Juan Rivera Rumors

Crasnick's Free Agent Bargains

By Tim Dierkes [November 26, 2008 at 11:13am CST]

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick lists nine possible free agent bargains in his column today. A few notes: Randy Johnson is looking for a one-year deal, and his agent says the list of interested clubs is approaching double figures. The Dodgers may make sense, though Johnson is on the backburner for them. Crasnick speculates that Philadelphia could be a nice fit for Felipe Lopez. Scott Boras seemingly wants a multiyear deal for Joe Crede, as he's using the Magglio Ordonez contract as a model. Maybe his new team would have the ability to opt out after the season if Crede hits the... Continue Reading

Angels Hold Off On Teixeira Bid

By Tim Dierkes [November 11, 2008 at 10:14am CST]

Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times describes the Angels' strategy regarding free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira. He says that since Tex will test the open market regardless, the Halos will not make an offer within their exclusive negotiation period. So much for resolving the situation quickly. The Angels do not want Scott Boras shopping around their offer to the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, and Nationals and driving up the price. Just a guess, maybe the Nats consider Josh Willingham their cleanup hitter acquisition and will back out of the Teixeira derby. DiGiovanna adds that the Angels "plan a serious... Continue Reading

Odds and Ends: Myers, Crede, Giants

By Tim Dierkes [October 29, 2008 at 11:23am CST]

Links for Wednesday... The Brewers snagged infielder Casey McGehee off waivers from the Cubs. The Crew also designated Joe Dillon for assignment. The Reds signed 16 year-old lefty Ismael Guillon out of Venezuela. MLB.com's Marty Noble discusses the Mets and impending free agents Oliver Perez and Pedro Martinez. The Mets will entertain re-signing Perez at their price, but they'll let Pedro leave. Any guesses on where he pitches next year? Joe Pawlikowski at River Ave. Blues would like the Yankees to sign free agent outfielder Juan Rivera. Brian Cashman traded Rivera, Randy Choate, and Nick Johnson to the Expos for... Continue Reading

Odds and Ends: Rivera, Floyd, Peavy

By Tim Dierkes [October 28, 2008 at 12:18pm CST]

Links for Tuesday... The Red Sox added pitcher Virgil Vasquez while losing infielder Gil Velazquez. Dave Cameron has another free agent bargain: Juan Rivera. The Astros made their first Taiwanese signing: 22 year-old righty reliever Chia-Jen Lo. Japanese reliever Ryota Igarashi hopes to try MLB eventually (but not in 2009). Viva El Birdos figures the Cardinals will check in on Kenshin Kawakami. Bud Selig has praise for Padres owner John Moores. Rays Index passes along a report that Cliff Floyd's injury could end his career. This could open up some free agent possibilities. River Ave. Blues says the latest Jake... Continue Reading

Where Will Atlanta Find A Bat?

By Joe Pawlikowski [October 6, 2008 at 10:25am CST]

Mark Bowman of MLB.com has a new mailbag up. The first question leads to a discussion of the Braves adding a bat this off-season. The Braves have $45MM to spend this winter, and could use every penny to fortify their team. While pitching is certainly a concern, the team would like to add a bat. They could use an outfielder or three. Bowman begins by listing the usual free agent targets: Pat Burrell and Adam Dunn, though he notes that the team isn't necessarily interested in either. In the Braves offseason outlook, Tim also mentioned free agents Raul Ibanez and... Continue Reading

How To Fix The Mets

By Tim Dierkes [October 1, 2008 at 10:07am CST]

I will offer my own opinions on how to improve the Mets in the Offseason Outlook, due within a few weeks. Many journalists have already weighed in - let's take a look. Newly added bullet: John Harper of the New York Daily News. He advises the Mets to decline Delgado's option while signing Orlando Hudson, Raul Ibanez, and Derek Lowe and trading for J.J. Putz. Say goodbye to Castillo, Perez, and Martinez in this plan. Ken Davidoff of Newsday: Sign free agents Francisco Rodriguez, Darren Oliver, Juan Rivera, Fernando Tatis, and Wes Helms. Also sign one of Jon Garland, Derek... Continue Reading

Perrotto's Latest: GMs, Angels, Offseason Moves

By Steve Adams [September 21, 2008 at 4:26pm CST]

John Perrotto at Baseball Prospectus has his Every Given Sunday column up, let's take a look at what he has to say: Perrotto believes that there's a good chance that the only GM change baseball will see this offseason may be the one we already know about, as Pat Gillick has already announced his retirement. Perrotto cites Assitant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. as a likely replacement. The most likely other change is in Seattle, and cites Dodgers' Assistant GM Kim Ng as a possible replacement, which would make her the first female general manager in the game's history. Perrotto believes... Continue Reading

Rosenthal's Latest: Angels, D'Backs, Giambi, Ellis

By Tim Dierkes [August 15, 2008 at 9:06am CST]

Here is the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Many important Angels will reach free agency this winter: Mark Teixeira, Francisco Rodriguez, Jon Garland, and Juan Rivera. Rosenthal doesn't expect any of these four back. Garret Anderson's $14MM option will not be exercised, but he could be re-signed. John Lackey and Vladimir Guerrero both have reasonable club options for '09, but the Halos need to plan beyond that. Several journalists have noted the D'Backs may restock the farm system if they let Adam Dunn, Orlando Hudson, Brandon Lyon, and Juan Cruz depart as free agents after the season. They're... Continue Reading

Sherman's Latest: Bay, Nady, Holliday, Fuentes, Blake

By Tim Dierkes [July 15, 2008 at 4:25pm CST]

The New York Post's Joel Sherman is working hard today, filing blog posts here and here. Multiple teams are in the hunt for a right-handed hitting outfielder: the Mets, Rays, and maybe the Yankees. The Pirates are asking for too much for Jason Bay and Xavier Nady, while the Rockies are waiting to see what Bay costs so they can ask for more for Matt Holliday. The Rays' might find their solution internally, with Rocco Baldelli. Holliday as a replacement for Manny Ramirez this winter? Right now it's just a couple of execs speculating to Sherman. The Rockies want either... Continue Reading

Heyman's Latest: Bay, Rivera, Chacon

By Tim Dierkes [July 11, 2008 at 1:45pm CST]

New column from SI.com's Jon Heyman. Fresh Jason Bay rumors: the D'Backs and Cardinals are in pursuit. The Mets and Rays have kicked the tires as well. Heyman believes the Pirates want Emilio Bonifacio from the D'Backs, and maybe Colby Rasmus from the Cards. At any rate, the price will be steep with Bay signed for '09. Juan Rivera is a "surprise target" of the Mets, though they've had interest in him since March. Rivera will be hard to acquire, though, because he's gaining playing time for the Angels. Heyman believes Shawn Chacon will win his grievance and get paid... Continue Reading

Odds & Ends: Rivera, Sabathia, Mark Sweeney

By Nat Boyle [June 29, 2008 at 9:44am CST]

Some Odds & Ends for this Sunday morning: Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times proposes the Dodgers offer middle reliever Cory Wade or Single-A fireballer Javy Guerra for OF Juan Rivera. Despite already having a logjam in the outfield, Rivera would provide the power the Dodgers need. As he sees it, the Angels have a propensity for stockpiling arms and Rivera is only gathering dust behind Gary Matthews Jr. Fun fact from Shaikin: it's been 32 years since the last Dodgers/Angels trade. The Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck tells Orioles fans not to expect C.C. Sabathia to be signed by... Continue Reading

Free Agent Stock Watch: Juan Rivera

By Tim Dierkes [April 17, 2008 at 10:56am CST]

Angels outfielder Juan Rivera is in a tough situation, fighting for playing time in his contract year. So far he has eight ABs in the team's first 16 games. He's just not getting starter consideration at the DH or corner spots. Rivera seems like an interesting buy-low candidate, whether via trade during the season or free agency after it. The one time he received more than 400 ABs, in 2006, he hit .310/.362/.525. He broke his leg in a winter league game that year and has barely played since. The Angels aren't in any hurry to trade him, despite interest.... Continue Reading

Full Story | Comments (12) | Categories: Free Agent Stock Watch | Juan Rivera | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Odds and Ends: Rivera, Hamels, Sherrill

By Tim Dierkes [March 19, 2008 at 11:26am CST]

Here's today's gathering of links. John Shea examines the Giants' roster crunch, which would be greatly relieved by trading Dave Roberts and Steve Kline. Adam Rubin implies that the Angels want too much from the Mets for Juan Rivera - Jon Niese or Bobby Parnell. A deal seems unlikely. Cole Hamels, accused by a heckler of being a cross between Casey Fossum and Shawn Camp. BURNED! Buster Olney is hearing from other teams that the Orioles may shop 30 year-old newly anointed closer George Sherrill this summer. Joe Christensen believes that we'll learn about Joe Nathan's future with the Twins... Continue Reading

Rays Likely To Fill Outfield Void Through Trade

By Cork Gaines [March 16, 2008 at 9:24am CST]

According to Marc Lancaster, the Rays would prefer to fill their need for a fourth outfielder via trade as opposed to signing a free agent such as Kenny Lofton. Lancaster notes the Rays are likely to offer one of their surplus of starting pitchers. The Rays have five pitchers competing for the final two spots in the rotation and two of those pitchers (Edwin Jackson and Jason Hammel) are out of options. In addition Lancaster mentions that the Rays have a number of pitching prospects at AA and AAA that could be included in a deal. The Rays would prefer... Continue Reading

Odds and Ends: Baldelli, Salcedo, Piazza, Rivera

By Tim Dierkes [March 12, 2008 at 11:00am CST]

Time for today's linkage. RotoAuthority looks for some fantasy baseball sleepers at second base. Rocco Baldelli has a rare muscle condition that does not allow his body to recover after a short workout. He'll hit the DL but won't retire. The Rays will likely decline his option but maybe they'll re-sign him at a lower price. The Indians are in the running for 16 year-old shortstop Edward Salcedo, but the Boras client remains unsigned. IGN has their own What Might've Been type series, and recently they took a look at the Mike Piazza trades of 1998. Haven't heard much on... Continue Reading

Braves Interested In Juan Rivera?

By Tim Dierkes [March 11, 2008 at 8:43am CST]

Juan Rivera is in a tough place - he doesn't have an opportunity to prove he can be a healthy and effective outfielder despite heading into his contract year. He's been very respectful to the Angels about his situation though. Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times recently speculated that Rivera would have a starting role on teams like the Braves, Mets, or Giants. Rivera's best year was '06, when he hit .310/.362/.525 in 124 games. But then Rivera broke his leg in winter ball in December of that year and it's been a long time coming back. Ken Rosenthal suggested... Continue Reading

Full Story | Comments (14) | Categories: Atlanta Braves | Juan Rivera | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Rosenthal's Latest: Crede, Willits, Rivera, Belliard

By Matthew Birt [March 9, 2008 at 1:49pm CST]

Ken Rosenthal checks in with all kinds of hot stove info. Continuing on yesterday's post regarding Joe Crede and the Dodgers , Rosenthal reports that a source close to Dodgers management explained that the team trading for a third baseman like Crede or Brandon Inge is "all about the budget and whether [owner Frank] McCourt will allow them to add money." Rosenthal continues to point out that Crede is a better deal than Inge in terms of their contracts, and that Crede could also be more attractive to Dodgers management because the White Sox might be willing to trade for... Continue Reading