Rumor Royalty: Jeff Zrebiec (Orioles)
Rumor Royalty is an MLBTR feature that honors the best journalist for each team in terms of hot stove material. The Newark Star-Ledger’s Dan Graziano recently snagged the honor for the Yankees.
The choice for the Baltimore Orioles was really easy for me. The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec owns Orioles hot stove chatter; he gets all the scoops. Here’s a link to the Sun’s baseball page, where his work can be found. I asked Jeff three hot stove questions, which will be posted here separately over the next couple of days.
Brewers Not Likely To Acquire Nathan, Herges
Tom Haudricourt spoke to Brewers GM Doug Melvin recently to learn more about possible relief acquisitions.
- Acquiring Joe Nathan or Chad Cordero is highly unlikely, because the Brewers don’t want to create holes at other positions.
- The Crew has an offer out to one free agent reliever but it’s not Matt Herges. That conflicts with a report from Haudricourt from November 14th. Herges must be considering a Mystery Team along with the Rockies.
- Haudricourt speculates that the offer might be out to David Riske, who I imagine wants at least three years and $12MM.
Rangers Rumors: Dunn, Hamilton, Kemp
MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan has some interesting hot stove banter surrounding the Rangers.
- A three-year deal for Kosuke Fukudome or a two-year pact for Mike Cameron might be the most sensible options to fill the Rangers’ center field void. Aaron Rowand is probably too expensive.
- While the Rangers have a touch of interest in Adam Dunn and Coco Crisp, they prefer the idea of acquiring a young bat. Names they like: Fernando Martinez, Carlos Gomez, Carlos Gonzalez, and Matt Kemp. Sullivan notes that the Rangers have talked to the Reds about Josh Hamilton.
- If the Rangers sign starting pitching it’s likely to be of the injury comeback variety – Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Jason Jennings.
- Eric Gagne is still under consideration to be signed for their vacant closer role.
Johan Demands Changed?
In this post written at 11am today, I outlined the seven or so clubs with a shot at acquiring Twins ace Johan Santana. However the acquisition of Delmon Young, Brendan Harris, and Jason Pridie from the Rays changes everything.
First, the loss of Matt Garza lessens the chances of trading Santana at least a little bit. The Twins have pitching depth, but that’d be 40% of their 2007 rotation gone. It was probably always the case, but it’s definite now that if the Twins trade Santana this winter they need a very good MLB-ready starter in return.
Second, the Twins no longer need any outfielders. Sure, they could add another center fielder to be safe or even move Michael Cuddyer back to third base. But in my mind third base becomes the primary need for the Twins.
So now Bill Smith should be looking for an elite young hurler and a similar young third baseman. The Yankees and Red Sox can’t offer that. The Mets, Mariners, and Cubs don’t have it either. The Angels might – Nick Adenhart and Brandon Wood. The Dodgers could pull it off too, with Andy LaRoche and Chad Billingsley. How about a wild card like the Reds? They’ve got Homer Bailey and Edwin Encarnacion. And I imagine the Twins would find a way to work Jay Bruce in if they could get him.
Odds and Ends: Livan, Bartlett, Willis, Webb
Random pieces of rumorage…
- The Mets have expressed interest in Livan Hernandez, though he appears to be their Plan C or D.
- Jim Bowden and the Nats will be active in the trade market, perhaps finally pulling the trigger on deals for Chad Cordero and/or Jon Rauch.
- The Rays and Twins have had discussions about shortstop Jason Bartlett. Would a 1 for 1 trade for Rocco Baldelli make sense? Buster Olney believes the Rays should consider trading for the Nats’ Cristian Guzman.
- Update on the Rockies’ reliever situation. They’re probably going to pass on Ron Mahay and Jeremy Affeldt, while they should hear Matt Herges‘ decision today. Ron Villone is also in their sights.
- The D’Backs will no longer look at annual payroll. Instead, they have a three-year budget to spend. This may allow for a higher payroll in 2008 than 2009. Jack Magruder guesses the number is around $230-240MM for 2008-10.
- Speaking of Arizona, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic believes some kind of Carlos Gonzalez for Dontrelle Willis swap could make sense. Another D’Back note – they offered an extension to Brandon Webb for 2011-13, but he turned down their offer.
- The Scott Linebrink signing is done, and he gets some kind of no-trade protection.
Mets Focused On Blanton/Haren?
According to David Lennon of Newsday, the Mets are focused on getting Dan Haren or Joe Blanton from the A’s. Lennon admits they probably don’t have the chips to get Johan Santana, which makes me wonder how they’d have enough to get Blanton or Haren.
Omar Minaya and Billy Beane discussed these guys a year ago, and couldn’t come to an agreement. Now Beane’s price has risen – Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman won’t cut it (not sure if it would’ve last year anyway). I’m not sure if adding any Mets pitching prospect to that pair would be enough to get Blanton, who would have a lesser price tag than Haren. Add Carlos Gomez to the package and you might have something.
I honestly can’t see how the Mets would present the best package for Haren, but maybe they have a shot at getting Blanton. Lennon notes that the A’s are more eager to trade Blanton, since he’s arbitration-eligible for the first time.
Cards Considering Jack Wilson, Izturis, Tejada
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss has an excellent update on the Cardinals’ pursuit of a new starting shortstop.
- Sounds like the end of the David Eckstein Era in St. Louis – Strauss says it’s a widespread belief that Eckstein will not be offered arbitration and probably will not stay around.
- While the Cards are drawn to Miguel Tejada, a deal seems highly unlikely. John Mozeliak wants to move quickly to fill the shortstop position and the Orioles are taking their time with Tejada.
- Sounds like there’s a very good chance the Cards get Jack Wilson from the Bucs. They’re OK with paying all of the $13.75MM owed to him through 2009.
- If Wilson doesn’t work out, Cesar Izturis is the one free agent the Cardinals are considering. They could have some competition from the Rays.
- There isn’t much interest in acquiring Juan Uribe or going with internal option Brendan Ryan.
- A few speculative options not mentioned by Strauss: Cristian Guzman, Alexei Ramirez, Jason Bartlett, Adam Everett, Joaquin Arias, Clint Barmes, and Russ Adams.
Crasnick’s Latest: Kuroda, Marquis, Morris
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick has an in-depth look at the pitching market. I’ll highlight a few new tidbits.
- Hiroki Kuroda might require four years, as some teams are viewing him as the best available free agent starter.
- Scott Boras might wait out the market a bit and then push for five years for Kyle Lohse. That’s right, five years for Kyle Lohse.
- Matt Clement to the Reds is a possibility I hadn’t considered. Clement did pitch for Dusty Baker with the Cubs.
- Crasnick reports there would be huge interest in Mark Prior if the Cubs non-tender him. As in, pretty much every team in baseball. Crasnick’s source indicates that Prior and the Cubs don’t have the best relationship.
- Crasnick spoke to Doug Melvin and confirmed that Claudio Vargas and Chris Capuano will not be non-tendered. But they could definitely be traded.
- The Cubs are listening to offers for Jason Marquis, who is owed $16.25MM over 2008-09. So maybe they are still in on Kuroda.
- New Pirates GM Neal Huntington is shopping Dave Littlefield’s mistake, Matt Morris. Morris makes $9.5MM in ’08 and would be owed a $1MM buyout in ’09.
Unfounded Rumors: Bonser, Morneau
UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 10:50am: LaVelle E. Neal III and Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune looked into both of these rumors, and found nothing.
FROM 11-27-07 at 10:25pm:
We have seen some Unfounded Rumors come to fruition in the past; you never know. No insult is intended towards the originators of these, but they are reports I have not been able to verify. I know most of you just want rumors any way you can get them.
- DRays Bay has some chatter about a possible Boof Bonser to Tampa Bay deal. Apparently quotes from Bonser himself played a part in this one, though Marc Topkin isn’t buying it.
- Over at Minor League Ball, a person posted about a rumor heard on a California radio station: Justin Morneau to the Angels for Ervin Santana and Casey Kotchman. This one has zero verification but it’s rapidly making its way around the Internet today.
So there you go, a couple of Unfounded Rumors to mull over this evening.
Crisp Rather Than Rowand For White Sox?
Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times says Aaron Rowand has already priced himself out of the White Sox’s range. Apparently the Sox talked to Rowand before they made an offer to Torii Hunter, and found the number of years Rowand requested to be out of the question. Randy Miller said back in mid-October that Rowand was looking for a six-year, $84MM deal. Cowley sees the Rangers and Dodgers as the main suitors for Rowand.
Cowley believes the White Sox, meanwhile, will move on to Coco Crisp. They’ve long had interest in him. I’m not sure how the White Sox and Red Sox would match up though. The Red Sox are asking for quite a bit for Crisp – three prospects. The Rangers balked upon hearing this.
Cowley also suggests that Kenny Williams could attempt to acquire Willy Taveras. This seems more speculation than anything, based on Williams’ pursuit of him a year ago. Trading him would seem to create a hole for the Rockies, and they have no need for Joe Crede.