Nationals Rumors

Rockies Interested In Hendrickson, Downs, Nick Johnson

By Tim Dierkes | July 30, 2009 at 4:54pm CDT

4:54pm: Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports says the Rockies also have an eye on Washington's Nick Johnson as a bench bat. A .410 OBP bench bat.

11:00am: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post wrote earlier today that the Rockies "increased their pursuit" of Orioles southpaw Mark Hendrickson (.253/.303/.422 against lefties this year). Renck confirms that the Rox balked at the asking price – Eric Young, Jr. – for John Grabow and Joe Beimel. By the way, in case you missed it, Renck notes that the Rockies signed 43 year-old righty Mike Timlin to a minor league deal.

Via Twitter, Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun throws another name into the mix for Colorado: Blue Jays closer Scott Downs. Downs, signed through 2010, would certainly exact the highest price of all the relievers linked to the Rockies.

Cubs Acquire John Grabow, Tom Gorzelanny

By Tim Dierkes | July 30, 2009 at 4:50pm CDT

4:50pm: The Pirates' return of Hart, Ascanio, and Harrison is confirmed by a press release from the Cubs. Gorzelanny will head to Triple A Iowa. The Pirates keep adding arms; I guess this means they like Hart more than Gorzelanny.

4:47pm: ESPN Chicago says the Cubs sent pitchers Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio to Pittsburgh for Grabow and Gorzelanny. Ed Price, via Twitter, says the Cubs are also sending third baseman Josh Harrison.

4:43pm: Finally a possible name as part of the package going to Pittsburgh. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus, via Twitter, hears pitching prospect Jay Jackson may be in the deal. Jackson, a starting pitcher, was a ninth-round pick last year and ranked ninth on Baseball America's list of Cubs prospects.

3:22pm: Via Twitter, Kovacevic says Grabow and Gorzelanny to the Cubs is almost or "just about" done, while Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times says they closed the deal for Grabow. ESPNChicago's Jon Greenberg says the Cubs are "in the process of finalizing" the deal for Grabow. Heyman terms the deal for both hurlers as "very close."

Gorzelanny, who is from Evergreen Park, IL, has a 2.48 ERA in 15 Triple A starts this year. He won 14 games in the bigs in '07, but was derailed by back, shoulder, and finger problems in '08. We still don't know what the Pirates will get back in this deal, but it ought to be something decent.

2:56pm: Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Cubs and Pirates are discussing a deal that would send Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny to Chicago. No deal is in place and other teams remain interested in Grabow.

2:21pm: Heyman (via Twitter) thinks the Cubs are getting closer on Grabow, and could acquire another pitcher as well.

1:27pm: SI's Jon Heyman says the Cubs and Pirates are in "serious discussions" about Grabow.

11:58am: ESPN's Jayson Stark says the Cubs are "strictly mining the lefthanded reliever market" and not looking for a bat. Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald concurs.

10:51am: Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports say the Cubs prefer Pittsburgh's John Grabow over Washington's Joe Beimel, and they continue to discuss the lefty reliever with the Pirates. The FOX report suggests the Cubs will stay internal for their Reed Johnson replacement.

Grabow currently ranks as a Type A free agent in the wacky world of Elias, but for his team to have a chance at draft picks they'd have to offer him arbitration and risk paying him more than $2.3MM if he accepts.

9:02am: The Cubs are looking for a left-handed hitter who can play right field, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. While they're not optimistic about a deal, the plan would be to create a platoon with the disappointing Milton Bradley. Wittenmyer says the Cubs have about $2-3MM of payroll room to work with.

Two players on the radar: Mark Teahen of the Royals and Jeremy Hermida of the Marlins. The Royals are looking for a center fielder in return, however. Teahen has $1.37MM left on his contract. Hermida has $847K remaining. Both players can be under team control through 2011. Either player would still leave some wiggle room for the Cubs to acquire a left-handed reliever.

Heyman Talks Giants

By Tim Dierkes | July 30, 2009 at 1:52pm CDT

In a new blog post, SI's Jon Heyman discusses the Giants' plans.

The Giants "haven't ruled out trading for more offense" after getting Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Garko. Heyman says that at some point the Giants scouted Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee, Josh Willingham, Nick Johnson, Mark Teahen and Marco Scutaro. We can probably cross Johnson off the list. And we've seen no sign the Astros would sell.
The Giants would like to add a fifth starter, given the loss of Randy Johnson for at least August. Heyman speculates on a few names such as Bronson Arroyo, Doug Davis, and Jon Garland.

Josh Willingham Not Traded

By Tim Dierkes | July 30, 2009 at 12:38pm CDT

12:38pm: Harlan says it's a stiff neck, not a trade.

12:36pm: Outfielder Josh Willingham was pulled from the Nationals' lineup today, and the Washington Post's Chico Harlan thinks "something is definitely going down."

Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Lee, Rays

By Eddie Schmid | July 29, 2009 at 11:28pm CDT

Some links to (maybe) cap an already wild day in rumor-land:

Joe McDonald at the Providence Journal thinks the Red Sox need to make a major deal.
Dan Novick at the Hardball Times wonders if the Lee trade was a win-win.
John Campanelli at the Cleveland Plain-Dealer gets reactions from Indians fans on the Lee deal. Suffice to say, they ain't happy.
Nationals acting manager Jim Riggleman wants to see the team's core remain intact, says Chico Harlan at the Washington Post.
Marc Topkin at the St. Petersburg Times says the Rays "seem unlikely" to make a big deal.
Geoff Baker at the Seattle Times thinks the Mariners' deals today for Ian Snell and Jack Wilson probably spell some more trades on the horizon–potentially involving Jarrod Washburn.
The Nationals released Julian Tavarez today, who had cleared waivers. Corey Patterson also cleared waivers and has been released from the Triple A club, reports Bill Ladson at MLB.com.
David Laurila at Baseball Prospectus has a profile and some quotes from new Pirate Tim Alderson.

Nats Expect To Be Quiet; Will Consider Deals

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 29, 2009 at 3:55pm CDT

The Nats will likely consider dealing Joe Beimel, Willie Harris and Nick Johnson within the next two days, but Chico Harlan of the Washington Post says the team has incentive to keep Adam Dunn and hot-hitting Josh Willingham. Harlan hears that the Nats are asking a lot for either slugger and would happily keep both.

The market for Nick Johnson has worsened now that the Red Sox and Giants added first basemen. Earlier in the month, GM Mike Rizzo said he didn't anticipate a particularly active trade deadline.

Heyman On Blue Jays, Indians, Crawford

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 29, 2009 at 11:30am CDT

Believe it or not, there's more to this year's deadline than Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Jon Heyman of SI.com has the latest on some other trade possibilities:

Scott Downs, Jason Frasor and Brandon League are coveted around the league, but the Jays want to figure out what to do with Halladay before dealing secondary players.
The Dodgers are "pressing hard" for George Sherrill.
Chad Qualls and Michael Wuertz are likely to stay put.
The Yankees aren't involved in the Cliff Lee talks after hearing the Indians wanted Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes in return.
It's becoming more likely that the Indians will deal Lee and Victor Martinez.
The Nationals requested Jonathan Sanchez for Nick Johnson.
One GM says the Rays briefly dangled Carl Crawford a few weeks ago. Sounds like they'll consider anything.

Odds & Ends: White, White Sox, Bard, Willingham

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 28, 2009 at 2:20pm CDT

More links as the rumors keep flowing in…

La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune "heard the Twins might be sniffing around Seattle reliever Sean White." White's best skill is a decent groundball rate; his strikeout and walk rates do not impress.
The White Sox inked second-round pick Trayce Thompson, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. The high school outfielder, chosen 61st overall, gets $625K.
Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe is fairly sure the Red Sox won't trade Daniel Bard this week.
Chico Harlan of the Washington Post believes the Nats should keep Josh Willingham because he's relatively affordable, powerful and plays well enough defensively.
ESPN.com's Keith Law says Ryan Garko is a small upgrade for the Giants at first base.
The Rangers believed they were frontrunners to acquire Garko yesterday, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. They'd still like a right-handed hitting first baseman.
The Mets signed former big leaguer Adam Pettyjohn to a minor league deal, according to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post.

Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Felix, DiPoto, Red Sox, Marlins

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 28, 2009 at 11:46am CDT

More links as we count down the hours to the deadline…

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times asks if the Mariners should listen to offers for Felix Hernandez, in the event they cannot sign him long-term.
SI's Tom Verducci sees Arizona exec Jerry DiPoto as "the frontrunner for the Nationals GM job."
Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald says the Red Sox are looking for a right-handed hitting fourth outfielder who plays good defense. He mentions Willie Bloomquist and Cody Ross as possible fits.
The Marlins are looking to make moves, but it's unclear where they'd want to upgrade, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. They could add a starter, a reliever or a position player, but don't expect them to trade prospects Logan Morrison and Mike Stanton. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Fish "are split on whether to acquire a hitter or starting pitcher."
Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Cubs GM Jim Hendry wants to make a deal, but doesn't expect to make a "splashy" one.
The Rockies could use an experienced lefty reliever, according to MLB.com.

Odds And Ends: Mora, Mariners, Cubs, Rizzo

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 28, 2009 at 9:33am CDT

Some links to start your morning off…

Melvin Mora told Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun that he wants to play four more years, until his quintuplets turn 12.
A number of GMs told USA Today's Bob Nightengale how trade rumors impact their jobs. Nightengale also talked to Tim, Peter Gammons and Ken Rosenthal, so check the article out.
I'll be chatting live at USA Today beginning at 11am CST. But one chat isn't enough, so check in to MLBTR a few hours later and I'll chat here at 2pm CST.
Larry Stone of the Seattle Times would be surprised if the Mariners don't become sellers this week.
East Windup Chronicle passes on a report saying the Cubs signed their third Taiwanese player of the year, Wang Tsu-an. The Cubs awarded the righty a bonus over $300k.
Every scout Phil Wood of MASN.com talks to sings the praises of Nats acting GM Mike Rizzo.

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