Rumors for June, 2010
Ken Rosenthal on Ty Wigginton, Tampa Bay Rays, Ben Sheets
Posted by: | CommentsHere are a few tidbits from Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports:
- A rival executive to the Baltimore Orioles says Ty Wigginton is best defensively at first base, then third then second. Wigginton’s bat could make him attractive to contenders. The Rockies, Angels, Twins and Rangers are either interested or could be possible fits.
- The Tampa Bay Rays are looking for the player that can make the biggest impact, regardless of the position.
- Oakland A’s Ben Sheets has worked at least six innings in nine straight starts, producing a 3.79 ERA over that span. His team could become sellers unless they can step it up soon.
Cliff Lee Rumors: Do the Dodgers have enough prospects to trade for Lee?
Posted by: | CommentsLast Friday, we talked about the Los Angeles Dodgers and GM Ned Colletti looking to acquire a starting pitcher to bolster their rotation.
The Mariners have made it publicly known that they want Major League or Major League-ready hitters in exchange for Cliff Lee.
Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports says the Dodgers’ top prospects — outfielder Andrew Lambo, shortstop Dee Gordon, right-hander Chris Withrow — are still developing at Double A.
If the Dodgers seriously want to consider adding Lee, they may need to bring a third team to make deal work.
Carl Crawford Rumors: Could Crawford land with the Texas Rangers next season?
Posted by: | CommentsA rival executive to the Tampa Bay Rays says that Carl Crawford could end up with the Texas Rangers in 2011.
“Can you imagine the pressure they could put on teams with (Elvis) Andrus and Crawford at the top of the lineup?” the executive said.
The Rangers have a few decisions to make if they want to pursue Crawford. The team already has Josh Hamilton in left field, Julio Borbon in center field, Nelson Cruz in right field. Vladimir Guerrero, their DH, is a free agent at the end of the season so the team could find an opening with the vacant DH spot or they could trade one of their incumbent outfielder.
Earlier in April, we talked about Crawford being in the $12-14 million per season range, a figure that the Rays cannot afford. The Rangers would need to complete their ownership transfer if they are going to invest in a player that commands a large salary such as Crawford.
Information from Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports was used in this article.
New York Yankees Rumors: Looking for utility man?
Posted by: | CommentsKen Rosenthal of FOXSports says the New York Yankees found it obvious this weekend that they need a reliable infield backup behind Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter on that side of the infield. They currently have Ramiro Pena and Kevin Russo who can provide good defense, but could not provide sufficient offense if A-Rod or Jeter were out for an extended period of time.
Rosenthal suggests the Royals Willie Bloomquist, the Blue Jays John McDonald and former White Sox Jayson Nix as possible candidates to be the utility man. A stretch would be Ryan Theriot of the Chicago Cubs or Geoff Blum of the Houston Astros.
6/21 11:50: Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com says the Giants have a few things on their shopping list, but the most imports are reliable middle relievers especially a primary setup guy.
Urban adds that a big hitter and a fifth starter would be a nice luxury to the team, but not absolutely necessary. The big hitter does not have to be a big or sexy name, but that can add a little bit to the offense.
He suggests Pedro Martinez or Randy Wolf as a possible fifth starter.
6/21: 00:16: Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News says the San Francisco Giant’s general manager, Brian Sabean, is evaluating the team’s needs on a week-to-week basis.
“We still have to get all our team reports in by the All-Star break,” Sabean said. “Once that happens, you can really fine-tune who you’re going to scout.” The Giants are trying to identify which teams are likely to be sellers at the deadline.
“We’re developing a list of guys in our minor leagues that we’ll trade and guys we won’t. We’ll have two lists. That is still in its formative stages.”
One player the Giants will not trade is pitching prospect Madison Bumgarner.
“How can we?” Sabean said. “We might need him to pitch next week.”
Sabean also said the time is not interested in trading a top-shelf prospect for players that will be free agents after this season, so the Giants may stay away from Chicago Cubs’ Derrek Lee that may cause a bidding war.
Baggarly also notes the Giants may be looking at middle relief help, but that can depend on how well or how bad the team’s bullpen performs between now and the July 31st trading deadline.
Cliff Lee Rumors: Would the Mariners trade within the division to the Rangers?
Posted by: | CommentsThe Texas Rangers need another starting pitcher before the July 31st trade deadline and it could come in the form of Cliff Lee from division rival, the Seattle Mariners.
“I’m not opposed to trading in the division, if it’s the best thing for our club,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “It all depends on the specifics of the situation. The reality is, while most teams say they don’t have an issue trading within the division, few actually do.”
Any deal for Lee, who is a free agent after the 2010 season, would require top Rangers’ prospects.
“We can use another starter, a front-line guy,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “If we don’t, we can’t concern ourselves with something we don’t have. But certainly we want a front-line starter.”
Information from Anthony Andro and Jeff Wilson of The Dallas Morning News was used in this article.
Phillies fan falls on face during game broadcast
Posted by: | CommentsFinally something funny and legal is coming out of Citizen’s Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Check out the upper-left hand corner of this video (courtesy of Dennis Kessler, a reader of The Fightins):
A guy falling on his face is no match for a guy vomitting on kid, a kid getting tasered on the field or a kid drinking beer, but it’s a nice change – so we’ll take it.
VIDEO: Update – Florida Marlins are giving away vuvuzelas
Posted by: | Comments6/21 00:19: Here’s video of the vuvuzelas at the Marlins game on Saturday, courtesy of tampabay.com.
The stadium is pretty empty, yet the noise generated from the horns is pretty loud and annoying.
6/18 11:32: On Saturday’s game versus the Tampa Bay Rays, the Florida Marlins will be giving away 15,000 Marlins Air Horns aka vuvuzelas courtesy of their sponsor American Fasteners. Check it out here:
Yesterday, we heard the Yankees have banned the irritating noisemaker from the Bronx. One of the “bleacher creatures” had there plastic horn confiscated by security.
It’ll be interesting to see how the the players respond to the air horn, made famous at the World Cup. The noisemakers can reach up to 127 decibels.
Cleveland Indians trade catcher Adam Davis to Pittsburgh Pirates
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to the Akron Beacon Journal, the Cleveland Indians traded catcher Adam Davis to the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash.
Davis hit a combined .216 with three home runs and eight RBIs in 97 at-bats for Single-A Kinston and Double-A Aeros. Davis was the Indians third pick in the 2006 draft.
Update – Los Angeles Dodger has pornstar girlfriend?
Posted by: | Comments6/20 21:09: Lexi Belle aka Jessica McCumber has posted a couple more tweets:
2 anyone who is snooping around trying to figure out if i am dating a Dodger player.i am NOT. he is not on the team. stop with the insanity
f**k the blogger who called me out and posted my real name and also to the assholes at ESPN. how dare you. u have ur info wrong dicks
This is starting to get confusing now since her boyfriend is clearly associated with the Dodgers and has field access. Here’s her tweet from yesterday:
omg. my bf wrote our names on the out field wall at Fenway….cutest EVER! too bad he didn’t win…but he won me 
The only people that have access to the field, have ties to the San Francisco Bay Area and aren’t necessarily required to be at Spring Training 24 x 7 are Dodgers GM Ned Colletti (was with the San Francisco Giants from the mid-90’s to 2005) and third base coach Larry Bowa (born and raised in Sacramento, CA). These are obviously a stretch, but who knows.
6/20 18:00: Chad Moriyama at Memories of Kevin Malone has his money on Reed Johnson.
Johnson was born and went to High School in Riverside, CA, so it doesn’t fit with the Christmas trip to Johnson’s parent’s house in the San Francisco Bay Area.
6/20 01:52: sportsBYbrooks says L.A.-based adult firm star Lexi Belle (aka Jessica McCumber) claims to have a boyfriend on the Los Angeles Dodgers, but neither Lexi or Brooks has mentioned the Dodger by name. Check out her tweets:
Brooks cross-checked her tweets against the Dodger transaction wire and game logs and he says she’s telling the truth.
Unless we’re missing something obvious here, PRO Rumors can’t figure it out. I did see this from last Christmas:
Assuming that Belle is dating the Dodger since last December, the Dodger is from the San Francisco Bay Area. I looked over the Dodgers active roster and I can’t find a Dodger whose hometown is in the Bay Area.
Belle also picked up her boyfriend from the airport on February 21, a time when most players are at Spring Training.
PRO Rumors readers – please help.
