Red Sox Rumors

Derek Lowe Rumors: Monday

By Tim Dierkes | January 5, 2009 at 10:20pm CDT

10:20pm: Newsday’s Ken Davidoff learned tonight that the Mets "do not intend to raise their three-year, $36MM offer to [Lowe] at this time." The Mets don’t feel that they have serious competition for Lowe, for some reason. Oliver Perez and Randy Wolf remain the alternatives.

8:28am: According to Kat O’Brien of Newsday, "negotiations are expected to heat up for righthander Derek Lowe" this week for the Mets, who reportedly offered three years and $36MM (though Scott Boras indicated yesterday the proposal was never made). Jon Heyman said recently that Lowe didn’t take this offer seriously; he’s aiming for a $16MM salary. Heyman named the Phillies, Braves, Red Sox, Brewers, and Angels as possible suitors, with the last three more on the speculative side.

Mark Bowman doesn’t believe the Braves are willing to top the Mets’ reported offer, though. In another article, Bowman suggested Jon Garland and Andy Pettitte are more likely options.

Odds and Ends: Andruw, Marquis, Coonelly

By Tim Dierkes | January 5, 2009 at 10:42am CDT

Links for Monday…

In his first post for RotoAuthority, David Chase looks at players who were said to have lost weight or gained muscle during Spring Training ’08. How did they perform in ’08?
The Red Sox inked infielder Nick Green to a minor league deal.
Murray Chass explains why the New York Times Company’s purchase of a share of the Red Sox was a conflict of interest.
Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik: "We’ve got an offer out right now for a piece of the puzzle, and I’d hope to hear in the next few days."
David Laurila talked to new Mariners exec Tony Blengino. One of many interesting quotes (in reference to the Bill Bavasi regime and the ’07 club): "I thought that it was clear going in that, with all due respect, they overrated their team from the last year."
The Yankees will introduce Mark Teixeira tomorrow. He passed his physical today.
River Ave. Blues and Peter Abraham ask whether the Yankees should consider Andruw Jones. Evan Brunell looks at other possible fits.
The Dodgers talked to the Cubs about Jason Marquis, according to MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick.
Pirates president Frank Coonelly joins Mark Attanasio (Brewers) and Drayton McLane (Astros) in supporting a salary cap.
Jeff Moorad might be aggressive in the draft if he takes over the Padres. Tom Krasovic adds that the Padres have already discussed spending up to $6MM on their #3 pick this June.
Keith Law likes the Angels’ Brian Fuentes signing, and doesn’t think the Indians gave up much for Mark DeRosa.
If the Indians are to add another significant player, they’ll have to get creative with contracts.
RAB and In Mo We Trust discuss Kevin Kernan’s recent suggestion that the Yanks sign Oliver Perez over Andy Pettitte.
A couple of recent Hot Stove Dailies from Jeff Passan: the Braves and A’s.
Athletics Nation asks whether Brian Sabean is "out-GMing" Billy Beane this winter.
Sox Machine on why the Gavin Floyd–Brian Roberts rumor makes no sense.

Varitek, Red Sox Working On Deal?

By Ben Jones | January 4, 2009 at 8:47pm CDT

Daniel Barbarisi of The Providence Journal believes the Boston Red Sox and the team’s veteran catcher, Jason Varitek, who is currently a free agent, are working on a short-term deal, possibly two years.

Barbarisi writes how the Red Sox usually do not sign aging veterans, so re-signing Varitek would be a catch-22, the title of the article.

Varitek, 36, is looking for a four-year deal worth $40MM, though it’s rather unlikely he’ll receive one, Barbarisi notes.

From Barbarisi:

“By the numbers, veteran players producing at (Varitek’s) level were generally paid between $2MM to $5MM by their teams in 2008, with the exception of the Yankees’ (Ivan) Rodriguez. If Varitek’s price were to drop that low, the Red Sox would probably be happy to bring him back for at least two more years. But if Varitek and Boras stick to their initial demands, the Red Sox will probably go another way and end up with the same production for half the cost.”

Derek Lowe Rumors: Sunday

By Nat Boyle | January 4, 2009 at 3:41pm CDT

3:41pm: Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports that the Braves are interested in Lowe, but not his price tag. Bowman says the Braves are "keeping tabs on Lowe," but also states that the Braves would be reluctant to even make a larger offer than the three-year, $36MM deal that he rejected from the Mets.

11:44am: Jon Heyman reports the Braves, Phillies, and Red Sox and perhaps the Brewers and Angels are all expressing interest in Derek Lowe. Lowe is still looking for $16MM per year and rejected the Mets offer of 3 years, $36MM, his highest offer to date.

Buster Olney feels Lowe may have missed out on the big money when the Yankees signed A.J. Burnett for 5 years, $82.5MM over him; however, as Heyman points out, Lowe has been far more consistent and durable: "He’s won at least 12 games each of the past seven seasons and thrown at least 199 innings in six of those seven (he threw 182 innings the one year he didn’t reach 199."

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Mets are likely to increase their offer.

Gregg Zaun Interested In Boston

By Nat Boyle | January 4, 2009 at 1:01pm CDT

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says Gregg Zaun would love to play for the Red Sox. In Cafardo’s interview with the catcher, Zaun said,

"I’d love it. My agent has had ongoing talks with Boston and I would love to see that happen. I feel one of the things I have going in my favor is being in Toronto for so long I have a deep knowledge of the AL East. I would also love the challenge of playing in Boston, where every day you go to the ballpark it’s a meaningful game and you’re fighting for something. That atmosphere, I’m telling you, there’s nothing like it, and to be a part of that would be unbelievable. I played for Tito [Terry Francona] back in the Arizona Fall League… Tito has been watching me a long time."

Zaun, 37, finished with six homeruns and a .340 OBP in 2008 while losing his starting job to Rod Barajas. In comparison, Jason Varitek is 36 and finished with a .313 OBP last season. Zaun has received a few offers but nothing from Boston.

Odds & Ends: Rockies, Iguchi, Indians

By Nat Boyle | January 4, 2009 at 9:47am CDT

Some odds and ends for a quiet Sunday morning:

Troy E. Renck notes that after acquiring Jason Marquis, arbitration is going to result in a slight payroll increase of $5MM for the Rockies.
From Kyodo News: The Lotte Marines will begin talks with Tadahito Iguchi on Wednesday in Okinawa.
Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe points out that the Red Sox prefer short, low cost, low risk contracts for established talent (i.e. Wade Miller, Bartolo Colon, and now Brad Penny) rather than large free agent contracts for pitchers.
Keith Law says the Indians got Mark DeRosa for cheap, adding that a ".285/.365/.440 line is well within reason."

Lowe Rejected Offer, Wants $16MM Per Year

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 3, 2009 at 7:56pm CDT

Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog passes on some comments made tonight by Jon Heyman on the MLB Network’s Hot Stove Live.

According to Heyman, Derek Lowe rejected the Mets’ three year $36MM offer because he hopes to sign a deal worth $16MM per season.
The Phillies and Braves are the Mets’ biggest competitors for Lowe.
The Red Sox and a mystery team are also involved.

Later on in the show, Mets GM Omar Minaya confirmed interest in Lowe, Randy Wolf and others. Cerrone notes that Minaya did not mention Oliver Perez.

Odds And Ends: Red Sox, Andruw, Roberts

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 3, 2009 at 10:27am CDT

Links for Saturday…

At the bottom of an interesting article about baseball’s youth movement, Peter Gammons adds that the Red Sox-Marlins Hanley Ramirez discussions "lasted all of 20 seconds" according to a Marlins official.
Yahoo’s Tim Brown speculates that the Nationals could have interest in Andruw Jones. I can see the Blue Jays taking him on if they can make it work financially.
Roch Kubatko cautions fans from reading too much into discussions about a Brian Roberts–Gavin Floyd trade.
Peter Schmuck hasn’t heard much on the Roberts front, but wouldn’t mind seeing the Orioles trade him for Floyd, even if they don’t acquire anyone else in the deal.
In another post, Schmuck argues that there’s nothing wrong with the Mark Hendrickson signing.
Ryan Dempster has heard good things about Milton Bradley and hopes he joins the Cubs.
The Yankees have no need for Manny Ramirez, Erik Bedard or over-the-top position swaps, in Peter Abraham’s opinion.
Jeff Moorad- who’s leading the group poised to buy the Padres- was a record-setting agent in his day. Tom Krasovic looks back at Moorad’s earlier career.
NPB Tracker compares Japanese teams before and after losing their stars to MLB.

Odds and Ends: Bard, Cubs, Guardado

By Tim Dierkes | January 2, 2009 at 10:00pm CDT

Links for Friday (feels like a Monday)…

Boston’s deal for catcher Josh Bard is official. Bard had offers from the Cubs and Nationals as well.
SI.com’s Jon Heyman ranks the top 20 remaining free agents.
RotoAuthority asks readers to name their #1 sleeper for 2009.
The Marlins reportedly have interest in reliever Jesus Colome.
MLB.com’s Barry Bloom explains that the arbitration filing period begins Monday. He gives a nice primer on the arbitration system for those that need to brush up. Ryan Howard is due for another big raise.
Buster Olney does not like the Cubs’ recent moves, particularly the Mark DeRosa trade.
Jeff Wilson says the Rangers remain in contact with free agent reliever Eddie Guardado.

Paul Byrd Considering Retirement?

By | January 2, 2009 at 9:04pm CDT

Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports had an e-mail exchange Friday with free agent Paul Byrd.

Byrd wrote that he is "still thinking possible retirement or maybe a mid-season joining of a team with a need." Brown seems to think that Byrd might be joking about retirement, but points out that he declined an arbitration offer from the Red Sox three weeks ago, so he may be serious. The 38-year-old right-hander was 11-12 last season with a 4.60 ERA, playing for both Boston and Cleveland.

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