Baseball Rumor News

In a Cubs Press Release today the team announced that they have acquired two pitchers from the A’s, Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin. While many people will speculate that this is a direct response to the Brewers acquisition of CC Sabathia, but this move was something the Cubs have needed all season. It is true that the Brewers move may have forced Chicago GM Jim Hendry’s hand a bit, but another top of the line starter was something that the team had coveted for some time. With the depth that the two new pitchers bring to the rotation and bullpen, the Cubs pitching just received a huge shot in the arm.

It appears to me that the Cubs really come out on top with this deal, even though it is hard to second guess A’s GM Billy Beane and his eye for talent. I thought that the Cubs would have had to give up more for these two pitchers. The A’s will receive four players in return: SP Sean Gallagher, OF Matt Murton, 2B Eric Patterson, and C Josh Donaldson. Gallagher and Murton have shown their potential, so they are both very low risk and will probably benefit the A’s this year. Particularly Murton should benefit from increased at-bats. Patterson has speed, but hasn’t shown he can hit Major League pitching consistently and Donaldson was the Cubs 2nd round pick in 2007. Donaldson was also very expendable do to the success of rookie Geovany Soto. The one way the Cubs might get hurt by this trade is if Harden is unable to remain healthy, but they are still deep at the position, having not included lefty starter Sean Marshall in the deal. Only time will tell, but the Cubs have reaffirmed that they are shooting for the top in 2008.

At this ate, expect the Cardinals to make some decisions very soon about where they want to take this season.

ESPN is reporting that the Brewers have acquired Indians ace C.C. Sabathia. Last years AL Cy Young award winner was the biggest name to be thrown out as a possible trade candidate this season. With the Indians unable to resign their star, it was inevitable that he would be traded. Outfielder Matt LaPorta along with a couple other Brewers prospects will be on their way to Cleveland in return for the huge addition to their starting rotation.

One thing is for sure, the NL Central race just heated up big time. The Brewers are only a few games behind the Cubs, who will need to make a huge splash on the trade market if they hope to maintain the lead in the division. Expect the Cubs, and possibly the Cardinals, to do something soon because if they don’t, they will see the Brewers pass them by. Milwaukee is a team that is playing great baseball right now and Sabathia will only add to their momentum.

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 Royals have claimed Brayan Peña off waivers from the Atlanta Braves. The 26 year old switch hitting catcher defected from Cuba in 2000.

- Daisuke Matsuzaka is headed to the DL, according to MLB.com. He has been diagnosed with a strained right rotator cuff, but it doesn’t look to be that big of a deal as there is no structural damage.

- The A’s have DFA’d Jeff Fiorentino, Lenny DiNardo and Kevin Melillo today. These were just a few of the moves that the Oakland club made in a crazy day of call ups, send downs, and placing guys on the DL. DiNardo was really underperforming, so the move isn’t surprising. Melillo and Fiorentino were not really making any impact at all.

-Mark Mulder has told St. Louis Today that further surgery will not be an option. If surgery is needed once again to repair his throwing arm, he will opt for retirement. Mulder has only made three starts since 2006 and has been in a perpetual state of rehabilitation for a twice repaired left shoulder. While many critics pointed out that the Cardinals couldn’t work without Mulder or Chris Carpenter, their rotation so far this season has been nothing short of spectacular. If it turns out to be the case that Mulder does not return, I think that the other guys that have stepped up in the St. Louis rotation can tow the rope.

- According to The Star-Tribune, the Minnesota Twins have claimed infielder Sergio Santos off waivers from the Blue Jays. Santos will head to the Twins’ Triple-A team.

- The Philadelphia Daily News reports that the Phillies are not ready to sign staff ace Cole Hamels to an extension. You may recall that Hamels was one of the young stars that was upset with his compensation for his play.

- The Rangers have waived Ben Broussard. It seems nobody was interested in picking up the $3.85 million owed to him.

- The Indians have designated OF Jason Tyner for assignment. They needed to open up space for lefty Jeremy Sowers who will be needed to make a spot start for the tribe.

- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Cardinals reliever Jason Isringhausen is headed to the DL. This isn’t surprising as, the once dominant closer has really fallen apart this season.

Just a little disclaimer, these standout picks are a little bit behind schedule so they are really ‘April+the beginning of may’ standouts.

- MLB.com reports that Cardinals reliever Jason Isringhausen will be removed from the closer role. This change comes after Isringhausen blew his 5th save of the season last night against the Brewers. It sure seems like there are a lot of struggling closers to start off this season.

- Robert Macleod of The Globe and Mail reports some more bad news for the Blue Jays. Vernon Wells, the Blue Jays star CF, has suffered a broken wrist. This is a big hit to Toronto, to both the defense and middle of their lineup. Even with the recent addition of Mench and Wilkerson, Wells will be sorely missed.

- In other Blue Jays news, Tracy Thorpe was designated for assignment today. He has been on the 40-man roster for the last two years but never on the major league club. Thorpe has spent his time closing for the Blue Jays Triple-A affiliate. The move may have something to do with comments the reliever made regarding the organization having very few African-American players.

“What are there?” Tracy Thorpe, the Syracuse Chiefs’ co-closer, recently asked while seated in a workout room at Alliance Bank Stadium. “Three or four starting pitchers up there who are black? If that? You have C.C. Sabathia. You have Dontrelle Willis. I guess there’s Shawn Chacon. Is he still starting? I think there’s one with the Devil Rays. Um . . . it’s tough. But that’s about it. That’s pretty bad. It could be better.”

Maybe someone in the organization didn’t like his comments, or the timing could be coincidental…I guess.

According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Jim Edmonds may be on his way out of San Diego. The veteran CF has done less than was hoped of him and it seems the Padres may be ready to eat the remainder of the $4.75 million that they owe him just to get rid of him. This acquisition didn’t make much sense to me from the Padres side and I’m sure the Cardinals are thrilled that they were able to move Jim out of town. While he was once great, age has taken its tole and crippled Edmonds’ legs/bat. The 38 year old is hitting .180 and not impressing in the field either.

“I think he probably got a mulligan for the first two to three weeks just based on missing all spring,” General Manager Kevin Towers said on Tuesday morning. “But, you know, certainly he’s lost a step or two. I think that’s been pretty obvious in the outfield, going back on balls, covering the gaps. And he just doesn’t seem to have his legs underneath him (or) the bat speed with guys that have plus velocity.”

With the way the Padres are performing so far this season, I think they don’t have a choice but to get rid of Jim Edmonds. Give a young guy a shot, because hey, he couldn’t be any worse right?

According to The Rocky Mountain News, the Rockies have added another name to the list of starting pitchers they might be interested in acquiring. The Cardinals’ Anthony Reyes is now being considered, along with Julian Tavarez and Josh Fogg. Reyes has struggled so far this season and was recently sent to Triple-A. He has shown at times that he has what it takes to pitch at the major league level, but Fogg or Tavarez are probably more of what the Rockies need right now. It is possible that a change of scenery could be good for Reyes as he hasn’t seen eye-to-eye with Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan.

The Rockies need for pitching is immediate because they want someone to fill in while some of their starters get healthy. Who they pick up could come down to which team is ready to deal now.

According to The San Francisco Chronicle, A’s starter Rich Harden is on the block and other teams are paying close attention. This is no surprise as GM Billy Beane is currently in one of his restocking modes. Now that Harden is healthy and pitching well, he is perfect for a trade.

Apparently the Mets, Yankees, Cardinals, Tigers and many others are interested. I would think that the Mets would be the most interested especially after the recent injury to starter Pedro Martinez. Even after the Johan Santana trade, New York still has sufficient prospects to pull off the deal. I don’t see the Cardinals being interested in making another trade with the A’s for starting pitching as they gave up a little too much to Oakland last time with a prospect named Dan Haren. Also, the Cardinals don’t figure to be in a playoff hunt and it wouldn’t make sense to give up prospects while in somewhat of a rebuilding year…even if they aren’t calling it that. The Yankees make some sense, but if they were willing to part with prospects they would have already done it for Santana. The last thing the Yankees need is another pitcher on the DL or under performing. My thought is that if Harden stays healthy, he is definitely on his way out of Oakland before the deadline.