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Lincecum Has Limited No-Trade Clause; Unlikely To Be Moved

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9:45pm: Lincecum's no-trade clause is likely to be a moot point, as general manager Brian Sabean said today on KNBR radio: "I find it hard to believe we'll see Timmy in another uniform this year" (via Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle on Twitter).

Lincecum told Schulman's colleague, John Shea, that he's not worried about trade talk, especially after Sabean's comments (Twitter link).

7:06pm: Tim Lincecum has a previously unreported limited no-trade clause in his contract that would allow him to block trades to eight teams, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The Red Sox and Tigers aren't on that list, he adds, alluding to a report from earlier in the week that the Tigers have interest in acquiring "The Freak" and converting him to a reliever.

A Tigers acquisition is a "major long shot," and one NL executive called the idea of a team acquiring Lincecum and converting him into a closer "far-fetched." Heyman adds that Lincecum likely wouldn't be happy about the move anyway. He prefers to start, and because he's just over two months away from hitting the open market for the first time, a move to the bullpen may reduce his free agent value.

The 29-year-old Lincecum has a 4.26 ERA with 9.7 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 46.2 percent ground-ball rate in 116 1/3 innings this season. He's in the final season of a two-year, $40.5MM contract he signed with the Giants to avoid arbitration prior to the 2012 campaign. He's lost significant life on his fastball and seen his command worsen in that time, leading to results that look more like a fourth or fifth starter than a two-time Cy Young winner. 

Multiple Teams Interested In Bud Norris

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The Rangers are in on the Astros' Bud Norris as a back-up plan if they fail to acquire Matt Garza from the Cubs, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports via Twitter. Passan adds that the Pirates,  Dodgers, Blue Jays and Giants are all interested in Norris. 

Norris has been one of the most talked-about trade chips in July, with an executive telling Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com last week that he could be the next starter to be moved. Norris may not provide as immediate of an impact as Garza, but with a paltry $3MM salary this season and two years of team control remaining after this year, he offers significant long-term value. According to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, the Astros' have set the high price of two top prospects in exchange for the hurler. 

Norris, 28, has a 3.63 ERA in 114 innings this year, a mark that would be the best of his career. Though his strikeout rate has fallen significantly this season, he's cut his walk and home run rates. The right hander told MLB.com's Brian McTaggart in June that he hasn't discussed a long-term deal with the Astros and understands that a deal may be on the horizon.

Quick Hits: Gardenhire, Twins, Giants

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Chase Lambin is the oldest active minor league player to have never played a game in the majors, but the 34-year-old is still chasing the dream, writes Kent Babb of the Washington Post.  Lambin, whose career has taken him to multiple stops in the minors and even Japan, is with the Royals' Triple-A affiliate in Omaha and hoping to get the call up to Kansas City.  If it doesn't come this year, Lambin says he'll keep playing until there are no more contracts, whether here in the states or overseas.  Here's tonight's look around baseball..

  • There have been questions about manager Ron Gardenhire's job security with the Twins, but people around the team tell Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that there's very little chance that he won't be asked back for 2014.
  • Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Sulia link) spoke with a rival front office executive who said that the Giants'' best trade bait is their pitching in the low minors along with Double-A catcher Andrew Susac in return for big-league talent, if they're buying at the deadline.  San Fran is 43-51, 6.5 games back of the first place D'Backs.
  • Matt Eddy of Baseball America has the up-to-date international bonus pool figures for all 30 big league teams.  
  • Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball compiled a list of the players earning bonuses for their appearance in the 2013 All-Star game.  The Tigers wound up doling out $400K in bonuses to five players, including Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, and Torii Hunter, who made $100K each for their trip to Queens.

Tigers, Others Interested In Lincecum As A Reliever

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Several teams, including the Tigers, have interest in acquiring Tim Lincecum from the Giants but as a relief pitcher instead of a starter, FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi reports.  Lincecum has only made one regular season relief appearance in his seven-year Major League career, but he allowed just one run over 13 relief innings during the Giants' postseason run last October.  Though Lincecum returned to the San Francisco rotation this year, Morosi notes that he may eventually be tabbed for a bullpen role in the future.

The Tigers have been looking for an answer at closer all season, and while Joaquin Benoit has pitched well in the role as of late, Lincecum could be a game-changing addition at the back of the Detroit bullpen (or, Benoit could remain as closer as Lincecum could simply be used for other important relief situations).  It would be a somewhat difficult trade to negotiate for the Tigers or any team that wished to use Lincecum out of the pen, given that the Giants would likely still be looking for a return befitting that of a solid starting pitcher. 

As Morosi writes, the Giants may want to keep Lincecum given that they're still on the outskirts of the NL West race.  The World Series champs might be loath to deal Lincecum given that they're already known to be looking for starting pitching help and recently came up short in a bid to acquire Ricky Nolasco.  On the other hand, Lincecum is a free agent this winter and is owed $10.2MM for the remainder of the 2013 season, so if the Giants decided to become sellers, moving Lincecum's salary would be a key move as the club reloads for 2014.

I wrote back in February that Lincecum's upcoming free agency made this a make or break year for the two-time Cy Young Award winner, and to this point, Lincecum has showed signs that his disappointing 2012 campaign may have been an aberration.  Lincecum has a posted a 9.71 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 over 19 starts, the best of which was a no-hitter against the Padres on Saturday.  Lincecum has been hurt by some bad luck in the form of a .312 BABIP and 67.4% strand rate — his advanced metrics (3.34 FIP, 3.25 xFIP, 3.54 SIERA) indicate that his 4.26 ERA should be lower.  As I recently noted on MLBTR's sister fantasy site Roto Authority, Lincecum was a good buy-low candidate for your fantasy league, though the no-hitter has likely upped his value.

Odds & Ends: Thornton, Soriano, Mariners, Rockies

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Here's today's look around baseball..

  • Other teams passed on Matt Thornton because they felt that he hasn’t been throwing well and that the cost of acquiring him outweighed the possible reward, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd).  The cost for the Red Sox was giving up a 22-year-old minor league outfielder in Brandon Jacobs and taking on the remainder of Thornton's salary, less the $750K that came from the White Sox.
  • Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com sized up the trade market for Windy City outfielders Alfonso Soriano and Alex Rios.  Recently, our own Steve Adams sized up the trade market for corner outfielders and center fielders as the deadline approaches.
  • Teams are waiting on the Mariners, Phillies, and Giants to decide their strategy before the trade deadline as they all have "useful players", tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
  • The Rockies could conceivably go out-of-house to replace Todd Helton once he retires, but they have a couple of options to turn to in their farm system, writes Irv Moss of The Denver Post.

Cubs Claim Cole Gillespie Off Waivers

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The Cubs announced that they have claimed Cole Gillespie off waivers from the Giants.  The outfielder was designated for assignment by San Francisco earlier this week.

Gillespie, 29, played in just three games for the Giants' varsity squad this season.  In 269 plate appearances for the club's Triple-A affiliate this season, the outfielder slashed .277/.361/.455 with nine homers.  Gillespie is expected to provide the Cubs with depth in the outfield but will not yet report to the club today, according to the press release.

Reliever Trade Talk: Parnell, Red Sox, Giants

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The Twins and Mets "should learn from the mistake the Royals made with Joakim Soria," writes Dave Cameron of FanGraphs, and trade closers Glen Perkins and Bobby Parnell.  Cameron's argument is convincing: "Relievers, even really good young relievers, should be viewed as ripe fruit. They are great for a while, but you don’t store ripe fruit for the future planning on having a healthy snack later. You consume it now or waste it."  The latest from around the relief trade market:

NL Notes: Pirates, Nationals, Giants, Rockies, Cubs

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The Pirates have "no clear priority" at the trade deadline, GM Neal Huntington tells Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette on SiriusXM (via Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Twitter). Huntington notes, however, that the team could look for a reliever or hitter. If they pursue a hitter, an outfielder to complement Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte might make sense, although Jose Tabata has hit well alongside them recently. Here are more notes from around the National League.

  • Even after the addition of Scott Hairston, Nationals manager Davey Johnson would like his club to acquire another veteran bench player, MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports. Ladson notes, however, that the Nationals are more likely to acquire a pitcher, since Ross Detwiler is hurt and Dan Haren has not gotten good results.
  • Johnson, however, says doesn't think a deal for a starting pitcher is "in our plans," MASNsports.com's Dan Kolko reports. GM Mike Rizzo doesn't favor rental players, Kolko says, and the Nationals like their minor-league pitching, so they don't see much reason to pursue a longer-term rotation solution via trade.
  • The Giants have lost four games in a row and are now in the NL West cellar at 40-50, and they don't have plans right now to be buyers at the tarde deadline, CBS Sports' Danny Knobler tweets. They don't appear ready to sell yet, either, although Knobler guesses that could soon change. If they do sell, Knobler notes that Tim Lincecum and Hunter Pence could be on the market.
  • The Rockies aren't sure whether they will buy or sell, Knobler reports, noting that this weekend's series against the Dodgers could help them decide. The Rockies are just 4.5 games back in the NL West, but they're 43-48. If they do end up becoming sellers, they will not trade Troy Tulowitzki or Carlos Gonzalez, and would have to be "overwhelmed" to deal Michael Cuddyer, Knobler reports.
  • The Cubs, meanwhile, have won four games in a row, but that won't keep them from continuing to sell, writes Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago. The Cubs are still 14 games out of first place. "Even though we're playing really well there has to be that streak of wins to climb back into something," says manager Dale Sveum. "Especially when you have three to four teams to climb over. It still takes a 10-game winning streak to say, ‘Ok, now we have a chance.'"

Quick Hits: Diaz, Peavy, Colon, Francoeur

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Major League Baseball has ruled that Cuban shortstop Aledmys Diaz is ineligible to sign until February 2014, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. Diaz had claimed to be born in January 1990, which would make him 23 and would mean MLB teams wouldn't be restricted by their international bonus pools in their attempts to sign him. Earlier media reports indicate that he is actually 22. A 22-year-old Cuban player would still have to sign under the bonus pool system. Ten teams were reported to have interest in Diaz. Here are more notes from around the Majors.

  • The White Sox's Jake Peavy says he wanted to ask the team if he could pitch for the big league club on Sunday, though he would have been denied, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports via Twitter. Peavy, who's been sidelined with a rib injury, will join the Sox's Double-A club on Wednesday if he's still feeling good at that time, Gonzales says. If he's healthy, Peavy could be a trade chip at the July 31 deadline.
  • Bartolo Colon is defying the odds yet again this season with the Athletics, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times writes. Colon currently has a 2.69 ERA with 4.9 K/9 and 1.1 BB/9 in 120 1/3 innings despite his age (40) and the fact that he was suspended last season for testing positive for testosterone. Common sense suggested that, without the use of PEDs, Colon couldn't keep pitching well, but the A's took a chance on Colon, signing him for $3MM plus bonuses. "Our organization thought he would be very similar based on what they saw in winter ball," says A's manager Bob Melvin. "He was throwing with the same velocity he does right now, the same movement. It was an easy sign for us and we did it very quickly, based on what everybody thought he would be like, and certainly he’s been that and more."
  • The Giants' signing of Jeff Francoeur is a "lightning-in-a-bottle play," Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com writes. Baggarly compares the acquisition to the Giants' May 2010 signing of Pat Burrell, who had been cast off by the Rays. Baggarly also notes that Francoeur and Kensuke Tanaka, who is making his big-league debut while starting in left field Tuesday night, will mean less playing time for Andres Torres.

Aaron Steen contributed to this post.

NL Notes: Wilson, Pence, DeJesus, Marcum

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Free agent and former Giants closer Brian Wilson has been training in Hawaii and could pitch for scouts near the beginning of August, ESPN's Buster Olney tweets. Wilson had Tommy John surgery in 2012 and has not pitched since last April. Here are more notes from around the National League.

  • Giants outfielder Hunter Pence told Jim Bowden on Sirius XM MLB Network Radio (via Twitter) that while the club hasn't made him an offer in the last two months, he enjoys playing in San Francisco and would like to stay there. Pence avoided arbitration with the Giants prior to this season by agreeing to a one-year, $13.8MM deal and will be eligible for free agency for the first time this winter.
  • Cubs outfielder David DeJesus' recent injury means he's unlikely to be headed out of Chicago by the trading deadline, and he's just fine with that, the Chicago Sun-Times' Gordon Wittenmyer reports. "I love Chicago. I love playing here," says DeJesus. "[I]f I can be a part of the team chancing over and bringing the winning feeling to Chicago … We’ve been playing some good baseball the last month. I want to be a part of it."
  • Mets offseason acquisition Shaun Marcum will be shut down for the season due to an issue with his pitching hand, according to a report from Ed Coleman of WFAN that has been confirmed by Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter).  Even though the signing didn't pay off for the Mets, Rubin recently explained that incentives in the deal would have cost the club even more if he continued to pitch.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

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