Odds and Ends: Colon, Clark, Gagne
Random rumors, let’s round ’em up.
- How about Bartolo Colon to the Mets? David Lennon notes that Omar Minaya sold the farm to acquire him in 2002 as the Expos’ GM.
- Scott Lauber says Aaron Rowand is insisting on a five-year deal. He adds that the Phils have interest in Geoff Jenkins but he might be too expensive.
- Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller are considered untouchable, so don’t look for the Tigers to make any big trades.
- Patrick Saunders runs down some free agents the Rockies may consider for the back end of their rotation: Tony Armas, Matt Clement, Steve Trachsel, Josh Fogg, Jason Jennings, Jon Lieber, Mark Redman, Brett Tomko, and Kip Wells.
- The Rays may go after Tony Clark, in large part because they’re seeking leadership. Marc Topkin agrees, and also rattles off Geoff Jenkins, Brad Wilkerson, Cliff Floyd, Mike Lamb, Mark Sweeney, Corey Koskie, and Greg Nortion as other possibilities.
- It’s expected that Eric Gagne will not accept Boston’s offer of arbitration, because he wants to close. One place he could do so is Texas, who like him if he’ll take one year.
- The Marlins’ new marketing materials exclude Miguel Cabrera.
- The Rangers have interest in Sean Casey and Mike Lamb.
Carlos Guillen to Play 1B Next Season
The Tigers anticipated this. Carlos Guillen‘s okay with it. Despite signing Guillen in March to a 4 year deal for $48MM to begin next season, the shortstop is going to be moving across the diamond sooner than expected to play first base. The move is designed to protect his knees from the physical stresses of SS.
Tim argued that 4/48 was a bargain as long as he remained the Tigers’ shortstop. Unfortunately, it appears Manager Jim Leyland has had to talk him into moving to first, despite Guillen’s condition last week that the Tigers had to bring in a gold glove caliber replacement. However, Guillen now believes it’ll be better for the team and the longevity of his career.
Who then will be playing short for the Tigers in 2008? Omar Vizquel, David Eckstein, and Cesar Izturis are free agents that stick out. The Detroit Free Press notes there "could be other shortstops available in trade." Edgar Renteria seems to be a popular choice among MLBTR readers. Or will the Tigers make another attempt at Jack Wilson from Pittsburgh? Or would they stick with the in-house option of Ramon Santiago? The apparent good news is there are many options.
This also confirms the obvious: the Tigers have no plans to bring Sean Casey back.
Posted by: Nat Boyle
Tigers Trade For Sean Casey
Latest from Ken Rosenthal: the Tigers have found their left-handed bat in Sean Casey. Detroit gave up a minor league pitcher in the deal.
Casey makes $8.5MM this year, but the Reds are paying one million of that. That leaves approximately $2.6 mil for the Tigers to cover.
Casey should get most of the time at first base, as the Tigers demoted Chris Shelton to make room for him.
In return the Pirates received right-hander Brian Rogers, not among Detroit’s top 30 prospects entering the season. The 24 year-old has worked in relief at Double A this year, posting a 2.39 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 9.7 K/9. Rogers, a product of Georgia Southern University, was an 11th round pick in 2003. He switched to relief last year and has put up good numbers since.
Pirates Trade Rumors
Let’s run down all the possible trades Dave Littlefield and the Pirates have brewing.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review still has Oakland as the favorite for Sean Casey, a move that makes little sense to me.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mentions a possible swap of John Grabow for Ryan Shealy. That sounds reasonable.
Dejan Kovacevic’s article also indicates that the Mets and Yankees are leading the charge for Kip Wells. The Yankees also want Craig Wilson and Roberto Hernandez. Wilson and Wells seem unlikely at this point, though, as the Abreu deal looks close.
Trade Rumor Roundup: 7 Days Left
Here’s the latest from around baseball…
Dejan Kovacevic mentions that the A’s are considering Sean Casey. Casey’s doing his usual good batting average/low slugging thing and he’s getting $8.5MM for it. The combined efforts of Dan Johnson and Nick Swisher have been inadequate at first, but would Casey really help? Johnson is hitting .485/.575/.848 in 33 Triple A at-bats; maybe he deserves another look. The Athletics, who are dead last in the AL in slugging, wouldn’t be helped by adding the powerless Casey. They need Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Lee, Pat Burrell, or even Raul Ibanez to make a difference.
The Yankees have decided to hold on to Philip Hughes, and the Phils aren’t biting on whatever else they offered. According to George King, the Yanks think assuming Abreu’s contract and exercising his option should be enough. Still, it would be cool to see a nasty young Phillies rotation in 2008 with Hughes, Cole Hamels, Gio Gonzalez, and Scott Mathieson.
Also, I’m hearing that WPEN in Philadelphia has mentioned a trade rumor: Tom Gordon for Trot Nixon. Nixon is a good hitter (.400 OBP), though he’s 32 with declining power numbers. Given that Flash would be hands down the best reliever on the market, I’d expect the Phils to get more.
Kenny Williams didn’t deny the recent Soriano rumor, so now you know it’s legit. Kenny has been pretty shrewd with the media, so this is probably all part of his plan. Despite word of a possible contract extension with Washington, Buster Olney all but assured us of a Soriano trade in today’s blog.
Also, Olney nixed the A-Rod to the Cubs idea, explaining that Rodriguez is a bargain in the Yankees’ world. This column is kind of weird to me. Phil Rogers almost seems like he’s just cooked up a brilliant scenario or something, with Aramis Ramirez and Jacque Jones being swapped for A-Rod. Thing is, Bleed Cubbie Blue broke out this exact trade rumor three weeks ago.
RotoAuthority has a look at which pitchers have been abused this season.
Soriano, Benson, Casey Deals Close
Wow, I stepped out for a couple of hours and a billion trades/rumors occurred. Here’s three, with more in-depth analysis to come tomorrow.
Peter Gammons is saying the Dodgers are close to acquiring Alfonso Soriano for Jonathan Broxton. I suppose Soriano could take over at third base; he’s yet to play a Major League game in the outfield. Broxton would fit well in either the starting rotation or the ‘pen. The hefty right-hander split time between the roles at Double A Jacksonville in 2005. One of Broxton’s specialties (besides the palmball) is limiting the home run, a trait that will come in handy in a ballpark that inflates homers by 19%.
The Mets dumped Kris Benson and his salary on the Royals, acquiring southpaw reliever Jeremy Affeldt and perhaps Mike MacDougal. Affeldt has pretty lousy control and just an OK strikeout rate for a reliever; I’m not sure why everyone’s saying that he’ll shore up the Mets’ middle relief. MacDougal at leasts boasts a career 8.5 K/9. As for Benson, Kauffman Stadium isn’t much worse of a place to pitch than Shea. But with the Royals’ defense behind him, he’ll still see his ERA go up at least half a run.
The Reds unloaded Sean Casey‘s salary on the Pirates. Hopefully Casey will just be a stopgap until Brad Eldred learns to take a walk. Dave Williams gives up plenty of homers and allows plenty of baserunners, so his transition to Great American Ballpark will be anything but great. The move probably takes Austin Kearns off the market, as the outfielder logjam is solved now that Adam Dunn will play first.