Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Giants Rumors

Minor League Transactions: Fogg, Berroa, Campillo

By | at

Baseball America's Matt Eddy brings us the latest round of minor league transactions, with a few noteworthy moves to mention. Let's take a look….

  • The Phillies released Josh Fogg, who they had signed just before the season started. Fogg got knocked around at Double-A Reading, allowing 13 earned runs and 27 baserunners in just 10.1 IP.
  • Angel Berroa was let go by the Giants, after he hit .205/.247/.307 in 94 Triple-A plate appearances. His release came two months after the team had inked him to a minor league deal.
  • After serving a 50-game suspension for a drug violation, Adam Bostick was released by the Royals. The club also parted ways with Jorge Campillo, who posted a 3.91 ERA in 158.2 innings for the Braves in 2008.
  • The Twins signed D'Angelo Jimenez, who had been playing in the Mexican League. The 32-year-old, who always displayed strong on-base skills, last appeared in the majors in 2007 with Washington, hitting .245/.379/.373 in 128 plate appearances.
  • The Reds released left-hander Daryl Harang, Aaron Harang's younger brother.

July 2 Rumors: Phillies, Twins, Cubs, Blue Jays

By | at

The international signing period opens today and we'll keep track of the rumors and news right here:

  • The Phillies signed Venezuelan shortstop Francisco Silva for about $200K and the Twins agreed to sign Reyson Zoquier, a Dominican lefty, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America.
  • The Cubs agreed to sign Dominican shortstop Daniel Sanchez for a mid six-figure bonus, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. 
  • ESPN.com’s Keith Law hears that the Blue Jays are expected to spend aggressively on international prospects this summer.
  • The Blue Jays have been tied to Gabriel Cenas, a Venezuelan third baseman and Pedro Perez, a Colombian third baseman, according to Law.
  • They are also in on Eskarlin Vazquez, a Dominican outfielder who has captured the Giants’ attention. Law predicts Vazquez will get one of the summer’s top bonuses.
  • The Mariners are expected to sign Philips Castillo, another Dominican outfielder who should command a top bonus, according to Law. The Mariners have also been linked to Jose Torres, a Colombian right-hander.
  • Law has heard that the Royals are in on Jeffrey Baez, a speedy Venezuelan outfielder.

Giants Notes: Trades, Molina, Sabean

By | at

With the Bengie Molina trade just finalized today, there are still a lot of eyes focused on what the Giants are up to next.  Here are some notes from the Bay Area….

  • Chris Haft of MLB.com says the Molina deal could be a precursor to another move to acquire a hitter.  With Buster Posey now installed behind the plate, San Francisco are now free to pursue a corner infielder (with Pablo Sandoval playing either first or third as the situation may warrant) or an outfielder.  Names like David DeJesus and Jose Guillen have been mentioned as possible acquisitions, and we also know the Giants will shy away from rent-a-players.
  • Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com says the Molina trade was "the most significant move made by Brian Sabean in the past several years." Urban also reports that Molina had "become a subtle but significant source of clubhouse contention."
  • Molina tells Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that being traded was "a shock" since there was still a full month before the trade deadline and because he felt he had developed a rapport with the Giants' pitching staff.  When he signed with the team, however, Molina knew a deal was possible given that Posey was waiting in the wings.
  • In another Baggarly piece, Sabean disagreed with Buster Olney's informal GM survey that cited Sabean as the toughest general manager to make deals with, or just to reach on the phone.  Sabean felt Olney's piece "lacked context."

Rangers Acquire Bengie Molina

By | at

3:33pm: Andrew Baggarly of The San Jose Mercury News tweets that the deal is now official.

THURSDAY, 3:15pm: Baseball America's Jim Callis hears from a source that Michael Main will be the player to be named later going to San Francisco (Twitter link). Main was the 24th overall selection in the 2007 draft, and was ranked as the 21st best prospect in the Rangers' system by Callis' publication before the season.

In a second tweet, Callis notes that the deal is similar to the Casey Blake–Carlos Santana trade in that the Rangers had to give up a quality prospect to get the Giants to kick in money to pay Molina's salary.

WEDNESDAY, 9:03pm: The Rangers acquired Bengie Molina and cash for Chris Ray and a player to be named later today. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports first reported that the sides were deep in discussions about Molina and Scott Boeck of USA Today added the details soon afterwards. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News noted that the Giants will send the Rangers cash (Twitter link).

Molina, 36 in July, is hitting .257/.312/.332 this year. The Giants can shift the full-time catching duties to Buster Posey, play Aubrey Huff at first and rely on Andres Torres, Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowand and Nate Schierholtz in the outfield. They don't need a catcher, but the Rangers do – Texas' backstops have hit .212/.311/.328 this year. Those numbers are eerily similar to Molina's, though there's no question that Molina's offensive track record inspires more confidence than Matt Treanor's.

Molina has about $2.3MM remaining on the $4.5MM deal he and the Giants agreed to last winter. The Rangers can add rental players, though the team's ownership transfer will limit its ability to take on long-term contracts.

Ray, who earns $975K this year, has a 3.41 ERA in 31.2 innings of work. However, the 28-year-old has walked as many batters as he has struck out (16). This is the second consecutive summer the Rangers have acquired a catcher (Ivan Rodriguez, 2009) and the second time a Molina brother has been traded (Jose Molina, 2007).

Odds & Ends: Utley, Valentine, Giants, Haren

By | at

Links for Thursday, as Travis Wood prepares to make his first major league start….

Bengie Molina Trade Reactions

By | at

As opposed to the Russell Branyan trade, which saw two non-contending teams work out a deal, last night's Bengie Molina–Chris Ray swap was pulled off by two clubs with playoff aspirations. Let's check out some early reactions to the move….

  • According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the trade is more of a gamble for the Giants than the Rangers, though clearing room behind the plate for Buster Posey should make up for that.
  • Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News says that the Rangers' new catching tandem of Molina and Matt Treanor "sounds just awful" on the surface, but that it might just work.
  • ESPN.com's Rob Neyer wonders exactly how much Molina will upgrade Texas' backstop production.
  • After speaking to a source in the Giants' clubhouse, Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas is optimistic about the Rangers' end of the deal, adding that Molina should only improve an already good clubhouse.
  • Fangraphs' Jack Moore is less positive, calling the trade a "headscratcher" for the Rangers.
  • El Lefty Malo is unsure whether there's even a spot for Chris Ray in the Giants' bullpen, but is happy that Posey is now an everyday player.
  • Establishing Posey as the number one catcher should have a "positive ripple effect" for the Giants, writes MLB.com's Chris Haft.

Olney’s Latest: Sabean, Dunn, Red Sox

By | at

ESPN.com's Buster Olney has a new Insider-only blog entry up, so let's dive in and take a look at the highlights….

  • One American League general manager says that many of the trades we see this July will look like the Bengie Molina deal, in which the Giants picked up the remaining cost of Molina's salary. "There's going to be a lot of salary relief," the GM predicted.
  • Expanding on a point from an earlier column, Olney writes that rival general managers consider Brian Sabean the most difficult GM to trade with simply because they can't get him on the phone. According to Olney, many GMs contact assistant Bobby Evans rather than Sabean, since the Giants GM doesn't return calls.
  • Sometime this month, the Nationals will have to decide whether to trade Adam Dunn or to fully commit to locking him up with an extension. Olney speculates that four years for about $48MM would get it done.
  • Replying to a Nick Cafardo piece for the Boston Globe in which Theo Epstein addresses how the Red Sox will replace Dustin Pedroia, Olney says Mike Aviles, Mike Fontenot, or Ty Wigginton might be good fits for the Sox. If Epstein makes a move, he'll be looking for a player who will have value elsewhere on the field when Pedroia returns to second base.

Giants Will Avoid Rental Players

By | at

Giants GM Brian Sabean is searching for a bat, reports Jeff Fletcher of AOL FanHouse.  But here's Sabean explaining his limitation:

"We are not interested in free agents.  We don't want to rent players. That doesn't make sense for us. We've got to find someone we can control, much like the Freddy Sanchez deal, and hope that presents itself."

Sanchez could only loosely be called a controllable player, as he had an $8.1MM club option that was considered a fallback.  The Giants instead extended him at two years and $12MM in October.  Sabean also told Fletcher money is not an issue, though clarified to MLB.com's Chris Haft that "it's not a bottomless pit."

As Fletcher notes, Sabean's statement means Adam Dunn, Jose Guillen, Derrek Lee, Paul Konerko, and Ty Wigginton are out.  We also have to forget Russell Branyan, Adam LaRoche, Austin Kearns, Lyle Overbay, and Xavier Nady.  On Monday, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star had suggested the Giants had interest in Guillen if the Royals picked up the tab. 

Fletcher feels that an outfielder makes more sense for the Giants than a first baseman, unless it's Prince Fielder.  Corey Hart, David DeJesus, and Josh Willingham are three other controllable names.  I'll toss in Jose Bautista and Luke Scott as well.  The Giants reportedly have interest in DeJesus.

The Giants may also scour the market for a setup man and even a starting pitcher, suggests Fletcher.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote yesterday that "the Giants believe their bullpen is in need of more stability, particularly from the left side."

Rosenthal On Cliff Lee, MacDougal, Dunn, Valentine

By | at

Cliff Lee starts tonight at Yankee stadium, and it figures to be one of his last outings in a Mariners uniform.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports leads his column with an examination of the market for Lee, noting that "the acquisition cost should be lower than the last two times he was traded."  Rosenthal sees no obvious favorite for the lefty at this time, though Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times believes "the buzz about a possible deal with the crosstown Mets is growing louder and louder."  Rosenthal's other rumorage:

  • The Nationals have until Thursday to decide whether to promote Mike MacDougal.  Otherwise, he can elect free agency.  The hard-throwing righty has a 4.71 ERA, 5.6 K/9, and 4.7 BB/9 in 21 minor league innings.
  • Rosenthal confirms other reports that the White Sox and Angels like Nationals slugger Adam Dunn.  He notes that Dunn "does not want to become a DH."
  • One executive feels that Jose Guillen will continue to hit well with the contract year carrot dangling.  Yesterday we learned from ESPN's Buster Olney that the Royals are pushing hard to move Guillen and will eat much of the $6.3MM remaining on his contract.  As for David DeJesus, an exec told Rosenthal the Royals "want to hit a home run" in any trade.
  • The Giants seek stability in their left-handed relief crew (currently Jeremy Affeldt and Dan Runzler), but the need could be addressed internally.
  • The Cardinals "likely will wait until at least the All-Star break to fully assess their needs."  The starting pitching situation will depend on the recoveries of Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse.
  • At another link, Rosenthal updates the Bobby Valentine-Marlins situation.

Giants, Red Sox Among Teams Eyeing Royals

By | at

The Giants and Red Sox are among the teams eyeing Royals players, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. Royals GM Dayton Moore is willing to listen to offers, but anticipating the return for the likes of David DeJesus and Jose Guillen is difficult, even for those in the team’s front office.

“I can tell you this much,” one Royals official told Dutton, “nobody is willing to take on payroll. But teams don’t want to deal prospects, either. So it makes it tough to do anything.” 

Dutton reports that the Giants have interest in Guillen on the condition that the Royals absorb most of the $6.3MM or so remaining on his contract. Earlier today, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reported that the Royals are looking to move Guillen and are willing to pick up most of his salary in a trade, but Moore insists that the Royals are not actively looking to trade. Two rival scouts told Dutton that the Royals say they will take on a considerable amount of Guillen’s salary, so it doesn’t appear that Guillen would be tough to obtain.

If the Royals decide to start selling aggressively, they could discuss Mike Aviles and Willie Bloomquist with the Red Sox, who see the infielders as candidates to fill in while Dustin Pedroia's fractured left foot heals. The Red Sox are considering infielders and had some interest in Adam Everett before Pedroia's injury. One scout said Kyle Farnsworth could appeal to teams as a reliever if the Royals decide to part with him.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top