Lukewarm Stove: Saltalamacchia, Sanchez, Marcum, McCarthy, Upton, Marlins

Bud Selig is officially “reviewing” that Blue Jays/Marlins trade, though the expectation is that he’ll uphold it. It’s possible that action on other fronts is on hold until that deal is finalized, given the impact it has all over the markets, both trade and free agent. In the interim, the Lukewarm Stove smokes …

  • Pete Abraham says that, now that they’ve signed David Ross, the Red Sox have more catchers than they’ve got spots. He says they could look to deal one of Jarrod Saltalamacchia (whose name I’ve finally mastered without looking) or Ryan Lavarnway, and lists the Cubs atop his possible targets. The connection seems more about convenience than a sourced rumor (Abraham mentions the Theo connection, and the Red Sox’s need for a starting pitcher like Matt Garza (who, despite elbow concerns (clean bill of health!), would cost far, far more than one of those two)), but it’s an interesting discussion. Lavarnway is a former decent prospect who is very pre-arbitration, but hasn’t hit in the bigs yet. He’s also a righty, who wouldn’t make a great deal of sense paired with Welington Castillo. Then there’s Salty, who is a free agent after 2013, is a switch hitter, and put up a decent (for a catcher) 95 OPS+ last year. He made $2.5 million last year, and is in his final year of arbitration where he could make, I’d reckon, between $3.5 and $4 million. At just 27, there could still be upside left for the former uber prospect (but it’s just a one-year commitment if it doesn’t show in 2013). Pairing him with Castillo next year? If he’s a decent receiver, I kind of like the idea.
  • Now that they’ve signed Torii Hunter, the Tigers are moving on to their next priority: retaining Anibal Sanchez. Danny Knobler suggests that the Tigers aren’t likely to meet his 6/$90M or 7/$100M demands, which would be understandable given their burgeoning payroll (and Justin Verlander’s eventual free agency). Would he give a home-town discount to the place he was traded midseason in 2012? You don’t want to guess no and be wrong, but it sure seems like the answer is “no.” I’ve made my thoughts on the desirability of Sanchez known.
  • Another writer – John Perrotto at Baseball Prospectus – attaches the Cubs to Shaun Marcum. For all of the Cubs-to-Marcum connections we’ve heard, I’m now realizing that we’ve still not yet heard anything connecting Marcum to the Cubs.
  • The Braves appear set to let Michael Bourn sign elsewhere, but they’ve got their eye on a similarly-priced center fielder: B.J. Upton. He’ll probably come for a little less, but not hugely less. Upton is apparently the Braves’ top target.
  • Brandon McCarthy has received the green light to resume baseball activities, and Susan Slosser reports that although McCarthy would like to return to Oakland, he’s expected to receive offers elsewhere that the A’s can’t match. I doubt he gets offers so big that the A’s can’t match them, but they might be big enough (two years, $20 million?) that they’d prefer not to match them.
  • No surprise, the Marlins have no intention of shopping Giancarlo Stanton right now. But they are, indeed, considering moving Ricky Nolasco and Logan Morrison.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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