Rumors for March, 2010
Indians claim INF Anderson Hernandez off waivers from Mets
Posted by: | CommentsThe Cleveland Indians have claimed infielder Anderson Hernandez off of waivers from the New York Mets according to Brian Costa of The Star Ledger. To make room for Hernandez on the 40 man roster, the Indians have dropped Brian Bixler. (Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer)
Hernandez, 29, is a career .245, .303, .324 with the Mets and Nationals. You can see Hernandez’s contract details and statistics here.
Bixler, 29, was acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates last January for third baseman Jesus Brito. Bixler, played parts of the last two seasons with the Pirates. He has a career .178 batting average with a .238 on-base percentage and 5 home runs. He was the Indian’s second-round selection in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft.
PRO Rumors giveaway: Get the PRO Rumors iPhone app for free
Posted by: | CommentsHappy St. Patrick’s Day! We hope you’re wearing green. In celebration of the patron saint of Ireland and all things green we’ll be giving away 5 copies of the PRO Rumors iPhone app to 5 random readers on Wednesday, 5 more on Thursday and finally 5 more on Friday. So you have plenty of chances to win!
Wait! What’s the PRO Rumors iPhone app?
- PRO Rumors version 2.1 is the only one of its kind that allows you to get the latest news and rumors of your favorite MLB team on your iPhone or iPod touch.
- PUSH notification! This is cutting edge. Be the first person at school, work or in the neighborhood to know who got traded, who got signed or who got cut. PRO Rumors sends out a notification when the news happens.
- Browse by team – get the news you want right away.
- Instantly share the news with your friends with one-touch via Twitter or email.
- All articles are linked to player stats. Now you can tell immediately if the trade was worth it.
- Because we develop the app, we’ll be adding many more features this baseball season.
- If you can’t wait to win the app, you can download it directly at http://www.itunes.com/apps/prorumors
But you’re giving it away? So what’s the catch?
Okay… All we ask is for three easy things:
- Change your Twitter follow to http://www.twitter.com/prorumors
- Join the PRO Rumors Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/PRO-Rumors/323620521107
- Leave a comment on our Facebook Fan Page. Some suggestions are: “PRO Rumors – you guys are cool!” or “Hey PRO Rumors, meet us at <insert-bar-name-here> and we’ll buy you a green beer.”
It’s that simple. We’ll pick 5 random winners each day. (Hint: if we see that you’re making an effort to spread the good name of PRO Rumors, you’ll probably get copy of the app.) We’ll send the download code to you via Facebook.
3/17 11:46: Accoirding to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, Nat’s GM Mike Rizzo said the Nationals will consider looking at players outside the organization, but the team has not discussed Dye.
3/17: 11:13: According to Bill Ladson of MLB.com, he reports that in the aftermath of the Elijah Dukes release, the Washington Nationals could be interested in Jermaine Dye.
Ladson says that the Nationals have three paths that they could go down:
- Platoon between Justin Maxwell and Willie Harris.
- Platoon between Mike Morse and Harris.
- Go out on the free-agent market and sign Dye. Ladson confirms that the team has interest in Dye.
Dye has drawn interest from many teams this off season including the Giants and Yankees. He was recently quoted saying, “I still feel like I’m a productive player and feel like I can contribute, but teams want me as a backup player,” Dye said in the Chicago Sun Times. ”I feel undervalued. I don’t think I have to go out there and prove anything. My numbers the last five or six years show I can help someone.”
Dye, 35, hit 27 home runs and drove in 81 RBIs in 2009. You can see Dye’s contract history and statistics here.
In other Nat’s news, Ladson says that the New York Mets do not have interest in National’s shortstop Cristian Guzman. Ladson tweet, “New York is not even monitoring him.”
Here are a few links to follow during your Wednesday lunch:
- Phillies closer Brad Lidge will pitch in a Spring Training game for the first time this Thursday. Lidge will start a Minor League game and throw one inning. Lidge is recovering from off-season knee and elbow surgery, and he could be ready by Opening Day. (ESPN Insider)
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says that Pirates third baseman Andy LaRoche is very positive despite the possibility of losing his starting third base job sometime this year to prospect Pedro Alvarez. LaRoche played second base in the Florida Instructional League, and he could move to that position later this year. Akinori Iwamura is the incumbent second baseman and Kovacevic suggests that he could be a trade target if a long-term deal is not worked out by the trading deadline.
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post says the Cubs will be happy to part ways with Alfonso Soriano and his $95 million owed over the next five year. The team hopes that Soriano could stay healthy and become the same player that once hit 46 home runs and stole 41 bases for the Washington Nationals.
- Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post says the Rockies will split the catching duties between Miguel Olivo and Chris Iannetta.
- As 18-year old, 6-foot-7 prospect Michael Ynoa hopes to be in the Big Leagues by 2012. He’s expected to stay in Arizona for extended Spring Training and will be limited to 75 to 100 innings this year. (John Shea, San Francisco Chronicle)
- Jose Canseco could get an MMA fight in the Strikeforce MMA organization. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said he’s not entirely opposed to Canseco fighting for his company. “I can tell you this: If Cesar Gracie says to me, ‘Jose’s training with me, I’m going to get him ready, and I’m going to do it in four or five months,’ and Cesar’s telling me this? That will have a lot of weight on what we decide,” Coker recently told MMAjunkie.com.
Derrick Turnbow released by Florida Marlins
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post, the Florida Marlins released right-handed pitcher Derrick Turnbow.
Yesterday, Capozzi reported that the comeback was over. Turnbow may have shoulder surgery according to Capozzi’s tweet.
Turnbow, 32, last played in 8 games for Milwaukee in 2008. His best year was in 2005 when he went 7-1, saved 39 games and had a 1.74 ERA. You can see Turnbow’s complete statistics here.
Joe Mauer Trade Rumors: Yankees have an eye on catcher
Posted by: | CommentsLast week Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune suggested that the Minnesota Twins could trade Joe Mauer in the event that they cannot get the extension signed before he becomes a free agent.
Today, Bill Madden of the New York Daily News, says the New York Yankees have both the financial resources as well as a surplus of talent to acquire the MVP catcher should the Twins and Mauer not come to an agreement.
Madden says that the Yankees are rich in prospects especially in backstops in Jesus Montero and Austin Romine who some scouts say are “can’t-miss Major Leaguers.” Some scouts say that 20-year-old Montero’s bat could get him into the Majors by next season, but the 21-year-old romine is more of a complete package – bat, arm, machanics and makeup (no not eye shadow or blush).
“But in my opinion,” said one scout, “the next catcher for the Yankees will be Joe Mauer. Imagine if the Twins don’t sign him and he goes out there on the market next winter with both the Yankees and Red Sox in need of a catcher? That will be the wildest bidding war in baseball history, and don’t think his agent doesn’t know it. And if they (Twins) decide to trade him, the Yankees have the better pieces to get him.
Madden concludes his article by saying that he doubts such a trade scenario would occur since he believes the Twins could not let their hometown catcher leave.
PRO Rumors: Michael Garciaparra, Corey Wade and Mike Lowell
Posted by: | CommentsHere are a few PRO Rumors links:
- The Astros signed free agent SS Michael Garciaparra to a minor league contract Tuesday reports CBS.com. As a senior in high school, scouts were raving about him and saying he could potentially be the best Garciaparra. That has not turned as he has become nothing more than organizational depth at this point in his career.
- Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Corey Wade will miss will have surgery on his right shoulder and is expected to miss at least three months. The exploratory surgery will be done Wednesday in Los Angeles. Wade felt discomfort last week, and the 26-year-old righty was on the disabled list twice last year with shoulder trouble.Wade pitched in 27 games for the Dodgers last year and had a 5.53 ERA. As a rookie in 2008, he led Dodgers relievers with 71 1-3 innings and became the team’s main setup man for a stretch. (Yahoo.com)
- Gordon Edes of ESPN.com reported (via twitter) that Mike Lowell was not moving very well in his most recent spring action. He played 3 innings and had a strikeout and a ground out today. Obviously Lowell does not light up the base paths with his speed even when he is healthy, but this news could hurt his trade value as he has been relegated to a $12 MM backup with no team wanting to take on much more than a few million of his contract.
