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Mets Acquire Estrada For Mota

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UPDATE: Non-tendering Estrada is still an option for the Mets, but they’ve unloaded Mota’s contract.  The Mets may shop around for better options, knowing they have an adequate fallback.  According to Jamey Newberg, the Mets found the asking prices for trade targets Gerald Laird and Ramon Hernandez to be unacceptable.

The Mets found their catcher today in the person of Johnny Estrada.  To get him from the Brewers, Omar Minaya only had to surrender Guillermo Mota.

It was a swap of a couple of unwanted guys.  The Brewers would’ve non-tendered Estrada rather than pony up $4MM+ for him.  However they’ll probably plop down something close to that for Jason Kendall, who is superior to Estrada only in the intangibles department.  Doug Melvin offered Estrada to the Mets while naming six different players he’d accept in return.

Mota was actually decent in terms of his 2.6 K/BB ratio this year, but he was hittable and home run prone.  Maybe the Brewers can make something of him, though at $3.2MM it’s a slightly pricey gamble.  Mota of course brings more steroid stigma to Milwaukee’s pen, which already has Derrick Turnbow.   

Orioles, Dodgers Talking Bedard, Kemp

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Earlier this month, we learned that the Orioles will listen to offers for Erik Bedard. Sounds kinda crazy, shopping a potential Cy Young candidate with two years remaining until free agency. But if the Orioles can pick up a couple of younger but still MLB-ready players, so be it. The first connection comes from the Dodgers, who are offering a package centered around — guess who — Matt Kemp.

Kemp himself won’t get this deal done. Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports lists the usual suspects from the Dodgers: Andy LaRoche (because 93 at-bats is a plenty big sample), Jonathan Meloan, James Loney, Clayton Kershaw, Delwyn Young, Andre Ethier, and Tony Abreu.

Of course, Kemp would play a large part in a potential Miguel Cabrera trade, so the Dodgers must choose wisely. They certainly have the players it would take to land either player.

Brown notes that the Dodgers are already looking to upgrade at center field. We all know what that means: Hunter, Rowand, and Jones.

Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.

Odds and Ends: Kuroda, Hunter, Crede

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What’d I miss recently?  Here are some odds and ends.

  • The Tigers have expressed interest in Hiroki Kuroda.  They join the Phillies, Mariners, Dodgers, Royals, Rangers, Cubs, and Mets in that pursuit.
  • 10 teams are interested in Aaron Rowand!  That’s almost 1/3 of all baseball teams!
  • Torii Hunter is after a seven-year deal.  Most feel he’s saying that because he wants six.  Clever!
  • The Twins are taking a look at Tony Clark as a cheap DH option.  He’s supposedly looking for something like two years, $4MM and more playing time.  This would be a very Twins-like signing. 
  • T.R. Sullivan has a Rangers update.  Apparently Jon Daniels is checking in on big names like Johan Santana, Erik Bedard, and Miguel Cabrera.  More realistically Daniels may go out to Japan for players such as Kosuke Fukudome and Hiroki Kuroda (we knew that already).  We also knew the Rangers had Kerry Wood and Eric Gagne on their radar.  Sullivan speculates that Scott Linebrink and LaTroy Hawkins could also be in the mix.
  • Barry Rozner expects Joe Crede to be traded. It seems like Crede is a Plan B or C for a lot of teams and Kenny Williams may have to wait til a few dominoes fall first. 

Padres Look To Extend Peavy

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Jake Peavy will soon add a Cy Young to his resume, and the Padres would like to explore a contract extension with him.  Under his current contract, Peavy will earn $6.5MM in ’08 and $11MM in ’09 once he wins the award.  The Padres would like to extend him for the 2010 and 2011 seasons and possibly more.

Peavy realizes the Padres won’t give him the $18MM+ per year he could earn on the free market.  But an extension for 2010-11 in the range of $32-35MM could work.

It’s been assumed that any team trading for Peavy this winter would have him for two seasons.  However, that isn’t the case – Tom Krasovic says he could opt for free agency after ’08 as a player traded during a multiyear deal.  I assume Dan Haren has the same right, but Erik Bedard does not.  That certainly bumps up Bedard’s value.

Krasovic also adds that the Padres have their eye on Jim Edmonds and Ryan Church as center field options.  The Padres would expect Edmonds to be a salary dump and the Cards to throw in some cash.  Meanwhile Jim Bowden has a high asking price for Church.

Orioles To Attempt To Extend Bedard

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It looks like Erik Bedard is Andy MacPhail’s top priority right now.  He’s already gauged the trade interest for his ace, and is now exploring the idea of a contract extension.

Jeff Zrebiec says the Mets, Yankees, Angels, and Dodgers expressed interest in the southpaw starter.  Interesting to see the Halos in the mix.  The Dodgers are pushing the hardest for him.  Two years of Bedard is expected to cost a team three MLB-ready players.  The names mentioned for the Dodgers are Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp, and Clayton Kershaw.  While Kershaw’s not MLB-ready, I doubt the Orioles would mind.  Zrebiec says the problem with the Dodgers is that Kemp and Kershaw would be part of a Miguel Cabrera package.

What would a contract extension cost?  I’m thinking it would require something like four years, $65MM to cover the two team-controlled years and two years of free agency.

Zrebiec also mentions that the Mets inquired on Ramon Hernandez, but found the price of a high-end prospect prohibitive.

Mets Targeting Livan Hernandez?

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Ben Shpigel of the New York Times has some new Mets info for us today.

  • Surprisingly, Shpigel believes the one free agent starter the Mets will seriously consider is Livan Hernandez.  That is odd because I had read Livan wasn’t high on Omar Minaya’s list.  We’ve seen the Mets connected to free agents Byung-Hyun Kim, Carlos Silva, Hiroki Kuroda, Kyle Lohse, and Jason Jennings so far this offseason.
  • As far as some unsung trade opportunities, my Mets guy says Ervin Santana, Chris Capuano, Claudio Vargas, and Noah Lowry are being considered.
  • According to Shpigel, the Mets hope to re-sign Ramon Castro as their backup catcher.  I don’t see that happening, as he’ll probably be able to snag a starting job elsewhere.  Options the Mets are considering to start at catcher include Yorvit Torrealba, Ramon Hernandez, Ronny Paulino, Gerald Laird, and Paul Lo Duca.  A source tells me the D’Backs’ Miguel Montero may also be on the radar.
  • Shpigel says Luis Castillo might command a four-year deal.  Say what?  The Mets may yet re-sign Castillo but want to see what the trade market offers first.  Shpigel names Orlando Hudson, while I’ve also heard Alberto Callaspo.

Indians, Orioles Looking At Bay?

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We first checked in on outfielder Jason Bay back in late September.  Neal Huntington’s comments seemed to indicate Bay could be dealt.  He slumped to a surprising .746 OPS this year.

Logically the Indians would be in the mix for Bay.  He’s affordable – he makes only $13.25MM over the next two seasons.  And Huntington used to work for Tribe GM Mark Shapiro.  Marty York backs up the speculation, saying the Indians are the most interested club. 

Another interested club is the Orioles, according to Bucco Blog.  Jake mentions that teams are still trying to figure out why Bay declined in 2007.  Bay has contended his surgically repaired knee only hindered him on the basepaths and defensively, not at the plate.  A lack of passion has been suggested.  And I hate to throw it out there based only on a statistical decline, but teams may be waiting to see if Bay’s name appears in the Mitchell Report at all.

Orioles Notes: Crisp, Burnett

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The always-informed Jeff Zrebiec has a few Orioles tidbits for us.

  • The Orioles didn’t engage in conversations with agents for any free agents during the GM meetings – just trade talks with other teams (about 15 total).
  • President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said that he’s open to trading with other teams in the AL East.  He just wants the best deal. 
  • With that in mind, two Yankees who interest the Orioles are Melky Cabrera and Kyle Farnsworth.  The Yankees could employ Miguel Tejada at third base, if he’s willing.
  • The O’s could have some interest in Coco Crisp, though he’s not atop their list.  But they do need some kind of center fielder.
  • The team’s ears perked up at the availability of A.J. Burnett, even though he makes no sense for them.

Yanks Have Interest In Tejada

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The Orioles may have two third basemen to offer up this winter: Miguel Tejada and Melvin Mora.

Tejada’s mind would need to be changed – he still doesn’t want to move to third.  But the Yankees do have interest, and I can think of 13 million reasons Tejada would change his stance.  Tejada came up as part of the inclusive list I came up with the night A-Rod opted out.  The Orioles’ focus would be to acquire position players, so you’d have to think Melky Cabrera or Robinson Cano would be targeted.  Tyler Kepner adds that the Orioles would like to acquire Kyle Farnsworth in a Tejada deal.  I doubt the Yankees would have a problem with that.  The Yanks would have to make a very strong offer to convince the O’s to help their division rival.

One third baseman I didn’t include on my list was Melvin Mora.  While Mora wants to remain with Baltimore, he said yesterday that he’d consider waiving his full no-trade clause if the Orioles asked him.  They haven’t yet.  Mora’s a below average offensive third baseman, hitting .274/.341/.418 last year.  Mora will make roughly $17MM from 2008-09.  He doesn’t figure to be a hot commodity.

Will Yankees Offer Arbitration To A-Rod?

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Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus tell us not to expect the Yankees to offer arbitration with Alex Rodriguez and Scott Boras.  However, Brian Cashman told Joel Sherman "of course" the Yankees would offer it, because of the two draft picks involved. 

Sherman notes that there’s a "very slim possibility" of Rodriguez accepting, and then getting a $30-40MM one-year contract as a result of the hearing.  He adds that A-Rod would lose his no-trade clause in this scenario.  This would be a great scenario for the Yankees.  Rodriguez on any kind of one-year commitment is a sweet deal, and he’d be very trade-able.  One year, $40MM is a lot easier to stomach for any team than 10 years, $300MM.

If they do offer arbitration and A-Rod declines (the most likely scenario), the Yankees will hope for one of the teams picking 16th-30th in next June’s draft to sign him.  That could be the Cubs, Tigers, Mets, Angels, or Red Sox.  In those cases the Yankees get that team’s first-round pick.  On the flip side, it would not be preferred if the Dodgers, Giants, or any other team picking 1st-15th signs him.  Those picks are protected.

Interesting A-Rod side note: one GM surveyed by Jerry Crasnick predicted A-Rod would end up with the Orioles.

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