MVN - Most Valuable Network

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.

Manny Ramirez Headed to Dodgers in 3-Way Deal

And this one takes the cake. Future Hall-of-Famer and one of the best hitters in the game, Manny Ramirez, is being sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 3-team deal including the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Boston Red Sox will receive Jason Bay from the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the Pirates receiving third-baseman Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris from the Dodgers as well as outfielder Brandon Moss and relief-pitcher Craig Hansen from the Red Sox.

Manny Ramirez is definitely going to help the Dodgers’ offense tremendously, as his 20 HR and 68 RBI now lead the club. The only question is what the Dodgers plan to do with such a surplus of outfielders. They can’t release center fielder Andruw Jones as he’s due quite a bit of money next year, most likely meaning that either Juan Pierre, Andre Ethier, or Matt Kemp are not likely going to get any playing time at all. The deal makes a whole lot of sense for LA, as young Andy LaRoche was stuck behind recently-acquired Casey Blake as well as Blake DeWitt at third.

The Pittsburgh Pirates seemingly received the best end of this deal, acquiring 4 very good prospects for a 29-year old left-fielder who wasn’t needed in the middle of a rebuilding process. Andy LaRoche will now join his brother Adam in the Pirates infield, and could blossom with regular playing time. Craig Hansen is a 24-year old reliever who has above-average stuff and would be a great late-inning bet for Pittsburgh if he could command his stuff a bit more. Brandon Moss seems to be a key piece in the deal, as there’s no doubt the 24-year old right fielder can produce just as well, if not better, than Bay did. He will continue to blossom in Pittsburgh, and should be the number 3 hitter as soon as next year. The last piece of the deal, Bryan Morris, is the lone member of the deal who has no major-league experience. In Single-A this year, Morris is 2-4 with a 3.39 ERA and 70 strike-outs in 77 innings. He’s definitely the one project in the deal.

The loser of the deal, with no doubt about it, is the Boston Red Sox.  Sure, they were getting tired of Manny’s attitude and joking antics. But he’s Manny Ramirez, and there’s no way you can replace his hitting ability in the middle of your order. Jason Bay might be a decent left-fielder with no history of attitude problems, but pitchers won’t whimper at Bay which most likely means David Ortiz will be pitched around quite a bit more now. Besides Ramirez, they also had to give two 24-year olds who looked to have bright futures. I just don’t know what general manager Theo Epstein was thinking with this one.

Marlins Add Pen Help, Acquire Rhodes

The Florida Marlins have added a much-needed lefty in their bullpen, acquiring 38 year old Arthur Rhodes from the Seattle Mariners. In return, Seattle will get a young pitcher named Gaby Hernandez. In 22 innings this year, Rhodes has posted a superb 2.86 ERA. Left-handers are hitting a mere .200 off him this year. He should be a key piece for Florida’s pen as Renyel Pinto, the other left-hander in the Fish’s pen, leads the majors in appearances.

Gaby Hernandez is a 22-year old right-hander. He looks like a very raw control pitcher, as his strike-out ratio is nowhere near off the charts. He put up good numbers in Single-A and Triple-A, but has yet to find his niche this year. It’ll be interesting to see how he develops for Seattle.

Chi Sox Acquire Griffey Jr.

In another unexpected move in the 2008 trading deadline, the Chicago White Sox have sent pitcher Nick Masset and second-baseman Danny Richar to the Cincinatti Reds in return for outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. The deal seems to also include a bit of cash going to Chicago. The 38-year old Griffey seems to be an odd fit for Chicago, as they already have Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye in the corners and Griffey might be a tad slow for center. Still, the sweetest swing in the game should help Chicago’s lineup by providing even more power to an already powerful lineup.

Cincinatti’s haul is pretty nice, as the 26-year old Masset seems to have a bit of upside, and is already major-league ready. He’s struggled this year though, posting a 4.63 ERA in 44.7 innings. As for Richar, the 25-year second-baseman seems to have a decent bat, putting up a career line of .288/.339/.440 in 708 minor-league games.

LaTroy Hawkins Traded to Astros

The Houston Astros have continued to be busy this deadline, now acquiring relief-pitcher LaTroy Hawkins from the New York Yankees. In return, New York will receive second-baseman Matt Cusick.

The recently designated Hawkins should help out Houston’s bullpen, as he put up pretty good numbers in “pitcher-friendly” Coors Field, pun intended, last year. Still, it’s odd to see the Astros continuing to buy despite being 9.5 games out of the Wild Card race.

As for Cusick, the 22-year old second baseman is having a good season for the Lexington Legends, hitting .285 with 9 HR 38 RBI and 8 SB. He looks to be a pretty decent prospect, but was likely going to get no chance with the Yankees backing up Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano. He should get a much better chance with the ‘Stros.