Octavio Dotel?

[Madmanrick]

While I was watching the Indians broadcast tonight, they said something about teams being interested in Zach Greinke, but that the player likely to be traded would be Dotel. After looking at his stats, I'm wondering if he wouldn't be a more realistic option for our 'pen (IF we need to get another arm at the deadline that is) than say Lidge, Otsuka and/or Gagne. It seems to me that the biggest hurdle would be his salary, since his name isn't mentioned at all we may have little or no competition for him. Whadda think?

Here's his line:

W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV SVO IP H R ER HR
2 1 3.50 19 0 0 0 8 11 18.0 18 8 7 2

HBP BB SO
3 8 22

[Corky]

I've had him on my fantasy team this season. He has been a bit of a roller coaster. Don't know if he would accept being the set up guy.

[Motor City Sonics]

I've had him on my fantasy team this season. He has been a bit of a roller coaster. Don't know if he would accept being the set up guy.

Oh, well then......then I hope he enjoys closing for a last place team.

[Corky]

Oh, well then......then I hope he enjoys closing for a last place team.

He raised a little bit of a stink when he came back from the DL about a month into the season and another guy had the job.

[sgtricc]

yeah, but that other guy, whose name escapes me, make Dotel expendable....

[Simple Simon]

yeah, but that other guy, whose name escapes me, make Dotel expendable....

Joakim Soria

[PuNk42AE]

He was a Rule V too.

[Madmanrick]

TIGERS TRADE DEADLINE GUIDE: Is there relief in sight?

July 15, 2007

The Tigers are looking for a veteran relief pitcher.

Whether they find the one they need will be left to some combination of timing, money, health and, perhaps, a little luck.

"It's not that easy to make deals," manager Jim Leyland said last week. "You weigh, 'OK, what's this worth compared to what we're giving up? What's the salary? What are you picking up?'

"Everybody says, 'Oh, make a deal.' That's fine, but, with the wild-card situation now, there are a lot of teams involved in the race. A lot of teams are trying to make deals.

"We're not the only one."

No, they are not. One American League club executive indicated Thursday that the Cleveland Indians have had discussions with the Texas Rangers involving right-hander Akinori Otsuka, a pitcher the Tigers have asked about this season.

The deal is not imminent, though, for a simple reason: Otsuka did not pitch in the last seven games of the first half because of tightness in his right forearm.

The Indians, or any club, would not trade for a player without having confidence in his health. So Otsuka probably will not be dealt -- if he is traded at all -- until he pitches successfully on back-to-back days, the great test of a relief pitcher's stamina.

And, with the non-waiver trade deadline a little more than two weeks away, the clock is ticking.

The same could be said for Houston right-hander Brad Lidge, who spent almost a month on the disabled list with a left oblique strain before the Astros activated him Thursday.

Lidge, who still possesses the slider that made him one of baseball's most intimidating closers, will need to show that he's healthy for potential suitors, including the Tigers, to offer top talent.

Houston general manager Tim Purpura is expected to deal at least one reliever if the Astros remain out of the race, but he would need to be overwhelmed to deal Lidge, who could be a free agent after the 2008 season.

Octavio Dotel, a closer and setup man during his career, has been healthy since late May, but he's a complicated option for a different reason: He pitches for the Kansas City Royals, another team in the AL Central.

Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski rarely trades with teams in the same league, let alone the same division. Since becoming general manager in April 2002, he has executed one player-for-player deal with another AL Central team. And that occurred Friday, when he sent reliever Roman Colon to Kansas City for a player to be named.

Maybe the Tigers will be comfortable dealing with Royals general manager Dayton Moore for another relief pitcher. The Tigers sent a scout to follow Dotel before the All-Star break. He finished the first half with three scoreless outings.

Take away the intradivision element, and the fit is obvious: Dotel can enter free agency after this season, and the Royals -- much like the Tigers several years ago -- are assembling all the young talent they can find. The Tigers have the prospects to make a deal happen and the financial wherewithal to assume the remainder of Dotel's $5-million salary this year. (He also has a $5.5-million mutual option for 2008.)

As the Tigers consider their external options, they also will learn more about the readiness of injured relievers Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya. The two played catch Friday in Seattle, but it's too early to say when either will return or how well they will pitch when they're back.

There is risk in waiting on Rodney and Zumaya, just like there would be risk in trading prospects Gorkys Hernandez or Jair Jurrjens for a veteran reliever with an uncertain health history.

An Astros-Tigers deal in the making?

If the Astros and Tigers engage in a deep dialogue on Lidge, Chad Qualls or Dan Wheeler, the possibility for a larger deal is there. The Tigers pursued outfielder Luke Scott during the off-season, and, according to the Boston Globe, considered utility infielder Mark Loretta as a replacement for then-injured Placido Polanco last August.

Loretta, a free agent-to-be, has played all four infield positions for the Astros this season, is hitting .317 and would offer more in a utility role than the suspended Neifi Perez.

Quick hits

• The Tigers looked into improving their catching depth during the off-season, but it's unclear whether they are still pursuing a veteran who could provide insurance in the event of an injury to Pudge Rodriguez.

• In addition to Dotel, the Royals will consider moving right-hander David Riske.

• Cameron Maybin is untouchable, and the Tigers have shown a great reluctance to move Hernandez, their other standout centerfield prospect.

• The Tigers have inquired about three Texas relievers in recent weeks: Otsuka, Eric Gagne and C.J. Wilson. Of the three, the Rangers are least likely to move Wilson.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...707150597/1050

[Madmanrick]

Trade whispers

July 14, 2007, 6:40 PM CDT

Julio Franco, who turns 49 next month, is hoping to catch on somewhere after being released by the Mets, who didn't get a whole lot younger when they dumped him. Franco's spot went to 41-year-old catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., whose presence allows No. 2 catcher Ramon Castro to move into Franco's former role as a pinch-hitter. … Before the Giants announced a two-year contract extension with general manager Brian Sabean, there were rumors that Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty could jump to San Francisco, possibly bringing Tony La Russa with him in some capacity. … With Jacoby Ellsbury in the wings, the Red Sox are considering moving Coco Crisp to strengthen their pitching staff. They would like to add a starter, along with a right-handed setup man. They have scouts following Brad Lidge and Houston's other relievers, especially Dan Wheeler and Chad Qualls. ... The Tigers also are studying Houston's relievers along with Texas' Eric Gagne and Akinori Otsuka and Kansas City's Octavio Dotel. Gagne says he would like to stay with the Rangers in 2008, however, so it's possible Texas will extend the righty rather than deal him.

Jim Palmer recently did some hands-on coaching with the Orioles' Daniel Cabrera, who was 6-10 with a 5.04 ERA at the break. … More bad news for the Yankees: Boston built its 10-game lead in the first half while playing Tampa Bay only three times. That means the Red Sox get the Devil Rays 15 times in the second half. … With Rondell White's setback in his latest rehab, the Twins are searching for a bat. Mike Piazza, Sammy Sosa or even Jose Guillen could be DH difference-makers. … Mark Teixeira's recent criticism of management makes it more likely Texas will move him before the deadline, assuming he returns from the disabled list hitting well enough to bring significant young players in return. Baltimore would love to add Teixeira and extend his contract beyond 2008, currently its final year. The Red Sox, Yankees, Angels, Dodgers, Braves and Giants are following this situation closely. It wasn't lost on Texas GM Jon Daniels that the Rangers went 16-11 as Teixeira nursed a strained left quadriceps muscle. … Roy Oswalt told the Houston Chronicle he would consider waiving his no-trade clause, but Astros GM Tim Purpura isn't interested in trading away his best pitcher.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune....esox-headlines

[Madmanrick]

BORAS TAKING A-ROD INTO $TRATOSPHERE
By JOEL SHERMAN

July 15, 2007 -- No other player has a multi-year contract that averages better than $20 million except for Alex Rodriguez, whose 10-year deal is worth $25.2 million on average annually. Yet, it has become all but accepted fact that when Rodriguez decides his contractual fate this offseason by either extending his deal with the Yanks or opting out to go elsewhere, that he will average $30 million a year or more. And one AL executive knows why.

“Scott Boras is so brilliant,” the executive said. “He is willing to put out a number that is absurd and stick with it, and wait until others come to his level. No other player besides A-Rod is in the 20s and now he is asking for something in the 30s. That is $10 million more than anyone besides A-Rod has gotten. This is the same negotiating tactic [by Boras] as always and it is brilliant. In a way, he is teaching everyone to become comfortable with the $30 million number to the point where no one even blinks any more. Brilliant.”

*

If the Yankees make trades this month, they plan on using their veteran relievers and/or lesser prospects (think Matt DeSalvo) to try and make incremental upgrades at backup catcher, first base and their bench. They believe that free-agents-to-be such as Mike Myers and Luis Vizcaino could be replaced adequately by Triple-A options such as Sean Henn and Chris Britton, and that eventually Jeff Karstens and/or prospects Joba Chamberlain and Ross Ohlendorf could be moved from the rotation to the pen. A trade of Myers or Vizcaino to the pen-hungry Phillies for another free-agent-to-be, backup catcher Rod Barajas, fits the current Yankees thinking.

*

Right now, the relief market is the one being discussed most by teams, but clubs are still finding the asking prices for Texas’ Eric Gagne and Akinori Otsuka, Kansas City’s Octavio Dotel, and Washington’s Chad Cordero and Jon Rauch too high. One AL executive said he thought whichever team between the Tigers and Indians that obtained Gagne would win the division. But Indians officials are insisting they are committed to Joe Borowski as their closer, and are looking for set-up help and do not believe Gagne, who has no-trade protections, would accept a deal to a place in which he would not close.

The Astros, meanwhile, are still telling interested teams they have no plans to deal the much-desired Brad Lidge.

*

Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling were key members of the 2004 championship Red Sox, and now they have more in common. Because the Mets have been in first place and Martinez is so vital, the club has told the veteran righty not to rush his return from right-shoulder surgery and to just concentrate on being fully ready to return because it is most important to have him operating near peak efficiency late in the season. The Red Sox are even more comfortably in first place. Because of that, rather than hurry Schilling back from what was described as right-shoulder tendinitis that put him on the DL on June 22 and risk the condition worsening, the club essentially has allowed the veteran righty to rest and then go through a second whole spring training with an eye on having him back in early August.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07152007...el_sherman.htm

[Doctor Detroit]

I'd like the Tigers to get Rauch but I guess Washington is just asking ridiculous prices for anything on their roster to include Dimitri Young who a lot of teams are interested in. The longer they wait, the lower the price so I like the current situation. Qualls would due btw.

[iceteebone]

Seems like last year's deadline. Tigers were kicking the tires for Soriano, but then swooped in and got Casey. I see something similar. Maybe drive up the price of Gagne for Cleveland and then pick up some lesser known reliever. With the way the pen has settled down recently, this may all just be a smoke screen.

[DaYooperASBDT]

If the Tigers get another reliever, I could see them going for a package of Scott/Qualls or Scott/Wheeler.

[iancass]

I've had him on my fantasy team this season. He has been a bit of a roller coaster. Don't know if he would accept being the set up guy.

He's been the set-up guy plenty of times before in his career. I can only recall one other time when he had the closer role all to himself (2004, in Oakland). Of course, now that he has that role in KC, maybe he doesn't want to go back to being a set-up guy.

Maybe Dombrowski's a little skittish about trading within the division, but I think Dotel might be the best guy he'd have to give up the least for.