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Latest On A.J. Burnett

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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.

Crisp-Ramirez Trade Reactions

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The Red Sox traded center fielder Coco Crisp to the Royals for reliever Ramon Ramirez today; tip of the cap to Brian McRae for the scoop.  Let’s round up the reactions and consequences.

Odds and Ends: Teixeira, Giles, Beimel

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Links for Wednesday…

Coco Crisp Traded To Royals

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11:09am: The deal is official, according to a Royals press release.

10:23am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman confirms the deal.

10:02am: Red Sox exec Ben Cherington was on XM’s MLB Home Plate radio station recently.  He says "the report is premature."

9:43am: MLB.com’s Jim Molony received a "no comment" from the Red Sox on McRae’s report.  Royals exec Mike Arbuckle said Crisp is still under Red Sox control, while Kansas City Star writer Joe Posnanski says there’s something to the rumor.

8:48am: According to Brian McRae reporting for Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City, the Royals acquired Coco Crisp from the Red Sox for reliever Ramon Ramirez.  I emailed McRae to confirm, and he said, "It’s a done deal."  The Royals get speed and a capable center fielder, while the Red Sox receive a quality late-game reliever.

Crisp, 29, hit .283/.344/.407 in 409 plate appearances this year.  His center field defense saved 26 bases over the average last year, but was two below this year (he did battle groin, hamstring, knee, and foot issues).  Crisp will earn $5.75MM in ’09 and has an $8MM club option with a $500K buyout for ’10.

The Red Sox trim payroll here, as Ramirez is not yet arbitration-eligible.  He will not reach free agency until after the 2012 season, so the Red Sox impressively acquired four years of his services.  The 27 year-old posted a 2.64 ERA in 71.2 innings this year while whiffing 70.  The Royals might have to add a reliever to compensate for his absence, though they’re now at their payroll limit.  They’re also a bit heavy on outfielders at this point.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Burnett, Lowe, Peavy

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Here’s a look at the latest from Ken Rosenthal.

  • Rosenthal says reports of the Blue Jays’ four-year, $54MM offer to A.J. Burnett are inaccurate – they’ve yet to make a proposal.  He’s on board with Kat O’Brien’s info from yesterday, noting Boston’s interest.
  • Scott Boras is apparently telling teams he wants "a Zito-type contract" for righty Derek Lowe.  Lowe is 35, while Zito was 28.  Is Boras implying that he wants $18MM a year?  Obviously Lowe will not find a seven-year offer.  ESPN’s Buster Olney says Boras wants five years for Lowe.
  • The Padres told the Yankees a Jake Peavy deal is possible even without Phil Hughes.  They’ve scouted Hughes anyway, but he’s off-limits.
  • The Rockies will sit back and listen on Garrett Atkins and Huston Street.  They don’t plan on signing a free agent to replace Matt Holliday.
  • The Mets want to add a righthanded bat, though they’re not high on Pat Burrell.

Yankees Rumors: Abreu, Burnett, Teixeira

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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).

Cafardo’s Latest: Lugo For Dontrelle?

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MONDAY: Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is casting a wide net for his shortstop vacancy, but no deals are close.

SUNDAY: Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports on a trade that seems too obvious to actually happen: the Tigers are "contemplating a deal with Boston to send either Nate Robertson or Dontrelle Willis for Julio Lugo, but some money issues must be resolved.

In the same article, he mentions Lugo had the lowest average with runners in scoring position in the majors, .139, and wishes him a happy 33rd birthday.

Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press had speculated on this in September.

Gammons’ Latest: Penny, Jenks, Salty

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Let’s take a look at Peter Gammons’ Saturday blog post.

  • Gammons indicates that Brad Penny is working hard this offseason, and teams such as the Cardinals, Red Sox, Rangers, and Blue Jays "appreciate" his past success.
  • The Mets are apparently worried about Bobby Jenks’ declining strikeout rate, a sentiment echoed by Joel Sherman.  Sherman talked to a Mets official who said the chances of acquiring Jenks are "close to zero."
  • The Rangers apparently wanted Clay Buchholz or two of Justin Masterson/Nick Hagadone/Michael Bowden for Jarrod Saltalamacchia.  The Red Sox aren’t biting.
  • The Rangers would probably have to trade Hank Blalock ($6.2MM) to make room for Kerry Wood.

Odds and Ends: Ankiel, Hoffman, Mussina

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Linkage for Thursday…

Nothing Imminent On Peavy Deal

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5:46pm: Manager Lou Piniella thinks the Peavy-Cubs rumors are "only talk."  At least, he hasn’t talked to Cubs GM Jim Hendry much about it.  Piniella remains fixated on a lefthanded hitter.

4:31pm: Yahoo’s Tim Brown has an update on the Jake Peavy trade talks, though it’s not very exciting.  A Padres exec says the team has options, but nothing is close.  The Padres have not yet asked Peavy to approve a trade. 

Interesting note from Brown – the Yankees pushed hard, while the Red Sox and Mets "inserted themselves" into the mix.

Brown notes that Peavy would probably want the fifth year of his contract guaranteed upon a trade.  At that point it’d be a five-year, $81MM deal.  How much worse off would a team be signing a solid free agent starter at a lower price, while preserving the farm system?

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