Rosenthal’s Latest: Looper, Redding
In detailing their offseason plan to address the rotation, Ken Rosenthal adds the Baltimore Orioles to the short list of teams interested in acquiring Tim Redding. The Orioles are also interested in Braden Looper, says the article.
In addition to the Orioles, Redding is being sought after by the New York Mets and Colorado Rockies. The Rockies have also been mentioned in rumors regarding a potential pursuit of Looper.
It may take a two-year deal to land Redding, and recent rumors have made it appear as though only the Mets are willing to go that far.
Based on the rumors we’ve been seeing lately, it may come down to dividing three back-end starting pitchers among three teams in need of rotation help: one each of Redding, Looper and Jason Marquis, for the Orioles, Rockies, and Mets.
Alex Walsh can be reached at alexander.walsh@gmail.com.
Mark Teixeira Rumors: Saturday
11:01pm: Michael S. Schmidt at the New York Times writes:
"The Yankees are interested in signing Teixeira, according to two people in baseball with knowledge of the matter, but for the moment are unwilling to pay him more than $160 million over eight years, one of them said."
10:18pm: An update from Kat O’Brien at Newsday says "the Yankees remain on the periphery of the bidding" for Teixeira.
Scott Boras has apparently contacted Brian Cashman to inform him that an 8-year/$180MM contract would be needed to land Tex. This contradicts recent reports that estimate that the Boston Red Sox have made such an offer, since they have not signed the free agent yet.
The article also reiterates the fact that the Yankees do not have an offer out to Teixeira.
6:50pm: Lyle Spencer and Bill Ladson of MLB.com report that Teixeira will decide on where to sign in the next few days.
12:49pm: Jack Curry of the New York Times examines Boras’ "patient, defiant style" and suggests the Red Sox are throwing it right back at him.
Roch Kubatko talks about how Washington’s Ted Lerner is the one owner who could blow the other teams away with a Teixeira offer. Many people seem to believe they’re willing to go to ten years, $200MM. Bill Madden suggests Lerner could be this year’s "One Dumb Owner."
9:24am: Yesterday we tracked the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes as the Red Sox seemed to back out, but ultimately remained interested; the rumors continue today.
Jon Heyman writes that talks have resumed between Scott Boras and the Yankees and Angels. The Yankee front office is still deciding which slugger to pursue: Teixeira or Manny Ramirez. Heyman sees signs that "the Angels might be readying for a move," since owner Arte Moreno could consider boosting his bid from the $160-170MM range.
Heyman hears that the Red Sox bid close to $180MM, but ESPN.com reports that their bid was $165-170MM. ESPN heard from an "executive familiar with the meeting" between Teixeira’s people and the Red Sox that Scott Boras seeks an eight-year deal worth $195MM.
However, when Jerry Crasnick asked Boras about this figure, he heard it was "inaccurate" and that there was "very limited discussion of economic considerations" Thursday night.
Adam Kilgore heard from a GM involved with Teixeira who believes "the Red Sox have the best offer on the table."
Michael Silverman thinks the Red Sox need to go all out for Tex and Peter Schmuck doesn’t want a few million dollars to stop the O’s from signing him.
Odds and Ends: Redding, Turnbow, Looper
Links for Saturday…
- RotoAuthority looks at projections for Chris Davis. 35 home runs next year?
- Bill Madden suggests Paul Kinzer screwed up in both the Rafael Furcal and Francisco Rodriguez negotiations.
- More details on Dan Johnson – the Rays are selling him to a Japanese team for $100,000-500,000.
- Tim Redding‘s agent says "the Mets are very much in the mix" for the righty.
- Juan C. Rodriguez confirms the Marlins’ interest in Derrick Turnbow, but says they aren’t going after Ray King.
- The Rockies could pursue Braden Looper.
- The Orioles have expressed interest in Phillies catcher Chris Coste.
- New National Josh Willingham likes the Marlins’ young talent.
- New Phillie Raul Ibanez likes the chances that the Mariners will have a better offense in 2009.
- The AP has details on the perks in the C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett deals.
- Ken Davidoff looks at the impact Mark Teixeira‘s decision will have on six teams. Amazing how one deal will shape so many teams’ plans.
- Buster Olney writes that many players are going to make much less than expected in 2009, including Manny Ramirez. In that same blog post, Olney notes that his colleague Jerry Crasnick says the Angels’ signing of Juan Rivera takes them out of the market for Manny.
- The D’Backs’ discussions for Tony Clark are progressing.
Odds and Ends: Wilson, Bautista, Hairston
Linkage for Friday…
- The AP explains how C.C. Sabathia will be paid $9.5MM before throwing a pitch for the Yankees.
- The D’Backs signed lefty Travis Blackley.
- Dan Johnson is headed to Japan.
- The Cardinals signed Japanese pitcher Katsuhiko Maekawa to a minor league deal. Patrick Newman has details.
- Interesting discussion involving Raul Ibanez‘s defense.
- I did a Q&A with SportingGurus.com.
- Ken Rosenthal guesses destinations for 11 remaining free agents in this slideshow.
- MLB is undergoing a hiring/salary freeze and taking away 20% of vacation time for ’09.
- Dejan Kovacevic had a lengthy chat with Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson, who wishes the team would get more players to become competitive. In his article Kovacevic also notes that the Pirates have had talks about bringing back pitcher Denny Bautista, who was non-tendered a week ago.
- Are the Mariners trying to open up a spot for Jerry Hairston Jr.? They’re looking to add a plus-plus defensive second baseman; not sure if he qualifies.
- Aubrey Huff tops the list of fantasy baseball’s biggest draft position gainers.
- Royals pitcher Kyle Davies is working a construction job this offseason.
- The Orioles settled with Sidney Ponson regarding their grievance.
Mark Teixeira Rumors: Thursday
9:58pm: Red Sox owner John Henry said:
"We met with Mr. Teixeira and were very much impressed with him. After hearing about his other offers, however, it seems clear that we are not going to be a factor."
Wow. From favorites to out of the bidding.
9:16pm: Gordon Edes says Boston’s eight-year offer is more than $160MM but less than the $184MM figure Lynch mentioned. In a newer article, Edes talked to a Red Sox exec who called the idea of a $25MM salary for Tex "ridiculous." This info gels with the Gammons/Olney suggestion of $22MM per year. Edes adds that it won’t be a "take it or leave it" type of meeting.
Edes says the Angels haven’t budged off their original offer, which is north of $160MM. The Nationals have been told by Boras that they’d have to pay extra.
8:38pm: The Red Sox "aren’t close to getting a deal done" with Teixeira according to an updated report by Dan Roche of WBZTV.
8:34pm: When asked whether the Angels might improve their offer to Teixeira, Tony Reagins simply repeated that he had already made him a "fair offer."
6:55pm: Dan Roche of WBZTV also confirms the meeting. He suggests an eight-year Red Sox offer in the $180MM range, but hears that Boston doesn’t expect anything "conclusive" tonight.
6:38pm: Buster Olney and Peter Gammons confirm Lynch’s report. ESPN has heard from major league sources that Boras may soon meet with Red Sox executives. Olney and Gammons heard from another team’s executive who expects the offer to be for "about $22MM" per year for eight years, or about $176MM in total.
5:21pm: Mike Lynch from Channel 5 in Boston reports John Henry and Theo Epstein will meet with Scott Boras tonight with the aim of signing Teixeira tonight or Friday morning. Lynch says the Sox are offering eight years and $184MM.
1:59pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman on rumored offers for Tex:
One source said he believed that Boston was in for close to $180 million over eight years and the Angels in for about the same. The Nats may be as high, or even higher than that. Some suggest they have either hit the $200 million mark, or gotten very close. Or that someone else has.
Heyman expects Teixeira to sign next week, and agrees that the Red Sox are the favorites. He provides odds of each bidding team signing Teixeira.
8:55am: Yesterday’s Mark Teixeira post focused on the Orioles – they seem to be falling behind, though Andy MacPhail said there’s flexibility with their offer.
We learned today from Kat O’Brien of Newsday today that the Yankees have not made an offer to Teixeira, and may not if the bidding gets too high.
Nick Cafardo’s been talking to a GM involved in the bidding, and that person says the Red Sox have the highest offer on the table. The offer could be eight years at the highest average annual salary. Sean McAdam says the Red Sox have their own ceiling and won’t get into a bidding war. He adds that there’s no backup plan for Boston – "it’s Teixeira or bust."
Zaun Likes Orioles, Has Several Offers
Roch Kubatko spoke with Gregg Zaun and heard that there’s been no shortage of interest in the free agent catcher. Zaun said he’s received several offers, some of which are for more than one year.
Zaun’s confident that some of the teams interested are playoff-bound, but he still sounds interested in Baltimore, saying “the Orioles are still very important to me.” Zaun seems excited about working with Matt Wieters, about whom he’s heard “great things.”
Even though discussions are “heating up pretty good” according to Zaun, he doesn’t expect a deal before Christmas.
Odds and Ends: Abreu, Millwood, Wigginton
Links for Thursday…
- Luke Hudson agreed to stay with the Royals on a minor league deal. And because Braves fans keep emailing it…the Braves signed Lance Niekro as a pitcher, as noted in the minor league transactions we linked yesterday. Talking Chop and Henry Schulman have more.
- Along similar lines, here’s a link to Joel Sherman’s December 12th story about the Orlando Hudson and Adam Dunn being the Nationals’ backup plan for Mark Teixeira. That came four days before the Jon Heyman report people keep emailing.
- C.C. Sabathia‘s preferred teams heading into free agency: the Yankees, Brewers, and Angels.
- Dave O’Brien tries to figure out what the Braves should do with all their money.
- John Fay explains why the Reds may attempt to acquire a young shortstop.
- The Orioles may move on to Gregg Zaun now that Matt Treanor is off the board.
- Geoff Baker speculates on a possible Mariners-Brewers trade match, though nothing seems to be cooking currently.
- RotoAuthority looks at the biggest losers, comparing ’09 fantasy baseball mock draft positions to ’08.
- I did a Q&A with Called Safe At Second.
- ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick writes about how teams view free agent outfielder Bobby Abreu.
- Kevin Millwood has twelve million reasons to pitch 180 innings in 2009. I never understood that phrase. Why is each dollar a reason?
- Dejan Kovacevic says Ty Wigginton has no wish to return to Pittsburgh.
- Roch Kubatko is hearing the Orioles may have reached a settlement with Sidney Ponson regarding the grievance.
- Pitcher Jon Leicester is the latest to head to Japan.
- Might not read about this on MLBTR, eh? Chico Harlan says the Nationals signed 16 year-old Dominican prospects Bill Pena and Gregory Baez.
Four Teams Pursuing Redding
According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, the Rockies, Rangers, Mets, and Orioles have been the most aggressive suitors for free agent starter Tim Redding. Redding, 31 in February, posted a 4.95 ERA in 33 starts for the Nationals this year while earning $1MM. They decided to non-tender him.
Other notes from Renck…the Rox have had productive talks with Glendon Rusch, and Ray King has drawn interest from the Phillies, Marlins, and Pirates.
Tigers Sign Matt Treanor
THURSDAY, 11:03am: This deal is done, according to the AP. The Tigers will go with a Gerald Laird–Matt Treanor tandem at catcher for ’09.
WEDNESDAY, 2:13pm: Dan Connolly learned that Orioles president Andy MacPhail has been informed that Treanor agreed to a contract with the Tigers.
TUESDAY, 11:38pm: Morosi says the Tigers are close to signing Treanor to a one-year deal.
4:40pm: According to Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers have had recent talks for free agent catcher Matt Treanor. They’d discussed a trade with the Marlins for him prior to his release. The Orioles are also known to be in discussions with Treanor.
Treanor, 33 in March, hit .238/.306/.301 in 234 plate appearances (the highest total of his career). He threw out 25.4% of attempted basestealers in ’08, 14.3% in ’07.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Teixeira, Markakis, Johnson
We have a new column from Ken Rosenthal this evening.
- Mark Teixeira is holding up many areas of the free agent market, as guys like Brian Fuentes and Milton Bradley know the Angels will be interested if Tex signs elsewhere.
- Rosenthal believes the Yankees should continue to be aggressive and make a competitive bid for Teixeira.
- The "poor working conditions and occasionally unruly crowd behavior" make it hard for the A’s to attract free agents. Their move in 2012 should help.
- Rosenthal believes Chase Utley‘s seven year, $85MM deal could provide a framework for a Nick Markakis extension.
- The A’s will wait for free agent bargains now that they’ve lost Rafael Furcal.
- The Red Sox and Mets are the main suitors for Derek Lowe, with the Yankees less likely.
- The Braves have been shopping Kelly Johnson for an outfielder. Attempts to acquire Ryan Ludwick or Corey Hart did not work out.