Ramon Hernandez Rumors

Looking Beyond Varitek

According to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, a slew of catchers are being shopped to the Red Sox. Among them: Jeff Mathis, Mike Napoli, Brian Schneider, Miguel Montero, John Buck, Ramon Hernandez, Bengie Molina, Carlos Santana, Kelly Shoppach, Victor Martinez, Jesus Flores, Kenji Johjima, Jeff Clement, Yorvit Torrealba, and the Rangers' guys. Silverman says the Braves, Cardinals, and Rays also have catchers available. It seems that teams are asking for players like Justin Masterson, Clay Buchholz, or Lars Anderson in some cases. On the Jason Varitek front, Scott Boras told the AP yesterday that he's had no financial discussions...   Continue Reading

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Orioles Rumors: Baez, Greene, Hernandez

Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has a few Orioles notes today. Danys Baez, who hasn't pitched since 2006, would like to prepare as a starter for 2008. Andy MacPhail is open to the idea; the Orioles have more open spots in their rotation than their bullpen. Baez is set to earn $5.5MM in '09, the last year of his deal. Starting is where the money's at, unless you get a chance to close. The Orioles are interested in Khalil Greene, but prefer a long-term solution at shortstop. Nothing new on the extension front for Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts....   Continue Reading

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Cafardo's Latest: Lowe, Maddux, Peavy

Here's a look at the latest column from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Interestingly, the Red Sox are reportedly Derek Lowe's preferred destination. It's unknown whether the Sox intend to add a starter this winter, but they may lose free agent Paul Byrd (and will have to decide on Tim Wakefield's $4MM option). Cafardo names a dozen other clubs interested in Lowe: the Yankees, Mets, Tigers, Indians, Cardinals, Cubs, Angels, Braves, Phillies, Rangers, Astros, and Blue Jays. Bill Mueller, 38 in March, admits he'd like to play again. Medically, it's a long shot because he'd need to regrow cartilage...   Continue Reading

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Orioles To Entertain Burnett, Teixeira?

Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has a nice end-of-season column about the Orioles today. Dan Connolly also wrote a fine summary on Saturday. In my Offseason Outlook for the team, I suggested the Orioles explore the possibility of signing A.J. Burnett but pass on a huge commitment for Mark Teixeira. Zrebiec says the O's will be in the initial bidding for both free agents. I respect that; it's hard to see them winning any bidding wars though. Instead, the Orioles will look to add starting pitching, a shortstop, and maybe a first baseman this winter. To do so, they...   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest: Dempster, Mora, Cameron

Ken Rosenthal has a new column up; let's take a look. Rosenthal agrees with those who considered C.C. Sabathia pitching the ninth inning Monday a needless risk. Sabathia already had thrown 112 pitches and the Brewers had a seven run lead, but he pitched the ninth to bring the total to 130. The innings shouldn't affect Sabathia's payday, but hopefully he remains healthy. Rosenthal sees a minimal chance of Ryan Dempster signing elsewhere, given his strong relationship with Cubs GM Jim Hendry. Dempster will be the Cubs' top offseason priority. I also consider Kerry Wood unlikely to leave. Add Melvin...   Continue Reading

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Odds And Ends: Braves, Orioles, Redding, Dunn, Ryan

A few more post-deadline notes from the MLBiverse... Apparently the Braves tried to get involved in the Jason Bay sweepstakes in the last hour before the deadline. Andy MacPhail feels that the Orioles will actually be more active in August than in July. Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly suggest that several players, including Kevin Millar, Jay Payton and Ramon Hernandez could be had in August. MacPhail also noted that while there "was a pretty high bar set" for teams asking about Brian Roberts, MacPhail made it clear that Roberts was not off-limits and suggested that a deal this winter is...   Continue Reading

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Marlins Looking For Catcher, Reliever

The NL East is a three-team race, with the Mets, Phillies, and Marlins all within a game of each other. Who'd have thought the Marlins would be contending after trading Miguel Cabrera? According to Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Marlins have intensified their search for a catcher. The targets: Bengie Molina, Ramon Hernandez, Gerald Laird, and Ryan Doumit. Molina and Hernandez are the pricey options. Doumit would be especially tough to pry loose; he has a .937 OPS this year as a 27 year-old. MLB.com's Joe Frisaro wonders if Miguel Olivo, Gregg Zaun, and Paul Lo Duca...   Continue Reading

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Knobler's Latest: Pirates, Brewers, Beltre, Cabrera

Here's the latest from CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler. A rumor made the rounds that Pirates president Frank Coonelly and GM Neal Huntington were at odds over the team's strategy, with Coonelly pushing .500 as a goal. Huntington denied that, and has five coveted players to work with in the next week. Keep in mind that only Damaso Marte is a free agent after the season, so moves can be made in the offseason. Teams with available relievers believes the Brewers are still in the market, despite Doug Melvin's claims. Many teams are scouting the Brewers' Double A club. Adrian Beltre's contract...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Harden, Bonds, Ramon Hernandez

Time to round up today's linkage. Susan Slusser believes Rich Harden and Joe Blanton will both be traded this season. She sees the Yankees and Mets as suitors for Harden, though he's already having a start pushed back. Jim Caple recently made his case for the Mariners to sign Barry Bonds; his logic is sound. Our Brian Bannister Q&A got a mention in the KC Star. Nice! RotoAuthority has the fantasy take on K-Rod's ailing ankles. Pure speculation, but Ken Rosenthal thinks Ramon Hernandez would be a good fit for the Reds. Not sure if the Reds were looking at...   Continue Reading

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Marlins/Tigers Cabrera/Willis Blockbuster

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 2:41pm: Joe Capozzi agrees - separate deals if anything. UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 1:29pm: MLB.com's Joe Frisaro has a source indicating that the Tigers are interested in Willis or Cabrera and not necessarily both. UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:23pm: According to Danny Knobler, the Tigers feel they're being used by the Marlins to jack up the price for other teams like the Angels. The trade talks between Detroit and Florida are characterized as discussions rather than trade negotiations. Knobler says Dombrowski doesn't want to trade Maybin, but I can't see this happening otherwise. FROM 12-4-07 at 11:02am: Ken Rosenthal..   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest: Roberts, Barrett, Piazza

Ken Rosenthal is presumably in Nashville doing what he does best - collect trade rumors by the dozen. His latest column is an excellent example. What's the over/under on Rosenthal scoops over the next four days? I'll set it at 10. Rosenthal says the Mets are unwilling to extend the contract of GM Omar Minaya, who is signed through 2009. The lack of job security could compel Minaya to mortgage the future, and the Lastings Milledge trade was a good example. Carlos Gomez, watch out. Here's MLBTR's look at Omar Minaya's Mets trade profile. The Astros, Giants, and Cardinals aren't..   Continue Reading

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Heyman's Latest: Piazza, Matthews, Milledge

SI.com's Jon Heyman checks in with a new Daily Scoop column full of rumors. A lot of the standard trade talk we've seen regarding Miguel Cabrera, Johan Santana, Miguel Tejada, and Dan Haren. All these guys require two good young players or more in a trade. Mike Piazza is considering DHing in Japan if he doesn't find anything he likes in the U.S. Heyman talked to an AL exec who speculated that the Angels may try to unload Gary Matthews Jr. GMJ makes $9MM in '08, $10MM in '09, $11MM in '10, and $12MM in '11. He currently has a..   Continue Reading

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Mets Acquire Estrada For Mota

UPDATE: Non-tendering Estrada is still an option for the Mets, but they've unloaded Mota's contract. The Mets may shop around for better options, knowing they have an adequate fallback. According to Jamey Newberg, the Mets found the asking prices for trade targets Gerald Laird and Ramon Hernandez to be unacceptable. The Mets found their catcher today in the person of Johnny Estrada. To get him from the Brewers, Omar Minaya only had to surrender Guillermo Mota. It was a swap of a couple of unwanted guys. The Brewers would've non-tendered Estrada rather than pony up $4MM+ for him. However they'll..   Continue Reading

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MetsBlog: Lo Duca 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..   Continue Reading

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Orioles To Attempt To Extend Bedard

It looks like Erik Bedard is Andy MacPhail's top priority right now. He's already gauged the trade interest for his ace, and is now exploring the idea of a contract extension. Jeff Zrebiec says the Mets, Yankees, Angels, and Dodgers expressed interest in the southpaw starter. Interesting to see the Halos in the mix. The Dodgers are pushing the hardest for him. Two years of Bedard is expected to cost a team three MLB-ready players. The names mentioned for the Dodgers are Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp, and Clayton Kershaw. While Kershaw's not MLB-ready, I doubt the Orioles would mind. Zrebiec..   Continue Reading

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Mets Targeting Livan Hernandez?

Ben Shpigel of the New York Times has some new Mets info for us today. Surprisingly, Shpigel believes the one free agent starter the Mets will seriously consider is Livan Hernandez. That is odd because I had read Livan wasn't high on Omar Minaya's list. We've seen the Mets connected to free agents Byung-Hyun Kim, Carlos Silva, Hiroki Kuroda, Kyle Lohse, and Jason Jennings so far this offseason. As far as some unsung trade opportunities, my Mets guy says Ervin Santana, Chris Capuano, Claudio Vargas, and Noah Lowry are being considered. According to Shpigel, the Mets hope to re-sign Ramon..   Continue Reading

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Orioles Claim Novoa; More Ex-Cubs To Come?

As far as historians can tell, the Ex-Cub Factor curse was broken in 2001 by the Diamondbacks. If you're not familiar, the Ex-Cub Factor says that a team with three or more ex-Cubs cannot win the World Series. Regardless, the Indians are in decent shape as they have only two (Joe Borowski and Kenny Lofton). I think the Rockies only have LaTroy Hawkins. The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan recently noted that the Orioles are stocking up on ex-Cubs, the latest being nondescript reliever Roberto Novoa. Former Cubs president and GM Andy MacPhail has already added three to the four that..   Continue Reading

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Mets Catching Priorities And More

Talked to my Mets source recently, and their priorities for catcher are as follows. 1. Ramon Hernandez, but only at the right length (three years) and price (maybe $8MM per). The Mets are pretending publicly they'd start the season with Ramon Castro behind the plate. That posturing is similar to the Yankees' assertion that they could begin the '06 season with Bubba Crosby in center. Not gonna happen. 2. Bengie Molina, if he takes less cash than Hernandez. 3. Brad Ausmus. 4. Toby Hall through trade. Ivan Rodriguez is not on the club's radar due to injury concerns and his..   Continue Reading

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