Akinori Otsuka – MLB Trade Rumors

Quick Hits: Gray, Haren, Angels, Nationals

Zachary Links — Fri, 10 May 2013 22:11:46 +0000

One scout is hoping to bring baseball to Africa, reports Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. White Sox scout John Tumminia has worked to provide baseball supplies to impoverished children around the world, and Kenya is this year's target. Commissioner Bud Selig has raised baseball's profile internationally in recent years with events like the World Baseball Classic and increasing amounts of players from South America and Europe. Also, this year the MLB will host camps in African nations of Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa, tweets Diamondbacks European scout Rene Saggiadi. Here tonight's look around the rest of the baaseball world…

Oklahoma right-hander Jonathan Gray has climbed all the way to the top of Baseball America's (subscription required) draft prospect rankings. Some see parallels between Gray's steady rise in the scouting world, to that of Stephen Strasburg in the 2009 draft. Boras Corporation advisees take the next two spots, with Stanford right-hander Mark Appel and San Diego third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant ranking No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
Dan Haren empathizes with the Angels and their 12-22 start, reports Bill Ladson of MLB.com. Haren signed with the Nationals after the Angels declined a club option for the right-hander last winter following an up-and-down year in 2012. Haren understands what if feels like to endure a rough stretch to the season, but added "If they would have kept the team together and rolled it over into this year, I guarantee that team would have played really good baseball."
Former Major Leaguer Akinori Otsuka is attempting a comeback, tweets Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. The 41-year-old right-hander intends to pitch for the Grand Serows team of the Japanese independent BC League. Otsuka's last pitched appeared in the majors in 2007 with the Rangers. The former set-up man pitched to a 2.44 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 over his four big league seasons.

Max Fogle contributed to this post.

Odds And Ends: Otsuka, Orioles, Johnson

Ben Nicholson-Smith — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:41:52 +0000

I’ll keep this updated as more comes in, but for now these are your Saturday links…

Patrick Newman found that Akinori Otsuka will work out in front of reps from all MLB teams next month. Apparently Padres GM Kevin Towers is interested if Otsuka’s healthy.
Roch Kubatko knows there’s pitching talent coming from the minors, but he doesn’t love the current Orioles rotation and expects them to add two more starters.
The difference between 69 and 72 in 2009 wins isn’t worth much to the Orioles, Peter Schmuck writes.
The Red Sox move on after missing out on Mark Teixeira.
Eric Wedge doesn’t seem bothered by the Yankees’ big acquisitions.
Vernon Wells knows how hard it will be to compete now that former-teammate A.J. Burnett’s in pinstripes along with a couple other big names.
Keith Law says the Randy Johnson signing moves the Giants "toward 2009 respectability, if not outright contention."
Vlae Kershner doesn’t like the possibility of Garret Anderson on the A’s.
Bleed Cubbie Blue argues that Adam Dunn’s patience-power combination would work well for the Cubs. Last week Dunn said he thinks so too.
Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi revealed his favorite meal and dream date in a Q&A with the Sporting News.

Akinori Otsuka Headed For Elbow Surgery?

Tim Dierkes — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:17:01 +0000

The Newberg Report passes along a comment reportedly made by Rangers GM Jon Daniels yesterday. Apparently, Daniels told the crowd that he non-tendered Akinori Otsuka because he’s headed for elbow surgery. The status of Aki’s elbow had been a mystery up to this point, though there had been signs that it wasn’t right.

Ranger Rumors: Botts, Otsuka, Padilla

Tim Dierkes — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:56:03 +0000

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News recently did a Q&A, and there were some interesting hot stove-related tidbits to consider.

Grant believes one of Nelson Cruz or Jason Botts will depart before Opening Day. Botts is out of options, so he may be more likely to go. While acknowledging that he is a 27 year-old DH, Botts’ recent Major League Equivalencies say he may be able to post an .800 OPS in the bigs.
Grant answers a question about Akinori Otsuka and his "scary" elbow. He says Otsuka probably can’t pitch through the pain and if he did his ligament would be at risk of tearing anyway. That’s why Otsuka is a free agent (not because he recommended San Diego to Kosuke Fukudome). The Padres and Phillies have been linked to Otsuka, while the White Sox passed on him.
Grant notes that the Mariners had mild interest in Vicente Padilla but that may be gone with their Carlos Silva signing. Since Padilla’s value is at a low point it may make sense to hope he has a solid first half and deal him then.

Odds and Ends: Roberts, Otsuka, Walker, DaVanon

Tim Dierkes — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:44:03 +0000

A few minor moves to speak of…

The Cubs don’t appear to be concerned about Brian Roberts’ steroid admission.
The Padres’ talks for Xavier Nady are "on hold," according to Bill Center. Also, the Friars continue to eye Akinori Otsuka.
Aside from the aforementioned Michael Barrett, the Padres signed Robert Fick and Jeff DaVanon. DaVanon, a switch-hitter, has had some decent years against righties. Ken Rosenthal believes the Padres may consider their outfield situation settled now after missing out on Geoff Jenkins and signing DaVanon.
Todd Walker, remember him? He was released by the Padres this year in Spring Training and hooked on with Oakland. After a month and a half there, they designated him for assignment. He wasn’t picked up, and enjoyed spending the time with his family. Now, however, the Rockies have had preliminary conversations with him according to Tracy Ringolsby. Walker played for the Rox in 2000, posting a .929 OPS in limited duty. He had another half season in Colorado in ’01 before being traded to the Reds for Alex Ochoa.
Excellent team blogs are going corporate – Bucco Blog was purchased by Baseball Interactive Media, and MetsBlog partnered with SNY. Both seem like positive developments for readers – Jake and Matthew maintain editorial control, but perhaps gain additional access and technology.

Stark’s Latest: Prior, Lofton, Otsuka

Tim Dierkes — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:57:02 +0000

ESPN’s Jayson Stark dishes some good rumorage in his latest column.

Stark dug around to find all the Mark Prior suitors and came up with this list: Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, Mets, Cardinals, Padres, Astros, Giants, Reds, Nationals (11 teams). Let’s compare notes. MLBTR readers have seen the Yankees, Mets, Cards, Padres, Astros, Reds, and Nats linked to Prior already. So Stark has added the Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, and Giants. The idea of the Mariners runs contrary to this MLB.com article. Stark did not name the Rangers, who are said to be aggressively pursuing Prior. Prior is dead set on a one-year deal and would take a big league mound in May in the best case.
The Phils are focused on Geoff Jenkins and Mike Cameron, offering two year deals to each. They might just take the first one to accept. Stark says Kenny Lofton could be an option if both decline. Lofton batted a career-best .335 for the Phils in ’05.
Stark rattles off a laundry list of pitchers the Phillies are interested in: Akinori Otsuka, Byung-Hyun Kim, Roberto Hernandez, Kris Benson, John Parrish, Sidney Ponson, Chad Durbin, Kyle Lohse, and Jeremy Affeldt. Given Stark’s 21 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, I imagine he has a connection or two. Most of those are new names besides Benson, Lohse, Ponson, and Affeldt.
A source of Stark picks the Yankees as the favorite for Johan, but it should be noted that they’re having internal debates about pulling Phil Hughes off the table.
For all the crazy Cubs fans we’ve got here: Stark says they’ve talked to the Orioles about both Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard, but couldn’t pull off a deal for both. They favor Roberts even though they need Bedard much more.

Phillies Interested In Otsuka?

Tim Dierkes — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:11:00 +0000

UPDATE, 12-14-07 at 10:09am: Ah, now the true story comes out on Otsuka. MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan says the Rangers were going to send him to the White Sox for Chris Carter but the Sox nixed the deal after looking at Otsuka’s medical reports. No surprise the Rangers non-tendered him, now. Hat tip to Rangerfans.com.

FROM 12-14-07 at 8:47am:

Reliever Akinori Otsuka hit the free agent market on Wednesday; he turns 36 in January. With a career ERA of 2.44 in 232 innings, it’s surprising the Rangers chose to non-tender him. Otsuka earned $3MM in 2007, and even with a raise he’d have been a decent play on a one-year deal.

Unless, of course, the Rangers believes something is still wrong with Otsuka’s elbow. I think that has to be the case, despite a trickle of positive reports recently. The Phillies are the latest team to express interest in Otsuka. Also, Tom Krasovic suggested a few days ago that the Padres might look to bring him back.

Back to the Phillies for a moment – Steve King notes that they have no interest in free agent Morgan Ensberg. Also, they’re still planning to watch Kris Benson throw next week.

Rangers Acquire Broussard, Non-tender Otsuka

Tim Dierkes — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:21:02 +0000

Quick note from Geoff Baker – the Mariners sent first baseman Ben Broussard to the Rangers for minor league infielder Tug Hulett. Makes sense; the Mariners clear $3.5MM+ from the payroll and actually get something in return. The Rangers get a cheap stopgap first baseman who won’t embarrass them.

We may never hear from Hulett again, but he’s better than the nothing the Mariners would’ve gotten for non-tendering Broussard.

The Rangers also non-tendered Akinori Otsuka. Last we’d heard he was throwing pain-free in October, but maybe the Rangers learned he needed Tommy John after all. (Hat tip to Rangerfans.com).

Padres Deep In Talks For Bay

Tim Dierkes — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:59:00 +0000

UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 3:56pm: Krasovic jumps in to say that the Padres definitely won’t be trading Headley to the Bucs (and probably not at all). The Pirates and Padres have been talking a lot, and some kind of deal involving some of the players below could definitely happen.

UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 12:01pm: Buster Olney is reporting that the Padres are "deep into discussions" with the Pirates about a multiplayer trade in which Bay would be the centerpiece.

FROM 12-12-07 at 9:30am:

Tom Krasovic checks in with all sorts of fresh Padres rumors, as he often does. Below are the ones that haven’t come up elsewhere on the site today.

The Padres and Pirates might have mutual ground for some kind of multiplayer deal. Names like Matt Morris, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and/or Nate McLouth are possible future Padres. The Bucs could go for Michael Barrett and/or Padres’ top prospect Chase Headley. My challenge to you: create a reasonable multiplayer trade scenario between these two clubs in the comments.
Krasovic says the Padres "explored a trade" for the Cardinals’ Anthony Reyes. The Indians and Phillies have also been linked to the youngster before.
As you might expect, Morgan Ensberg will probably be non-tendered today. He made $4.35MM in ’07, and the Friars don’t want to pay him anything like that.
Akinori Otsuka is another non-tender candidate, and the Padres could seek to bring him back if so. Otsuka has been throwing pain-free since late October, though, so the Rangers will probably retain him.

Odds and Ends: Fukudome, Mahay, Santana

Tim Dierkes — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 10:02:03 +0000

Rounding up some odds and ends for you…

I’d read that Akinori Otsuka recommended the Padres to Kosuke Fukudome, kind of glossed over the fact. But Jamey Newberg has is rightly disappointed in the Rangers reliever. After all, the Rangers have Fukudome in their sights, and Otsuka plays for the Rangers.
A good source tells me the Yankees believe they are in the lead for Ron Mahay, and think it can be done this upcoming week. If it’s true that Mahay has narrowed his choices to the Yanks and Royals, and the Royals have little interest, this makes sense.
MetsBlog reports that Johan Santana prefers to pitch for the Mets. He likes the idea of moving to the NL.

Heyman’s Latest: Teixeira, Otsuka

Tim Dierkes — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:04:03 +0000

Jon Heyman of SI.com has been working the phone lines; here are some notable rumors from his latest column.

The Braves seemed fairly close to a Mark Teixeira trade yesterday, but the Angels are definitely knee deep in it. They’ll make a solid offer including Casey Kotchman, Ervin Santana, and Major League player. Adam Dunn remains Plan B.
Heyman says there’s speculation that Akinori Otsuka could need Tommy John surgery, which might compel the Rangers to sign Eric Gagne and/or keep Joaquin Benoit.
Refresher on Gagne’s 12-team allowable list can be found here. Gagne must consent to a trade to Detroit, and it seems the Rangers asked for Cameron Maybin. Not gonna happen. The Yankees appear to be out on Gagne because he wants to close. I’m skeptical – he wouldn’t pitch as a setup man if they guaranteed his entire contract?
Seems the Yanks entertained a Morgan Ensberg acquisition. They would’ve used him at first base. Joe Torre nixed the idea because Ensberg hasn’t hit for a long time.
Heyman’s top five available starters are Matt Morris, Livan Hernandez, Jose Contreras, Jason Jennings, and Kyle Lohse, in that order. That ranking is reasonable. A Jon Garland, Noah Lowry, or Joe Blanton would easily jump to that top of the list if made available.

Rockies Hunting For Relief Help

Tim Dierkes — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:35:04 +0000

Playoff odds reports put the Rockies’ chances at 6-8% currently, but they still view themselves as buyers. After all, they’re still just 4.5 games out of the Wild Card and 5.5 games out in the NL West.

Though a crude metric, the Rockies’ bullpen currently ranks 12th in the NL with a 4.42 ERA. Among contenders in the league, only Philadelphia has been worse. Brian Fuentes seems at least another week or two from returning. According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd has been burning up the phone lines looking for a reliever. Renck says the Rockies have inquired on Jon Rauch, Chad Cordero, Akinori Otsuka, Julian Tavarez, and Manny Delcarmen.

Of that list, only Rauch or Cordero are clearly available and would help the team. Otsuka is hurt, Delcarmen is cheap and an essential part of the Boston bullpen, and Tavarez isn’t a great pitcher. However, both Rauch and Cordero are flyball pitchers and may not succeed at Coors Field. Given the high price for either, the Rockies don’t have any attractive options.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Andruw, Lidge, Gwynn Jr.

Tim Dierkes — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 01:12:04 +0000

Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up at FOXSports for your viewing pleasure.

Rosenthal believes that despite Andruw Jones’s lousy May and June, he’ll still cash in this winter as the best available center fielder. He’ll still provide more offense than Torii Hunter in the long run.
The Nationals are still asking for the moon in trade talks. If Jim Bowden does start acting reasonable, Dmitri Young, Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, and Ryan Church could be dealt. Word via Bill Ladson of MLB.com is that only the Braves have inquired on Young.
Brad Lidge is expected to remain an Astro. The main reason: Drayton McLane still doesn’t think his team is out of it. Most simulations a 2% chance or less of reaching the playoffs. If the Astros finally do acknowledge reality, they’d prefer to trade relievers other than Lidge (ie, Dan Wheeler or Chad Qualls).
The Rangers and Brewers were close to a trade: Akinori Otsuka to the Brewers for Tony Gwynn Jr. Rosenthal seemed to dislike it, but I think it made sense for the Crew. Regardless, Bill Hall’s injury thwarted the deal as Gwynn will be needed to man center.
The new plan for the Brewers is to call up 29 year-old Grant Balfour, who’s dominated in the minors. He endured elbow and shoulder woes before undergoing Tommy John surgery in May of ’05. In the midst of his TJ recovery, Balfour developed the need for shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and labrum. This guy would be pumping gas if he’d been born a few decades earlier. After the surgeries, the Twins cut Balfour and the Reds snagged him. Balfour rehabbed with the Reds but never made it to the bigs; the Brewers claimed him off waivers in October of ’06. He’s all the way back; Johnny Estrada was singing his praises back in February.

Gagne/Otsuka Suitors

Tim Dierkes — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:21:04 +0000

Teams are lining up to pluck away the top two members of the Rangers’ bullpen, and Jon Daniels is in "listening mode."

MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan has the scoop: the Diamondbacks, Cubs, Red Sox, and Yankees are the top suitors for Eric Gagne. The Mets, Braves, Phillies, Tigers, and Brewers are focused on Akinori Otsuka. And the Tribe likes both relievers.

Benefits of Gagne: he can be unhittable and he’ll give you two good draft picks after the season. Plus he seems to be finally healthy. The Indians, despite their interest, are not on Gagne’s list of 12 teams he can be dealt to without his consent.

The benefit of Otsuka is that you have him through 2009. That’s why the Rangers are more likely to hang on to him. Conversely, a team like the Mets would prefer him because he’s not a rental.

Rosenthal’s Latest

Tim Dierkes — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 16:48:01 +0000

Ken Rosenthal has a new column up. A summary appears below.

Rosenthal thinks the Tigers are unlikely to acquire Eric Gagne or Akinori Otsuka, perhaps preferring to look at internal options. That’s a shame, as I think they really need to add someone.
The White Sox won’t be granting a 72 hour negotiating window if they trade Mark Buehrle. Strictly a rental. That could limit the market for him, but Kenny Williams will come up with at least one quality prospect.
The Dodgers don’t seem likely to trade for Adam Dunn or Jermaine Dye, but could go after Mark Teixeira. Dye seems most likely to end up in the NL West somehow, but only if he is healthy and hitting.
Possible Dontrelle Willis suitors: the Rockies or Diamondbacks. They’ve got the young trading chips, and the need in the present day. The Rox could offer Aaron Cook plus prospects, and the D’Backs could try Livan Hernandez and youngsters. If the D’Backs dare offer up Justin Upton, the Marlins would jump. Of course, D-Train needs to be healthy and the Marlins would need to fall out of contention.
Barry Bonds’s agent really doesn’t see a trade happening. Well, no one does, but it’s fun to speculate. Rosenthal thinks only the Yankees could accomodate him.
Aside from the Pirates and Padres, the Astros, Cardinals, and Rangers could go after Milton Bradley.
Rosenthal has a GM source who thinks the Reds could wait until this winter, exercise Adam Dunn’s $13MM option for ’08, and then trade him. Dunn, however, would gain no-trade protection until June 15, 2008 and then be able to block 10 teams thereafter.
Troy Glaus isn’t going anywhere. Even if the Jays wanted to trade him, his contract is prohibitive.
The Indians or Rockies could trade for Octavio Dotel for bullpen depth. Dotel is developing into a fine trading chip for Dayton Moore, just as planned. The Tribe has had interest in Dotel in past offseasons.