Murton coming? Hinske going? Kaz throwing!

by Matt Bishoff on Mar 30, 2008 5:04 PM EDT

Lots of rumors floating around today as teams are putting the final touches on their 25-man rosters.

Apparently, The Rays are interested in Murton as Downie speculated. According to Rosenthal (hat tip to MLBTR), the Rays have shown interesting in Murton:

The Padres and Rays are among the clubs pursuing Murton, but two or three other teams also have shown interest, major-league sources say. The Rays claimed outfielder Nathan Haynes off waivers from the Angels on Friday, but continue to explore potential upgrades.

Also from a different MLBTR post, we find out the Giants might be interested in DiFelice or Paul for backup catching position:

Henry Schulman says the Giants are in need of a backup catcher and a logical choice may be Astros backup Humberto Quintero, whom Bruce Bochy is familiar with from his days with the Padres. He also notes that the Rays have two experienced catchers that were just reassigned to the minor leagues in Josh Paul and Mike DiFelice.

The LA Times tells us that Hinske is up for grabs:

General Manager Ned Colletti has been speaking to other clubs about possible trades, targeting players with short and inexpensive contracts for what they expect to be short-term replacement duty. They are believed to be interested in Philadelphia's Wes Helms. Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske is also reportedly on the market.

In what may be the most important news of the day from The Heater, Kaz threw a 35-pitch bullpen session and everything went great. I only threw fastball, but his comments were more than encouraging:

Ace LHP Scott Kazmir said he felt "really good" Sunday after throwing off the mound for the first time in more than two weeks.

"Everything went perfectly," pitching coach Jim Hickey said. "Even better than I anticipated."

Hickey said Kazmir's command was "much better than I anticipated," with only three pitches just a little bit "off track."

Also, if anyone is interested. I interviewed Will Carroll (two l's in Carroll Bishoff) on our newest podcast at NBB. Got the chance to talk to him about the Kaz injury if anyone is interested, you can check it out here.

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Josh Paul was released, according to rotowire. So if the Giants are interested, he is more than available.

by RATW on Mar 30, 2008 5:25 PM EDT reply actions

Quite frankly

I would rather pick him up for free than give something to another team for a player only marginally better, but I'm not Brian Sabean.

by Patrick L. Kennedy on Mar 30, 2008 11:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Sabean talking to Friedman

Sabean: Hey Andrew, how's it going?
Friedman: Well, thanks Brian, how about yourself?
Sabean: Great, great, hey, I noticed you sent down a few players yesterday, and that Mike DiFelice was one of them.
Friedman: Yeah, Mike's a trooper, we like how he handled the young guys, future coach.
Sabean: I see, well hey, what do you want for him?
Friedman: Excuse me?
Sabean: I want a back-up catcher.
Friedman: ...and you want DiFelice?
Sabean: Absolutely, he fits what we want.
Friedman: Uh....hm, and backup catcher on what level?
Sabean: The Giants. San Francisco. Major league.
Friedman: So what's your offer?
Sabean: Well I don't have too much to offer, how about cash and a player to be named later?
Friedman: I don't know Brian ,we kind of had a gentleman's agreement with Mike, you know we just released Josh Paul, he's younger, but brings a lot of the same quali...
Sabean: Lincecum.
Friedman: What?
Sabean: Lincecum and a player to be named later for DiFelice.
Friedman: Is this a joke?
Sabean: Dammit, hold on Andrew, Johnny Bench is returning my call.

by R.J. Anderson on Mar 30, 2008 5:28 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Classic

by GomesSweetGomes on Mar 30, 2008 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Just to throw another name out there

Jay Gibbons. I see him as a slight improvement over Hinske, though now that he is available, I don't see Coletti pursuing Hinske if he can get Gibbons for virtually free.

by GomesSweetGomes on Mar 30, 2008 10:03 PM EDT reply actions

Gibbons doesn't play 3B though.

by R.J. Anderson on Mar 30, 2008 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Eh...

he can prolly play it as well as Hinske

by Matt Bishoff on Mar 30, 2008 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Sadly he's the best third baseman the Cubs have developed since Santo.

by R.J. Anderson on Mar 30, 2008 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions

You forgot about

The great Kevin Orie and Gary Scott.

www.lbacentral.com

by SeanDubbs on Mar 30, 2008 10:57 PM EDT up reply actions

David Kelton

by R.J. Anderson on Mar 30, 2008 11:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Na

He was never even put into the same league as Scott and Orie, especially Scott. Now even though he was an OF, Brooks Kieschnick was supposed to turn Wrigley into his personal launching pad.

www.lbacentral.com

by SeanDubbs on Mar 30, 2008 11:12 PM EDT up reply actions

I really don't

I don't think Gibbons is appreciably better than Hinske, and I think he certainly brings far more baggage with him. None of the options discussed so far for trade acquisitions in the outfield are really that good. They're all mediocre options, at best, for that position, so if this is who we're dealing in, I'd rather just stand pat.

by Patrick L. Kennedy on Mar 30, 2008 11:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Why is Gibbons a slight improvement over Hinske? Especially given last year's injury, it seems to me that he is a far greater risk to flop altogether. He did have a couple of bigger power years, but he rarely walks and has really been a pretty mediocre player.

R.J., what am I missing? What does Gibbons have to do with the Cubs? Or are you referring to someone else?

by bobr on Mar 30, 2008 10:47 PM EDT reply actions

Sorry, I was referencing Hinske.

by R.J. Anderson on Mar 30, 2008 10:52 PM EDT up reply actions

You're being way too generous to the Cubs. Hinkse didn't really play third full time in the minors until his third and final year in the Cubs system. But yeah, Cubs stink.

by RATW on Mar 30, 2008 11:57 PM EDT reply actions

Holy Cheap Site Plug, Matt

I know people love Kazmir, but I can't wait until he finishes another 200 Inning, 200+ K season....so we can get great trade value out of the kid.

by Jacob Larsen on Mar 31, 2008 1:21 AM EDT reply actions

Or.....

Here's another outside the box idea. We could actually deign to try and keep a player of his caliber at the front of our rotation for years to come. Obviously that is a two-way street and there is no guarantee that it would be feasible to keep him around, but there's no reason to be throwing in the towel on his tenure in Tampa Bay this early.

by Patrick L. Kennedy on Mar 31, 2008 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions