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Athletics Considering Vlad, Willingham, Derrek Lee

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The Athletics are looking for offense with Vladimir Guerrero and Hideki Matsui on their list, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  The A's prefer free agents to trades, Morosi notes.  Lance Berkman turned down a two-year offer from the A's; Vlad may require at least that long of a deal to sign.

The A's are also in on Josh Willingham and Derrek Lee, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, but the Nationals' asking price for Willingham is said to be absurd.  Rosenthal feels that the A's could offer Lee more than the Padres or Diamondbacks.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday that A's GM Billy Beane met with Matsui's agent Arn Tellem.  Tellem tells her the A's are not the only team in on him.  The Orioles are in, but Matsui prefers a contender.  She considers Nick Johnson and Lee "among the other potential options."  The A's don't find Carlos Beltran a realistic option, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  They don't believe he'd waive his no-trade clause to come to Oakland.    

Blue Jays, O’s Interested In Pena, Wigginton

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5:30pm: The Blue Jays have checked in on Ty Wigginton, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Orioles maintain interest in the infielder, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.

4:24pm: The Orioles still have interest in Pena, though his asking price is currently too high, according to MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli (on Twitter).

2:02pm: The Blue Jays are "in hard" for free agent first baseman Carlos Pena, ESPN's Gordon Edes heard from another club with interest (Twitter link).  The Cubs and Nationals are also known to be eyeing the Scott Boras client.  Like recently-traded slugger Mark Reynolds, Pena slipped below the Mendoza line this year but isn't far removed from 40 home run power.

Josh Willingham Likely To Be Moved

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4:38pm: The Orioles have had internal discussions about Willingham, potentially as a first baseman, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. The O's haven't ruled out bringing Ty Wigginton back.

1:56am: The Nationals added one huge piece to their outfield today, but could subtract another key contributor before Opening Day. MLB.com's Bill Ladson hears that Josh Willingham will "most likely" be traded by the Nationals sometime this offseason. The 31-year-old isn't the only National on the trade block either; earlier today, we heard that the club would listen to offers for everyone on its roster besides Werth and Ryan Zimmerman.

There would be room in the Nationals' outfield for both Willingham, a left fielder, and Werth, who is expected to play right. However, Ladson writes that Washington would like to get something back for Willingham rather than letting him leave via free agency after the 2011 season.

Last month, it appeared Willingham and the Nationals would be unable to work out an extension to keep the outfielder in Washington. GM Mike Rizzo indicated that the team would go year to year on Willingham, with Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post suggesting that a trade was also a possibility.

According to Ladson, the Nats are also eyeing first base options, and Carlos Pena remains their top choice. If they can't lock up Pena, the team might like Adam LaRoche as an alternative.

Orioles Acquire Mark Reynolds

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The Orioles acquired slugging third baseman Mark Reynolds and a player to be named later or cash considerations for relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio, announced the team.  

Reynolds' stock is at a low point after he hit .198/.320/.433 with 32 home runs and 211 strikeouts this year in 596 plate appearances for Arizona.  However, he mashed 44 home runs in '09 despite whiffing 223 times.  Reynolds owns the first three spots on the single-season strikeout all-time leaderboard.  He was locked up by former D'Backs GM Josh Byrnes in March and is owed $5MM in '11 and $7.5MM in '12 with an $11MM club option for '13.

As a reliever, the 25-year-old Hernandez posted a 3.16 ERA, 10.9 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, and 0.97 HR/9 in 37 innings this year for the Orioles.  He's a hard-throwing flyball pitcher who the Diamondbacks view as their seventh/eighth inning guy.

Mickolio, 26, is another hard-throwing right-handed bullpen arm.  He came to the Orioles in the February '08 Erik Bedard trade.  He's less established than Hernandez, with only 25 Major League innings to his name.  Mickolio posted big strikeout numbers in 35 1/3 Triple-A innings this year but also allowed tons of hits, leading to a 6.37 ERA.  He's dealt with various arm injuries the past few years.

Kevin Towers and Andy MacPhail last matched up on the Cla Meredith–Oscar Salazar swap from July of '09.

SI's Jon Heyman first reported the trade was close, with ESPN's Buster Olney, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, MLB.com's Steve Gilbert, and the Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro adding details.

Odds & Ends: Nishioka, Uggla, Soriano, Wigginton

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The typical Winter Meetings barrage of links…

Six Teams Interested In Koji Uehara

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The Orioles, Mariners, Twins, Red Sox, Brewers, and Cardinals are interested in free agent reliever Koji Uehara, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun learned from an unnamed Japanese reporter.  Uehara would like to return to the Orioles, but they're unlikely to give him a multiyear deal.  If he finds such an offer, he'll sign elsewhere.

Uehara, 36 in April, was dominant out of the Orioles' pen this year in 44 innings but has had an injury-plagued couple of seasons in the U.S.

Pat Gillick Elected To Hall Of Fame

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The 16-member Expansion Era committee announced they've elected Pat Gillick to baseball's Hall of Fame.  From their website:

Pat Gillick spent 27 years as the general manager for the Blue Jays, Orioles, Mariners and Phillies, winning at every stop along the way, with his teams earning 11 post-season berths and three World Series championships. In his 27 years as GM, his teams finished with a winning record 20 times.

Eleven other men were on the ballot, including George Steinbrenner, Marvin Miller, and Billy Martin.

White Sox, Konerko Talking

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MONDAY, 1:15am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that Monday's meeting will involve Konerko's agent and assistant GM Rick Hahn. With the Orioles viewed as the only other serious suitor for Konerko, there's a "strong feeling" the White Sox will get a deal done as early as this week.

SUNDAY, 9:29pm: Reinsdorf will do anything he can to re-sign Konerko, a source tells Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com.

1:42pm: A deal between Konerko and the White Sox will probably happen but nothing is imminent, sources tell Buster Olney of ESPN (via Twitter).

1:34pm: Konerko won't be meeting with White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf tomorrow, only his agent Craig Landis will, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Rosenthal believes that the two sides will reach an accord, though they're not close just yet.

12:58pm: Jerry Reinsdorf and Paul Konerko are very close, according to Jon Heyman of SI (via Twitter).  The slugger and White Sox chairman are scheduled to meet tomorrow.

Re-signing Konerko would cap off an incredibly busy week for the White Sox who also reeled in Adam Dunn and retained A.J. Pierzynski.  On Friday GM Kenny Williams told reporters that both Dunn and Pierzynski will accept deferred payment on their newly minted contracts, giving the club the ability to make Konerko a solid offer.

NL West Notes: Pierzynski, Reynolds, Rockies

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The latest NL West rumors, aside from a certain huge trade…

  • The Dodgers were extremely close to signing A.J. Pierzynski before White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf stepped in, tweets Peter Gammons of the MLB Network.  The Dodgers have been in the market for a catcher ever since they declined to offer arbitration to Russell Martin.
  • Earlier this week we learned that the D'Backs were looking at getting pitcher David Hernandez from the Orioles in a package for Mark Reynolds.  This isn't the first time that Arizona has tried to land Hernandez, says Britt Ghiroli of MLB.com (via Twitter).  Ghiroli adds that several other teams, including Tampa Bay, are high on the right-hander.
  • Troy Renck of The Denver Post (via Twitter) could see the Rockies getting in on outfielder Josh Willingham.  We have long heard that Willingham and the Nats would part ways over an impasse in extension talks.  Now after the arrival of Jayson Werth, it now seems very likely that Willingham will be moved.
  • Meanwhile, the Rockies lost out Lance Berkman because they did not want to give the veteran $8MM and an everyday job wasn't realistic in Coors Field, Renck tweets.

Odds & Ends: Rivera, Pirates, Beltre, A’s

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Links for Sunday, with winter meetings right around the corner….

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