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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Cards, Sheets, Twins, Pirates, K-Rod, Sabean

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A few random notes from around the baseball Blogosphere…

  • Rockin’ The Red says one of the priorities for the Cardinals this offseason should be signing a left-handed reliever. They examine the upcoming free agent market and feel Will Ohman and Jeremy Affeldt are the most attractive options.
  • Was Watching explores the Yankees "lust" for Ben Sheets and notes that he may be a better option than A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia.
  • Twinkie Town projects the Twins ’09 payroll.
  • Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke? says it is better for the Pirates to wait and add payroll noting that a small increase now will not make the Buccos a contender. They believe it makes more sense to wait until ’10 or ’11.
  • One writer at Fanhouse feels Chris Perez could keep the Cardinals from signing Francisco Rodriguez, giving the Cards money to spend on the rest of the bullpen.
  • Another writer at Fanhouse wonders why Brian Sabean is going to be back in ’09.
  • El Lefty Malo says Brian Sabean’s plan has "more or less worked". The suggestion is that it has only been one year since the rebuilding process began.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Odds and Ends: Indians, Rays, Jays

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Time to cobble together today’s links.

Braves Elect To Keep Will Ohman

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J.C. Bradbury asks this morning whether the Braves overvalued lefty reliever Will Ohman.  Roughly ten teams had interest in him, but the Braves elected not to trade him.

The Braves’ reason for keeping Ohman is that in their opinion no offer exceeded the value of the draft pick they might receive if he leaves via free agency.  Here’s a refresher on how free agent compensation works.

A couple of things need to happen for Ohman to net the Braves even one supplemental draft pick.  First, he needs to achieve Type B status.  As you know, Eddie Bajek is attempting to reverse-engineer the Elias rankings.  He doesn’t have a good line on Ohman’s projected status yet, but Bajek told me the reliever rankings are ridiculously sensitive to wins.  He expects Ohman to be classified as Type B, but he could also fall below that (in which case there’d be no draft pick compensation).

Furthermore, the Braves would have to offer Ohman arbitration and have him decline and sign elsewhere.  Offering arbitration means the Braves could be stuck paying him $2-3MM for ’09 if he accepts.  We saw several teams take this gamble and lose last year.  The Braves were smart about Andruw Jones, not offering him arbitration for fear he might accept.

Ohman might decide to accept an offer of arbitration.  Maybe he sees a similar lefty like Jeremy Affeldt, who wanted four years and got one from the Reds.  So just keep in mind that a lot of things need to happen for the Braves to get draft pick compensation for Ohman next year.

Lefty Relievers: Ohman, Grabow, Eyre, Mahay

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2:50pm: Stark says Ohman’s probably staying put despite interest from ten teams.

2:39pm: Buster Olney says the Phillies will probably come up empty on a lefty reliever.

2:02pm: Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald says the Braves asked for a pitching prospect for Ohman, and the Red Sox passed.  Mahay remains a possibility.

1:07pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the Braves could keep Ohman.  So far they’re not finding offers superior to the supplemental draft pick they could get after the season.

THURSDAY, 12:24pm: Jayson Stark has the Yanks and Red Sox battling for Eyre.

WEDNESDAY, 11:50pm: Let’s talk lefty relievers.

  • David O’Brien names the Red Sox, Cardinals, Rays, Tigers, and White Sox parties interested in Will Ohman.  But the Sox might end up with John Grabow, and the Tigers may be content with Kyle Farnsworth as their relief addition.  Grabow may also be on the Rays’ radar.
  • MLB.com’s Mark Bowman has the Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox after Ohman, with the Cardinals out of the bidding.
  • Sean McAdam sees Boston’s interest in Ohman as minimal.  Instead, they’re eyeing Scott Eyre and Ron Mahay.  They’ve even offered Brandon Moss for Mahay, which seems solid.  Nick Cafardo believes righties Huston Street and J.J. Putz are still in the mix.
  • 15 scouts watched Arthur Rhodes struggle tonight.

Stark’s Latest: Aurilia, Fuentes, Orlando Cabrera

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New collection of rumors from ESPN’s Jayson Stark…

  • The Twins have asked the Giants about Rich Aurilia.  They’ve been dangling Boof Bonser for a position player; would they trade him back to San Francisco for Aurilia?
  • On the Phillies’ radar: John Grabow, Will Ohman, Arthur Rhodes, and Jack Taschner.
  • A Brian Fuentes trade remains doubtful.
  • The White Sox will trade Orlando Cabrera for the right pitcher.  The Sox aren’t generating much interest in their prospects.

Odds and Ends: Roberts, Ohman, Kotsay, Eyre

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Rumor roundup…

  • ESPN’s Buster Olney implies that another website backdates timestamps in an attempt to fake scoops.  I was following the Mark Teixeira rumors like a hawk; I gave the scoop to ESPN’s Jayson Stark with an assist to MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer.
  • Joe Christensen says Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts is not available.
  • MLB.com’s Mark Bowman guesses Will Ohman will land with the Cardinals.  He also puts the odds of a Mark Kotsay deal at 50%.
  • With Mark Teixeira out of the picture, Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes doesn’t expect to make any more trades.
  • Will Carroll says the Dodgers had a "passing discussion" with the Cubs about Scott Eyre and Ronny Cedeno.
  • Nothing cooking with the Royals.
  • Talked to Eddie Bajek, who is working on reverse-engineering the Elias formula.  He has A.J. Burnett on the Type A/Type B borderline.  Ivan Rodriguez and Edgar Renteria should both be Type As.

Graziano’s Latest: Dunn, Putz, Laird

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Time to check in with Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger.

  • Graziano calls Adam Dunn "the man without a rumor."  Even with his flaws this one is hard to figure out.  [UPDATE: SI.com’s Jon Heyman is finally hearing a couple of teams are in on Dunn.]
  • John Maine’s rotator cuff strain has the Mets looking at pitching.  Graziano suggests names like Livan Hernandez, Paul Byrd, and Jarrod Washburn.
  • The Mets have talked to the Tigers about Scott Schoeneweis.  They’d have to replace him, maybe with Arthur Rhodes or Eddie Guardado.
  • The Mariners will listen on J.J. Putz, but he won’t come cheap.  The Cardinals and Red Sox have interest.  Putz is signed through ’09 with an option for ’10.
  • The Yankees and Marlins have asked about catcher Gerald Laird, while many teams like Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
  • The Braves are willing to trade Will Ohman and Mark Kotsay.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Ibanez, Ohman, Fuentes

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The latest from rumor guru Ken Rosenthal:

  • The Mariners are not having much luck stirring interest in Jarrod Washburn and Raul Ibanez.  Only the Mets are seriously looking at Ibanez, and they don’t like the price.  The D’Backs aren’t interested.  Exacerbating the situation is that interim GM Lee Pelekoudas may feel compelled to make a good impression on the higher-ups.
  • The Braves chose Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek over an offer of Chad Tracy and Micah Owings from the D’Backs.  I’m surprised the Diamondbacks didn’t go a little further.  The Braves tried to expand the deal and send Will Ohman to the Angels, but a match could not be found.  Ohman remains likely to go, with the Rays, Cardinals, and Red Sox named as suitors.
  • Rosenthal notes that the Angels have a ton of offseason decisions to make, with club options and free agents all over the place.
  • The Rockies might be slightly more willing to trade Brian Fuentes following recent losses.  However, they still want a young starting pitcher for him.

Mark Teixeira Traded To Angels

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4:50pm: Jayson Stark has the scoop – Mark Teixeira is headed to the Angels for Casey Kotchman and another player.  MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer says the second player is relief prospect Stephen Marek.

Solid return for the Braves, certainly beats a couple of draft picks of unknown position.  Kotchman is under team control through 2011.

3:46pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman has the D’Backs, Rays, and Angels vying for Tex.  A first baseman is not a requirement for Atlanta, though all three teams could part with one.  Heyman talked to one Angels source who considered a deal "remote."

ESPN’s Buster Olney says the Braves want pitching in return.

2:33pm: Joel Sherman sees this is as a battle between the D’Backs and Red Sox.  However, the Red Sox will only jump in if they are able to move Manny Ramirez.

1:01pm: ESPN’s Jayson Stark says the Dodgers and Yankees have also flirted with the idea of acquiring Teixeira.  The Braves want a big-league ready bat, preferably a first baseman, in any trade.

12:23pm: Ken Rosenthal says the Angels and D’Backs are competing for Teixeira.  The Halos would like to expand the deal to include a lefty reliever like Will Ohman or Mike Gonzalez.  Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana are off-limits, but Casey Kotchman and Juan Rivera can be had.  Not sure why Rivera would appeal to the Braves, since he’s a free agent after the season.

8:29am: When we last left off, various sources conflicted on whether the D’Backs are the frontrunner to acquire Mark Teixeira.  Let’s kick off a new thread for the likely slew of new Tex rumors today.

According to Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times, the Angels are once again exploring a trade for Teixeira.  They are warming to the idea of adding a rental player to their first-place club.  The price for Teixeira is said to be a first baseman, starter, and power-hitting outfielder.  DiGiovanna also wonders if a deal could be expanded to include Will Ohman, much like last year when the Rangers added Ron Mahay.

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