Around the Majors: Lots of trade rumors

1) According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Whitesox and maybe the Yankees are interested in Braves P Russ Ortiz, with a couple of NY papers also reporting the Yankees are interested in him. The paper also reports that a NL official said “the Braves also made it known earlier this season that they would entertain offers for center fielder Andruw Jones.”

2) According to the Newark Star Ledger, the Mariners still think they have enough of a chance to turn things around and aren’t currently planning on trading Freddy Garcia (something I don’t believe). But, if they do, the Mets are interested in him.

3) According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, earlier in the week, the Mariners offered P Gil Meche to the Tigers for C-3B-OF Brandon Inge, and was turned down.

4) According to the Chicago Sun Times, with the Yankees and Dodgers being the frontrunners to trade for Garcia, there is a “fast-spreading rumor” that the Whitesox are close to a deal for Ortiz, while they are also interested in Mariners P Jamey Moyer.

5) According to the Newark Star Ledger, the Yankees are interested in Mets P Tom Glavine.

6) According to the Arizona Republic, the Whitesox, Yankees and Astros could be interested in Diamondbacks 2B Roberto Alomar.

7) According to the LA Times, Dodgers manager Jim Tracy is “hinting” that they’d like to acquire a starter to replace Hideo Nomo before he makes his next start.

8) Larry Walker hit 3 HR in a game. He passed Dick Allen and Ellis Burks and tied Lee May for 66th place on the all time HR list, with 354.

9) The Angels activated P Aaron Sele from the DL and sent P Derrick Turnbow to the minors.

After 4.89 ERA/-10 RSAA and 5.77 ERA/–21 RSAA seasons, Sele is off to a 3.56 ERA/4 RSAA start in his first 8 starts (12 games). He has a 4.46 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.68, and 44 RSAA in 305 games.

Turnbow has a 3.17 ERA/10 RSAA in 39 career games, including a 0.00 ERA/3 RSAA in 4 games in 2004.

10) The Devil Rays tied the major league record for most games below .500 by a team that got up to that mark. The Devil Rays went from 10-28, 18 under, to 35-35.

The 1899 Louisville Colonels had gone from 16-38 to 72-72, then finished 75-77.

11) The Phillies activated P Randy Wolf from the DL and sent P Elizardo Ramirez to the minors.

After 3.20 ERA/13 RSAA and 4.23 ERA/-4 RSAA seasons, Wolf is off to a 2.91 ERA/9 RSAA start in his first 10 starts. He has a 4.02 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.37, and 25 RSAA in 156 games.

Ramirez is off to a 4.80 ERA/-1 RSAA start in his first 7 career games.

12) The Devil Rays called up OF Joey Gathright and designated utilityman Jose Bautista for assignment.

Gathright, 22, was given a C+ grade by John Sickels and was ranked as the Devil Rays #5 prospect by Baseball America. While he came into the year with a .392 OBA in his first 2 minor league seasons, the speedster also had a .333 SLG. That kind of extrabasehitaphobia made Sickels remark that his potential is to be “a Juan Pierre-Tom Goodwin type.” In 32 games in AA in 2004, he had a .397 SLG/.399 OBA and in 21 games in AAA, he had a .407 SLG/.363 OBA, with the only thing keeping those SLG’s around .400, at both levels, was his AVG.

Bautista is off to a .217 SLG, .333 OBA, .551 OPS, -1 RCAA start in his first 28 career games (first 16 with the Orioles).

13) The Twins called up P J.C. Romero and sent INF Alex Prieto to the minors.

After 1.89 ERA/22 RSAA and 5.00 ERA/-3 RSAA seasons, in his first couple of years with more than 14 games, Romero is off to a 5.70 ERA/-3 RSAA start in his first 32 games. He has a 4.85 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.58, and -5 RSAA in 217 games.

Prieto has -4 RCAA/.558 OPS in 24 career games, including a .375 SLG, .306 OBA, .681 OPS, -2 RCAA in 16 games in 2004.

14) An MRI on Dodgers CF Milton Bradley shows no structural damage in his right shoulder. There is swelling and the Dodgers are hoping he can return to the lineup early next week.

Meanwhile, Bradley dropped his appeal of his 4 game “suspension” so he won’t have to miss any games he wouldn’t already be missing.

15) The Padres released minor league P Bart Miadich.

I still think that AL team should be required to sign Miadich, the Yankees should be required to call up Homer Bush and we need to have a Bart-Homer matchup. If we have to wait until the rosters expand in September, that’s fine. But, let’s get it done already.

16) The Mariners called up P Matt Thornton and sent INF Ramon Santiago to the minors.

Santiago has -35 RCAA/.604 OPS in 216 career games, including a .190 SLG, .280 OBA, .470 OPS, -2 RCAA in 10 games in 2004.

17) The Braves sold minor league P Trey Hodges to the Hanshin Tigers.

Hodges has a 4.77 ERA/-6 RSAA in 56 career games, with almost all of them (52) coming in 2003.

18) The Whitesox placed P Scott Schoeneweis on the 15 day DL, retroactive to Tuesday, and called up P Felix Diaz.

Schoeneweis has a sore elbow. After 4.88 ERA/-7 RSAA and 4.18 ERA/1 RSAA seasons, he is off to a 4.36 ERA/4 RSAA start in his first 14 starts. Schoeneweis has a 4.99 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.62, and -21 RSAA in 217 games.

Diaz, who had a 11.42 ERA/-6 RSAA in his first 2 career starts, will start today.

19) The Braves called up P Sam McConnell and sent P Armando Almanza to the minors.

After 4.34 ERA/-2 RSAA and 6.08 ERA/-12 RSAA seasons, Almanza’s off to a 6.17 ERA/-3 RSAA start in his first 13 games. He has a 4.87 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.36, and -17 RSAA in 248 games.

20) Rangers LF Eric Young’s infection from his spider bites improved enough that he didn’t have to go on the DL.

21) The Pirates activated OF J.J. Davis from the DL and designated OF Ruben Mateo for assignment.

Davis has -8 RCAA/.427 OPS in 44 career games, including a .095 SLG, .200 OBA, .295 OPS, -3 RCAA in 16 games (25 PA) in 2004.

After -2 RCAA/.714 OPS and -12 RCAA/.619 OPS seasons, Mateo is off to a .515 SLG, .359 OBA, .874 OPS, 1 RCAA start in his first 19 games. He has a .707 career OPS, compared to his league average of .778, and -25 RCAA in 263 games.

22) The Indians will announce the signing of free agent 3B Aaron Boone to a 2 year contract today, contingent on him passing a physical.

After -12 RCAA/.753 OPS and 4 RCAA/.780 OPS seasons, Boone became one of the most valuable parts of the Yankees season when he hurt his knee during the offseason, which led to the Alex Rodriguez trade. Boone has a .780 career OPS, compared to his league average of .777, and -7 RCAA in 722 games.

23) The Royals called up OF David DeJesus and moved Kelly Stinnett from the 15 to the 60 day DL.

DeJesus had been considered the CF of the future and, with Carlos Beltran gone, his future is now. He has -3 RCAA/.481 OPS in 24 career games, including a .111 SLG, .226 OBA, .337 OPS, -4 RCAA in 12 games in 2004.

Stinnett will have Tommy John surgery and is out for the rest of the year.

Correction from yesterday–Jim Parque announced his retirement, not his announcement.

---

According to Peter Gammons, “There is no greater baseball tool than Lee Sinins’ Baseball Sabermetric Encyclopedia. Get thee to Baseball Immortals and order the disc, haste post haste.” The product Jayson Stark called “the best invention since the toaster oven!” has gotten even more powerful.

If you enjoy the ATM reports and want to support them, check out my other creation–the sabermetric baseball encyclopedia. It’s powerful, yet extremely easy to use. Features extensive sorting, stat display options, and features that are not available in online and printed sources. Order the deluxe package and get a free player comments book. For more information, see
http://www.baseball-encyclopedia.com