Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Giants Rumors

Giants Rumors: Penny, Molina, Posey

By | at

The latest on the Giants, who trail the Wild Card-leading Rockies by just a game:

  • Brad Penny gave the Giants more than they could have expected in his return to the NL, as Dan Gelston of the AP notes (via the Miami Herald).
  • ESPN.com's Keith Law would like to see the Giants play Buster Posey enough down the stretch to prepare him for a starting role in 2010. They could then let Bengie Molina walk and spend on another bat. 
  • Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle wonders if the Giants are trying to "light a fire" under Bengie Molina. 

Heyman On Dye, Felix, Cameron

By | at

The latest from SI's Jon Heyman…

  • Heyman's sources say the Giants "made no overtures" to acquire Chicago outfielder Jermaine Dye, who Sox GM Ken Williams made available a few days ago.  Dye is hitting .260/.339/.474 in 495 plate appearances on the season after a terrible August.
  • Heyman talked to "competing execs" who believe the Mariners will try hard to sign young ace Felix Hernandez to an extension during the offseason.  If that completely fails then we might hear trade rumors.  Hernandez, 24 in April, has a 2.77 ERA and 179 strikeouts in 185.3 innings this year.  He's under team control through 2011.  Six teams made offers for Felix at the trade deadline this year, including the Tigers, Red Sox, and Rays.
  • Three teams expressed interest in Brewers center fielder Mike Cameron, and Heyman isn't sure why Doug Melvin held onto him.  The Brewers could've potentially saved $2MM.
  • Heyman's heard the initial bids to buy the Rangers have been weak.

Odds & Ends: Posey, Maybin, Penny

By | at

Links for Wednesday…

  • Due to Bengie Molina's injury, the Giants have changed their mind and called up top prospect Buster Posey according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.  So Posey's clock starts earlier than planned.
  • Speaking of service time, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith tells me Cameron Maybin's call-up gives him 129 days of service time after this year.  That puts him on the fringe of Super Two status after the 2011 season.
  • ESPN's Jerry Crasnick ranks the impact of trades made by contenders in July.  He talked to an exec who thinks Matt Holliday "could make an extra $3MM a year as a free agent this winter because of his strong finish."
  • Yahoo's Gordon Edes has his trade deadline winners and losers.
  • Ryan Doumit's agent Matt Sosnick shot down recent negativity surrounding his client, while Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gets to the bottom of the catcher's recent benching.
  • Brad Penny still hates the Dodgers, a team he'll face twice this month according to Baggarly.  Baggarly also has a quote from Penny ripping on the Marlins.
  • Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has more from Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy, who knows he gained trade value when the team delayed his free agency.
  • J.C. Bradbury of Sabernomics wonders whether the Braves should pick up Tim Hudson's $12MM option for 2010.  Hudson has the right to void that option, not that he would.  Back in January Dave O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said the Braves "fully intend to exercise it, barring some unexpected turn of events."
  • Dave Cameron of FanGraphs notes that Kendry Morales has matched the production of the Angels' former first baseman, $180MM man Mark Teixeira.
  • Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic has comments from Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes on the team's Jon Rauch–Kevin Mulvey swap.  Piecoro says the D'Backs have about $23MM to work with this winter as they presumably look to add pitching.
  • Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times guesses Ken Griffey Jr. will retire after this season.

Vesting Options To Watch

By | at

A few vesting options to watch in September…

  • Josh Beckett needs two more starts for his $12.1MM option to vest for 2010.  It's not much of a story since the Red Sox would exercise that option anyway.
  • The Rangers lose the ability to void Kevin Millwood's $12MM option for 2010 if he pitches 13 more innings this year.  Back in March Rangers owner Tom Hicks said he wanted Millwood's option to vest, so he must be pleased with the pitcher's 3.61 ERA.
  • Since he made the All-Star team, Freddy Sanchez's 2010 option for $8MM vests if he makes 159 additional plate appearances.  That won't happen in one month.  Sanchez's shoulder strain couldn't have come at a worse time.
  • Magglio Ordonez's $18MM option for 2010 vests with 42 more plate appearances.  He had 80 PAs in August with a .961 OPS, so Scott Boras will take issue with excessive benching.

Odds & Ends: Scutaro, Hardy, Glaus, Giants

By | at

Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and link to something like this… and totally redeem yourself!

  • MLB.com's Drew Davison mentions that Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston expressed his desire about having shortstop Marco Scutaro around next year. "Well, I hope we get him back," Gaston said. "I don't know, maybe we have got a shot. It's just one of those things." Scutaro projects to be a Type-A free agent, so the Jays could stand to gain two draft picks if they offer him arbitration and he signs elsewhere.
  • Anthony Witrado of The Journal Sentinel has a quote from Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy, who felt like his demotion to Triple-A was a punishment. Because of how long he was sent down, Hardy's free agency was delayed by a year until after the 2011 season. As you can imagine, he's upset about it.
  • Meanwhile, Tom Haudricourt tweets that he's not "expecting any last-minute deals tonight involving the Brewers," and that "all is quiet" on their front.
  • Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post Dispatch notes that one of the Cardinals first callups will be third baseman Troy Glaus, who's been out all season due to injury.
  • After signing Brad Penny earlier today, Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News says that he's "told the Giants don’t expect any more moves this evening." There was some speculation that the Giants could be interested in one of the White Sox veterans that suddenly became available tonight.
  • Last night we learned that the Mets cancelled fall instructional league in a cost cutting move, but today Adam Rubin of The NY Daily News noted that the team will instead have its minor leaguers work out at their academy in the Dominican because "there's not enough competition in Florida, especially with the Cards purportedly no longer fielding an instructional league team in nearby Jupiter."

Odds And Ends: Hardy, Johnson, Mets

By | at

More links as we await the next waiver trade…

  • The Brewers put off J.J. Hardy's free agency until after 2011 by keeping him in the minors for 20 days, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel points out. This should boost Hardy's trade value after the season, when the Brewers will presumably listen to trade offers, now that Alcides Escobar is contributing in the majors.
  • Randy Johnson expects to return to the Giants as a reliever, according to the AP (via FOX Sports).
  • MLB.com's Marty Noble suggests Jayson Werth and Derrek Lee would be good fits for the Mets this offseason.  

Giants To Sign Brad Penny

By | at

The Giants will sign Brad Penny, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. They'll pay him only the pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum salary, which is only about $75k at this point. 

The Giants now have a formidable rotation. Penny, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez join Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain to form arguably the best rotation in baseball. The Giants, who are tied for the NL Wild Card lead, expect Randy Johnson to return as a reliever sometime in September.

Heyman On Penny, Atkins, Dye, Nationals

By | at

Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Giants appear to have a good chance of signing Brad Penny if he clears waivers today. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors:

  • The Rockies could non-tender Garrett Atkins after the season. He'd be in line for at least $7MM and the team may decide to spend that money elsewhere.
  • The White Sox are expected to want to pick up Jermaine Dye's $12MM mutual option for 2010, but Dye could turn it down and try the free agent market instead. Given the relatively small contracts Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu signed after last season and the competition Dye would face on the market, there's no guarantee Dye would make more than $12MM. Matt Holliday, Jason Bay and Johnny Damon will all hit free agency after the season. 
  • The Nationals are expected to replace Jim Riggleman with a new field manager next year.

Rich Harden Rumors: Monday

By | at

1:24pm: Rosenthal reports that the Cubs held onto Harden, Heilman and the rest of their players.

12:38pm: ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that the Cubs aren't likely to deal Harden. Many teams claimed the righty and it's likely that an NL team won the claim.

12:22pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears that the Cubs are less motivated to move Harden now than they were last week. The team has started playing well and has an outside shot at the NL Wild Card.

11:29am: Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago hears that the Cubs will hold onto Rich Harden and Aaron Heilman, who were claimed by the Twins and Giants, respectively. (Other teams may have claimed them as well).

10:37am: Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune hears that the Twins have not yet requested Rich Harden's medical records from the Cubs. A trade seems unlikely, according to Christensen's source. 

Harden has been on the DL seven times since 2005, so the team would presumably want to examine the records before making a deal. However, Harden has been pitching well lately and the Twins are looking for starting pitching help, so they could consider dealing for him without looking at his medical records.

Odds And Ends: Yankees, Wagner, Byrd

By | at

Some links to start the week off…

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