Inquiring and acquiring
GMs ponder trades as deadline nears
It's the "silly season," as many general managers call this time of year when trade rumors fly. It's when GMs who are selling go to contending teams with strong farm systems (read: Tampa Bay, Boston) and ask for multiple top prospects for relief pitchers.
The Yankees jumped in with both feet Friday, acquiring outfielder Xavier Nady and lefthanded reliever Damaso Marte from the Pirates for four second-tier prospects. Why Pittsburgh didn't wait for a better deal is anyone's guess, but it took two of the more coveted players off the market.
The big names in the pitching market are almost all gone. CC Sabathia has made the Brewers a bona fide contender in the National League Central, and beyond. Rich Harden has solidified the Cubs' starting rotation. And so now we wait for action on the Blue Jays' A.J. Burnett, or even (gasp) Roy Halladay, who according to a Newark Star-Ledger report is available because he's frustrated in Toronto.
The Cardinals, despite the fact they will soon get back Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, have the best shot because Burnett wants to go to St. Louis and he has a no-trade clause to 15 teams. The Blue Jays and Cardinals have also done business before, with the Troy Glaus-Scott Rolen swap.
The Red Sox would love one of the available lefthanded relievers, but have been shot down on the one who might have made sense - George Sherrill. Orioles owner Peter Angelos doesn't like trading impact players within the division, so unless there's super compensation coming back, it probably won't happen. Sherrill is the one guy the Sox might have ponied up for, since he's under team control through 2011 and Boston could keep him after the season or sell him off.
The Sox are still in on Colorado's Brian Fuentes, Kansas City's Ron Mahay, and Oakland's Huston Street, and were interested in Marte. The Sox tried to get righthander Jon Rauch from Washington, but wouldn't give up Jed Lowrie and Michael Bowden. Rauch was dealt to Arizona last Tuesday. The Sox will likely not give up Clay Buchholz for Fuentes, but the Rockies may take less.
Two others to watch: Pittsburgh's John Grabow and the Mets' Scott Schoeneweis, both lefties. One Mets official said the team would be willing to part with Schoeneweis (the Tigers might be interested) if they could obtain an outfielder.
The big names to track among position players are Colorado's Matt Holliday and Atlanta's Mark Teixeira. It doesn't appear the Braves will re-sign Teixeira, while Holliday is under Colorado's control through 2009. But Atlanta has wavered, wondering whether it could still make a run in the NL East with Tom Glavine on the mend and Mike Hampton returning yesterday, 35 months after his last major league appearance. A number of teams need a big bopper, from the Diamondbacks (who would love to get Teixeira) to the Angels to the Mets to the Yankees, and possibly the Dodgers. But you have to be able to trade for Teixeira and then sign him, which limits his possible destinations.
The NL Central teams are in the hunt for pitching. The Cardinals would love Burnett, but they also want a closer such as Sherrill. Milwaukee is also interested in Sherrill. We wonder if the Pirates are done dealing. They could still sell off coveted righthanded bat Jason Bay (Mets, Angels), Grabow, and shortstop Jack Wilson.
The Mariners are also a team to watch. "We have three players who could impact a team," said a club official. "Adrian Beltre, Raul Ibanez, and Erik Bedard." The Twins wanted Beltre, couldn't work it out, and are now after Hank Blalock. Ibanez seems to make sense for the Mets or Angels, while Bedard, who has been sidelined since July 4 because of tightness in his pitching shoulder, "is a guy who just didn't fit here," according to the Mariners official. "He needs to go somewhere where there's another strong personality who can kick his butt."
The Dodgers got involved yesterday by scooping up Indians third baseman Casey Blake for two minor leaguers. One NL scout suspects the Dodgers have been exploring something with the Nationals on shortstop Cristian Guzman. If indeed the Blue Jays deal Burnett or Halladay, the Dodgers will be in on that as well. Meanwhile, Bill Lajoie, the Dodgers' top adviser, has been watching Street quite a bit.
The Giants are making Rich Aurilia, Omar Vizquel, and Randy Winn available. Winn might not be a bad option as a corner outfielder. If the A's deal Street, who knows if a team can wow Billy Beane enough to extract Justin Duchscherer? Mark Ellis and Bobby Crosby could also be dealt.
We'll see how it shakes out as we approach Thursday's 4 p.m. deadline.
When the Ryno's away...
Nice relaxing weekend in Cooperstown for Ryne Sandberg? Not quite.
The Hall of Fame second baseman has been on the telephone quite a bit after a brawl Thursday between the team he manages - the Single A Peoria Chiefs - and the Dayton Dragons. In Sandberg's absence, his team engaged in a beanball, benches-clearing incident that resulted in 15 players being ejected. Sandberg had been given time off to attend the Hall of Fame ceremonies.
"It was unfortunate," said Sandberg. "It was, in a lot of ways, disappointing. Players from both sides didn't act very professionally out there and did some things wrong. So, obviously, there are some consequences there that'll take place in the next few days, and then [we will] just try and get it behind [us]. But, yeah, unfortunate situation, and something that myself and I know the Cubs' organization, that's not what teaching the minor leaguers is all about."
Sandberg's replacement, Carmelo Martinez, argued with Dayton manager Donnie Scott on the field, there was a shove, and the benches emptied. A fan was also injured when struck on the forehead by a ball thrown by Chiefs pitcher Julio Castillo, who was arrested and charged with felonious assault.
As of Friday, Castillo, who is from the Dominican Republic, was being held in Dayton on $50,000 bond and was directed to surrender his passport. If convicted, he would face up to eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
"As soon as this is all over with, I'll be anxious to get back, as I was last year, just to get back to work," said Sandberg. "Yeah, I'll be anxious to kind of approach the guys and talk with them."
Sandberg, who hopes to manage in the majors someday, was asked what he will tell his players.
"I'll want to find out what was really at the bottom of it, what was the reason for the drastic reaction that went on out there, and also I've told them about handling themselves professionally on the field and when you don't do that, the consequences that come your way," he said. "So, it'll be a little reminder about that but also kind of deal with everything and basically get back to work because there's a game every day."
Etc.
Touching the basesApropos of nothing: 1. Bob Stanley still throws a mean BP for Double A Connecticut; 2. Wouldn't the Red Sox do with Manny Ramírez what the Yankees did with Gary Sheffield and pick up the option (and then pursue trade opportunities) just so he couldn't go to the Yankees?; 3. Sox outfield prospect Josh Reddick looks like he's pretty special; 4. The biggest no-show at both the All-Star celebration and Cooperstown, where 54 living Hall of Famers gathered - Carl Yastrzemski.
Split personalities
In this era of specialization, there likely won't be another player-manager in the game after Pete Rose and Frank Robinson. But there would be a candidate - Gabe Kapler, an outfielder with the Brewers who managed the Sox' Single A team in Greenville, S.C., last year. One baseball official familiar with Kapler said, "He could pull it off. I know he has only one year of minor league managing experience, but it's experience, nonetheless. Now he has the vantage point as a player and a manager. If he was the 25th guy, a backup player, and he managed, I suppose he could do it. But I don't see any organization ever giving him the opportunity to do both."
Handing it to shortstop
Kapler, who managed Sox shortstop prospect Argenis Diaz in Greenville, said, "Diaz is fun to watch. He is a talented young player with special hands, a strong arm, and great balance on D. He has the ability to make difficult plays look easy. The one thing that comes to mind about him is the size of his hands. They are pretty big relative to his overall stature." Diaz was recently promoted to Double A Portland.
Not-so-spectacular bid
Surprising that John Canning Jr.'s bid to purchase the Cubs was not among the highest, and therefore the minority owner of the Brewers, as well as a friend of Bud Selig's, is not likely to be among the finalists. Mark Cuban, however, will be. The
Sideline to bullpen
With Kerry Wood on the disabled list, the Cubs are looking for bullpen help like everyone else, but for now they feel excited about former Notre Dame wideout Jeff Samardzija coming up to pitch a few innings. The hard-throwing righthander struck out 25, walked five, and allowed 13 hits in his last three starts (19 innings) for Triple A Iowa. One scout who watched Samardzija in Iowa said, "He should be pretty effective in relief because he's not afraid to pound the strike zone. I would think he might be able to throw harder as a reliever and he can definitely give you multiple innings because he's stretched out. All things considered, this gives the Cubs a chance to find out what one of their best arms can do in the thick of things."
Short hops
Wade Boggs was surprised to learn there was a bit of a squawk over him wearing a Yankees cap at the All-Star ceremonies. "I meant no disrespect to the Red Sox," said Boggs. "It was Yankee Stadium. It was a team that I had also played for. It was to honor George Steinbrenner, a man I have great respect for. This wasn't about anything against Boston or the Red Sox. I've always loved my affiliation with the Red Sox. It's where my career began and where I played for many years. But we're in Yankee Stadium and it's also where I played and where I won a championship and Gold Gloves. Hard for me to believe that people wouldn't understand that." . . . Red Sox special assistant Allard Baird has spent much of the past couple of months looking for a future starting catcher. We'll know more in the offseason when the Sox begin to map out what they might do to replace (or get ready to replace) Varitek if the Captain doesn't accept the two-year extension the Sox may offer. The Sox will have a lot of company in looking for a catcher. If Jorge Posada's catching days are over (beyond the rest of the season), the Yankees will be in the market as well. Texas's Gerald Laird could be a target. The Mariners would love to unload Kenji Johjima, whose three-year, $16.5 million extension doesn't kick in until next season. With the state of catching, you never know if someone may bite. There were recent rumors about Johjima and the Sox, but Boston officials denied it . . . Happy 33d birthday, Shea Hillenbrand.
A member of baseball's royalty checks in with a few observations
A few questions for Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett:
Anyone out there remind you of you?
GB: I don't know. How would you describe me? I hit a lot of doubles and triples for a guy who didn't run that well. I hit for average. I didn't strike out much and walked a lot. That's one thing I look at now. There aren't many guys who have more walks than strikeouts. Back when we played in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, strikeouts were an embarrassment. Now people accept strikeouts. They don't care if they strike out twice a game. Every time I struck out I was [upset]. One year I had more home runs than strikeouts. I understand the game has changed. Players are bigger, faster, stronger. Weight lifting has changed the game. Every team has strength and conditioning, workout facilities. They look good in the mirror, they look good in the shower. Once the game starts, it's home run derby. The art of moving runners over and the art of hitting and running and the art of hitting a single with two outs, you don't see that anymore. What perturbs me is that you're down by two runs in the bottom of the ninth, guys are trying to hit home runs rather than trying to get on base. You get on base. That's your job. You walk or you get a single. Then the guy behind [you] might get a double and the guy behind him."
Do you think Jim Rice will make it in the Hall next year?
GB: "Jim Rice was a great player. And I don't know how he was to deal with for the media or whether he was a nice guy or a bad guy or whatever, you can make the media mad at you, you can turn them down and get into an argument, and they can say something back at you. The next thing you know friction begins and all of a sudden I'm not going to vote for him. I hope that's not the case with some of these guys. This is one of the greatest thrills you can have, and hopefully that's not keeping him out.
What hitters do you like watching?
GB: [Albert ] Pujols, Ichiro [ Suzuki], [Alex Rodriguez], Manny [Ramírez], [Chase] Utley. Matt Holliday, I like him. I used to like Todd Helton, but I don't know if father time is getting to him. There are certain guys that every morning I wake up I see how [they] have done in the newspaper. I'll tell you who I really watch is Jacoby Ellsbury. He's just a hard-working kid who is very, very exciting. When he puts it together, he's going to be special because he's so talented."
Dustin Pedroia?
GB: No. Swings too hard for a second baseman, in my opinion. I think he's having a very good year. I just think he swings too hard. Just hit line drives, gap to gap, and don't swing from your [rear] on every pitch."
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.
