MVN - Most Valuable Network

Giants Clean House

The San Francisco Giants cleared quite a bit of room on their 40-man roster last night, out-righting pitchers Tyler Walker, Kevin Correia, and Brad Hennessey.  The move was made so San Francisco could grab a couple players in the Rule-V draft and protect them.  All three hurlers were set to receive a raise in arbitration this year, but it should not have been much.  They also cleared waivers earlier in the year, showing that there wasn’t much of a market for either of them.

The 32-year old Walker had a Jekyl/Hyde season, posting  a 4.56 ERA in 53.1 innings while only allowing right-handers to hit at a .186 clip as opposed to allowing a .319 average to lefties.  He also posted a 3.07 ERA on the road, much lower than the 6.38 he posted in San Francisco.  Tyler’s success on the road might earn him the opportunity to have some middle-relief work elsewhere.  As for Kevin Correia, the right-hander got lit up in 2008 (6.05 ERA in 110 innings) after having 2 consecutive years with a sub-3.50 ERA.  Could it be a case of needing new surroundings?

The control-artist Brad Hennessey will seemingly have the most difficult time finding new work.  The 28-year old has only struck out 192 batters in 360.1 major-league innings, and got battered in ‘08, giving up an astonishing 63 hits in 40.1 innings and having a 7.81 ERA to show for it. Hennessey has lost his success of the past, as Brad had 19 saves for the Giants last year (3.42 ERA).

Cubs Keep Harden for ‘09

The Chicago Cubs met the midnight deadline for starting-pitcher Rich Harden’s 2009 option.  They have agreed to excercize the 26-year old’s $7M option for next year, and with good reason.  Tests taken yesterday on Harden’s bumb shoulder showed no structual damage, prompting Chicago to make the decision.  Rich was nothing short of spectacular with the Cubbies, going 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA and 89 strike-outs.  His health is still a concern, but the fact that he is still quite young shows that he may put out a 200 inning year in the future.  With this being the case, $7M seems like a bargain.

This year was quite disappointing for the north-siders, but with a top 3 of Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and now Rich Harden  there’s no doubt they have a chance to make the postseason again in ‘09.

Cardinals Re-Up Lohse for 4-years

I know it’s old news, but hey I can’t miss a big signing like this one.

The St. Louis Cardinals have re-signed 30 year old starter Kyle Lohse to a 4-year deal worth $41M.  The deal isn’t as awful as I thought it would be, especially since Kyle is a Scott Boras client.  The Chino, California native had a dream year under Dave Duncan this year, going 15-6 with a 3.78 ERA.  What’s even more astonishing is the fact that Lohse didn’t sign with the club until late March since he was hoping for a huge deal from other clubs before settling to a 1-year pact with St. Louis.

As long as Lohse doesn’t regress to who he was in previous years, this signing is quite smart for the birds.  Lohse is a very durable pitcher, and his club doesn’t seem to be able to keep 5 healthy starters are any given time.  Plus the sub-4 ERA won’t hurt, especially if he can continue to win 15+ games per year.  Props to new general-manager John Mozeliak.

Red Sox Exercises Okajima’s ‘09 Option

The Boston Red Sox have decided to exercise set-up man Hideki Okajima’s 2009 option. Hideki has been a god-send for Boston ever since coming from Japan, providing key relief in the much needed bridge from the starter to the closer. It was a no-brainer for Boston; as the option was for a mere $1.75M which is a price most teams pay for an average middle-reliever. Okajima has been in an astonishing 115 games this year, posting a 2.88 ERA with 52 K’s in 56.3 innings. He seems to like Boston, and it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if he received an extension sometime during next season.

Fuentes/Taveras Placed On Waivers

The Colorado Rockies are now attempting to shed payroll enlight of being only 6 games out of the NL West, placing both closer Brian Fuentes and speedy center-fielder Willy Taveras on waivers. Both players shouldn’t clear, so look for the Rockies to get their money’s worth if they are going to trade either of these players. Fuentes would obviously be a tremendous fit for the New York Mets, but there’s plenty of other teams looking for relievers with worse records than the Metropolitans.

As for Taveras, the Washington Nationals are a perfect fit as long as young Lastings Milledge can be pushed to left or right field. Willy has 60 steals this year, leading the major leagues. There’s no doubt many teams would love to have that kind of speed on the top of their lineup.

Boston To Acquire Kotsay?

The Boston Red Sox have quickly found a replacement for the injured J.D. Drew.  Multiple major-league sources believe that the Red Sox are on the verge of acquiring outfielder Mark Kotsay from the Atlanta Braves.  The only kinks that need to be worked out in a deal is the no-trade clause that Kotsay possesses, and Boston is currently communicating with Mark and his agent about it.  If Kotsay does waive his no-trade clause, expect him to be the everday center-fielder.  The young and talented Jacoby Ellsbury would then become the right-fielder, at least until Drew returns from the DL.

Twins Acquire “Every Day” Eddie

The Minnesota Twins have brought back reliever Eddie Guardardo, acquiring him from the Texas Rangers in return for minor league thrower Mark Hamburger.  Guardado was a main stay in the Twins bullpen from his debut in 1993 to his last year with the club, 2003.  He was having a very fine season for Texas, posting a 3.58 ERA with 24 holds.  It’s an odd question why the Rangers would let him go, especially with their lack of pitching depth.

Tidbits: Reyes/Castillo

• The New York Mets have signed veteran reliever Al Reyes today, as they have quite a shallow pen with the recent news that closer Billy Wagner might be out for the year. Nice deal by Minaya, as Reyes was having a fine season before being designated by Tampa.
• The Houston Astros have claimed third-baseman Jose Castillo from the San Francisco Giants. Castillo definitely has power, but looks to be a one-dimensional type player. His home-run numbers should sky-rocket in Houston.

Dodgers Acquire Maddux

According to the AP, the Los Angeles Dodgers have reached an agreement with the San Diego Padres on acquiring 42-year old starter Greg Maddux. San Diego will recieve two minor-league players to be named or cash considerations.  They will still be on the hook for $1.3M of Maddux’s remaining $2.2M.

I don’t understand the deal from the Dodgers point of view, as Eric Stults was mighty strong in his few starts.  Now they add a veteran who is not only more expensive but probably doesn’t have the stuff that a younger Stults does.  General Manager Ned Coletti seemingly added Maddux just for his name.

Tigers Tidbits: Sheffield/Garcia

• The Detroit Tigers have placed outfielder/DH Gary Sheffield on waivers. The 39-year old voiced his displeasure as the designated-hitter and believes that he must be a position player in order to become a vocal leader. He’s hitting .219 this year. Sheffield was shopped to the Rays a couple of days ago, a team who would seemingly have a spot for him, but no interest was shown.
• Detroit has also signed starting-pitcher Freddy Garcia to a minor-league contract. Garcia is finally becoming healthy, and should be up with Detroit by the end of August. The Tigers seem to be out of the American League Central race, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

Red Sox Acquire Byrd From Indians

The Boston Red Sox have added starting-pitch depth, now that Tim Wakefield is injured, acquiring veteran Paul Byrd from the Cleveland Indians for either a player to be named or cash. The 37-year old finesse pitcher has posted a 4.53 ERA in 131 innings for Cleveland, but has shown the ability to be a strong starter. He’s still due $2M, which is the reason he cleared waivers, but it is not yet known whether Boston will be paying all of it. You must wonder why the Yankees didn’t get involved with Byrd.

Cleveland should be very happy that they shipped Paul, as they are out of the race this year and should shed salary on veterans any chance they get. Look for them to attempt to move some more veteran players in the next couple days.

Arizona Acquires Dunn

The Arizona Diamondbacks have attempted to match the Los Angeles Dodgers’ move of acquiring Manny Ramirez, claiming outfielder Adam Dunn off waivers from the Cincinatti Reds. The Reds will receive a package including minor-league pitcher Dallas Buck and two players to be named later.

While his defense might not be adequate, especially in right-field where he’s expected to play, Adam Dunn brings a presence to the middle of the Diamondbacks lineup that they have been lacking. Sure, he’s only hitting .233. But he’s still putting up a .373 OBP and is tied for the major-league lead with 32 HR’s. In other words, he’s real good. Adam’s definitely an all-star caliber player with the bat and thats all the D-Backs really need right now, especially after losing second-baseman Orlando Hudson for the year.

The Reds’ haul is nice for a soon to be free-agent, getting a pitcher who is putting up a 3.55 ERA in 50 2/3 innings down in the farm in Buck. The 23-year old right-hander is one year removed from having Tommy John surgery. Expect the two PTBNL’s to be pretty decent as well.

It’s Waiver Time: Players Who are On or Cleared Waivers

After the annual July 31st deadline, the only way a player can be traded to another team is by clearing waivers. If you didn’t know, waiver priority goes to the team with the worst overall record. If Boston and the Pirates claim so-and-so, the Pirates would win the claim as their record is much worse. Once a player is claimed, the claiming team is the only one who can acquire the player. Now, if a player is put on waivers and no one claims him, he can therefore be traded to any club. There’s a couple reasons they might not get claimed, either because of a high salary or because of just being a terrible player. Let’s take a look at who has cleared waivers thus far:

Scott Schoenweis: It looks like no team wanted to left-hander, despite putting up a much lower ERA than his 2007 campaign. Scott is still owed another $3.6M next year.

Duaner Sanchez: Sanchez can’t throw the ball as hard as he used to with the Dodgers, now working in the low-80s high 90s range. Duaner is still under the Mets’ control through 2009.

Greg Maddux: The wily veteran cleared waivers, mainly due to the fact that he would only waive his no-trade clause to go to team on the west-coast. It doesn’t seem like the Dodgers are interested, and the Giants don’t need another veteran on a youth-starved club.

Paul Byrd: It’s very questionable why Byrd wasn’t claimed, as many teams are hunting for starting-pitching and Byrd is a free-agent after this year. I guess the $7.5M price tag was too much.

Now for the players that were claimed, and what their current situation is:

Huston Street: Street was claimed by a non-contending team, according to Buster Olney, but was not close to being traded as a short talk seemed to go nowhere. My guess would be that the Pirates would have been the team, as they could use some relief help with Damaso Marte gone.

Brian Giles: Giles was claimed by the Boston Red Sox, who had a deal in place with the Padres. But Brian decided to block that trade, despite all odds. He would be playing in the middle of a playoff hunt, in a much better hitter’s ballpark. He must sure love San Diego’s weather.

Brad Ausmus: Ausmus was claimed by the Florida Marlins, during the same time that the Fish solidified their catching role by signing Paul Lo Duca. A deal has not been made yet, but Florida looks to be willing to take on his remaining $590k in salary.

Additionally, Seattle left-hander Jarrod Washburn was put on waivers yesterday. The waivers will expire on Tuesday, and it’s still not clear if the Yankees will remain interested.

Tampa Bay Acquires Bradford

The Tampa Rays have acquired a great reliever to add to their already strong bullpen, claiming submariner Chad Bradford off waivers from Baltimore. The Orioles will receive a player-to-be-named-later. Excellent move by the Rays, adding another fine reliever to lessen the load on young J.P. Howell. Bradford is still owed a little over a million dollars for the remainder of the year, as well as $3.5M in 2009. In 40.1 innings this year, Big Bad Chad has posted a 2.45 ERA.

Tidbits: Haren/Livan

• The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed starting-pitcher Dan Haren to a deal that will keep the 28-year old rightie with Arizona until 2014.  He will earn $7.5M next year, $8.25M in ‘10,$12.75M in ‘11 and ‘12, and will have a $15.5M option for 2013.  Great deal for the D-Backs, as Haren is definitely one of the best.
• The Colorado Rockies have won the waiver-claim on veteran starter Livan Hernandez.  Colorado and Minnesota will now work on a deal to send Hernandez to Colorado.  The Rockies have been looking for 5th starter, and Livan can’t hurt.