According to Sean McAdam, the Red Sox want to discuss extended Jason Varitek’s contract before Spring Training. Tek’s 4/40 deal was labeled a rare loyalty/fan-influenced move by the Red Sox, but it has turned out OK. I’m guessing they’d tack on another two years and $12-14MM.
Red Sox Rumors
Lamb Too Pricey For Boston
According to Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe, Mike Lamb is getting too pricey for the Red Sox and he’s likely to sign elsewhere as a regular. Lamb deserves to earn a decent buck; he earned $2.7MM in ’07 and quietly has solid stats compared to other free agents.
It was said yesterday that the Rangers are in the lead for Lamb, as they intend to give him the starting first base job.
Johan Santana Rumors: Tuesday
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:00pm: LENIII says that despite their public proclamations, the Yanks haven’t told the Twins they’re out on Johan. Neal recommends you go to bed anyway.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 10:28: A new team is in the mix for Johan, but barely. The Rangers talked to the Twins today about what it would take, but they’re not expected to pursue it much further.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 10:05pm: Talks are expected to re-open in about an hour, after the execs have dinner.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 8:21pm: Theo Epstein expects negotiations with the Twins to carry "well into the night." He says the Red Sox are being flexible, so it sounds like they’ll hammer something out.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 7:50pm: Not much to report here. Twins and Sox still haggling, per LENIII.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 7:09pm: Hank is sticking to his story, that the Yanks’ deadline for a Santana deal has passed.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 5:02pm: All the Santana-Angels stuff is bogus, according to GM Tony Reagins.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 4:28pm: Per Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus: Santana to Boston is "all but done" with Lester, Masterson, and Kalish in the package.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 4:25pm: Stark says the Angels and Twins continue to talk Santana, with many of the youngsters earmarked for Cabrera being mentioned. Seems the Halos have shifted gears from Cabrera to Johan even though they have no need for starters.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 4:14pm: Hey, it’s been a few minutes without a Johan update. A Red Sox source told Gordon Edes he’s not buying that the Yankees are out on Santana. I heard the exact same thing from my own Winter Meetings source – my guy says the Yanks fully expect to hear back from the Twins about a final offer later tonight.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 3:26pm: The Yankees, who rarely have kept their word lately, have closed the door on Johan talks.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 3:08pm: The Twins want to get this thing done by day’s end. 700 reporters just sighed in relief.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 2:51pm: Per Peter Gammons, this baby is getting closer and is now a 5-for-1 deal. The addition is outfielder Ryan Kalish.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 2:12pm: Phil Miller heard some speculation that the Twins could throw in another player on their side to make this thing work.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 2:04pm: According to Sean McAdam, the Twins will also meet with the Angels this afternoon to discuss Santana. The Twins would want Jered Weaver and Brandon Wood for starters. McAdam says the Red Sox and Twins haven’t spoken since this morning. Meanwhile Joe Christensen says there’s lobby buzz about the Red Sox/Twins deal becoming a 5-for-1.
Peter Abraham chimes in, saying the Yankees have made their final offer and the Twins would have to approach them now. That’s one way to frame it; Joel Sherman says it’s more that the Yankees just won’t get a chance to top Boston’s best offer. The Yankees left off pushing Hughes/Cabrera/Marquez/Alberto Gonzalez.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 1:15pm: ESPN Peter Gammons says the Twins are trying to decide between a 3-for-1 (Ellsbury/Lowrie/Masterson) or a 4-for-1 (Lester/Crisp/Lowrie/Masterson). No contract negotiations with the Red Sox and Santana’s agent have taken place yet.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 1:08pm: The Boston Globe has an update, basically saying negotiations are to resume this afternoon between the Red Sox and Twins. It’s still not known whether the Twins will take an Ellsbury package or the Lester one. Meanwhile WFAN’s Sweeny Murti expects the Red Sox to send Lester, Crisp, and two others for Johan.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:02pm: Jon Heyman says the Red Sox will enhance their offer one more time to get this thing done. It still won’t include both Lester and Ellsbury.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 10:13am: Not sure when this morning he wrote it, but George King still thinks the Yankees are the favorite for Johan. Peter Abraham quotes Hank as saying the Yanks are done talking to the Twins about Santana, for now.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 9:59am: Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald has an update. The Red Sox looked at Lester’s medical records and saw no issues. There are two different possible scenarios/packages of players still in play. None include Ellsbury and Lester/Buchholz. Masterson and/or Lowrie are expected to be in there one way or another.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 8:34am: LENIII is hearing the four players are Lester, Crisp, Lowrie, and Masterson – same as Gordon Edes said.
FROM 12-4-07 at 7:31am:
It was a long Monday with all the twists and turns you’d expect in the Johan Santana talks. Here’s the latest, which will surely be updated throughout the day.
The Red Sox and Twins called it a night around 2am CST, but Gordon Edes thinks the Red Sox are close and a deal could be announced this morning. The Twins looked at Jon Lester’s medical records; the Red Sox reviewed Santana’s. The supposed deal right now is Coco Crisp, Justin Masterson, Jed Lowrie, and Lester. Not bad but it would represent a concession by the Twins. If an agreement is reached, the Red Sox still need to pull off a contract extension.
Ed Price has a different take on Boston’s offer – his source says it’s Lester, Crisp, Ellsbury, and Lowrie. It would be odd to see two center fielders included, but there you go.
Meanwhile Mark Feinsand says the Yankees are moving on to Dan Haren. Brian Cashman will probably find equal if not bigger demands coming from Billy Beane.
Odds and Ends: Peavy, Ellsbury, Montero, Fukumori
More random rumors to devour…
- The Braves are looking at adding Damian Miller as their backup catcher. The Nats are known to have interest and more playing time for Miller. The Padres are considering him as well; Miller will definitely play in ’08.
- Jake Peavy will get a three-year, $52MM extension with a $22MM option for 2013. Who knows how the Padres will feel about that option when they get there. Peavy will earn $15MM in 2010, $16MM in ’11, and $17MM in ’12. The ’13 option has a $4MM buyout attached.
- Jacoby Ellsbury signed on with the Scott Boras Corporation. I made an error earlier saying Jon Lester had as well.
- Pirates inked utility man Chris Gomez for a million bucks.
- The Nationals have their eye on Arizona’s Miguel Montero. They’re also one of the ten teams in on Kazuo Fukumori. Barry Svrluga tosses a new Japanese reliever into the mix: Katsuhiko Maekawa. Don’t know a thing about him yet.
- Larry LaRue tries to explain why the Mariners didn’t offer arbitration to Jose Guillen.
Rockies Rumors: Fuentes, Fogg
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:28am: More from Renck. He confirms the Red Sox’ interest in Fuentes and adds the Astros to the mix. While the Rox like Burke, the teams don’t really match up because that’s not enough.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:01am: The Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck has more.
- Brian Anderson – remember him? – is on the radar as a lefty swingman. The 35 year-old hasn’t pitched in the bigs since ’05.
- Renck ponders whether the Rox might revisit talks for Matt Morris, a sentiment echoed by Jenifer Langosch.
- Nothing seems to be imminent on the Fuentes-Lowrie rumor.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 9:21pm: A suitor for Fuentes has emerged. ESPN’s Amy Nelson says the Red Sox are interested and the Rockies could seek Jed Lowrie. Lowrie would be a nice fit at second base.
FROM 12-3-07 at 8:28pm:
MLB.com’s Thomas Harding checks in with some Rockies nuggets.
- The Rockies have no pressing need to trade Brian Fuentes, so they’ll sit pretty with two closers unless an impressive and helpful offer comes along. Dan O’Dowd believes four or five clubs might have the goods and need to get Fuentes. We’ll see.
- The Rox let Josh Fogg’s agent know they’d like to explore bringing him back. No figures were exchanged.
- The team still hopes to bring LaTroy Hawkins back, but they’d have to go to two years to pull that off. They already chose not to exercise an effective $3.5MM option on him. It seems the Rockies may have underestimated the interest in Hawkins.
ESPN’s Latest: Lamb, Bedard, Tejada, Loretta
ESPN’s Amy Nelson and Buster Olney recently checked in with a few new rumors.
- The Red Sox checked in on Mike Lamb – they’re looking for a corner infield backup. Lamb had good numbers in ’07 so he may prefer to look for a starting job. Meanwhile, Evan Grant says the Rangers are in the lead for Lamb. They’d give him that starting gig.
- The Orioles apparently have four teams already offering impressive packages for Erik Bedard.
- The Dodgers and O’s talked Miguel Tejada last night but they couldn’t find a match.
- The Mariners like Mark Loretta as a backup and challenger to Jose Lopez; they may offer around $2MM.
Phillies Rumors: Rowand, Benson, Colon, Reyes, Tavarez
A few articles on the Phillies have surfaced this morning; let’s see what’s cooking on the hot stove.
- The Phils would pay extra to get Aaron Rowand to take a three-year deal. Jim Salisbury quotes Rowand’s agent as saying ten clubs are after him. Salisbury names the usual suspects but throws in the Twins, Royals, Rangers, and Orioles depending on the term.
- Todd Zolecki confirms the Phillies’ interest in Kris Benson. He’ll be throwing for teams a few weeks from now.
- The Phils like Benson best among the rehab project group, now that Randy Wolf is signed. They’ve also contacted Bartolo Colon’s agent and may be in on Jason Jennings. Zolecki also names Anthony Reyes and Julian Tavarez as two possible trade targets.
- Despite what was said yesterday, Zolecki says Livan Hernandez is not high on Pat Gillick’s list. They remain in the mix for Hiroki Kuroda.
Crasnick’s Latest: Ellsbury, Owings, Eckstein
A few new rumors courtesy of ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick…
- The Scott Boras Corporation recently signed two new clients – Jacoby Ellsbury and Micah Owings. Seems insignificant now, but wait 4-5 years.
- David Eckstein is open to playing second base or shortstop. Crasnick notes that he turned down a four-year offer from the Mets, which might’ve been a mistake.
Red Sox Making Progress On Johan Santana
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 2:04am: Tim Brown checks in. He confirms the Twins are checking Lester’s medical records. He says the current deal on the table is Lester, Crisp, Masterson, and a minor leaguer. A Red Sox official was said to be "cautiously optimistic." If the current scenario is accurate, perhaps the Twins have finally bent on their demand for both Lester and Ellsbury.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 1:57am: Rosenthal notes that the Sox have roared back into the Santana derby, but says that as midnight passed the Yankees were still talking to the Twins. Hmmm, maybe midnight eastern time because I think Cashman went to bed already.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 1:25am: Looks like things with the Red Sox are moving along – the Red Sox have given the Twins Lester’s medical records to review.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 1:15am: Unconfirmed report from the Boston Globe says the Red Sox were looking at Santana’s medical records, which could imply an agreement. Or maybe they just wanted to check out his medical records.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 1:06am: Hank Steinbrenner expressed doubt that his team would get a Santana team done when talking to Kat O’Brien. However, she spoke to him at 11:45pm CST on Monday, and we had two updates since then. Anyway, discussions are not yet closed off.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:49am: Bleeding over into Tuesday…Stark has an update that pretty much echoes Heyman.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:38am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman has the goods. The Twins wanted a package of Hughes, Cabrera, Horne, and Jackson from the Yankees and they balked. They’ve asked the Red Sox to create a new proposal with Lester in it. Sounds like the Red Sox have the lead at the moment. Heyman thinks the Twins will make a decision soon.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 11:09pm: Yahoo’s Tim Brown talked to a Boston official who believes the Yankees are "very close" to completing a Santana trade. However a source of mine just indicated that the meeting ended in a standoff because the Twins continue to demand Ian Kennedy in the deal.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 10:16pm: Matthew Cerrone says the Twins have moved on from the Yankees and Red Sox, and are calling other teams to discuss Santana. Tyler Kepner says the Yanks have interpreted the Twins’ nonresponse to their offer as a rejection. And Jayson Stark thinks this thing is on life support.
Peter Abraham, though, says the Yanks and Twins are meeting tonight (as we speak actually). And the Red Sox aren’t putting out any deadline anyway.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 3:55pm: According to Kelly Thesier, the Twins are in no rush to trade Santana and aren’t worried about the Yankees’ deadline.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 1:57pm: Rosenthal says the Twins are considering filing tampering charges. The Boston Globe has an update but nothing much new.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 12:14pm: Not that they were ever really in it, but MLB.com’s Jim Street says the Mariners are no longer in the running for Santana.
FROM 12-3-07 at 11:05am:
The previous Johan Santana thread is up to 287 comments, so let’s kick off a fresh one for the Winter Meetings.
La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that the Twins are not amused with Hank Steinbrenner’s public comments regarding their negotiations. It’s not known if the Twins will pursue tampering charges. Joe Christensen calls Hank’s comments "blatant tampering," but admits that he loves it as a reporter.
Interestingly, Neal debunks the notion that Santana has demanded he be traded to only the Yankees or Red Sox. Neal says Santana has placed no limitations on where he ends up, as of yet.
Odds and Ends: Tavarez, Lieber, Stewart
Another collection…
- A few notes from Brian Cashman…the Yanks have talked to Luis Vizcaino’s agent about bringing him back. Also, they’ve yet to inquire on any free agent center fielders.
- Miguel Cabrera has been talking to Ozzie Guillen daily since the season ended. The article makes Cabrera sound like a big kid.
- The Red Sox have had a couple of inquiries on Julian Tavarez.
- Five or six teams have inquired on Shannon Stewart, who wants a two-year pact apparently.
- The Phillies, contrary to previous reports, are not interested in re-signing Jon Lieber.
- On a scale of 1 to 10, the chances of the Astros trading for a Miguel Tejada were rated a 2. The ’Stros don’t want to give up the farm. That’s also why Joe Nathan is unlikely for Houston.
- Scott Boras recently called Ed Wade to sell him on Eric Gagne, Jeff Weaver, and Rodrigo Lopez. Wade seemed unimpressed.
- Nothing much new on the Padres front – still interested in Kosuke Fukudome, Geoff Jenkins, Jim Edmonds, Darin Erstad, and Mark Prior.
- Brian Cashman’s phone has been ringing off the hook about Melky Cabrera.
