Odds and Ends: Reitsma, Affeldt
Some late night odds and ends to digest…
- The Mariners re-signed Chris Reitsma; he hopes to be ready for Spring Training following August elbow surgery (not Tommy John, of course). Reitsma hopes to return to his groundballing, healthy form of 2005. On a related note, Bleeding Blue and Teal speculates that the Mariners could target Jeremy Affeldt if they trade George Sherrill. At one point Affeldt was said to be seeking five years. His agent has already pitched him to the Mariners as a possible starter.
- Eduardo Encina reports that the Rays seek a superutility player and lefty reliever, and would prefer to get both via trade. Affeldt could be a possibility here as well.
- East Windup Chronicle analyzes Japanese stadiums.
Yankees Sign Jason Lane
UPDATE, 1-10-08 at 10:34pm: According to Peter Abraham, the Yanks signed Lane to a minor league deal.
FROM 1-10-08 at 8:56am:
The Yankees are looking an affordable option as a possibility at first base. Mike Puma of the New York Times reports that 31 year-old free agent Jason Lane is on the radar.
Puma points out that Lane would have to learn first base, as he hasn’t spent much time there is his career. Lane was a late bloomer, and may have topped out with his 26 home run season in 2005. But this wouldn’t require much of a commitment, so it makes sense to give him a look. The Sports Hernia weighed in on this rumor today, check it out.
Reds To Stand Pat On Rotation?
The Cincy Enquirer’s John Fay thinks the Reds are backing off on Erik Bedard as well as the second-tier free agent pitchers. He’s talked to some baseball people on the topic and believes the price is too high for the Reds in any case.
Honestly they’re not in that bad of shape with Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez, and Matt Belisle.
Erik Bedard Mariners/Reds Rumors
UPDATE, 1-10-08 at 5:38pm: Churchill has further updated his right-hand sidebar referencing the Reds possibility. He says the O’s want Bailey, Votto, Cueto, and Edwin Encarnacion. This is particularly lopsided, and pushing Melvin Mora back to Cincy wouldn’t make it any less so. Mora may have negative value at this point. Meanwhile John Fay says nothing new has happened on the Reds/Bedard front.
UPDATE, 1-09-08 at 9:07pm: Rosenthal checks in with an update. If the Mariners would give up Chris Tillman, they could have a done deal. Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein ranks the 19 year-old righty as Seattle’s second best prospect, giving him a number two starter ceiling. Rosenthal confirms that Jones is the centerpiece, while George Sherrill and Carlos Triunfel are in play.
Meanwhile, Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider says on the right-hand sidebar of this page that the Reds might step up their offer in an attempt to make a late play. He thinks they could give up Homer Bailey, Joey Votto, Johnny Cueto, and a fourth player, which would be absurd.
FROM 1-09-08 at 9:03am:
On Tuesday, both Ken Rosenthal and Jason Churchill carefully stated that the Orioles and Mariners were making progress on an Erik Bedard trade. The deal would center around Adam Jones but include other good young players as well. The Reds and Indians were named as other lingering Bedard suitors.
Larry Stone of the Seattle Times checked in on the Bedard situation today. His MLB source agreed that talks between the Mariners and Orioles have heated up. Andy MacPhail, however, would not use the words "heating up." Stone goes on to mention that the Mets "could be players" for Bedard in addition to the Ohio teams. Contrary to earlier reports, Stone was able to extract a quote from Ms GM Bill Bavasi that indicated Brandon Morrow was not off limits.
John Hickey admits that the rumors won’t die but doesn’t think the Mariners have made any actual progress on a deal. He agrees that Morrow seems a bit more available than he did before. Hickey suggests Josh Fogg could be a backup plan to Bedard for Seattle, noting that Fogg likes the idea of pitching in Safeco. The Reds are also believed to have interest in Fogg.
Brewers Interested In Green, Wilkerson, Feliz
We know Brewers GM Doug Melvin has interest in Mike Cameron, Luis Gonzalez, and Kenny Lofton. Tom Haudricourt spoke to Melvin today, and learned of some additional free agent options on the radar.
The other possibilities: Shawn Green, Brad Wilkerson, and Pedro Feliz. Kind of a smattering of uninspiring veterans. Acquiring Green or Wilkerson would mean Ryan Braun and Bill Hall staying in their current positions. None of these acquisitions are a slam dunk, even for us armchair GMs. Melvin told Haudricourt he’d like to resolve the situation soon.
Slusser On Barry Bonds Possibilities
We recently named Susan Slusser Rumor Royalty for the A’s. She is the team’s beat writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. As part of the feature she answered a few questions for us.
MLBTR: Could you see any team beside the A’s signing Barry Bonds? In your estimation, what’s the most the A’s would pay for a year of Bonds
Slusser: An insider told me at the winter meetings that two other teams besides the A’s had asked about Bonds, so it’s impossible to rule out. If he plays – and that seems to be a pretty big if — Oakland has the best shot, but estimating a salary is really tough. If there’s no other interest and Bonds really wants to play, considering all the issues that surround him, the price tag could be pretty cheap, say $5-$6 million. If there’s more interest, it could go up. The A’s did pay Mike Piazza $8 million last year.
Do the A’s really want Bonds, though? There are good reasons to sign him, and equally solid reasons not to. They need to put fans in the seats after moving their most popular player, and they don’t have much in the middle of the order right now. On the other hand, they might alienate much of their fan base with Bonds, and a team that is in "full bore” rebuilding mode might not be looking to spend on a 43-year-old free agent with lots of legal problems and an iffy clubhouse reputation. There is no doubt it has been discussed internally, however.
Odds and Ends: Phelps, Mirabelli, Varitek
Random rumors and links for your perusal…
- The Cardinals inked Josh Phelps to a minor league deal that could be worth up to $1MM. I always liked Phelps; he’s a more than capable bench guy.
- The Red Sox bit the bullet and brought Doug Mirabelli back for another round. Tony Massarotti notes that the Red Sox may sign Jason Varitek to an extension this spring worth upward of $10MM annually. I still like the idea of going after Kenji Johjima next winter.
- RotoAuthority ranks the shortstops for fantasy leagues, hot off the press.
Mets May Have Top Santana Offer; Yanks Backing Off?
UPDATE, 1-10-08 at 11:29am: Christensen says Mets owner Fred Wilpon gave Omar Minaya the green light to try to acquire Santana, meaning he’s amenable to a contract extension exceeding $100MM.
UPDATE, 1-10-08 at 9:38am: Peter Botte of the New York Daily News has a new quote from Hank: he’s "leaning away from" from the Yankees doing a Santana deal.
FROM 1-09-08 at 10:54pm:
Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune suggests the Mets might be the best fit for Johan Santana. He says they’re offering four players, three of them pitchers: Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, and Phil Humber. It’s a strong package.
Christensen says the Twins would accept if the Mets added Fernando Martinez to the package (not sure if Martinez would replace Gomez, or it would just be five players instead of four).
Something’s got to give here in the next few weeks – how long can the Santana saga hold up the free agent pitching market?
About Tim Dierkes
Tim Dierkes is the writer and creator of MLBTradeRumors.com. Baseball’s premiere hot stove website receives hundreds of thousands of pageviews per day; read more about it at About MLBTradeRumors.com.
Tim worked in the search engine marketing field before taking the website full-time in January of 2008. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a business administration major in 2004. Tim originally met his lovely wife Agnes on campus. He lives with his wife and daughter in Roselle, Illinois. Tim is a lifelong Cubs fan, but swears it does not affect his objectivity on MLBTradeRumors.com.
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