(* Trade Rumor Offerings To Chew On For Fun, Even Yuks)
Not to be confused with Brewers journeyman reliever Todd Coffey, the TROT COFFEY is a mailing list-only update on various trade and free agent rumblings unearthed, if not hatched, by the media:
But first, real quick: The Rangers’ Stretch Drive promotion closes at the end of the day tomorrow. You can reserve seats for the final 24 home games of the season, which includes five with the Yankees, three with the Red Sox, three with the A’s, and the regular-season-ending four with the Angels – and guarantees you the option of purchasing the same seats for all playoff games. It also includes significant savings off gate prices. Basically, you get to be a season ticket holder now, just in time for the post-season.
More details are contained in the attached PDF and on texasrangers.com. You can also email Troy King at
TKing@texasrangers.com with questions, or call 972-RANGERS.
· The Rangers were “inching closer to a first base acquisition” on Wednesday (Jim Bowden, MLB Network Radio/Fox Sports Radio)
· According to local reports and the identified national outlets, Texas is said to be in the mix, to one degree or another, for Prince Fielder (Jon Heyman, Sports Illustrated; Will Carroll, Baseball Prospectus), Adam Dunn (Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports), Jorge Cantu (Jayson Stark, ESPN; Rosenthal), Ty Wigginton (Rosenthal), Mike Lowell (Rob Bradford, WEEI, noting that Lowell is 11 for 22 with four doubles and four home runs in five rehab appearances over the last week), and Wes Helms
· We talked about the Fielder idea during
a radio segment I did on 105.3 The Fan yesterday; I just don’t think it makes sense to part with, say, Martin Perez or Tanner Scheppers, plus Chris Davis (who would be the 2010 version of the Nelson Cruz piece that was included when the same two teams made the Carlos Lee deal in 2006), plus an arm like Scott Feldman or Matt Harrison, plus another blue-chip prospect like Engel Beltre since the Rangers would need Milwaukee to dump a bunch of cash into the deal – if we’re going to load up with a package that looks anything like that (and I do expect the Brewers to demand something along those lines since they’d be giving up a year and a half of Fielder), I’m going hard after Josh Johnson or Zack Greinke or someone like that
· According to a local report, Texas refused to discuss Beltre with Seattle in the Cliff Lee trade talks
· I suspect it would take less to get Dunn than to get Fielder, but it’s still probably a prohibitive demand (Washington reportedly asked either for second baseman Gordon Beckham straight up or a package including righthander Dan Hudson plus either catcher Tyler Flowers or outfielder Jordan Danks or third baseman Brent Morel from the White Sox); don’t hold your breath
· Shoehorning this in: Baseball America’s Jim Callis issued a Prospect Dream Team earlier this week, including Perez in his starting rotation and making Scheppers his closer
· The Rangers haven’t ruled out waiting until August to address first base (Rosenthal)
· According to a local report, Florida is interested in Frisco reliever Evan Reed as part of any Cantu trade
· The Marlins are “believed to be looking for [a] young” lefthander for Cantu (Rosenthal) (for Texas, Derek Holland and Perez and Robbie Erlin are obviously not up for discussion, which could put Harrison or Michael Kirkman or Robbie Ross in play, though I doubt Texas would move Harrison for a bench bat; Kasey Kiker likely has no trade value at the moment)
· The hangup between Texas and Florida on Cantu is that “the Marlins are balking at [taking on virtually all of the $2 million remaining on Cantu’s 2010 contract] unless the Rangers are willing to dramatically upgrade the player return” (Stark)
· Nonetheless, “one [big league] source . . . believes that the Marlins, while still talking with other clubs, will get something done with Texas, as long as [the] Commissioner's Office signs off on [the] financials in the deal” (Gordon Edes, ESPN Boston)
· The same local report that mentioned Reed adds that “clubs are inquiring” about Bakersfield reliever Fabio Castillo (the Reed and Castillo notes illustrate the importance of the Rangers’ prospect depth, as those two are probably on the third tier of the club’s prospect inventory but are still drawing July interest)
· According to a local report, Texas has dispatched a scout to Washington to keep tabs on Josh Willingham and Cristian Guzman
· Various reports indicated that the Rangers were in on Derrek Lee, who wielded his 10/5 rights and declined a trade to the Angels on Wednesday
· The Angels may have “pulled back” from the trade market, deciding that, at 8.5 games back, the odds of extending their season past 162 don’t justify gutting the farm system for a short-term fix (Rosenthal) (see Sosa/Alvarez/Fletcher for Baines/Manrique, which went down 21 years ago today) (yesterday afternoon’s injury to scratched starter Joel Pineiro, who will miss 6-8 weeks with a strained oblique, surely sealed the Angels’ decision) (I sorta wish they did give up a legitimate prospect or two for Derrek Lee)
· Los Angeles could even go so far as to becoming a seller this weekend rather than a buyer, potentially listening to overtures for veterans like Bobby Abreu, Brian Fuentes, Hideki Matsui, and Maicer Izturis (Mike DiGiovanna, Los Angeles Times)
· Related note: Oakland righthander Ben Sheets is done for the year, needing flexor tendon surgery
· The second-worst part about the Angels’ acquisition of Dan Haren, for me, is that the Yankees were said to be in on Haren, whose acquisition presumably would have taken them out of the Cliff Lee hunt this winter
· At least one local report suggests that there are clubs showing some level of interest in Scott Feldman and Rich Harden (also reported by Rosenthal)
· Texas maintained interest in Roy Oswalt, even after acquiring Cliff Lee (Rosenthal, Heyman), but this morning all indications are that the Astros and Phillies have agreed on players (reportedly including lefthander J.A. Happ, righthander Vance Worley, and maybe two more arms) and await only Oswalt’s approval of the deal, which could include a decision on whether his 2012 option would be exercised now
· Sadly (if you’re a Phillies fan), any package headed by Happ probably means Philadelphia will give up more for Oswalt than they got for Lee
· The Rangers asked Florida about righthander Chris Volstad but “were turned away” (Joe Capozzi, Palm Beach Post)
· The Red Sox, Yankees, and Tigers are interested in Oakland reliever Michael Wuertz, but Oakland, “barring [a] knockout offer,” won’t trade the right-handed slider specialist (Rosenthal) (I’d love to add Wuertz here, but not for what the A’s would evidently want)
· Get this: When Texas recently approached Pittsburgh about reliever Joel Hanrahan, the Pirates, “according to a scout with direct knowledge of teams’ dealings,” responded by asking for Neftali Feliz in return (Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) (umm, wow)
· The $590,000 signing bonus that Texas gave this week to California high school righthander Cody Buckel, the club’s second-round selection in June, was more than $80,000 over slot – the second-highest over-slot deal announced so far across the league (Callis; Kevin Goldstein, Baseball Prospectus) (Buckel, who is forgoing a commitment to Pepperdine, will report to the Arizona League)
· The Rangers have granted righthander Geoff Geary’s request for his release
· The trade deadline arrives Saturday afternoon at 3:00 Central; stay tuned
