Blue Jays Rumors: Barajas, Snider, Needs
The only MLB city not celebrating Thanksgiving today has, predictably, been the main source of Thursday's hot stove talk. In a series of Twitter updates, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com brings us a few more Toronto Blue Jays notes….
- It doesn't look like Rod Barajas will return to Toronto next year. The club plans to offer him arbitration, but the 34-year-old could have a multi-year deal lined up with another team.
- GM Alex Anthopoulos on Barajas: "We're going to keep the dialogue open. But, right now, I don't see there being good chances of Rod coming back."
- The Blue Jays have informed Travis Snider that he'll have to earn a spot on the team's Opening Day roster.
- The upshot of Barajas' likely departure and Snider not being handed a starting role? The Jays' two primary needs are behind the plate and in the outfield, with catcher being the club's top priority.
- Anthopoulos also cites the leadoff spot as something Toronto would like to address this winter.
Odds & Ends: Jackson, Cabrera, Guillen, Bedard
It's a slow night for rumors on the eve of Thanksgiving, but here's a roundup of a handful of interesting evening links:
- FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi tweets that the Tigers have been more aggressive attempting to deal Edwin Jackson than Curtis Granderson. Jackson, for his part, says the trade rumors don't bother him.
- Morosi also reports (via Twitter) that Daniel Cabrera is in search of a 40-man roster spot on some team this winter.
- In the most recent post on the FOX Sports blog by Morosi and Ken Rosenthal, the pair discusses Miguel Cabrera's future. One executive suggests that Cabrera's availability (or lack thereof) will depend on whether or not the Tigers believe his off-field issues at the end of the season were a one-time lapse in judgment.
- Jose Guillen wants to stay in Kansas City and play in the field next year, according to Dick Kaegel of MLB.com. We mentioned Guillen as a possible trade candidate when evaluating the market for right fielders, and he's been the subject of rumors in the past week.
- Following up on a story about the Royals "going hard" after Erik Bedard, Kaegel talks to Kansas City assistant GM J.J. Picollo. Picollo indicates that Bedard's left-handedness is intriguing, but that it's "probably an overstatement" to say the club is in hot pursuit of the 30-year-old.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart passes along news of some minor organizational moves by the Astros.
- One item of note in Kelly Thesier's Twins mailbag on MLB.com: When Minnesota prospect Miguel Angel Sano begins playing in the States, he'll be using the surname Jean, rather than Sano (which is his mother's maiden name).
- Larry Dobrow of CBS Sports looks ahead to the Athletics' offseason and makes some suggestions for the team going forward.
Discussion: Brandon Lyon
Earlier today, we heard that Brandon Lyon's number one priority this winter is signing a multi-year deal. This raises the obvious question: which teams in need of bullpen help will be willing to make a long-term commitment to the right-hander?
The 30-year-old is coming off perhaps his best season, in which he earned $4.25MM. In 65 appearances, Lyon worked 78.2 IP, recording a 2.86 ERA and holding batters to just a .205 average. Lyon gained some closing experience in Arizona in 2008, but wasn't exactly dominant in the role, losing the job toward the end of the year and finishing with a 4.70 ERA.
There's an uncertain market for Lyon's services. On one hand, he has been mostly reliable over the last few years and is coming off a very successful stint with the Tigers. Conversely, he's never put together two great seasons in a row, and was pitching in a contract year in 2009.
How do you expect the market for Lyon to play out? Which teams will be interested, and how much will they offer? Personally, I see Lyon earning $4.5-5MM per year over two or three seasons with a team like the Phillies, or perhaps somewhere where he'd have a chance to close (Tampa Bay?). Let us know in the comments section what you think.
Blue Jays Still Looking For Shortstop
Despite agreeing to terms with John McDonald, the Toronto Blue Jays are still searching for a shortstop, according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com (via Twitter).
Bastian tweets that McDonald's role is "undefined" heading into next year, and that the Jays don't view him as their starter. The team will attempt to fill that role via free agency, and GM Alex Anthopoulos hopes to get something done soon.
Incumbent shortstop Marco Scutaro is perhaps the most attractive of the position's free agent class this offseason, but Bastian reports that talks with the infielder have come to a halt. It's still possible the Jays and Scutaro could agree on a one-year deal, but it doesn't look probable that the 34-year-old will be back in Toronto.
Considering they already have one defensive specialist in McDonald, it seems unlikely that the Jays would pursue a player like Adam Everett or Alex Gonzalez. Of the rest of the free agent shortstops, only Miguel Tejada and Orlando Cabrera look like sure-thing, everyday options.
Red Sox Making Push For Halladay
3:05pm: Not so fast, says John Tomase of The Boston Herald. He writes that a team source "made it clear today the Red Sox recognize that swinging any deal for Halladay will likely be a lengthy process." The Winter Meetings are just 11 days away.
Meanwhile, both Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com and Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston put their two cents in about a potential Halladay-to-Boston deal.
8:17am: The Boston Red Sox are aggressively pursuing Roy Halladay, hoping to get a trade worked out before the winter meetings, according to Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News.
The Daily News report cites an unnamed source that claims the Sox are "putting on a full-court press" in the negotiations for Halladay. Since new Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is willing to trade Toronto's ace within the division, the Red Sox and Yankees are considered frontrunners in the Halladay sweepstakes, with the Angels and Dodgers also in the mix. For either AL East powerhouse, acquiring the right-hander would not only bolster their rotation, but would keep him away from a division rival.
Feinsand and Madden suggest that the Sox would have to give up at least Clay Buchholz and Casey Kelly in order to get a deal done with the Jays.
Odds & Ends: Lincecum, Gonzalez, Damon
Let's check out some Wednesday morning links….
- With rumors of Tim Lincecum's arbitration filing abound, Dave Cameron at FanGraphs determines that the two-time defending NL Cy Young Award winner could realistically get about $12-14MM this year. Cameron notes that Lincecum's success isn't unprecedented; Roger Clemens took the baseball world by storm in a similar fashion over two decades ago.
- Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune believes there will be a time for the Padres to trade Adrian Gonzalez, but that it hasn't come yet.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports examines some of the more intriguing arbitration decisions around the majors.
- Johnny Damon isn't stressing too much over his future, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
- Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News thinks Chone Figgins would look good atop the Phillies' lineup.
- Aiming to quell the concerns of Tigers fans, John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press points out a few reasons why the Miguel Cabrera trade rumors are lacking in substance.
- WEEI's Rob Bradford breaks down why Roy Halladay should be a priority for the Red Sox. In another article, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes that we should soon find out how badly the Jays and Red Sox want to get a deal done.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball provides an interesting read on the dissent between baseball's management and labor.
Shelley Duncan Elects Free Agency
Shelley Duncan has elected to become a free agent after being outrighted by the New York Yankees, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
Duncan, 30, was drafted in the second round in 2001 by the Yankees, eventually seeing his first major-league action in 2007. He slugged seven homers in just 83 plate appearances that year, but has struggled in limited playing time since. In the last two seasons combined, Duncan has played in 34 games at OF/1B/DH, hitting .181/.250/.264 in 80 plate appearances.
Orioles Could Make Big-Money Offers
In a conversation with MASN Sports' Steve Melewski, Baltimore Orioles president Andy MacPhail indicated that the team wouldn't rule out pursuing a top-tier free agent this offseason.
MacPhail pointed to the $140MM offer that the club made to Mark Teixeira last winter as an example of the Orioles' willingness to negotiate with the bigger names on the market: "To think we wouldn't go out there or that offer somehow is not genuine is absurd. It's over twice what was offered in the history of the franchise before.
"We have to be careful about who those (big dollar) players are. And I have to be responsible. Contracts of that magnitude, unless you are an extraordinarily wealthy club, can sink a franchise. You have to be judicious when you go out there. But we were out there a year ago."
MacPhail also confirmed that estimates putting the Orioles' current 2010 commitments (including raises to arbitration-eligible players) at about $45MM "are not terribly off the mark." Given that the team's payroll has been right around $67MM for the last two seasons, the Orioles could have $20MM+ to fill out their roster. Spreading that money out over a few inexpensive signings seems more likely, but MacPhail's comments suggest that the Orioles are keeping their options open.
Royals Sign Josh Rupe, Buck Coats
The Kansas City Royals have signed a pair of players, pitcher Josh Rupe and outfielder Buck Coats, to minor league contracts, according to a press release.
Rupe, 27, pitched four times out of the bullpen for the Texas Rangers last season, posting a 15.43 ERA and allowing 17 baserunners in just 4.2 IP. The right-hander was a little more successful for the Rangers in 2008, recording a 5.14 ERA in 89.1 IP of mostly mop-up duty.
Coats spent all of 2009 with Las Vegas, the Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate, where he hit .302/.361/.416. In 62 career big-league plate appearances, the 27-year-old has posted a .193/.242/.333 line.
Red Sox Search For Starting Pitching
Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe writes today that adding starting pitching depth will be one of the main priorities for the Boston Red Sox this winter.
The team's current rotation has some question marks after Jon Lester and Josh Beckett. Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield are coming off injuries in 2009, and Wakefield will turn 44 next summer. Clay Buchholz, meanwhile, has never pitched a full season in the majors.
Abraham thinks it's unlikely that the Red Sox pursue a top free agent arm like John Lackey or Randy Wolf, but believes they'll focus on the second tier of high-upside pitchers recovering from injuries. We heard yesterday that Boston has some interest in Kelvim Escobar. Abraham names a few other notable potential targets: Ben Sheets, Rich Harden, Erik Bedard, and Justin Duchscherer.
Of course, the Roy Halladay rumors continue to persist as well. In a separate piece, Abraham blogs that he feels Halladay would be worth the price for the Red Sox (the price, presumably, being Buchholz, Casey Kelly, and another prospect or two).