Odds and Ends: Nelson, Atkins, Taveras
After a hectic Winter Meetings, it’s been a slow weekend. Today’s links…
- A 3.35 ERA for Phil Hughes next year? Bill James and Co. think so.
- Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe talked to Mark Mulder‘s agent, Gregg Clifton. Clifton said, "He’s ready to go for any team right out of the chute." Clifton shot down talk that Mulder would not be ready in April.
- The Rays have contacted the agents for Joe Nelson and Scott Proctor.
- Keith Law likes A.J. Burnett‘s upside, but notes the risks. Peter Abraham compares the Burnett and Johan Santana deals.
- Law is in favor of the Indians’ Kerry Wood signing.
- Scott Ostler’s baseball source says people are scratching their heads about the Giants’ Edgar Renteria contract.
- Bruce Jenkins says the Rockies would trade Garrett Atkins for Jonathan Sanchez.
- Troy Renck says Willy Taveras has received interest from the Reds, Nationals, and White Sox.
- Drayton McLane says there are a lot of reasons for Astros fans to be optimistic.
- The Yankees like Andy Pettitte over Ben Sheets.
Four Teams Interested In Wigginton
According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Indians, Giants, Pirates, and Reds have expressed interest in new free agent Ty Wigginton. Dejan Kovacevic confirms Pittsburgh’s interest. Neal says the Twins have admired Wiggy for years as well. He adds that Wigginton was nearly dealt to the Giants before being non-tendered. Ken Davidoff thinks the Mets should look into it.
What will it take to sign Wigginton? Casey Blake‘s three-year, $17.5MM deal might be optimistic, but Neal figures Wigginton could get a similar average annual salary. Still might take two years to sign Wigginton though. Beyond Joe Crede, there’s not much else out there for third base.
Mike Cameron Yankees Rumors
SUNDAY, 1:51pm: George A. King III with the New York Post writes that the Yankees want the Brewers to take on Igawa’s contract as well, but that Milwaukee doesn’t want to pay much of the $12MM he has left. The Brewers are trading Cameron to trim payroll, and don’t want to unload $10MM for Cameron just to take on another $4MM for Igawa.
New York has told Milwaukee that no pitcher on their 40-man roster is available. Both sides still expect a deal to get done eventually; Doug Melvin told Tom Haudricourt talks will resume tomorrow. River Ave. Blues thinks the Yankees should hold off, for now.
FRIDAY, 3:50pm: Haudricourt heard this might get tabled until Monday, though now with Burnett signed maybe the Yankees will switch their focus. Or maybe they’ll spend the weekend working on Andy Pettitte/celebrating the Burnett signing.
THURSDAY, 5:40pm: Haudricourt now writes that the Cameron negotiations are back underway after a "hiccup". Haudricourt heard from Doug Melvin that there’s a "strong possibility it could still happen." The clubs are negotiating over finances and whether a second player would go to the Brewers with Cabrera.
1:01pm: Cameron’s agent told Tyler Kepner nothing has been completed. Kepner says the Brewers have actually been asking about Igawa.
11:49am: Joel Sherman talked to a top exec involved in the talks who called the chances of a deal "remote." Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times was told the deal is done, however.
11:17am: Ken Rosenthal says the potential deal hit a roadblock over the Yankees’ desire to have Milwaukee pick up part of the tab on Cameron. Also, the Brewers want a second player after Cabrera. Tom Haudricourt says the Yankees tried to unload Kei Igawa on them.
9:28am: The Cabrera for Cameron deal is close but not done, according to Joel Sherman’s source. He says the Brewers could receive a pitcher as well, with the quality depending on whether they’ll assume salary.
8:41am: Tom Haudricourt is not sure this is done. He says the Yankees like Bill Hall as well. The Brewers could gain quite a bit of payroll flexibility here. It’d be interesting to see all three Brewers friends (including Sabathia) move to the Yanks.
7:15am: Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News says the Yankees are set to acquire Cameron for Cabrera.
12:55am: According to Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger, the Yankees met with the Brewers Wednesday to resume trade talks for Mike Cameron that began at the GM Meetings. Whatever mild concern the Brewers reportedly had about trading away a friend of C.C. Sabathia‘s is gone.
On November 7th, Peter Abraham wrote that Ian Kennedy and Melky Cabrera were on the Brewers’ radar. Clearly the Brewers want to add a starting pitcher.
Teixeira Rumor Shot Down
11:20am: An Orioles official says Teixeira is not attending today’s Ravens game as a guest of Angelos. Peter Shmuck also addresses the rumor on his blog.
10:58am: Steve DeClue of the Baltimore Examiner passes along an ESPN report: Mark Teixeira will be a guest of Orioles owner Peter Angelos at today’s Ravens-Steelers game. Teixeira suggested in November that he’d like to have his situation resolved by Christmas Day.
Rays Still Have Options For Offensive Addition
Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times says Raul Ibanez‘s three-year, $30MM deal puts a ceiling on the market for most of the remaining outfield/DH types. Adam Dunn was, at one point, expected to get at least twice that amount.
The Rays are looking for a hitter, and still have plenty of options. Topkin gives his odds of Jason Giambi, Milton Bradley, Pat Burrell, Garret Anderson, Dunn, Juan Rivera, and Ken Griffey Jr. landing with the Rays. He finds Giambi, possibly on a two-year deal, as the most likely.
The Rays had a .726 OPS against lefties this year (12th in the AL), so they may seek a right-handed bat (Burrell, Rivera) or the switch-hitting Bradley.
Topkin adds that trading Chad Bradford would give the Rays another $3.5MM to work with.
Angels Made Eight Year Offer To Teixeira
8:44 am: According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, the Angels are “believed to have offered at least $160MM.” This would match the Washington offer and put pressure on Boston to match or exceed the offer.
12:03 am: Angels GM Tony Reagins said this evening that he has made an eight-year offer to free agent Mark Teixeira. Yesterday we learned the Orioles are around seven years, $140-150MM and the Nationals are at eight years, $160MM. We’re not sure about the Red Sox.
Jake Peavy Rumors: Saturday
Jake Peavy‘s agent Barry Axelrod explains his client’s preferences:
"Jake has a strong preference to stay in the National League. If Jake’s ever going to accept anything to the American League – and I don’t want this to be taken wrong – I can safely say that it’s going to be the Yankees or Red Sox or maybe the Angels. Those teams are going to be in contention and are going to spend money. If there were circumstances where he would be asked to go to the AL, kicking and screaming, those are the three places."
Also, Padres GM Kevin Towers revealed in a radio interview that the Angels asked about a Peavy-Adrian Gonzalez package deal, but the Padres don’t want to trade Gonzalez. As a baseball fan, I like it when Towers reveals things like this. It must be incredibly frustrating for rival GMs though.
Interesting Non-Tenders
More than 30 new free agents entered the pool tonight as the non-tender deadline passed. A few of the more interesting names:
- Ty Wigginton, 1B/2B/3B/LF. I don’t know what the Astros are going to do at third base now, but they decided they couldn’t afford Wigginton. The 31 year-old hit a strong .285/.350/.526 in 429 plate appearances. He probably doesn’t mind reaching free agency early in a weak third baseman market. The Indians and Twins still have vacancies.
- Joe Nelson, RP. Wow…a 2.00 ERA still gets you non-tendered in Florida. He’s not that good, but he had a huge strikeout rate and is definitely a useful reliever.
- Daniel Cabrera, SP. This guy was once considered very nasty to face, at times posting big strikeout and groundball rates. With a fresh start, who knows.
- Joey Gathright, Willy Taveras, OF. For a couple of burners their recent plus/minus ratings in center field are poor. And you can’t steal first base.
- Jonny Gomes, OF. He’s got pop, and destroyed lefties outside of this year. That’s about it though.
- Takashi Saito, RP. Dominant big league numbers, but he’s a huge question mark after having platelet-rich plasma injected into his elbow in an experimental procedure. Sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie.
- Tim Redding, SP. Probably good for a sub-5.00 ERA as a fifth starter.
- Chris Capuano, SP. The Brewers may re-sign him. Capuano had his second Tommy John surgery in May. He was a useful mid-rotation guy in 2005-06.
Non-Tendered Players
2:01am: MLB.com has the official list.
10:05pm: Here is a list of players who were non-tendered today, and therefore became free agents.
- Aquilino Lopez
- Joey Gathright, John Bale
- Jamie Burke
- Joe Nelson
- Aaron Miles, Randy Flores, Tyler Johnson
- Norris Hopper, Gary Majewski, Matt Belisle
- Doug Mathis
- Daniel Cabrera, Lance Cormier
- Denny Bautista
- Ty Wigginton, Reggie Abercrombie
- Jonny Gomes
- Willy Taveras
- Takashi Saito, Scott Proctor, Yhency Brazoban, Angel Berroa
- Clay Hensley and Charlie Haeger
- Chris Britton and Justin Christian
- Tim Redding
- Chris Capuano
- Kevin Cash
- Chuck James
- Chris Burke, Robby Hammock, Wil Ledezma, Jeff Salazar
No Red Sox Offer To Kawakami
9:53pm: Amalie Benjamin says the reported Red Sox offer to Kawakami is not accurate.
9:07pm: The Boston Globe passes along a Nikkan Sports report (link in Japanese) that says the Red Sox made a three-year, $21MM offer to pitcher Kenshin Kawakami. Recently Michael Silverman said he didn’t expect Kawakami to sign until January.