Rumors for July, 2010
Update – Pittsburgh Pirates release Brendan Donnelly
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7/29 12:26: Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com says the Pirates have released Donnelly.
7/25 15:59: According to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Pirates have designated reliever Brendan Donnelly for assignment.
“I didn’t see this coming,” said Donnelly, who was 3-1 with a 5.58 ERA in 38 outings. By cutting Donnelly now, the Pirates will avoid the possibility of having to pay him up to $1.65 million in performance bonuses.
Donnelly is making $1.35 million in base salary. If he clears waivers he will be sent to Triple-A.
Roy Oswalt trade from Astros to Phillies for Happ, Gose and Villar is official
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7/29 12:40: Jerry Crasnick of ESPN says the Cardinals and Padres made late runs on Oswalt.
The official deal is awaiting approval from the Commissioner.
7/29 11:59: According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports, the deal is done. The third prospect involved is Jonthan Villar not Jonathan Villan
7/29 11:50: A source close to Matthew Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquire says Oswalt has accepted deal.
7/29 11:44: Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports drops in a few tweets:
Oswalt option for ‘12 actually mutual option. With trade, buyout will increase from 1M to 2M if #Phillies pick up option and Oswalt declines, becoming FA instead. Buyout will remain 2M if he simply opts out on his own.
Rosenthal adds, “The players in the Oswalt deal, which is still not official: J.A. Happ, OF Anthony Gose, SS Jonathan Villan.”
7/29 10:18: A source close to Jayson Stark of ESPN says Oswalt plans to accept the proposed trade to the Phillies.
Oswalt hasn’t officially waived his no-trade clause yet, but considering his options the right-hander is prepared to go to Philadelphia.
Jerry Crasknick of ESPN says that Antony Gose’s name is floating around as candidate to to Houston in the Oswalt deal.
Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports says Oswalt will be compensated for waiving his no-trade clause in “some other way”.
Sources close to Jayson Stark of ESPN says that the Astros will send $11 million to Phillies as part of the deal.
7/29 07:46: Jayson Stark of ESPN says that there’s no deadline for Oswalt to approve the deal, but He and Happ are scheduled to start on Friday, so both teams prefer and answer today.
7/29 06:56: Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated says, “hearing #astros are paying a lot of $ to philly in oswalt deal. he has $24 mil left thru ‘11.”
7/29 06:52: Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports says “Confirmed: Deal between #Astros, #Phillies for Oswalt is in place. Need Oswalt’s approval.”
7/29 06:13: Jon Heyman of SI is hearing that the Astros and Phillies are discussing, J.A. Happ, righty Vance Worley, and two younger pitchers. Worley is 22 years old and has spent almost the entire year at double-A. He has put together a 3.20 ERA and ranks as the Phils 18th best prosepct.
7/28 23:53: Brian McTaggart of MLB.com says the Astros have scouted Phillies left-handed pitcher J.A. Happ’s most recent start, and he llikely would be included in the deal. Astros GM Ed Wade also personally scouted Philadelphia’s Class A Lakewood affiliate. First baseman Jonathan Singleton could be in the deal.
7/28 22:15: A source close to a Mark Berman, sports director of FOX 26 Sports, the Houston Astros have a deal in place to trade Roy Oswalt to the Philadelphia Philies if Oswalt agrees to waive his no-trade clause.
Sources told FOX 26 the Astros have approached Oswalt. He is aware of the deal that is on the table and the club is waiting for his response.
The sources told FOX 26 the Astros and Phillies have agreed on the amount of money Houston will take back in the deal and two teams have agreed on the players Philadelphia will be sending. Read More→
Buck Showalter hired as manager of Baltimore Orioles
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In an expected move, the Baltimore Orioles have hired Buck Showalter as their new manager, according to a source close to Tim Kurkjian of ESPN. Showalter’s first game as manager will be Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels.
Showalter, 54, is taking over the Major League’s worst team. The Orioles, currently 31-70, fired manager Dave Trembley on June 4 and replaced him with Juan Samuel on an interim basis.
It’s expected that the official announcement won’t likely be made until after the completion of the Trade Deadline (Saturday, July 31 at 1pm PST). A managerial announcement will not come until at least August, president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail confirmed earlier this week, as he concentrates on the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
Showalter is 882-833 as a Major League manager. He has managed the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers in his career. He won the Manager of the Year award in 1994 with the Yankees and 2004 with the Rangers.
San Diego Padres talking to Baltimore Orioles regarding Miguel Tejada
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ott Miller of CBSSports.com says the San Diego Padres have focused their attention to acquiring a middle infielder before the July 31 Trade Deadline, and their chief target is Baltimore Orioles’ infielder Miguel Tejada. There will be competition from other parties. The Orioles have been fielding calls from the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals regarding Tejada and Miller says the Padres may not have enough goods to complete the deal.
The Padres are in need of infield depth since second baseman David Eckstein went onto the disabled list with a right calf strain on July 21. Eckstein may not be ready when he’s eligible to come off the DL in the first week of August.
“Jed’s trying like heck,” one source said of general manager Jed Hoyer’s efforts during his first July trade deadline.
Tejada, 36, is hitting .269 with 7 home runs and 39 RBIs in 97 games for the Orioles this season. He’s primarily been playing third base, but the Padres think he can return to his shortstop roots. Tejada is owed about $2 million for the rest of the 2010 season, and he will likely cost the Padres a mid-level prospect.
Texas Rangers getting closer on deal for Florida Marlins Jorge Cantu
Posted by: | CommentsClark Spencer of The Miami Herald Tweets that the Texas Rangers getting closer on deal for Florida Marlins Jorge Cantu.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today is the Marlins have informed the Rangers they are willing to pay most, if not all, of the remainder of Cantu’s contract.
The Rangers and Marlins apparently have been negotiating throughout the week. If Cantu is traded, the Marlins will use Donnie Murphy and Wes Helms at third base.
In addition to the Rangers, Cantu has drawn interest from the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies.
Scott Downs Trade Rumors: Blue Jays and Mets negotiating for Downs
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Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated says the Toronto Blue Jays have asked the New York Mets for top outfielder prospect Kirk Nieuwenhuis plus another player for Scott Downs. The Mets declined the offer.
Yesterday, there were a few rumors circulating regarding the status of the Blue Jays’ left-handed reliever. Apparently the Jays have drawn interest from the Red Sox, Yankees and the Giants with the team already asking for right-handed pitcher Joba Chamberlain from the New York Yankees.
Downs has about $1.33 million left in salary for this year. He’s very effective against left-handed hitters with batters hitting .185 against him. Overall both left and right handed hitters are batting .240, so he’s pretty good overall.
7/29 10:13: Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com says that Bloomquist is the most likely Royal to be traded before the deadeline. The Angels, Yankees, Phillies and Padres have kicked the tires on him.
7/28 18:55: Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports says the Kansas City Royals are not done selling yet. He says there may be some interest in utility man Willie Bloomquist and outfielder Rick Ankiel.
There hasn’t been much noise surrounding either player lately.
In June, Buster Olney of ESPN suggested that Ankiel could be a good candidate for the Boston Red Sox, but that was pure speculation. It was believed that Ankiel was signed this off-season with the intent to flip him at this time. He’s a little pricey with $1.1 million due to him for a two month rental. He also has a $6 million option for next season with a $500,000 buyout.
Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star said in June that Bloomquist drew interest last year at the trade deadline, and he’s the type of “do-everything” player that contenders love down the stretch. Bloomquist would only cost a team a $600,000 over the last two months before becoming a free agent, so he’s relatively a bargain.
Jeff Francoeur Rumors: Mets think they can trade Francoeur in August
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Jerry Crasnick of ESPN says the New York Mets think they can trade outfielder Jeff Francoeur in August. He’s unlikely going to get claimed on waivers.
Francoeur was frequently named in possible trades to the Kansas Ctiy Royals, but any deal was nixed when Mets’ outfielder Jason Bay was placed on the disabled list. Francoeur was the odd man out in the outfielder depth chart with the return of Carlos Beltran from the disabled list. Angel Pagan has taken over most of the right field duties with Francoeur coming off the bench.
At some point in August, Bay is scheduled to come back, and Francoeur will be back on the bench – making him expendable.
Tampa Bay Rays Rumors: Rays may do nothing by Trade Deadline?
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The Tampa Bay Rays top two targets are off the board: Kansas City Royals’ David DeJesus suffered a season-ending injury last week when he tore a thumb ligament and Philadelphia Phillies’ outfielder Jayson Werth become unavailable when teammate Shane Victorino went on the disabled list.
The Rays wanted DeJesus and Werth for their defensive skills.
The bigger names available such as Washington Nationals first baseman Adam Dunn and Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder are much less attractive to the Rays, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports. Neither is a strong defender and Dunn has been reluctant to be a designated hitter.
Update – Ty Wigginton Trade Rumors: Orioles probably won’t deal with Yankees
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7/29 07:24: Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated says that the Orioles probably won’t deal with the Yankees, so there’s no chance of trade for Wigginton or Tejada to the Bronx.
7/26 10:41: Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated says Orioles owner Peter Angelos doesn’t want to trade with the Yankees, limiting Wigginton’s options.
7/25 14:09: Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail believes that Ty Wigginton will not lose value based on his pending three-game suspension, according to Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com.
“I don’t think that’s going to be impactful for that,” said MacPhail, who called the trade market a slow development that is “prodding along”.
“Everybody is being a little coy right now, myself included,” MacPhail said when asked if he expected the team to make at least one trade before the deadline.
“My own impression is that we have some of these big-target starting pitchers out there who probably have a lot of teams focused on whether they are in or out of that picture or not before they move on to other targets. I think that might be slowing down our market a little.” Read More→
