Short Hops: Teams can talk trade, but they can't talk to Buehrle
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For those contenders seeking pitching, the July 31 trade market still starts with Chicago White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle.
Whether it ends with Buehrle's departure from his beloved Chicago, well, that depends on how much White Sox general manager Kenny Williams moves from his tough stance on Buehrle's contract between now and July 31.
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| The White Sox haven't allowed interested suitors to negotiate a pre-trade contract extension with Mark Buehrle. (US Presswire) |
The way things stand now, Buehrle is eligible for free agency this winter, a right that directly will affect his trade price. Teams interested in acquiring him so far are not interested in paying top dollars for a half-season rental. The Mets in particular would want assurances that Buehrle would be with them beyond the rest of this summer before they would complete a deal, sources close to the talks say.
From the White Sox's perspective, they so far will not allow clubs to talk contract with Buehrle -- especially while they're negotiating with the lefty themselves trying to work a last-minute deal. Williams is not rebuilding so much as retooling, and he has told interested clubs that he wants players who either are in the majors or who are major league-ready in return -- be it for Buehrle, outfielder Jermaine Dye or whomever.
At least two things are going to have to happen, before the White Sox allow the Mets, Boston, the Dodgers or anybody else to see if they can come to a contractual agreement with Buehrle: Negotiations between the pitcher and the White Sox are going to have to collapse completely, and a potential trading partner is going to have to offer Williams one heck of a good package.
• Ominous signs for Cubs general manager Jim Hendry? That recent Jacque Jones -to-Florida deal was indeed approved by the Commissioner's Office, according to sources -- before it was zapped by new Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell. The Cubs had agreed to pay all but the major-league minimum portion of Jones' salary for both this year and next -- a pro-rated portion of $4 million for 2007 and $5 million for 2008. The obvious conclusion: The new Tribune Co. owners expect even the Cubs to be more responsible with their dough.
• Texas closer Eric Gagne continues to make perfect sense in Detroit, whose one obvious hole is in the bullpen. The Tigers have been discussing Gagne with the Rangers, who are expected to unload the right-hander in one of multiple deadline deals. Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney remain on the disabled list in Detroit, and if those two come back and the Tigers add Gagne -- or someone similar -- it will make the Tigers of August and September a different club than the Tigers of May and June. And those Tigers were pretty good.
• More relief could be had from Kansas City, which is dangling closer Octavio Dotel. The Royals also are shopping starter Odalis Perez.
• While the New York Mets are involved in trade talks regarding Buehrle and beyond, they're in line for the proverbial acquisition that's "just like getting someone at the trade deadline" when Pedro Martinez comes off of the disabled list in another month or so. Things are going so well with Martinez's rehab that the Mets are convinced they're going to get vintage Pedro. That seems far-fetched, but this isn't: Even if what they get is 75 percent of vintage Pedro, that's still going to be a significant addition. Especially with Atlanta now missing both starter John Smoltz and set-up man Mike Gonzalez and with the injury roll call of Philadelphia's Brett Myers, Freddy Garcia and closer Tom Gordon.
• One source close to the trade talks says that Rangers reliever Akinori Otsuka has been mentioned in conversations alongside Gagne. "Some of the more interesting names out there are in Texas," the source says. The thinking, though, is that if the Rangers deal Gagne, they'll wind up keeping Otsuka.
• Lots of sizzle still around Adam Dunn in Cincinnati, but little meat on the Reds' trade talks so far say a couple of people who have spoken with the Reds. "There's not a whole lot of market," says one of those people. "It's a ton of money and, realistically, he can only go to the American League (because of his poor defense)."
• Trade partners are not exactly knocking down the door of Washington GM Jim Bowden -- yet -- but with first baseman Dmitri Young hitting .337, third in the NL, Bowden's decision to throw Young a lifeline last winter in hopes that perhaps he would develop into a trade chip by July is proving adept. Of course, Bowden had Alfonso Soriano last July and refused to deal him for what he felt were inferior offers, and the Nationals ended up getting nothing in return when Soriano fled to the Cubs as a free agent over the winter.
