Teams interested in acquiring starting pitching help surely noticed when the Cubs placed right-hander Ryan Dempster on the disabled list with right lat tightness today. Dempster, 35, is one of the top starters known to be available in trades. Here are today’s links…
- A quick sale of the Padres may not be possible at this point, writes Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times. The three apparent finalists are all leading bid groups with multiple investors, which will require extensive background work once a sale is announced.
- Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com examines the trade stock of some of the Phillies biggest names in the event that their slide continues into late July.
- Blue Jays righty Kyle Drabek is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow, tweets Barry Davis of Sportsnet.ca. This will be the second time Drabek has been through Tommy John.
- Free agent designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero isn't close to signing, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter).
- There's no indication the Tigers are interested in Jim Thome, John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press reports. Thome, a "longtime tormentor" of the Tigers, bats left-handed, which means he’s not a perfect fit in Detroit. The Tigers are interested in acquiring a bat before the July 31st trade deadline and they'd prefer to add a right-handed hitter, Morosi reported yesterday.
- GM Brian Cashman told Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio that the Yankees haven't pursued contract extensions for Robinson Cano or Curtis Granderson, but aim to keep both players long-term (Twitter link).
- Maury Brown explains that TV deals are boosting franchise values across MLB in a piece at Baseball Prospectus.
Well why would they? They’ve got options on both players, they’re the most attractive free agent destination a year from now for both of them and they’ve seen what’s been happening with many players who are extended to FA-value contracts well before FA is reached by players, with guys regressing or becoming perennially injured years before the big money even kicks in. Lincy, Tulo, Mauer, just to name the most obvious ones. If Cano and Grandy keep up their respective paces, they’ll get their NYY extensions, but I think it’s wise of Cashman to not be so trigger happy on deals just yet.
The advantage would have been age-related. If you could build an extension that started next season (or even this season), they’d be younger at the end of the contract. Its easier to give a 30 year old a 7 year contract than it is to give it to a 31/32 year old.
I cant fathom what they will sign for though. After seeing what jones, and zimmerman got.
Just imagine if the Braves signed jones after 2005-06 before he fell off the cliff. He was in line for a huge payday.
lincecum’s on a 2 year deal. he’s not owed any “big money” after next year, and the giants are a huge-payroll team that can more than handle that risk.
and tulo had injury concerns before that extension was even signed.
Man, Dempster going on the DL is a big loss for us. Anyone know how long he’s supposed to be out?
Lat tightness, I would say he’ll be ready after the 15 days. It didn’t sound too serious.
On another note, it sounds like the Cubs are going to put Lahair in RF tonight. Soto is back and catching and Clevenger will be playing 1B. Could really boost Lahair’s value if he could play RF and continue hitting.
After that nice catch tonight the Cubs better think hard before trading him.
i don’t think LaHair fans have to worry about him leaving. his trade value is not very great because his complete lack of a track record. assuming no one would (because, really why would anyone) give up a top prospect to obtain him, his production will probably be greater than the production of whatever he trade him for. if i’m Hoyer right now, i’m definitely leaning more toward keeping him and seeing if his numbers are for real, rather than trading him for junk.
if he can be the next Bautista, the Cubs have him under team control for an additional 5 years, plenty of time for the Cubs to field a real contender and have his power bat smack-dab in the middle of the order. or, if we hold on to him for the remainder of this season, and if his numbers end up being around what they are now, we flip him in the offseason for a real prospect.
Big loss considering you were looking to move him. Definitely devalues him some.
People were posting on another site that they saw him out jogging yesterday by the lake after they made the anouncement, so I wouldn’t assume any longer than the 15 days!
Cano a FA imagine it all that money
The Tigers are crazy if they’re not interested in Jim Thome. He’d be a major upgrade over Delmon Young at DH, and he’d be a major upgrade for the #5 spot in the batting order.
And Thome already knows all the pitchers in the AL central inside and out.
i agree 100% delmon does not deserve to be the dh for are team and is worse then are back up catcher
I hope he does anyways, thome is a good hitter still and deserves to get more ab’s as a dh.
yea he really deserves more credit and at 40 he still can tear the cover off the ball
But Thome is still quite injury prone. Better to get someone who can hit and isn’t guaranteed to miss 40-80 games the rest of the way.
I think the Orioles would be wise to see how much Jim Thome would cost them in a trade. He could be valuable to the O’s as well as keeping him away from a team in the AL looking to shore-up their line-up for a play-off run.
How strange?!? Nobody talks about the possibility of Vlad Guerrero being a fit in Detroit. The Tigers are looking for a right-handed bat-for-hire to slot in as a DH — Guerrero is an ideal fit. He must look old to the scouts for them not to consider him.
i dont think hes to old i think that hes at the end of his career and is set on money so he has room to be picky about the type of money he gets and i think hes maybe just asking to much
If Vlad is set on money he wouldn’t have signed for Toronto at so low a price. He’s more interested in playing and winning. Guerrero would be a good fit in Detroit but maybe better in Cleveland, if they realize Damon can’t do it anymore.
So if Thome isn’t a fit in Detroit, where can he go? Think the Indians would bring him back again?
That’s awful news for Kyle Drabek. I hope this is the last time he undergoes TJ surgery, and he comes back stronger than ever.
Not to be a wise guy, but where is he getting the ligament from this time?
Will it come from his body, a cadaver, or a hog? Modern science is truly a wonder, but the body can only give you so many useable spare parts. Hope he comes back.
nm