Millwood, Wigginton Open To Playing For Mets
Kevin Millwood and Ty Wigginton told Dan Martin of the New York Post that they are open to playing for the Mets if the Orioles become sellers. Though Hisanori Takahashi and R.A. Dickey have been effective for the Mets recently, the club may look for starting pitching depth later this summer. That idea that appeals to Millwood.
"I woludn't mind pitching in New York," Millwood said. "It's a great city, but it's not really up to me whether I do or don't."
That's not quite true, since Millwood has a limited no trade clause. If the 15-37 Orioles start selling, Millwood, who makes $12MM this season in the last year of his contract, would appeal to teams in search of veteran starters. Though he's still winless, the right-hander has a 3.89 ERA this year with 7.1 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.
Wigginton, who makes $3.5MM this year, is also in the last year of his contract. He has played first, second and third for the Orioles in 2010, but his versatility isn't his only appealing trait. The former Met has 13 homers already (partly since 25% of the fly balls he hits leave the park). Like Millwood, Wigginton says he would be open to playing in New York.
Rosenthal On Oswalt, Kearns, Dunn
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports leads his latest column with an imagined conversation between Astros owner Drayton McLane and GM Ed Wade, in which Wade attempts to educate McLane on the realities of Roy Oswalt's trade value. Rosenthal's hot stove notes…
- Like most people, Rosenthal can't see the Reds splurging on Oswalt. He finds the Mets "an even less serious contender" due to limited finances.
- Rosenthal points out that Carlos Zambrano hasn't shown himself to be worthy of replacing anyone in the current Cubs' rotation. At the moment, the Cubs appear to have a surplus.
- Rosenthal notes that the Majors' current home run kings – Jose Bautista, Paul Konerko, and Ty Wigginton – could be available at the trade deadline. Who would've predicted these three would top the leaderboard on May 24th? With Kelly Johnson tied for fourth? The Jays acquired Bautista in August of '08 without much fanfare, sending catcher Robinzon Diaz to Pittsburgh. The Pirates designated Diaz for assignment last November.
- Austin Kearns would be a nice match for the Giants, suggests Rosenthal. The 30-year-old outfielder is hitting .304/.377/.487 in 130 plate appearances for the Indians this year. Nate Schierholtz hasn't been much worse, though he's dealing with a bruised shoulder at the moment.
- Rosenthal feels that the Nationals will strike a deal to keep Adam Dunn in Washington before he reaches free agency.
Discussion: Possible Targets For The Mariners
As the Mariners' offense continues to struggle, they're likely looking to make deals with teams that have rapidly fallen out of contention, writes Larry Stone of The Seattle Times. Stone writes that the teams falling into that category are the Royals, Indians, Astros, and Orioles.
Kansas City's Jose Guillen has been mentioned as a possibility for the M's, though as of yesterday they have reportedly yet to make a formal inquiry. Lance Berkman of the Astros has been mentioned as a fit for Seattle, though Stone points to his health, salary, and poor performance this season as reasons why Jack Zduriencik would want to steer clear of him.
Stone suggests that Baltimore could offer up Luke Scott or Garrett Atkins, though they have been struggling mightily. On the flipside, Ty Wigginton and Miguel Tejada are in the final years of their respective deals and could be available at some point, though they have been hitting well for an O's team that desperately needs offense.
Austin Kearns and ex-Mariner Russell Branyan could be pried away from the Indians (especially Branyan), but Stone says to "forget about" Cleveland dealing Grady Sizemore. Moving the reasonably-priced star outfielder would be a PR nightmare for a club that has made of a habit of losing their marquee players in recent years.
Stone also says to keep an eye on Hank Blalock, who is hitting quite well in the International League and has an out-clause in his deal with the Rays. However, the M's passed on the two-time All-Star this winter.
Also hampering Seattle is that GMs from around baseball seem unwilling to make trades at this point in the season.
What other sluggers could you see the Mariners inquiring on? Will they be able to talk a GM into making a significant trade with them at this juncture?
Odds & Ends: Brewers, Cubs, Looper, Baer, Wigginton
Links for Monday…
- MLB.com's Adam McCalvy posts an unofficial list of Brewers' players who are out of options. Joe Inglett and George Kottaras appear to be the players most on the bubble.
- In a mailbag, MLB.com's Carrie Muskat says that the Cubs are still looking for righthanded relief help.
- MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince explains that Grady Sizemore's 2012 club option becomes a player option if traded. He also notes that the Indians are not in on Felipe Lopez.
- Braden Looper will not settle for a low base salary or a minor league deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- The Biz of Baseball now has Opening Day and year-end payroll data by team.
- Giants president Larry Baer mentioned MLBTR in a recent KNBR interview with Ralph Barbieri and Tom Tolbert.
- Roch Kubatko of MASN believes it's possible the Orioles will trade Ty Wigginton. Wiggy has $3.5MM coming in 2010.
- Benjamin Kabak of River Ave. Blues ponders the benefits of the Yankees bringing Gary Sheffield back on a minor league deal.
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs would like the Mariners to spend a few million on Jarrod Washburn, provided he'd be willing to pitch out of the bullpen when Erik Bedard is ready.
- ESPN's Tim Kurkjian explains why the Reds should sign Johnny Damon.
Odds & Ends: Rangers, Hudson, Loretta, Pence
More Saturday linkage..
- Ty Wigginton of the Orioles will likely see his number of at-bats decrease after the team's signing of Miguel Tejada and Garrett Atkins. Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com says that the 32-year-old could be a trade candidate in Spring Training.
- The sale of the Rangers to Chuck Greenberg's group is complete and an announcement is forthcoming, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.
- Phil Wood of MASNSports.com understands the Nats' pursuit of Orlando Hudson, but not their reported interest in Orlando Cabrera. Hudson is reportedly seeking $9MM per season whereas Mike Axisa estimates that Cabrera can be had for $3MM.
- Veteran infielder Mark Loretta is expected to retire this week and take a job with an unspecified major league club, writes Jerry Crasnick of ESPN. The 38-year-old, who spent 2009 with the Dodgers, has a career .754 OPS.
- Brian McTaggart of MLB.com writes that signing Hunter Pence to one-year, $3.5MM deal makes sense for Houston. McTaggart senses that there is some kind of a groundswell of support by Astros fans to lock up the 26-year-old, but the club still has three years of contractual control to make such a deal happen.
- Signing Brad Penny saved money for the Cardinals, writes Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. While it may seem as though Penny's $7.5MM deal is similar to Joel Pineiro's two-year deal that will pay him an average of $8MM per season, the extra year on Pineiro's contract didn't fit into the Cards' budget.
- Due in part to the team's overload of left field options, top Reds prospect Todd Frazier could see some time at shortstop this season, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Frazier played shortstop in his time at Rutgers University but was moved to the outfield as he was considered to be "too big for the spot." GM Walt Jocketty said that there will be open competition for the role of starting shortstop, though Fay says that it will likely go to the light-hitting Paul Janish.
Orioles Offseason Gameplan
The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec looks at five key questions for the Orioles as they head into this year's Winter Meetings. He's also got some quotes from Andy MacPhail talking about the Orioles' views on this year's free agent market. Let's go over some highlights:
- MacPhail states that the O's will be less active at the Winter Meetings than they were in 2008, when they signed Cesar Izturis, traded Ramon Hernandez, and offered a $140MM contract to Mark Teixeira. He does, however, state that when the offseason is said and done, Baltimore will likely have been more active than it was overall last year.
- Don't expect a major move from Baltimore this week. They don't have a free agent target singled out and will likely wait to see how the market takes shape as time progresses.
- While they'd like to add an impact hitter, the Orioles are unlikely to pursue names like Matt Holliday or Jason Bay, and MacPhail isn't big on the idea of trading his top prospects for short-term fixes. So far, the O's aren't thought to be bidders for veteran outfield/DH types like Jermaine Dye, Hideki Matsui, and Vladimir Guerrero.
- Luke Scott is likely Baltimore's biggest trade chip. Moving Scott would allow Nolan Reimold to DH while recovering from surgery, and improve defense by getting Felix Pie more at-bats in left field.
- Ty Wigginton is also mentioned as a trade chip. Zrebiec says the Orioles would have to be overwhelmed by an offer to move Jeremy Guthrie, and have a way to secure two veteran arms to replace him as well.
- MacPhail would prefer not to sign a closer that will cost their second-round pick, such as Jose Valverde, Mike Gonzalez, or Rafael Soriano. Zrebiec mentions Kevin Gregg as a possibility.
- The Orioles have had talks with John Lackey's agent, but aren't expected to be serious bidders for the former Halos ace. They'll look at names like Ben Sheets, Rich Harden, and Erik Bedard instead.
- After Radhames Liz was claimed by the Padres, Baltimore found themselves with an open spot on its 40-man roster. MacPhail would prefer to give a homegrown player a shot rather than make a Rule 5 selection, unless he's convinced that the Rule 5 Draft offers something that their minor league clubs currently don't have.
Orioles Looking “Short-Term” At The Corners
The Orioles aren't expected to be major players on the free-agent market this winter, but if the team does make a move, it will likely be to acquire a veteran presence at first and/or third base.
Speaking to MASN Sports' Steve Melewski, Baltimore team president Andy MacPhail said that given the Orioles' young outfield and second-year catcher Matt Wieters, he would "like to put more proven bats" in the lineup to compliment the team's young stars. The O's have prospects Brandon Snyder and Josh Bell in the pipeline at first and third, respectively, but since MacPhail said he doesn't see either making the leap to the majors in 2010, the experienced hitters that MacPhail wants will have to come at the corner infield spots.
Baltimore already has Luke Scott (a team-leading 25 homers in 2009) penciled in at either first base or DH, and utilityman Ty Wigginton is available to play third. Prospect Michael Aubrey (an .826 OPS in 95 plate appearances last season) is also in the 1B mix, possibly in a lefty-righty platoon with Wigginton that would lock Scott into a DH/LF split with Nolan Reimold and would then leave third base open for either a free agent or a player to be acquired in a trade. The Baltimore Sun's Dan Connolly predicted the O's would sign Pedro Feliz, while there has been some speculation that the Orioles will make a trade with Florida for Dan Uggla and then move Uggla from second to third base.
In his Offseason Outlook series entry about Baltimore, Tim Dierkes listed names like Adrian Beltre, Carlos Delgado and Nick Johnson as possible targets for the Orioles. These players would fit the "short-term" designation that MacPhail mentioned, but since MacPhail didn't rule out the possibility of "the right deal for the right player, even if it was a longer-term deal," would there be any other bigger-name corner infielders that you could realistically see Baltimore signing?
Heyman On August Trades
Executives tell Jon Heyman of SI.com that we saw the "softest deadline ever" last week because there's still the possibility for trades this month. Here's an explanation of how trades can occur after the deadline and here are the players Heyman deems likely to clear waivers (player who clear waivers may be traded):
- Bronson Arroyo, Adam Dunn, Jose Guillen, Aaron Harang, Adrian Beltre, Aubrey Huff, Jason Giambi, Melvin Mora, Miguel Batista, Juan Cruz, Ty Wigginton, Ron Mahay, Willie Bloomquist, Lyle Overbay, Willy Taveras.
Some players who could clear waivers:
- Jon Garland, Doug Davis, Gil Meche, Alex Rios, Carl Pavano, Mark Hendrickson, Jhonny Peralta, Jamey Carroll, Ron Villone.
And some players who probably won't clear waivers, but who could be dealt to a claiming team:
- Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez, Heath Bell, Adrian Gonzalez, Marco Scutaro, Chad Qualls, Michael Wuertz, Brian Bannister, Josh Willingham, Gary Sheffield, David Eckstein, Jason Frasor, Mark Teahen.
Odds & Ends: Braves, Orioles, Arroyo, Strasburg
Some links to check out on the night Derek Jeter tied Ted Williams on the career hits list with 2,654…
- MLB.com's Mark Bowman writes that if the Braves make a move before next Friday's trade deadline, "the best bet is that they'll add a reliever." He mentions Danys Baez, Takashi Saito, Ron Mahay, and John Grabow as available options.
- Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun took a look at the Orioles' main trade chips, including Baez, Aubrey Huff, George Sherrill, and Ty Wigginton.
- Bronson Arroyo is officially on the trading block, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman,
- The camp of top pick Stephen Strasburg has expressed concern over the Nationals' uncertain general manager situation, reports Chico Harlan of The Washington Post.
- Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times says that despite the Matt Holliday haul, the Mariners shouldn't expect as big of a return for Erik Bedard or Jarrod Washburn because they only project to be Type-B free agents after the season.
- Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said ""We'll be aggressive but we won't be stupid," when it comes to making trades according to Tom Haudricourt.
- Scott Lauber of The News Journal wrote about the dilemma of trading prospects.
Reds Seek Bats
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports that the Reds are actively seeking right-handed hitting, especially after losing out on Mark DeRosa to the rival Cardinals. Here are a few options for the Reds, who could improve at third base, shortstop and left field:
- They have considered dealing for Josh Willingham.
- Ty Wigginton could fit their needs as well.
- Adding Matt Holliday would be huge for the Reds, but he'd command the biggest return of all.
- Gary Matthews Jr. could fit in Cincy if the Angels are willing to pay a considerable portion of his contract. The Angels would likely want relief help in return.
- Since the Red Sox may be prepared to eat a considerable portion of Julio Lugo's salary, the Reds could consider dealing for him and asking for Boston to pay most of his $9MM salary.