Rumors for June, 2011
Will Padres Trade Ludwick?
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Ryan Ludwick is having an impressive year after a very poor 2010 campaign. Because of this, Tim Sullivan of Sign On San Diego believes his trade value has sky rocketed. The San Diego Padres GM Jed Hoyer said that “If we are out of the race, we have to consider trading him. If we continue to play well, we will certainly hold on to him.” The Padres have won seven of their last ten due in most part to strong hitting by Ludwick. Their recent surge has caused them to jump ahead of their Division rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are still however 9 games out of first place so I would imagine they will soon be trading Ludwick.
Ludwick, 32, is in his ninth season and is hitting .258/.304/.405 with 10 home runs on the season. He has played for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, and the San Diego Padres.
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Saito Could be a Big Addition for the Brewers
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The Milwaukee Brewers are finally healthy and sitting in a tie atop the NL Central and according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports, they could be getting their original setup man, Takashi Saito off the DL possibly by this weekend. Saito went on the DL one week into the season with a left hamstring strain and his return will be a big addition to the Brewer bullpen. With Saito on the DL they have been relying a great deal on Kameron Loe, but when Saito returns Loe will probably work 7th innings with Saito as the setup man.
Saito is in his sixth year in the Major Leagues and has played for the Dodgers, Red Sox, Braves, and his current team the Brewers. He is a career 17-14 with a 2.24 ERA in 294 appearances and has gotten 84 career saves.
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Some Dodgers employees receive bounced checks
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Despite what we heard about the financials for the Los Angeles Dodgers being okay to make the June 30th payroll, some of the part-time game-day staffers received bounced checks from the team, according to a team spokesman (via ESPN).
The team entered into a $150 million bankruptcy arrangement earlier this week with the intent to make payroll. However, some security guards and ushers found that their paychecks had bounced. Those with direct deposits were not affected. Employees that were affected were reissued checks on Wednesday and were reimbursed for any bank fees.
Owner Frank McCourt has been reported to be willing to sell part of his team. Many interested parties have inquired to buy into the franchise, but there has yet to be any serious progress on such a deal. Earlier this month, the Dallas Maverick’s owner, Mark Cuban, said that he’s open-minded about the Dodgers, but reiterated that the investment may not be the right fit. Cuban cited that the organization is “such a mess” that is wouldn’t be worth an investment.
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Trade front: Mets, Astros, Braves, Giants and Marlins
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The trade deadline is just around the corner and Buster Olney of ESPN gives us a preview of how teams are preparing for it:
– New York Mets: They will listen to offers for Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez, but as Olney points out, they will have to eat a substantial amount of money in order to move both players. Jose Reyes will probably stay in New York as he’s having an amazing season and his value keeps getting higher. Olney says that the Mets would require at least a Grade-A prospect and a solid Grade-B prospect in order to move Reyes. Besides, Reyes has said he would like to try the free agent market.
– Houston Astros: They’ll listen on Hunter Pence and Wandy Rodriguez, but they will ask for a lot in return in order to move either of them. Besides that, the Astros have a new owner and he will probably will not want to sell their best players as his first act as owner.
– Atlanta Braves: They are looking for offensive help and the good thing for them is that they have a lot of young pitchers to spare. Some rival executives are wondering if they could even deal Jair Jurrjens. Given the season he’s having, the Braves could trade him and get the offense their looking for.
– San Francisco Giants: They’re still looking for a catcher to replace injured Buster Posey, but according to Olney, the Giants’ best shot for an actual upgrade might be in a deal with Cincinnati for Ramon Hernandez.
– Florida Marlins: They will move to a new stadium next season, so they don’t want to create a perception that they having a fire sell again. Olney points out that Anibal Sanchez could be of interest to other teams, but they need him for their 2012 pitching staff. Leo Nunez is another story, he’s getting pricey for them so the best time to move him could be now.
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Marlins’ new stadium will open it’s doors on April 4
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The Florida Marlins are building a brand new, $515 million stadium, and according to the Associated Press (via NBCSports.com) they will play there for the first time on April 4 against the Cardinals.
Major League Baseball does not plan to announce the full schedule until September, but a person familiar with next seasons schedule leaked the information.
“That’s cool. It’s the first I heard of it,” John Buck said. “It’s fun to have an opening day in your home stadium, period. Then to have the excitement of a new stadium is only going to heighten it. I’m looking forward to it.”
It is possible that a new stadium, better location and belongs exclusively to the Marlins (no football) could help increase attendance. If they achieve that, the team finances could get a boost and they might be able to increase their payroll.
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Scott Kazmir worked out for the Rangers
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Recently released Scott Kazmir held a workout for the Texas Rangers earlier this week according to Anthony Andro of the Star-Telegram. The left hander seemed healthy at the workout, but the Rangers haven’t decided if they will sign him.
“We’ve talked with him, doing our due diligence,” Rangers GM, Jon Daniels, said. ”Not sure if anything is going to come of it, but we try to look at every opportunity to see if someone can help us.”
Kazmir was released by the Angels earlier this month. In 15 1/3 innings of Minor League ball, Kazmir posted a 17.02 ERA with 29 earned runs, 22 hits and 20 walks. He was 9-15 with a 5.94 ERA and 93 strike outs over 150 innings and 28 starts in 2010.
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Rockies unlikely to make another trade
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The Colorado Rockies traded right handed pitcher Bruce Billings in exchange of second baseman Mark Ellis earlier today, and according to Rockies GM, Dan O’Dowd, the team has “little” financial room to make another move (via Troy Renck of the Denver Post).
Last week, we learnedthat the Rockies were inquiring about starting pitchers. They wanted to reinforce their starting rotation after losing Jorge de la Rosa to a season-ending injury. The Rockies also targeted Jamey Carroll as a possibility to boost the offense around second base. This interest seems to be dead with the acquisition of Ellis.
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Pitchers notes: Baker, Coke, Hamels, Lidge and Zambrano
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Here are a few notes regarding some Major League pitchers:
– Right handed pitcher Scott Baker yesterday threw 7.1 scoreless innings against the Dodgers. This was the third time in his last four starts that he allowed one or fewer runs. His ERA in June is just 1.46 in six starts for the Twins.
– The Detroit Tigers decided today to send Phil Coke back to the bullpen reports Jason Beck of MLB.com. Charlie Furbush will take Coke’s spot in the rotation. “It was not a tough decision,” manager Jim Leyland said. “It was a disappointing decision.”
– Cole Hamels left today’s game after being hit in the hand by Adrian Gonzalez’s line drive . The team announced that Hamels’ X-rays were negative and they expect he makes his next starts adds Craig Calcaterra of NBCSports.com.
– Finally, Phillies closer Brad Lidge may begin his rehab assignment in the next weeks according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. The right hander says he feels healthy and is ready to give it another try. “Everything right now is good,” Lidge said. “It’s just a matter of strengthening my arm.”
– Carlos Zambrano left today’s game against the Giants in the second inning with problems in his lower back.
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Detroit Tigers may be looking for starting pitching
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In an article by Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports, he reports that the Detroit Tigers are looking for starting pitching rather than going after New York Mets’ shortstop Jose Reyes.
The team’s pitching staff has a 5.19 ERA in June (not including the efforts of Justin Verlander). The team has decided to have rookie left-handed pitcher Charlie Furbush replace Phil Coke in the rotation. If Furbush can’t pull through by July 31, then the team will work hard to acquire a pitcher leading up to the trade deadline.
One candidate that Morosi suggests is the Houston Astros’ Wandy Rodriguez.
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Cleveland Indians release INF Adam Everett
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According to a release by the Cleveland Indians, the team announced that they have released infielder Adam Everett after he cleared waivers. Everett was designated for assignment by the Indians on June 27. At the time, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com speculated that the infielder could be headed for retirement.
Everette signed a Minor League deal with the Tribe in January 2011 and was under contract with the team for $700,000.
In 34 games with the Indians this season, Everett was hitting .217/.277/.233.
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