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Archives for December 2007

Cubs Send Infante and Ohman To Braves

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UPDATE: 12-4-07 at 10:05am: Rosenthal confirms this baby, noting that the Cubs freed up a few mil for other pursuits.

FROM 12-4-07 at 9:23am:

According to Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio 1000, the Cubs have sent lefty reliever Will Ohman and infielder Omar Infante to the Braves for righty reliever Jose Ascanio.  Ascanio closed a bit for the Braves’ Double A affiliate last year; he turns 23 in May.  He seems to have strong groundball tendencies.

Infante (acquired for Jacque Jones) and Ohman were a bit redundant on the Cubs’ roster.  They already had Scott Eyre and perhaps Sean Marshall coming from the left side out of the pen. And they’ve got plenty of middle infielders in Ronny Cedeno, Mark DeRosa, Mike Fontenot, and Ryan Theriot.

Who knows how this one will play out, but the Braves filled a couple of needs more cheaply than they might’ve on the open market.  Ohman makes $1.6MM next year; Infante should be under $2MM.

Rios For Franklin Gutierrez and Cliff Lee?

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UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 10:03am: Per Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun: no match for the Indians and Jays on Rios.  I knew Gutierrez/Lee didn’t sound right.

FROM 12-4-07 at 9:46am:

Joel Sherman has a new column up with some fresh rumors.

  • The Indians and Blue Jays are reportedly talking about a swap that would send Alex Rios to the Tribe for Franklin Gutierrez and Cliff Lee.  Seriously?  That seems like a lousy deal for the Jays.  How long until a debunking on this one?
  • The Jake Peavy signing is a cause for optimism as the Indians seek to re-sign C.C. Sabathia.
  • As you know, the Cubs are all about getting a left-handed hitting right fielder, and Kosuke Fukudome is the best available.  Adam Dunn was also on their radar (in right field??) but those talks died.  Sherman says if the Cubs don’t get Fukudome they could move on to Johnny Damon (in right field??).

Padres Rumors: Loretta, Iguchi, Peavy, Barrett

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Tom Krasovic fills us in on the latest with the Padres.

  • Kevin Towers is considering Mark Loretta and Tadahito Iguchi as second base options.  Loretta has expressed interest.  I wonder how this will make the Padres feel; his strong flirtations may turn them off.
  • Jake Peavy will get full no-trade protection for 2008-10, limited for 2011-12.
  • As reported yesterday Towers is in talks for Mark Prior and Josh Towers.  Towers said that himself?  Tampering!
  • The Padres still expect Michael Barrett to accept arby.  Krasovic mentions the Cubs actually considered having Barrett switch positions last year.  Yes!  Barrett should market himself as a third baseman and play the field.
  • The Padres recently talked about a multiyear (probably two year) deal with Mike Cameron.

Cardinals Rumors: Rolen, Tejada, Edmonds

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UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 9:38am: Tom Haudricourt confirms that the Brewers will have access to Rolen’s medical records.  That the Brewers will take a look indicates they are probably serious about Rolen.

FROM 12-4-07 at 12:14am:

Joe Strauss has a new one in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, presumably for the Tuesday morning edition.

  • The Cards have already met twice with the Brewers to talk about Scott Rolen.  They’re providing medical information to the Brewers, and appear flexible on the amount of salary they need to cover.  Teams interested in Rolen can speak directly to the third baseman’s doctor and surgeon.  Strauss confirms the Rangers and Giants as two other interested parties.
  • The Rolen deal may hinge on Miguel Cabrera being traded first.  The Cards poked their head in but wouldn’t part with Colby Rasmus.
  • The Cards are likely to create a third base vacancy, so they’ve been talking to the Orioles about Miguel Tejada. 
  • As you know, the Cards met with the Padres to discuss Jim Edmonds.  The Friars also have their eye on Anthony Reyes.  Maybe the Cards can pry Kevin Kouzmanoff loose?
  • Aside from the aforementioned Brewers, Orioles, and Padres, John Mozeliak also met with the Mariners today.

Phillies Rumors: Rowand, Benson, Colon, Reyes, Tavarez

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A few articles on the Phillies have surfaced this morning; let’s see what’s cooking on the hot stove.

  • The Phils would pay extra to get Aaron Rowand to take a three-year deal.  Jim Salisbury quotes Rowand’s agent as saying ten clubs are after him.  Salisbury names the usual suspects but throws in the Twins, Royals, Rangers, and Orioles depending on the term.
  • Todd Zolecki confirms the Phillies’ interest in Kris Benson.  He’ll be throwing for teams a few weeks from now.
  • The Phils like Benson best among the rehab project group, now that Randy Wolf is signed.  They’ve also contacted Bartolo Colon’s agent and may be in on Jason Jennings.  Zolecki also names Anthony Reyes and Julian Tavarez as two possible trade targets.
  • Despite what was said yesterday, Zolecki says Livan Hernandez is not high on Pat Gillick’s list.  They remain in the mix for Hiroki Kuroda. 

Odds and Ends: Guillen, Patterson, Clark, Andruw

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Let’s keep things rolling along with a morning Odds and Ends collection.

  • U.S.S. Mariner is not amused with the Ms’ decision not to offer arbitration to Jose Guillen.
  • Andruw Jones hasn’t been getting much player, and his camp initiated contact with the Royals yesterday. The mutual interest may have been what pushed Guillen to sign.
  • With the David Riske to Milwaukee signing not official, the Orioles apparently had talks with his agent yesterday.  He’ll be too pricey for them, anyway.  By the way, the Cubs checked in on Brian Roberts, but nothing is really stirring right now on that front.
  • Corey Patterson seems a little down, as he’s no one’s first choice in center field.  The Orioles are apparently moving on.  Patterson wouldn’t say whether he’d take a one-year deal.  As a Scott Boras client, I imagine he won’t.
  • Summing up the Rockies’ external second base candidates: Chris Burke, Marcus Giles, and Mark Loretta. The agents for both Giles and Loretta have contacted the Rockies, and Loretta would play there at a discount.
  • Evan Grant has his Rangers column up, but we already hit upon most of the points yesterday (he was the source then, too).  One new note is that the Rangers don’t want to give Tony Clark anything more than one year plus an option, while Clark wants a two-year deal.  The Rays, Dodgers, and Twins are said to like Clark.

Crasnick’s Latest: Ellsbury, Owings, Eckstein

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A few new rumors courtesy of ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick…

  • The Scott Boras Corporation recently signed two new clients – Jacoby Ellsbury and Micah Owings.  Seems insignificant now, but wait 4-5 years.
  • David Eckstein is open to playing second base or shortstop.  Crasnick notes that he turned down a four-year offer from the Mets, which might’ve been a mistake.

Burke To White Sox For Reliever?

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According to ESPN’s Steve Phillips, the Astros could trade second baseman Chris Burke to the White Sox for an unknown reliever.  Nick Masset and David Aardsma are both out of options, so one of them may be Ed Wade’s target. 

The White Sox are apparently looking to build up second base depth.  Right now the internal candidates are Juan Uribe and Danny Richar.

Red Sox Making Progress On Johan Santana

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UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 2:04am: Tim Brown checks in.  He confirms the Twins are checking Lester’s medical records.  He says the current deal on the table is Lester, Crisp, Masterson, and a minor leaguer.  A Red Sox official was said to be "cautiously optimistic."  If the current scenario is accurate, perhaps the Twins have finally bent on their demand for both Lester and Ellsbury.

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 1:57am: Rosenthal notes that the Sox have roared back into the Santana derby, but says that as midnight passed the Yankees were still talking to the Twins.  Hmmm, maybe midnight eastern time because I think Cashman went to bed already.

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 1:25am: Looks like things with the Red Sox are moving along – the Red Sox have given the Twins Lester’s medical records to review.

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 1:15am: Unconfirmed report from the Boston Globe says the Red Sox were looking at Santana’s medical records, which could imply an agreement.  Or maybe they just wanted to check out his medical records.

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 1:06am: Hank Steinbrenner expressed doubt that his team would get a Santana team done when talking to Kat O’Brien.  However, she spoke to him at 11:45pm CST on Monday, and we had two updates since then.  Anyway, discussions are not yet closed off.

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:49am:  Bleeding over into Tuesday…Stark has an update that pretty much echoes Heyman.

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:38am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman has the goods.  The Twins wanted a package of Hughes, Cabrera, Horne, and Jackson from the Yankees and they balked.  They’ve asked the Red Sox to create a new proposal with Lester in it.  Sounds like the Red Sox have the lead at the moment.  Heyman thinks the Twins will make a decision soon. 

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 11:09pm: Yahoo’s Tim Brown talked to a Boston official who believes the Yankees are "very close" to completing a Santana trade.  However a source of mine just indicated that the meeting ended in a standoff because the Twins continue to demand Ian Kennedy in the deal.

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 10:16pm: Matthew Cerrone says the Twins have moved on from the Yankees and Red Sox, and are calling other teams to discuss Santana.  Tyler Kepner says the Yanks have interpreted the Twins’ nonresponse to their offer as a rejection.  And Jayson Stark thinks this thing is on life support. 

Peter Abraham, though, says the Yanks and Twins are meeting tonight (as we speak actually).  And the Red Sox aren’t putting out any deadline anyway.

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 3:55pm: According to Kelly Thesier, the Twins are in no rush to trade Santana and aren’t worried about the Yankees’ deadline.

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 1:57pm: Rosenthal says the Twins are considering filing tampering charges.  The Boston Globe has an update but nothing much new.

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 12:14pm: Not that they were ever really in it, but MLB.com’s Jim Street says the Mariners are no longer in the running for Santana.

FROM 12-3-07 at 11:05am:

The previous Johan Santana thread is up to 287 comments, so let’s kick off a fresh one for the Winter Meetings.

La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that the Twins are not amused with Hank Steinbrenner’s public comments regarding their negotiations.  It’s not known if the Twins will pursue tampering charges.  Joe Christensen calls Hank’s comments "blatant tampering," but admits that he loves it as a reporter.

Interestingly, Neal debunks the notion that Santana has demanded he be traded to only the Yankees or Red Sox.  Neal says Santana has placed no limitations on where he ends up, as of yet.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Rolen, Blalock, Benson

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Ken Rosenthal never sleeps, and he has a few new tidbits early Tuesday morning.

  • The Cards are reluctant to trade Scott Rolen within the division to the Brewers.  A lot of that going on lately – the Cubs like Josh Hamilton, the Jays like Erik Bedard.
  • Hank Blalock is a popular name around the lobby.  Despite the various squashed rumors Rosenthal says he would be a good fit for the Cardinals, Phillies, or Dodgers.
  • The Phils plan on taking a look at Kris Benson when he throws for teams a couple of weeks from now.

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