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Rockies Sign Juan Castro

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FRIDAY: The Rockies win the Castro sweepstakes.  Ken Rosenthal notes in a sidebar that the silver lining to the Tulo injury could be Barmes getting a chance to build up trade value.  Rosenthal doesn’t see the Rox pursuing Brian Roberts for second base help unless they battle their way into contention first. 

THURSDAY: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News has been all over the Juan Castro situation.  The 35 year-old shortstop became a free agent today, and four clubs are in pursuit.  The Dodgers, Padres, Orioles, and Rockies are all after him.  Jackson says the Dodgers and Rockies would want him to do a brief Triple A stint.  Troy E. Renck confirms Colorado’s interest.

The Rockies received devastating news today – star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki could be out until July with a torn tendon in his quad.  Clint Barmes will assume the starting shortstop position.

Considering A Padres Fire Sale

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The Padres are 8.5 games out, and it’s only April 28th.  It’s not a good place to be.  Obviously they aren’t throwing in the towel yet, but if they have a similarly ugly May a fire sale could be in order.  Let’s speculate on some trade possibilities.

  • Greg Maddux.  The Padres’ highest paid player at $10MM, Mad Dog is calling his own shots at this point.  I imagine he’d prefer to stay put.
  • Brian Giles.  The team’s leadoff hitter still knows how to draw a walk.  He doesn’t hit lefties much but his overall numbers would look a lot better away from Petco.  He earns $9MM this year and has a $3MM buyout for ’09.  He can block trades to eight teams and gets a $2MM increase if dealt.
  • Jim Edmonds.  He’d have to shake off the slow start and remain healthy.  Makes $8MM with no-trade protection; the Cards are paying $2MM of his salary.
  • Trevor Hoffman.  Even if Hoffman loses the closer gig a trade seems unlikely.
  • Randy Wolf.  He might be one of the Padres’ more tradeable commodities.  He’s signed reasonably and just needs to remain healthy.  Everyone needs pitching.
  • Khalil Greene.  Greene gets $4.5MM this year and $6.5MM in ’09.  Trading him only makes sense if a good young shortstop comes back.
  • Others: Tadahito Iguchi, Tony Clark, Glendon Rusch, Michael Barrett (if healthy).

Rosenthal’s Latest: Crede, Lofton, Millwood, Dunn

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Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up; let’s discuss.

  • Despite his .268/.330/.537 start, the White Sox would still entertain trading Joe Crede if it’d help the big league team.  This is a change from their apparent springtime willingness to deal him for prospects.  The most likely desire would be pitching, if the Sox can find a suitor.
  • Jake Peavy put on his GM hat, suggesting the Padres sign Kenny Lofton.  Rosenthal likes the idea, but notes that Kevin Towers will first turn to his farm system.  I discussed some future trade candidates for San Diego in my latest video mailbag.
  • Rosenthal suggests Kevin Millwood’s contract will be an obstacle in trading him.  He earns $8.5MM this year, $11MM in ’09, and a fairly achievable $12MM vesting option for ’10.  Plus there’s a limited no-trade clause.
  • Walt Jocketty’s biggest test this year might be deciding whether to trade Ken Griffey Jr. and/or Adam Dunn.  They both have no-trade clauses to deal with; even after June 15th Dunn’s includes most high-revenue teams.

Olney’s Latest: Nady, Delgado, Clement, Lofton

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Buster Olney has some thoughts. Let’s have a looksee.

  • He thinks that Xavier Nady could fit with the Mets or the Indians, but notes that the Pirates are sitting tight for now, hoping to compete this year. They’ll be singing a different tune in July.
  • Olney goes on to speculate that the Mets could release Carlos Delgado if he continues his weak hitting. Nady would seem a decent replacement, though he hasn’t played first since 2006. Scott Hatteberg could be another option.
  • In what he calls "pure speculation," Olney suggests that the Mariners trade Jeff Clement to the Red Sox for Coco Crisp and some pitching. It’s a rather vague trade idea, and I’d think that the Mariners could fetch a lot more than Crisp if they opted to trade Clement, who is having his way with AAA pitching.
  • It appears Jake Peavy wants the Padres to sign Kenny Lofton. With the way Jim Edmonds and Scott Hairston are hitting, I can’t blame him.

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski.

Waiver Claims: Davis, Banks

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A couple of waiver claims were made today; let’s discuss.

The A’s picked up 27 year-old outfielder Rajai Davis, designating Kirk Saarloos.  Davis had been the Giants’ bounty in the Matt Morris deal (aside from the main benefit of shedding Morris’ contract).  Davis is known for his blazing speed, which helps him in the outfield and on the basepaths.  It seems unlikely that Davis will ever force his way into a starting role with Oakland.

The Padres snagged 25 year-old pitcher Josh Banks.  He’s a starter with superb control, but the Padres will convert him to relief.  Certainly a Padres-like project. 

Cubs May Have Use For Murton After All

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One of the players most-rumored to be traded in the past month is Matt Murton after he failed to make the Cubs opening day roster and was sent to AAA. Now it appears the Cubs may have a use for Murton after all, recalling him from the minors today.

Jon Greenberg notes that Murton is still not an everyday player but could get an occasional spot-start in the outfield as well as regular pinch-hit at bats.

Earlier this week, Ken Rosenthal noted that the Rays were still interested and earlier this month wrote of the Padres also pursuing the outfielder. The sticking point appeared to be the Cubs demand for a top pitching prospect.

This could just be a ploy by the Cubs to try and up the offer from other clubs, showing that he is still of value to the Cubs or the Cubs are just now realizing that he is just more useful in the majors than he is in the minors.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Odds and Ends: Darvish, Maddux

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Let’s kick off the day with some random links.

  • Baseball America’s Jim Callis profiles young phenom Yu Darvish, currently pitching in Japan.  If he were MLB-bound, he’d be the third-best prospect in the game.
  • DRays Bay would like to see Edwin Jackson traded rather than Jason Hammel, if there’s a roster squeeze.
  • Greg Maddux has told some teammates that this is his last season.  That nugget is only a small part of Tim Keown’s fantastic article about the legendary Professor.

Padres Interested In Damian Miller

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THURSDAY, 9:51am: The Padres (and Giants) didn’t claim Quintero; he passed through waivers and is headed to Triple A.

WEDNESDAY, 11:43am: The Padres aren’t quite sure how long Michael Barrett’s elbow injury will knock him out.  He won’t need Tommy John surgery, but he could miss anywhere from the minimum to two months.  Kevin Towers contacted free agent Damian Miller as a possible backup to be used later this month.  Miller wasn’t able to find a job this winter.  For now, the Padres will use the light-hitting Colt Morton behind Josh Bard.

One reader suggested Humberto Quintero, who was designated for assignment on March 31st.  The Quintero situation should be resolved soon, but the Giants might claim him.

Odds and Ends: Harden, Bonds, Ramon Hernandez

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Time to round up today’s linkage.

Rosenthal’s Latest: DeWitt, Murton, Vargas, Hatteberg, Pena, Baek, Piazza

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Ken Rosenthal has his latest column up at FoxSports.com. As usual he is not shy about stirring up rumors. Let’s take a look at what the rumor-guru has to say:

  • Rosenthal notes that the Dodgers will go with Blake DeWitt at third base who has never played a game above AA. This comes after the Dodgers failed to acquire either the Astros’ Mark Loretta, who was unavailable and the Royals’ Esteban German, who was too expensive. The Royals were asking for the Dodgers’ third best prospect, shortstop Chin-Lung Hu.
  • He indicates that the Padres and the Rays are pursuing Matt Murton but the Cubs are holding out for a top pitching prospect in return, knowing Murton will be a starter on another club. Rosenthal quotes one GM as saying that the price "is way too high as of now". As many as five teams have shown interest in Murton.
  • The Mets are among a dozen teams that have inquired about Brewers pitcher Claudio Vargas, who will not be in the rotation to begin the season. [Update: Sorry about this one. I had forgotten that the Brewers released Vargas earlier this week]
  • The Reds have put Ryan Freel on the market, but more teams appear to be interested in Scott Hatteberg. However, Rosenthal indicates that it is unlikely for the Red to trade Hatteberg even if Joey Votto is named the starter.
  • The Tigers, Reds and Orioles all tried to acquire backup catcher Brayan Pena from the Braves, but the Braves do not appear interested in letting him go
  • Rosenthal says that Pat Gillick’s history in Seattle may have played a part in the Phillies inability to land M’s reliever Cha Seung Baek, who is out of options but made the roster as a reliever.
  • Finally, Rosenthal notes that Mike Piazza is still working out with hopes of landing a gig at some point in ’08. Rosenthal thinks that Piazza may have to come to the realization soon that his career may be over.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

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