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Dan Lewis and company have a cool thing going over at Armchair GM: a social network of baseball fans.  Check it out.

Sorry about the down period for the site over the last few hours; my blogging service had a power outage.  Here are some evening links to peruse.

• Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune speculates on what it would take to bring Jermaine Dye to the North Side.
• Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus gives his contribution to the rumor mill.  Interesting notes: the Angels’ Nick Adenhart is untouchable; the Nats could acquire vets like Eric Gagne or Omar Vizquel for the draft picks; the Phillies could re-acquire Kenny Lofton if forced to use Shane Victorino in a trade.
• Bugs and Cranks has a well written post about how sandwich picks are ruining the trade deadline.  However, I respectfully disagree.  The trade deadline rules.  It rules now and it always has ruled.  If you are the type of person who enjoys this site, you will find the trade deadline fun no matter how few big names change teams.  Rumors fly with reckless abandon.  Players you never thought available are suddenly in play, however unlikely.  Misinformation is spread like wildfire.  Is a trade deadline really judged on the biggest names to change hands, or is it just the thrill of the chase?  I vote for the latter.  I will be writing nonstop here on July 30 and 31, and trust me, it’ll be great.

I’ll be chatting baseball tonight at ProTrade; I’ve chosen the Padres/Rockies game at 8:05 CST (Maddux vs. Francis).  Go here at game time to access the Padres page and chat trade rumors!

Jayson Stark has a new Rumblings and Grumblings column up at ESPN; check it out.  Here are some new trade rumors I picked up from it:

• Stark’s sources indicate that Kenny Williams is only serious about moving Jose Contreras, not Jon Garland or Javier Vazquez.  Makes sense, if he’s trying to win in 2008.  Problem is that Contreras doesn’t have much trade value, the way he’s been pitching for the last year.
• Of course the Mets would have interest in Dontrelle Willis if made available, but the Tigers?  That’s a new one.  Not sure why a team so deep in pitching would trade young players for Willis.  But, it’s just a rumor.
• Zack Greinke is admittedly a long shot to be traded, but that doesn’t mean teams aren’t asking all the time.  The Braves connection is obvious.  Stark says John Schuerholz is getting very aggressive and creative trying to improve his team.  Two prospects on the block are Elvis Andrus and Dan Smith.
• The Rangers are asking for way too much for their relievers right now.  As you know, the options for Eric Gagne are quite limited because of his no-trade clause and desire to close.  The Cubs, Phillies, and Braves could accomodate him, but it seems the Tigers seemingly don’t want to move Todd Jones out of the closer role.  Odd.
• The Mets would move Mike Pelfrey in a major trade, perhaps annoyed with the Scott Boras influence on him.
• The Phillies are falling all over themselves to get a starter, but the main options appear to be Joe Kennedy, Kyle Lohse, and Steve Trachsel.  Awww yeah, World Series here we come.  For good starters or relievers, teams want Shane Victorino.  The Phils need him to take over center field next year.
• Contrary to previous reports, the Reds intend to hold on to David Weathers.
• There’s no real fit anywhere for Ken Griffey Jr., given the limited list of teams he’ll play for.
• Expect the Angels to stand mostly pat, this year and next.  That’s just how they roll.  No A-Rod, no Barry, no Adam Dunn.
• Relievers under consideration by the Dodgers: Chad Qualls, Dan Wheeler, Octavio Dotel, Al Reyes, and a new one – Luis Vizcaino.
• Stark believes $30MM a year for A-Rod is laughable.  But Stark and Scott Boras have had public beef before so he may be biased on this.  I can see Boras getting his magic number for Rodriguez.

T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com has the latest – the trade market for Rangers is bustling.

• Mark Teixeira is back and hitting well, and interest is picking up according to  Sullivan.  He names the Red Sox, Angels, Braves, and Yankees as the top suitors, with the Dodgers and Giants on the fringes.  There is a growing sentiment that teams are now overvaluing their prospects and ignoring the high attrition rate (especially for pitchers).  Ken Rosenthal feels this way, and notes that the Braves are exceptional in that they are not afraid to trade youngsters.  Evan Grant agrees, and doesn’t understand why the Mariners aren’t in on Tex.
• Interestingly, Joaquin Benoit might be the most compelling reliever in trade talks.  The 30 year-old has a fine 3.33 K/BB.  Most publications are listing him as a free agent after 2008, but by my count this is his sixth year of service time.  I’ll have to get some clarification on that.
• Benoit has moved past Eric Gagne and Akinori Otsuka on some teams’ lists because of Gagne’s desire to stay at closer and Otsuka’s recent injury.
• Sullivan also reports marginal interest in Ron Mahay, Jamey Wright, Brad Wilkerson, and Kenny Lofton – much not much for Sammy Sosa.

Some random lunchtime reading for you:

• Paul Oberjuerge speaks with Bill James.  James equates steroid use to the traveling rule in basketball.
• This is an older post from Seth Mnookin, but you may not have been aware of Coco Crisp’s remarkable defensive turnaround, in the eyes of James.  Mnookin recently named Crisp the team’s first half MVP because of this.
• McCovey Chronicles discusses what the Giants could get for Matt Morris. 
• Viva El Birdos points out the lack of payroll flexibility the Cardinals have for 2008.
• New WHIFF profile of Kyle Lohse up over at the STATS, Inc. blog.  Tom Koch-Weser attempts to use pitch data to determine why Lohse is so frustrating. 
• FishStripes discusses Scott Olsen’s latest fight, this time with Sergio Mitre.  Mitre sounds like a good guy, if the story is true.  I don’t think this behavior will get Olsen traded, but it could be a small factor.
• Kenny Williams’ order of preference for trading: Jose Contreras, Javier Vazquez, Jon Garland.  I really think Vazquez could be a difference-maker; he’s the best available starter right now.
• The Dodgers have shifted away from adding a power hitter.
• For the fantasy geeks, a look at the hitters who have added the most loft to their swings this year.  Jason Michaels is tops.
• Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune is offended that the Cubs announced the Jason Kendall trade on television rather than to reporters.

Random stuff for a Thursday afternoon…

• Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles reacts to the idea of extending the contract of Giants GM Brian Sabean.
• RotoAuthority takes a look back at the career of Lastings Milledge as well as discusses his fantasy prospects for this year.
• The Marlins’ president had some interesting comments on the Ichiro contract.  Also, Tim Brown makes a good point on Mike Piazza – the A’s could easily trade him during August.
• Mark Teixeira opens up for Jennifer Floyd Engel.  He mentions that the Rangers have never offered him a contract extension.
• If you write something compelling on your blog regarding a trade, signing, or rumor, feel free to email me with a link.  I will link to a few here on the site but beyond that I’m always looking for good blogs to add to my feed reader.
• A-Rod: definitely a $30MM+ player, and not negotiating before season’s end.  This should be a wild winter.
• Mark Buehrle: overpaid.  Sorry for ruining the ending of this Hardball Times post for you.
• JoeSportsFan takes a hilarious look at some 80s baseball cards.  (Found via The Big Lead).

For a while I used to go by the handle RumorMonger in the comments here at MLBTradeRumors.  Then once I started requiring registration to comment, I switched it to RotoAuthority (the name of my other site and handle over there).  It seemed kind of weird posting on this site under a fantasy baseball moniker, so now I’m just plain old Tim Dierkes in the comments.

Today we’ve got a bunch of smaller links, rumors, and signings, so we’ll put it all in one post.

• The Cardinals signed reliever Ryan Franklin for 2008-09 with a club option for 2010.  I was waiting for the financial details to come out, but they still haven’t.  According to Rick Hummel, it’s at least $2MM per year.  That’s pretty much chump change to almost any team, so no big loss if it doesn’t pan out.  Franklin has actually been the Cardinals’ best pitcher this year.  He deserves credit for his superb control and 50% groundball rate, though he’s been strangely tough to hit for a guy whiffing fewer than four per nine innings.  Franklin has a .226 BABIP, which should regress toward his team’s .294 mark.  Franklin already owns one of the greatest fluke BABIP performances of the decade, when he posted a .248 mark in 2003 en route to a 3.57 ERA.
• Speaking of questionable reliever contract extensions, Shawn Chacon wants in.  To be fair, his 2.98 relief ERA this year is solid, and his peripheral stats aren’t terrible.  But extending him at $2-3MM annually just doesn’t seem wise for the Pirates.
• Jim Salisbury discusses the awful Pat Burrell contract, noting that it seemed like a good idea at the time. 
• Richard Justice tries to figure out why Morgan Ensberg is on the Astros’ roster.  Ensberg has really lost it since he posted a .945 OPS with 36 home runs in 2005.  It wasn’t that long ago; he deserves a look with the Twins or something. 
• Rob Bradford discusses how the Josh Beckett contract extension came to fruition.  Great timing by Theo Epstein; now he has Beckett at well below market value.  Kenny Williams tried this with Mark Buehrle last summer but was rebuffed.
• J.P. Ricciardi clarifies his A.J. Burnett comments.
• A new pitch has been invented.  This is going to take the world by storm.
• Neifi Perez = busted.
• Gotham Baseball debunks the Lastings Milledge to Washington for a reliever rumor.  Mark Healey also thinks the Mets’ interest in White Sox starters has been overstated.
• There’s a good chance Rockies’ first baseman Joe Koshansky is traded.  Let’s not get too excited though; Kevin Goldstein says he becomes an average big league first baseman in a perfect world.  The 25 year-old is slugging .486 at a hitters’ park in Triple A.

Just got back from watching the new Transformers movie.  I found it disappointing.  It was a bit cheesier and for-kids than I expected or the ads lead you to believe.  Shia LaBeouf was a bright spot but most of the dialogue makes you wince.  The plot was annoying and I got a little CGI’d out by the end.  I know, what do you expect from Michael Bay.  But I liked The Island.  Just read some reviews of it; 90% of them said something like "This will please fanboys, but I didn’t like it."  "Fanboy" seems a required word for reviewing the movie.  Well, I am not a fanboy of Transformers (my parents bought me Gobots* instead) but I still don’t recommend the movie.  On to baseball.

Ken Rosenthal’s latest column is a little lacking in terms of fresh trade rumors to dissect.  Instead, he’s more focused on informed speculation.

• Rosenthal believes the White Sox and Mark Buehrle should be able to bridge the gap, which amounts to 18 months of no-trade protection.  That’s the general feeling; it will be nice to see a fan favorite stay.
• Rosenthal says Kenny Williams has talked to roughly 20 teams about his starting pitchers in one way or another.  Interestingly, he confirms the recent radio rumor that the D-Rays inquired about Buehrle.  Williams has also discussed Jose Contreras and Javier Vazquez with Tampa Bay.  I’ll say it again: the Devil Rays should be contenders in 2008.
• Trade speculation: Phillies outfielder Michael Bourn to the Rangers for Akinori Otsuka.  Such a move, however, would increase reliance on Pat Burrell and leave the Phillies short-staffed in the outfield for 2008.  Rosenthal believes Bourn could develop into a Juan Pierre type, sans the noodle arm.

*The Gobots’ theme song is awesome.  It’s basically "The Gobots, the Gobots" repeatedly.