Tigers Rumors: Renteria, Wilson, Zaun, Treanor
Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press has the latest on the Tigers.
- GM Dave Dombrowski wasn’t sure Edgar Renteria would turn down an offer of arbitration, and he didn’t feel two draft picks were worth the risk.
- Discussions with the Pirates regarding Jack Wilson are ongoing, but concrete proposals have yet to be exchanged.
- The Tigers have interest in free agent catcher Gregg Zaun. Zaun, 38 in April, hit .237/.340/.359 in 288 plate appearances this year while earning $3.75MM.
- Morosi adds that the Tigers also like Marlins catcher Matt Treanor, but no deal is imminent. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro wrote yesterday that the Marlins are shopping Treanor. He speculated that the Fish could be setting themselves up to sign Ivan Rodriguez.
Tigers Decline To Offer Arb To Renteria
3:31pm: Andrew Baggarly thinks Renteria and the Giants are "gravitating toward each other" now that he won’t cost a draft pick. Baggarly believes the Giants might be ready to back off from Furcal over health concerns.
2:42pm: According to Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers declined to offer arbitration to Edgar Renteria today. The risk of the Type A free agent accepting must’ve been too strong. Since he will not cost any draft picks, Renteria now becomes more appealing to potential suitors. Rafael Furcal is neither Type A nor B, so he carries the same appeal.
Only 17.3% of MLBTR readers expected the Tigers to offer arb to Renteria.
Rockies Rumors: Fuentes, Embree, Taveras
Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post has a few Rockies tidbits today…
- It deserves another mention – Brian Fuentes has scheduled a visit with the Mets. If he signs there, the Rockies will add the Mets’ #25 pick to their own #11 pick in the first round while also snagging a sandwich pick.
- The Rockies want two lefties, probably from the pool of Glendon Rusch, Alan Embree, Brian Shouse, and Joe Beimel. Renck says the Tigers are aggressively pursuing Beimel, while Embree might have extra appeal if he can be had on a one-year deal.
- The Rockies hope to trade Willy Taveras, while free agent Cory Sullivan could fit with the Marlins or D’Backs according to Renck. The Rockies plan to use Ryan Spilborghs in center and perhaps re-sign Scott Podsednik as a reserve.
Perrotto’s Latest: Teixeira, Burnett, Wilson
John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus has his Sunday article up. Let’s go through it:
- The Angels may be willing to match the Yankees $140MM offer to CC Sabathia. They won’t offer 10 years to Mark Teixeira. If they can’t land Teixeira, they will consider Pat Burrell for first base.
- A.J. Burnett is looking at the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees, Braves, Orioles, and Phillies.
- The Twins want a left-side infielder for Delmon Young, so they can open a spot for Denard Span in the starting lineup.
- The Tigers are pursuing Jack Wilson from the Pirates and Matt Treanor from the Marlins. They are also putting high priority on signing Joe Beimel who’s getting interest from a number of teams.
- The Dodgers will not re-sign Rafael Furcal for health reasons so the Giants, Athletics, and Reds are his most likely destinations.
- The Cubs will need to offer more than Jason Marquis to the Royals for David DeJesus. If they can’t get it done, they’d sign Raul Ibanez over Bobby Abreu.
- The Braves are interested in Javier Vazquez and Jermaine Dye…
- The Reds need to offer more than Homer Bailey to get Dye.
- The Mets are considering Jon Garland, Vazquez, Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine. The Rays want more than Aaron Heilman for either of their starters.
- The Mets could soon become suitors for Manny Ramirez.
- The Brewers could soon become suitors for Francisco Rodriguez.
- The Astros are targeting Paul Bako and David Ross as backup catchers.
- The Rockies are trying to find lefthanders, eyeing Alan Embree, Will Ohman, Brian Shouse, and Glendon Rusch.
Pirates Rumors: Wilson, Paulino, Byrd
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is back on the scene to get us up to speed with the latest Pirates rumors. Let’s start with the team’s five veteran trade candidates:
- Jack Wilson: The Tigers and Dodgers are said to be the main suitors. The problem is that neither team wants to send the Pirates top prospects while paying all of the $7.85MM Wilson has coming. Additionally, the Pirates do not view Dodgers shortstop prospect Chin-Lung Hu as a possible trade centerpiece. The Bucs have spoken to at least two other clubs about Wilson, but Kovacevic rejects the previously reported three-team scenario. It seems that some of the top free agent shortstops will need to sign to create a better market for Wilson.
- Freddy Sanchez, Adam LaRoche: The Pirates have received "mere inquiries" on these two.
- John Grabow, Ronny Paulino: Grabow is a free agent after ’09, so his trade value may never be higher. The Pirates are apparently pushing Paulino, but don’t want to sell low on him.
- Ryan Doumit, Nate McLouth, Paul Maholm, Matt Capps: These four are described as "as close to untouchable as it gets" for the Pirates.
- On the free agent front, the Pirates have made contact with Paul Byrd. However, GM Neal Huntington implied he’s not finding the starting pitching bargains he expected. The Pirates haven’t made offers to Doug Mientkiewicz or Jason Michaels; those players are considering proposals from other teams.
- Kovacevic adds: "The Pirates also had discussed acquiring a right-handed power bat for the outfield through free agency, but there has been no known movement on that front." Just looking at who’s out there, I imagine this could be referring to Pat Burrell. Still, that’s entirely speculative and he’s probably out of their price range.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Varitek, Burnett, Teixeira
Let’s take a look at what is being written around the Blogosphere…
- River Ave. Blues debates Ben Sheets versus A.J. Burnett and wonders if Sheets will be the better bargain in the end.
- Detroit Tiger Thoughts shows that Jason Varitek is not a good fit with the Tigers, even in a platoon situation.
- Fire Brand of the American League lays down several reasons why the Red Sox should avoid signing Teixeira.
- Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke? sees no downside to the Pirates’ signing of Indian imports Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh.
- The ‘Burgh Blues feels Eric Hinske is an economical fit for the Bucs.
- Amazin’ Avenue does not see Raul Ibanez as an upgrade for the Mets, suggesting he may not be any better than Fernando Tatis.
- The Baseball Opinion breaks down what the acquisition of Tyler Lumsden means for the Royals and Astros.
- Batter’s Box takes a look a recent J.P. Ricciardi quote and the current state of the economy and wonders if the Jays are going to reduce their payroll.
- Royals Review lists the ten best free agent signings in Royals history, topped by David Cone. Amazingly, four of the signings occurred in the last five seasons.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Blue Jays, Dodgers, Dunn
Happy Thanksgiving! Here are some links to snack on before the big meal.
- Blue Jays interim CEO Paul Beeston believes they have a chance to re-sign A.J. Burnett, but may choose to save the money earmarked for him if he signs elsewhere.
- ESPN’s Jayson Stark assesses the Tigers. Catching seems to be their top priority this winter, though they need a shortstop and closer too.
- There is a growing sentiment that the Blue Jays will have less to spend this winter than originally anticipated.
- Bill Plaschke attempts to get clarification from Jamie McCourt on her recent quotes.
- Curt Schilling remembers the events leading up to his trade to the Red Sox.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the market is eerily quiet for Adam Dunn so far.
Red Sox Rumors: Lugo, Varitek
According to Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald, the Tigers’ talks for Julio Lugo have stalled and a deal is unlikely. It seemed simple on the surface: Lugo for Dontrelle Willis or Nate Robertson.
Also, the Red Sox plan to offer arbitration to Type A free agent Jason Varitek. McAdam says Tek "almost certainly won’t accept the offer." In a recent poll, about 40% of MLBTR readers surveyed expected the Red Sox to offer arbitration to Varitek.
Tigers Considering Alex Cora
According to Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers have considered pursuing free agent shortstop Alex Cora. Cora could be used in a platoon with Ramon Santiago.
Cora, 33, hit .270/.371/.349 in 179 plate appearances this year while playing a below-average shortstop. He earned $2MM.
Crasnick’s Free Agent Bargains
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick lists nine possible free agent bargains in his column today. A few notes:
- Randy Johnson is looking for a one-year deal, and his agent says the list of interested clubs is approaching double figures. The Dodgers may make sense, though Johnson is on the backburner for them.
- Crasnick speculates that Philadelphia could be a nice fit for Felipe Lopez.
- Scott Boras seemingly wants a multiyear deal for Joe Crede, as he’s using the Magglio Ordonez contract as a model. Maybe his new team would have the ability to opt out after the season if Crede hits the DL for back problems again. Crasnick mentions the Rangers as an interesting fit for Crede.
- Crasnick talked to execs who see Juan Rivera signing a two-year deal in the $6-8MM range.
- Also weighing in on free agent bargains: Dave Cameron at FanGraphs and ESPN’s Keith Law.