Ringolsby On Lidge, Otsuka, And More
Esteemed Denver Post writer Tracy Ringolsby drops a few trade rumors on us in this morning’s column.
- Ringolsby writes that the Padres have some rainy-day money saved up to be used specifically for one of three players, if they are available and the team is contending. The players are future free agents Ichiro Suzuki, Andruw Jones, and Torii Hunter. I’m not sure how Mike Cameron would feel about that, and whether it would affect his contract negotiations. Hopefully he wouldn’t mind moving to a corner.
- Should Eric Gagne prove himself healthy and reliable (a long shot), the Red Sox, Indians, and Marlins have interest in acquiring Akinori Otsuka. In my opinion the Phillies might want in on that too. The Mets and Diamondbacks have expressed interest in the past. I’m a bit skeptical that the Marlins would take on another $3MM reliever after the Jorge Julio debacle.
- The same three teams Ringolsby mentioned for Otsuka would have interest in Brad Lidge if available. Also, some major connections between Lidge and the Rockies are described. And Buster Olney mentions the Blue Jays as another possibility in his blog today.
- Ringolsby quotes Joe Nathan as saying his agents have had positive initial talks with the Twins. Yesterday, Jon Heyman of SI.com had a source indicating that talks with Nathan had slowed.
Rockies Trade Rumors
The Rockies have several rumors cooking on the hot stove as we approach the season.
First there’s infielder Clint Barmes, recently demoted to Triple A. Patrick Saunders writes that the Rangers are still interested, but the Rockies are asking for too much given his performance last year. A few days ago Ken Rosenthal linked the Twins, Cubs, Marlins, and Royals to Barmes. I imagine the Royals are no longer interested.
Saunders also reports that the Rangers are out on Byung-Hyun Kim. The unhappy pitcher could still end up in Oakland or Pittsburgh.
Also, as reported a week ago, the Rockies have liked Mark Hendrickson for some time and could swing a deal with the Dodgers.
Lieber, Kim Rumors
Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post has some trade rumor tidbits from around baseball this morning. To summarize:
- Renck does not think the Phils truly want to use Jon Lieber as a reliever, and mentions two scenarios floating around. Lieber could be paired with Aaron Rowand and sent to the White Sox, which I would think would require at least Mike MacDougal. Would be interesting to see Liebs back in Chicago if old pals KW and "Stand Pat" Gillick can work it out. Or, he could go to Milwaukee for Kevin Mench. Such a trade would have to push Claudio Vargas to the bullpen.
- Renck says the Rockies like Mark Hendrickson despite his mediocrity and their stable of starters. The Dodgers would like to include Hendrickson as part of a bigger deal for a slugger.
- Byung-Hyun Kim to Florida is a long shot unless the Rox eat most of his $2.5MM salary. The Rocky Mountain News reiterates that the interested parties are Florida, Oakland, and Texas. You can add the Pirates to that list as well. The Bucs could also trade for Armando Benitez.
- John Thomson seems likely to be released. The A’s have been rumored.
Ken Rosenthal’s Latest
Ken Rosenthal has been hard at work with his sources, and he has a new article at FOX Sports. Some highlights:
- The Marlins and Dodgers are interested in Byung-Hyun Kim as a reliever, and the A’s could add him as the fifth starter instead of Joe Kennedy. Kim, a 28 year-old sidearmer, hasn’t closed since ’03 with Boston. A trade to Florida would make him the ninth inning favorite though. He’ll earn $2.5MM this year.
- The Rockies like Mark Hendrickson of L.A., and they may release Josh Fogg this spring. I wouldn’t discard Kim while acquiring Hendrickson; Kim projects as a slightly better pitcher. Advantages to acquiring Hendrickson from Dan O’Dowd’s point of view: a slightly better groundball rate and two years remaining until free agency.
- The Blue Jays want to give Josh Towers a rotation spot. Towers has nine Ks in nine innings this spring while allowing two runs. Does spring training really have that kind of influence on a team’s decision-makers? Towers will make $2.9MM this season, but he’s still pretty far from free agency. The Jays would like to trade John Thomson; otherwise they may release him. As a newly signed free agent Thomson can veto any deal. He’d be wise to take a trade to the NL, in my opinion.
- Rosenthal thinks the Orioles and Nationals will be competing for Mark Teixeira, who will become a free agent after the 2008 season. Tex is a Maryland native, which usually doesn’t matter for a Boras client. But Boras might actually be able to use this to get the two clubs bidding against each other.
Rangers With Pitching Surplus?
Jesse Thomas is a writing teacher from Wichita Falls, Texas. He follows the Rangers religiously, and is going to contribute some posts here at MLBTradeRumors.com. Below is his first.
I know it’s something not commonly associated with the Texas Rangers, but an abundance of quality pitching may force Jon Daniels to look at potential trade suitors at the end of Spring Training. The Rangers have no less than five guys competing for the fifth spot in the rotation, and they are overflowing with relievers.
The Rangers had made it clear that they would’ve liked one of their in-house guys to win the starting job. Josh Rupe seemed to be the favorite early on, but has struggled recently. The Rangers brought in veterans Bruce Chen (5-0, 0.72 ERA in winter ball) and Jamey Wright, and they have impressed. However, look for the decision to come down to Wright or Kameron Loe.
Believe it or not, the team is even more crowded in the bullpen. With Eric Gagne as the projected closer and Akinori Otsuka as the setup man, the Rangers have a host of guys, some of whom have no minor league options, competing for one or two spots.
What this all means is that the Rangers will most likely have a few extra pieces at the end of camp. Not superstar quality types, but serviceable major league pitchers. Look for Daniels to trade one or two of these guys for either a backup to Gerald Laird at catcher or a utility infielder if Jerry Hairston or Desi Relaford do not perform. The one fly in the ointment is if a team like Boston or Cleveland in need of a closer blows away Daniels with an offer for Otsuka (32 saves, 2.11 ERA). He’s not shopping the guy, but he will listen to offers.
More On Rowand Rumors
Just a few tidbits regarding yesterday’s Sun-Times story that the White Sox may reacquire Aaron Rowand.
The Philadelphia Inquirer says that the White Sox have been scouting recent Phillies games, though Rowand did not play yesterday. Additionally, the Delco Times speculates that the availability of Rowand is directly related to the fine play of Greg Dobbs this spring. The waiver pickup could platoon with Jayson Werth in right field, with Shane Victorino moving to center.
In a related topic, Buster Olney said today that any Lieber/Rios talks are dead but that the Rangers might make sense for Lieber.
Is Sosa A Mistake For Rangers?
Josh Lile is a history major at the University of Texas. I’ve brought him aboard as MLBTR’s Rangers correspondent. For his first post, Josh weighs in on Sammy Sosa and the consequences of giving him a roster spot.
Sammy Sosa beat out an infield single in today’s game vs. the Cubs. Let me repeat that. Sammy Sosa beat out an infield single. The main point of contention behind Sosa coming to camp is Sammy turning into Juan Gonzalez part deux. Juan Gonzalez, in the minds and hearts of Rangers fans, is remembered as a guy who half-heartedly played the field, walked out infield contact, and barely put any effort into anything. The same reputation was earned in Texas by Alfonso Soriano. Somehow Sammy has been humbled by his year off, and he appears to be hungry enough to make some magic this year.
Sammy, after today’s game vs the Cubs, is hitting .500 in Spring Training games with two homers. His main competition is 26 year-old Jason Botts, a monster who dropped a .980 OPS in AAA Oklahoma last year. The outfield and DH spots are virtually set with Frank Catalanotto, Nelson Cruz, Brad Wilkerson, and Kenny Lofton as the other four.
The last spot will come down to Sosa and Botts. Coming into today Botts was hitting .400, so he isn’t playing himself out of the lineup. So if you have a 38 year-old coming off a year off after steroid rumors, or a 26 year old masher, who do you choose? Personally I think you have to go with Botts or risk him developing into Travis Hafner with another team. However, Ron Washington seems to be drinking the Sosa Kool-Aid. Ron had this to say in Tom Singer’s article on at MLB.com: "People say he can’t do this or can’t do that, but he hasn’t showed me any of that. He can do anything. It’s his reward for working so hard."
So the question is this: which Sammy shows up if he makes the Opening Day roster? Do we get the slacker Sammy that will do his Juan Gonzalez impersonation, or do we get the hard-working Sammy who will come in and endear himself to Rangers fans? Since 2001 when John Hart blew $100 million on old corner infielders and relievers, the Rangers PR department has failed miserably and alienated many fans. If the hard-working Sammy shows up there is almost no chance Ron Washington keeps him off the roster, and the fans may start to come back.
Teixeira Possibilities
Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News weighs the possibilities for first baseman Mark Teixeira, a Scott Boras client set to hit free agency after the 2008 season.
When he hits arbitration after the 2007 season, it will be the first time Teixeira can request a salary commensurate to his peers. Carlos Delgado would be a good match; I would expect Boras to ask for $14-15MM at that time. PECOTA sees Teixeira as a $20MM player annually through 2011, so it will be money well spent.
Whether Texas will commit the $100+ million contract Teixeira will require after that remains to be seen. Jon Daniels seems to be on decent terms with Boras, with recent signings of Eric Gagne and Kevin Millwood.
Last Year’s Oswalt Trade Details Surface
Mark Hale of the New York Post was able to dig up some new details on the machinations that almost left Roy Oswalt a Met. He’d certainly look good with this group.
The Mets were dying to get him last July, but didn’t have the goods to make a direct swap with Houston. The Astros wanted a hitter, perhaps Hank Blalock from the Rangers or Miguel Tejada from the Orioles. Morgan Ensberg, Brad Lidge, John Danks, Thomas Diamond, Mike Pelfrey, Aaron Heilman, and Brian Bannister were all names that surfaced in connection to a possible trade.
A Little Help: Rangers
More rumors, news, and analysis is always a good thing, and I really like the early work of Jacob Burch as our Dodgers correspondent. If I do this right we can really expand the quality content at MLBTradeRumors.com over the next couple of months. Today I’m looking for someone to represent the Texas Rangers.
What am I looking for in this person?
- Solid writing skills and a style that fits with MLBTradeRumors. Basically, I’ll know it when I see it. I’m looking for the same type of analysis you see here every day.
- Someone who can post up-to-the-minute Rangers rumors as they surface. I want a person who follows the Rangers religiously and will have every source (traditional newspapers, high quality blogs, radio) covered. Would make sense to have all the pertinent websites on an RSS reader. You should be near a computer most times and able to hop on and write a post if something happens.
- While this person is probably a Rangers fan, objective analysis is preferred. Additionally it would be nice to provide the local vibe/sentiment that people might otherwise not know about. That might sound contradictory but I don’t think it is.
- The benefit to you: a decent-sized audience and a chance to do a little sportswriting. It could be a nice resume-builder and I would be happy to serve as a reference for you. And I will give you some insight on how I do what I do, for what that’s worth.
- Email me at mlbtraderumors@gmail.com if this interests you and explain why you’re the best candidate. I’ll choose one person and unfortunately won’t be able to reply to all. A sample post of a rumor/signing (whether fake or true) might help make your case. Note: long-winded posts are not my style! Brevity is a plus – I like 3-4 paragraph posts.
NOTE: Please don’t contact me about doing this for other teams. I just want a Rangers person at the moment.