Rumors for San Francisco Giants
Milwaukee Brewers to upgrade starting pitching for 2011?
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Milwaukee Brewers’ owner Mark Attansio acknowledges that his team needs help in the starting pitching department, and Tom Haudricout of the Journal Sentinel says he’s determined to fix it by Opening Day 2011.
“We know we’ve got a problem, which is starting pitching,” Attanasio said. “We, as an organization, need to face that reality and address it, as opposed to shrink from it or excuse it.
“Our offense is so good, if we were just average in pitching, we’d be a contender. We’re near the bottom of the league in almost every pitching category.
The team tried to address it before the July 31st trading deadline this year, when Corey Hart was almost traded to the San Francisco Giants for Jonathan Sanchez and/or Madison Bumgarner. The deal never happened, but the two teams were believed to be negotiating for some time.
The team does not have any pitching prospects that will hit the big leagues any time soon, so a trade may be the ultimate answer.
“It’s pretty obvious we have some holes in our starting pitching and we don’t have anybody coming up,” Attanasio said. “I think free agency is not the perfect answer. That leaves the potential to trade one of our position players for pitching.
The biggest trading chip the Brewers have is first baseman Prince Fielder. However, the market for the power hitting first baseman may not be as strong as the Brewers are hoping. There will be a surplus of free agent first baseman come this winter, so the team may be better off waiting until next July to move him. Should the Brewers find someway to squeeze out the money, they could go for the likes of Ted Lilly, Kevin Millwood or Bronson Arroyo. Somebody like Cliff Lee could change the franchise around, but it’s unlikely the team will want to go to a bidding war for the biggest free agent of the winter.
Join PRO Rumors on ESPN 1420am with The Sports Animals
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Join PRO Rumors on ESPN 1420 AM Honolulu, Hawaii tonight at 8:35pm PST (5:35pm Hawaii Time) with The Sports Animals Chris Hart and Gary Dickman. You can listen live at http://www.espn1420am.com
VIDEO: Foul Ball Friday – Fan banned for life after throwing ball back at the pitcher
Posted by: | CommentsAn unidentified man will never be able to watch the Richmond Flying Squirrels ever again after he threw a Brandon Belt foul ball back onto the field and hit Reading Phillies pitcher J.C. Ramirez in the left leg on Tuesday night. It’s really hard to see with this video, but the ball is hit foul at the 0:55 mark and the back comes back onto the field at the 1:01 mark. Here’s the video:
Brandon Belt foul tip ends up back on the field.
The Associated Press said the game was stopped briefly and the fan was removed. The Richmond Flying Squirrels are an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.
Source: RVA News at VIMEO
Houston Astros claim INF Matt Downs from San Francisco Giants
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MLB.com’s Alyson Footer tweets that infielder Matt Downs was claimed by the Houston Astros from the San Francisco Giants. Footer adds that Downs will report to Triple-A Round Rock.
Downs was designated for assignment by the Giants on Tuesday in order to make room for outfielder Cody Ross. Ross was claimed via waivers over the weekend.
Downs, 26, was hitting .244/.318/.372 in 29 games for the Giants this season.
Milwaukee Brewers need to lower expectations in order to trade Prince Fielder
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Milwaukee Brewers’ first baseman Prince Fielder is coming up to his final year of arbitration eligibility in 2011, and he’s expected to earn around $16 million. Before he becomes a free agent, the Brewers may trade him since they cannot afford the $200 million contract that Fielder and agent Scott Boras reportedly want.
Ken Rosethal of FOXSports says that the Brewers may have a hard time this winter trying to move Fielder since there will be many available players at first base:
- Left-handed hitters (like Prince): Adam Dunn, Carlos Pena, Adam LaRoche, Aubrey Huff, Lyle Overbay, Russell Branyan.
- Right-handed hitters: Paul Konerko, Derrek Lee, Jorge Cantu.
- Switch-hitter: Lance Berkman.
Rosenthal says the Brewers should have pushed harder to trade Fielder before this year’s July 31st trade deadline, but there was no obvious market for him. The team may have to wait until next July if they want to find any serious suitors. Any trade with two months left in his contract wouldn’t fetch much of a bounty.
The Brewers are in desparate need for pitching. They tried to acquire pitchers Madison Bumgarner and/or Jonathan Sanchez from the San Francisco Giants in July in exchange for outfielder Corey Hart, but the Giants were unwilling to part with either of those young pitchers.
Milwaukee could second baseman Rickie Weeks. Weeks who recently chose Greg Genske as his new agent is eligible for free agency after the 2011 season. The Brewers have Brett Lawrie in Double-A who could replace Weeks. The Brewers also have outfielder Lorenzo Cain as a trading chip to get pitching. Read More→
San Francisco Giants designate Matt Downs for assignment
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Whether the Giants really wanted Cody Ross or they were trying to make sure another contender like the Padres did not get him is yet to be seen. One thing that is for sure is that the Giants got Ross and needed to make room for him. According to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, the Giants have designated infielder Matt Downs for assignment to make room for Ross.
Ross has not been successful in past trips to the majors. He holds a .214 avg in 131 plate appearances. He is a solid defender and has experience playing both second and short. Downs is still young (26) enough where he should be able to latch on to another team.
Update – Cody Ross awarded to SF Giants
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8/22 13:21: According to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, Ross has been awarded to the San Francisco Giants.
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News says the Giants put in a claim to keep the San Diego Padres from acquiring the Marlins’ outfielder.
In the waiver process for this month, a team can make a claim on a player that has been placed on the waiver wire. In this case the Florida Marlins had the choice to revoke Ross from trade waivers, negotiate a deal with the Giants or just give the player away – which is what happened in this case.
Ross, 29, has been hitting .263/.315/.404 with 11 home runs and 58 RBIs this season. He is being paid $4.45 million this season (the Giants are responsible for about $1.1 million), and has one more year of salary arbitration eligibility after this year.
8/20 16:21: Corey Brock of MLB.com says the Padres don’t have much interest in Ross.
8/20 13:31: Sources close to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports say the San Francisco Giants were awarded the claim. They add, “The Braves, who long have had interest in Ross, did not get the claim. Neither did the Phillies.”
It isn’t clear whether the club actually wants Ross or claimed him to block other contending team from acquiring him.
8/20 11:53: According to a source close to Jayson Stark of ESPN, the Florida Marlins’ Cody Ross was claimed on waivers Thursday by an unspecified National League team. Starks adds that the Marlins are expected to explore a deal with the claiming team.
Based on Major League Baseball’s waiver rules, the Marlins and the claiming team have 48 hours from yesterday to work out a trade, otherwise the Marlins could revoke the waiver claim and keep Ross on the team.
Ross, 29, has been hitting .261/.312/.309 with 10 home runs and 55 RBIs for the Marlins this season.
Brad Hawpe Rumors: Texas Rangers need an outfielder
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Former Colorado Rockies outfielder Brad Hawpe is looking for employment, and he could end up with the Texas Rangers. Here’s why:
- He’s from the area. Hawpe played at Fort Worth Boswell High School.
- He has a relationship with Rangers’ hitting coach Clint Hurdle, his former manager with the Rockies.
- The Rangers need an outfield replace for Nelson Cruz who can’t come off the disabled list until August 30.
General manager Jon Daniels declined comment on Hawpe, but he said the Rangers would consider adding the right piece, according to The Dallas Morning News.
“We’ve looked around while Nellie’s been out,” Daniels said. “For the most part, what we’ve got is what we’ve got. But we’re always open to adding a guy who might be able to help us fill a role.”
Hawpe, 31, is owed approximately $2.2 million for the remainder of the year. He’s batting .255 with with seven home runs and 37 RBIs this season with the Rockies. The San Francisco Giants are “open-minded” about adding the outfielder, so the Rangers could have competition. He was officially designated for assignment by the Rockies on Thursday, August 19.
San Francisco Giants are interested in OF Brad Hawpe
Posted by: | CommentsCSNBayArea.com’s Mychael Urban has learned the San Francisco Giants are exploring the possibility of acquiring former Rockies outfielder Brad Hawpe.
Bobby Evans, San Francisco’s vice president of baseball operations, said the team is “open-minded” about Hawpe, who cleared waivers Wednesday. Hawpe was designated for assignment Thursday, giving Colorado 10 days to release, trade or send him to the minors.
A source close to CSNBayArea.com said the Rockies may release Hawpe rather than seek compensation if Hawpe’s agent finds a match.
Hawpe, 31, is owed approximately $2.2 million for the remainder of the year. He’s batting .255 with with seven home runs and 37 RBIs this season with the Rockies. He was officially designated for assignment by the Rockies on Thursday, August 19.
16 y.o. Luis Heredia expected to agree with Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday
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Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Pirates are “really strong” favorites to land 16-year-old right-handed pitcher Luis Heredia of the Mexican Baseball League.
Kovacevic adds, “barring some drastic change, it is expected that there will be an agreement executed rather quickly between the Pirates, Veracruz and the player. And that agreement most likely will be completed today (Thursday).”
Other teams believed to be interested in Heredia included the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves.
On Tuesday, Kovacevic added that Heredia’s bonus could be in the $2 million – $2.8 million range.
