Joe Blanton Rumors: Wednesday
As you know, Joe Blanton is considered the young hurler Billy Beane really wants to trade now. I saw him likened to Ted Lilly – a guy you trade because he’s getting more expensive but not better.
Susan Slusser says the Dodgers "have a strong interest in Blanton." This dates back to last summer. The Dodgers, of course, are also in the mix for Erik Bedard. Slusser also says the Mets are a possibility but lack the young talent the Dodgers have.
Wouldn’t be surprising to see the Phillies check in on Blanton; they did so in July.
Lamb Too Pricey For Boston
According to Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe, Mike Lamb is getting too pricey for the Red Sox and he’s likely to sign elsewhere as a regular. Lamb deserves to earn a decent buck; he earned $2.7MM in ’07 and quietly has solid stats compared to other free agents.
It was said yesterday that the Rangers are in the lead for Lamb, as they intend to give him the starting first base job.
Astros Pushed For Pettitte
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 7:47am: I missed an interesting note from Ken Davidoff’s blog yesterday. Apparently the Astros made a hard push to get Pettitte for ’08.
FROM 12-4-07 at 3:39pm:
From near-retirement to playing until age 45. Andy Pettitte is all over the place. Pettitte told a Houston TV station his arm would allow him to get guys out for another ten years, though he didn’t specifically say he wanted to play that long. He did, however, express interest in being around for the Yanks’ new stadium in 2009.
Angels Not Desperate For A Third Baseman
According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Angels are telling teams they have no urgency to go out and get a third baseman after missing out on Miguel Cabrera. As far as Miguel Tejada goes, the Halos haven’t even met with the Orioles.
That said, Ken Rosenthal did indicate that the Angels are in the mix for Scott Rolen.
Cubs Rumors: Fukudome, Ibanez, Dempster
The Chicago Sun-Times’ Gordon Wittenmyer already has his Wednesday column up for review.
- Wittenmyer still thinks Kosuke Fukudome is going to be much more expensive than anyone originally thought. Could the bidding reach $40MM over three years?
- If the Cubs can’t go Fukudome they will turn to Raul Ibanez. They might offer Sean Marshall for him. They’d only have to endure a year of Ibanez butchering right field.
- Jim Hendry debunked a Jeff Blair report that the Cubs want to move Ryan Dempster.
- The Cubs have no intention of trading Felix Pie or Sam Fuld, not that there had been any recent rumors.
Cubs Rumors: Fukudome, Prior
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:58pm: MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone says there is "very minimal buzz"that the Mets may have inquired on Prior.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 7:04pm: Tasty rumor morsel: Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times says Fukudome is "almost certainly" going to sign with the Cubs.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:20pm: Some new stuff from ESPN Radio 1000’s Bruce Levine.
- The Cubs have talked to the Royals about Mark Teahen; the Royals like Matt Murton.
- Levine says there’s nothing to the Josh Hamilton rumor.
FROM 12-4-07 at 12:11pm:
Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times discusses the rumors around the Cubs.
- Wittenmyer implies that Kosuke Fukudome could get a deal similar to Torii Hunter‘s – five years, $90MM. That’s not in line with what’s been said so far, plus Fukudome has said he wants three years and not more.
- The Padres are the frontrunner to acquire Mark Prior, but Dusty Baker’s Reds are also interested. The Reds idea first surfaced here. The Padres, though, have made many deals with the Cubs over the past few years as Jim Hendry and Kevin Towers work well together.
Padres Rumors: Bay, Scott, Barrett
Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune has a late-night update for us.
- Several outfielders are on the radar that we haven’t previously linked to San Diego: Milton Bradley, Xavier Nady, and Jason Bay. Of course all three have played for the Padres in the past. It would certainly be an interesting storyline if they reacquired Bay.
- Ken Rosenthal told us earlier that the Padres talks for Luke Scott broke off. Krasovic doesn’t say that, but notes that the Astros want catcher Nick Hundley for him. The 24 year-old backstop hit .247/.324/.475 in Double A last year. According to Baseball America, Hundley profiles as a big league regular and could be respectable botg offensively and defensively.
- Michael Barrett still hasn’t decided whether to accept arby.
Latest Erik Bedard Rumors: Tuesday
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:36pm: Geoff Baker says that a Bedard trade with the Mariners would likely involve Wladimir Balentien, Adam Jones, and Brandon Morrow.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:06pm: The Dodgers met with the Orioles to talk Bedard today. Ned Colletti has pretty much deemed Broxton untouchable, and no deal is close.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 10:19pm: John Fay says the Reds are seriously pursuing Bedard. Wayne Krivsky won’t reveal much, but Fay thinks Bailey, Votto, and another prospect might interest the Orioles.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 10:16pm: The Mets again offered Heilman, Gomez, and Humber for Bedard, perhaps thinking that offering it twice would be helpful. MLB.com’s Marty Noble says the Mets may reconfigure their offer, replacing Humber with Pelfrey or Mulvey.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 4:10pm: Joel Sherman confirms the Cubs’ interest, so that’s officially 11 teams in on Bedard. Sherman says the Yankees and Mets are unlikely to snag the southpaw ace, and names the Dodgers as the frontrunner. Peter Angelos is letting Andy MacPhail run the show but doesn’t want Bedard traded within the division. Sorry Yankees and Blue Jays.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 3:10pm: Nick Cafardo notes that Cubs GM Jim Hendry and Andy MacPhail had lunch today, which leads him to believe they may have discussed Bedard. A bit of a stretch since Hendry and MacPhail used to work together. Then again the Cubs did pursue in a Mark Prior/Miguel Tejada deal a few years back. The Cubs would represent the 11th team in on Bedard.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 3:01pm: Buster Olney says the Jays continue to talk with the Orioles about Bedard, noting that the Jays have the young pitching. Bedard would certainly represent the Canadian draw they’ve been looking for.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 2:16pm: There is growing buzz that the Dodgers may get Bedard. ESPN’s Amy Nelson has a source saying a deal may be close. Matt Kemp and Jonathan Broxton would be the main pieces of a trade. Readers are reporting in that WFAN is saying the same.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 9:32am: The Mets are still hawking Gomez, trying to get Bedard. Joel Sherman adds the Tigers to the list of teams after Bedard, bringing the total to ten. He says the Tigers and Phils are getting creative trying to get Bedard. The Tigers don’t need to get that creative – they can offer Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller.
FROM 12-4-07 at 8:45am:
How many teams are after Erik Bedard? The tally yesterday included the Phillies, Cardinals, Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Angels, Dodgers, and D’Backs – that’s eight. The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly check in with the latest on the Orioles’ ace.
- There’s been a ton of trade interest in Bedard (as you might expect). Andy MacPhail is still talking about signing him to an extension, but no one really buys it. The package he’ll get in trade should rival what the Twins get for Johan.
- The Dodgers, Mariners, and Mets have been pursuing Bedard the most aggressively. More meetings with the Mets should occur today. The Mariners could make an intriguing offer built around Adam Jones and Brandon Morrow.
- A new team is added to bring the tally to nine: the Reds are interested. However, Jay Bruce is off the table.
Pirates Shopping Nate McLouth?
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:31pm: Neal Huntington says he’s not shopping McLouth, but that doesn’t mean he won’t listen.
FROM 12-4-07 at 1:58pm:
Apparently Neal Huntington thinks Nate McLouth is not the answer in center field, because he’s been aggressively shopping the 26 year-old. Ken Rosenthal says the Cubs, Padres, Phillies, and Braves are interested.
Looking at my Nate McLouth archive, the Giants and Marlins have also been connected to him. McLouth has a .249/.322/.429 line in 708 big league ABs, which isn’t too bad for a center fielder. Plus he did hit .284/.391/.538 over the season’s final two months.
Rangers Rumors: Patterson, Bradley, Bay
T.R. Sullivan recently filed his Rangers report at MLB.com.
- The Rangers will meet with Scott Boras soon to talk about Eric Gagne.
- Another topic for the Boras conversation: Corey Patterson.
- The Rangers like Milton Bradley, and have asked for his medical reports. Bradley’s agent said a few days ago that he would be ready for Opening Day.
- The Bucs’ asking prices for Jason Bay and Nate McLouth were deemed too high – Eric Hurley and Elvis Andrus were suggested.
- External first base options: Mike Lamb, Tony Clark, and Ben Broussard.