Odds and Ends: Murphy, Vizquel, Roberts
Today’s collection of links and rumors.
- I’ll be doing the weekly live chat here at 2pm CST. Right after that I’ll be on New Jersey’s Fox Sports Radio 1260AM.
- White Sox GM Kenny Williams talked about difficult it is to find an impact starter on the trade market.
- River Ave. Blues thinks the Yankees should pursue Josh Bard.
- The Athletics designated second baseman Donnie Murphy for assignment. Murphy, 25, showed a hint of promise at Triple A last year.
- The Giants don’t want to embarrass Omar Vizquel by releasing him.
- The Red Sox aren’t likely to make a major bullpen addition.
- A Brian Roberts trade is unlikely.
- David O’Brien on the difficulty in trading Mark Teixeira.
Ray Durham Trade Reactions
Yesterday, the Giants traded second baseman Ray Durham to the Brewers for minor leaguers Darren Ford and Steve Hammond. They were ranked 21st and 27th among Brewers prospects heading into the season, according to Baseball America. Today let’s look at reactions to the trade.
- ESPN’s Keith Law considers Durham a useful addition for Milwaukee, albeit only offensively. He considers the prospects received by San Francisco to be "close to a zero return."
- The Giants picked up roughly half the money owed to Durham.
- The trade was jarring for Ford.
- Henry Schulman wonders if Rich Aurilia will be the next Giants veteran to go.
- Sam Mellinger notes that Durham is a reasonable comparable for Mark Grudzielanek.
Ray Durham To Brewers
1:33PM Keith Law says the Giants got prospects Darren Ford and Steve Hammond in exchange for two months of Durham.
Buster Olney’s reporting the Brewers have acquired Ray Durham. It’s not yet known what they received in return, although according to the Milwaukee Sentinel, OF prospect Darren Ford was removed from his class-A Brevard County starting lineup yesterday "with indications he is being traded." MLBTR covered movement on this yesterday.
Durham, a switch hitter, brings his bat to the Brewers bench and could take over Rickie Weeks‘ spot on the depth chart if Weeks continues to struggle in the second half.
Heyman’s Latest: Street, Durham, Holliday
SI.com’s Jon Heyman just posted a new column.
- The Brewers and White Sox inquired on A’s closer Huston Street. However, A’s GM Billy Beane said "there is nothing going on" in regards to Street. The Sox were linked to both Street and Jon Rauch today, so Kenny Williams is clearly monitoring the relief market.
- Heyman says the Rays have not discussed Street with the A’s, and the Dodgers "aren’t believed to be heavily involved."
- Heyman is on board with the recent rumors about Ray Durham and Jack Taschner possibly heading to Milwaukee.
- Heyman also confirms Ken Rosenthal’s report of the Phillies’ interest in Matt Holliday. He agrees that these talks have cooled, but notes a good relationship between GMs Dan O’Dowd and Pat Gillick. Gillick and O’Dowd have matched up for three deals, two occuring while Gillick worked for the Mariners.
- The Dodgers continue to consider shortstop a priority. Heyman wonders if Cristian Guzman would be a fit, especially if extension talks sour. Jack Wilson and David Eckstein are other possibilities.
Brewers Working On Durham Deal?
11:23pm: The San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman comments on the rumor, noting the convenient timing of Durham’s bout with the flu.
As was Haudricourt, Schulman is skeptical about a separate Rickie Weeks-to-San Francisco rumor floating about. But both beat writers acknowledged the rumor, so someone’s putting it out there.
9:31pm: An update from Haudricourt. He believes the Brewers are working on a smaller deal for Jack Taschner or Ray Durham, rather than Street.
Haudricourt says the Brewers scouted Street but the scouts were not impressed. He’s not coming to Milwaukee.
7:21pm: Brewers beat writer Tom Haudricourt thinks Oakland closer Huston Street is Milwaukee-bound. He says the word on the street is outfielder Darren Ford, 22, is the price. Ford was pulled from Brevard County’s lineup before its game against Clearwater. Says Haudricourt:
The fact that Ford was pulled from the lineup makes me believe something could be up. He has no injury that I know of.
Baseball America did not list Ford among the Brewers’ top 10 prospects before this season, but he was named the organization’s fastest baserunner and best defensive outfielder. So far this year in the Florida State League, Ford is hitting .232 with a .321 OBP and a .307 SLG. He’s got 44 steals in 87 games.
Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com. You can reach him here.
Brewers Eyeing Huston Street?
11:34pm: Haudricourt says the Brewers dispatched their top special assistant to watch the A’s play the Yankees. Haudricourt speculates that the Brewers might have an eye on Huston Street, who is under team control through 2010. Street’s had an off-year, mainly due to a rising home run rate.
4:38pm: As usual, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has the latest Brewers hot stove chatter.
- GM Doug Melvin is calling around about relief help, but as you might imagine prices are high.
- Melvin would not confirm Ken Rosenthal’s rumor that the Brewers are interested in the Giants’ Jack Taschner and Ray Durham. Melvin is always honest with Haudricourt, so it’s worth noting that he didn’t deny it either.
- Melvin seemingly has a little room in the payroll to make a reasonable addition.
Phillies Eyeing Cain, Blanton
Randy Miller had some interesting Phillies rumors yesterday. According to Miller:
The latest has the Phils hoping San Francisco, an NL West pretender, will shop 23-year-old right-hander Matt Cain. Word is the Giants might part with Cain, who is 5-7 with a 4.06 ERA in 20 starts, if offered an intriguing package of young talent.
However, Jayson Stark wrote on Thursday:
We keep hearing people speculate about the Giants trading Matt Cain. But we can’t find a team that has gotten anywhere in its attempts to even get the Giants to discuss him. "I don’t know who got that rumor rolling," said an official of one club. "But they told us, emphatically, no."
Moving on, Miller says the Phils aren’t interested in A.J. Burnett. Buster Olney said the same on Wednesday. Miller also notes that the Phils have interest in lefty relievers John Grabow and Brian Fuentes.
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Phillies’ talks for Joe Blanton are "gaining momentum." Olney believes this deal makes sense, and that it could come together quickly.
Odds and Ends: M’s, Giants, Blanton, Maddux
Nothing major yet this afternoon, but a few minor issues worth noting:
- Danny Knobler from CBS Sports writes that former Tigers and Padres GM Randy Smith is now in the running for the GM opening in Seattle after the season. He’s been commended for his scouting work with the Padres recently.
- Mark Dent from MLB.com tells us that Mariners manager Jim Riggleman feels the M’s will be cautious with trade talks, and goes as far as saying he expects very little change. Riggleman says they "won’t move players just to move them." Does this seem like the right strategy for a team with the second-worst record in baseball?
- Chris Haft from MLB.com writes that the Giants have signed 16-year-old Dominican outfielder Rafael Rodriguez for a $2.55MM bonus.
- Joel Sherman weighs in with his thoughts on the current pitching market, particularly why Joe Blanton is still appealing despite a poor start. He also discusses the dilemma the A’s, Rangers, and Yankees all have in deciding whether to buy or sell over the next few weeks.
- Mark Bowman feels that a trade sending Greg Maddux back to Atlanta is unlikely.
Stark’s Latest: Burnett, Nady, Greinke, Burrell
FRIDAY: We have an update to Stark’s column – he is now saying that Burnett does have veto power over 15 teams.
THURSDAY: Let’s take a look at Jayson Stark’s latest over at ESPN.com.
- The Phillies and Yankees both made failed runs at CC Sabathia. The Phils wouldn’t include Carlos Carrasco or Lou Marson, while the Yanks insisted on a negotiating window. The Phils are looking at Erik Bedard and A.J. Burnett by default, while neither of those pitchers makes sense for the Yankees. The Yanks checked in on Aaron Harang, but that’s a moot point since he’s ailing.
- Despite the Dodgers’ run at Sabathia, they’re apparently not looking at other starters.
- Ken Rosenthal recently wrote that Burnett had veto power over 15 teams, but Stark’s source says it’s just a handful of teams. It’ll be tough to convince Burnett not to opt out of his contract after the season, unless he’s hurt.
- The Braves still haven’t made the buy/sell decision. If they buy, Xavier Nady is the top target. If they sell, Mark Teixeira is the best chip. Apparently Scott Boras is talking about $23MM per year for Tex this winter.
- The Giants are pretty clearly not trading Matt Cain.
- The Orioles, making a run at .500, don’t seem motivated to move George Sherrill or othe top veterans.
- The Brewers’ Plan B beyond Sabathia was Zack Greinke, rather than Rich Harden. Ken Rosenthal recently said the Royals were "decidedly uninterested in moving Greinke," however.
- Stark says it "wouldn’t be out of the question" for the Cubs to pursue a lefthanded starter like Randy Wolf, despite the Harden acquisition.
- Extension with the Phillies for Pat Burrell did not get very far.
Odds and Ends: Resop, Myers, Gallardo, Fuentes
Today’s link collection:
- Joel Sherman says the Mets would be willing to eat some money on a contract to reduce the prospect price for a corner outfielder. He suggests names like Xavier Nady, Raul Ibanez, Randy Winn, and Adam Dunn. The salary-eating strategy would probably only help with Winn.
- The Hanshin Tigers purchased reliever Chris Resop‘s contract from the Braves.
- Ricky Bottalico says Brett Myers wants to be traded, but Myers and the Phillies denied it.
- It would be cool to see Yovani Gallardo return this year, if only to see him line up with CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets for a brief period of time. That’s three aces.
- The Yankees are still interested in Rockies closer Brian Fuentes; the Rox might be interested in Mark Melancon.
- More rumblings that the Dodger front office is confusing other teams.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman ranks the most impactful potentially available players, raising the question of whether impactful is a word. Heyman also includes odds of each player being dealt.