Monday Notes and Speculation

The Andruw Jones to the Angels rumors all seem to be speculation on the part of the L.A. media because the team says it wants a power hitter, and so they are simply speculating on who might be available - Andurw, Tejada, Manny. But so far none of that talk has been coming out of the Angles front office, just the newspapers' front office.

I'd have to think that since the Orioles lost out on Speir, Alou, and a couple other free agents they may have been pursuing, that they might turn their attention back to the Braves and Tim Hudson. My thoughts are that Atlanta has a specific group of prospects they want in return and will play a bit of hardball to get them (like Loewen over Penn).

Hudson would help the Orioles tremendously, especially if Jaret Wright rebounds under Mazzone. Those two could form the core of a rebuilt Baltimore rotation. Peter Angelos and company will have to weigh the benefits of upgrading their pitching over their offense, but I think the free agent market will force their hand. You haven't heard the Orioles mentioned as serious bidders for any of the top or middle tier free agents, and their unwillingness to spend big coin could mean they will have to turn to the trading market to make any upgrades to their team this off-season - something many in Baltimore are demanding they do (Tejada being one of them).

The Marcus Giles rumors have cooled down a bit, and my gut tells me that Schuerholz has a couple of offers he's put out there and he's just waiting for the first GM to get back to him who accepts. San Diego is probably asking for too much, but Schu has the patience to wait them out for the right offer. Once more of the free agent middle infielders sign, the Giles rumors will probably heat up again.

I was scouring around many other teams' sites today trying to find a good injured or underappreciated reliever who's probably also a bit overpaid - but has potential. Sound like anyone we know? Well, I figure short of non-tendering Chris Reitsma, the Braves would rather swap troubled pitchers with another club. The problem I ran into was that I couldn't find any who were as messed up mentally and physically as Reits. If you can think of anyone who would match up well, please post it.

For some reason, I have a feeling that Horacio Ramirez will be the first person traded - he's left-handed, still young, not too expensive, he has a couple of years until free agency - there are a lot of positives. $5 says he goes to the Royals for prospects (I mean, don't we make a trade with the Royals every year).

The Braves made some minor roster moves today:

Here are Bohn's stats. I don't really see any reason for picking him up, and adding Johnson to the 40-man doesn't make sense to me either - he's a 4-A pitcher. Stats here.