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.
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.
Odds and Ends: Peavy, Ellsbury, Montero, Fukumori
More random rumors to devour…
- The Braves are looking at adding Damian Miller as their backup catcher. The Nats are known to have interest and more playing time for Miller. The Padres are considering him as well; Miller will definitely play in ’08.
- Jake Peavy will get a three-year, $52MM extension with a $22MM option for 2013. Who knows how the Padres will feel about that option when they get there. Peavy will earn $15MM in 2010, $16MM in ’11, and $17MM in ’12. The ’13 option has a $4MM buyout attached.
- Jacoby Ellsbury signed on with the Scott Boras Corporation. I made an error earlier saying Jon Lester had as well.
- Pirates inked utility man Chris Gomez for a million bucks.
- The Nationals have their eye on Arizona’s Miguel Montero. They’re also one of the ten teams in on Kazuo Fukumori. Barry Svrluga tosses a new Japanese reliever into the mix: Katsuhiko Maekawa. Don’t know a thing about him yet.
- Larry LaRue tries to explain why the Mariners didn’t offer arbitration to Jose Guillen.
Indians Asked About Miguel Cabrera
Anthony Castrovince has a few notes about the Indians this evening.
- For Miguel Cabrera, the Marlins asked for Asdrubal Cabrera, Adam Miller, and then some. Obviously the Tribe said no thanks.
- There’s not much going on with the Indians and Jason Bay. And rumors of their interest in Alex Rios proved false.
- Cliff Lee has been linked to the Mariners, Pirates, and Blue Jays. However no one has given the Indians an actual offer for Lee.
- Castrovince suggests the Indians may explore a long-term deal for Fausto Carmona this spring.
Crasnick’s Latest: Lee, Wells, Bay
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick just cranked out a bunch of good stuff.
- The Indians have talked to the Cardinals about sending Cliff Lee over for Anthony Reyes and catcher Bryan Anderson.
- The Giants could trade for Ben Broussard, but want to see if he’s non-tendered first.
- Kip Wells is being marketed as a setup man, since things didn’t work out as a starter. Who knows, he puts a few mph on the heater in relief and maybe he takes off.
- Crasnick kills the Bay for Shoppach/Lee rumor…didn’t seem right to begin with.
Rockies Rumors: Fuentes, Fogg
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:28am: More from Renck. He confirms the Red Sox’ interest in Fuentes and adds the Astros to the mix. While the Rox like Burke, the teams don’t really match up because that’s not enough.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:01am: The Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck has more.
- Brian Anderson – remember him? – is on the radar as a lefty swingman. The 35 year-old hasn’t pitched in the bigs since ’05.
- Renck ponders whether the Rox might revisit talks for Matt Morris, a sentiment echoed by Jenifer Langosch.
- Nothing seems to be imminent on the Fuentes-Lowrie rumor.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 9:21pm: A suitor for Fuentes has emerged. ESPN’s Amy Nelson says the Red Sox are interested and the Rockies could seek Jed Lowrie. Lowrie would be a nice fit at second base.
FROM 12-3-07 at 8:28pm:
MLB.com’s Thomas Harding checks in with some Rockies nuggets.
- The Rockies have no pressing need to trade Brian Fuentes, so they’ll sit pretty with two closers unless an impressive and helpful offer comes along. Dan O’Dowd believes four or five clubs might have the goods and need to get Fuentes. We’ll see.
- The Rox let Josh Fogg‘s agent know they’d like to explore bringing him back. No figures were exchanged.
- The team still hopes to bring LaTroy Hawkins back, but they’d have to go to two years to pull that off. They already chose not to exercise an effective $3.5MM option on him. It seems the Rockies may have underestimated the interest in Hawkins.
Jays In On Lincecum, Bedard, Bay
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:34am: Blair has updated his article to reflect the Jays’ interest in Cain and Lincecum. He says the Giants spent much of the day watching tape of the two, trying to decide which they prefer. Putting two and two together, maybe the "interesting offer" Brian Sabean spoke of today was Alex Rios?
FROM 12-3-07 at 8:46pm:
The Globe and Mail’s Jeff Blair has several new rumors in his column tonight.
- The Jays’ President, Paul Godfrey, is all about bringing in a big-name Canadian player. Blair rattles off Jason Bay, Erik Bedard, Ryan Dempster, Rich Harden, and Eric Gagne as available Canada natives. Of course, not all of those guys would be draws.
- The Jays are indeed in on Bedard, which is a surprise since starting pitching is a strength of theirs. This idea has been around since at least May though. Blair talked to one exec who said the Jays are planning to get "aggressive and creative." It had been previously thought the Jays would have a low-key winter.
- Blair talks of somehow sending A.J. Burnett to Baltimore in a Bedard deal, which makes little sense for the O’s even if Burnett would like to play there. In my estimation the O’s could ask for Alex Rios or Dustin McGowan for Bedard. The Jays could try to push Adam Lind and Shaun Marcum instead but I don’t see that getting it done. I could see the O’s asking about Travis Snider as well.
- Blair says the Jays could get Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum "right away" if they’d offer Rios to the Giants. Blair even says an expanded deal could send Lind and/or Troy Glaus over to San Francisco as well. Hmmm.
- Jordan Bastian of MLB.com isn’t hearing any of this stuff – but he did connect the Jays to…Paul Bako. Blair and Bastian present two very different stories around the same ballclub.
Cubs Looking At Hamilton, McLouth
The Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan has a new column up discussing a couple of outfielders in the Cubs’ sights aside from Kosuke Fukudome. Apparently they’re after someone who can handle center field in case Felix Pie falters.
- Those Josh Hamilton rumors are real – and the Reds are asking for Sean Marshall. I think the Cubs would pull the trigger on that one. Jerry Crasnick first suggested this match about five hours ago. He thought Marshall wouldn’t be enough and I agreed. Guess we’ll see. Sullivan notes that Lou Piniella had some contact with Hamilton back when he managed the Devil Rays.
- The Cubs are also in talks regarding Nate McLouth. Sullivan thinks McLouth would come cheap – for a reliever like Carmen Pignatiello, Neal Cotts, or Will Ohman. Damn, that’s cheap. We learned today that the Giants, Padres, and Marlins like McLouth; Sullivan adds the Braves to the mix as well.
Tigers Willing To Trade Miller In Haren Deal?
A short note from Yahoo’s Tim Brown: the Tigers were apparently willing to put stud starter Andrew Miller in a deal for Dan Haren. It’s interesting to hear that the Tigers inquired on Haren. You have to figure Miller or Cameron Maybin would be a requirement.
Meanwhile Brown reiterates that the D’Backs checked in on both Haren and Joe Blanton. Arizona may have also checked in on Ian Snell, if you believe lobby fodder.