Cubs Willing To Offer $50MM For Fukudome?
UPDATE, 12-11-07 at 10:48am: Just talked to a good source on this stuff. He told me Fukudome wants five years, despite what we’ve read. The Cubs don’t expect he’ll sign for $50MM for five years, and are offering that amount over four. They’re having an internal debate about stretching it to a five-year, $65MM offer. Jim Hendry wants to stop at four years though.
FROM 12-11-07 at 10:03am:
Interesting piece of information from Tom Krasovic today – he says the Cubs are willing to offer close to $50MM for Kosuke Fukudome. They really want this guy and have built their offseason plan around him.
It’s hard to believe the Cubs would offer that amount for three years; that would be $16.6MM annually to someone who’s never played in the Majors. I could definitely see the Cubs putting out a four-year, $50MM offer though. Who knows how much validity there is to the idea that Fukudome wants three years and only three years.
The Padres have gone at least three years and at least $10MM annually, but it could be more on both accounts. Kevin Towers says the team’s offer was final. He sees Fukudome landing in Chicago or San Diego. That might mean he considers the White Sox to be in the mix as well.
Padres Rumors: Iguchi, Eckstein, Barrett, Bonds
Aside from the aforementioned Fukudome stuff, Tom Krasovic has some trade rumors to discuss in today’s article.
- It seems the Padres and Rockies are the main competitors for Tadahito Iguchi. The Pads wouldn’t mind getting Matt Antonelli more seasoning at Triple A. Meanwhile the Rockies are offering Iguchi two years. The Padres also like the idea of getting David Eckstein on a one-year deal, not something he’s expecting to go for.
- The Pirates still like Michael Barrett, but expect him to require little in the way of players.
- While the Padres recently met with Barry Bonds‘ agent, Jeff Borris, the team’s CEO said point-blank that they have no interest in him. It might’ve been a less interesting Borris client such as Jeff Cirillo, Tony Graffanino, or Jay Witasick.
- The Padres haven’t been in touch with Aaron Rowand’s people. They seem in agreement on two years for Mike Cameron, but they disagree on the dollars.
Mariners Leading For Kuroda?
John Hickey has an update on Hiroki Kuroda this morning. It seems the Mariners, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks are competing for his services. Kuroda only wants a three-year deal, giving himself a chance to go back to Japan for the 2011 season if he chooses. According to Hickey, "Kuroda’s final decision will be between the Dodgers and the Mariners."
- Mariners: Hickey thinks they’re in the lead with a three-year offer in the $33-36MM range. The rumors of a four-year offer were false.
- Dodgers: They’re at 3/30 and are considered the Mariners’ biggest competition.
- Diamondbacks: Hickey says they’re also close to 3/30 but on the fringes, which might imply his source was not aware of their recently improved offer.
It seems Kuroda will make a decision within a week or so. Maybe by then the starting pitching market will start moving.
Kosuke Fukudome Coming To MLB
UPDATE, 12-11-07 at 8:27am: Official word comes from the man himself – he’ll try his hand in the Majors in 2008.
UPDATE, 12-10-07 at 10:04pm: Here’s the latest from the Sun-Times. Urbon won’t hear from Fukudome until sometime later tonight. He’ll contact MLB teams on Tuesday at the earliest with the news. From that point, a deal might only take a day or two.
UPDATE, 12-10-07 at 2:30pm: This is getting annoying…Fukudome will decide whether to come to MLB tonight. We all expect him to come, so it’s been a lot of back and forth for nothing.
UPDATE, 12-9-07 at 12:14am: He’s coming this time, for real.
UPDATE, 12-7-07 at 8:08pm: Just listened to Dave Kaplan talking to Fukudome’s agent, Joe Urbon, on Sports Central/WGN 720. Urbon says Fukudome may decide whether to play in the U.S. on Monday. The process would move "very quickly" soon after that for Fukudome to decide on a team.
UPDATE, 12-7-07 at 8:03pm: Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times spoke to Fukudome’s agent. He hasn’t decided yet. He will make a choice Monday or Tuesday, and would let the interested Japanese teams know first.
FROM 12-7-07 at 2:40pm:
In case there was any question, Ken Rosenthal reports that Kosuke Fukudome will announce that he’s leaving Japan for an MLB team.
Rosenthal says it’s down to the Cubs, Padres, and what I like to call a Mystery Team. The Rangers, Giants, and White Sox are candidates. And although Rosenthal doesn’t mention them, the Royals could be in the mix. Ken Davidoff reported on Wednesday that Fukudome had narrowed his choices to the Cubs and Royals (though it’s known that the Padres made a substantial offer). Note that Davidoff’s article came out after news of the Royals’ Jose Guillen signing broke.
D’Backs Improve Offer For Kuroda
Originally the Diamondbacks came in at three years and $27MM for coveted Japanese starter Hiroki Kuroda. That wasn’t going to cut it. Nick Piecoro reports that they’ve improved their offer, adding money to the last two years but not increasing the term.
Jon Heyman suggested on Thursday that Kuroda could require as much as $15MM annually. That’s a far cry from $9MM a year. My guess is that the D’Backs improved their offer to three years, $36MM or so. Thoughts?
Nationals Sign Lo Duca
UPDATE, 12-10-07 at 10:11pm: The Nationals paid a fairly hefty $5MM for Lo Duca. This is for a backstop who hit .272/.311/.378 while throwing out a below-average 23.4% of basestealers in 2007. He’d better call a good game.
FROM 12-10-07 at 1:59pm:
According to Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post, the Nationals have signed Paul Lo Duca to a one-year deal. He apparently wanted $5MM; I imagine he got a bit less than that. Four days ago Joel Sherman said the Blue Jays were putting the "finishing touches" on a one-year, $3MM deal with Lo Duca.
My reaction: eh. I’m not sure what Lo Duca adds to the 2008 Nationals that they couldn’t get elsewhere for less money. I guess they could hope he has a big first half and then try to flip him for a prospect. Mets fans: is Lo Duca good at naturing young pitchers? That could be one decent reason to sign him.
Brewers Acquire Torres
UPDATE, 12-10-07 at 10:08pm: No more Torres drama…he’ll join the Brewers for the 2008 season.
UPDATE, 12-8-07 at 12:06pm: Seems this story isn’t over. Torres is contemplating retirement, in which case the Brewers would probably lose the two prospects for nothing. Torres will talk it over with his family and take a few days to decide.
FROM 12-7-07 at 2:16pm:
According to Tom Haudricourt, the Brewers have acquired reliever Salomon Torres for minor league relievers Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts.
Torres turns 36 in March. He threw a monstrous 280 innings in relief over 2004-2006, so it’s no surprise his elbow started barking in 2007. His strikeout rate in ’07 was actually a career high, but his groundball rate decreased and he allowed a lot more home runs and hits than usual. Torres makes $3.2MM in ’08 and has a $3.75MM club option for ’09.
Haudricourt actually wrote the Brewers’ top ten prospect list for Baseball America, so believe him when he says Salas and Roberts are good arms.
Will the Pirates keep dealing? It’s known that relievers Damaso Marte and John Grabow are on the block.
Phillies Have Mild Interest In Mussina
The Yankees’ rotation currently consists of Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy. That leaves both Mike Mussina (owed $11MM in ’08, no-trade protection) and Kei Igawa (owed $16MM over 2008-11) without starting jobs. It wouldn’t be a bad move to just keep the depth, if you consider it depth. After all, the three kids aren’t going to combine for 600 innings. But Mussina and Igawa might be available.
Bob Matthews of the Times-Union Democrat and Chronicle (yes we’re really digging for rumors) notes today that the Phillies have "mild interest" in Mussina. The 39 year-old Pennsylvania native may not want to leave New York, but it might not be a bad career move. He’s got 250 wins; 300 would be a grind. 280 seems within reach though. What could the Phils offer the Yanks for Mussina? $11MM off their books and some kind of low-level prospect, I’d imagine.
Youngman’s Latest: Tejada, Eckstein, Inge
Randy Youngman of the OC Register has a few new rumor tidbits for us. Let’s discuss.
- The Angels won’t include Jered Weaver in a Miguel Tejada trade. Youngman says the O’s asked for the moon as a way of gauging Tejada’s market value. Now they’ll get serious.
- Both the Padres and Angels like David Eckstein as one-year possibilities, not that he’s open to that. The Halos actually have a bench role in mind for him, according to Youngman. The Padres, by the way, spoke to Eckstein’s agent today.
- Youngman says the Dodgers have interest in Brandon Inge and Pedro Feliz. If that’s the case, they should really go with internal options. Jayson Stark said three days ago that the Dodgers would pass on Inge.
- The Giants are apparently fans of Luis Gonzalez. In a December 5th posting Jerry Crasnick said the Rangers, Twins, Rays, White Sox, and Giants had all spoken to Gonzo’s agent.
Best Available Free Agents By Position
Let’s go position by position and name the best available free agent at each. Here’s the current list.
Catcher – Damian Miller. There’s just nothing out there; teams moved fast on catchers this year.
First base – Mike Lamb. Some might say Tony Clark, but I’ll take the guy who gets on base a little bit at the expense of a few home runs. Lamb’s platoon splits are inconsistent; I’m not sure how he’d handle 500 ABs. Brad Wilkerson is another intriguing option here.
Second base – Tadahito Iguchi. Solid guy who won’t hurt you, especially if he can be had for two years instead of three.
Shortstop – David Eckstein. The best candidate here by default. It’s a nice time to be shopping a shortstop.
Third base – Mike Lamb. I’ll take him again rather than nominate Pedro Feliz. It’s a bleak hot corner market.
Left fielder – Barry Bonds. I think he offers the most production overall, baggage and questionable defense included. The market at this position isn’t terrible, with guys like Geoff Jenkins and Shannon Stewart out there.
Center field – Aaron Rowand. He has his detractors, but he’s still better than Mike Cameron.
Right field – Kosuke Fukudome. Even if he hasn’t officially declared he’s the top guy easily. This is a weak position for free agents beyond him.
DHs – Barry Bonds. If you have an open DH spot and are a contender, you should sign Barry. Mike Piazza could rebound, as another option.
Starting pitcher – Hiroki Kuroda. I’d take the gamble that Kuroda is a touch better than four or five years of Carlos Silva. That’s only a hunch though.
Closer – Octavio Dotel. It’s him or Keith Foulke. Dotel has the better stuff, though both are health risks. Some team might really overpay for Dotel as the last decent guy with the closer label.
Right-handed middle relief – Luis Vizcaino. His control isn’t great, but he’s durable and hasn’t had a truly bad year since ’03. He knows he’s the best right-handed middle reliever out there, and wants four years.
Left-handed middle relief – Ron Mahay. I like him a bit more than Jeremy Affeldt in terms of results. Plus Mahay is from Crestwood, always a good thing. However nobody is talking about Mahay’s control – it’s bad – or his age – he’s old. Three year deal, here we come.