Jake Peavy Rumors: Thursday
10:56pm: Axelrod suggestion the Giants as a possible destination for Peavy in a talk with Tim Sullivan. He said, "I think they’ve got the money. But I don’t know if they’ve got the prospects."
8:20pm: Jon Heyman says that Peavy is frustrated by the team’s inability to trade him. His agent, Barry Axelrod, says that Peavy had begun to get used to the idea of being a Cub, and now that opportunity is apparently gone. Axelrod says if the Padres approach he and his client with a trade, they’ll consider it, but there won’t be any more lists of approved teams.
Axelrod also criticizes the majority of baseball executives for their lack of action at the Winter Meetings.
"It’s amazing to me how many people can waste time, money and resources, and get nothing done," Axelrod said. "Baseball moved lock, stock and barrel into that town, and absolutely nothing happened."
6:45: Mike DiGiovanna at the LA Times says that the Angels are now in the mix for Peavy. Trade talks could begin as soon as next week, with Brandon Wood, Erick Aybar, Reggie Willits, Nick Adenhart, and Kevin Jepsen all names that could be talked about. The Angels will only pursue Peavy if they can’t re-sign Mark Teixeira.
5:02pm: Talked to a person familiar with the Cubs’ thinking…he really could not see the Cubs revisiting a Peavy trade. The Padres need to get Peavy’s $63MM off the books soon, yet were trying to swing 6-for-1 or 7-for-1 deals for him despite the extremely limited market. Marshall was never in the mix, by the way.
3:27pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the Braves "won’t even think about renewing their pursuit of Peavy unless the talks are initiated by the Padres, who will no longer find a compensation package that includes Yunel Escobar." Escobar is apparently off the table because the Braves no longer have Brent Lillibridge.
2:56pm: Tim Brown and Gordon Edes say the Cubs "remain optimistic that they can acquire Peavy, all but ignored Towers’ self-imposed deadline." Meanwhile, Gerry Fraley says the Angels have already put together a package for the Padres to consider.
12:01pm: Kevin Towers told reporters the proposed Peavy deal with the Cubs is dead. The Cubs pulled out. Mike DiGiovanna heard earlier that the Angels remain interested. Towers is not certain he wants to engage in further Peavy discussions at this time. I think even hot stove junkies wouldn’t mind a respite.
11:30am: Towers still hasn’t heard back from Hendry on the Peavy deal. Ken Rosenthal says eight to ten teams have called on DeRosa, adding the A’s to the mix of known suitors.
12:33am: Multiple reports suggested yesterday that the Cubs would not trade Mark DeRosa. But new stories in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times do not support that notion.
Paul Sullivan of the Trib says DeRosa "appears to be the key to any Peavy deal." Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun-Times heard the Cubs would only trade DeRosa as part of a Peavy deal, and Jim Hendry inquired on Chone Figgins as a possible replacement. And La Velle E. Neal III believes DeRosa is fair game in a Peavy deal or separately for the Twins or Phillies. As far as Jason Marquis, both Chicago writers see him landing in San Diego with the Cubs eating about half his salary (one sign that the Cubs have "hand," as George Costanza would say).
Padres GM Kevin Towers wants to get a framework in place today. The Cubs have the leverage, with Wittenmyer suggesting they also want to keep Sean Marshall. One player most writers believe will be sent from the Cubs to the Padres is Josh Vitters. But Towers says it’s in the Cubs’ hands.
Jeremy Guthrie Leaves Boras
According to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, longtime Scott Boras client Jeremy Guthrie personally visited the agent in Las Vegas to inform him he’s changing representation. Guthrie will now be represented by Casey Close and Brodie Van Wagenen.
Guthrie said his decision was not related to Boras’ preference for his younger clients to avoid long-term deals. He simply called it a "personal preference for my career." It’s not known whether the Orioles would like to sign Guthrie long-term. He’ll turn 30 in April, yet has only two years of Major League service. Guthrie spent two years on a Mormon mission.
Zrebiec’s article also addresses the Daniel Cabrera non-tender situation. Is he worth $4MM for one more year for the pitching-starved Orioles? Team officials are mixed on the decision.
Brian Fuentes Rumors: Thursday
We learned yesterday that Brian Fuentes is a priority for the Cardinals. Tonight, however, ESPN’s Steve Phillips reports that the Cards’ negotiations with Fuentes have slowed. Two new unknown suitors have entered the picture. Word was yesterday that Fuentes could snag a three-year, $33MM deal, even though Francisco Rodriguez was guaranteed only $4MM more. John Mozeliak told MLB.com’s Matthew Leach the Cards would be extremely hesitant to commit $10MM+ to a reliever.
Mark Teixeira Rumors: Thursday
9:56:
2:38pm: Tim Brown and Gordon Edes talked to involved execs (not with the Angels) who believe the Boras camp is "using the media to ratchet up the price beyond what any team had actually offered."
Brown and Edes say the Angels were told the Red Sox and Nationals offered eight years at about $20MM per. The Angels don’t want to do an eighth year, so they’ll look into trades for Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, and possibly Adrian Beltre. Raul Ibanez is the top free agent backup plan.
Brown and Edes believe Boras could insist on an opt-out clause in a deal with the Nationals.
8:59am: Mike DiGiovanna says the Angels "are believed to be willing to offer at least seven years for something in the $160-million range" for Tex.
8:51am: Jon Heyman says the Yankees have re-entered the Teixeira sweepstakes.
2:40am: Summing up the reported offers made to Mark Teixeira:
- Orioles: seven years, $140-150MM
- Nationals: eight years, $160MM
- Angels: reluctant to exceed seven years; no offer yet? (Boras implied there was)
- Red Sox: making progress; no offer yet? (Boras implied there was?)
By the way, Joe Haggerty transcribed the full Scott Boras talk from yesterday at his site.
A.J. Burnett Rumors: Thursday
7:18: Mark Bowman at MLB.com says it’s down to the Braves or the Yankees for Burnett. Interestingly, he notes that A.J. might not necessarily want to be an "ace" of a staff like he would be in Atlanta. He has the Yanks’ offer between $80-85MM.
12:12pm: Rosenthal heard indications the Braves were preparing a final push for Burnett and would guarantee a fifth year.
10:33am: Rosenthal and Fraley see the Yankees as the clear frontrunner for Burnett. They say Braunecker will contact other clubs today to give them one last chance to beat the Yanks’ five-year, $85MM offer. Will the Braves counter? Burnett signing with the Yankees would be undesirable for the Blue Jays in two ways – they’d have to face him fairly often, and they’d (tentatively) get the Yanks’ second-round pick instead of a first-round one.
9:46am: Buster Olney says the Yankees are confident they won’t be overbid for Burnett, at least.
9:19am: Chipper Jones spoke to Burnett about ten days ago, and the pitcher told him that if he does play in the NL, it’ll only be with the Braves.
8:53am: Ken Davidoff and Kat O’Brien wrote that the Yankees "appeared to be closing in on a deal" for Burnett late last night. They put the offer at about $80MM.
8:32am: Ken Rosenthal and Gerry Fraley say the Braves have not offered Burnett five guaranteed years. The fifth year is an easily attainable vesting option, though. Dan Graziano says that this time around, Braunecker is not seeking an opt-out clause for Burnett.
2:19am: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick has been all over the A.J. Burnett talks. Today he says the Yankees have a five-year deal worth about $85MM on the table. Burnett’s agent Darek Braunecker isn’t seeking much more than that – he’s eyeing a Carlos Zambrano-influenced $91.5MM payday. It’s an interesting comparison, given that Z’s deal was signed over a year ago and not on the open market.
Crasnick says discussions continued with the Yankees late Wednesday. Yankee players have been calling Burnett, lobbying him to choose their team over the Braves. Crasnick believes a deal could be in place as soon as today.
Yesterday we heard conflicting reports about whether the Braves guaranteed a fifth year in their offer.
Dodgers Could Pursue Hoffman; Cards Unlikely
5:56 pm: According to Jayson Stark, the Dodgers, who are likely to non-tender Takashi Saito, could pursue Hoffman. Stark has sources who say that if the price is low enough and the contract is short-term, the Dodgers might be interested.
9:17 am:Cardinals manager Tony La Russa: "I mean, I love and respect Trevor Hoffman. But I don’t know that that’s the guy we’ve talked about a lot." Instead, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Brian Fuentes is the Cardinals’ priority.
The Brewers seek a closer as well, but they’ll also take a pass on Hoffman. We’ll have to see what the Tigers do. The Dodgers don’t seem passionate; Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune thinks it’s time to mend fences with the Padres if they can afford Hoffman.
Rockies Wanted Carlos Carrasco For Atkins
According to Scott Lauber, the Rockies told the Phillies Garrett Atkins is available – if they’re willing to surrender top pitching prospect Carlos Carrasco. Lauber says the Phils are "positively unwilling" to trade Carrasco, however.
Hot Stove Glossary
After grappling with hundreds (if not thousands) of hot stove reports during the ’08 Winter Meetings, I’m attempting to define the commonplace phrases and terms. As frustrating as this jargon can be, the hard-working baseball journalists who bring us the rumors and inside information must be applauded.
- official – Doesn’t get misused – a deal is only official if a team announces it.
- done deal – Should be reserved for deals that are truly complete, yet someone jumps the gun with it weekly. See also: finalized
- set to sign/acquire – One step below the done deal. Doesn’t leave much wiggle room. See also: on the verge, on the brink, tentative agreement
- close to a deal – This trade or signing is likely, but I’m leaving some wiggle room. See also: nearing a deal, closing in on
- working to sign/acquire – Things are coming along positively, but I’m not ready to call it close. See also: escalated, making progress, heating up, stepped up efforts
- in discussions – They’re talking, but I’m not making any promises.
- life support – Faint chance of this deal occurring – I’m not ready to call it dead.
- dead – Should be reserved for talks with 0% chance of being revisited, yet we frequently see dead talks "resurrected."
- inquired – One party called another to ask about something or express interest. The party receiving the inquiry may have zero interest.
- internal discussions – Rarely misused. Front office guys from one team are talking amongst themselves about something.
- shopping – Implies a GM is aggressively calling other teams to try to find a trade partner for a player. GMs seem to dread the word because it makes them lose leverage. Also applies to an agent trying to find a team to sign his free agent.
- believed to be – Meaningless phrase, yet a popular way to hedge. Can be combined with phrases above for a double hedge. See also: appear to be, seem to be, apparently
- Did I miss something? Let me know in the comments.
Royals Sign Horacio Ramirez
THURSDAY, 3:31pm: ESPN’s Steve Phillips says it’s a one-year, $1.8MM deal plus incentives.
WEDNESDAY, 6:45pm: MLB.com’s Dick Kaegel learned from Dayton Moore that the Royals reached an agreement with Ramirez on a one-year deal.
5:29pm: According to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, the Royals are close to signing lefty Horacio Ramirez. He pitched well for them this year before they shipped him to Chicago for minor league outfielder Paulo Orlando. The Royals would give Ramirez a chance to start.
Odds and Ends: Giambi, Saberhagen, Chacon
Today’s stray Winter Meetings links as everyone heads home…
- Jason Giambi maintains hopes of returning to the Yankees; he may be willing to take a discount.
- Dave Cameron believes the Rays won the Edwin Jackson–Matt Joyce swap, handily.
- Brett Saberhagen was hired as an agent for Dan Evans’ firm. He’ll focus on pitchers.
- Shawn Chacon‘s agent is trying to find his client a job. Troy Renck also notes that the Rockies’ offer to Glendon Rusch is a $750K minor league deal.
- Kevin Kaduk relays his first Winter Meetings experience.