Injuries Limit Padres Trades
Most teams are sellers at the deadline if they're 18 games under .500 and 13.5 games out of a playoff spot. But as Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports.com says, this year's San Diego Padres will struggle to unload payroll and add prospects in trades because they have so many injured players. With Jake Peavy, Brian Giles, Henry Blanco, David Eckstein, Chris Young, Nick Hundley, Cliff Floyd, Cha Seung Baek and Shawn Hill on the DL, the Padres have few pieces to consider moving.
Odds & Ends: Draft, Salazar, Meredith, Royals
Some more links as we inch closer and closer to the July 31 trade deadline…
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker suggests Major League Baseball should consider re-working its draft system. Here's the gist of his idea: "What I’d propose is a regulated amateur free agent system, in which the draft is discarded entirely. Every amateur player who meets the entry criteria (age, education, whatever) would be allowed to negotiate and sign with any team, regardless of national origin." Check it out.
- The Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck gives his take on the Oscar Salazar-for-Cla Meredith swap: "Oscar was the ultimate good soldier, waiting for his turn without complaint and performing very well as a spot player recently."
- As Joe Posnanski points out, the Royals have won just 19 of their last 62 games. Just how bad is that mark? The Dodgers have never lost as many games in a 62-game stretch.
- Baseball America's Ben Badler reports that the Indians signed Jairo Kelly, a switch-hitting Dominican shortstop.
Odds And Ends: Smoltz, Cards, Rangers
Some links as we begin a week of non-stop rumors…
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post says John Smoltz, Jonathan Sanchez and Jason Schmidt, who all start tonight, will have an impact on their teams' deadline decisions. Red Sox officials want to see how much they can count on Smoltz, Sanchez can quiet teams' concerns about his control with a good start and Schmidt can provide the Dodgers a back-of-the-rotation arm.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Troy Glaus and Khalil Greene are both advancing to Triple A for the next stage of their respective rehab assignments.
- Evan Brunell of the Hardball Times finds the Padres-Orioles trade baffling from the Padres' perspective.
- Texas Rangers Trades interviews MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan and the chat is worth a read.
- Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram lists 11 pitchers the Rangers could potentially trade for, including Roy Halladay.
O’s, Padres Swap Salazar and Meredith
6:51pm: As several readers have pointed out, this deal may be a precursor to a Danys Baez or George Sherrill trade.
Both have been floated as possible trade chips recently.
6:29pm: Kubatko reports the Orioles have acquired submariner Cla Meredith in return. He was 4-2 with a 4.17 ERA and a 20/13 K/BB ratio in 36 2/3 innings for the Padres.
"He gets a lot of ground balls and can pitch every other day," O's president Andy MacPhail said Sunday evening. "The ground ball ratio becomes more important later in the summer in our ballpark."
5:22pm: According to MASN's Roch Kubatko, the Orioles have traded infielder Oscar Salazar to the Padres. The 31-year-old was 13-for-31 with two home runs and six RBI for the O's since his call-up in early June.
We're waiting to hear who (or what) Baltimore got in return. It's apparently not a "player to be named later," so we should have something shortly. Stay tuned.
Padres DFA Josh Banks
Via a team press release, the Padres have designated righthander Josh Banks for assigment. The move frees up room on the roster for top prospect Mat Latos, who was called up to start tomorrow's game. Banks got into six games with the Friars this year (three starts), allowing 34 baserunners and pitching to 7.15 ERA in 22.2 IP.
Not much of a birthday present for Banks, who turns 27 today.
Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Halladay, Padres, Orioles, Holliday, Dodgers
FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count Video up. Let's dive in…
- The Brewers are flying under the radar for Roy Halladay. The Blue Jays love shortstop prospect Alcides Escobar, but the Brew Crew might not have the young pitching needed to complete a deal.
- Rosenthal isn't sure Halladay would approve a deal to Milwaukee either.
- Don't expect the Padres to move either Adrian Gonzalez or Heath Bell before the trade deadline. GM Kevin Towers says it makes "no sense" to move those players now, but it could be a different story in the offseason since teams may be more willing to discuss Major League players then.
- The Orioles aren't "terribly enthused" about trading either Aubrey Huff or Luke Scott. The O's could try to retain the free agent to be Huff in the offseason by offering him arbitration, and taking the compensation draft picks if he declines. Scott is still under team control for another few seasons.
- Don't be surprised if the A's are "relatively quiet" at the deadline. Matt Holliday is drawing only minimal interest, but that could change if he heats up before the deadline.
- Oakland has gotten calls about reliever Michael Wuertz and "to a lesser degree Brad Ziegler," but they aren't in a rush to move either guy since they're cheap and under team control for the next few seasons.
In a separate video, Rosenthal says that Dodgers manager Joe Torre has "made it clear he wants Roy Halladay." The problem is that Toronto has asked for Clayton Kershaw as the centerpiece of any deal, and the money might be prohibitive for LA. The Dodgers are also looking for a setup reliever. Rosenthal also reiterates the lack of interest in Holliday.
Odds & Ends: Lugo, Holliday, Red Sox, Draft
Some spare links on a busy Saturday morning …
- Adam Rubin of The NY Daily News says an AL official indicated that the recently DFA'd Julio Lugo has been working out at the Mets complex in the Dominican Republic, and expects the team to sign the shortstop once he clears waivers and is released.
- Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports says Matt Holliday won't say if he wants to be traded or remain an Athletic, but he does have a preference.
- Red Sox GM Theo Epstein says he doesn't think his team has one glaring weakness, but at same time thinks there are opportunities to get better, according to Adam Kilgore of The Boston Globe.
- Considering some of the contracts we've seen players receive in the last few months, the union might concede "financially harnessing the signing system for both draftees and international players" in the next CBA so their players get what they want, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus.
- The Padres are calling up top prospect Mat Latos to start Sunday, reports Corey Brock of MLB.com. They are looking to find more playing time for their young players.
- ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. wrote about the increasingly competitive market for representing Cuban amateurs.
Odds & Ends: Holliday, Kearns, Pirates, Padres
A few more Friday night links…
- AOL Fanhouse's Jeff Fletcher tweets that the Braves are "not involved with the A's on Matt Holliday."
- Bill Ladson of MLB.com mentions that there doesn't seem to be any takers for Austin Kearns, who has gotten just 17 plate appearances in the team's last 22 games.
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington says that the contract extension talks with Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez need "to be resolved quickly, one way or the other," according to Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tibune-Review.
- Andy Marks of The Star Banner notes that the Padres aren't close to signing fourth rounder Keyvius Sampson, who was a borderline first round talent in last month's amateur draft.
- ESPN's Keith Law wrote about some players we'll see on Thursday's Cape Cod League All Star Game. The Cape is the nation's premier amateur summer league, and features some of the very best players available in next year's draft.
Odds & Ends: Escobar, Peavy, Mets, Cardinals
A gaggle of links for your Thursday evening reading pleasure…
- In response to someone mentioning the Yunel Escobar–Matt Holliday rumors, MLB.com's Mark Bowman says "There is zero truth to those Escobar rumors. The Braves have NO and I repeat no intention to move him. Believe me, if they move him, it will simply be a deal that they simply can't refuse and that wouldn't include anything involving Holliday."
- Tom Krasovic notes that Jake Peavy is out of his walking boot, and is ready to begin "ramping it up."
- David Lennon of Newsday says that earlier today Mets GM Omar Minaya twice mentioned "that he talked with five or six teams today."
- Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says that the Cardinals may search for starting pitching if Todd Wellemeyer doesn't show more consistency over his next 2-3 starts.
- Scott Lauber of The News Journal notes that the Phillies promoted one of their best prospects, outfielder Michael Taylor, to Triple-A. He speculates that Taylor may best serve the club as trade bait, considering all three of their regular outfielders were All Stars.
- When asked who the best prospect was if matched up head to head, Baseball America's Jim Callis said he'd go with Bryce Harper over Justin Upton, citing Harper's advantage in power.
- MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports that the Reds gave Venezuelan shortstop Humberto Valor a $690k bonus. Valor signed with Cincinnati earlier this month.
- David Villavicencio of MLB.com mentions that the Marlins have signed eight of their first ten draft picks. First rounder Chad James remains unsigned, however.
Towers Speaks About Possible Moves
Padres GM Kevin Towers spoke with Darren Smith of 1090 XX Sports Radio earlier today, touching on a variety of Padre related topics. You can download and listen to the interview by clicking here, but here's a roundup of the rumors…
- Towers said he expects to get calls from contending teams about his "experienced players," mentioning David Eckstein, Brian Giles, Henry Blanco, Kevin Correia, Chad Gaudin, Cla Meredith and Mike Adams by name.
- He also said it's doubtful that the team would take on salary in a deadline deal, but they might be able to during the offseason.
- Depending on how he comes back from injury, there may be interest in Giles. Towers said it's doubtful anything happens before the deadline, but a waiver trade could be made in August. Giles, of course, has a full no-trade clause.
- When asked why he wouldn't trade Adrian Gonzalez or Heath Bell before the deadline to bring back as much talent as possible, Towers said "it's not to say we won't." He then mentions that they first need to determine what young players they're committed to keeping here and what they need to bring in from outside the organization, but if someone approaches them about one of those guys "they need to listen."