:shock: The Yankees have inquired about Dodger 3rd baseman Wilson Betemit. Where do they think A-Rod is going?
Red Sox hoping to land Gagne By Tim Brown Monday, Jul 30, 2007 5:28 pm EDT NEW YORK – Mid-afternoon Monday, in the wake of the Mark Teixeira trade to the Atlanta Braves, the emphasis had turned to the bullpens, where the Boston Red Sox hoped to convince Eric Gagne to set up for Jonathan Papelbon, the Los Angeles Dodgers had resigned themselves to losing Octavio Dotel – probably to the Braves, and the New York Yankees were holding tight to their pitching prospects, despite their disgust with right-hander Kyle Farnsworth. The next tier of relievers includes Washington's Chad Cordero and Jon Rauch, Tampa Bay's Al Reyes, Pittsburgh's Damaso Marte, Shawn Chacon and Solomon Torres, St. Louis' Russ Springer and Baltimore's Chad Bradford. Gagne's contract stipulates that he must approve a trade to the Red Sox – among 16 other teams – and, thus far, would prefer to close for the Texas Rangers than set up for another club. Meantime, the Houston Astros were making infielders Mark Loretta and Mike Lamb available to the San Diego Padres, the Baltimore Orioles were getting little action on Steve Trachsel and Jay Payton – both available – and teams were being told that Jason Isringhausen would not waive his no-trade clause in St. Louis. The Braves also were said to be talking to the Cincinnati Reds (who dealt Kyle Lohse to the Philadelphia Phillies) about Bronson Arroyo, and the Red Sox were shopping outfielder Wily Mo Pena. The Seattle Mariners would like to add a starter and a reliever, but probably will have to settle for the latter. They were hoping to talk the Florida Marlins into moving Dontrelle Willis, but have had no substantive negotiations.
Yanks would move Damon By Tim Brown Monday, Jul 30, 2007 7:45 pm EDT NEW YORK – The New York Yankees have let it be known outfielder Johnny Damon can be had, news that's been met with little enthusiasm. Damon is owed $13 million in each of the next two seasons. If he remains at or around .247, the 33-year-old Damon will have seen his batting average fall at least 30 points in successive seasons. A Yankees source said the club probably won't attempt to upgrade at first base, leaving that to Andy Phillips. • The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are getting a lot of calls on Al Reyes and Dan Wheeler. The Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers are among the inquirers. • Count the Cleveland Indians as one of the teams that sniffed around Jermaine Dye, only to find the asking price too high. The Indians remain intent on adding a reliever. The cost of Dye eventually led them to Kenny Lofton.
Re: Yankees I'm hearing that the Dodgers are asking about Scott Proctor. The Yanks are looking at betemit as A-Rod insurance and as a backup first baseman. They are shopping Damon but he'll not be easy to move. He's been hurt since he first put on the pinstripes. His arm may be the weakest in baseball.Melky Cabrera has made him totally expendable. I'm hearing that there are only two teams that Gagne cannot block trades to: the Mets and the Yankees. The Yankees have three top pitching prospects in the minors that they will not part with. I hope.
:idea: It's official: Scott Proctor (30) for Wilson Betemit (27). A straight up trade with no kids or cash involved. This is a good trade for both teams... Both players are having an off year, but both are still young and have tremendous potential and both can help their clubs rights now. Proctor will be the righthanded, middle relief compliment to Joe Beimel, who's the lefthanded, middle relief specialist. Proctor has been overused in New York, but that shouldn't happen here. This gives the Dodgers Proctor, Beimel, Broxton and Saito as prime-time relievers for the final three innings of every game and pushes Rudy Seanez into mop-up duty. This will work... The Yankees are getting a potential star in Betemit. He's listed as a switch-hitter, but that's BS. He's batting around .096 righthanded with one HR. Lefthanded he's batting .300 with 9 HRs. Think about it. He's an average fielder who began the year as the Dodgers starting 3rd baseman, but his failure as a righthanded hitter cost him his job. He might be the starting 3B on a lot of teams, but the Dodgers have Garciaparra now and Andy LaRoche down at Las Vegas, so Betemit became expendable. The Braves regarded Betemit as the #1 prospect in their organization and the Dodgers kept Nomar at 1B and Loney at Las Vegas to accomodate him, but it didn't work. He has an incredibly quick bat from the left side and he's always faced the pressure of being the "star of the future." If the Yankees use him as a regular player off the bench, he should be a standout. He excelled in that role here and would, as I said, be a starter for most teams in MLB... BTW- a big part of this trade involved what the two teams DID NOT give up. Both teams have some kids in the minors that they're very high on and they didn't give them up. That's good news for the fans of both teams...
Betemit will be a Yankee for the balance of the season I suspect. He'll be used as a LH pinch hitter. Proctor has been grossly overused by the Yankees for two years. His problem this year has been control; lots of walks and constantly pitching from behind in the count which led to some big innings. The best thing the Dodgers could do with him is put him on the 15day DL for rest. You're right about both teams holding on to their young pitchers; that was very smart. I was delighted that the Yankees did not give Texas Hughes and Chamberlain for Gagne, who I think is one pitch away from retirement.
I am sorry and hate to start trouble...... http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070731/NEWS/70731058 Mr Krebs...Is there any way you have any influence to stop Ft Monmouth from moving????
The rich just got richer. The Red Sox, with the lowest bullpen ERA in MLB, now have the Mighty Gagne to SET UP for Papelbon. Gagne had to agree to this in advance. He will become a free agent again at the end of the season... Gagne to Red Sox, Teixeira to Braves, Padres busy at trade deadline passes Posted: Tuesday Jul 31, 2007 11:21 PM Eric Gagne gave up a closing job in Texas for a setup role in Boston in the biggest trade Tuesday before baseball's deadline to make deals without waivers. Atlanta finalized its seven-player trade to acquire power-hitting first baseman Mark Teixeira from the payroll-paring Rangers. Those were by far the biggest of the 10 trades that involved 25 players. Many of the big names bandied about in recent weeks stayed put, with no deals materializing for Chicago White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye, Washington closer Chad Cordero and Cincinnati outfielder Adam Dunn by the 4 p.m. deadline. Instead, contenders scrambled for whatever relief pitching was available, with the Braves obtaining setup man Octavio Dotel from Kansas City and the Los Angeles Dodgers getting Scott Proctor from the New York Yankees for infielder Wilson Betemit. Gagne, a three-time All-Star and the 2003 NL Cy Young Award winner for the Dodgers, was traded for left-hander Kason Gabbard and minor league outfielders David Murphy and Engel Beltre. Gagne will serve as Jonathan Papelbon's primary setup man and will close on days Papelbon needs rest. "We actually love our bullpen,'' Boston manager Terry Francona said of his relievers, who have the lowest ERA in the majors at 2.74. "I think it just got a lot better.'' Milwaukee also tried to land Gagne, who can become a free agent after the World Series. "Scott Boras represents Dice-K, J.D. Drew and Jason Varitek and they're all in Boston,'' Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. "So, I don't know whether that pushed him that way or did it come down to just the players that were offered, I don't know that. We were offering a lot for what probably would amount to 20 innings for the rest of the year.'' Teixeira went to the Braves with left-hander Ron Mahay for rookie catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and four prospects: shortstop Elvis Andrus, left-hander Matt Harrison, left-hander Beau Jones and right-hander Neftali Feliz. Teixeira played at Georgia Tech and his wife, Leigh, is from the Atlanta area. Plus he has the chance to play on a perennial contender. "It's more relief,'' he said. "You hear a few teams and you're like you don't want to end up there.'' Teixeira, eligible for free agency after the 2008 season, was an All-Star in 2005 and is a two-time Gold Glove winner. Atlanta also got Dotel from the Royals for right-hander Kyle Davies, and left-hander Royce Ring from San Diego for right-hander Wilfredo Ledezma and lefty Will Startup. "We've got a World Series team,'' Braves shortstop Edgar Renteria said. "That makes the whole lineup more dangerous. It's exciting.'' Saltalamacchia was rated Atlanta's top prospect by Baseball America before the season, with Andrus second, Harrison third, Jones 14th and Feliz 18th. "That's what it took,'' Braves general manager John Schuerholz said. "I'll think about next year next year.'' Texas owner Tom Hicks said the trade was made after Boras, who also represents Teixeira, turned down a $140 million, eight-year extension that was offered two weeks ago. "We told Boras that if our offer was turned down, we would trade Tex now if we received an appropriate offer, or during the off season if not,'' Hicks said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Cordero, relieved that he wasn't dealt, sat in the home dugout at RFK Stadium in his blue warmup jersey and smiled. "It feels really good to be able to stay here and hopefully see that new stadium next year,'' he said. "I heard they were asking too much. That made me feel a lot better - it meant the chances of me going were very slim.'' At Yankee Stadium, Dye was happy he remained with the White Sox. "We have a good nucleus here,'' he said. "We have most of the guys here, and next year try again.'' In this wild-card era, when the 16 teams playing .500 or better all think they have a chance to make a playoff push, fewer big names seem to be available at the trade deadline each succeeding season. Trades still can occur if players pass through waivers: The New York Mets got outfielder Shawn Green and reliever Guillermo Mota after the deadline last year, Detroit obtained infielder Neifi Perez and Philadelphia got first baseman Jeff Conine. In Tuesday's other trades: -Boston sent right-hander Joel Pineiro and cash to St. Louis for a player to be named. -The White Sox sent utilityman Rob Mackowiak to San Diego for right-hander Jon Link. -Houston dealt infielder Morgan Ensberg and cash to San Diego for a player to be named or cash. -Philadelphia obtained right-hander Julio Mateo from Seattle for infielder Jesus Merchan. -San Francisco sent right-hander Matt Morris to Pittsburgh for center fielder Rajai Davis and a player to be named.