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Pirates Rumors: Wilson, Paulino, Byrd

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Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is back on the scene to get us up to speed with the latest Pirates rumors.  Let’s start with the team’s five veteran trade candidates:

  • Jack Wilson: The Tigers and Dodgers are said to be the main suitors.  The problem is that neither team wants to send the Pirates top prospects while paying all of the $7.85MM Wilson has coming.  Additionally, the Pirates do not view Dodgers shortstop prospect Chin-Lung Hu as a possible trade centerpiece.  The Bucs have spoken to at least two other clubs about Wilson, but Kovacevic rejects the previously reported three-team scenario.  It seems that some of the top free agent shortstops will need to sign to create a better market for Wilson.
  • Freddy Sanchez, Adam LaRoche:  The Pirates have received "mere inquiries" on these two.
  • John Grabow, Ronny Paulino: Grabow is a free agent after ’09, so his trade value may never be higher.  The Pirates are apparently pushing Paulino, but don’t want to sell low on him.
  • Ryan Doumit, Nate McLouth, Paul Maholm, Matt Capps: These four are described as "as close to untouchable as it gets" for the Pirates.
  • On the free agent front, the Pirates have made contact with Paul Byrd.  However, GM Neal Huntington implied he’s not finding the starting pitching bargains he expected.  The Pirates haven’t made offers to Doug Mientkiewicz or Jason Michaels; those players are considering proposals from other teams.
  • Kovacevic adds: "The Pirates also had discussed acquiring a right-handed power bat for the outfield through free agency, but there has been no known movement on that front."  Just looking at who’s out there, I imagine this could be referring to Pat Burrell.  Still, that’s entirely speculative and he’s probably out of their price range.

Perrotto’s Latest: Waivers, Extensions, Garcia, Braves

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John Perrotto over at Baseball Prospectus has his Every Given Sunday column up:

  • Perrotto lists off several people which he believes are the most likely to be made available if and when they clear waivers. While the list is comprised of a lot of the usual suspects this August (Greg Maddux, Jarrod Washburn, Paul Byrd, Randy Winn), Perrotto lists some other names that we haven’t seen as much: Francisco Cordero, Tyler Walker, Todd Jones, Jose Bautista, and Doug Mientkiewicz. Perrotto also says that he feels Aubrey Huff has the best chance to be traded of any impact bat available.
  • Perrotto states that the Rockies would like to sign both Garrett Atkins and Matt Holliday long-term. If unsuccessful, they will both be on the trading block this offseason.
  • The Pirates would like to sign Nate McLouth and Ryan Doumit long-term as well, buying out their arbitration years.
  • Perrotto lists the Yankees as the front-runners to sign Freddy Garcia. The Mets and Rays are also suitors for Garcia, though I personally don’t think Garcia makes sense for the Rays.
  • The Yankees have "little interest" in pursuing Manny Ramirez this offseason, despite possible reports that Manny would like to play for them.
  • The Twins would still like to add a late-inning reliever this season to boost their bullpen as the AL Central race winds down.
  • The Braves’ top priority this offseason is pursuing a front-line starter, Perrotto says. He lists possible candidates as: C.C. Sabathia, Ben Sheets, Ryan Dempster, Derek Lowe, and Jon Garland. Seems a bit odd to consider the last three "front-line," though Dempster has certainly been impressive this season.

Odds and Ends: McLouth, Doumit, Eyre, Bradley

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Here’s today’s link roundup.

Marlins Looking For Catcher, Reliever

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The NL East is a three-team race, with the Mets, Phillies, and Marlins all within a game of each other.  Who’d have thought the Marlins would be contending after trading Miguel Cabrera?

According to Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Marlins have intensified their search for a catcher.  The targets: Bengie Molina, Ramon Hernandez, Gerald Laird, and Ryan Doumit.  Molina and Hernandez are the pricey options.  Doumit would be especially tough to pry loose; he has a .937 OPS this year as a 27 year-old.

MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro wonders if Miguel Olivo, Gregg Zaun, and Paul Lo Duca could also enter the mix.  He says it could even be a three-way possibility where the Jays acquire Olivo and move him to Florida.

The Marlins are also hunting for a lefty reliever, with Arthur Rhodes, Jack Taschner, John Grabow, Eddie Guardado, George Sherrill, Will Ohman, and Alan Embree all considered candidates.  Dejan Kovacevic rattled off five suitors for Grabow this morning, the Marlins not among them.  Also, the Marlins’ interest in Guardado is light.  The Giants and Mariners both scouted the Marlins recently, and Berardino wonders if Mike Jacobs would interest them.

Berardino says acquiring a catcher and reliever in one trade would be ideal.  The one Marlins minor leaguer considered off-limits is Sean West.

Odds and Ends: Hinske, Doumit, Colon, Greene

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It’s up to an impressive 5.7 degrees where I am, but I still don’t think I’ll be going outside much today.  Hence, some odds and ends.

  • Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald believes Eric Hinske might sign with the Diamondbacks this week.  The 30 year-old former ROY has a career line of .255/.336/.434, with much better work against righties.
  • John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus says the Red Sox are interested in the Pirates’ Ryan Doumit.  However Perrotto says the Bucs are reluctant to trade the versatile Doumit, who turns 27 in April.  Only past Doumit rumor I can find was from Will Carroll in May of ’06, saying he and Oliver Perez were being dangled to the Phillies.
  • Perrotto believes the Royals could sign Bartolo Colon if he’ll take a one-year deal; that may be true for several clubs.  Paul Hoynes reports that the Indians watched Colon pitch, but weren’t impressed with his sub-90 velocity.  Hoynes says Kris Benson will have another throwing session and the Tribe will be in attendance.
  • According to Marc Topkin, the Rays are talking with lefty reliever Trever Miller.  The two sides haven’t agreed on the term yet.
  • Padres GM Kevin Towers commented about the team’s rejected long-term overtures toward shortstop Khalil Greene.  Towers brought a three or four year proposal to Greene but does not expect anything to get done.  He stated Greene’s possible desire to be on the East Coast as a factor.
  • Vince Gennaro does an economic analysis of the Johan Santana rumors, indicating that the acquisition makes the most sense for the Mets.

Oliver Perez Available?

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Here’s a new one for ya, courtesy of Baseball Prospectus’s Will Carroll yesterday:

"One rumor from the last few days is that Oliver Perez and Ryan Doumit are being dangled to the Phillies."

Would this deal make a good fit?  It seems a foregone conclusion that Mike Lieberthal is spending his last year as a Phillie, so the team does need to begin thinking long-term about its backstop.  Doumit would be a decent option.  Ronny Paulino has impressed the Pirates so far, and just a few weeks ago Jim Tracy indicated that Humberto Cota would start more often than Doumit for defensive purposes.

While I don’t doubt Doumit’s availability, the Phils would be well served to give Carlos Ruiz a crack at the job in 2007.  Granted he’s not a super prospect at age 27, but an impressive 2005 at Triple A coupled with his current .386/.448/.663 line warrants a look.

Obviously, the Phillies need pitching.  Their 4.99 team ERA is better than only the Giants.  Their starters have been pretty much toasted outside of Brett Myers (though he has allowed more than 1.5 baserunners per inning so far).  The hit rates on these guys are out of this world.  If you subscribe to the idea that hit rate is largely influenced by defense and luck, you may expect these guys to turn it around.

I do know that Jon Lieber is better than his 6.87 ERA by a long shot.  But Ryan Madson has failed in every aspect of pitching so far: hit, home run, and walk prevention, strikeout rate, you name it.  I did not see that coming at all, especially after his sparkling spring.  With Madson and Gavin Floyd getting smacked around consistently, the Phillies desperately need a reliable veteran to step in if they are to close the five game gap with the Mets.  They also need to support their pitchers with better defense – they’re second from the bottom in defensive efficiency this year.

I don’t think Oliver Perez is the answer.  Dejan Kovacevic’s April 3rd piece shows how the Pirates are playing it cool, but internally they have to be concerned about his lack of velocity.  As the article says, heat was a main ingredient of Perez’s 2004 breakout.  The Bucs can afford to sit around for at least a few more months to see if it comes back, but a contender like Philadelphia cannot. 

The Phils are stacked with young pitchers like Cole Hamels, Gio Gonzalez, and Scott Mathieson, so I can’t see where an Oliver Perez project fits in.  A Hamels callup, possibly this month, may be the shot in the arm the team needs.  On the other hand, Perez is a Scott Boras client, and it’s not like Littlefield hasn’t given away star players in the past…    

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