Cold Market For David Ortiz
3:37pm: The Red Sox offered Ortiz a two-year deal worth $18MM, tweets Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston, but he seeks $7MM more. He's undecided on whether to accept arbitration tomorrow.
2:46pm: The draft pick cost associated with signing free agent designated hitter David Ortiz killed his market, tweets Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. The Blue Jays and Mariners are seen as unlikely, so Big Papi might have to reconsider Boston's reported two-year offer or else accept arbitration tomorrow night.
Twins Made Three-Year Offer To Cuddyer
3:23pm: The Twins are meeting with Cuddyer's agent today, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, and seek resolution on their offer.
10:25am: The Twins offered Michael Cuddyer a three-year, $25MM deal, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Josh Willingham is viewed as a back-up plan.
AL West Rumors: Bailey, Jackson, Gonzalez, Rangers
The latest out of the AL West:
- The Athletics' asking price for Andrew Bailey is currently too high for the Rangers to consider him, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Rangers' read on Bailey matches up with comments made by A's GM Billy Beane yesterday — he said many teams he'd talked to walked away wondering whether any A's were actually available, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.
- Within Slusser's piece, she writes that the Athletics are considering Conor Jackson as a short-term outfield addition.
- The Athletics are looking for young, high-upside outfielders in any Gio Gonzalez trade, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Yankees may have to consider a three-team deal if they want to acquire the lefty, since they don't have any outfielders in the high minors that fit that bill.
- Nothing is imminent, but ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick tweets the Rangers are looking into possible contract extensions for many of their core players, including Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, and Mike Napoli.
Baseball Trade Rumors App Available
Our Baseball Trade Rumors iPhone app is available in the iTunes store for $2.99; you can check it out here. The app was recently revamped to allow filtering of the news page by team and transaction, and of course you can customize it to receive push notifications for news on your favorite teams and players. We released version 2.0.1 this week, which allows users to receive player and team notifications for transactions only. Keep up with the Winter Meetings madness with the Baseball Trade Rumors app!
Indians Designate Hector Rondon For Assignment
The Indians designated righty Hector Rondon for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Grady Sizemore, announced the team. Rondon endured an elbow fracture in November and is facing a five to seven month recovery period. Baseball America ranked Rondon the Indians' 15th-best prospect prior to the season, even though he had Tommy John surgery in August of 2010.
Matt Thornton-Braves Rumor Shot Down
1:53pm: This rumor is bogus, tweets O'Brien.
1:37pm: A potential trade of White Sox lefty reliever Matt Thornton to the Braves is picking up steam, tweets Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. However, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says this one's not happening.
Thornton, 35, posted a 3.32 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 0.45 HR/9, and 48.8% groundball rate in 59 2/3 innings for the White Sox this year. He's owed $12MM through 2013 on an extension signed in March. It's unclear whether Sox GM Kenny Williams would further deplete his bullpen depth after trading Sergio Santos to Toronto today, but relievers generally aren't crucial to a rebuilding effort.
Pirates, Mariners, Twins Interested In Jeff Francis
1:06pm: Francis' agent will also meet with the Pirates and Twins this week, tweets Morosi.
TUESDAY, 11:04am: The Mariners will meet today with Francis' agent, tweets Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. Francis is represented by Frontline, as our agency database shows.
MONDAY, 12:09pm: The Mariners are also interested in Francis, tweets Morosi. Additionally, the Ms have interest in old favorite Jamie Moyer.
11:19am: The Pirates are among the teams with interest in free agent lefty Jeff Francis, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Bucs were in on Francis a year ago, but with a healthy season in the books he'll certainly require more than a one-year, $2MM guarantee this time.
The Pirates also reportedly have interest in free agent pitchers Wei-Yin Chen, Tsuyoshi Wada, and Aaron Cook.
Red Sox Re-Sign Andrew Miller
The Red Sox re-signed lefty Andrew Miller, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Miller had been arbitration eligible. He received a non-guaranteed Major League deal worth $1.04MM, tweets WEEI's Alex Speier.
Miller, 26, posted a 5.54 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 5.7 BB/9, 1.11 HR/9, and 45.4% groundball rate in 65 innings for the Red Sox this year, faring a little better in 65 2/3 Triple-A frames. The big southpaw might have been a non-tender candidate had he made it to the December 12th deadline unsigned. Miller is represented by Frontline.
Giants Trying To Trade Keppinger, Torres, Ramirez
12:37pm: It'd be a fairly easy call for the Giants to non-tender Keppinger, reports Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Baggarly also notes that the Giants intend to work out a multiyear deal with starter Ryan Vogelsong, who would be eligible for free agency after 2012. For more on the Giants' huge arbitration class, read up here.
11:34am: The Giants are trying to trade infielder Jeff Keppinger, outfielder Andres Torres, and reliever Ramon Ramirez, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. They're planning to keep lefty Jeremy Affeldt. ESPN's Buster Olney says there's a strong feeling by other teams Torres will be non-tendered. If so, the Giants may not be able to get much for him. Torres was the second-most valuable center fielder in baseball in 2010, based on FanGraphs' wins above replacement.
Keppinger, Torres, and Ramirez are all arbitration eligible, and MLBTR projects salaries in the $2.3-2.7MM range for each.
Lincecum Off-Limits Even If Not Extended
The Giants will not explore trading ace Tim Lincecum if they're unable to sign him long-term this winter, GM Brian Sabean told reporters including Andrew Baggarly. Lincecum is under team control through 2013, and is line for a historic arbitration payday for each season. Yesterday we learned that Lincecum's agent met with the Giants but little progress was made.