White Sox Shopping Uribe?

UPDATE: Good stuff from Eduardo Encina. Apparently the Rays don't like Uribe's weight or price tag, and their interest is "very limited." By the way, per Keith Law, Uribe can be traded despite being signed as a free agent by the Sox. With Orlando Cabrera in house, the White Sox now have an extra shortstop in Juan Uribe. They'd like to clear his $4.5MM salary to create more room for Torii Hunter. I imagine it wouldn't take much in return - it might be more of a salary dump. In hindsight maybe Williams should've declined to re-sign Uribe, but who...

Odds and Ends: Cameron, Mora, Thames

Here are today's odds and ends before I head off to my poker game tonight. The Padres have had "cordial and informative" talks with free agent Mike Cameron. The talks sound pretty low level right now. According to Cameron's agent, the Nationals, Rangers, and Cubs also like him. New stuff from Rosenthal. Melvin Mora would waive his no-trade clause for the Phillies or other nearby teams, and would also move to left field if need be. Problem is that Mora would be below average at either position and has roughly $16MM left on his deal. Rosenthal adds that Salomon Torres,...

Yankees Interested In Mahay, Linebrink

According to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, the Yankees are interested in relievers Ron Mahay and Scott Linebrink. Offers have not yet been extended. Signing Linebrink would be costly beyond the three years and $12MM+ he might require. Assuming the Brewers offer arbitration and Linebrink declines (a safe assumption), the Yankees would have to hand over their 28th overall pick next June. It's known that the Astros already have an offer out to Linebrink, and the White Sox and Pirates may also be interested. Since he's a Type B, Mahay doesn't carry the same risk. The Braves,...

Brewers Pursuing Hunter?

We recently named the White Sox, Dodgers, and Rangers as the teams in hot pursuit of free agent center fielder Torii Hunter. However, those aren't the only clubs after him. Yahoo's Jeff Passan talks of how Hunter was impressed with the Royals' pitch. Passan also adds the Brewers and Nationals as teams interested in Hunter. Out of all these clubs, this is the first I've heard of Milwaukee being in the mix. Perhaps if the Brewers let Francisco Cordero walk they'll spend the money on Torii. They could then move Bill Hall to third base and Ryan Braun to left...

Will Andruw Take One Year?

According to Scott Boras, his client Andruw Jones will not be taking a one-year deal to rebuild his value. Boras cites Jones' home run total, RBI total, and Gold Gloves as evidence that he deserves a marquee contract. That might work if it were 1990 and OBP, SLG, and better fielding metrics weren't standard. Is Boras losing his touch? Boras said the same thing a couple of months ago: "I wouldn't even consider a one-year contract with Andruw Jones." This was a few days after Andruw admitted he'd listen to any offer. Crasnick's article (linked in the first post) indicates...

Miguel Cabrera Rumors

I think it's about time to dissect the Miguel Cabrera situation, don't you? The Angels, Dodgers, Giants, White Sox, and maybe the Rangers are battling to acquire him. Five days ago, the Angels were the frontrunners. It was even suggested a trade could be completed by Thanksgiving. But according to Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers now have the lead. It may require Matt Kemp, Andy LaRoche, and Clayton Kershaw. Now that's quality. Rosenthal has a source saying the Halos may counter with Ervin Santana, Howie Kendrick, Chris Bootcheck, and Nick Adenhart. It's thought that the Angels' acquisition of Jon Garland frees...

Rangers, Hunter Talking Five Year Deal

According to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, Torii Hunter denied the Chicago Sun-Times report that he would sign with the Sox this week. The White Sox, Dodgers, and Rangers remain the major players for Hunter. The Rangers had dinner with Hunter last night; he's their top priority. Currently the two sides are talking about a five-year deal but Jon Daniels doesn't expect anything to happen this week.

Odds and Ends: LaRue, Rogers, Hunter

Some random rumorage before I shut it down for the evening... My 2008 MLB Free Agents list is current; take a gander. The Cardinals signed Jason LaRue to be their backup catcher. LaRue had a nice five-year trend of rising OPS, culminating with an .806 mark in 2005. Then he lost all ability to hit whatsoever. Fortunately, he can still throw guys out. The Cards also inked a couple of sweet former Rated Rookies in Dewon Brazelton and John Wasdin. The Tigers have begun chatting with Kenny Rogers again, this time with The Gambler representing himself. Don't buy that Torii...

White Sox Trade Jon Garland For Orlando Cabrera

UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal reports that the White Sox received $1.5MM in the deal. It certainly seems that the Sox are clearing payroll for Torii Hunter. Mark Gonzales notes that while the Sox hope to sign Cabrera long-term, they'll still benefit from this trade if they don't. Cabrera is likely to be a Type A a year from now while Garland will probably be a B. According to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, the White Sox acquired shortstop Orlando Cabrera for starter Jon Garland today. In a vacuum, this seems like a pretty even swap to me. Just comparing the...

Rivera Agrees To Deal With Yanks

UPDATE: Kat O'Brien's sources also indicate that Rivera has accepted the offer. We can close the book on this one. Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record has the scoop: Mariano Rivera has agreed to the Yankees three-year, $45 million offer. Caldera's source is a friend who spoke to Rivera today, so I suppose it's not official official. Caldera also reports that the friend said, "He would have taken two years and an option." Wonderful. So not only did the Yankees overpay, but now it's rubbed in their faces. This will surely somehow factor into the deal for Francisco Cordero, now...

Astros Close To Kaz Matsui Deal?

UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal notes that the Astros are close to a deal with Geoff Blum, and believes the Astros are behind both the Rockies and Cubs for Matsui. Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News is reporting that Kaz Matsui "appears headed to the Astros." Maybe Ed Wade will save the Cubs from themselves. The Cubs were reportedly going to offer Matsui a three-year pact. Ringolsby adds an interesting twist: the Astros and Rockies could swap second basemen. The Rockies like Chris Burke, and he will probably be deemed expendable if Matsui is signed. Seems to me there's a decent...

Ms Sending Bavasi To Japan For Kuroda?

While talks are in the preliminary stages, the Mariners may send GM Bill Bavasi to Tokyo to negotiate with free agent Hiroki Kuroda. He is apparently the team's top priority, and the Mariners have advantages in geography, their home park, and their current Japanese personnel. Word from Larry LaRue is that Kuroda is after a three or four year contract at $11MM annually. I think he can get it, as the list of suitors is long and growing. LaRue names the Rangers, Dodgers, Cubs, and Phillies as other serious contenders. We also know the Tigers, Royals, and Mets are in...

Jays Likely To Offer Towers Arbitration

Josh Towers has pretty much proven to be less than useful in the AL East. However, his peripheral stats aren't too shabby and most speculate a move to the easier league would turn him into a solid #4 starter. J.P. Ricciardi knows this, and is likely to offer arbitration to Towers. Towers is due for a bump from the $2.9MM he made in '07. I'll guess he'll land in the $3.5-4MM range. Ricciardi is paying lip service to the idea of keeping Towers around, but he'll surely explore the trade market for him. He might be disappointed - no one...

Hunter, Sox Could Agree This Week

Torii Hunter might be a White Sox before the week is out. According to Joe Cowley, "'the climate was there for a deal to be announced soon." Of course, Cowley adds that this is unless another team swoops in at the last second with a mind-boggling offer. Next to the White Sox, the Rangers are mentioned most often as Hunter's destination. The Royals also have interest. This report is coming from sources within both the club and Hunter's camp. The two sides have sat down twice, with the financial package being discussed in the latter meeting. Buster Olney has mentioned...

Orioles, Dodgers Talking Bedard, Kemp

Earlier this month, we learned that the Orioles will listen to offers for Erik Bedard. Sounds kinda crazy, shopping a potential Cy Young candidate with two years remaining until free agency. But if the Orioles can pick up a couple of younger but still MLB-ready players, so be it. The first connection comes from the Dodgers, who are offering a package centered around -- guess who -- Matt Kemp. Kemp himself won't get this deal done. Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports lists the usual suspects from the Dodgers: Andy LaRoche (because 93 at-bats is a plenty big sample), Jonathan Meloan,...

Holliday Wants More Than Four Years

The Denver Post's Troy Renck noted two weeks ago that the Rockies planned to offer a four-year, $60MM extension to MVP candidate Matt Holliday. Holliday is on vacation in Hawaii and hadn't heard those whispers. When informed, he said he was honored but that four years wouldn't be enough. The tough thing for the Rockies is that Coors Field inflates stats but doesn't necessarily translate to a salary discount. Holliday should probably be a $13-14MM per year player, but don't go telling that to Scott Boras. He's going to be asking for at least $18-20MM to buy out additional years...

Lowell Signs With Red Sox

UPDATE: ESPN reports that the deal is for $37.5MM, so $12.5MM per year. Lowell took more than $10MM less to stay with Boston. UPDATE: Rob Bradford says the Red Sox and Lowell have agreed to the parameters of a three-year deal worth between $12-13MM annually. The Sox had set a deadline today for Lowell to decide on their offer, and he took them up on it. Buster Olney is reporting in his blog this morning that Mike Lowell is close to a three-year deal with the Red Sox. That has to mean he's leaving a significant amount of money on...

Odds and Ends: Kendall, Crisp, Gagne

I'm back in the swing of things, kind of. We're still living out of boxes, but I've got a laptop and I'm digging into all the rumors I missed. Joe did a great job the last couple of days. Be sure to visit his Yankees blog, River Ave. Blues. On to today's random rumors... I'm hearing that Jason Kendall could be a fallback for the Mets if they can't pry Ramon Hernandez loose from the Orioles. The Blue Jays have about $4MM to spend, and J.P. Ricciardi likes the idea of Michael Barrett splitting time behind the plate with Gregg...

Teams Still Competing For Yabuta?

On Friday, the word from Ken Rosenthal was that the Royals were close to signing Japanese reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta to a two-year deal with an option. However, the Chicago Tribune's Mark Gonzales names five teams currently in the running for his services. We already knew about the Royals and White Sox. Gonzales adds the Indians, Rays, and Pirates to the mix as well. Looks like Japanese relievers are no longer free agency's best kept secret. Odd that teams didn't start figuring this out until Hideki Okajima came along. There were plenty of successes before him. It almost seems like you...

Braves Sign Tom Glavine

It's now official: the Braves have signed Tom Glavine to a one-year, $8MM deal. There doesn't appear to be any kind of second-year option. The Braves initially came in at $6.5MM. MLB.com's Mark Bowman says the Nationals and Phillies were in on him, but never really had a shot at making a deal. The Mets probably aren't terribly concerned about the loss, since they get the Braves' valuable #18 overall pick next June plus a supplemental pick as compensation. After a 2007 lacking in rotation depth, the Braves have a slew of candidates to start. Even without counting on Mike...

Mets Give Castillo Four Years, $25 Million

UPDATE, 11-19-07: The AP confirms it. Seems like there were more creative ways to fill the second base vacancy. Castillo was playing it safe, and four years is too much. UPDATE, 11-18-07: Now Ken Rosenthal has this one. This one just came in from Tim. Dominican sports website Impacto Deportivo is reporting that the Mets and Luis Castillo have agreed to a four-year deal worth $25 million. They say to expect an official announcement shortly. I got the summary from Tim. If anyone could head to the website and translate, it would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and just because it's...

Blue Jays, Nationals, Rays Notes

We'll start with the Blue Jays. Jordan Bastian has an article up on MLB.com reporting that the Jays have been in contact with Matt Clement. He says that the team has "always liked Matt," but added that he think "it depends on what Matt's looking for a this point." Indeed, Bastian opines that the club "would likely take a shot on Clement if the pitcher agreed to a Minor League contract with a chance at competing for a job with the Jays." With interest from a few other clubs, that seems unlikely. So this is likely one big non-rumor. The...

A's Trade Scutaro To Jays

Billy Beane made a deal with one of his former employees today, shipping utility infielder Marco Scutaro to the Blue Jays for a pair of minor league arms. We know that Billy often values certain players more than others, so let's see what he got in return. Kristian Bell, an 11th round pick in 2004, struggled in Advanced A ball this year, posting a 5.33 ERA in 77.2 innings. He struck out just 5.33 per nine, and didn't even own a 2:1 K/BB ratio. This was the first year that his HR/9 rate climbed above 0.50 -- all the way...

MetsBlog: LoDuca the best choice

Matt Cerone at MetsBlog takes on the question that's been facing the Mets since mid-day yesterday: Who starts at catcher next year? Ramon Hernandez, who was offered a contract by the Mets two years ago when he was a free agent, is said to be Omar Minaya's top choice. However, this presents a problem. Hernandez won't come cheap, and the Mets would need to retain their best trading chips if they want to acquire a front-line starter. This would seemingly rule Hernandez out, since "word from [B]altimore had bee that [H]ernandez would cost a high-end prospect." A cheaper trade option...

Rosenthal's Latest: Bonds, Broussard, Hunter, Rowand, More

We missed an installment from good ol' Kenny Rosenthal yesterday. He's back today in full force (unlike another great rumor source, Buster Olney, who posted nothing really new in his blog today). The A's, once considered the best bet for Barry Bonds, are no longer interested in the indicted slugger. Rosenthal thinks it's likely that Bond's trial will start after Opening Day, causing him to miss time regardless of the verdict. And then there's the whole prison issue. The Rangers spoke to the Mariners at the GM meetings regarding the availability of Ben Broussard. Talks didn't really go anywhere, since...

Unconfirmed: Twins Made Offer To Santana

Sid Hartman has a tidbit towards the end of his column today: The Twins have made a five-year, $93 million offer for Johan Santana. The source of this is not the Twins, but rather Hartman hearing "word in baseball circles." The $18.6 million average annual value would surpass that of Barry Zito, though Zito's deal was for seven years. Santana is entering his age 29 season in 2008, so this contract would keep him locked up through age 35. While Johan could probably do better on the open market, if he really wants to stay in Minnesota, he should consider...

Odds And Ends: Cordero, Torrealba, Koskie, Clement

Just browsing the web this morning: Troy Renck of the Denver Post speculates that the Mets deal with Yorvit Torrealba might have fallen apart because of the catcher's shoulder issues. This is based on Torrealba having missed time in 2006 with two shoulder injuries. The deal fell apart when it was thought to be complete, with only the physical remaining. The Rockies have also inquired on Matt Clement. Renck mentions the Diamondbacks as also having interest in the 33-year-old righty, adding them to the aforementioned Padres and Royals. Clement has thrown just 65.1 innings in the past two years. The...

Wood On BoSox Radar

In Nick Cafardo's column in the Boston Globe today, he mentions that Kerry Wood is on Sox's radar. He says they envision him as the guy they were looking for when they traded for Eric Gagne on July 31. Unfortunately, this may not jibe with Wood's intentions. As Tim has discussed here, he might be looking to remain as a starter, though that would limit the teams that are interested in him. Presumably, given his injury history and temporary success as a reliever in '07, more teams would line up to have Wood in their bullpens. The Cubs, who could...

Eckstein seeking Lugo-esque deal

If Julio Lugo was able to snag four years and $36 million last off-season, well, by golly, David Eckstein wants to do the same this year. You can make some arguments with the comparison -- Lugo is a year younger, flashes a bit more power, and has been more consistent in his production (from year-to-year; we're not counting his huge drop-off after being traded to the Dodgers last year). But it's tough to argue with Eckstein for wanting to start talks at that level. This may deter Eckstein's perceived No. 1 suitor, the New York Mets, who are looking at...

Odds and Ends: Fukumori, Rivera, Haerther, Walker

Some small notes from various sources: According to the North County Times, the Padres brought in Japanese righty reliever Kazuo Fukumori for a workout at Petco last week. The Padres haven't yet been mentioned as suitors for Fukumori. The Rockies, Royals, Rays, and Red Sox have previously been linked to the free agent. New York Daily News writers Bill Madden and Anthony McCarron spoke to sources close to Mariano Rivera, who reveal that the 38-year-old closer could accept the Yankees current offer of three years, $45 million as soon as this weekend. Rivera was seeking a fourth year guaranteed, citing...

Random Rumors: Glavine, Cordero, Percival

Let's kick things off today with one of those posts packed with random rumors. Tom Glavine's agent Gregg Clifton meets with Braves' GM Frank Wren this afternoon. They'll talk money. Wren is expected to offer $8-10MM for '08 plus a mutual option for '09. Glavine isn't a lock for the Braves - three other teams are interested. The pool includes the Mets, Phillies, Nationals, Cardinals and Astros. Reds beat writer John Fay recently suggested the Reds might have a payroll around $75MM, giving them only $6MM to spend. But now Fay is saying he thinks the Reds might go past...