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Stark On Bell, Beltran, Rays, Giants

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The latest from ESPN's Jayson Stark…

  • The Rangers and Phillies are the favorites for Padres closer Heath Bell, with the Cardinals, Angels, Braves, and Reds also in the mix.
  • One executive Stark spoke to wouldn't be surprised to see a dark horse like the Reds or Brewers make a late run at Mets right fielder Carlos Beltran.
  • An official who spoke with the Rays over the weekend said that while they're not trading James Shields, they'll decide later this week on players like Johnny Damon and Kyle Farnsworth.  B.J. Upton could be dealt even if the team closes its 6.5 game wild card deficit.
  • The Rays and Blue Jays have been scouting each other's farm systems recently.  One scout speculated that the Jays could join a three-team Upton trade somehow.
  • One team says Brian Sabean's off-limits prospects are Zack Wheeler, Heath Hembree, and Gary Brown, along with Brandon Belt.  That'd leave the team without any top 50 prospects to move, with Francisco Peguero and Ehire Adrianza in the next tier based on Baseball America's preseason rankings.  There's also Double-A lefty Eric Surkamp, who brought his ERA down to 2.00 yesterday.
  • The Phillies are steering teams to their High-A Clearwater club, as they don't want to trade big leaguers and not to add much more than a million bucks in payroll.  Jonathan Singleton, Brody Colvin, Trevor May, Sebastian Valle, and Jiwan James are names to watch there assuming Jarred Cosart is untouchable.  Stark says the Phillies have cooled on Beltran and Hunter Pence is a long shot, so the focus is now the back end of the bullpen.  Heath Bell is the top target, with Brandon League also on the radar.

Quick Hits: Red Sox, White Sox, Giants, Rasmus

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Saturday afternoon linkage..

  • Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets that the Red Sox and White Sox have been scouting each other a lot in the past week, and it's not just for the upcoming series between the two. Speculation here (from Steve Adams), but both Edwin Jackson and Carlos Quentin were rumored to be potential White Sox trade chips earlier today, and both could help in Boston.
  • Phillies prospect Brody Colvin left last night's start because of a groin injury, not because of anything trade-related, tweets FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal.
  • Giants GM Brian Sabean says that his list of untouchables list is different than public perception, tweets Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Schulman wonders aloud if this means that Zack Wheeler might not be an untouchable.
  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has been making more calls than any other GM, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
  • The Cardinals aren't looking to move Colby Rasmus but they're exploring every possible way to improve, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Steve Adams also contributed to this post.

Carlos Beltran Rumors: Friday

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The Carlos Beltran rumors kept streaming in yesterday. Here's a quick recap: the Giants are having some trouble matching up with the Mets; the Indians' interest is cooling; the Mets aren't worried about obtaining Beltran's permission for a deal; The Tigers are focused on pitching; the Rangers have some interest in Beltran; the Brewers would like to scrape together a package and it's too early to rule out the Phillies, Red Sox, Braves or Yankees. Here are today's rumors with the most recent updates up top: 

  • Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal (via Twitter) notes that if the Mets deal Beltran, he cannot officially approve the trade until 24 hours later.  This means that the deadline to trade him is effectively 3:59pm EST Saturday.
  • It is highly doubtful that the Giants would part with Zack Wheeler or that the Phillies would move Domonic Brown in a deal for Beltran, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com.
  • The Mets contacted Scott Boras, Beltran's agent, if his client would be open to the idea of returning to the Mets in the offseason if traded, two sources tell David Waldstein of the New York Times.  They were informed that Beltran would consider the idea of re-signing with the Mets.
  • Jon Heyman of SI (via Twitter) thinks its highly doubtful that the Braves would part with Mike Minor in a deal for Beltran.
  • The Mets are interested in Zack Wheeler, Brandon Belt, and Gary Brown of the Giants and Domonic Brown of the Phillies, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.  The Braves, he adds, also have prospects of interest.
  • The Reds have discussed Beltran, according to John Fay on the Cincinnati Enquirer.
  • Some baseball people expect Beltran to use his no-trade clause to ensure that he remains in the National League, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
  • Beltran's full no-trade clause will likely force the Mets to have a few deals lined up days prior to July 31 so that they can move on from one proposal to another should Beltran veto one, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com.
  • The trade talks are down to five serious teams, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Twitter links). The Red Sox, Giants, Phillies, Braves and Rangers are involved. The Pirates and Indians are basically out of the conversation, according to Olney. The Mets thought the Giants were the frontrunner two days ago, but other teams have since caught up.
  • The Giants, Phillies and Braves appear to be the leaders in the Beltran sweepstakes, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. The Brewers are also a possibility.
  • Beltran told Newsday's David Lennon that he would prefer to stay in the National League. The outfielder prefers not to DH more than once per week and will consider a team's pitching staff before accepting a deal. 
  • A Mets official told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that there are six or seven active suitors for Beltran. The Mets were watching Braves Triple-A lefty Mike Minor closely yesterday, according to Sherman.

Stark On Cuban, Phillies, Rays, Giants

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Outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is a candidate to own a baseball team someday, but as ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark explains, he faces a number of obstacles. Here’s Stark’s analysis of Cuban and other notes from around MLB:

  • Bud Selig sees Cuban as a “squeaky wheel,” according to Stark’s sources. The commissioner does not appear to have interest in an owner who wants to be the story or who will “overtly challenge him publicly."
  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. would like to strengthen his bullpen and he has checked in on a number of relievers, according to Stark.
  • Scouts covering the International League say the Rays appear to be evaluating two of their outfielders, Desmond Jennings and Brandon Guyer, in possible anticipation of a B.J. Upton trade. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Rays listen on offers for Upton, but it would be surprising if they weren’t evaluating their own minor leaguers. Stark reported earlier in the week that the Rays are not likely to trade Upton this summer.
  • Rival scouts have been eyeing the Giants’ Class-A affiliate in San Jose, especially Heath Hembree, who was recently promoted to Double-A, and top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler.

Mets Notes: Rodriguez, Beltran, Wheeler

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Mets owner Fred Wilpon offered some revealing comments about his players and his finances in recent interviews with the New Yorker and Sports Illustrated. Here’s the latest on the Mets, including more fallout from Wilpon’s words:

  • Carlos Beltran told Newsday’s David Lennon that he’s not an incomplete player, as Wilpon suggested (Twitter link). "I'm not 65 or 70 percent,” Beltran said. “I'm 100 percent."
  • Mets ownership has chosen a preferred bidder to buy a minority stake in the team, according to Josh Kosman and Lenn Robbins of the New York Post. The Mets are in advanced talks with a group led by former commodities trader Ray Bartoszek and investor Anthony Lanza, according to the Post.
  • The Mets' front office has not yet provided manager Terry Collins with guidelines for using Francisco Rodriguez, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. If the closer finishes 55 games, a $17.5MM option vests for 2012, something the Mets would surely like to avoid.
  • Sherman can only see a team trading for Rodriguez as a setup man or part-time closer.
  • Giants prospect Zack Wheeler told Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group that he’s happy in the Giants organization, but finds it flattering to hear himself mentioned as possible trade bait for players like Jose Reyes. "It is a compliment, but also you're with a really good franchise right now that treats pitchers really good and they're good at developing pitchers," Wheeler said. 

Heyman On Wheeler, Reyes, Martin, Reds

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Now that top prospects Eric Hosmer and Jose Iglesias are in the majors, Jon Heyman of SI.com examines the minors’ top prospects. Mariners infield prospect Dustin Ackley, the second overall pick behind Stephen Strasburg two years ago, is "over-rated'' and without a clear defensive position in the opinion on one NL executive. Here’s Heyman’s latest from around the league:

  • The Giants and Mets don’t appear to be talking about Jose Reyes at the moment, but the rumors won’t stop until the calendar flips to August or another team acquires the shortstop. Heyman hears from one person who believes the Mets would “have to” send Reyes to San Francisco if they could get pitching prospect Zack Wheeler in return.
  • MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes suggested Wheeler as a possible target for the Mets last week.
  • In off-field news, Heyman reports that the Mets are getting more interest than expected from buyers interested in a minority stake in the team.
  • The Rangers hope Cuban outfield prospect Leonys Martin, who signed last week, can help them in 2011. 
  • The Reds were among the teams that bid on Martin, according to Heyman.

Gammons’ Latest: Tate, Turner, Oliver

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In his latest blog post at ESPN.com, Peter Gammons says that there "are rumblings that the commissioner's office wants to hold off the announcement of some of the bigger deals so they do not impact others." He hears the following deals are done according to GMs:

  • Padres and first rounder Donovan Tate at $6.7MM, which had been done for five days
  • Tigers and first rounder Jacob Turner at $6.7MM
  • Tigers and second rounder Andy Oliver at $1MM

Gammons also says that the Giants and first rounder Zack Wheeler are close to a deal at $3.4MM, and that there are "conflicting reports" on Colorado signing Tyler Matzek and Texas signing Matt Purke, both first round picks. The Indians and Alex White are deadlocked, but the Tribe could go near $2MM.

Draft Updates: Wheeler, Hobgood, Borchering

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A final round of updates for the draft, which is now just half an hour away…

Draft Updates: Deadline, D’Backs, Rangers

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Some more links in anticipation of this evening's draft…

  • Jon Heyman of SI.com says the signing deadline has been pushed back to August 17th because the 15th is a Saturday. The Nats' negotiations with Scott Boras will probably go down to the wire regardless, so it barely matters. If anything it's bad news for the Nats, as they'll have less time to prepare their probable selection, Stephen Strasburg, for a late-season cameo.
  • Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says the D'Backs could choose two hitters with their 16th and 17th picks. They like Bobby Borchering, but he may not be available to them.
  • Nolan Ryan expects the Rangers to select a pitcher when they pick 14th, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.
  • MLB.com's Doug Miller rounds up major leaguers' responses to this question: Has any prospect ever received more hype than Strasburg?
  • And here's the final projection MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo will make. He has Dustin Ackley going to Seattle, Donavan Tate going to San Diego, Tony Sanchez going to Pittsburgh and Zack Wheeler going to Baltimore.
  • ESPN.com's Keith Law has the same five players going in the same order. Interestingly, Law has Aaron Crow and Tanner Scheppers out of the first round, in large part because they're expected to demand lots of money.
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