Orioles Rumors

Rosenthal’s Latest: Teixeira, Lowe, Everett

By Tim Dierkes | November 20, 2008 at 1:09pm CDT

Mark Teixeira is likely to sign before Manny Ramirez. The Nationals and Orioles are in the mix, but the Angels and Red Sox are more likely destinations.
One GM predicted Raul Ibanez will receive a three-year deal worth $8-12MM per year. Not exactly going out on a limb there. ESPN’s Jayson Stark named a dozen teams that have expressed interest.
Rosenthal says the Mets are more likely to sign Brian Fuentes or Francisco Rodriguez than to acquire a closer via trade. Doesn’t exactly fit with Stark’s statement that J.J. Putz would go to the top of the Mets’ list if available.
Scott Boras emphatically disputed the notion that he wants a Barry Zito-like contract for Derek Lowe.
Rosenthal wonders if Adam Everett would make sense for the Tigers.

Teixeira Interested In Washington?

By Alex Walsh | November 19, 2008 at 8:40pm CDT

Bill Ladson of MLB.com reports a mutual interest between the Washington Nationals and talented free agent Mark Teixeira. "[Maryland] is his home," mentions an anonymous source in Ladson’s article. The source also sets Miguel Cabrera’s eight-year, $153MM deal as a benchmark for Teixeira’s next contract.

Presumably, any hometown discount afforded the Nationals would also apply to the Baltimore Orioles, another team widely assumed to be on Teixeira’s short list of favorable destinations.

Latest On A.J. Burnett

By Tim Dierkes | November 19, 2008 at 5:27pm CDT

WEDNESDAY: SI.com’s Jon Heyman says Burnett is only considering five-year offers; the Yankees haven’t committed to that yet.

TUESDAY: Kat O’Brien of Newsday has the latest on free agent starter A.J. Burnett. She says the Red Sox have "significantly increased their involvement" on Burnett recently. They’ll butt heads with the Yankees, who have yet to make a formal offer. O’Brien shoots down George King’s recent suggestion of "perhaps" a five-year, $80MM offer from New York. The initial offer will be four years at more than $13.5MM per.

There’s talk that Ryan Dempster’s four-year, $52MM deal will raise the stakes for Burnett, but he figured to soar well beyond $13MM per year regardless. The Dempster and Kyle Lohse deals could give Burnett’s agent justification in asking for five years though. Aside from the Red Sox, Yankees, and Blue Jays, the Braves, Phillies, and Orioles are in the mix. The Braves will have to be aggressive on Burnett and Derek Lowe, in case they aren’t able to acquire Jake Peavy.

Odds and Ends: Teixeira, Giles, Beimel

By Tim Dierkes | November 19, 2008 at 3:00pm CDT

Links for Wednesday…

You can hear me on Lenny Melnick’s radio show at about 7:15pm CST.
The Marlins could be an interesting long shot for Raul Ibanez, but he’d have to leave significant money on the table.
Indians manager Eric Wedge really wants the team to bring in a closer.
George King likes Jason Giambi for the Rays; Cork Gaines imagines the negotiations.
Jesse Spector talking to Brewers GM Doug Melvin, who wasn’t in a revealing mood.
Tony Massarotti expects the Red Sox to make a huge offer to Mark Teixeira.
Padres outfielder Brian Giles doesn’t expect to be traded this winter. If the team is in the tank next summer he might approve a deal, perhaps contingent on a contract extension.
Jacob Jackson says Kevin Towers has handled the Jake Peavy negotiations poorly so far.
Former Reds GM Wayne Krivsky could end up in Baltimore’s front office.
Bernie Williams is still not ready to retire.
Derrick Goold believes the Cardinals have $17-21MM to spend.
At least six clubs are in on Joe Beimel. The Tigers are one, while the Cardinals, Rockies, and Mets may be others.

Orioles Eyeing Burnett?

By Tim Dierkes | November 19, 2008 at 11:55am CDT

Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun talked to Orioles president Andy MacPhail, who said he’s had one conversation with A.J. Burnett’s agent (Darek Braunecker) since the free agent period opened. It’s not known whether the Orioles made an offer.

Burnett may not have anything on the table yet – Ken Rosenthal shot down the report of Toronto making a four-year, $54MM proposal. Burnett will apparently be pursued by all AL East teams aside from the Rays. ESPN’s Buster Olney believes a guaranteed fifth year may land Burnett.

Yankees Rumors: Abreu, Burnett, Teixeira

By Tim Dierkes | November 18, 2008 at 12:44pm CDT

George King of the New York Post and Kat O’Brien of Newsday have the latest on the Yankees, who are in hot pursuit of free agent starting pitching.

The Yankees will offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu, according to Jon Heyman. No surprise there.
King says the Yankees are preparing an offer for A.J. Burnett, "perhaps a five-year deal worth about $80 million." Burnett’s agent says they’re just discussing parameters. It would be a strong offer, dwarfing the Blue Jays’ four years, $54MM. ESPN’s Buster Olney believes a fifth guaranteed year will ultimately result in the winning bid for Burnett.
The Yankees may make an offer to Derek Lowe soon; they’ve reached out to Scott Boras regarding him. Other Lowe suitors: the Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets, and Rangers. O’Brien adds that the Yanks expressed interest in Mark Teixeira to Boras (despite the Nick Swisher acquisition). The Orioles are also in on in Tex.
King talked to a "baseball exec" who sees the Cubs re-signing Ryan Dempster at four years, $52MM.
Andy Pettitte’s agent doesn’t want a pay cut from this year’s $16MM.
The expectation is still for Mike Mussina to retire; we may know this week.
The Yankees aren’t in on Jake Peavy, as evidenced by Kevin Towers’ comments last night. Rick Sutcliffe and Mark Grace have been pitching the Cubs to Peavy, though the hangup seems more about which players the Chicago would send to San Diego.
The Yanks have an offer of about six years, $140MM on the table for C.C. Sabathia, and he’s mulling it over (somewhere).

Orioles Sign Hennessey

By Tim Dierkes | November 17, 2008 at 4:57pm CDT

According to Roch Kubatko of MASN Online, the Orioles signed pitcher Brad Hennessey to a minor league deal. The O’s also inked infielder Donnie Murphy, which was first reported a few days ago.

Hennessey, 29 in February, posted a 7.81 ERA in 40.1 innings for the Giants this year. He was also unimpressive in 21 Triple A starts. Hennessey’s fastball was down over two miles per hour this year, and he went to his changeup more often. He’ll probably provide rotation depth for the Orioles, though he did close for several months last year.

Odds and Ends: Mussina, Proefrock, Cuban

By Tim Dierkes | November 17, 2008 at 11:21am CDT

Links for Monday…

Pitcher Kelvin Jimenez was claimed off waivers by the White Sox. The Blue Jays had claimed him from the Cardinals previously.
The Yankees hope Mike Mussina decides whether he’s retiring soon. He says it might be this week.
Aaron Gleeman runs through the more affordable middle relief options.
Roch Kubatko had the scoop yesterday – Scott Proefrock, formerly of the Orioles, is the new assistant GM for the Phillies.
Trey Hillman is familiar with Kenshin Kawakami, but it’s not known whether the Royals are interested.
Peter Abraham is wary of five free agents the Yankees might consider.
Mark Cuban is in hot water for alleged insider trading.
Ben Davis is apparently pitching these days, and he’ll try to crack the Reds’ Double A rotation.

Odds & Ends: Kawakami, Renteria, Johnson, Ohman

By Nat Boyle | November 16, 2008 at 11:56am CDT

A number of Odds & Ends for your weekend update:

From Japanball.com, Kenshin Kawakami is filing for free agency.
Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports the Cubs are considering Randy Johnson for a one year deal. The 45 year old lefty is a career 13-0 against the Cubs, 4-0 at Wrigley, and needs 5 wins to reach 300.
The Cardinals are moving in on free agent Will Ohman, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and are reportedly interested in Jeremy Affeldt and Arthur Rhodes.
In the same article, Goold suggests the Cards will stall on their efforts to pursue Edgar Renteria until after the Tigers decline their offer of arbitration, since signing the Type A free agent beforehand would result in any team losing a first round draft pick. So despite "mutual interest", don’t expect the Cardinals, or anyone, to sign Renteria before the second week of December. Matthew Leach of mlb.com notes there are a lot of free agent shortstop options.
Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says Giants are finding mutual interest in Rafael Furcal and Bobby Howry.
Utility man Donnie Murphy signed a minor-league deal with the O’s – from Peter Schmuck’s blog.
John Hickey at The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says M’s GM Jack Zduriencik expects Raul Ibanez to wait for Seattle to name it’s next manager before making any decisions.

Odds and Ends: Ankiel, Hoffman, Mussina

By Tim Dierkes | November 13, 2008 at 3:37pm CDT

Linkage for Thursday…

Viva El Birdos tries to put a price on Rick Ankiel, and decides now is the time to trade him. Ankiel, a Scott Boras client, is eligible for free agency after the ’09 season.
Derrick Goold runs through the lefty reliever options for St. Louis on his blog. It doesn’t seem like Trevor Hoffman is on the Cardinals’ radar. Hoffman wants to remain a closer, so he won’t be going to San Francisco either.
Brian Cashman explains that $6MM for one year of Damaso Marte was too much, but $12MM over three years works. Ken Davidoff still doesn’t get it.
Mike Mussina will make his decision early next week.
Tony Massarotti runs through best and worst case scenarios for the Yankees and Red Sox.
Jeff Zrebiec names ten possible free agent targets for the Orioles.
Omar Minaya spilled the beans to WFAN’s Mike Francesa. He’s not interested in Ben Sheets, but will make an offer to Pedro Martinez.
The Twins seem more likely to make trades than sign free agents, according to Joe Christensen.
Could Ted Turner buy back the Braves?

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