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Details On Tejada Negotiations

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Just got a little bit of info from my White Sox source concerning the now deceased White Sox trade for Miguel Tejada.

Word is that the White Sox bowed out late Friday when the Orioles insisted on Brandon McCarthy or Lance Broadway in addition to the other players.  It seems Broadway’s status pick in the 2005 June draft would’ve necessitated his inclusion as a PTBNL.  The White Sox wouldn’t budge, and the deal died.

One other new tidbit is that the Orioles changed gears and attempted to engage the White Sox in an Erik Bedard trade.  It is speculated that Jose Contreras would’ve been involved in such a deal, but that is not confirmed.

Patterson To Orioles For Minor Leaguers

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According to ESPN and other sources, Corey Patterson has been dealt to the Orioles for 20 year-old 2B/SS Nate Spears and 23 year-old southpaw starter Carlos Perez.  Spears is a scrappy middle infielder in the David Eckstein mold.  He hit .294/.349/.429 for advanced Class A Frederick in 2005.  Perez posted a 4.28 ERA in 151 innings for Class A Delmarva this year.

Click here to view my Corey Patterson projection.

Four Teams After Patterson

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According to Bruce Levine on ESPN Radio 1000, four different teams have interest in Cubs former phenom Corey Patterson.  The contenders are the Orioles, Mariners, Rangers, and Nationals.  Hendry apparently wants at least two young players in return.  A trade is possible next week.

Personally, I hope Hendry chooses quality over quantity here.  Running down the teams:

The Orioles have nothing to lose by throwing Patterson in CF and seeing if he can reignite his career.  The club doesn’t seem fond of Luis Matos at this point. 

A trade to the Mariners would imply the departure of Jeremy Reed, which would be a curious decision by Bill Bavasi.  We’ve heard in the past that he could go to Boston for various young starters.

The Rangers have a lot of outfielders – David Dellucci, Gary Matthews Jr., Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix, and Brad Wilkerson.  Dellucci is a fit for DH, and the rest have all been mentioned in trade rumors.  Why Daniels would want to replace one of the four with Patterson is beyond me.

Ryan Church is a better fit in right field for the Nationals, but that’s Jose Guillen’s position.  Brandon Watson and Marlon Byrd may not be regulars, so moving Church to left and giving Patterson a shot isn’t a terrible idea. Although Watson seems like a better option that Patterson based on his Triple A stats.

Thanks to Alex

Kaplan: Cubs “Trying Hard” For Tejada

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Late last night I talked to Dave Kaplan, co-host of WGN’s Sports Central.  Dave gave me a different take on the Miguel Tejada situation than what my source told me.

He said his sources indicate the White Sox are out of the Tejada sweepstakes and that the Red Sox are also backing away now that Manny said he’ll stay.  According to Kaplan, the Cubs are "trying hard."  He also mentioned that there’s "still a long way to go to get a deal done, but if the Cubs will include Felix Pie they could get it done."

FoxSports’s Ken Rosenthal threw his hat into the ring last night, indicating that the Phillies have offered Bobby Abreu for Tejada and would play Tejada at third base.  Of course, Abreu has the power to veto such a trade.

At any rate, more than one source has indicated that the Tejada situation will get resolved today, whether he stays or goes.  I guess we’ll see.

In other news, Dan Connolly of the Chicago Tribune quotes an industry source saying the Cubs are "closing in" on a trade to send Corey Patterson to Baltimore for an unknown minor leaguer.  The minor leaguer is said to not be one of the Orioles’ top five.  Based on Will Lingo’s top ten list for Baseball America, perhaps numbers 6-10 are possible.  I’m just speculating, but the Cubs could really use a guy like Val Majewski if the Orioles would part with him. 

White Sox Miguel Tejada Update

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Alright, I’ve got the goods on the current state of the White Sox’s attempt to acquire Miguel Tejada.

Remember the unknown prospect I referred to in the Orioles’ proposal?  Turns out the pitching prospect the Orioles wanted was either Lance Broadway or Brandon McCarthy.  Neither player was on the list agreed upon earlier, and the Sox scoffed at the idea of including Broadway or McCarthy.

Despite reports in both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times today, the deal is very much alive at this point.  Unfortunately, my source is more involved with the financial approval aspect of the deal (hence the statement that the Sox will take the payroll up to $105MM if necessary).  He’s been cut off from personnel discussions, so this is probably the end of the line as far as the info goes. 

White Sox Receive Tejada Offer

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Remember when I decided to start calling Kenny Williams "spunky" based on his Javier Vazquez and Jim Thome trades?  I’m starting to think I should stick with "bold," as cliche as it may be.

As I mentioned earlier on this site, the White Sox submitted two trade proposals for Miguel Tejada with a deadline of December 31st.  Now the White Sox have re-entered the Tejada fray.

A rock-solid source of mine close to the White Sox tells me that the team is "lying in the weeds" and allowing the Mets, Devil Rays, Orioles, and Red Sox to beat each other up with this whole Manny/Tejada 4-way thing.  The White Sox hope that the 4-way deal falls apart because it’s too complicated and too expensive.  Presently, it seems that their wish will be fulfilled.

The Orioles want the Tejada deal done soon, and approached the White Sox yesterday with a proposal.  The Orioles asked for Jose Contreras, Juan Uribe, Ryan Sweeney, and a top pitching prospect.  That unknown prospect may be a sticking point, but it can probably be worked out.  Alex Woodson has been previously mentioned in discussions between the two clubs.  It would be a daring move by Kenny Williams to subtract Uribe and Aaron Rowand after winning a World Series with defense as the team’s strength.

My source tells me to look for an announcement by Friday about Tejada, no matter where he ends up.  The White Sox have their own motivation to wrap things up before the weekend: they’d like to have an announcement that does not conflict with a Bears playoff weekend or the Cubs Convention.

Agreement For Manny Trade?

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The latest Manny rumor making the rounds comes courtesy of commenter Wild Bill from the Orioles Hangout Forum.  As far as Bill’s track record, I can direct you to a thread over at Sons of Sam Horn.  According to the poster:

"There are three reputed "insiders" [at Orioles Hangout] and all three seem to agree that the trade has been agreed upon in principal but that Manny’s request for an extension will likely cause the deal to fall through. As for their validity, it seems each does have a source either within the Orioles organization or one who is once removed from someone inside.

That said, I don’t believe any of them have access to Mike Flanigan or any direct decision maker. The only thing that makes me feel this could be accurate is the fact that all three agree. Generally, they tend to have slightly different takes on the goings on inside the Orioles’ FO."

Here’s the main point of Wild Bill’s post:

"The word is the Tejada-Ramirez/Clement trade has been agreed to in principle by the two teams blocked only at this time with last minute complications caused by Manny."

Using 2005 WARP (Wins Above Replacement Player) values, the net gain for the Red Sox would be -3.6 wins.  Meaning that in a vacuum, this trade makes the team worse.  Of course, the move would free up significant salary for the Sox (I haven’t heard whether money would change hands) so the team would probably make up the difference in value somewhere else.

Manny Ramirez is on the hook for $58MM over the next three seasons.  Matt Clement will make $19MM over the next two seasons.  Miguel Tejada is owed $48MM over the next four seasons.  For the 2006 season only, this trade would free up $18.5MM for the Red Sox.

I’ll supply more updates on this trade possibility as I hear them. 

Miguel Tejada Trade: Update

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Some more quality details on the possible Miguel Tejada trade:

First issue: White Sox payroll.  My source is saying that adding Tejada would not be a problem – the team’s board of directors are willing to take the payroll up to $105 million.  Should the Orioles accept one of their offers, they’ll still have flexibility for more additions at the July trading deadline as needed.

UPDATE:  There was a miscommunication between my source and I about this deal.  He was not telling me that the Astros were in on Tejada, but rather Jose Contreras.  I’ll go into more detail on this in a separate post.  Sorry for the confusion.

White Sox Make Offers For Tejada

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A source close to a major sports representation firm has tipped me off to two offers the White Sox currently have on the table for shortstop Miguel Tejada.

Two formal proposals have been given to the Orioles by Sox GM Kenny Williams.  Williams set a drop dead date of December 31st given other clubs’ outstanding offers for Tejada.

Option 1: Jose Contreras, Juan Uribe, and one minor league prospect for Tejada.

Option 2: Brandon McCarthy, Juan Uribe, 20 year-old southpaw Alex Woodson, and another minor leaguer for Tejada.  In this scenario, the White Sox would get cash back from the Orioles in the third and fourth years of Tejada’s contract.

According to Baseball Prospectus’s WARP statistic, which combines offense and defense into a number of wins above a replacement player, Tejada was worth 3.1 more wins than Uribe in 2005.  Contreras was valued at 5.9 wins for ’05.  However, the White Sox can’t start both McCarthy and Contreras, so it’s really not a loss in pitching value for 2006.  Seems to me that the Sox would much prefer Option 1 if the O’s will consider it.

U.S. Cellular inflates right-handed hitters’ home runs by about 30%.  Tejada would stand to tack on about four home runs due to park effects.  A loss of both Juan Uribe and Aaron Rowand would weaken one of the White Sox’s two major strengths from their Championship season: their defense.  Rowand and Uribe were two of baseball’s best defenders at their positions in ’05, and Brian Anderson and Tejada would definitely be a downgrade.  Still, Williams’s offseason moves and the proposed Tejada trades certainly strengthen the club overall for ’06, at least on paper.

Buzz Around The Game

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Let’s take a look at what some other sources are reporting today on the rumor front.

Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post mentions that Marquis Grissom’s agent said he will sign with the Cubs.  When you look at Grissom’s 2005, there’s not much to like.  He doesn’t get on base and he’s pushing 40.  On the flip side, Grissom mashed lefties to the tune of .315/.356/.577 in 2004 and he’d make a great platoon partner for Jacque Jones. 

UPDATE: You probably assumed this, but I’ve verified with a reliable source that the Grissom deal is for one year and will be incentive-based.  Nothing unexpected, but worth a mention.

The Mets are apparently finalizing a deal for Danys Baez where they’d give up either Jae Seo or Aaron Heilman plus prospects.  In my opinion, this trade is going to weaken the Mets in 2006.  I’ve projected Baez to post an ERA near 4.  Click here to read MetsBlog’s take.

From my inbox today: "You would be crediable if your rumors actually came true."  Why do some people spend so much time writing long, incoherent emails about how they don’t like my site?  Just stop reading it if you don’t like it.

Dave Kaplan of WGN Radio Chicago has reported that the Cubs are in discussions for Barry Zito.  Wouldn’t be bad to see a durable pitcher on the North Side of Chicago to complement Zambrano.

As you’ve certainly read, Miguel Tejada still wants out.  More on details on teams in play later today.

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