Jeremy Affeldt Rumors

Twins To Avoid Type A Free Agents?

A note from Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

I've been told it’s highly doubtful the Twins will sign a Type A free agent, which would cost them their first-round draft pick next June, though they have checked into some of the Type A relievers and are in a “Never say never” mode.

The Twins own the #23 pick in next year's draft.  Players such as Orlando Cabrera, Doug Brocail, Juan Cruz, Darren Oliver, and Russ Springer would presumably cost them that pick.

Christensen also notes that the Twins had strong interest in Jeremy Affeldt and scouted Dayan Viciedo.

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Odds and Ends: Wade, Crisp, Holliday

Links for Thursday...

• New commenters are signing up every day as MLB Trade Rumors grows.  Before commenting, be sure to read our policy. If you ever see someone violating the policy just send me an email and I'll take care of it.
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• Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald wonders if Kerry Wood might accept an offer of arbitration from the Cubs.
• Hal Steinbrenner officially took over control of the Yankees from George.
• Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire takes a look at Jeremy Affeldt's motivations in signing early with the Giants.
• Check out recent fan chats with Astros GM Ed Wade and agent Scott Boras.  Wade still hopes to sign Randy Wolf and Doug Brocail and doesn't seem keen on trading Jose Valverde.  Some fans didn't seem to realize that just holding payroll steady will pose problems for the Astros.
• Joe Posnanski discusses the Royals' acquisition of Coco Crisp.
• Nick Cafardo wonders if the Crisp trade sets up other moves for the Red Sox.  They'll explore signing Rocco Baldelli, according to Amalie Benjamin.
• Sox Machine reflects on Nick Swisher's time with the White Sox.
• A's owner Lew Wolff would prefer to keep Matt Holliday all year.
• Tom Haudricourt wonders if the Brewers will pursue David DeJesus if they trade Mike Cameron.
• MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone lists which teams have been connected to the top free agent starting pitchers.
• Chad Finn wonders if the Red Sox are considering trading David Ortiz.
• Alan Schwarz has a nice article on Junichi Tazawa.

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Crisp Almost A Red, Says Jocketty

Reds GM Walt Jocketty says that his team nearly settled on a deal for Coco Crisp, according to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. "We were close," Jocketty said, although specific pieces aren't mentioned in the article. It'd be interesting to know what the Reds were offering considering the Red Sox received pitching help in exchange for Crisp.

The same article lists upgrading the bullpen as a focus of the Reds' offseason plans. Jocketty has been in touch with the agents of David Weathers and Mike Lincoln, but doesn't expect to sign anyone soon.

Jocketty also talks about being surprised by how quickly reliever Jeremy Affeldt signed a deal. However, the article also points out that Affeldt wasn't signed until January 23rd this past offseason.

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Affeldt Signing Reactions

Giants GM Brian Sabean kicked off the free agent proceedings yesterday by signing southpaw Jeremy Affeldt to a two-year, $8MM deal.  Reactions:

• ESPN's Keith Law likes the move.  Affeldt has good stuff, it's a short-term deal, and it doesn't cost the Giants a draft pick.  Affeldt definitely could've gotten more money elsewhere.
• El Lefty Malo says "this was about as good a cost/benefit move the Giants could make for a free agent reliever."
• Affeldt says signing was a no-brainer for him after the Giants came in and met the dollars he was looking for.  Henry Schulman's San Francisco Chronicle article implies Affeldt could get a shot at starting at some point during the deal.

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Giants Sign Jeremy Affeldt

2:39pm: MLB.com's Mark Sheldon says it's a two-year, $8MM deal for Affeldt.  Nice signing!  Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says the Giants are not done looking for relievers, though Chris Haft figures Joe Beimel is out on account of his left handedness.

1:46pm: According to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, the Giants signed lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt to a two-year deal.  He was a Type B free agent, so the Reds will receive a sandwich pick for him in the June draft.

I'm surprised Affeldt didn't pursue a closing job; ESPN's Keith Law ranked him as the second best reliever on the market (ahead of Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes).  Affeldt seemingly overplayed his hand as a free agent last offseason, so maybe that was a factor.

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Odds & Ends: Kawakami, Renteria, Johnson, Ohman

A number of Odds & Ends for your weekend update:

• From Japanball.com, Kenshin Kawakami is filing for free agency.
• Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports the Cubs are considering Randy Johnson for a one year deal. The 45 year old lefty is a career 13-0 against the Cubs, 4-0 at Wrigley, and needs 5 wins to reach 300.
• The Cardinals are moving in on free agent Will Ohman, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and are reportedly interested in Jeremy Affeldt and Arthur Rhodes.
• In the same article, Goold suggests the Cards will stall on their efforts to pursue Edgar Renteria until after the Tigers decline their offer of arbitration, since signing the Type A free agent beforehand would result in any team losing a first round draft pick. So despite "mutual interest", don't expect the Cardinals, or anyone, to sign Renteria before the second week of December. Matthew Leach of mlb.com notes there are a lot of free agent shortstop options.
• Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says Giants are finding mutual interest in Rafael Furcal and Bobby Howry.
• Utility man Donnie Murphy signed a minor-league deal with the O's - from Peter Schmuck's blog.
• John Hickey at The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says M's GM Jack Zduriencik expects Raul Ibanez to wait for Seattle to name it's next manager before making any decisions.

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Rosenthal's Latest: Peavy, Teixeira, Burnett

Ken Rosenthal's got an interesting new column up.

• Now that talks with the Braves have ended for the time being, Padres GM Kevin Towers is talking with the Yankees about Jake Peavy. The Yankees have had "numerous discussions" with the Padres, even though they just offered C.C. Sabathia a contract and are still considering A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe.
• Peavy's agent Barry Axelrod said that "the Angels probably would be more appealing" geographically, but "from other perspectives, they might be less appealing" than other teams
• Rosenthal talked with an agent who said that the Angels could wait a week or 10 days before making Mark Teixeira a "knockout offer" with a deadline.
• Even though the Yankees traded for Nick Swisher, they could still have interest in Teixeira if he's willing to consider a shorter contract of four or five years for top dollar.
• Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi knows that Toronto "won't be the highest bidder" for A.J. Burnett. Ricciardi hopes that Burnett likes Toronto enough to re-sign.
• The Indians are considering going after both Juan Cruz and Jeremy Affeldt instead of an experienced closer.
• The Phillies and Giants could also bid on Cruz.
• The Cardinals will have interest in Affeldt and Joe Beimel as they try to strengthen their bullpen.

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Full Story |  Comments (81) | Categories: A.J. Burnett | Cleveland Indians | Jeremy Affeldt | Joe Beimel | Juan Cruz | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | Mark Teixeira | New York Yankees | Philadelphia Phillies | San Francisco Giants | St. Louis Cardinals | Toronto Blue Jays



Odds and Ends: Perez, Torres, Beimel

By Tim Dierkes [November 14, 2008 at 11:21am CST]

Links for Friday, with an unplanned emphasis on relievers...

• The Tigers and Trevor Hoffman may be a match.  Hoffman's agent closed the door on the Padres.
• The Royals brought Mike Arbuckle aboard, formerly of the Phillies.
• The Nationals have interest in re-signing Aaron Boone and Odalis Perez.  MLB.com's Bill Ladson gives it a 50-50 chance.  The Nats re-signed infielder Pete Orr, who could earn $600K.
• The Brewers picked up Salomon Torres' 2009 option, more of a procedural move than anything.
• The Marlins have an eye on minor league free agent Zach McClellan.
• Ken Davidoff makes contract and destination predictions for top free agents.  K-Rod, Juan Cruz, and Russ Springer to the Cardinals for a combined $73MM? 
• The Rockies have Joe Beimel and Jeremy Affeldt on the radar, among others.
• The New York Daily News has a cool free agent tracker.

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Full Story |  Comments (11) | Categories: Aaron Boone | Colorado Rockies | Detroit Tigers | Jeremy Affeldt | Joe Beimel | Kansas City Royals | Miami Marlins | Milwaukee Brewers | Odalis Perez | Salomon Torres | San Diego Padres | Trevor Hoffman | Washington Nationals



Stark's Latest: Abreu, Arroyo, Hudson

By Tim Dierkes [November 13, 2008 at 3:41pm CST]

ESPN's Jayson Stark is back with a look at needs and plans for all 30 teams.  I highly recommend you read the article, but here are a few highlights.  He's also got a fresh blog post here.

• The Phillies are eyeing Doug Brocail and Russ Springer.
• The Mets like Bobby Abreu, but not his three year, $45MM asking price.
• The Reds are quietly listening on Bronson Arroyo, and the Rangers may be interested.
• Contrary to previous reports, Stark believes the Mets' first order of business is getting a starting pitcher.
• Here's a new one - the Marlins are interested in Orlando Hudson?
• The Astros may be trying to move money, and Stark implies trading Miguel Tejada or Jose Valverde could be one path.
• The Rockies have "actively explored" signing Jeremy Affeldt, who could also wind up back home with the Mariners.  A few more interesting names for Seattle: Joe Crede (if Adrian Beltre is traded), Jason Giambi, and Ken Griffey Jr.

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Full Story |  Comments (38) | Categories: Adrian Beltre | Bobby Abreu | Bronson Arroyo | Cincinnati Reds | Colorado Rockies | Doug Brocail | Houston Astros | Jason Giambi | Jeremy Affeldt | Joe Crede | Jose Valverde | Ken Griffey Jr. | Miami Marlins | Miguel Tejada | New York Mets | Orlando Hudson | Philadelphia Phillies | Russ Springer | Seattle Mariners | Texas Rangers



Reds Rumors: Pitching, Greene, Hairston

By Tim Dierkes [November 7, 2008 at 11:16am CST]

Here's the latest from John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

• GM Walt Jocketty said he will not be trading young pitching for a quick fix.  Still, you have to think Homer Bailey is available in the right deal for another young player.
• Despite an earlier report to the contrary, the Reds are not interested in San Diego shortstop Khalil Greene.  If Jocketty is to acquire a shortstop, it'll be a pre-arbitration player.  The Reds are shaky at shortstop - Alex Gonzalez is penciled in for next year, but he missed all of '08 with a compression fracture in his knee.
• The Reds like young backstop Ryan Hanigan, but they are still in the market for catchers.  Fay says Jocketty chatted with the Rangers regarding their surplus, though a recent report didn't have Cincinnati in the mix.  Joel Sherman seems to indicate the Reds have interest in the Mets' Brian Schneider.
• Jocketty made progress toward re-signing Jerry Hairston Jr. (also on Philly's radar), and he plans to talk to the agents for David Weathers, Jeremy Affeldt, and Mike Lincoln this week.

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Full Story |  Comments (10) | Categories: Brian Schneider | Cincinnati Reds | David Weathers | Jeremy Affeldt | Jerry Hairston Jr. | Khalil Greene | Mike Lincoln | San Diego Padres | Texas Rangers


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