CBS: Padres Acquire Todd Walker
According to Scott Miller of CBS Sportsline, the Cubs are about to send Todd Walker to the Padres. Another low-rent fix for Kevin Towers.
UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal has learned that Walker was dealt for 19 year-old righty Jose Ceda, currently in rookie ball.
Justice: McLane Orders Lidge Trade
According to Richard Justice on his SportsJustice blog:
"I’m told Drayton McLane ordered Purpura to trade Brad Lidge. I got this information from an official with another team. I would expect the Astros to deny it."
Justice also mentions that Roger Clemens is pushing Drayton McLane for help, who has in turn orderd GM Tim Purpura to make something happen.
Mets closer Billy Wagner is campaigning for Omar Minaya to bring Lidge in so Wagner can fix him.
Also, I’m told Justice was recently on 610 AM in Houston. He mentioned that if the Astros trade Lidge for Hank Blalock straight up, the subsequent move would be to swap Morgan Ensberg and Adam Everett for Scott Linebrink and Khalil Greene.
Red Sox Trade Rumors
It’s tough to get anything out of Boston these days; Theo Epstein has plugged all of his leaks. Let’s see what we can piece together though.
According to Sean McAdams of The Providence Journal:
"Friends of the Rocket insist he’s sorry that he chose the Astros over the Red Sox." McAdams mentions that Clemens would love a trade to Boston if it could be done without infuriating the Houston fanbase. Also, a source of mine tells me that the Mets have inquired about Clemens.
Then there’s the possible three-way trade with the Rockies and Padres. The Padres would get Mike Lowell, the Red Sox would get Ryan Shealy and a starter, and who knows what the Rockies would get.
Don’t get that rumor confused with the other three-team scenario from Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe. In that case, the Red Sox get Julio Lugo and Scott Linebrink, the Padres get Mike Lowell, and the D-Rays get prospects.
Plus, Jayson Stark mentioned last night that the Red Sox are "making a late run at Alfonso Soriano." He doesn’t have much more than that, but it can’t be dismissed. Stark has also connected Boston to Jason Schmidt and Brad Lidge.
Trade Rumor Roundup: 4 Days Left
What’s cooking this morning in the world of MLB trade rumors?
Gotham Baseball’s Mark Healey spoke to all sorts of baseball sources; here’s his latest Rumor Mill. New developments: the Mets could pursue various Rockie pitchers, and the Yanks crave John Smoltz.
My Mets guy indicates that the Wilson Betemit for Scott Linebrink deal that’s been bandied about could go down at the last minute. What? He hears things outside of the Mets.
SportsBlah sorts through the Alfonso Soriano rumors.
Jimmy Gobble was scratched from his start last night. Let the rampant rumormongering begin. Actually, KC just switched him with Runelvys Hernandez to break up the southpaws in the rotation.
As the days go by, Doug Melvin sounds more and more like he’ll trade Carlos Lee.
RotoAuthority gives the fantasy take on Shin-Soo Choo, Ben Broussard, Scott Kazmir, and many more recent developments.
All the newspapers are reporting that the Yankees have deemed Scott Proctor "untouchable." I know good relief help is hard to find, but should a 29 year-old middling reliever at the peak of his value really be deemed untouchable? Especially the way Joe Torre is abusing him.
Hadn’t heard of the Mets’ interest in Juan Cruz and Jose Valverde until Dan Graziano mentioned it this morning. Could be a great buy low situation for a real live arm in Valverde. Cruz I think could be tough to pry away.
There was just no reason to try to start Roger Clemens trade speculation. The Astros, five games back in the wildcard, have invested way too much to suddenly wave the white flag.
Bidding war for…Cory Lidle? Looks like Toronto has the lead so far; Lidle starts tonight.
Buster Olney mentioned today in his blog that the White Sox are willing to discuss trades for Freddy Garcia. He also indicates that the Red Sox are working on a large, creative deal with more than two teams.
Add the Mariners and Cardinals to the Yankees for Shawn Green’s interested parties. He can veto a deal to any of these three teams and is happy in Arizona.
Padres Acquire Scott Williamson
The Padres picked up 30 year-old reliever Scott Williamson from the Cubs today. In return the Cubs received some Class A pitchers: Fabian Jimenez Angulo and Joel Santo.
Santo was ranked 16th among Padres prospects coming into this season, while Angulo was not in the top 30.
Williamson is making $2MM this year. He was one of Jim Hendry’s Tommy John rehab projects. This season, Williamson has dealt with a problem similar to tennis elbow. Speculation is that the Padres acquired Williamson to set up a trade of Scott Linebrink for a third baseman. The deal marks Jim Hendry’s first with Kevin Towers.
Trade Rumor Roundup: 9 Days Left
Let’s see what we’ve got this morning in the non-Hillenbrand department…
This is cool: a commenter over at Viva El Birdos emailed Dontrelle Willis‘s agent, Matt Sosnick, asking about the latest trade rumor. Meanwhile, Jayson Stark was adamant in his chat Friday that Willis will not be traded.
Enough with the Mike Lowell for Jake Peavy rumors, folks. No. Freakin’. Way. I know Buster Olney mentioned that Boston must’ve been targeting a notable pitcher given how well Lowell has played this year (.297/.349/.504) but Peavy isn’t going anywhere. Plus, if you adjust Lowell’s production for PETCO Park it would be pretty close to league average for his position.
Could Mike Pelfrey be traded as a player to be named later? The answer seems to be Yes, if named in January, and only if sent to an AL team. MetsBlog tries to decipher MLB’s rules. Of course, Pelfrey is not going to be traded. But it’s good to know.
Gut feeling…I think the Brewers will trade Carlos Lee. Doug Melvin is preparing for a deal, and I think this is an opportunity he can’t pass up.
What’s with the Indians picture next to George Kottaras?
Trade Rumor Roundup: 10 Days Left
Couple of fresh rumors surrounding the Padres’ third base vacancy, and I’m proud to say that MLBTradeRumors was able to deduce these in advance. A week ago I compiled a spreadsheet of Kevin Towers’ trading history since 2001, nerd that I am. From that we learned that Towers loves working with the Red Sox and also Bill Bavasi. That he would consider Adrian Beltre and Mike Lowell for his vacancy followed logically. Today, the Beltre rumor comes courtesy of Ken Rosenthal and Buster Olney threw down the Lowell rumor. If those two big dogs fall through, Towers could pursue previous acquisitions Joe Randa or Rich Aurilia.
Plenty of speculation, newspaper articles, and quotes involving Julio Lugo heading to Toronto. Not that this would be a bad move, but this club has a clear need for pitching. Ricciardi only has so many bullets to fire as far as prospects and dollars.
ESPN’s Stark Market tells us that the Mets may have soured a bit on Lastings Milledge and could consider shipping him to Philadelphia for Bobby Abreu. Meanwhile, Baseball Prospectus’s Jay Jaffe reminds us that Milledge’s most comparable player is Ruben Mateo, and recommends the deal for New York.
Wacky rumor involving A-Rod to the Phils made the message board rounds yesterday afternoon, but I think it’s safe to say there’s nothing to this one. Mark Healey agrees. The best part is that this one actually got all the way to A-Rod himself, who said he’d veto a deal to Philly. Check out that Gotham Baseball column from Healey for some fresh rumorage.
I was just checking my referrers, seeing where people are coming from when they land here at MLBTradeRumors.com. A lot of the traffic comes from search engine queries. Turns out someone recently found this site by Googling: "what does dayn perry have against royce clayton." Now that’s a damn good question.
Shea Hillenbrand Designated
According to a Blue Jays source of mine, this is how the Shea Hillenbrand designation went down:
"It seems Hillenbrand and a few (word is two) of his teammates were being
mischievious during yesterday’s workout. Gibbons stormed in the clubhouse
like an old den-mother and demanded the pranksters reveal themselves.
Just Hillenbrand stepped forward.
Gibbons blew a gasket. Everyone’s face hung open.
Gibb told Hill to take a shower and leave (on his first day back from adopting
a kid).
As the team left for the field, Hill still suited-up and paced in the
clubhouse, not knowing what to do.
Until an in-house courier hand delivered his walking papers.
He then left."
Alright, this is Tim talking again. It seems that Hillenbrand’s mischief involved writing "This is a sinking ship" on a chalkboard in the clubhouse. Good times.
The Padres, Twins, Rangers, and Angels have been connected to Hillenbrand at one time or another. While the Pads are the concensus favorite, keep in mind that Kevin Towers and J.P. Ricciardi have never completed a trade with one another before. (As far as I can tell). But hey, there’s a first time for everything.
Kevin Towers Trade Profile
I decided to compile a nifty spreadsheet of all the trades Kevin Towers has made since 2001. Go ahead – Download san_diego_padres_towers.xls. From this compilation I learned a few things about Towers’s favorite trading partners. He works well with Brian Cashman and the Yankees, albeit on mostly minor deals (5 trades since 2001). Towers also gets along well with Bill Bavasi and the Mariners – they’ve made four trades since 2001. He’s also made plenty of trades with the Red Sox, whether the GM was Mike Port, Theo Epstein, or the College of GMs.
Towers’s only swap with Dave Littlefield of the Pirates took place a year ago, when he acquired Dave Ross. However, you do have to wonder if Towers will simply replicate his move from last year: add Joe Randa. Randa represents only a modest upgrade over the current third basemen, however, and he was lousy with the Padres last year.
Given the Boston connection, Towers could pursue the resurgent Mike Lowell. The 32 year-old makes $9MM this year and another $9MM in ’07, but he is hitting .307/.359/.516 for Boston. Epstein could find catching prospect George Kottaras to his liking – Kottaras is hitting .276/.394/.451 for San Diego’s Double A affiliate. Ben Johnson could be expendable and any team would love to have righty Cesar Carrillo.
Towers acquired Rich Aurilia two years ago, and he could be a useful addition again if acquired from the Reds. Aurilia is slugging .488 on the season. Another low-tier option could be Tony Graffanino of the Royals, who has played 26 games at third this year.
Super long shot: Adrian Beltre. In an April interview with this website, Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist John Hickey indicated that Beltre could be available if anyone would take a chunk of his contract. And I already mentioned that Towers likes working with Bavasi. On the other hand, Beltre’s been awful this season and the Padres don’t typically trade for huge contracts.
I think Towers will make some sort of move, even if it’s far too late to actually make a difference. I expect something of the Aurilia/Graffanino flavor based on past history.
Red Sox Interested In Klesko?
A reader passed along a trade rumor heard this morning on WEEI in Boston from Sean MacAdams. Here’s the report:
The Red Sox would send reliever Rudy Seanez to the Padres for first baseman Ryan Klesko.
Some background seems appropriate. Seanez is a 37 year-old right-handed reliever signed to a one-year, $1.9MM deal by the Red Sox this winter. The club has a $2.1MM option for ’07 that can be bought out for $200,000. Seanez also will earn incentives this year for his number of appearances.
Last year with the Padres was easily the best season of his career; he was worth more than three wins and had the third best strikeout rate in the game among pitchers with 60 innings. He’s toiled for eight different teams and a return to San Diego would mark his third stint with the Pads. Seanez has seen all of his peripherals decline in his 33 innings this year, and he’s projected by Baseball Prospectus to be out of the game by ’08. He spent time on the DL last year with shoulder discomfort.
I’m sure you’re familiar with 35 year-old slugger Ryan Klesko. He was once a feared six-win player in the early part of the decade with San Diego. The left-hander was acquired by the Padres in a blockbuster deal in 1999 along with Bret Boone in exchange for Quilvio Veras, Wally Joyner, and Reggie Sanders. Klesko has a no-trade clause as a 10 and 5 player as part of his complicated, reworked contract; he makes $8MM in the final year of the deal. Kevin Towers has already said he will not exercise the ’07 option.
Klesko hopes to return to the Padres around August 1st after having shoulder surgery on his A/C joint in April. He hasn’t topped 500 ABs since 2002, but remains adept at drawing walks and may owe last year’s career-low slugging percentage to his painful shoulder and a pinched nerve in his neck. Klesko would certainly clear waivers, so the Padres have until August 31st to deal him. He’s willing to waive his no-trade rights if he’s not getting playing time with the Padres and he’s being sent to a contender. That’s probably the main wrinkle in this possible deal – Klesko would only be a bench player in Boston. In addition, Kevin Towers’s main concern right now is finding a third baseman.