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O’s Working On Morse Trade; Unlikely To Land Willingham

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12:15pm: The Twins asked the Orioles for multiple pitching prospects in exchange for Willingham, according to Kubatko. Prized lefty Eduardo Rodriguez was among Minnesota's targets. The 20-year-old Rodriguez ranks as the No. 86 prospect in baseball at this time, according to MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo.

9:42am: The Orioles have been highly active on the waiver market this week, claiming both Josh Willingham of the Twins and Mike Morse of the Mariners. Morse is far likelier to end up with Baltimore it seems, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets that a Willingham trade is "not happening at this point" because of the Twins' lofty asking price. Kubatko says the Orioles and Mariners are still actively trying to work out a deal for Morse, though.

Willingham is under contract for 2014 at just $7MM and belted 35 homers for the Twins last season, so it's not a surprise to see them asking a lot even in a down season for Willingham. Despite his low batting average, he's still posted strong OBP and ISO numbers. Morse is a free agent at season's end and owed just over $1.1MM for the remainder of the 2013 season. There have been reports indicating that he's likely to be moved, as he no longer has a place in the Mariners' organization. He hasn't played in either of the team's two games since being claimed by the Orioles.

Latest On Morse, Willingham, Morneau

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A group of power-hitters has received the most attention of late as potential August trade chips. Let's look in at the latest …

  • The Orioles are still in negotiations on both of the slugging outfielders that the team recently claimed on revocable waivers, FOX Sports' Jon Morosi tweets. Baltimore made the winning claims on Michael Morse of the Mariners and Josh Willingham of the Twins. Morse appears the more likely of the two to make his way to Charm City, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun explains. (Indeed, we learned earlier that Seattle appears motivated to let Morse go.)
  • At this point, the Twins are not close to dealing either Willingham or first baseman Justin Morneau, reports Darren Wolfson (Twitter links). While noting that things could change quickly, he says that the current thinking is that the club will not reach agreement with Baltimore on Willingham before tomorrow's 11am deadline. 
  • Likewise, according to Wolfson, Minnesota is not expected to find a trade partner for Morneau before Saturday night. The left-handed first baseman, who has cleared waivers and can therefore be dealt to any club, has recently been linked to the Pirates, Orioles, and Yankees. 

Waiver Notes: Morse, Headley, Red Sox, Pirates

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With the clock ticking on the August revocable waiver trade market, here are the latest updates …

  • Outfielder Michael Morse, who is suited up but not in the lineup for the Mariners tonight, is "almost certain" to join the Orioles in the immediate future, writes Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. The O's claimed Morse earlier today, giving the teams two days to work out a deal (or for Seattle to pull Morse back or allow Baltimore to assume his contract without compensation). As Baker explains, Morse no longer appears to be in the team's future plans, leaving little reason for the club to hold onto him. Just over $1MM remains on Morse's $6.75MM salary for this season.
  • The Padres pulled back third baseman Chase Headley after he was claimed on waivers, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. While that news is hardly surprising, given that Headley was reportedly placed on waivers back on August 20th, it does confirm that Headley did not clear waivers and will no longer be available this season. Headley, who will be entering his final season of team control, has failed to repeat his strong 2012 season but remains an attractive player going forward. Heyman notes that the Pads are expected to explore a multi-year extension with the 29-year-old over the coming off-season, and estimates that he could command a five-year, $75MM deal. 
  • The Red Sox could look to pick up a right-handed bullpen piece before Saturday's non-waiver trade deadline, writes Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. Manager John Farrell said that he is not concerned about the pen, but added that "if there's someone out there that makes sense for us to acquire, we might see that." On the other hand, Britton notes, a returning Clay Buchholz will likely allow the club to move righty Ryan Dempster to the bullpen. You may recall that Dempster once served as the Cubs' closer back in 2005-2007.
  • While the Orioles have been busy making waiver claims, the Pirates have been the most aggressive team over the course of August, reports Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). Of course, the club recently added Marlon Byrd and John Buck, making further acquisitions seem unlikely. On the other hand, the Bucs are reportedly still interested in first baseman Justin Morneau. 

Mariners Pull Morales Back After Waiver Claim

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THURSDAY: The Orioles, who have claimed both Josh Willingham and Mike Morse this week, may also have been the team that claimed Morales, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. However, as Jon Heyman of CBS Sports pointed out this morning, Morales was not traded within 48 hours of his claim, meaning the Mariners pulled him back. Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik will now have to decide whether or not to extend a qualifying offer to Morales following the season.

MONDAY: An unknown team has claimed Kendrys Morales off revocable trade waivers from the Mariners, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). It has yet to be reported when Morales was claimed or by whom, but the Mariners and the claiming team would have two days to work out a deal.

Morales, 30, is batting .284/.340/.449 with 17 homers in his first season with Seattle. The Mariners acquired him from the Angels straight up for Jason Vargas in a rare intra-division trade this offseason. The Cuban switch-hitter is earning $5.25MM this season, meaning he's owed roughly $1MM for the remainder of the 2013 campaign.

Morales will be a free agent for the first time this offseason, so the Mariners do have the option of hanging onto him and making a qualifying offer of roughly $14MM following the season. Were he to decline such an offer, the Mariners would gain a compensatory pick in the 2014 draft (a new team would not be allowed to do so, per the new CBA). However, as Dave Cameron of Fangraphs and the U.S.S. Mariner wrote last night, extending a qualifying offer to Morales doesn't look as wise at it did two months ago, as he's regressed significantly since early June.

Several teams have been looking to acquire offense, including the Orioles, Indians, Yankees and Rangers. It seems likely that an American League team placed the claim on Morales, as every team in the AL would have a crack at him prior to the NL (in reverse order of standings), and he's only played first base 27 times this season (as opposed to 96 games at DH).

Orioles Claim Mike Morse Off Waivers

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Mariners outfielder/first baseman Mike Morse has been claimed off revocable trade waivers by the Orioles, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).  Morse is the second notable player claimed by Baltimore in as many days – last night they had the winning claim on the Twins' Josh Willingham.

Morse, 31, has struggled this season, posting a .226/.283/.410 slash line with 13 homers in 307 plate appearances.  It's a significant dropoff for Morse, who boasted a career .295/.347/.492 line heading into this sesaon.

The 70-61 Orioles are in need of an offensive upgrade as they look to make their playoff push.  They're not likely to leapfrog the Red Sox and Rays for the AL East crown, but they are just 4.5 games back of the A's for the final Wild Card spot.  In total, Baseball Prospectus' number crunch gives them an 8.8% chance of making the postseason.

Morse's teammate Kendrys Morales was claimed by an unknown club earlier this week but no deal was made within the allotted time, Heyman notes (via Twitter).

Mariners To Promote Taijuan Walker

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The Mariners announced that they will promote right-hander Taijuan Walker in time to make his major league debut on Friday against the Astros.  Walker, 21, is the M's undisputed top pitching prospect.

This year, Walker was rated as the third-best prospect in the nation by Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, No. 9 by Keith Law of ESPN.com, and the 18th best prospect by Baseball America,  BA's 2013 handbook, which put Walker as second only to Mike Zunino in the M's system, describes the youngster as a "premium athlete with an ideal pitcher's frame."  Walker projects as a potential ace and his potential showed through 2012, even though his Double-A stats didn't quite support that.

In 25 starts at the Double-A and Triple-A level this season, Walker posted a 2.93 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9.  His late August promotion means that the M's can keep him under club control through 2019 without triggering an additional trip through arbitration.

Placed On Waivers: Gallardo, Morse, Bell, Lopez

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Here's Monday's list of players that have been placed on revocable trade waivers…

  • Yovani Gallardo — Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter) reports that Gallardo has been placed on waivers by the Brewers.  The starter drew interest this summer as a player who could help not just for 2013, but beyond, as he is under contract for $11.25MM next season with a $13MM club option for 2015.  Gallardo is having a down year, but he has had two strong starts against the Reds this month since coming off of the DL.  For his career, Gallardo owns a 3.76 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.
  • Mike Morse — Rosenthal also reports that Morse was placed on waivers by the Mariners.  Morse's teammate, Kendrys Morales, was claimed off of waivers earlier today, giving Seattle two bats to dangle to interested clubs.  Will either player be moved?  We can surmise that the M's held on to impending free agents like Morse, Morales, and Raul Ibanez with the idea of retaining them beyond this season.  On the year, Morse owns a .227/.282/.414 slash line with 13 homers in 301 plate appearances – down from his career line of .285/.338/.480.
  • Heath Bell — Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that Bell, 35, has been placed on waivers. He came to the Diamondbacks from the Marlins this offseason in a three-team trade that also included the A's. Bell has rebounded, to an extent, from a rough 2012 season that saw him post a 5.09 ERA in his only season with the Marlins. He's pitched to a 3.88 ERA with 10.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 41.9 percent ground-ball rate. His HR/FB ratio is at a sky-high 17.2 percent, which has bloated his ERA. xFIP predicts that with a league-average HR/FB rate (roughly 11 percent), Bell would have an ERA of 3.05. His K/BB numbers and the fluky nature of high HR/FB rates suggest he's in for some improvement in the ERA department, but he's under contract for $9MM this season and again in 2014. The Marlins are picking up $8MM of that salary, but he'd be an expensive acquisition. I'd expect Bell to clear waivers.
  • Javier Lopez — Heyman also tweets that the 36-year-old Lopez has been placed on waivers by the Giants. Lopez has a masterful 1.99 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a monstrous 64 percent ground-ball rate. He drew significant interest from multiple teams prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. San Francisco GM Brian Sabean reportedly had exorbitant asking price at the time, seeking top prospect Danny Salazar from the Indians in exchange for Lopez. A free agent at season's end, Lopez is owed roughly $813K over the remainder of the year and seems likely to be claimed.

For a reminder on how revocable trade waivers and August trades work, check out MLBTR's August trades primer. You can see who is available to be traded to any team by checking MLBTR's list of players who have cleared waivers.  Zach Links contributed to this post.

AL West Notes: Mariners, Astros, Walker

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The Mariners designated Aaron Harang for assignment earlier this evening but that might not be the only roster move made by GM Jack Zduriencik & Co. this week.  This morning, Kendrys Morales was claimed off revocable trade waivers, giving the M's and the mystery club a total of two days to hammer out a trade.  It was believe that the Mariners rebuffed interest from the Rangers and other clubs in late July with the hopes of re-signing Morales this winter, but the right deal might cause them to think otherwise.  Here's more out of the AL West..

  • The Astros own the worst record in the big leagues but they are also MLB's most profitable team as they have a remarkably low $13MM payroll, according to Dan Alexander of Forbes Magazine.  Owner Jim Crane has previously said that he eventually plans on making Houston's payroll one of the largest in the majors, but Alexander argues that Crane is likely to use some of the team's profit to help pay down the $275MM debt he took on when he bought the club.
  • The Astros responded to the article this evening in a statement to the press, arguing that the "information reported in the Forbes article relating to the Astros’ revenues, the Astros media rights fee from CSN Houston, and CSN Houston’s per subscriber rate are all significantly inaccurate" and as a result, "the conclusion about the Astros operational profit is significantly inaccurate."  
  • Mariners assistant GM Tony Blengino wasn't let go by the club, but actually requested to look into other MLB opportunities since his role in the organization has decreased, writes Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.  The stats guru said that when he called the Mariners last week, he was advised that his contract for 2014 would not be renewed.
  • More from Baker, who wonders if today's move with Harang was done to open up a rotation spot for Triple-A starter Taijuan Walker.  Walker was ranked as the No. 20 prospect in the country by Baseball America prior to this season.

Passan On Dipoto, Zduriencik, Anthopoulos

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Here's the latest from Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan:

  • Angels GM Jerry Dipoto and manager Mike Scioscia are separated by a "rift" despite Scioscia's recent denial, Passan writes. Since Scioscia's contract runs through 2018, and since his influence throughout the organization is strong, Dipoto is more likely to wind up on the chopping block if the Angels do indeed decide to fire one or the other.
  • General managers suspect that Jack Zduriencik of the Mariners needed to have his superiors approve potential trades at the deadline, Passan writes. He also says that the Mariners have checked to see whether former GM and current Phillies advisor Pat Gillick might be interested in coming back to Seattle. Still, now that Zduriencik is apparently under contract through 2014, it appears he'll get more time to see if the Mariners' new core of young players (which includes Kyle Seager, Nick Franklin, Brad Miller, Mike Zunino and Taijuan Walker) can come together.
  • Despite the Blue Jays' extremely disappointing season, GM Alex Anthopoulos should get more time, Passan argues, noting that Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion's contracts have been terrific.

AL West Notes: Rangers, Reddick, Kendrys Morales

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On this date 17 years ago, A's outfielder Brian Lesher became the first Belgian to play in a MLB game contributing a RBI single off Andy Pettitte (who went on to win a career-high 21 games and finished second to Toronto's Pat Hentgen in the AL Cy Young voting that year) as Oakland beat the Yankees 6-4. Lesher would go on to play parts of five seasons with the A's, Mariners, and Blue Jays posting a slash line of .224/.275/.380 with nine home runs and 38 RBI's in 288 plate appearances (108 games). To this day, Lesher is the only Belgian ever to appear in a MLB contest. In other news and notes from the AL West: 

  • Rangers Assistant GM Thad Levine told Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio (via Bowden on Twitter), if the club is going to make a trade before August 31st (players acquired after this date are ineligible for the post-season), it will be for a starting pitcher.
  • Levine adds (again from a Bowden tweet) the Rangers have been searching the waiver wire actively, but most of the quality players are being claimed before them.
  • A's outfielder Josh Reddick left today's game against the Orioles with discomfort in his right wrist and he thinks it's 50-50 as to whether he lands on the disabled list, reports the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser. John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group tweets Daric Barton was pulled from Triple-A Sacramento's game after one at-bat and may join the A's to replace Reddick. Slusser isn't surprised Barton would get the call over outfielders Michael Taylor and Michael Choice because Barton was slated to join the team when rosters expand September 1st and he plays first base very well allowing Brandon Moss to move to the outfield (all Twitter links). The A's 40-man roster currently sits at 39, so Barton could be added without a corresponding move.  
  • A reunion between Kendrys Morales and the Angels would not be shocking, if the pending free agent doesn't re-sign with the Mariners, tweets the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo. The Mariners acquired Morales, hitting .283/.339/.450 with 17 home runs in 522 plate appearances this year, from the Angels last December for left-hander Jason Vargas. 
  • Earlier today, Angels manager Mike Scioscia denied reports he has philosophical differences with GM Jerry Dipoto.
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