Baseball Rumor News

In Ken Rosenthal’s most recent story (for Fox Sports) he touches on a plethora of trade possibilities that I found very intriguing. It’s a lot of information, so here are some of the key points:

Dodgers after a slugger: Some of the names that came up as targets for L.A> are Detroit’s Maglio Ordonez, Pittsburgh’s Jason Bay, and maybe even Colorado’s Matt Holliday. Bay and Ordonez seem like more realistic options. Holliday would require a boatload of young talent and I don’t think the Dodgers would love the idea of seeing Kemp, Loney, Ethier, or any other guys they have been developing playing for a division rival. For any one of the three OF vets, expect that Kemp would likely have to be included.

Milton Bradley: Rosenthal sees him as a very valuable commodity if the Rangers give up on the season. They got him on the cheap and could collect a couple high-level prospects for him. Bradley is currently leading the AL in OPS. Starters Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla are two other players that the Rangers will entertain offers for.

Pirates OF available: Either Bay or Nady will be traded, but probably not both. One point that surprised me, the Pirates’ outfield ranks first in the majors in OPS.

Cubs want pitchers: The story is already out there, but the Cubs will strongly pursue C.C. Sabathia, as he is the best starting pitcher who appears available. Chicago is also asking about Rockies’ reliever Brian Fuentes. Fuentes, who has assumed the closer role in Colorado, would be used as a setup man if the Cubs acquired him so that the workload for Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood could be lessened.

Brewers still looking for a starter: This is nothing new, but the Brewers are still looking. Rosenthal thinks that they have the minor league talent to bring in just about whoever they want. Whether or not they will be in contention when trades start happening is another question, which may take them out of the ‘buyers’ market.

Yankees making LaTroy available:The Yankees are aggressively shopping right-hander LaTroy Hawkins, two rival executives say, intending to clear a spot for a reliever who currently is at Triple-A, Righty J.B. Cox. Hawkins has a 6.08 ERA in 22 appearances, so don’t expect there to be much interest.

Phillies want relief: Philadelphia wants to add another left-handed reliever to complement J.C. Romero. They really want another starter (C.C. Sabathia) but they realize they don’t have the prospects that the Indians will want.

If you want anymore details, click on the link at the top of the page.

- The New York Post reports that the Yankees have released Morgan Ensberg. He was DFA’d a week ago and the are just going to be stuck paying his $1.75 million.

- The Tigers have demoted Dontrelle Willis to A-Ball following the worst start of his career. They say that they just want him to get back to form, but this is looking like one poor acquisition. Injuries aside, Willis has not even resembled a shadow of his ability from early on in his career.

- According to The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Brewers GM Doug Melvin is denying that there is any truth to the rumor the Brewers are interested in Brian Roberts.

- In a Mets press release, the club has announced that they have DFA’d catcher Raul Casanova. Recently he had been on the been on the Bereavement List from June 4th-June 6th.

Jonathan Mayo now has his predictions for the upcoming draft for picks 1-30. Some have changed, but for those of you that haven’t been keeping up with the predictions here is a list:

1. Tampa Bay Rays: Tim Beckham, SS, Griffin HS, Griffin, Ga.
2. Pittsburgh Pirates: Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Vanderbilt
3. Kansas City Royals: Eric Hosmer, 1B, American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla.
4. Baltimore Orioles: Aaron Crow, RHP, University of Missouri
5. San Francisco Giants: Buster Posey, C, Florida State
6. Florida Marlins: Brian Matusz, LHP, University of San Diego
7. Cincinnati Reds: Yonder Alonso, 1B, University of Miami
8. Chicago White Sox: Gordon Beckham, SS, University of Georgia
9. Washington Nationals: Kyle Skipworth, C, Patriot HS, Riverside, Calif.
10. Houston Astros: Justin Smoak, 1B, University of South Carolina
11. Texas Rangers: Andrew Cashner, RHP, Texas Christian
12. Oakland A’s: Aaron Hicks, OF/RHP, Woodrow Wilson HS, Long Beach, Calif.
13. St. Louis Cardinals: Ryan Perry, RHP, University of Arizona
14. Minnesota Twins: Christian Friedrich, LHP, Eastern Kentucky
15. Los Angeles Dodgers: Zach Collier, OF, Chino Hills HS, Calif.
16. Milwaukee Brewers: Brett Lawrie, C/3B, Brookswood SS, Langley, B.C.
17. Toronto Blue Jays: Brett Wallace, 1B/3B, Arizona State
18. New York Mets: Ike Davis, OF, Arizona State
19. Chicago Cubs: Casey Kelly, SS, Sarasota HS, Fla.
20. Seattle Mariners: Shooter Hunt, RHP, Tulane
21. Detroit Tigers: Ethan Martin, RHP, Stephens County HS, Toccoa, Ga.
22. New York Mets: Jason Castro, C, Stanford
23. San Diego Padres: Daniel Schlereth, LHP, University of Arizona
24. Philadelphia Phillies: Anthony Hewitt, SS, Salisbury School, Conn
25. Colorado Rockies: Jake Odorizzi, RHP, Highland HS, Ill.
26. Arizona Diamondbacks: Josh Fields, RHP, University of Georgia
27. Minnesota Twins: Brett DeVall, LHP, Niceville HS, Fla.
28. New York Yankees: Brett Hunter, RHP, Pepperdine University
29. Cleveland Indians: Jemile Weeks, 2B, University of Miami
30. Boston Red Sox: Lance Lynn, RHP, University of Mississippi

Those are the predictions, but we’ll find out for sure in two days.

The Florida Marlins have signed OF Jacque Jones. Since he was let go by the Tigers, it has been all but expected that Jones would end up with the Marlins, but now it is a done deal. He had even said that Florida was where he would most like to play.

This is a solid signing for the Marlins, who now have more options in the OF. Jones is versatile enough to play all three OF positions, but will likely be platooning with Cody Ross in CF. Currently in first place in the NL East, the Marlins have added another weapon that could solidify the leadoff spot, where they have been shaky so far this season.

- The Chicago Cubs have signed Korean high schooler Lee Hak-ju. He is a shortstop that scouts estimate would have been a first rounder if he had been drafted. One scout familiar with him said that he has better tools at this age than Jeter did.

- According to MLB.com, the Tigers were unable to find any takers for Jacque Jones, so they have placed him on waivers. It is expected he’ll clear and then the Tigers will release him, at which time they will pay him the $5 million he is owed. Jones has said that he would prefer to play for the Marlins, which is his likely destination. They are always good for picking up a veteran on the cheap to compliment there young talent.

- Inside Rays Baseball reports that Tampa Bay has DFA’d righty reliever Scott Dohmann in order to make room for Al Reyes, who was activated from the DL today.

Just like the NL picks, consider these standouts through about 5/10/08, not just April.

MLB.com reports that Jacque Jones, who was recently cut by the Tigers, is drawing interest from at least two teams; the Marlins and Padres. Neither team is surprising at this point.

The Marlins are always in on veterans that could come on the cheap. Jones would add some much needed OF help as he can play all three positions. With Josh Willingham on the DL, Florida finds a lack of able players to pick up the slack.

The Padres have a very weak OF situation as of right now and have been openly looking to add some help out there since the end of last season.

MLB.com reports that the Detroit Tigers have designated OF Jacque Jones for assignment. Jones was batting .165 with one home run and five RBIs in 24 games so far this season. It was evident that Leyland was going to make some changes and Jones was the easiest change to make…his numbers were atrocious and Detroit wasn’t paying him much.

“Sometimes you say, ‘Should we just sit back and let it keep happening, or should we do something to see if we can spur it?’” president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said. “And this is trying to do something to spur it. Hopefully, it will.”

The Tigers called up another left-handed batter, Matt Joyce, to take Jones’ place. He’s been tearing up Triple-A with Toledo and probably has more to contribute than Jones in the first half (Jones is a notorious slow starter). Gary Sheffield will also see more playing time in left to fill that spot.

In two seperate moves today, the Colorado Rockies acquired both Jorge De La Rosa and Jason Grilli.

The Denver Post reports that De La Rosa is the player to be named later in the deal that sent Ramon Ramirez to Kansas City dating back to spring training. The left-hander will presumably fill the starter void that the Rockies having been dealing with since Franklin Morales was demoted to Triple-A. De La Rosa will most likely make his first start for the Rockies on Saturday.

In a completely separate move, the Rockies traded Zachary Simons to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for reliever Jason Grilli. Detroits motivation was to clear room for Francisco Cruceta, who will take Grilli’s spot in the pen. Simons will head to Detroit’s class A Lakeland, he has not been very impressive so far but he is only 22.

- Detroit Tigers right-handed relief pitcher Yorman Bazardo has cleared waivers. He will be going down to play with the Toledo Mud Hens.

- Bryan Corey is opting for free agency. He was DFA’d by the Red Sox so they could make room for Mike Timlin.

- The Canadian Press reports that the Jays have returned their Rule 5 draft pick Randy Wells to the Chicago Cubs. Toronto wanted to keep the right-handed pitcher, but they were unable to work out a deal with the Cubs.