Cardinals trade David Freese to Angels for Peter Bourjos - MLB

UPDATE: Well, that progressed from rumor to trade in a hurry. Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that the Angels have traded center fielder Peter Bourjos and outfield prospect Randal Grichuk to the Cardinals for third baseman David Freese and reliever Fernando Salas.

Obviously the Angels are betting that Freese will bounce back following a down 2013 and the Cardinals were willing to let him go because they have prospect Kolten Wong ready to take over at second base with Matt Carpenter shifting to third base. Meanwhile, the arrival of Bourjos presumably means Jon Jay will be on the way out of St. Louis at some point.

Freese hit .262 with nine homers and a .721 OPS in 138 games this year, which is 60 points of OPS below his career mark. Salas will likely slide into a middle relief role for the Angels after posting a 3.42 ERA and 186/69 K/BB ratio in 192 innings for the Cardinals.

Bourjos is a career .251 hitter with a .704 OPS, which is about 50 points below Jay’s lifetime mark, but the gap between them defensively is huge. Grichuk was the Angels’ first-round pick in 2009 and has shown good power with questionable strike-zone judgment while advancing to Double-A.

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Following yesterday’s report that the Angels are talking to the Cardinals about third baseman David Freese, now Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports that the other side of the deal may involve center fielder Peter Bourjos.

St. Louis is looking to replace Jon Jay, who’s getting expensive and coming off a brutal postseason performance defensively, and Bourjos is one of the truly elite defensive center fielders in baseball. Of course, on the Angels he could be replaced in center field by some guy named Mike Trout.

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CARSON CITY, Nev. — A bill introduced in the Nevada Legislature would give the Oakland Athletics up to $380 million for a potential 30,000 seat, $1.5 billion retractable roof stadium on the Las Vegas Strip.

The bulk of the public funding would come from $180 million in transferable tax credits from the state and $120 million in county bonds, which can vary based on interest rate returns. Clark County also would contribute $25 million in credit toward infrastructure costs.

The A’s have been looking for a home to replace Oakland Coliseum, where the team has played since arriving from Kansas City for the 1968 season. The team had sought to build a stadium in Fremont, San Jose and finally the Oakland waterfront, all ideas that never materialized.

The plan in the Nevada Legislature won’t directly raise taxes. It can move forward with a simply majority vote in the Senate and Assembly. Lawmakers have a little more than a week to consider the proposal before they adjourn June 5, though it could be voted on if a special session is called.

The Athletics have agreed to use land on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip, where the Tropicana Las Vegas casino resort sits. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao has said he is disappointed the team didn’t negotiate with Oakland as a “true partner.”

Las Vegas would be the fourth home for a franchise that started as the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901-54. It would become the smallest TV market in Major League Baseball and the smallest market to be home to three major professional sports franchises.

The team and Las Vegas are hoping to draw from the nearly 40 million tourists who visit the city annually to help fill the stadium. The 30,000-seat capacity would make it the smallest MLB stadium.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said a vote on the Oakland Athletics’ prospective move to Las Vegas could take place when owners meet June 13-15 in New York.

The plan faces an uncertain path in the Nevada Legislature. Democratic leaders said financing bills, including for the A’s, may not go through if Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoes the five budget bills, which he has threatened to do as many of his priorities have stalled or faded in the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Under the bill, the Clark County Board of Commissioners would create a homelessness prevention and assistance fund along the stadium’s area in coordination with MLB and the Nevada Resort Association. There, they would manage funds for services, including emergency rental and utility assistance, job training, rehabilitation and counseling services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

The lease agreement with the Las Vegas Stadium Authority would be up for renewal after 30 years.

Nevada’s legislative leadership is reviewing the proposal, Democratic state Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager said in a statement.

“No commitment will be made until we have both evaluated the official proposal and received input from interested parties, including impacted community members,” Yeager said.