Uncategorized

From time to time you will notice that I omit various minor transactions here at MLBTR.  For better or for worse I don’t post stuff I find inconsequential.  Or maybe it’s just that I have nothing to add.  In my opinion MLBTR is not a register of all transactions.  More an aggregator of rumors, signings, and trades of note, plus a little bit of analysis/opinion and a great community.  So for those wondering where Gary Bennett, Chad Paronto, and D’Angelo Jimenez are…eh.  The guys left out are entirely subjective, but for the most part I focus on guys who will get regular PT.

Here is a link to an interview I did recently at Sports Tech Now.

A site called Busted Coverage, which focuses on "booze, ladies, and football," has a sports blog tourney going.  I’m proud to say that we’re in the mix.

Go here, scroll down a bit, and vote for MLB Trade Rumors now!  No logging in or anything required, just takes a sec.  Thanks.

I don’t know much about cell phones, so I figured I’d tap into the MLBTR community a little bit.  I recently bought a T-Mobile Dash and so far I’m not jazzed with it.  I might bring it back and get something different.  Here’s what I’m looking for in my phone:

• The ability to receive emails from my gmail account the second they come in.  The Dash seems to do it on five-minute intervals at best.  Is this a gmail or a Dash limitation?
• I believe it needs to be a Windows phone to enable me to use TypePad Mobile and make blog posts from the phone.
• Preferably it would have full, fast web browsing.  The Dash seems pretty slow in loading up websites from various newspapers, or BP, or whatever.
• I’m going to stick with T-Mobile, so the iPhone isn’t an option.
• Any insight?  Should I stick with the Dash?  Is there something else you would recommend?  Leave a comment or email me at mlbtraderumors@gmail.com if you have any experience with this crap.  Thanks.

Feel free to submit a mailbag question at mlbtraderumors@gmail.com.

If you’re the Orioles, do you take Jones/Clement/Morrow or Bailey/Votto/Hamilton for Erik Bedard? – Mark

I would take the Seattle group.  Of all six players named, I think Jones is the most valuable and the closest to a sure thing.  The Mariners may be the favorite for Bedard, according to John Hickey.

Any shot the Yanks send some pitching to the White Sox to get Konerko to start at 1B?  Maybe dump guys like Igawa or Moose, plus a mid-level prospect?  What’s left on Konerko’s contract? – Jason

Konerko is owed $12MM annually through 2010.  He’s a bargain and an asset right now, not a salary dump.  The White Sox are built to contend in 2008 and have no viable replacement for Konerko, so I’d be very surprised to see him traded.

Is Brian Roberts still on the Cubs’ radar?  Or did they back off a bit after the Mitchell Report? – Tim

From what I can tell (and my best guess) is that the Mitchell Report did nothing to change the price to acquire Roberts or the Cubs’ interest.  The general consensus seems to be that Roberts got a raw deal being named in the report.  As an aside, I’m not sure why the Cubs view second base as a need.

Where do you see Johan Santana playing in 2008? – Billy

I think he’s wearing a Boston uniform in ’08.  A package of Ellsbury, Lowrie, Masterson, and a fourth player seems excellent to me for one year of Johan. 

What’s your opinion on the Jim Edmonds trade, and who do you think the Cardinals are going to go after with the extra money? – Alex

The move only freed up $6MM, but it definitely seemed financially motivated.  I think the cash goes toward a questionable free agent signing like Kyle Lohse.  Viva El Birdos has a new post up on this very topic, if you really want to get into it.  UPDATE: Just noticed via VEB that Edmonds actually requested the trade.

With the O’s looking to build their farm system and get younger, why haven’t we heard anything about them trading Melvin Mora? – Brad

We have, it’s just that he has little to no trade value.  At best they could get some salary relief.

If the Brewers chose to take offers on Ben Sheets, what sort of bounty could they expect in return?  Is his value higher than Haren and Bedard? – Andy

Sheets’ value is much less than Haren and Bedard.  For one thing you only get one year of him as opposed to three of Haren and two of Bedard.  He’s also more expensive in ’08 than those guys, and the biggest health risk of the three.  I think he could net two or three B type prospects, but the Brewers are best served hanging on to him.

We Mets fans are getting  very antsy…where is Omar Minaya and what is he thinking? – Steve

Steve is correct, as I have gotten many emails like this.  Minaya seems willing to sacrifice his best prospects, and maybe the price for Joe Blanton will be a bit more reasonable to him than Haren.  His best prospects are outfielders, though, and I wonder whether Oakland has enough of those.  I imagine Minaya is quietly kicking the tires on tons of starters.  My guess is that he winds up signing a guy like Silva or trading for one of the Brewers’ starters.

What do you think about Kenny Williams’ comments that fans know too much and GMs see fan reactions to trade rumors and get scared away from completing deals’?  Do you take that quote personally? – Kris

I don’t take it personally but definitely find it interesting.  That some GMs would give more weight to public perception than making the best deal is surprising.  If that’s really the case why don’t they just do a better job keeping things under wraps?  That wouldn’t be good for MLBTR but it seems possible. 

Mailbag time, maybe we’ll make it a running Monday feature.  Submit your question to mlbtraderumors@gmail.com.  Anything goes, I’ll pick a bunch and answer ’em on Monday.

In recent days the starting pitching market has finally started moving.  Dan Haren was traded to the Diamondbacks, and Hiroki Kuroda signed with the Dodgers.  Now that the ball is rolling, what’s next?

• There are no aces available via free agency, but Kuroda might’ve been the best anyway.  There are three free agents with ace potential but checkered histories: Roger Clemens, Bartolo Colon, and Mark Prior.  Colon is the only one with a shot at 200 innings in 2008, and he probably won’t require more than a two-year deal.  Healthy pitchers with lower ceilings comprise the next tier – Carlos Silva, Kyle Lohse, Josh Fogg, Josh Towers, and Livan Hernandez. 
• The injury tier of once-decent free agents, who are garnering plenty of attention: Kris Benson, Matt Clement,  Freddy Garcia, Jason Jennings, Jon Lieber, Rodrigo Lopez.
• There are some ace starters available via trade, if you’re willing to give up half of your farm system.  Johan Santana and Erik Bedard are the game-changers.  Joe Blanton will be slightly cheaper, but isn’t as nasty.  A.J. Burnett can compete with Bedard’s stuff but he has injury concerns and one year left on his deal before he can opt out.  After that we see a dropoff in trade candidates – Kevin Millwood, Dave Bush, Chris Capuano, Matt Morris, Jason Marquis.  The Brewers are definitely holding some nice cards here.
• Teams looking to add pitching: Yankees, Royals, Mariners, Rangers, Nationals, Mets, Phillies, Reds, Astros, Cardinals, Giants, and Rockies.

Tonight I made an appearance on Sports Central with Dave Kaplan (WGN Radio 720).  Thanks to Dave for having me on, and welcome to any new readers finding MLB Trade Rumors for the first time.  Here are the basics about the site.

Download Tim_WGN_12-14-2007_64Kbps.mp3 to listen to the segment (file is 2.3 megabytes).

I’m going to be on Sports Central with Dave Kaplan of WGN Radio 720 tonight around 7:35pm CST.  Throw on the AM radio if you’re in Illinois.  If not, you can listen online here (but you’ll need Real Player).

I run ads from a lot of different sources on this site, and there are so many different ones that I don’t approve them individually.  I’ve received a few complaints in recent days about suggestive ads appearing on the site, and I’d like to get rid of ’em.  If you’d like to help, take a screen shot of any ad you consider questionable and send it to me at dierkes@gmail.com.  Then I can figure out the source and block it.  Thanks for your patience.