is not off to a good start.  He's trying to bounce back from a head injury, and has gripes with the team's handling of the situation according to MASN's Steve Melewski.  His reply when asked whether he wants to stay with the Orioles:

"I think change is good for people. I think the expectations were for me to come here and perform in a different way than I did. I don't think I met the expectations the way I in spring training. There is nothing wrong with change. I don't think I fit here. I can't control what they do with me. It's putting a damper on my career."

You may recall that Freel met with Andy MacPhail on April 15th over playing time concerns.  It seems that the O's acquired Freel for Ramon Hernandez in December mainly just to free up cash (they saved $3.5MM) and a catching spot for Matt Wieters.

Ramon Hernandez Traded For Ryan Freel

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7:52pm: Scott Miller says the Orioles are sending $3MM to the Reds, not $1MM as previously reported. Kubatko says it’s $2MM.

4:34pm: MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon adds that the Orioles will receive prospects Brandon Waring and Justin Turner and will send $1MM to the Reds.

2:39pm: Rosenthal says an agreement has been reached to send Hernandez to Cincy for Freel and two prospects.  The Orioles are sending over $1MM, so the deal requires approval of the commissioner’s office.  I can see how this might work out for both clubs; each player had worn out his welcome.

By the way, Tom Haudricourt rejects the idea that the Brewers were interested.

2:29pm: The Orioles would send cash to Cincy to offset Hernandez’s salary.  This deal might be announced soon.  Walt Jocketty said "we’ll have something" later when questioned.

1:56pm: John Perrotto believes a Hernandez for Freel deal will be announced today.

TUESDAY, 12:30pm: Seems that a deal for Hernandez is close, though Roch Kubatko says the Brewers jumped into the mix.  Kubatko still thinks Hernandez will be traded to the Reds.

MONDAY, 9:37pm: Walt Jocketty slyly lifted his eyebrows when asked about this rumor, according to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon.

7:11pm: Rosenthal says the Reds would also kick in a prospect in this deal, but want the O’s to pay a significant portion of Hernandez’s salary.

6:01pm: John Fay of the Cincy Enquirer says he’s heard the Hernandez for Freel rumor from both sides.

12:21pm: According to Roch Kubatko of MASN Online, one of the teams interested in catcher Ramon Hernandez would like to swap contracts.  The team would send the Orioles a utility guy who can play the infield and outfield.

Kubatko goes on to note that the Reds and Astros are looking for catching. Connecting the dots, Kubatko may have been talking about Ryan Freel above.  Hernandez has $9MM left on his contract, while Freel has $4MM.

Dunn Could Stay, Says Fay

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Reds beat writer John Fay says he thinks the Reds will hold on to Adam Dunn and take the draft picks when he leaves as a free agent, because Cincinnati’s outfield is so thin that they can’t afford to lose Dunn.

With Ryan Freel done for the year, the Reds currently have four healthy outfielders on the roster. That means if they traded Adam Dunn or Ken Griffey Jr. right now, you’re looking at Corey Patterson playing every day. That might blow up this blog.

This makes no sense to me. The Reds would only trade Dunn if they were prepared to give up on the season. And since they’re four games under .500 and 11 games back of the Cubs, it’s probably about time to give up on the season. So, if you’re looking ahead to next season, who cares if Patterson is playing everyday in August and September?

Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com and can be reached here.

Stark’s Latest: Sabathia, Bedard, Phillies, Freel

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It’s Thursday, and you know what that means.  Time for another installment of Jayson Stark’s Rumblings and Grumblings at ESPN.com.

  • Stark runs through a laundry list of candidates for the Mariners’ and Mets’ manager and GM vacancies.
  • The Indians will not be giving a negotiation window for a team hoping to sign C.C. Sabathia while acquiring him.
  • Erik Bedard is "now officially on the market."  Bedard’s value has diminished since the Mariners acquired him, however.
  • The Phillies have already inquired on Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Bronson Arroyo, and Jarrod Washburn.  Stark sees Bedard joining that group, but believes it’d require Carlos Carrasco and Antonio Bastardo.
  • Ryan Freel is drawing strong interest; Stark names the Phillies, Braves, Mets, and Marlins as suitors.
  • Ken Griffey Jr. apparently still wants to finish his career in Seattle.
  • Stark agrees with Ken Rosenthal – Mark Teixeira is not available.  Nor is Ben Sheets, by the way.
  • The Marlins are looking for center field, catcher, and bullpen help.  Stark believes they’d be willing to give up a near-arb Josh Willingham type for players with less service time.
  • The Yankees seem open to bringing back Jason Giambi next year, after they buy out his option.  Giambi is currently third in the AL in OPS at .979.

Freel Unhappy

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Reds beat writer John Fay talked to Ryan Freel tonight.  Freel is not amused about sitting tonight in favor of Corey Patterson.  Freel has been hitting well lately, better than Patterson. 

Wayne Krivsky shopped Freel around this spring, calling the Twins and other clubs.  The lack of interest was no surprise; Freel was coming off a lousy season and earns $7MM over 2008-09.  The versatile Freel hits lefties well, and was good for a .360-.370 OBP prior to last season.  Still, the Reds would probably have to eat some salary or take some back in order to move Freel.

Rosenthal’s Latest: DeWitt, Murton, Vargas, Hatteberg, Pena, Baek, Piazza

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Ken Rosenthal has his latest column up at FoxSports.com. As usual he is not shy about stirring up rumors. Let’s take a look at what the rumor-guru has to say:

  • Rosenthal notes that the Dodgers will go with Blake DeWitt at third base who has never played a game above AA. This comes after the Dodgers failed to acquire either the Astros’ Mark Loretta, who was unavailable and the Royals’ Esteban German, who was too expensive. The Royals were asking for the Dodgers’ third best prospect, shortstop Chin-Lung Hu.
  • He indicates that the Padres and the Rays are pursuing Matt Murton but the Cubs are holding out for a top pitching prospect in return, knowing Murton will be a starter on another club. Rosenthal quotes one GM as saying that the price "is way too high as of now". As many as five teams have shown interest in Murton.
  • The Mets are among a dozen teams that have inquired about Brewers pitcher Claudio Vargas, who will not be in the rotation to begin the season. [Update: Sorry about this one. I had forgotten that the Brewers released Vargas earlier this week]
  • The Reds have put Ryan Freel on the market, but more teams appear to be interested in Scott Hatteberg. However, Rosenthal indicates that it is unlikely for the Red to trade Hatteberg even if Joey Votto is named the starter.
  • The Tigers, Reds and Orioles all tried to acquire backup catcher Brayan Pena from the Braves, but the Braves do not appear interested in letting him go
  • Rosenthal says that Pat Gillick’s history in Seattle may have played a part in the Phillies inability to land M’s reliever Cha Seung Baek, who is out of options but made the roster as a reliever.
  • Finally, Rosenthal notes that Mike Piazza is still working out with hopes of landing a gig at some point in ’08. Rosenthal thinks that Piazza may have to come to the realization soon that his career may be over.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Odds And Ends: Lahey, Gibbons, Freel

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A couple minor notes this morning…

  • The Phillies claimed reliever Tim Lahey off of waivers from the Cubs. Lahey was the top pick in the Rule 5 draft from the Twins’ system. The Cubs had to expose Lahey to waivers prior to offering him back to the Twinkies. Rule 5 rules still apply with the Phillies, so Lahey must remain on their 25-man roster all season or be offered back to Minnesota.
  • John Fay notes that after the Reds latest round of cuts the roster sits at 26 which could open the door for a trade. He doesn’t offer any potential names, but Ryan Freel still seems like the most logical choice.  By the way, LEN3 notes that the Reds called the Twins about Freel and the Twins weren’t interested.
  • Peter Schmuck thinks that the Orioles might be reluctant to cut Jay Gibbons while Major League Baseball continues to renegotiate the league’s drug policy. Gibbons is facing a 15-day suspension for use of PEDs but many believe the suspension will be lifted under the new agreement which ironically is supposed to stiffen penalties. Schmuck feels that if Angelos decides to keep Gibbons, it could undermine Andy MacPhail’s efforts to rebuild the Orioles.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Reds Shopping Freel?

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John Fay, writing on his Reds Insider blog, notes that the reason for the lack of cuts in Reds camp is that they might be looking to move Ryan Freel. He didn’t elaborate much, other than to say he heard talks of Philadelphia, Minnesota, "and others."

Freel is pretty versatile, having handled all three outfield positions, as well as second and third base. The Twins could use his bat in the lineup. But where would he play? Second? Displace recently-acquired Carlos Gomez in center field temporarily? Or just a utility role?

The same situation appears to be in place in Philly. They just signed Pedro Feliz to play third, and have a full infield beyond that. In the outfield, they signed Geoff Jenkins over the off-season to go with Shane Victorino and Pat Burrell. So it appears he’d be headed for a utility role there, too.

The question, then, becomes: What will the Reds do about their outfield? Do they really plan to start Norris Hopper in center? Or does this signal that Jay Bruce could be back soon? Lots of questions to be asked surrounding this rumor.

(Of course, less than three hours after Fay noted the lack of cuts, the Reds re-assigned Andy Phillips, optioned Bill Bray, and returned Jose Capellan to the Red Sox.)

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski

Reds Seek Catching Help

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John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer is hearing a rumor that the Reds are "actively seeking a catcher."  He speculates that Ryan Freel could be trade bait.

Fay’s note conveniently gels with some info from a Jeff Brantley radio appearance that a reader passed along.  Brantley reportedly said the Reds have been scouting the Rangers’ Gerald Laird.  On a not necessarily related note, Brantley also mentioned that they may look to trade Matt Belisle.

MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan recently wrote that the Rangers don’t intend to trade Laird despite some interest.  On the other hand, Jon Daniels admitted in Sullivan’s article that he wouldn’t turn a deaf ear to anything.  Laird is set to be the Rangers’ starting catcher this year.  Jarrod Saltalamacchia would take on a smaller role or try Triple A.

The Reds could also consider trying to acquire San Diego’s Michael Barrett, who has played under Dusty Baker with the Cubs.  Bengie Molina and Ramon Hernandez may also be available.

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