Rays Rumors

Passan On Upton, Nationals, Melky, Francoeur

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 26, 2011 at 11:30pm CDT

The latest on the trade market from Yahoo’s Jeff Passan…

A number of MLB officials tell Passan that they consider the Nationals the favorites for B.J. Upton. However, a Rays official says there’s no favorite at this point (click here for the latest on Upton).
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo has told teams that pitching prospect Brad Peacock is not available.
Nationals executives and scouts have told others that Ian Desmond is available (despite reports that that Washington will hold onto its shortstop).
The Royals are leaning toward keeping Melky Cabrera in 2012, according to Passan. Cabrera, who is having an excellent season and remains under team control next year, might not fetch enough in a trade for GM Dayton Moore to pull the trigger.
The Royals are hoping to work out some kind of contract for next year with Jeff Francoeur. The sides have a 2012 mutual option for $4MM, but the Royals would likely have to offer more to lock Francoeur up for next season. They get the impression that the 27-year-old is interested in staying in Kansas City.

B.J. Upton Rumors: Tuesday

By Tim Dierkes | July 26, 2011 at 2:50pm CDT

The latest on Rays center fielder B.J. Upton, who owns a .229/.310/.399 line on the season:

The Rays had a scout watching the Nationals' Triple-A team yesterday, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
The Giants are showing strong interest, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.
The Indians, Giants, Braves, and Pirates are among the teams in on Upton, report Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal. The Royals are not seriously pursuing Upton, while the Brewers, Rangers, and Phillies are not involved.
The Nationals have balked at trading pitchers Ross Detwiler or Brad Peacock for Upton, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark. One executive says the Giants have moved in.
Five teams are "in play" for Upton, a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link).

My apologies for an earlier error in which I erroneously attributed Joel Sherman's "asking for a ton" quote to the Rays and B.J. Upton. The quote actually referred to the Cardinals and Colby Rasmus.

Stark On Shields, Pena, Fukudome, Rangers

By Tim Dierkes | July 26, 2011 at 12:41pm CDT

The latest from ESPN's Jayson Stark…

The Rays listened on James Shields last week, but now they've taken him off the market for July and apparently the upcoming offseason.
An executive who spoke with the Cubs says the level of interest in first baseman Carlos Pena has been exaggerated. That's pretty damning, since publicly the level of interest has always appeared tepid. Also, Stark says the Cubs believe Pena could get through waivers in August. I disagree with the notion that there will be a lot less money left on Pena's contract at that point, since half of the $10MM is to be paid in January.
Kosuke Fukudome might be the one Cub dealt at the July deadline. We still haven't heard which teams are on his partial no-trade list, however.
The Rangers are balking at including lefty Martin Perez in a deal. Perez is a consensus top-13 prospect in all of MLB. However, the Rangers will discuss their next tier of prospects - Tanner Scheppers, Robbie Erlin, Roman Mendez and Barret Loux, in Stark's mind.
A longtime friend of Drayton McLane believes McLane's last act as Astros owner will be to convince GM Ed Wade to retain favorite Hunter Pence.

Passan On Upton, Nationals, Melky, Francoeur

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 26, 2011 at 11:50am CDT

The latest on the trade market from Yahoo’s Jeff Passan…

A number of MLB officials tell Passan that they consider the Nationals the favorites for B.J. Upton. However, a Rays official says there’s no favorite at this point (click here for the latest on Upton).
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo has told teams that pitching prospect Brad Peacock is not available.
Nationals executives and scouts have told others that Ian Desmond is available (despite reports that that Washington will hold onto its shortstop).
The Royals are leaning toward keeping Melky Cabrera in 2012, according to Passan. Cabrera, who is having an excellent season and remains under team control next year, might not fetch enough in a trade for GM Dayton Moore to pull the trigger.
The Royals are hoping to work out some kind of contract for next year with Jeff Francoeur. The sides have a 2012 mutual option for $4MM, but the Royals would likely have to offer more to lock Francoeur up for next season. They get the impression that the 27-year-old is interested in staying in Kansas City.

AL East Notes: Niemann, Davis, Orioles

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 25, 2011 at 10:10pm CDT

We’ve already checked in on the AL East and taken detailed looks at its two biggest spenders, the Yankees and Red Sox. Here are some new notes from around the division, with an emphasis on teams that could be sellers:

Though the Rays have told teams they won't trade James Shields, they're willing to discuss Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.
Rays manager Joe Maddon tells Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that he has discussed dozens of trade scenarios with executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman (Twitter link). None of the scenarios have involved Shields, who appears to be off of the market.
Koji Uehara and Jeremy Guthrie are the names bouncing around MLBTR, but Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reminds us that teams have also called about other Orioles, including Adam Jones, Jim Johnson and Alfredo Simon.

Minor Moves: Adam Russell, Val Majewski

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 25, 2011 at 7:51pm CDT

Here are today's minor moves…

Reliever Adam Russell has cleared waivers and will join the Rays' Triple-A affiliate, reports Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times (on Twitter). Tampa designated the right-hander for assignment last week after 32 2/3 unspectacular innings.
The Rangers signed first baseman/outfielder Val Majewski and assigned him to Triple-A, according to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). The 30-year-old had a cameo with the 2004 Orioles, but has spent most of his pro career in the minor leagues, where he has a .289/.361/.457 line in parts of eight seasons. The former third round pick spent part of last year with Oakland's Double-A affiliate.

B.J. Upton Rumors: Monday

By Tim Dierkes | July 25, 2011 at 12:07pm CDT

Rays center fielder B.J. Upton may not crack the top 20 on our list of available bats ranked by wOBA, but his defense and potential are enough to make him a hot name on the 2011 trade market. The latest:

The Phillies have some interest in Upton, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post, but most calls to the Rays are coming from the Nationals, Braves, Pirates, Reds, and Cardinals. The Cardinals would have interest if they trade Colby Rasmus for pitching. Sherman adds that the Royals have interest in Upton with an eye on contending next year.
The Rays would want Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, Mike Minor, or Arodys Vizcaino from the Braves for Upton, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Crasnick does not find the Braves likely to make such a move.

Stark On Bell, Beltran, Rays, Giants

By Tim Dierkes | July 25, 2011 at 11:44am CDT

The latest from ESPN's Jayson Stark…

The Rangers and Phillies are the favorites for Padres closer Heath Bell, with the Cardinals, Angels, Braves, and Reds also in the mix.
One executive Stark spoke to wouldn't be surprised to see a dark horse like the Reds or Brewers make a late run at Mets right fielder Carlos Beltran.
An official who spoke with the Rays over the weekend said that while they're not trading James Shields, they'll decide later this week on players like Johnny Damon and Kyle Farnsworth. B.J. Upton could be dealt even if the team closes its 6.5 game wild card deficit.
The Rays and Blue Jays have been scouting each other's farm systems recently. One scout speculated that the Jays could join a three-team Upton trade somehow.
One team says Brian Sabean's off-limits prospects are Zack Wheeler, Heath Hembree, and Gary Brown, along with Brandon Belt. That'd leave the team without any top 50 prospects to move, with Francisco Peguero and Ehire Adrianza in the next tier based on Baseball America's preseason rankings. There's also Double-A lefty Eric Surkamp, who brought his ERA down to 2.00 yesterday.
The Phillies are steering teams to their High-A Clearwater club, as they don't want to trade big leaguers and not to add much more than a million bucks in payroll. Jonathan Singleton, Brody Colvin, Trevor May, Sebastian Valle, and Jiwan James are names to watch there assuming Jarred Cosart is untouchable. Stark says the Phillies have cooled on Beltran and Hunter Pence is a long shot, so the focus is now the back end of the bullpen. Heath Bell is the top target, with Brandon League also on the radar.

AL East Rumors: Farnsworth, Upton, Kuroda

By Tim Dierkes | July 25, 2011 at 9:57am CDT

The Rays remain on the fringe of contention, 6.5 games out in the wild card. The other four AL East teams have clear positions: the Yankees and Red Sox are buyers, and the Blue Jays and Orioles are sellers. The latest:

The Rays are willing to trade closer Kyle Farnsworth, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. The 35-year-old has a 1.99 ERA, 7.1 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, 0.44 HR/9, and 53.8% groundball rate in 40 2/3 innings this year. He's more than a rental, with a $3.3MM club option for 2012. Joel Peralta might be next in line to close if Farnsworth is dealt, suggests Dan Mennella at CloserNews.
Trade rumors have "become a comedy to me," Rays center fielder B.J. Upton told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. Upton wants to stay in Tampa Bay, though he's heard himself linked to the Giants, Indians, Nationals, and Phillies.
The Yankees are among the teams pursuing the Dodgers' Hiroki Kuroda, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Yanks had a scout at Edwin Jackson's start yesterday in Cleveland, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
The Orioles' next GM will have his hands full with many team needs this offseason, writes Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.
WEEI's Alex Speier looks at the circumstances that led to the Red Sox acquiring catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia from the Rangers last summer.

Poll: Beltran Or Upton?

By Dan Mennella | July 24, 2011 at 9:30pm CDT

Tonight's post regarding the emergence of B.J. Upton on the outfield trade market has already prompted a lengthy, and still growing, discussion thread among our faithful readers.

In short, the Mets have new competition in their quest to trade their premium outfielder, Carlos Beltran, in the form of the Rays and Upton. Because of the complicated circumstances surrounding a potential Beltran trade, interest is shifting toward Upton, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com.

Beltran might be more attractive because he's a better hitter than Upton. However, questions remain about Beltran's defense in the outfield, as he's probably best suited for work in a corner spot. As well, he's a free agent at season's end, and his contract includes a stipulation that he may not be offered arbitration, meaning teams will be reluctant to part with top prospects for a two-month rental who won't yield compensatory draft picks. Upton, meanwhile, is a better defender, is a pure center fielder, and is under team control through 2012.

If you were a team searching for an outfielder, would you pursue Beltran or Upton?

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