Soriano Deal Official

The Braves officially announced their deal with the Tampa Bay Rays today. Atlanta will send RHP Rafael Soriano to Tampa for RHP Jesse Chavez.

Braves And Rays Near Deal

According to Jon Paul Morosi of foxsports.com, the Braves and Rays are close to a trade sending RHP Rafael Soriano to Tampa. Morosi says the Rays would send RHP Jesse Chavez to Atlanta.

Chavez was acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier in the offseason for 2B Akinori Iwamura. He appeared in 73 games for Pittsburgh last year, going 1-4 with a 4.01 ERA. In 67.1 IP, he struck out 47 and walked 22. Chavez allowed an alarming 11 homers in 2009.

Mets And Phillies Interested In Soriano

Astros Still In On Soriano

According to Houston Chronicle writer Brian McTaggart, the Astros still have interest in Braves RHP Rafael Soriano.

Houston acquired relilever Matt Lindstrom today, and could be their closer come Opening Day. But McTaggert claims they are still looking for a closer, and have interest in Soriano.
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It was implied by a couple of writers that when it came to Soriano and Lindstrom, Houston was looking at an either/or situation. It still seems Houston doesn’t want to pay all of Soriano’s contract, while Atlanta definitely do not plan on eating any of his salary.

It seems Tampa’s perusit of Soriano seems to have picked up a little the last couple hours as well.

Astros Acquire Lindstrom

According to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, via twitter, the Astros acquired RP Matt Lindstrom for two minor leaguers and a player to be named later.

The Astros were considered one of the frontrunners in regards to their persuit of Rafael Soriano at one point today. This deal was much more affordable for them, and all but garauntees they have no interest in Soriano.

Astros Close To Deal For Lindstrom

According to the Houston Chronicle’s Brian McTaggart, via twitter, the Astros are close to trading for Florida Marlins reliever Matt Lindstrom.
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The Astros were considered one of the leading suitors for RHP Rafael Soriano, but if this deal happens then obvoiusly their persuit of Soriano will end.

Soriano To Pricey For Angels

David O’Brien tweets that the $6.5-8 million RHP Rafael Soriano will make next year is a little out of their price range. Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Rays and Astros are trying to trade for him.

O’Brien also notes that while Los Angeles has interest in RHP Derek Lowe, he’s not their first choice.
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The Angels still want to bring back John Lackey, but he’s probably going to command a contract a little to steep for LA. With Randy Wolf off the market now, that leaves Joel Pineiro, Jason Marquis, Rich Harden and Ben Sheets as a few of the top starters available.

Apart from Pineiro, I haven’t heard a lot about the Angels putting much effort into persuing those other guys. So it’s possible that a little further down the road, their interest in Lowe may grow. But at the same time it seems Wren is looking to deal one of his pitchers sooner rather than later.

Angels In On Soriano

According to David O’Brien, RHP Rafael Soriano’s suitors include the Orioles, Astros and now the Angels. The Red Sox and Yankees were both interested in him as a free agent, but don’t seem to like the idea of giving up any players for him.
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There has been talk that Soriano and Lowe could be moved in the same deal, and Wren said there is a team with interest in both. I don’t believe the Astros have much money to spend, so sending both pitchers to Houston probably wouldn’t work.

Ken Rosenthal suggested recently that Baltimore could have interest in plugging Lowe into their rotation for a veteran presence.

I think the Angels are the team watch. If they don’t re-sign John Lackey, then there will be a hole at the top of their rotation. LA does have other needs so I don’t know if they would be willing to take on both players salaries, which should be around $22-23 million.
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O’Brien also lists some of the Braves current OF and 1B targets as OF Marlon Byrd, OF Mike Cameron and 1B/OF Xavier Nady. He says Atlanta’s persuit of OF Josh Willingham seems to have cooled.
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From what I can gather, Florida doesn’t seem to thrilled with the idea of dealing Willingham. Most around the league expect them to deal Dan Uggla which would leave Hanley Ramirez, Jorge Cantu and Willingham as their only other real power threats.

GM Frank Wren has stated he expects their hitter to come via free agency rather than through trade.

Braves Confident They’ll Deal Soriano

MLB.com writer Mark Bowman tweets that Soriano immediately gave his permision to be dealt after he accepted arbitration. About 11 hours before Soriano made his decision last night, Wren had predicted the righty would consent to a deal.

David O’Brien tweets that the Braves are fully confident that they can get him dealt. Both writers say Wren has had conversations with several teams already.

UPDATE: O’Brien names potential suitors for Soriano, via twitter, as the Yankees, Orioles, Astros and possibly Red Sox. He also mentions that Wren said a team could be interested in both Soriano and Lowe.

Perhaps the Orioles? At the end of the season it was rumored that OF/DH Luke Scott may be available, though not much has been mentioned since.

Rafael Soriano Accepts Arbitration

RHP Rafael Soriano made the surprising decision to accept arbitration from the Braves tonight.

I’m sure Wren and company did not expect this when they opened the hot stove season with a bang by signing relievers Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito. It’s an interesting decision on Soriano’s part, because Atlanta has made it clear that Wagner and Saito are their 8th and 9th inning guys next year. I don’t know what kind of offers Soriano got, but I’m sure most of them included a closer’s role.

Atlanta could still clear his salary by dealing him, but if it’s before June 15th (obviously that’s what Wren would be shooting for), Soriano has the option of declining the trade.

Looking at it from Soriano’s point of view, he would probably accept any deal that involves him becoming a closer. If he sticks with the Braves and becomes a 7th inning man, his stock would go down pretty far entering next years offseason when he would be a free agent again.

This could work out pretty well for Atlanta in the end. No, they won’t get the draft picks they would if he had signed with a different team as a Type A free agent. But they may get something pretty good in return in a deal, as Soriano was considered one of the top relievers available. It’ll be interesting to hear Soriano’s opinion on the situation.