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Rays Release Ramon Ramirez

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Rays right-hander Ramon Ramirez has been granted his release from Triple-A Durham, the team announced on Twitter. The 31-year-old veteran had signed a minor league deal with Tampa Bay back on July 1 after being designated for assignment by the Giants in mid-June.

Ramirez allowed seven earned runs in 5 2/3 innings with the Giants this year but excelled as a setup man from 2008-12, posting a 3.04 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 343 innings with the Royals, Red Sox, Giants and Mets. He's enjoyed a strong season in the minors in 2013, compiling a 3.31 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 35 1/3 innings between the Giants and Rays organizations.

July Trade Recap: AL East

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Next up on our July trade recap series is the always-interesting AL East …

Blue Jays

  • Did not make a trade.

Orioles

Rays

  • Acquired right-handed reliever Jesse Crain from the White Sox in exchange for compensation to be negotiated.

Red Sox

Yankees

Synopsis

After a quiet deadline period last year as the team emerged as one of baseball's biggest surprises, and a relatively non-impactful offseason, the Orioles upped the ante this time around. The O's were the division's most active team overall during the course of July, adding two highly-sought-after starters and a major bullpen piece. After slotting Feldman into its rotation earlier in the month, Baltimore added a rotation piece with present and future value in Norris on deadline day, with many observers surprised at the relatively light price he commanded. 

Right on the heels of the Orioles in terms of action were the Red Sox. With reported interest across a wide swath of the market, the Sox ultimately made their biggest splash with a creative, three-time deal that landed them a veteran starter. Opting to forego a blockbuster deal for ace Cliff Lee, Boston decided to pay a more modest price for the excellent, if injury-prone Peavy. As has been noted, the deal also allows the club to shore up its injury-plagued bullpen (which it also did by acquiring Thornton) while bolstering its overall rotation depth.  

For the division-leading Rays and fourth-place Yankees, meanwhile, the moves took place in the days prior to the deadline. Tampa picked up the injured Crain in a deal that has not yet been completed. Should he return to form, the Rays may have added one of 2013's most successful relievers at a discount. (Of course, it remains to be seen what price the club paid.) New York, meanwhile, brought former star Soriano back into the fold to add some much-needed power. The Yankees will only pay $6.8MM of the hefty remainder of Soriano's salary over this year and next, and gave up a relatively marginal return. Nevertheless, some observers felt that the move (which took place over the advice of GM Brian Cashman) was insufficient to boost the team this year and constituted an unnecessary outlay of assets. Despite reportedly dangling righty Phil Hughes and pursuing Phillies infielder Michael Young, nothing materialized on those fronts, though Young could still be an August trade target for the Yankes (or the Red Sox and Orioles, for that matter). 

Finally, the disappointing Blue Jays ultimately decided to hold entirely. There were some rumblings that the team might look to pick up some pieces with future value (such as Howie Kendrick), and may have considered dealing veterans like Darren Oliver, Emilio Bonifacio, and Melky Cabrera. Ultimately, the club's most important decision was to hold onto its biggest potential trade chips, underpaid sluggers Jose Batista and Edwin Encarnacion. While neither seemed particularly likely to be dealt, they would easily have been the best available bats and could have brought back a huge return. By standing pat, the Jays seem prepared to keep their core intact to make another run in 2014.

Mike Morse Very Available

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12:00pm: Aside from the Rays and Orioles, three or four other teams are interested in Morse, according to Peter Gammons on MLB Network.

6:07am: Mariners outfielder/first baseman Mike Morse is very available, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Morse, 31, recently returned from a long layoff due to a quad strain and is headed for free agency after the season.

The general vibe so far has been that the Mariners are not motivated to strip down their team, even at 8.5 games out in the wild card.  Morse, acquired from the Nationals in January, has a .246/.307/.445 line in 231 plate appearances.  From 2010-12, he hit .296/.345/.516 in 1,298 plate appearances for the Nats, so he has the potential to be the impact bat the trade market seems to be lacking with nine hours to go until the deadline.

Mariners In Active Discussions About Wilhelmsen, Perez, Morse

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The Mariners are in active trade discussions involving closer Tom Wilhelmsen and reliever Oliver Perez, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  The Orioles are actively pursuing Perez and Mike Morse, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, and would like to acquire both.  The Rays are interested in Morse, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Quick Hits: Lee, A’s, Rays, Yankees

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In reality, the Red Sox were a "non factor" for Cliff Lee before they landed Jake Peavy, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.  Will he get moved today to another club?  Baseball people are highly doubtful anyone would meet the supposed Phillies' asking price of three top prospects for a pitcher who has $70MM left on his deal through 2015.  "I don't know of a team in baseball that would [do] that. Taking on that much money and giving up three legit prospects seems like a stretch for anyone," one exec said.  Here's more from around baseball as we approach the 3pm central deadline..

  • The A's are still pursuing bullpen depth, tweets Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio and ESPN.
  • Teams that have spoken with the Phillies say they're not upbeat about making any deals today, tweets ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.  Michael Young is still in play, but there's no clear destination for the third baseman.
  • The Cardinals are leaning towards standing pat at the deadline unless there is a last minute drastic change, according to Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
  • Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes that the Rays have been looking into at least one more potential deal, presumably to add a bat.  Tampa Bay made a splash earlier this week when they landed Jesse Crain in a swap with the White Sox.
  • The Yankees were mainly working on smaller acquisitions like Alberto Callaspo this week and didn't have any interest in Alex Rios once they landed Alfonso Soriano, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Callaspo wound up going from the Halos to the A's.
  • The Marlins don't expect to do much today and plan to keep Chad Qualls, Justin Ruggiano, and other trade chips if they can't get good value in return, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
  • Meanwhile, the Marlins are gauging interest in Juan Pierre and Placido Polanco, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com. 
  • The Royals' search for a second baseman continues, but they don't appear to be close on anything at the moment, writes Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  “Anything’s possible,” one club official said. “We looking at a lot of things, but I doubt anything get done unless things change in the last few hours.”
  • The Indians got the left-handed reliever they needed yesterday in Marc Rzepczynski and would still be open to a rotation upgrade, but they don't like the price so far, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).  For now, the Tribe is prepared to stand pat.
  • There are a lot of present and veteran Braves who think the club is making a serious mistake by allowing Brian McCann hit the open market at the end of the season, writes Peter Gammons at GammonsDaily.com. "Only the people around the team understand what he means to that pitching staff. He’s a star player in the team concept,” said David Ross of McCann, who also leads the team with a .884 OPS.
  • Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com spoke with Nationals players to get their take on the trade deadline.  Scott Hairston and Adam LaRoche have both been involved in multiple deadline deals.

Latest On Justin Morneau

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Justin Morneau has spent more than 14 years with the Twins organization since being selected in the third round of the 1999 draft, but the now 32-year-old former AL MVP finds his name swirling about the rumor mill. Here's the latest on Morneau, who is in the final season of a six-year, $80MM contract and owed roughly $4.7MM over the remainder of 2013…

  • The Orioles have engaged the Twins in trade talks regarding Morneau, writes Scott Miller of CBS Sports. Miller adds that a source puts it at 50-50 whether Morneau remains with the Twins or is traded prior to tomorrow's 4pm ET trade deadline. Morneau's July swoon at the plate isn't helping his trade value either, Miller notes.
  • Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press spoke to an AL scout who called Morneau "a shell of his former self," noting that his glove work at first base has taken a significant downturn as well. "The mobility and the agility are not there," the scout said. Berardino writes that a contract for Morneau may have to follow the mold of those signed by Travis Hafner and James Loney this offseason. Each signed for a $2MM base salary with additional incentives ($4MM for Hafner, $1MM for Loney). Another club monitoring Morneau considered the three-year, $21MM pact signed by his teammate, Josh Willingham, to be a fair comparable.
  • Within that same piece, Berardino also notes that the Rays monitored Morneau for weeks but appear to be an unlikely landing spot. He also agrees with Miller's report that there's about a 50-50 chance Morneau is dealt (on Twitter).

Stark On Howie Kendrick, Cubs, D’Backs

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ESPN's Jayson Stark begins his latest column with a look at the Biogenesis situation.  As Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported, suspension announcements are not expected today.  Sherman expects the announcements to come Thursday or Friday.  In Stark's opinion, the Rangers are acting like a team that knows what Nelson Cruz will do if suspended, in that their aggressive search for a bat suggests he might serve a suspension now to preserve his free agent value.  Meanwhile, the Tigers' lack of pursuit of a backup plan to shortstop Jhonny Peralta suggests he'll appeal.  Elsewhere in Stark's column:

  • The Dodgers and Angels, who haven't made a trade in 20 years, had a "mostly casual conversation" regarding Halos second baseman Howie Kendrick.  There are no indications a deal is in the works.
  • The Angels are at least listening on infielders Kendrick, Erick Aybar, and Alberto Callaspo, and seeking high quality big league ready pitching in return.
  • The Cubs could move Kevin Gregg and Nate Schierholtz, but are extremely unlikely to trade lefty reliever James Russell and there's just about zero chance of a Jeff Samardzija trade.
  • Pitchers Ian Kennedy and J.J. Putz of the Diamondbacks and Kyle Farnsworth of the Rays "have suddenly been made available."  Trading Kennedy would allow Arizona to clear around $1.4MM toward another move.  Are they that hard up for cash?

AL East Links: Stanton, Crain, Josh Johnson

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The latest out of the AL East…

  • The Red Sox "may be willing to part with whatever it takes" in hopes of acquiring the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton, a league source tells MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.  Still, the Marlins have pretty much closed the door on trading Stanton for now.
  • The Red Sox should trade top prospect Xander Bogaerts and more to get Phillies lefty Cliff Lee, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, while Dave Cameron of FanGraphs gives his take on that idea.
  • "The deals we’ve seen so far, teams have gotten a pretty good return," Red Sox Ben Cherington said of this year's trades, according to Tim Britton of the Providence Journal.
  • The Rays acquired reliever Jesse Crain from the White Sox yesterday, with the return to be determined after the season.  Crain has been out since late June with a shoulder strain, and the White Sox seemingly tried to rush him back into action.  "Hopefully this time we'll take our time and be ready for the rest of the year," Crain said, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
  • Josh Johnson accepting a qualifying offer might be an unacceptable risk for the Blue Jays given their limited financial flexibility next year, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca.  Speaking to Jeff Blair on the Fan 590 on Friday, Johnson's agent Matt Sosnick said he expects the Jays to make a qualifying offer and "hang compensation on" his client, affecting the pitcher's value in the free agent market.  Sosnick didn't say it explicitly, but he seemed to imply they would accept a qualifying offer.  Sosnick believes we're headed toward "the worst free agent pitching market in the last 10 to 15 years," but Johnson isn't likely to be a part of it.
  • The Yankees are in danger of being "a club that isn’t good enough to legitimately contend and not bad enough to completely tear down," writes Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues.  Axisa feels the Yankees will have to scrap their plan to keep the payroll under $189MM next year, if they re-sign Robinson Cano.  Otherwise, they'll have to rebuild.

Rays Acquire Jesse Crain

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5:21pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the two sides will negotiate the player/cash combination going from the Rays to the White Sox over the next several weeks. Rosenthal also tweets that the return is not contingent on how much Crain pitches. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that the compensation is likely to be finalized after the season. Scott Merkin of MLB.com adds that the pool of players from which the White Sox can choose has been agreed upon.

4:40pm: The Rays have become the third playoff contender to add a significant piece to their bullpen today, as the team has announced the acquisition of Jesse Crain from the White Sox in exchange for player(s) to be named later or cash considerations. Chicago's return in this deal will reportedly be dependent on Crain's health down the stretch for the Rays. Brandon Gomes has been shifted to the 60-day disabled list to create a 40-man roster spot for Crain. Reports from earlier today stated the ball was in Chicago's court to trade their ace setup man to one of two teams, with the Rays being the favorites.  Crain

The White Sox have also announced the trade, and general manager Rick Hahn issued the following kind words about his former right-hander:

“We cannot say enough about what Jesse has meant to our bullpen, and the positive impact he’s had on our young relievers. "We certainly think he has the ability to influence this year’s pennant race very positively for the Rays.”

The 32-year-old Crain is in the midst of one of the finest seasons for a relief pitcher in recent history. In 36 2/3 innings prior to his shoulder injury, the Toronto native had allowed just three earned runs (0.74 ERA) with 11.3 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. He has not surrendered a home run this season despite pitching in the cozy confines of U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. Crain was placed on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain on July 3.

Crain is in the final season of a three-year, $13MM contract that he signed with the White Sox prior to the 2011 season. His trade to the AL East will bring him out of the only division he's ever known, as he spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Twins after Minnesota selected him in the second round of the 2002 draft. Because he is a free agent at season's end, Crain is strictly a rental and cannot net the Rays a compensatory draft pick in 2014.

Earlier today the Tigers fortified their bullpen by acquiring Jose Veras from the Astros, and the Braves acquired Scott Downs from the Angels.

ESPN's Buster Olney was the first to tweet that a deal had been struck. Joel Sherman of the New York Post added that the White Sox would receive "future considerations" for Crain, depending on his health (Twitter links). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweeted that the Rays would send players to be named later or cash to the Rays.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Jesse Crain

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3:56pm: The ball is in Chicago's court on a Crain trade, hears Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  The Rays are hoping to finalize a deal for the reliever today.

3:24pm: Crain spoke about the White Sox in the past tense and sounds as if he knows he's gone, tweets Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, but declined to identify his potential new team.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Rays remain hopeful of landing Crain, and the teams continue to talk.  The Rays would not be giving up a player from their big league roster, notes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

12:58pm: Crain could be traded today to one of two teams, with the Rays as the leading club, tweets Levine.  He notes it's a complicated deal because the compensation could depend on his performance.

11:39am: The deal is not close to done, tweets Yahoo's Jeff Passan.  He adds that the White Sox are exploring multiple avenues for Crain.

10:58am: The White Sox are close to trading reliever Jesse Crain in a complicated deal involving the Rays and a third team, reports Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.  Crain is currently on the disabled list with a sore shoulder, and has not pitched since June 29th.  A bullpen session on Thursday was cancelled due to a slight setback.

Crain, 32, snagged his first All-Star nod this season with a stellar first half: a 0.74 ERA, 11.3 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, no home runs allowed, and a 34.8% groundball rate in 36 2/3 innings.  He'll be a free agent after the season.

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