John Perrotto has his Every Given Sunday column up over at Baseball Prospectus. Here’s some highlights from his "Rumors and Rumblings section" this week:
- Perrotto expects a Jake Peavy deal to be done before the Winter Meetings, stating that the Braves, Yankees, and Dodgers seem to be the leaders in the race right now. He notes that the Yankees will be willing to include Phil Hughes, while the Braves are willing to move Yunel Escobar. I personally like the Escobar idea for San Diego, as it would allow them to make Atlanta take on Khalil Greene’s salary. A package around Escobar and Tommy Hanson would certainly be tough to ignore.
- Perrotto reiterates that a move to the Dodgers or Angels for California-native Randy Johnson seems like a strong possibility. Johnson posted a fine season for the Diamondbacks, despite being 45 years old. He’s maintained a very solid strikeout-rate even at this stage in his career, fanning 8.46 batters per nine innings.
- The Yankees are planning on using Joba Chamberlain in their rotation next year, but are not planning on settling for what they have. Perrotto states that the Yankees will "go all-in" on the free agent market, making aggressive offers to C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe, and Mark Teixeira. Add in the pursuit of Peavy, and decisions on numerous free agents, and it looks like a very busy offseason for the Bombers.
