Team-by-Team Trade Possibilities: AL West

Previous entries in the series:
AL East
AL Central

Seattle Mariners – The Mariners are in really bad shape, to put it mildly.  They’re going through a front office change, they’re currently terrible, their franchise player (Ichiro) is aging, and their farm system is not among the best in the game.  However, they do have several movable parts for the deadline:  Adrian Beltre, who is coveted by the Twins, as I detailed yesterday; Jarrod Washburn, who they’ve discussed with the Yankees (however, it seems the teams are at an impasse – the Yanks only want to take the contract for a bit player, but the Mariners want a “real” prospect); and Raul Ibanez, who seems destined to become a Met once the two teams can agree on a price.  I’m surprised they’ve waited this long on trading Ibanez, Wladimir Balentien looks like a nice, major league-ready power hitting corner outfield prospect (and has for awhile now).  Other than that, Richie Sexson has already been released and signed by the Yankees – apparently he had NO trade value whatsoever, whether or not the M’s picked up the remainder of his contract.  Jose Vidro is probably not going to excite anyone, neither is Willie Bloomquist, neither is Kenji Johjima and his new extension, and so on.  Ichiro is going nowhere.
Arthur Rhodes might get moved – he’s another of those veteran lefties who is the backup plan for a lot of teams, so while he might not command a lot, he most likely will find a new home.

Oakland A’s – They’ve already been busy, moving Rich Harden, Chad Gaudin, and Joe Blanton this month, as we’ve covered already.  It has been a bit of a hard luck season for the A’s; the runs scored/runs allowed numbers indicate that the A’s should be at least one game better than the Angels.  That’s a better indicator of team performance going forward, but two caveats come into play here:

1. The team the A’s will be trotting out there the rest of the year is different from the one they’ve been using all year, and
2.  Great bullpens often help teams overcome mediocre expected (or Pythagenport) W-L records, and the Angels certainly have one of those.

Anyway, it’s possible the A’s still have some wheeling and dealing left.  Guys who might get moved: Justin Duchscherer – the AL ERA leader is probably experiencing a career year, and has several suitors, from the White Sox to the Rockies.  Closer Huston Street is one of the best relievers on the market, and has been rumored to be piquing interest in many places:  Tampa Bay, Chicago’s south side (Sox), and the LA Dodgers, among others.  Lefty Alan Embree is in that Rhodes/Eyre class of veterans who might end up elsewhere.  There have not been many Mark Ellis rumors, but with Eric Patterson on board and the A’s all but conceding this year, he might go for the right price – he’s a free agent after the season, though the A’s would love to keep him.  There had been some Jason Bay to the A’s rumors, but those seem to have died down.  Not much that Billy Beane could do would surprise me.

Texas Rangers – The Rangers won the prize at last year’s deadline, sending Mark Teixeira to the Braves for a gaggle of prospects and youngsters.  This year, they don’t have that one big name to move, but they do have some tasty side dishes.  For starters, they have 4 – yes, FOUR – catchers drawing interest who are big league ready, roughly.

1.  Gerald Laird has the most experience and performance certainty but the least upside among the four.  The catching-starved Marlins seem to be the front runner for Laird, but both AL East behemoths (Sawx, Yanks) have been linked to Laird.
2.  Jarrod Saltalamacchia came over in last year’s Tex deal, he was a big time prospect in the Braves system, but it’s yet to be seen whether or not he can really stick at catcher.  The rumors for Salty are more vague than those for Laird, which makes me think he’s staying put, which makes sense – if I was in charge, I’d move Laird and hang onto the other three, figuring out who could cut it behind the plate, then keeping the others as backups/DHs/backup first basemen, at least until I figured out which ones were really keepers.
3.  Taylor Teagarden is a really nice defensive catcher, and his bat is less Brad Ausmus/Mike Matheny and more someone who can actually help out a team with the bat.  The Red Sox are reportedly interested, as they should be.  Last Saturday, Wyatt and I discussed their options for replacing Varitek this offseason, and decided a trade was more likely than a free agent signing, figuring the Rangers were a good match.  I’m not sure if that will happen by the deadline, but they’ll definitely revisit it in the offseason if it doesn’t.
4.  Max Ramirez is probably the best hitter of the 4, but also has some questions about his defense.  He came over for Kenny Lofton at the deadline last year from Cleveland.

Manager Ron Washington has a wishlist, but GM Jon Daniels is too smart to mortgage the future for a futile run at 2 month rentals.
There have been some rumblings about Michael Young to the Dodgers, but I doubt they need him badly enough to pay the price.  Milton Bradley’s name has been tossed around, but I think he’ll stay put – Daniels would have to be bowled over to move him.  Same with pitcher Vicente Padilla.  Third basemen Hank Blalock is the Twins’ backup plan, and might go somewhere else before it’s all said and done.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (CA, USA) – As Wyatt covered this afternoon, the Angels already made a big deal today, bringing in Teixeira for Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek.  From their standpoint, it’s a deal you had to make – the price of the upgrade from Kotchman to Tex is significantly outweighed by the benefit.  The Angels have been rumored to be in pursuit of some of the lefties on the market, like George Sherrill or Jon Grabow.  Minor league slugger Brandon Wood has struggled in brief major league trials, but seems to crush minor league pitching.  He’s young enough to pan out, given the opportunity, and some team might bite.

Up Next:  NL East

Team-by-Team Trade Possibilities: AL Central

Yesterday, I ran down the big rumors involving AL East teams, today, it’s the AL Central.   Without further ado…

AL Central
Cleveland Indians – The Indians have already been busy, moving free agent-to-be ace CC Sabathia to the Brewers earlier this month.  Over the weekend, they sent 3B/1B/OF Casey Blake to the LA Dodgers for Jon Meloan, a high minors pitching prospect, and Carlos Santana, a catcher at High-A ball with impressive hitting numbers.  They also acquired Anthony Reyes from the Cardinals for minor league pitcher Luis Perdomo.  A couple of years ago, Reyes looked like a good bet to have a long career as a middle of the rotation starter, but faltered in St. Louis.  These all look like good moves for a team that is not contending this year, but will in the near future.  Maybe they should have held onto CC a bit longer, but the package they got – centering on LF/1B Matt LaPorta, who might be up in September – is not lacking.
It now seems as though the Indians have done most of their selling.  They would like to move Paul Byrd, but there probably are not lots of teams panting after him; he’s 37, he’s struck out 51 men in 110.1 innings, and he’s given up 23 home runs.  Oh, and he has a 5.14 ERA.  He’s no more than a back of the rotation starter at this point, but some teams just need a guy to take the mound and give them 5 solid innings every 5 days.  He might not move until the waiver period in August, but I suspect someone will bite, even as an injury replacement.

Kansas City Royals – As has been the case in recent years, the Royals are in a position to sell off their veterans at the trade deadline.  This year, there are fewer to move, but they have several nice pieces, so we’ll see what happens.  There has been some noise about the Yankees wanting Brian Bannister; if they can’t pry Jarrod Washburn from the seemingly very stubborn Mariners, they might turn their attention elsewhere.  That’s where Bannister comes in.
Jose Guillen is another name who keeps popping up in rumors, but as I wrote yesterday, most of the contenders seem pretty well set at the outfield corners/DH.  Also, the Royals are not just going to give him away, as reports indicate they want to get back a nice package of players for him.
Catcher Miguel Olivo has been connected to at least a couple teams who badly need to improve behind the plate – Yankees and Marlins.  Despite what Joe Girardi says, the Yankees can do better than Jose Molina back there.
Theoretically, Esteban German could be moved, but there does not seem to be much interest.  Mark Grudzielanek’s name has been whispered around this time of year every year since he’s been a Royal, but he’s still there, and it does not seem like they want to move him.

Detroit Tigers – The Tigers have had a real roller coaster of a season.  Still, they’re only 6.5 games out of the division lead right now, and coming on pretty strong.  They’re looking for relief help, especially now that Freddy Dolsi and Joel Zumaya are experiencing some aches and pains.  They’ve been linked to all the usual suspects, and seem to be especially hot on Gians lefty Jack Taschner and O’s lefty George Sherrill.  Presumably, they could be a suitor for Scott Eyre, should the Cubs decide to move him, which seems likely, given their other two lefties (Sean Marshall, Neal Cotts) and the emergence of Jeff Samardzija.
This year marks the second straight year they’ve been linked to Pittsburgh shortstop Jack Wilson, but Pittsburgh would rather keep him, as they have few in-house replacement options, so the asking price is high.  He’ll probably stay put, unless Detroit decides they can’t live without him.

Minnesota Twins – The big story here is that Livan Hernandez just keeps getting lit up, while Francisco Liriano is toying with Triple A hitters.  Seriously, check out his recent starts, he’s been tremendous.  There are service time concerns, I guess, but Minnesota is just being incredibly cheap if they won’t cut bait on Livan and call up Liriano as soon as…last week.  Most of the other players they’re rumored to be interested in are hitters – that’s pretty much the case every year with this franchise, by the way.  They seem to be really interested in adding a third baseman, with the two primary targets being Hank Blalock of the Rangers and Adrian Beltre of the Mariners.  They also might be interested in LaTroy Hawkins, who the Yanks recently designated for assignment.

Chicago White Sox – Sox GM Kenny Williams recently said the “climate was awful” for trades, which for some reason I find hilarious.  They already have a nice bullpen, but they have been linked to Oakland A’s closer Huston Street nonetheless.  They’ve also been linked to the A’s Justin Duchscherer, who’s leading the AL in ERA.  They also might be willing to move Orlando Cabrera, which would open up shortstop for Alexei Ramirez, their current second baseman.  That would make sense if they acquired Brian Roberts, who they’ve been rumored to like, but it seems unlikely to me.  The Dodgers and Red Sox are also interested in Cabrera.
There have been some rumblings that they might send their backup shortstop, Juan Uribe, to the Red Sox for their backup infielder, Alex Cora, but those talks seem to have fizzled.  They would probably still be interested in moving Uribe, and in the right deal, they would part with third baseman of the future Josh Fields.  At this point, I would be surprised to see them make any blockbuster deal, but Kenny Williams has been quite a dealer in the past, so not much would shock me.

Up next:  AL West

Blanton to Philly

My my my. It’s really, really hard to look at this and NOT think the Phils overpaid. If you haven’t seen, the A’s sent Joe Blanton to the Phillies for three minor leaguers. 2 are really solid prospects; Adrian Cardenas looks for all the world as though he has a major league bat, although it’s unclear if he’s going to stick in the middle infield. If he doesn’t, he’s slightly less exciting, but would still be useful in several roles, the kind of guy who could be slotted in at 4 to 6 positions and provide some OBP, a little pop, and an average glove. Josh Outman is a high strikeout lefty who has switched to the bullpen this year. He allows more baserunners than you’d wish, but still looks like a nice live arm. Matthew Spencer has some power, but looks to be limited to corner outfield/1B/DH, without really having the bat to stick at any of those spots as more than a bench player without some big strides. There’s some power, but not enough contact/patience/etc. to me a star.

Philly has been in the market for a starter seemingly every year in recent memory, and they’ve added some guys over the years – Freddy Garcia and Jamie Moyer, for example. Blanton is definitely a major league pitcher, but he’s really not much more than a number three starter on a good team. He eats innings, which is nice, but his ERA this year is slightly under 5, and he’ll probably replace Adam Eaton in the rotation. He’s definitely better than Eaton, who’s a really poor fit for Philly’s home park, since he’s a flyball machine.

So the Phillies improve slightly for now, but gave away more than you’d really like to for a little upgrade in the rotation. Two of your top prospects plus another minor leaguer is a good haul for Billy Beane and the A’s. In my mind, this doesn’t exactly make up for getting so little (in my mind) for Harden + Gaudin, but is a great example of Beane taking advantage of a market inefficiency – there are few dependable starting pitchers on the market, and he’s had some to sell.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know…

Today’s two big questions (in my mind):

• Will Wyatt ever blog?
• How will Rich Harden’s first start as a Cub go?

With regards to the first question: yes, I just don’t know when.

With regards to the second question, some wild speculation: 7 IP, 7 K, 2 BB, 2 H, (Edit: ) 1 R (earned), 94 pitches, W.

Edit: I didn’t realize this until after I wrote it, but that line is eerily similar to the one put up by Sean Gallagher, who the Cubs traded to Oakland in the Harden deal. Last night, Gallagher made his Oakland debut with a line of 7 IP, 7 K, 3 BB, 2 H 2 R (both earned), 96 pitches, W. Wow.

Cubs/A’s Swap

Well, I’m not exactly breaking the news, but the Cubs and A’s made a deal yesterday in which the Cubs added Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin for Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson, and Josh Donaldson.  It seemed to come as a surprise to some media types who SHOULD be in the know, but anyone who’s been checking the right spots would not have needed an inside scoop to see the Cubs making a deal for a good-to-great starting pitcher this month.

As a Cubs fan, I’m immensely pleased with this deal.  Earlier this season, I told Wyatt that I was not exceptionally worried about the Cubs making a trade this deadline that mortgaged their future – they just do not have much in the way of minor league prospect depth, so it’s not like they had some superprospect (see LaPorta, Matt; Price, David; Beckham, Tim; etc.) who it would have been foolish to deal.  Still, to bring back Harden (not to mention Gaudin) without touching Geovany Soto, Carlos Marmol, Jose Ceda, Tyler Colvin, OR Donald Veal seems too good to be true.  Gallagher is a nice, major league ready back of the rotation starter who could become something more.  I suppose there is some small chance that he turns into a nice Number 2 starter, and a minuscule chance he becomes something more, but in all likelihood, he’s just a nice pitcher, not a star.  Gaudin is only three years older and has a similar ceiling, without those small chances that he becomes a star, I suppose.

Murton and Patterson are both useful in their own right, but neither really had much future in Chicago, so it’s really difficult to feel like they lost much here.  They’ll both be useful pieces for Oakland, but Murton is limited to an outfield corner, and he’s a nice little red headed doubles and walks machine with no defense to speak of.  He knocks lefties around (career rates of .316/.389/494 agains them), not so much righties, although he’s serviceable against them.  He fits alright with this A’s team, which has had trouble to score some runs, as does Patterson, who can be an insurance policy for any situation in which Mark Ellis leaves via free agency after the year, although his second base defense is slightly below average.  As an outfielder, his bat is nothing to write home about, but again, he can probably help out this year’s A’s as a part-time outfielder, whether it’s platooning with Murton in left, or spelling Ellis at second without much dropoff at the plate.  Still, he’s 25 without much development left, and what he is right now is…useful, but not outstanding.  The last player in the deal, Josh Donaldson, is a catcher who owned the Northwest league last year for awhile, but in the Midwest league this year, in more at bats, he’s really struggled.  He’s got a long way to go to get to the majors at all, let alone start.

Lastly, on to Harden, the star in this deal.  There’s a lot that can be said here, but I’ll boil it down to this:  when healthy, Rich Harden is one of the 10 best pitchers in the league.  That “when healthy” bit is pretty serious, though, as he really does have some trouble staying off the disabled list.

So the A’s get some minor lineup upgrades for the near term and a young, cheap starter to plug into the rotation, but that seems a little low for Harden and Gaudin.  For the Cubs, it’s a relatively low risk proposition – if Harden breaks down, well, Gaudin is going to give you roughly what Gallagher would have, and as long as they were going to keep pretending Reed Johnson can play center, I can understand why they could afford to pass on Murton.  Patterson is no better than the 4th best second base option they have behind Mark DeRosa, Mike Fontenot, and Ronny Cedeno, and Donaldson is blocked by Geovany Soto now and for the foreseeable future in Chicago.

All that to say, I’m a little confused on what Billy Beane and the Oakland front office saw here – it’s a useful enough group of players, but for an ace and another useful pitcher, it just doesn’t seem like enough.

Hats of to Jim Hendry, who gave up significantly less than Doug Melvin did, and Melvin only got one pitcher, albeit one who is healthier than Harden in CC Sabathia.  It’s absolutely a worthwhile gamble.