Daily Archives: July 30, 2008
…the buzz surrounding Pirates OF Jason Bay is all over the road…i have heard people talk of plausible scenarios that could send him to the A’s, to the Braves, 
to the D’Backs, and the Cardinals, but rarely the Mets…
…it appears that two things have pushed bay further in to the trade market then the Pirates may have initially intended…a) Matt Holliday is not going to be traded, decreasing the supply of impact bats on the market, and b) the talent that was swapped last season and this season for Mark Teixeira…
…either way, the Pirates want a significant prospect, like a Reid Brignac or Wade Davis, or Fernando Martinez, who the Mets are still reluctant to give up…
Earlier today, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote that there is a is better than a 50 percent chance of Bay being traded.
According to Jon Heyman, who now has a ‘blog’ on SI.com, citing an NL source, at least two teams have shown interest in Reds OF Adam Dunn.
Despite hitting 29 home runs, with a .385 OBP, Dunn is batting just .238, has made five errors and has struck out in roughly 25 percent of his plate appearances this season.
…i suspect the Mets could get dunn without giving up Fernando Martinez or Jon Niese, and so, like i said last week, i would be all for bringing in dunn – if for no other reason than name recognition, especially if Carlos Delgado is going to be a lively hitter from this point forward…also, dunn can always be removed late in games for defense…
…that said, i do think the Mets are most interested in M’s OF Raul Ibanez, but they’re interested only to a point…
Dunn is eligible to be a free agent following this season.
Earlier today, in a post to his blog for Newsday, Ken Davidoff speculated 
that the Mets may have been scouting O’s LHP George Sherrill this week, as one of their top scouts, Russ Bove, was recently spotted at Yankee Stadium.
However, according to Jon Heyman on SI.com, the O’s may have pulled Sherrill off the market, since they have been unable to acquire such a young shortstop, such as Erick Aybar, Maicer Izturis or Jason Donald, as were originally mentioned by Jason Stark on ESPN.com.
Sherrill, 31, is 3–4 with 30 saves this season for the Orioles, during which he has blown six saves, struck out 49 batters in 44 innings with left-handed hitters batting .208 against him.
On Sunday, in a report for the Boston Globe, citing a team official, Nick Cafardo wrote that the Mets would be willing to part with LHP Scott Schoeneweis if they could obtain an outfielder.
However, in a post today at the Star-Ledger, Dan Graziano writes, “It’s unlikely they’d deal Schoeneweis without acquiring a replacement for him in a separate deal, but there are enough lefty relievers on the market that they believe they could do that.”
On Sunday, in a post to Baseball Prospectus, John Perrotto wrote that the Mets continue to have interest in Mariners LHP Arthur Rhodes and Rangers LHP Eddie Guardado.
Jason Stark recently wrote to ESPN.com saying that, despite interest from the Mets and Cardinals, the Rangers are not interested in trading Guardado.
Additionally, the Mets have also expressed interest in Jays LHP Brian Tallet and Giants LHP Jack Taschner, according to Graziano in a seperate report for the Star-Ledger.
…i think it’s pretty clear when putting all of these reports together like a puzzle, that the Mets must be looking to trade a relief pitcher from their own bullpen for another team’s every-day, not-great-but-good outfielder, while then trading their own mid-level prospects for another team’s good-but-not-great reliever…as i suggested the other day, i get the sense something could be in the works with the Tigers, because a) the Mets have been linked in rumor to them over the last week, and b) they fit the above puzzle…
For what it’s worth, the Phillies, Rays, Red Sox, Cardinals and Angels have been linked to Pirates LHP John Grabow, while the A’s are reportedly listening to offers for LHP Alan Embree.
The MLB Trade Deadline is tomorrow at 4 pm EDT.
To look back at previous trade deadlines, complete with such classics as Bobby M. Jones, a 23-year-old Jason Bay, and RHP 
Josh Reynolds from the Mets to the Padres for RHP Jason Middlebrook and RHP Steve Reed, go to Never Forget 69, where Lou details every Mets deadline-deal since 1998.
Speaking of the Deadline, FoxSports.com takes a look back at the 10 Worst Deals at the Deadline, which, naturally, include the Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano deal, plus the above Bay deal and Jason Isringhausen from the Mets to the A’s for Billy Taylor, as well as Omar Minaya sending Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips from the Expos to the Indians for Bartolo Colon.
According to Dan Graziano in a post to the Star-Ledger, the Reds will deal OF Adam Dunn, “but none of the teams out there looking for outfield help seem to be interested, and it’s one of the more confounding aspects of this year’s deadline.”
Recently, a reader of MetsBlog.com, Nate W, e-mailed and referred to Rual Ibanez as having a ‘negative value,’ because he will likely be a Type A Free Agent, thus returned two first-round picks to the Mariners in the off-season – assuming Ibanez signs a contract with a different team.
The same can be said right now for Dunn.
And so, the Reds and Mariners are likely to seek out two top prospects, equal to the type of players they can expect to draft with two top draft picks next season, in any trade talks involving Dunn or Ibanez today.
The value on Dunn and Ibanez has a floor right now, and so it’s understandable that a) interested teams do not want to go above it, and b) the M’s and Reds do not want to go below it, which is probably why both players have so few passionate suitors.
Tagged Raul Ibanez |According to Andrew Marchand, now posting to the blog on ESPN.com, “The deadline to trade Manny Ramirez is 
essentially 4 p.m. ET Wednesday,” because of the contract’s no-trade clause.
…for what it’s worth, callers in to talk radio in boston seem to be pushing a Manny Ramirez to the Mets for Carlos Beltran type deal, which is mind-boggling to say the least…this is just a talk-radio chit chat, from what i understand, and not based on any such report…
The Mets had been the only team interested in Mariners OF Raul Ibanez, until now.
In a report for FoxSports.com, citing ‘major-league sources,’ Ken Rosenthal writes, ‘The Cubs are discussing trades for a left-handed hitter, including Ibanez.’
…i may be letting my skepticism get to me…but, why would the Cubs even consider trading two prospects for ibanez, when they already have Alfonso Soriano, Jim Edmonds, Reed Johnson, Kosuke Fukudome and Felix Pie on staff…
According to Rosenthal, while the Mets also want Ibanez, “The Mariners are seeking two quality prospects in return.”
For instance, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com, the M’s have asked the Mets for Triple-A LHP Jon Niese in a deal for Ibanez, who, according to Joel Sherman in the New York Post, in considered ‘untouchable,’ as is Fernando Martinez.
Tagged Raul Ibanez |
Padres RHP Greg Maddux recently rejected the idea of being traded to the Phillies, according to Scott Miller at CBSSports.com.
“The Phillies apparently were simply gauging whether they would be wasting their time if they engaged the Padres in talks for the right-hander with 351 career victories,” writes Miller.
…you would think all teams would have figured it out by now, but maddux will never pitch on East Coast…
Tagged Phillies |According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates are ‘deep into trade talks’ with the Rays and ‘other parties’ 
regarding OF Jason Bay, who is better than a 50 percent chance of being traded.
…the buzz from Pittsburgh suggests that the Pirates want to trade bay, but they do not want to give him away, and may be a little gun-shy for fear of making a premature deal, or one that could be topped in the off-season…however, knowing that the Rockies are no longer shopping Matt Holliday, there may be no better time than now…
…there is buzz indicating that the Pirates are not budging from their request for your team’s best three or four prospects, while other buzz suggests they will accept any deal that includes at least one, top-flight, ‘can’t miss,’ major-league ready prospect…
…that said, from what i can gather, the Rays are not as a hot as they had been, because the Pirates are probably pressing for David Price or Wade Davis…same goes for the Mets, with regards to Jon Niese and Fernando Martinez…
…if bay is traded, my bet is on the Dodgers or Braves, maybe the A’s, possibly the Mets or Rays…
That said, according to Post-Gazette, ‘the Braves are seen as out.’
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