NL East Notes: Reyes, Bonifacio, Murphy
The Marlins appear to have set an extremely high asking price for Josh Johnson, Jon Heyman reported today. Here’s the latest on the Marlins and their NL East rivals…
- The Marlins are telling teams Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle are off-limits, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. They feel committed to Buehrle and believe Reyes will play better now that Hanley Ramirez has been traded. The Marlins are also sure to keep Giancarlo Stanton, Heyman writes.
- The Marlins are reluctant to trade Emilio Bonifacio, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter).
- The Padres offered to trade Luke Gregerson for Daniel Murphy, but the Mets rejected the possible deal, John Harper of the New York Daily News reports. Gregerson, 28, has a 3.05 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 44 1/3 innings this year. He earns $1.55MM and will remain under team control through 2014.
Crasnick On Athletics, Broxton, Francoeur
The latest rumors from ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick…
- The Athletics have discussed Jimmy Rollins and Chase Headley as possible upgrades for the left side of their infield, Crasnick reports (Twitter links). However, Rollins' salary would be difficult to fit into Oakland's budget and the Padres' asking price for Headley remains high. The A's seem lukewarm on Yunel Escobar, Crasnick writes. They aren't sure how he'd fit in their clubhouse dynamic.
- Jonathan Broxton is the most likely Royal to be traded, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (all Twitter links). The Royals want young starting pitching for Broxton, and they’re looking for pitchers who are close to MLB-ready — not Class A types.
- Meanwhile, Jeff Francoeur’s trade value is negligible because he’s not producing at the plate.
Stark On Greinke, Headley, Indians, Wells
The market for Zack Greinke appears to consist of the Rangers, Angels, White Sox and Braves, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reports. Rival teams say the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers aren’t involved on Greinke, and the Indians and Orioles have limited interest in pitchers headed for free agency, Stark writes. Here are more notes from Stark:
- The Yankees are exploring their third base options with Alex Rodriguez out, Stark reports. Marco Scutaro could be an option for New York.
- There’s an expectation that Chase Headley will be traded, but the Padres continue saying they’re happy to keep him, Stark writes. One team says the Padres are looking for a Mat Latos-like return if they trade the third baseman.
- The Phillies are looking for a proven, young setup reliever and a young outfielder or third baseman for Victorino, Stark reports. They’ve asked about relievers Brad Lincoln, Wade Davis and Logan Ondrusek in trade talks.
- It’s already been a busy month for the Astros, but they’re still willing to consider trades for anyone but Jose Altuve.
- The Indians and Cardinals have talked to the Rays about James Shields, Stark reports.
- The Angels are telling teams they’d rather trade Vernon Wells than keep him when he returns from the disabled list. They’re looking for a trade partner and saying they don’t want to eat all of his salary, Stark reports. It’ll be challenging to find a taker for Wells’ salary; he earns $21MM per season through 2014.
- The Indians aren’t likely to deal Chris Perez or Shin-Soo Choo, but they’ll listen on either player.
Padres Expected To Offer Street One-Year Deal
The Padres are trying to lock up Huston Street and are expected to offer him a one-year deal with an option for 2014, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). The right-hander is believed to want to stay in San Diego.
Late last week, it was reported that the Padres would make Street available in trades before the deadline if they are unable to sign him to an extension. As it stands now, Street has a $9MM mutual option for the 2013 season.
Padres Likely To Trade Chase Headley
The Padres are drawing “huge” amounts of interest in third baseman Chase Headley, and there’s a “strong probability” of a trade, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. The Padres are "down the road" with several teams willing to part with high-end prospects for Headley, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (on Twitter).
The Yankees are unlikely to make a strong push for Headley, Heyman reports. Though they will consider third base options now that Alex Rodriguez is on the disabled list with a broken hand, they don’t want to surrender top prospects for Headley. The Yankees will ask the Padres about Headley, but haven’t done so yet, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (on Twitter).
Headley has a .268/.361/.423 batting line in 421 plate appearances for the Padres this year. He earns $3.48MM in 2012 and will remain under team control through 2014. GM Josh Byrnes has reportedly set a tremendously high asking price for Headley. The Orioles, Indians, Pirates, A's and others have checked in on the 28-year-old.
AL East Notes: Yankees, Hanley, Orioles
Alex Rodriguez broke his hand last night, when he was hit by a pitch from Felix Hernandez in Seattle. The injury is expected to sideline Rodriguez for six to eight weeks, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). Not surprisingly, the news will affect the Yankees' summer shopping list. Here are the latest notes from the AL East…
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman said he’ll engage the market for a third baseman, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. The Yankees will consider all third base options, including Chase Headley of the Padres, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (on Twitter). It seems unlikely that the Yankees would meet the Padres' asking price for Headley, Heyman writes (on Twitter).
- The Red Sox asked the Marlins about Hanley Ramirez before last night’s trade, but Boston’s interest was in acquiring the infielder and flipping him to a third team, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. It sounds as though the Red Sox were going to flip Ramirez to either the A’s or the Dodgers, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter).
- The Orioles announced that they signed 25-year-old Cuban outfielder Henry Urrutia to a minor league contract. The Orioles will assign the 6’5”, 195-pound switch-hitter to Double-A Bowie. Urrutia did not play in 2011 following an unsuccessful attempt at defection, according to the Orioles. He established residency in Haiti after successfully defecting from Cuba.
Knobler On Rodriguez, Sanchez, Infante
The latest notes and rumors from Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com…
- The Brewers hoped to market Francisco Rodriguez to teams seeking bullpen help, but that may be difficult given the right-hander’s recent struggles and $8MM salary. "Good luck to them," one scout told Knobler.
- The Tigers view Anibal Sanchez as a true rental player, Knobler writes (all Twitter links). They see the right-hander as a middle-of-the-rotation starter, but felt they didn’t have a strong chance of acquiring a true top-of-the-rotation starter this summer. The Tigers proposed the trade for Sanchez and Omar Infante last week.
- It now appears likely that trade candidate Edinson Volquez will stay in San Diego, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. The Padres intend to keep Volquez, who drew trade interest this summer, according to Heyman.
Quick Hits: Lewis, Maholm, Headley, Longoria, Lynn
On this date three years ago left-hander Mark Buehrle pitched a perfect game against the Rays with an impressive effort punctuated by the most memorable catch of Dewayne Wise's career. Here are today's links…
- Colby Lewis is expected to miss the rest of the season for the Rangers with a torn flexor tendon in his right arm, according to Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com. It seems logical that this will accelerate the Rangers' desire to add a starting pitcher. They've been linked to names such as Zack Greinke and Cole Hamels, and have very enticing trade chips thanks to their deep minor league system.
- Cubs lefty Paul Maholm told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that it'd be "ironic" for the Pirates to want him back at the deadline after letting him walk as a free agent (Sulia link). Maholm's next two starts are scheduled to come against his former teammates.
- The Padres’ asking price for Chase Headley remains high, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (on Twitter). The Pirates have discussed the third baseman with the Padres, according to Olney. The A's are interested, but remain reluctant to part with top prospects, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter).
- Evan Longoria’s reign as the most valuable trade chip in baseball has ended, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs writes. Longoria still figures prominently on Cameron’s list of baseball's top assets, as expected.
- Agent Bobby Barad has joined Excel Sports Management, Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal reports. Barad, formerly of TWC Sports Management, represents players such as Lance Lynn and Jerry Blevins. Check MLBTR’s Agency Database for updated data on which agents represent which players.
Orioles Have Inquired On Polanco, LaHair, Headley
The Orioles have been making calls to other teams in search help at their corner infield positions, and Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that they've made calls specifically regarding Placido Polanco, Bryan LaHair and Chase Headley.
General manager Dan Duquette is in search of a high on-base percentage who can hit near the top of the Orioles' batting order. An industry source cautioned Connolly in telling him that the O's talks regarding the trio have been preliminary.
Orioles third basemen have combined to hit .233/.291/.383, and their first basemen haven't fared much better at .237/.316/.415. They've primarily used a combination of Wilson Betemit, Mark Reynolds, and Chris Davis at the positions this season, but all are defensive liabilities and Davis has been shifted to an outfield role.
Connolly speculates that Polanco may be the best fit, as he would cost the cheapest of the three to acquire. Headley figures to be one of the most coveted players that is potentially available this summer, and LaHair is controllable through the 2017 season. Polanco earns $6.25MM this season and has a $5.5MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout for the 2013 season.
Examining The Carlos Quentin Extension
We won’t know the results of Carlos Quentin’s extension with the Padres until after the 2015 season, when the contract expires. But the deal's consequences are already apparent for the 29 other MLB teams: there’s one less bat on the trade market, one less player headed for free agency, and one more clue that teams are hesitant to surrender top prospects for short-term acquisitions.
The trade market, light on power bats to begin with, will be affected. There’s now one less option out there for GMs seeking right-handed power, so the few teams that do have a power-hitting trade candidate might now enjoy additional leverage in trade discussions. The Cubs, for example, might have more success peddling Alfonso Soriano to contenders (though they’ll presumably absorb the majority of his contract if they complete a trade). Josh Willingham of the Twins, who’s signed to a reasonable three-year, $21MM contract, could also draw additional interest following the Padres’ deal with Quentin.
The Padres and Quentin agreed to a three-year, $30MM extension that values the right fielder at the level of Michael Cuddyer (three years, $31.5MM) and Edwin Encarnacion (three years, $29MM). Players such as Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera and Cody Ross could benefit this offseason when they hit free agency. Quentin, Encarnacion and Andre Ethier are now unavailable after signing extensions, so the few remaining free agent bats can expect to be pursued aggressively this coming offseason. It sure beats hitting free agency in a market saturated with star-caliber players.
Quentin's extension provides evidence for a widely-held suspicion about the midseason trade market. Teams have seemed hesitant to trade top prospects for players on the brink of free agency now that baseball’s collective bargaining agreement prevents clubs from obtaining draft pick compensation for players acquired midway through the final year of a contract. The recent deal between the Padres and the CAA Sports client appears to be further evidence that teams are unwilling to trade their best prospects for players nearing free agency.
Instead of trading Quentin for a middling prospect or two and, perhaps, some salary relief, general manager Josh Byrnes offered the San Diego native a contract that buys out three free agent years. While some will criticize the decision by a small-market team to commit a significant percentage of payroll to a defensively-limited player with a history of injury issues, there’s no doubt Quentin would have been of interest to contending teams this summer. The Indians, Pirates and Dodgers are among the clubs that could use an offensive upgrade in the outfield. But teams around the league didn’t tempt Padres executives with overwhelming trade offers. Instead, those teams will hold onto their prospects or trade them for players who will remain under team control beyond 2012. It’s possible that Quentin and other players headed for free agency no longer seem valuable enough to justify parting with highly-regarded prospects.
I wonder if the Padres would have made Quentin a qualifying offer following the season had he stayed in San Diego without signing a long-term deal (teams must extend qualifying offers to free agents to be eligible to obtain draft pick compensation). The qualifying offers are expected to fall in the $12.5MM range, and the Padres apparently value Quentin as a $10MM player on a multiyear deal, so $12.5MM for one year doesn’t sound unreasonable given the possibility of draft pick compensation. If nothing else, additional picks provide teams with a larger budget and more flexibility for the draft, which remains the most efficient way for organizations to obtain impact talent.
Photo courtesy of US Presswire.