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Players Not Traded

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Assigning contender status is subjective, but I’m going to say that the following teams are not in the playoff mix: the Orioles, Royals, Indians, Mariners, Braves, Nationals, Reds, Astros, Pirates, Giants, and Padres.  The Blue Jays and Athletics just missed the cut as fringe wild card contenders.  With those 11 non-contenders in mind, let’s take a look at players not traded at the ’08 non-waiver deadline.

  • Orioles: Aubrey Huff, Ramon Hernandez, Brian Roberts, Jay Payton, Jamie Walker, Kevin Millar, Chad Bradford, George Sherrill.  Millar and Payton are free agents after the season, but there probably wasn’t much of a market for either.  The rest are under team control through at least ’09, so Andy MacPhail still has time to find the right deal; read his comments here.  Hernandez is an August trade candidate.
  • Royals: Jose Guillen, Mark Grudzielanek, Ron Mahay, David DeJesus, Miguel Olivo.  Moving the Guillen contract would’ve made sense, but we don’t know whether that was on the table.  Kind of surprised to see Grudz still around.  Mahay could be an offseason move, but the Royals might just want him for ’09.  DeJesus’ name will probably come up at the Winter Meetings.
  • Indians: Paul Byrd, David Dellucci, Jamey Carroll.  Only Byrd was thought to generate a bit of interest.  He could go in August.
  • Mariners: Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn, Raul Ibanez.  The Ms still have time to move Beltre and Washburn if they feel so inclined.  Ibanez is a possible Type A free agent, so the Mariners asked for a lot.  Jayson Stark spoke to teams who characterized the Ms demands as "outrageous" in general.  Geoff Baker gives his take on the Mariners’ deadline day.
  • Braves: Mark Kotsay, Will Ohman.  Wouldn’t be surprising to see Kotsay moved this month.  Ohman we discussed here.
  • Nationals: Austin Kearns, Dmitri Young, Cristian Guzman, Luis Ayala, Ron Belliard, Tim Redding, Odalis Perez.  Some of these players have little trade value, while the Nationals prefer to keep others for ’09.
  • Reds: Adam Dunn, Bronson Arroyo, Jeremy Affeldt, David Weathers, David Ross, Josh Fogg, Paul Bako.  It seems that the offers just weren’t there for Dunn, who should net a pair of draft picks unless the Reds are gunshy about offering arbitration.  I’m surprised Weathers and Fogg weren’t moved.
  • Astros: Miguel Tejada, Randy Wolf, Jose Valverde, Ty Wigginton, Mark Loretta, Doug Brocail, Geoff Geary.  The ’Stros are acting like contenders.  The worst outcome for fans would be if Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins add a few wins and worsen the team’s ’09 draft position.
  • Pirates: Jack Wilson, John Grabow, Doug Mientkiewicz.  The Pirates were quite active, and could still trade Wilson and Grabow this winter.
  • Giants: Randy Winn, Dave Roberts, Bengie Molina, Rich Aurilia, Tyler Walker, Jack Taschner.  Winn and Roberts are August trade candidates.  The others might’ve made sense to trade.
  • Padres: Greg Maddux, Brian Giles, Khalil Greene, Josh Bard.  Maddux, with just one possible suitor, couldn’t be moved.  Keeping Giles and Bard around makes sense for ’09, while trading Greene now would be selling low.  The Padres did talk to seven different teams in the last few days.

Nationals Release Lo Duca, Lopez

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The Washington Post is reporting that the Nationals released both Paul Lo Duca and Felipe Lopez following tonight’s game. The move was made to free-up space on the roster for Elijah Dukes and Emilio Bonifacio.

Lo Duca was hitting .230/.301/.281 in 139 at bats this season and made $5MM on a one-year deal. Lopez was hitting .231/.303/.309 in 324 at bats and was in his final arbitration-eligible season, making $4.9MM.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Odds And Ends: Braves, Orioles, Redding, Dunn, Ryan

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A few more post-deadline notes from the MLBiverse…

  • Apparently the Braves tried to get involved in the Jason Bay sweepstakes in the last hour before the deadline.
  • Andy MacPhail feels that the Orioles will actually be more active in August than in July. Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly suggest that several players, including Kevin Millar, Jay Payton and Ramon Hernandez could be had in August. MacPhail also noted that while there "was a pretty high bar set" for teams asking about Brian Roberts, MacPhail made it clear that Roberts was not off-limits and suggested that a deal this winter is not out of the question.
  • Jim Bowden does not appear eager to trade Tim Redding, who according to Bill Ladson, is the Nat’s only player of value that could be traded in August.
  • Walt Jocketty would not commit to an attempt to sign Adam Dunn to an extension.
  • Terry Ryan, the Twins former GM, penned a piece for SI.com in which he details what a GM goes through in the weeks and days leading up to the trade deadline. Very interesting read.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

White Sox Interested In Joel Hanrahan

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2:29pm: Correction: the Sox are interested in Nationals closer Joel Hanrahan, not Lannan.

1:00pm: WSCR Radio in Chicago reports that the White Sox are interested in 23 year-old Nationals lefty John Lannan.  Jon Heyman has heard the same.  He has a fine 3.33 ERA in 119 innings this year.  Not much of a strikeout rate though.

Rockies Rumors: Fuentes, Redding, Fogg, Byrd

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1:38pm: Jayson Stark says Fuentes is staying put.  A little more than an hour left til the deadline.

9:33am: Mark Zuckerman of the Washington Times says the Nationals are leaning toward keeping Redding, and have even had preliminary extension talks with him.  Trades of Paul Lo Duca, Odalis Perez, and Felipe Lopez are also unlikely.

THURSDAY, 8:31am: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post indicates the Rockies want to keep Fuentes.  He says they’re looking at starters such as Tim Redding, Josh Fogg, and Paul Byrd.  Redding’s stock dropped last night with an ugly start.

WEDNESDAY, 9:12pm: On Sunday, Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd termed a Brian Fuentes trade "highly unlikely."  However, ESPN’s Jayson Stark says the Rockies will decide late tonight whether to put Fuentes on the market.  The Mets, Phillies, and Rays are out given the high asking price.

Ken Rosenthal wrote earlier that the Rockies were "poking around" with interested parties, still asking for a young MLB starting pitcher or two good prospects.

Jarrod Washburn Rumors: Wednesday

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6:41pm: Dan Graziano says the Yankees aren’t looking at other starters.  They’re waiting to see if the Mariners will drop their price on Washburn.  They may try to acquire him in August.

11:17am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Ms are asking for quite a bit for Washburn – two of one NL team’s top prospects, for example.  Meanwhile, Buster Olney talked to one exec who speculated that Washburn might make sense for the Mets.

9:42am: I spoke too soon – the Rockies are indeed interested in Washburn.  Tim Redding and Josh Fogg are a couple other names on the radar.

Ken Rosenthal characterizes the Fogg interest as legit, but feels that the Ms are just trying to stir Colorado’s interest in Washburn.

9:29am: According to Ken Davidoff of Newsday, the Yankees’ trade talks for Jarrod Washburn are dead.  The Yanks will turn to Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, and maybe Freddy Garcia.  They can also rekindle the Washburn talks in August if they think he will clear waivers (most do).

I am surprised other teams aren’t looking more seriously at Washburn given the weak market for starting pitching.  The Rockies, White Sox, and Mets would all make sense.

Stark’s Latest: Ibanez, Washburn, Redding, Rhodes

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Some additional notes from ESPN’s Jayson Stark:

  • The Mariners still want Jon Niese and another prospect for Raul Ibanez; the Mets are not biting.  Similar situation with the Ms asking the Cubs for Felix Pie and another player.
  • The Mets aren’t in on Jarrod Washburn or Tim Redding.
  • The Marlins are making it clear that there is no done deal for Arthur Rhodes.  Clark Spencer had written the Fish "could be closer" to a deal for Rhodes than a catcher.  Stark says the Mariners are driving a hard bargain for Rhodes, with the Red Sox, Marlins, Phillies, Brewers, Tigers, Mets, Cardinals, and Rays checking in.

Rays Scouting Jayson Werth

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Mike Tingle of ESPN 840 in Charlottesville spoke to Rays scout Mike Cubbage yesterday.  Cubbage said that he plans to scout Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth, and that Werth may be available in the right deal.  Werth, 29, is hitting .272/.358/.485 in 268 plate appearances (most of the damage done against lefties).

Additionally, the Rays offered a package of players for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte but the Bucs chose the Yankees’ offer.  The Rays also looked at Jon Rauch previously, though he was not at the top of their list.  And of course, the Rays would like to acquire Brian Fuentes.

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