Giants Acquire Ryan Garko
8:52pm: Via email, ESPN's Buster Olney says the Tribe will call up Andy Marte to take Garko's place on the roster. Marte is hitting .330-.371-.599 with Triple-A Columbus, and has six homers in his last ten games.
8:46pm: MLB.com's Anthony Castovince says there is no player to named in the deal. It's Garko for Barnes, straight up.
8:31pm: Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus says the Indians received LHP prospect Scott Barnes and a player to be named later in the deal. Barnes was the Giants 8th round pick in 2008, and has a 2.85 ERA in 18 starts with High-A San Jose. Baseball America rated him the Giants' 9th best prospect coming into the season.
8:22pm: Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse is reporting that Giants have acquired Ryan Garko from the Indians. Garko, 28, was hitting .285-.362-.464 in 273 plate appearances coming into today, playing mostly first but spending some time in the corner outfield spots.
The Giants have been looking to add a bat to their lineup pretty much all season.
Odds & Ends: Holliday, Red Sox, Pirates, Kazmir
Things are picking up, so we've got a fresh batch of links for you…
- The recently acquired Matt Holliday was non-committal when talking about his impending free agency, according to R.B. Fallstrom of the AP. "I'm going to enjoy myself and try to help this team get to the playoffs and to the World Series and work every day I can to be the best player I can be," Holliday said. "And leave it there. I think there's a time and a place for all those other things and when that time comes is when I'll do my evaluating."
- Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse tweets that the Red Sox have told people "they are trying to pull off something huge." Earlier today we learned that the Sox were talking about Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez with the Indians.
- Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review asked Pirates team president Frank Coonelly about the possibility of re-opening extension talks with Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson should they remain with the team past Friday's trade deadline, to which Coonelly responded "At this juncture, I wouldn't say anything is definitely closed. We'd have to see where we are. But, developments in the organization could create a situation that could make it less likely, or more likely, we'd want to extend Jack or Freddy."
- Scott Kazmir's agent, Brian Peters, reached out to Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman about recent trade rumors involving his client. Friedman indicated the rumors were "merely speculative," according to MLB.com's Zach Schonbrun.
- Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times writes that Jarrod Washburn has "let it be known he is open to a contract extension to stay in Seattle," but indicated that there has not been much discussion.
- Bruce Miles of The Daily Herald said he expects the Cubs to look for bullpen help before anything else. He names Joe Beimel and George Sherrill as players of interest.
- The Cubs have signed third round pick Austin Kirk according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, while Bill Ladson reports that the Nats have signed seventh rounder Andrew Weaver.
Odds & Ends: Reds, Braves, Cards, Cubs, Red Sox
A few links to start your evening off right…
- Reds CEO Bob Castellini says he believes "we’re not at that point" of selling players yet, according to John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer. The Reds were rumored to be making a move earlier.
- The Braves are "confident that they could stand pat through Friday's Trade Deadline and still have the pieces to continue their run toward the postseason," according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman.
- MLB.com's Matthew Leach writes that "John Mozeliak sounded like it's all but certain that the Cardinals will not trade any more prospects before the deadline." He does mention that if they can move Troy Glaus, they will look into it.
- Alfonso Soriano said he doesn't think the Cubs need any big trades, according to Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune. The Cubbies were reportedly looking for a lefty reliever over the weekend.
- Ben Collins of The Boston Globe has an interesting quote from Red Sox manager Terry Francona: “I listen to the talks. I don’t listen to the radio, but I talk to Theo. Some of the people I hear talked about on the radio — you guys have no idea.”
- Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune mentions that Twins starter Kevin Slowey is going to have season ending surgery on his right wrist. The club has been looking for infield help, but this could have them searching a little harder for pitching help.
- SI.com's Cliff Corcoran wrote about the five contenders with the biggest pitching needs and the biggest offensive holes.
- ESPN's David Schoenfield listed the 15 players with the least trade value. Barry Zito and the $89.1MM owed to him through 2013 tops the list.
- ESPN's Howard Bryant penned a long but very interesting piece about Billy Beane and his legacy since Moneyball.
Scouting Update: Indians, Jays, Phils, Yankees
- The Yankees are scouting Cliff Lee, accoreding to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse. We heard last week from Sports Illustrated that the Yanks have interest in Lee.
- Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer hears that the Indians will watch Phillies minor leaguers for the next few nights, which suggests the Indians could consider sending Lee to Philly.
- Martino hears that the Jays are finished scouting the Phillies, but they could take another look at Kyle Drabek tonight.
Mets Fire Bernazard
3:30pm: According to ESPN.com's Amy Nelson, Omar Minaya has accused New York Daily News reporter Adam Rubin of lobbying for a player development job with the Mets. Last week Rubin broke the news that Bernazard challenged Mets minor leaguers to a fight. Rubin and Minaya apparently started arguing with one another this afternoon after Minaya made the allegation against the reporter. Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post says it's "an epic meltdown by Omar Minaya. Just epic."
1:39pm: The Mets will announce the firing of executive Tony Bernazard within the hour, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Bernazard was involved in a confrontation with Mets minor leaguers last week, sparking controversy. Sherman writes that the Mets fired Bernazard because he was becoming a distraction.
Giants Considering Many Bats
Giants fans have heard all about Freddy Sanchez and Nick Johnson in recent weeks, but those are far from the only players the team would consider adding, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. GM Brian Sabean says the team is considering "six to eight scenarios or names," some of which involve players on teams in the fringes of the playoff race.
Tigers May Search For Arms Instead Of Bats
The Tigers may shift their focus from hitters to pitchers this week to stabilize their rotation, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. The Tigers are not scoring enough, but Carlos Guillen just returned to the lineuup, and the rotation remains a concern after Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson. The Tigers won't pursue Roy Halladay, who would cost too much in terms of money and prospects, but they could go after Mariners lefty Jarrod Washburn.
A’s Rumors: Wuertz, Duchscherer
Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports have the latest on some of the Athletics' trade candidates:
- The Angels are one of many teams interested in reliever Michael Wuertz. He's under team control through 2011 and strikes out 11.8 batters per nine innings, so the A's would have to be wowed to move him.
- The A's would likely accept a "modest prospect" for Justin Duchscherer, who's currently rehabbing. There's about $1.3MM remaining on the righty's contract before he hits free agency after the season.
Heyman On Washburn, Halladay, Red Sox
1:21pm: Heyman hears that Adrian Gonzalez may be Boston's top target now, especially since discussions about Victor Martinez aren't progressing.
11:51am: Jon Heyman of SI.com has the latest on Roy Halladay and the next-best options for pitching-starved teams. Here are the details:
- The Yankees called the Mariners about Jarrod Washburn over the weekend. The Mariners say they aren't selling now, but that could change this week.
- The Yanks would have to give up "a top prospect or two" to acquire Washburn.
- Bronson Arroyo could be an option for the Yankees, but the Reds haven't offered to take on any of the $17MM remaining on his deal.
- The Yankees have a miniscule chance of acquiring Halladay. They wouldn't part with both Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain for him, but they might trade one.
- An executive involved in the Halladay talks says "it's early," since no one's taking tomorrow's pre-deadline too seriously.
- Sensing they don't have much of a chance at Halladay, the Dodgers are more focused on Cliff Lee.
- The Red Sox could still make a big move, but don't expect them to deal for Halladay. The Blue Jays could ask for Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie and Daniel Bard, according to one of Heyman's sources.
- Victor Martinez remains an option for the Red Sox, who talk with the Indians "all the time."
- The Red Sox are keeping an eye on Adrian Gonzalez, who's not available now.
- Bud Selig says he won't prevent the Rangers from taking on payroll even though the commissioner's office has helped Rangers owner Tom Hicks make payments.
- The Rangers have inquired on Halladay and Lee.
- The Cardinals will try hard to extend Matt Holliday.
- The Rockies are still looking for a reliever.
- The Giants scouted Nick Johnson and Josh Willingham this weekend.
FOX Sports On Red Sox, D’Backs, Bell
12:59pm: FOX Sports reports that Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is aggressively looking for a hitter.
The Brewers are reluctant to trade Alcides Escobar and would probably hesitate to move him for Brandon Morrow and two months of Jarrod Washburn.
12:14pm: The Red Sox are "in" on Roy Halladay, but finding offense is the team's top priority, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Here are a few more rumors:
- There hasn't been much interest in Doug Davis or Jon Garland so far, but D'Backs officials are optimistic that interest will pick up later in the week.
- Minnesota has more interest in Freddy Sanchez than any of his other suitors do.
- The Padres will listen on Heath Bell and Adrian Gonzalez, but aren't likely to deal either player. The Tigers had interest in Bell earlier in the month.