Mike Axisa | MLB Trade Rumors

King’s Latest: Yankees, Fielder, Rangers, McGehee

By Mike Axisa | December 10, 2011 at 10:39am CDT

Here are some notes from George A. King III of The New York Post…

“I am ready to rock and roll," said Yankees GM Brian Cashman while acknowledging that he still isn't optimistic about making a major pitching addition. "The Yankees are open for business."
An NL executive heard that the Rangers have interest in signing Prince Fielder and trading Mitch Moreland to the Rays for Wade Davis. A person with knowledge of Texas' plans say neither scenario is close to being done, however. The Rangers checked in with Scott Boras about Fielder during the winter meetings.
The Rangers also have interest in Casey McGehee of the Brewers to play first base, which would still allow them to make the Moreland-for-Davis swap. Matt Moore's new extension means the Rays won't have to send him down to the minors for service time reasons, giving them six starters (David Price, James Shields, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson, Moore, and Davis) for five spots.

MLB Reinstates Manny Ramirez

By Mike Axisa | December 10, 2011 at 8:34am CDT

MLB has officially reinstated Manny Ramirez from the voluntary retirement list according to ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter links). Ramirez intends to attempt a comeback next year, but will first need to serve a 50-game suspension for his failed PED test this past season.

Manny, now 39, has been calling teams directly to find employment, though neither the Dodgers or Rays are expected to have much interest in him. There aren't many clubs in need of a DH, plus there are still several DH candidates on the free agent market that come with less baggage. Ramirez will likely have to settle for a non-roster invite to Spring Training.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Pujols, Reyes, Cespedes

By Mike Axisa | December 9, 2011 at 8:50pm CDT

As expected, the winter meetings brought plenty of excitement and changed the baseball landscape this week. The Angels and Marlins made multiple significant additions while other clubs did some fine tuning. Here's the latest from around the baseball blogosphere on all of this week's moves and more…

True Grich called the Albert Pujols signing a defining moment for the Angels.
Saul Ball says Pujols isn't a villain for leaving the Cardinals.
Blog Red Machine is sad Pujols is leaving the NL Central.
Baseball Time In Arlington doesn't like how the Rangers low-balled C.J. Wilson.
Shutdown Inning doesn't believe the balance of power in the AL West has shifted yet.
Fish Stripes thinks the Marlins overpaid Jose Reyes, but not by a whole lot.
Capitol Avenue Club doesn't believe the Braves need to answer the Reyes deal.
Jays Journal thinks Alex Anthopoulos would be contradicting himself by signing Prince Fielder.
Pro Ball NW wants the Mariners to be smart about pursuing Fielder.
Yankees Fans Unite looks at Yu Darvish as a pitching target.
Nolan Writin' expects the Rangers to bid big on Darvish after losing Wilson.
Marlin Maniac explains why Yoenis Cespedes makes sense for the Marlins.
Warehouse Worthy wonders if the Orioles should pursue Cespedes.
DRays Bay says Matt Moore's extension will make him valuable even if he's an average pitcher.
85% Sports says the best thing for the Cardinals now is to get a middle infielder and a center fielder.
I-70 Baseball looks at some shortstop options for the Cardinals.
Jays Prospects thinks the Sergio Santos–Nestor Molina trade was pretty fair.
South Side Sox doesn't get the uproar over the White Sox trading Santos.
Rising Apple compared Angel Pagan to Andres Torres.
Blogging Mets thinks it might be time for the Mets to trade Bobby Parnell.
FanSpeak says the Nationals need to move on to Plan B in center field.
Bless You Boys goes back to review the Curtis Granderson trade.
Seedlings to Stars looks back at when Pujols was a young player.
Sports of Boston wonders if $100MM contracts are ever worth it.
True Blue LA wrote about the risk the Dodgers have taken this offseason.
Lasorda's Lair wonders if Ronald Belisario can make a comeback.
Disciples of Uecker believes the Brewers will be able to replace Jerry Hairston Jr.
Rays Colored Glasses wonders how Brandon Guyer fits into the Rays' plans.
Cleveland Indians Perspective thinks the Indians need to keep Tony Sipp and Rafael Perez.
Call to the Pen looked at Pedro Martinez's Hall of Fame candidacy.
Ed Maquino doesn't think Ron Santo should have gotten into the Hall.
Puckett's Pond points out that closers are generally a waste of money.
River Ave. Blues explains why offseason plans are a waste of time.
Ol' Ball Game thinks more teams should take advantage of the Rule 5 Draft.
Yanks Go Yard wrote about MLB's attempt to curb spending.
Wahoo's on First put together a simple WAR calculator, complete with instructions.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.

Cardinals, Furcal Close On Two-Year Deal

By Mike Axisa | December 9, 2011 at 1:31pm CDT

1:31pm: Furcal's two-year deal will "likely" come in around $14MM, a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).

1:26pm: The two sides are "finishing up" talks on a two-year deal, a source tells Morosi (via Twitter). Furcal's deal will be worth more than $12MM, Morosi tweets.

11:32am: The Cardinals and Rafael Furcal are making progress towards a new deal reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). It would rule out another possible destination for Jimmy Rollins, mentions Rosenthal.

Furcal, 34, hit .255/.316/.418 with seven homers in 217 plate appearances after being traded to St. Louis at the deadline last year. He was said to be seeking a multi-year contract last month. Furcal recently underwent an appendectomy but is expected to be ready for the start of Spring Training.

No Bids On Hiroki Sanada

By Mike Axisa | December 8, 2011 at 4:14am CDT

December 8: No teams posted a bid on Sanada, writes Newman. Sanada becomes the third player to be posted and not receive a bid, following Akinori Otsuka in 2002 and Koji Mitsui twice, most recently in 2009.

November 22: The Yokohama Bay Stars have agreed to post right-handed reliever Hiroki Sanada this offseason, according to a report passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. It will be the first time Yokohama has used the posting system, though they have lost Takashi Saito and Kazuhiro Sasaki to MLB via free agency.

Sanada, 28 in February, posted a 4.22 ERA in 49 innings this season. He struck out just 18 batters while allowing 74 baserunners (66 hits and eight walks). Newman doesn't expect Sanada to be a hot commodity in part because his velocity has declined, suggesting that he could be in line for a minor league deal following a minimal posting fee.

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

Cubs, Diamondbacks Interested In Stewart

By Mike Axisa | December 4, 2011 at 7:10pm CDT

SUNDAY: The Orioles, Mariners, Pirates, and Angels have also inquired on Ian Stewart, a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).

6:13pm: In addition to the Cubs, the Diamondbacks are also interested in Stewart, tweets Jon Heyman of SI. The 26-year-old is very likely to go somewhere, according to Heyman.

FRIDAY: The Rockies think highly enough of Stewart that they would not consider trading him for DeWitt, according to Renck.

11:39am: The Rockies have already moved Ty Wigginton and Chris Iannetta this offseason, and they're reportedly open to dealing Ian Stewart and Huston Street as well. Troy Renck of The Denver Post reports that Colorado has asked the Cubs for Blake DeWitt in exchange for Stewart, but talks between the two clubs have since cooled.

DeWitt, 26, is a left-handed bat with experience at second, third, and in left field. He's hit .258/.309/.396 with nine homers in 447 plate appearances for the Cubbies after coming over in the deal that sent Ted Lilly to the Dodgers at the 2010 trade deadline. Renck says the Rockies would prefer to get a pitcher in any deal involving Stewart as well.

Hiroki Kuroda Landscape “Wide Open”

By Mike Axisa | December 3, 2011 at 4:51pm CDT

4:51pm: A source tells WEEI's Rob Bradford that the Red Sox are interested in Kuroda, but that their ability to sign him would be contingent on gaining financial flexibility through other moves.

2:47pm: Now that the Dodgers have effectively signed Capuano to replace Kuroda in their rotation, the landscape for the righty is "wide open," a source tells FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal. According to Rosenthal, Kuroda is now willing to consider all offers, regardless of location.

9:12am: Yesterday we heard that the Rockies are out of the running for Roy Oswalt, but today Troy Renck of The Denver Post reports that they've been quietly pursuing Hiroki Kuroda. The right-hander is unlikely to return to the Dodgers following the Chris Capuano signing.

Kuroda, 37 in February, has pitched to a 3.23 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 398 1/3 innings across 63 starts over the last two seasons. The Angels and Diamondbacks are said to have interest in him, and the Hiroshima Carp also have an offer out to their former hurler. Kuroda prefers the west coast, but it stands to reason that the Yankees, Red Sox, Nationals, and others would have interest if he was willing to move east. The Rockies reportedly have interest in Jeff Francis and Kevin Millwood as well.

Latest On Yoenis Cespedes

By Mike Axisa | December 3, 2011 at 1:15pm CDT

1:15pm: According to an executive familiar with the international market, the Yankees, Tigers, and Marlins have been the clubs with the strongest interest in Cespedes, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

8:40am: Teams will be lining up to sign 26-year-old Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes as soon as he is declared a free agent, though we still don't know exactly when that will happen. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports spoke to a source (Twitter link) who indicated that the "time frame difficult to say," but it could happen during the "latter half (of the winter meetings) or after."

In yesterday's feature, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says industry buzz is that it will take upwards of $50MM to sign Cespedes, if not more. Roughly two-thirds of the teams pursuing him believe he can remain in center field with the others expecting him to move to right. One executive compared Cespedes to Cameron Maybin, albeit with more power and less speed.

Orioles Links: Pitching, Jones, Player Development

By Mike Axisa | December 3, 2011 at 12:47pm CDT

Here's the latest from Baltimore, less than 48 hours before the winter meetings begin…

"I don't know that we have the kind of pitching depth that we need," said GM Dan Duquette to Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com. "It would be hard for us to trade pitching unless we got some pitching in return or we had a viable alternative in place." Yesterday we heard that Jeremy Guthrie is being shopped.
"I can't really tell you, I haven't looked at the numbers or the contract," said Duquette to Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com when asked about a potential contract extension for Adam Jones. "That is something that if we are going to take a look at, it would be after the first of the year."
Duquette also told Melewski that his first order of business over the next few weeks is to put a productive player development system in place and expand the team's international efforts.
Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun believes the Orioles will make more than one move during the winter meetings next week, including a trade. He expects the moves to be generally underwhelming, though.
Kubatko tweets that the team is expected to announce two front office hires tomorrow. He's heard that Fred Ferreira will be brought in as international scouting director and Gordon Blakeley as a special assistant, though those moves are not confirmed yet.

Federal Probe Will Not Affect Marlins’ Offseason Plans

By Mike Axisa | December 3, 2011 at 12:05pm CDT

The Securities & Exchange Commission subpoenaed information – including financial records and correspondence with commissioner Bud Selig – as part of a probe into the Marlins' new stadium deal according to Charles Rabin, Martha Brannigan, and Patricia Mazzei of The Miami Herald. Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post hears from a team official that the probe will not impact their offseason plans, however.

“It will have no affect whatsoever on our roster plans,” said vice president P.J. Loyello.

The Marlins have been one of the most active teams this offseason. They've already agreed to sign Heath Bell for three years and $27MM, and they remain heavily involved in the bidding for Jose Reyes. C.J. Wilson, Mark Buehrle, and even Albert Pujols are on their radar as well.

The federal probe could take over a year to sort out, with the city and county having until January 6th to turn over correspondence and the club's financial records dating back to 2007.

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