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Olney On Bradley, Jays, Wood

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ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that the Rangers probably wouldn't welcome Milton Bradley back. Here's the latest on the now-suspended outfielder, along with the rest of Olney's rumors:

  • Olney says the Cubs will likely have to eat a huge portion of Bradley's contract to move him, perhaps as much as $18-19MM. The Cubs owe the 31-year-old $21MM over the next two years.
  • The Padres may be looking for a corner outfielder this offseason, so they could have interest in Bradley.
  • Olney says baseball people presume Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi will be fired. (What do you think?) If the Jays cut ties with their GM, Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken could be a candidate to replace him.
  • Clubs expect the Indians to consider moving Kerry Wood this offseason. Cleveland is rebuilding, so they'd presumably be happy to unload his $10.5MM salary.

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Pitching, Rays, Padres, DeRosa

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Let's see what Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has for us in his latest Full Count video…

  • The free agent market for starting pitching doesn't look very enticing, but the trade market could be intriguing. Toronto will almost certainly field offers for Roy Halladay again, the Cubs could trade Carlos Zambrano, and the Braves could deal Javier Vazquez if they decide to keep Tim Hudson.
  • The Astros might finally be ready to move ace Roy Oswalt. While he does have a full no-trade clause, Oswalt has told the club in the past that he'd be willing to consider moves to St. Louis, both Chicago teams, Texas, and Atlanta.
  • Tampa Bay moved Scott Kazmir when his value was high, so perhaps it's unlikely they'd move B.J. Upton when his value is low. Regardless, many teams covet the elder Upton brother because at his best he's a righty slugger with superior defense in center field. In his place, the Rays could go in-house with Fernando Perez or Desmond Jennings.
  • Keep in mind that if Tampa were to trade an outfielder, they might prefer to deal Carl Crawford. Upton is three years away from free agency; Crawford just one.
  • The Padres' recent surge has GM Kevin Towers thinking the team could be a surprise contender next year. The question is this: how low will the team's payroll go? The subtraction of Brian Giles would leave the payroll in the mid-$30MM range, but there are some that believe the team will move either Adrian Gonzalez or Heath Bell and get down into the mid-$20MM range. Ownership has yet to give the front office a firm payroll number for 2010.
  • The Cardinals want to re-sign Mark DeRosa, but his offseason wrist surgery changes the equation. DeRosa is fully expected to be ready by the start of Spring Training, but he'll come with some risk. If he was fully healthy, he would be nearly as coveted as Chone Figgins, but supply and demand will work in DeRosa's favor because there are very few quality third baseman available. Plus, he can also play a ton of other positions.

Orioles Will Not Part With Top Prospects

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The Orioles are known to be looking for an impact, middle-of-the-order hitter, but according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun, team president Andy MacPhail says he has no plans to part with any of his top young players to acquire such a hitter.

"Personally, I don't see us giving up any key building blocks going forward at this stage of the game," MacPhail said. "I'm pretty optimistic that we're going to be able to acquire guys that are going to be meaningful improvements for us without having to sacrifice key guys."

Zrebiec says this effectively takes the O's out of the running for Adrian Gonzalez, should the Padres put him on the market this winter. This year's free agent class lacks proven middle-of-the order guys beyond Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, although the Orioles are set in the outfield for the foreseeable future with Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, and Nolan Reimold.

"It could come either way. You just don't know how the offseason is going to evolve. One trade might start a set of dominoes going in a direction that you really can't anticipate in September. We're going to take a look at what options are available to us in terms of a bat."

"The important thing for us is pretty simple — you identify a pretty wide spectrum of players that are free agents or you think might be available and you make sure you have adequate scouting coverage on them," MacPhail said. "But every offseason, there are things that come about that you just don't anticipate. Our job right now is to make sure we got our scouts in the right places."

Odds And Ends: Sweeney, Padres, Saito

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Some links for the morning…

Odds & Ends: Chen, Mets, White Sox

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An action-packed set of links for Wednesday…

  • Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a report about MLB teams, the Cubs included, watching Chunichi Dragons pitcher Wei-Yin Chen's last start.  It's possible Chen will be a free agent after the season.  The Taiwanese southpaw has a 1.45 ERA this year and would be in high demand.
  • MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone does not believe the team will non-tender starter John Maine after the season.  Maine, coming back from a shoulder injury, may start Sunday.
  • SNY's Ted Berg says this is a terrible time to trade Jose Reyes.
  • R.J. Anderson of DRays Bay sees a trade more likely than a non-tender for catcher Dioner Navarro.
  • Over at FanGraphs, Anderson notes that Kiko Calero (10.8 K/9) is a "nice sleeper candidate" among free agent relievers.  Calero's strikeout rate ranks behind only Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, Rich Harden, and Octavio Dotel among free agent pitchers with at least 40 innings.
  • Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told MLB.com's Jason Beck the Magglio Ordonez vesting option situation "speaks for itself."  23 more plate appearances for Maggs, and the Tigers have him at $18MM for 2010.
  • Among the topics in Mark Gonzales' Chicago Tribune White Sox mailbag: the Brandon Allen–Tony Pena swap and the possibility of the Sox pursuing Chone Figgins.  In another article, Gonzales notes that Ozzie Guillen wants Freddy Garcia ($1MM club option) as his fifth starter next year.
  • Jack Curry of the New York Times has the story on the Newark Bears, and independent league club that has chosen to stock its roster with recognizable former big leaguers trying to claw their way back to the Show.
  • An AL scout told Tom Krasovic "Oakland got smoked" in the Scott Hairston trade.  The Padres received pitchers Sean Gallagher, Ryan Webb, and Craig Italiano in the July 5th trade (Gallagher was named later).
  • WEEI's Alex Speier says the Red Sox announced the signing of Cuban shortstop Jose Iglesias to a four-year Major League deal beginning next year (it's worth $8.25MM).

Padres Expect To Be “Pretty Good” Next Year

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When the Padres won the NL West with an 82-80 record four years ago, the division was laughably weak. Now that the Dodgers, Rockies and Giants have improved, the NL West is home to three of the league's five best teams. The Diamondbacks should improve next year, so the division is no longer a joke, but that hasn't deterred Padres GM Kevin Towers.

"I think we might be pretty good next year," Towers told ESPN.com's Buster Olney. "I know that sounds pretty crazy."

Olney suggests the Padres will likely keep Adrian Gonzalez, whose 35 homers would appeal to many teams if the Padres decided to listen to trade offers. The Padres have improved pitching and, now that they're no longer responsible for Jake Peavy's contract, could be minor players in the free agent market. 

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Penny, Harden, Lidge

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Rumor machine Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count Video up at FoxSports.com. Let's dive on in…

  • The outcome of this weekend's games could determine which team the recently released Brad Penny signs with. The Giants and Marlins are the two teams pursuing him the most, but the Giants are in a better position in the NL Wildcard standings.
  • The Yankees, Twins, and A's are also expressing interest in the righthander, but "what pitcher in his right mind would want to stay in the American League?"
  • The A's and Padres have even "floated the idea" of signing Penny beyond the rest of this season, but Penny's best bet might be to go to a team like the Giants and reestablish himself in a pennant race, then go back into the free agent pool this winter on a high note.
  • The Cubs are more open to dealing Rich Harden to the Twins than you might think. The Cubs could receive two high draft picks if they offer Harden arbitration after the season and he signs elsewhere, but that's a risky strategy. Given his injury history, the club might not want to take a $10MM or so hit if he accepts, even for only one year.
  • The bigger question with Harden may be how aggressive the Twins will be in trying to deal for him. Remember that stars Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan have said the team needs more to contend, with Morneau mentioning that the team needs to impress Joe Mauer since he's due to become a free agent after next season.
  • Yes, the Yankees were messing with the Red Sox when they claimed Chris Carter off waivers, but Boston's 40-man roster only has 38 players on it at the moment. Daisuke Matsuzaka will assume one of those spots when he comes off the 60-day DL, and the other is reserved for Paul Byrd.
  • People might need to relax when it comes to Brad Lidge's struggles. His recent blown save against the Pirates might be the result of overuse, as Lidge was pitching for the fourth straight day. He had done it twice before this season, but he entered game three of that stretch with a four-run lead. Manager Charlie Manuel may need to be more careful with how he uses his closer down the stretch.

Odds And Ends: Oswalt, Cubs, Chapman, Padres

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More links as we get ready for the final weekend of August baseball…

  • Jermore Solomon of the Houston Chronicle wouldn't be surprised if Roy Oswalt wants out of Houston.
  • Tony Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Rich Harden and Aaron Heilman aren't the only Cubs to have been claimed on waivers. 
  • Aroldis Chapman continues to practice in Spain and is close to establishing residency in another country, according to Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN.com. The Cuban pitcher is considered one of the best amateur talents in the world.
  • Arangure Jr. reports that the Padres are close to signing Fabel Filpo for a six-figure deal.

Odds And Ends: Oliver, Wolf, Penny

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Links for Thursday morning…

Heyman On Rockies, Wagner, Gonzalez

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Jon Heyman of SI.com says the Rockies are in contention because GM Dan O'Dowd has made more worthwhile moves than anyone in the last year. He acquired Huston Street and Carlos Gonzalez for Matt Holliday, turned Luis Vizcaino into Jason Marquis and acquired Rafael Betancourt. Here are Heyman's latest rumors:

  • O'Dowd's contract expires after the season, when Giants GM Brian Sabean and Dodgers GM Ned Colletti can also become free agents. One rival GM would be shocked if the Rockies didn't offer O'Dowd an extension.
  • Heyman imagines the exact same scenario that Buster Olney brought up earlier today. The Red Sox could keep Billy Wagner to close next year while Daniel Bard sets up. This would enable the Red Sox to trade Jonathan Papelbon, who would bring in a nice return. Heyman says it's "mostly speculation" and reminds us that it's "far-fetched."
  • The D'Backs put Chad Qualls on waivers. He's expected to be claimed, but the D'Backs aren't expected to move him.
  • Some expect the Padres to listen to offers for Adrian Gonzalez after the season,
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