Rumors for August, 2011
Rockies acquire Kevin Kouzmanoff from Athletics
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According to a team announcement by the Rockies, the team has acquired Kevin Kouzmanoff from the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later.
This isn’t the first time that the Rockies expressed interest in Kouzmanoff. Back in November 2010, the Rockies showed interest in Kouzmanoff.
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Diamondbacks trade Kelly Johnson to Blue Jays
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According to a Tweet by John Gambadero of Sports 620 KTAR, the Arizona Diamondbacks have traded second baseman Kelly Johnson to the Toronto Blue Jays for second baseman Aaron Hill and shortstop John McDonald.
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Wandy Rodriguez claimed off waivers by Rockies
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Sources close to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports say that the Colorado Rockies were awarded the claim on Wandy Rodriguez. The talks are ongoing and whether or not Rodriguez will be in a Rockies’ uniform will be decided by Thursday at 1pm EST.
Rosenthal was the first to report earlier on Tuesday that Rodriguez had been claimed off of waivers by an unknown team.
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Phillies and Venezuelan prospect close to deal
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Sources close to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com report that the Phillies and Venezuelan outfielder Carlos Tocci are close to an agreement. Tocci will turn 16 this week and when the deal finalizes it is believed that the prospect will receive a $750,000 signing bonus.
This is what Salisbury had to say:
Tocci, who stands 6-2 and weighs 160 pounds, is considered an extremely athletic player with high upside and excellent speed and hitting potential. He throws and bats right-handed.
The addition of Tocci will help the Phillies’ minor-league system absorb some of the void created by the loss of Domingo Santana, a high-upside, 19-year-old outfielder from the Dominican Republic, who was shipped to Houston last week to complete the Hunter Pence trade. The Phillies gave up three other prospects in that deal, including power-armed righthander Jarred Cosart and top hitting prospect Jonathan Singleton, a first baseman.
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Giants to trade Zito to Cubs for Zambrano?
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Could a change of scenery be good for both Barry Zito of the San Francisco Giants and Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs?
It was mentioned on the Monday, 8/22 show of the Razor and Mr. T on KNBR 680, the San Francisco Giants’ flagship station, that a rumor is floating around that the teams could exchange their starting pitchers. The shows’ hosts, Ralph Barbieri and Tom Tolbert joked that if the Giants acquired Zambrano, they could bat him fifth.
There was no official source of the rumor, so please take it at face value. The rumor was floated around (presumably among the media) in San Diego this past weekend while the Marlins were visiting the Padres.
Both pitchers have struggled with Zambrano recently being placed on the disqualified list. Both players will likely clear waivers (especially with their high salaried contracts) should the teams want to swap them this season. The teams would hope that a change of venue would allow either pitcher to find the spark that they were missing.
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Yankees designate Aaron Laffey for assignment
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The New York Yankees have designated left-handed relief pitcher Aaron Laffey for assignment, according to Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger.
Laffey was claimed off of waivers from the Seattle Mariners on August 19. He was 1-1 with a 4.01 ERA in 42 2/3 innings pitched for Seattle this season.
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Injury updates: Furcal, Quentin, Rollins and Wilson
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Here’s a running list of injury updates around the Major Leagues:
– Short stop Rafael Furcal sprained his thumb yesterday in pregame workouts and was kept out of the game reports Buster olney of ESPN. He’s considered to be day-to-day.
– Carlos Quentin’s MRI showed a sprain of the AC joint according to the team’s official Twitter account. He’s also considered day-to-day.
– Phillies short stop Jimmy Rollins left yesterday’s game with a groin injury according to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News. He’s day-to-day.
– The San Francisco Giants placed their closer Brian Wilson on the Disabled List, retroactive to August 16, with inflammation in his throwing elbow reports John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.
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Angels and Jered Weaver agree to a five-year contract extension
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The Angels and Jered Weaver have agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $85mm Jon Heyman of SI.com reports. Weaver will have a full no-trade clause over the life of the contract which will keep him in pretend LA through 2016 (Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports provided this info).
The deal includes Weaver’s last year of arbitration along with his first four years of free agency.
The news of the extension comes as sort of a surprise as Scott Boras, Weaver’s agent and the Angels went to war this past offseason during arbitration. The Angels came out victorious setting his salary this season at $7.35mm (Weaver had requested $8.8mm), but many felt that the way arbitration was handled, Weaver may look else where. Though I think the draw of staying home was to much to pass up for Weaver.
Weaver who started the All Star game for the AL, is 14-6 with a 2.10 ERA.
The deal will be officially announced by the club of Tuesday at a press conference.
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Pirates sign RHP Aaron Heilman to Minor League deal
Posted by: | CommentsThe Pittsburgh Pirates have signed right-handed pitcher Aaron Heilman to a Minor League deal, according to a tweet by Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. He was immediately assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Heilman was released on August 20 by the Philadelphia Phillies. He had previously signed a Minor League deal with Phildelphia a month earlier.
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Milwaukee Brewers designate Felipe Lopez for assignment
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The Milwaukee Brewers have designated infielder Felipe Lopez for assignment, according to a Tweet by Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
Lopez was traded by the Rays to the Brewers on July 28 for cash. In 48 games this season, Lopez was hitting .206/.247/.277 with two home runs and 11 RBIs.
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