Rafael Betancourt Rumors

Odds & Ends: Butler, Holliday, Counsell

A batch of links to kick off the work week... Newly minted Royals Player of the Year Billy Butler has not held long-term extension talks with the team, MLBTR learned on a conference call today. Butler will not be arbitration-eligible until after the 2010 season. Desipio on the Cubs-Curtis Granderson idea: "In the end, this smells like a winter of Brian Roberts and Jake Peavy trade rumors. One that ends with us talking ourselves into how Marlon Byrd isn’t so bad after all." Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports believes it's a three-horse race for Matt Holliday: the Red Sox,...   Continue Reading

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Rockies Decline Option On Rafael Betancourt

The Rockies declined their $5.4MM club option on reliever Rafael Betancourt, tweets Ed Price of AOL FanHouse. Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post he'll continue to negotiate with Betancourt. Betancourt, 35 in April, found the NL to his liking after coming over in a trade with the Indians. He posted a 1.78 ERA with 29 strikeouts and five walks in 25.3 innings for the Rockies. Betancourt is a Type A free agent, and if he gets to December 1st unsigned it'll be interesting to see if the Rockies offer arbitration. Other teams would find Betancourt...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Gordon, Uribe, D'backs, Igawa

Links for a busy Wednesday, as writers, agents, and GMs catch their flights out of O'Hare... Welcome to Twitter: ESPN's Buster Olney. ESPN's Keith Law assesses the Mark Teahen, J.J. Hardy, Jeremy Hermida, and Akinori Iwamura trades. The Royals are committed to Alex Gordon as their third baseman despite acquiring Josh Fields, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Fields instead could play left field in the event David DeJesus is traded. DeJesus' name popped up in our left field trade market post. Rosenthal and Morosi also note that the Giants are talking with Juan Uribe...   Continue Reading

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Olney On Wagner, DeRosa, Betancourt, Wolf

The free agent rankings are out, so ESPN.com's Buster Olney breaks down the winners and losers. Here are the details from his latest blog post: Billy Wagner is a Type A free agent, so teams will have to surrender a draft pick to sign him if the Red Sox offer arbitration, as expected. This hurts Wagner's value, since he's coming back from Tommy John surgery and teams will hesitate to give up a top pick for an injury risk. Olney wouldn't be surprised to see Mark DeRosa field two and three year offers. The versatile 34-year-old is a Type B...   Continue Reading

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Rockies Rumors: Hawpe, Betancourt, Torrealba

8:34pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman is reporting that Torrealba declined a Colorado offer of two years, $4.5MM. 3:57pm: Joel Sherman of The NY Post has a slew of Rockies' rumors from the GM meetings, so let's recap... The Rockies are willing to listen to trade offers for outfielder Brad Hawpe. Just last month, GM Dan O'Dowd said "We have no desire to move [Hawpe] at all." The team's top priority at the moment is to retain reliever Rafael Betancourt, who they've already approached about a multi-year deal. Yorvit Torrealba turned down an offer to return to the team after they declined...   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal On Gonzalez, Beckett, De La Rosa

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a new column up today, in which he discusses a variety of topics from around the league. Let's recap a few of the highlights.... Although the Boston Red Sox have been the team most frequently linked to Adrian Gonzalez, it's unclear whether they have the pieces to work out a trade. Rosenthal suggests the Padres will want some major-league talent in return, and quotes one baseball executive who says he can't imagine how the Sox get a deal done. Rosenthal says the Padres should be more inclined to move closer Heath Bell than Gonzalez....   Continue Reading

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Rockies Negotiating With Betancourt, Won't Retain Fogg

The Colorado Rockies are attempting to bring back setup man Rafael Betancourt, but will not re-sign righty Josh Fogg, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Renck doesn't have any specific details on the talks with Betancourt, but writes that the Rockies has approached the reliever about a multi-year deal. Betancourt has a $5.4MM option for 2010. However, we heard previously that the club would like to sign him to a restructured deal that pays him less in 2010, but locks him up past next season. Fogg, meanwhile, signed a minor-league deal with the Rockies before the season, and...   Continue Reading

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Rockies Rumors: Giambi, Betancourt, Peralta

It sounds like the Rockies will bring back manager Jim Tracy and GM Dan O'Dowd. Here are some more rumors regarding the club's offseason plans: Tracy Ringolsby of Inside the Rockies says the team's coaching staff will return in 2010. Jim Tracy works well with his coaches, though he did not hand-pick them. Ringolsby expects the Rockies to decline the options for Jason Giambi ($6.5MM), Rafael Betancourt ($5.4MM), Yorvit Torrealba ($4MM, $500K buyout) and Alan Embree ($3MM, $250K buyout). Instead of picking up Betancourt's option, the club will try to sign him to a two-year deal that guaranatees less money...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Mariners, Orioles, Indians

If you're up reading, we're up writing! MLB.com's Jim Street takes questions about the Mariners. Among other things, he believes the Mariners will find a veteran catcher to at least split time with prospect Adam Moore. Street's Baltimore counterpart, MLB.com's Spencer Fordin, believes the Orioles will move Koji Uehara to short relief and look to acquire another veteran starter. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer's Paul Hoynes has very positive things to say about Manny Acta, the new Indians' manager. Manny Corpas looks strong in Instructional League play, according to Thomas Harding of MLB.com, and Corpas will play winter ball as well. A...   Continue Reading

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Rockies Notes: Marquis, Betancourt, Giambi

Tracy Ringolsby of Inside The Rockies examines Colorado's commitments for 2010, and the decisions they'll face regarding potential free agents and arbitration cases. Here are a few of his thoughts: Jason Marquis has said he wants to sign with the Mets and likely won't be back in Colorado. There's a good chance that lefty Alan Embree will retire. Jose Contreras is interested in returning in a middle relief capacity, but Matt Belisle is a younger option for the team in that role. The club would like to retain Rafael Betancourt, but his contract would have to be reworked. Betancourt has...   Continue Reading

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