MLB Rumors

[FedEx227]

That's like a 1/2 a billion dollars

 

[IamMedellin]

but were picking up 70%...

And WERE GIVING THEM MAPLE BATS!!!

MAPLE !!!

 

[Chrispy]

July 18, 2009

Dodgers join Halladay sweepstakes

Roy Halladay | Blue Jays | Interested: Angels? White Sox, Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are at least kicking the tires on the idea of trading for Roy Halladay, and the Toronto Blue Jays are apparently not interested in trading their ace within their division, Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman says.

Heyman reports that the Blue Jays have told the division rival New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox that they prefer to trade Halladay outside the division and have not returned a phone call from the Yankees made 10 days ago.

The Dodgers have a plethora of young talent, but are unlikely to want to part with the pitching it may take to land Halladay, since most of their top young arms are currently in their big league rotation. Other names such as James McDonald, Scott Elbert and Chris Withrow may interest Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi, but none of them possess the kind of elite frontline talent that typically lands a proven ace.

Other young players in the Dodgers organization that may interest the Blue Jays include switch-hitting 3B Josh Bell and 20-year-old outfield prospect Andrew Lambo, both currently playing at Double-A Chattanooga.

ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick is hearing that White Sox GM Kenny Williams is making a stealth run at Roy Halladay.

"I definitely think Kenny is involved," said one AL executive. "Let's put it this way: I would be very surprised if he's not."

Reports still indicate the Phillies' front office is split on whether to pursue the right-hander or stick with the current staff (including recently signed Pedro Martinez). And if the Jays stick to their guns and insist that any taker for Halladay also accepts outfielder Vernon Wells in the deal, the New York Yankees may be the only fit, says Newsday's Anthony Rieber.

Quentin return slowed

The pending return of outfielder Carlos Quentin to the White Sox's lineup has been slowed by soreness in the injured left foot, reports Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.

Quentin, who last suited up in the big leagues on May 25, has yet to play consecutive games in the field but "hopefully in the next six days when we're ready to call him up, he's ready," Ozzie Guillen told the newspaper.

The 26-year-old's 20-day rehab assignment ends next Thursday, at which time the White Sox will need to decide whether he's ready to return or look to extend the assignment until the symptoms of plantar fasciitis subside.

Lackey to hit the market

Los Angeles Angels right-hander John Lackey is likely to reach the free agent market this winter, as was told to the L.A. Times on Friday.

"It's unlikely we'd do anything during this time period," GM Tony Reagins said of the final two-plus months of the regular season. "We don't want it to be a distraction. We want to focus on trying to win."

The Angels, the current leaders in the American League West, have six other free agents to consider other than their ace, including leadoff man Chone Figgins and outfielders Bobby Abreu and Vladimir Guerrero, but will not negotiate for new contracts until the season is over.

Lackey would likely draw interest from the usual suspects, including the crosstown rival Dodgers.

Kinsler to get a break

Skipper Ron Washington is determined to get star second baseman Ian Kinsler more rest, writes Texas Rangers beat reporter T.R. Sullivan.

"I'm going to have to make sure I get him some extra time off," Washington said.

Sullivan speculates that the Rangers could call up infielder Esteban German from Triple-A Oklahoma City to help spell Kinsler. German is hitting .319, but would require a 40-man roster move in order to be added to the active 25-man slate.

Kinsler is hitting just .130/.200/.239 in July and has seen his on-base and slugging percentages deflate since a strong April.

Buster Olney writes that the Rangers have a tough row to hoe during the second half, starting with a brutal August in which they play just 10 home games.

A rested Kinsler is imperative to any chances Texas has of remaining competitive through the dog days of summer.

Lugo may not be unemployed long

After failed attempts to deal Julio Lugo and his expensive contract, the Red Sox have designated the veteran shortstop for assignment after he's been slow to recover from a knee injury.

However, as the Boston Herald's Steve Buckley reports, a baseball source says that "at least three teams" including the Mets, Cardinals and Cubs are interested in his services.

Lugo reacted to the news by telling Buckley, "When you see a good looking girl, you get married and sometimes things don't work out."

 

[chazmaniandevil]

Both Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and John Perrotto of PiratesReport.com are reporting that the Pirates asked Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez to take sizable pay cuts when they presented them with contract extension offers yesterday. Wilson, who is making $7.25MM this year, was offered a two year deal plus a club option. Financial terms aren't known, but the offer reportedly includes a significant pay cut. Perrotto says the club has already privately decided to buy out Wilson's $8.4MM option for 2010 for $600k.

Sanchez, who is only 252 plate appearances away from having his $8MM option for 2010 vest, was offered a two year deal worth around $10MM. The extension reportedly seeks forfeiture of that 2010 option as well. Kovacevic says that he feels the team is "most interested in securing Wilson and trading Sanchez."

The Pirates have given both players a small window of opportunity to accept the deals, as they want to have as much time as possible to work out trades should the players reject the offers, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

"This is something that needs to be resolved quickly, one way or the other," general manager Neal Huntington said Friday. "If there isn't common ground, I think we'll know pretty quickly. We can't let it linger and inhibit the trade process."

"Instead of trading and wondering what could've been, we decided to step forward and see if there's something that could be done to keep them here," Huntington said.

"If a perfect world, we bring them both back under contracts that are favorable to them and favorable to us. But if we get one, then we get one. If we can't either, we can't get either."

Biertempfel echoes what FoxSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi wrote yesterday, that the team might be making lowball offers that Wilson and Sanchez have no choice but to reject just to they can come back and say they tried to extend them before making a trade. The team was heavily criticized when they traded Nate McLouth and Nyjer Morgan in separate deals earlier this year.

lol, no way they want to stay now