Category Archives: Trade Rumors

Granderson and Jackson nuggets

UPDATE: 10:01 PM: Things seem to have really slowed down. For Nightengale’s insistence that the Tigers want to move Granderson this week, others aren’t seeing the same things. Buster Olney on Baseball Tonight said the Tigers asked for Austin Jackson and Phil Hughes from the Yankees for Grandy and from the Cubs they wanted Starlin Castro and 2 pitching prospects. Phil Rogers says the Mariners may be in on Granderson and Ed Price further confirms the Diamondbacks interest in Edwin Jackson. And Dombrowski has a weak denial (my interpretation) that the team is close to any deals.

UPDATE 4:54 PMFoxsports.com has updated their site reiterating that a deal is close for Jackson but still call Arizona and Seattle as the favorites. Joel Sherman said Mariners officials are downplaying their interest while Ed Price said the Tigers are mulling over a dozen offers for the right hander. Morosi says the Angels are still in on both Granderson and Jackson.

UPDATE 4:18 PM: Foxsports.com reports the Tigers are close to trading Jackson and lists the D’backs and Mariners but rule out the Dodgers, Brewers, and Mets. Buster Olney tweets the asking price for Jackson is very high. The Chicago Tribune says lobby buzz is that the Yankees are hot on the trail of Granderson. Ed Price calls interest lukewarm because of unwillingness to deal Austin Jackson.

UPDATE 3:14 PM:Ed Price tweeted rumor that the Mets acquired Edwin Jackson, but then quickly clarified and Mets officials issued a denial.

UPDATE 1:59 PM: Bob Nightengale tweets the Tigers are close to trading Edwin Jackson. No mention of where that might be though.

There is no real news on the Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson trade fronts, but here is a roundup of some news and related tweets from this morning.

Image credit: yoppy on flickr

Tigers interested in George Sherrill?

For all the talk of the Tigers being broke, the Dodgers might be in a tougher situation. They didn’t offer any of their players arbitration and now they are looking to move players, including reliever George Sherrill.

Matthew Pouilot notes that the Tigers might be a fit for a deal where Sherrill and a prospect head to Detroit in exchange for Edwin Jackson. Pouilot also mentions the Rangers, Rays, and Phillies as potential suitors.

The lefty reliever made $2.75 million last year and in 2010 he enters his last year of arbitration eligibility his last 2 years of arbitration eligibility before becoming a free agent. Sherrill keep his strikeout rate above 9 and he generally keeps his walks a touch over 3 except for 2 outlier years in 2006 and 2008. While his FIP projection is similar to Bobby Seay’s, Sherrill did it as a general reliever and not a LOOGY like Seay did making his numbers more impressive.

Continue reading Tigers interested in George Sherrill?

Why moving Cabrera could make it harder to keep Verlander

The good news for Tigers fans is that according to Jon Paul Morosi a couple of sources say it is unlikely that the Tigers trade Miguel Cabrera this week. Salary relief would of course be nice, but Morosi raises another good point. Trading away a team’s best player likely sends the wrong message to the player you’d like to keep around.

Verlander, who is on the verge of receiving a big raise in salary arbitration, is on track to become a free agent after the 2011 season. If the Tigers trade prominent players such as Granderson and Jackson, they may have a difficult time convincing Verlander to remain in Detroit for the long term.

It’s quite the conundrum for the Tigers. The cash saved by in the future by moving Miguel Cabrera or Curtis Granderson would certainly help with the flexibility to sign Justin Verlander but it would also make the climate less attractive. Verlander will get his money regardless so he’ll be able to look for a favorable situation.

As for what it will take to sign Verlander, we can start by looking at some rumors swirling around Felix Hernandez who like Verlander is 2 years removed from free agency. Ken Rosenthal reports that the two sides are far apart on a long term deal where the starting point was a 4 year $45 million offer.

Hernandez should command more because as good as Verlander has been, King Felix has been better and is 3 years younger. Still, it would take probably $20 million to buy out Verlander’s 2 arbitration years and then $15-18 million per year after that at least.

Milton Bradley talks not close

Jon Heyman writes today that things aren’t very close in a proposed Milton Bradley for Pat Burrell swap between the Rays and the Cubs. This doesn’t have a direct impact on the Tigers, but it is worth watching because there is speculation that the Cubs would want to move Bradley before setting their sights on Curtis Granderson.

Some in the Tigers blogosphere had suggested that Milton Bradley may be a decent acquisition for the Tigers if it involved a swap of undesirable contracts. Bradley will earn $10 million in 2010 and $11 million in 2011.

Bradley is coming off a year that saw his power drop dramatically as he only mustered a .397 slugging percentage. He hit fewer line drives and more groundballs but managed to maintain a health .378 OBP.

UPDATE: Thanks to Ben and Lee for pointing to this related note from Will Carroll that Mike Cameron is also in the Cubs mix, which if he was signed would likely kill Granderson trade talk as far as the Cubs were concerned.

Image from SD Dirk on Flickr

More Granderson and Jackson rumors

I don’t know that we’ll cover every Tigers trade rumor here. It usually isn’t worth the effort, but there were some fairy significant reports regarding subjects of Edwin Jackson and Curtis Granderson.

The New York and Chicago media have been beating the drum for Granderson to land in their respective cities. Now there are reports that Dave Dombrowski has had discussions with the Angels. The Angels have 24 year old shortstop prospect Brandon Wood who the Tigers may find appealing. Granderson would presumably move to left field with Torii Hunter manning center.

If the thought of trading Granderson is upsetting to you (it is to me), you may take some comfort in that at least one AL executive doesn’t think it’s going to happen.

On the Jackson front, the Tigers have talked with Doug Melvin and the Milwaukee Brewers. I’m sure they’ve talked with a number of clubs, but here’s the money quote:

"Dave’s in charge of that one," said Melvin. "They’ll identify which clubs are matches and they’ll call them. he’s looking for young players and young pitchers."

I agree with Jason Beck in that it sounds like the team is doing a little more than just listening to offers.

What the heck is going on (re: trade rumors)?

I don’t remember the general manager meetings being this interesting in past years. Most of the action seems to usually take place at the winter meetings that take place in December. This year the GM meetings have served Tigers fans up with a disconcerting set of rumors with the Tigers making most of the team available for trade. But does this qualify as a fire sale?

It all started Tuesday night when the news hit that Edwin Jackson could be available along with Gerald Laird. Things got more interesting Wednesday afternoon when a New York Post story cited a National League executive who said the Tigers were listening to offers on Curtis Granderson. Olney later tweeted the same information. With two All Stars potentially on the block, a depressed economic region, and a payroll that leaves little flexibility the phrases “financial difficulty” and “fire sale” began working their way into columns. By evening Jon Heyman added Brandon Inge (h/t MLBTR) to the list of those the Tigers could be looking to trade. Are the Tigers slashing payroll?

Continue reading What the heck is going on (re: trade rumors)?

Is Edwin Jackson for sale?

There has been considerable speculation about the Tigers financial state. The payroll will be high, and there are continued questions about revenue potential. Mike Ilitch saw less advertising revenue. Attendance was relatively strong, but the Tigers missed out on any postseason gate receipts despite adding payroll midseason. Now Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi are reporting that Dave Dombrowski is listening to offers on Edwin Jackson.

Jackson will likely command a salary of about $5 million in 2010 as he enters his 2nd of 3 years of arbitration eligibility and so a trade would seemingly be at least a year early. The salary wouldn’t appear to be prohibitive for a player that was 3.5 WAR last year and 1.5 WAR each of the previous 2 years. In other words, Jackson will have surplus value next year even he reverts closer to his 2007-8 numbers than his 2009 campaign. Of course value or not, cash is cash and if the Tigers don’t have the money they don’t have the money regardless of the value.

Aside from money, or perhaps in addition to it, are there are reasons why trading Jackson may be desirable?

Continue reading Is Edwin Jackson for sale?

How many wins would Halladay add?

Lynn Henning reports today that the Tigers and Blue Jays discussed Roy Halladay and the price would be Rick Porcello, Ryan Perry, and Casey Crosby. Essentially the top 3 arms drafted and signed in the last 2 years by the Tigers. It’s a very steep price that had me balking on first blush. But after a deeper dive and this trade looks a lot more interesting.

Continue reading How many wins would Halladay add?

Trade Deadline Live Chat

Will the Tigers be buyers or sellers? That remains to be seen, but no matter what happens we will be taking you right up to the trade deadline. Who is we? That remains to be seen, but the list is growing. So far the we will include:

And hopefully many more. Invites are out and going out and I’ll update things as we go. So stop back here or at any of the above mentioned sites between 2 and 4 tomorrow afternoon. You can also submit questions (or break news) on Twitter. Just use #TigsTrade in your tweet and it will pop into the chat automagically.

Tigers remain on periphery of trade deadline action

It was just a matter of time before things started to pick-up ahead of the trade deadline. The Tigers are still on the sidelines, as are their main competitors in the AL Central. Dave Dombrowski has said he’s having quite a few conversations, but things are still quiet and Danny Knobler tells The Cutoff Man that there are some front office disagreements about the Tigers biggest needs.

Even with things quiet in the Tigers front office, some of the moves today could impact the Tigers, Twins, and White Sox.

  • The Pirates move Ian Snell and Jack Wilson to the Mariners. The Tigers have been involved in Jack Wilson rumors for the last 2 years. To see him go somewhere else is, well, weird. The impact though is that this either means the Mariners are buyers,  or they could be preparing to move Jarrod Washburn. Washburn is a possible Tigers target as they look to bolster their rotation in the short term and the Mariners have had interest in Jeff Larish in the past (it would almost certainly take more than Larish).
  • Freddy Sanchez goes to the Giants. The Twins have been looking for a middle infielder, and have been attached to Sanchez, Marco Scutaro, and Orlando Cabrera. Brian Sabean gave up a pretty good pitching prospect in Tim Alderson. It’s something that the Twins probably wouldn’t want to beat, but you wonder if the Giants may have se the market unnecessarily high for middle infield help.
  • Cliff Lee goes to the Phillies. The immediate impact is that the Tigers will no longer face Lee this weekend. The broader implication is that the Indians are rebuilding again. The more interesting implication is that the Roy Halladay talks have stalled.
  • Halladay is still a Blue Jay. The Blue Jays have been waiting to see if Halladay goes anywhere before they start to unload other pieces, one of those being Scutaro. The Twins are interested, and I’d like the Tigers to be interested as well given Brandon Inge’s balky knees. But with Halladay’s main suitor now sated by Lee, it’s not a sure thing that Doc goes anywhere.
  • The Yankees are interested in Josh Anderson.  Ironically Anderson was in part responsible for 2 of the Yankees victories over the Tigers this year as balls scooted through his legs leading to runs. If the Tigers trade him, it will be for a C level prospect. Really not much to see here.

As always, the best way to stay on top of this stuff is to keep hitting refesh on MLB Trade Rumors.

The Trade Front Rundown

This time of year always makes me a little crazy. Rumors are all over the place, they are often contradictory and 96% of it is noise. Bits and pieces of information flow freely, some of it is legitimate, some of it is probably intentionally false (on the part of the source, not the reporter), and some of it is completely made up (see the Milton Bradley to the Tigers rumors). But it is always intriguing.

On the Tigers there haven’t been many new revelations. Dave Dombrowski said that the return of Carlos Guillen wouldn’t prevent the Tigers from still going after a bat. That type of acquisition would likely mean bad things for Marcus Thames and/or Ryan Raburn as Guillen is locked into DH at least for the time being. One target, Josh Willingham, made news by hitting grand slams in 2 consecutive at-bats last night. The Giants were also believed to be interested in Willingham, but they just acquired Ryan Garko.

The other Tigers need that is floating about is for a back-up catcher. Leyland doesn’t seem to have any faith in Dusty Ryan as Laird has played every game but 2 (and one of those was the back end of a double header) since the All Star break. I don’t think that Laird can handle the workload he’s under right now (his numbers are quite similar to the only other time he was a full time catcher 224/278/349 in 2007 and 235/315/353 this year), but I don’t know that the Tigers will be able to improve on what they have. Perhaps Baltimore would part with Gregg Zaun who has a 815 OPS when hitting from the left side this year.

Bless You Boys has pretty thoroughly covered the Pirates trade possibilities. For a team that struggles so much, they always seem to have worthwhile players to spin off at the trade deadline. The Tigers could be looking at Zach Duke or a middle infielder.

Finally, one of the areas of trade rumor mongering that I find to be most interesting is the after-the-fact stuff that comes out. Like the back story surrounding the Indians and the Mariners/Mets three way trade that spurred the Edwin Jackson/Matt Joyce deal. In this case, BYB points us to a column by Gordon Edes about the Tigers involvement in the Matt Holliday sweepstakes.

The Detroit Tigers were in hard on Matt Holliday(notes) before he went to the Cardinals, but Oakland turned down a package that included the Tigers’ top shortstop prospect, Cale Iorg. Right-handed pitcher Freddy Dolsi(notes), currently on the DL, would have gone to the Athletics as a player to be named later.

Presumably it should be Alfredo Figaro and not Freddy Dolsi. That was a fair offer, but given the A’s preference for performance and Iorg’s struggles with the bat this year, it’s not surprising they balked.

Twins stuff

The Twins are having some issues of their own with Kevin Slowey now out for the season due to a wrist injury. This comes on the heels of Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer begging the front office to make a move. A move or non-move could have longer term implications when it comes to Mauer’s willingness to resign in Minnesota.

One potential target is A’s shortstop Orlando Cabrera who has caught fire in July. But Billy Beane’s asking price is apparently too high. The Twins also asked the Blue Jays about Roy Halladay but the Twins aren’t one of the Doc approved teams.

The Weekend Trade Rumor Roundup

It’s that time of year when trade rumor talk is through the roof. Combined with the Tigers recent struggles, I know this is top of mind stuff for many. I don’t do a lot of trade speculation here, mostly because I’m too lazy to conjure up potential deals. However, I do know this is a hot topic so please use this space to discuss things. Below are a couple of my thoughts on who the Tigers shouldn’t give up, as well as some links to current-ish rumors.

Continue reading The Weekend Trade Rumor Roundup