Royals Rumors

Rockies Offer Torrealba Two-Year Deal

By Tim Dierkes | December 8, 2009 at 5:58pm CDT

5:58: Renck reports that the Rockies made a two-year offer worth $4.5-6MM. The two sides continue to talk and they could reach a deal tonight. Miguel Olivo is currently a fallback option for the Rockies.

5:08pm: The Rockies made progress with Torrealba this afternoon, according to Renck. The catcher is looking for a two year deal worth about $6MM, like the one Ivan Rodriguez signed.

3:36pm: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post has multiple teams competing for free agent catcher Yorvit Torrealba, with the Rockies a "slight favorite." Torrealba hopes to re-sign with Colorado, but the Mets, Giants, Blue Jays, and Royals are other suitors. Torrealba met with the Mets today, and his grievance from 2007 is apparently no longer an issue.

With Brian Schneider and Ivan Rodriguez surprisingly getting two-year deals, Torrealba has a case for the same.

Twitter Rumors: Mulder, Pie, Torrealba, Sheets

By Tim Dierkes | December 8, 2009 at 4:20pm CDT

Random rumors collected from Twitter…

The Brewers will meet with Mark Mulder's people today, says SI's Jon Heyman. Ken Rosenthal tweets that a meeting with the Royals already occurred today.
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star says the Royals like Felix Pie, but are "finding it tough to meet Baltimore's needs."
The Brewers are working to re-sign pitcher Claudio Vargas, MLB.com's Adam McCalvy learned. They view him as a reliever. UPDATE: McCalvy says the Brewers think they're close.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that Ben Sheets' agent Casey Close will meet with both New York teams, among others. A throwing audition appears unlikely. MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan says the Rangers would like a medical update on Sheets, who they almost signed before the season.
Newsday's David Lennon says the Mets met with Yorvit Torrealba's agent this morning. He could be an alternative to Bengie Molina, if the Mets and Torrealba can settle their grievance. Torrealba had a signed term sheet with the Mets two years ago for a three-year, $14.4MM deal, but the Mets pulled out over concerns with the player's shoulder. Lennon's colleague Ken Davidoff says the Giants are still involved on Torrealba.
The Brewers have a meeting with minor league free agent/knuckleballer Charlie Zink this afternoon, says Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe.
MLB.com's Brian McTaggart says LaTroy Hawkins will meet with the Astros today in hopes of getting a deal done soon.
ESPN's Jerry Crasnick finds the Brewers likely to tender a contract to righty Dave Bush on Saturday. Despite a rough year Bush could get a small raise on this year's $4MM salary.
WEEI's Alex Speier says five to six teams have checked in on free agent outfielder Brian Giles, the Red Sox not among them.
Joe Crede doesn't expect to sign until late in the offseason, reports Kelsie Smith of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press.

Milton Bradley Rumors: Monday

By Tim Dierkes | December 7, 2009 at 8:20pm CDT

8:20pm: ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports that the Rays haven't backed off on a possible Milton Bradley deal, even though talks with the Mets involving Pat Burrell are now dead. Money is currently the biggest obstacle between the two clubs and a deal. Two or three new teams have apparently expressed interest in Bradley since the meetings began this morning.

7:51pm: Royals GM Dayton Moore tells MLB.com's Dick Kaegel that the Bradley-Meche rumors are "unbelievable." However, no player on the Royals is untradeable, though Zack Greinke and Billy Butler are among the Royals who are almost certainly staying put.

1:06pm: The Cubs shot down Levine's report of meeting with the Royals about Bradley, tweets Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.

12:44pm: Danny Knobler of CBS Sports says two new teams approached the Cubs about Bradley, aside from the Rays and Rangers. Perhaps the Royals, mentioned below, are one.

11:46am: ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine says the Cubs and Royals met last night to discuss Bradley-Gil Meche scenarios. The money matches up pretty well here, as both players are signed through 2011. And don't forget the Cubs tried to sign Meche as part of the 2006-07 offseason spending spree. On the flip side, the Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton tweets that the Royals would have to be "overwhelmed" to trade Meche. Bradley could technically be described as overwhelming, but not in the way the Royals meant.

11:00am: The Cubs are dead-set on trading Milton Bradley, and Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune has the latest.

Sullivan says the Cubs are letting Bradley's agents, the Levinson brothers, talk to other teams in an attempt to repair Bradley's reputation. Sullivan adds that the Cubs are focused on the Rays moreso than the Rangers.

As you might expect, it's all about money: the Rays would want the Cubs covering most of the $15MM difference (Cot's has the difference at $12.2MM) between Bradley and Pat Burrell's contracts. Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times sees Bradley's commitment as $24MM due to incentives, but most of those are awards bonuses. We've heard Rosenthal calling the Rays frontrunners for Bradley, but Joel Sherman said a few hours ago that the Rays were "growing less hopeful of swapping Burrell to the Cubs."

The Rangers want the Cubs assuming most of the remaining money owed to Bradley. What's more, Sullivan found one potential Rangers bidder who would want no part of Bradley if he gets the team.

Royals Eyeing Jason Kendall, Rod Barajas

By Tim Dierkes | December 7, 2009 at 7:04pm CDT

The Royals are considering catchers Jason Kendall and Rod Barajas in addition to Ivan Rodriguez, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. These three, as well as Bengie Molina, Yorvit Torrealba, and Miguel Olivo, are part of a catching musical chairs game that involves the Royals, Giants, Mariners, Rangers, Mets, Nationals, and Rockies to varying degrees and combinations. It's a low-OBP group as usual; what's your preference?

Mets Looking At Gil Meche

By Steve Adams | December 7, 2009 at 6:39am CDT

6:39am: Matthew Cerrone at MetsBlog relays some info from Jon Heyman's appearance on WNBC in New York. Heyman agrees with Sherman that the Mets could look to spread their available funds around before turning to a big-name free agent.

6:27am: While the Mets plan to look at Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, and have high hopes that John Lackey's price will come down enough to entice him to accept a four-year offer, they also realize that's an unlikely scenario and are exploring other avenues. They're currently intrigued by Royals righty Gil Meche, according to Joel Sherman.

Meche has two years and $24MM left on his contract, which includes a limited no-trade clause. As we heard earlier tonight, the Royals are working to trim payroll in order to address some needs within their lineup. While Meche (when healthy) is an important part of their rotation, the $24MM owed to him could be better spent improving multiple areas of the team, especially in this economy.

Sherman says the Mets may explore moving Luis Castillo as part of a Meche deal, possibly taking back another bad contract such as Kyle Farnsworth or Juan Cruz if necessary. If it were to happen, Castillo's .387 OBP alone would be of benefit to a Royals team that was starved for OBP last season, posting a team mark of .318, tied for third-worst in baseball.

The Mets are concerned, however, about adding another injury risk to a rotation that already features such question marks as John Maine, Mike Pelfrey, and Oliver Perez. However, most free agent options lack elite talent and/or strong durability.

Meche seems like a solid target for the Mets, provided he's healthy. What sort of offers do you see being proposed by Omar Minaya?

Royals Slightly Reducing Payroll

By Steve Adams | December 7, 2009 at 1:03am CDT

Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star writes that the Royals would like to leave themselves some wiggle room for in-season financial flexibility. As such, they're likely to enter the 2010 season with a payroll in the $66MM-$67MM range, as opposed to last season's $70.5MM payroll. Dutton quotes general manager Dayton Moore:

“I think we can be better positioned to improve our team for 2010 and into the future if we have more flexibility… That may be as simple as being more aggressive in the draft or being more aggressive internationally to build our farm system. And, certainly, it allows us the flexibility to make a deal to take on some money when necessary. I just think it makes more sense right now.”

The Royals currently have $50.4MM allocated to Jose Guillen, Gil Meche, Zack Greinke, David DeJesus, Kyle Farnsworth, Juan Cruz, Joakim Soria, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Willie Bloomquist. They have eight more players eligible for arbitration, although Mike Jacobs, John Buck, and John Bale are all non-tender candidates after disappointing 2009 campaigns. All of this projects to about $63MM before the Royals can even think about making moves.

They'd obviously love to be free of Guillen's $12MM owed in 2010, but much like Farnsworth ($4.5MM) and Cruz ($3.25MM), he'll be tough to move after a poor 2009. Meche could be moved as well – he's owed $24MM over the next two seasons – but his salary and injuries in 2009 will likely mean a poor return in any trade. They'll listen on DeJesus, but the Royals would miss his strong defense and solid bat and would like a replacement in any deal..

Alberto Callaspo may be the club's sole appealing trade chip. Kansas City hopes that Callaspo's strong offensive skills and the fact that he's not even eligible for arbitration will outweigh his defensive woes and yield a catcher or center fielder.

The Royals remain interested in Erik Bedard, Ivan Rodriguez, and Scott Podsednik, but it's tough to imagine them having the cash for those three without making some moves first. Any future GMs out there have some insight as to how Dayton Moore could free up the payroll to make it happen?

Royals To Sign Noel Arguelles

By Zachary Links | December 6, 2009 at 4:38pm CDT

4:38pm: Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star tweets that the Royals are saying there could be up to two or three weeks worth of paperwork before the signing is official. Technically, no deal is in place yet.

SUNDAY, 2:46pm: Keith Law weighs in with his reaction to the signing, calling it a "tremendous get for the Royals." Law profiles Arguelles, and also discusses the mentality that international free agency favors big-market teams like the Yankees and Red Sox. Law finds the mentality to be a myth, to put it lightly.

SATURDAY, 10:41pm: More detail courtesy of Passan, who says that the two sides have agreed to a pact. On top of the $7MM, Arguelles can earn up to $2MM in incentives as well – and give Passan a dead-on prediction. Of course, the deal will not become official until the youngster passes a physical.

Arguelles' fastball reached 94 mph when he threw for the Cuban national team. Also armed with a strong changeup and above average curveball, he must improve his control to truly capitalize on his potential.

10:31pm: The Royals are believed to be near a major-league agreement with lefty Noel Arguelles, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. The deal is reportedly worth $7MM over five years.

This comes as somewhat of a surprise as we recently heard that the most interested clubs were the Athletics, Rays, Mariners, and Yankees. Late last month, Passan predicted that the Cuban defector would fetch between $8.2MM and $10MM, slightly more than what he is set to receive from Kansas City.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Beltre, Wolf, Callaspo, Rule 5 Draft

By Cork Gaines | December 5, 2009 at 7:25pm CDT

On this date two years ago, the Tigers acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis for six players including Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller. Only one of the other four players, Burke Badenhop has yet to see significant playing time at the big league level. With this year's winter meetings set to begin next week more big players could be on the move. Let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

Jorge Says No! wonders if the smart move for Adrian Belte is to accept arbitration from the Mariners now that the Phillies no longer need a third baseman.
Around the Majors explains why the Dodgers made a mistake in not offering arbitration to Randy Wolf.
The Baseball Opinion looks back at how each team did with their '04 free agency compensation draft picks.
Royals Authority makes a case for trading Alberto Callaspo.
River Ave Blues wonders who could play left field for the Yankees if they don't land Johnny Damon, Matt Holliday or Mike Cameron.
UmpBump looks at what the Astros need this off-season.
MLB Notebook believes Justin Duchscherer would be a good fit for the Pirates.
Bucco Fans previews the right-handed pitchers in the upcoming Rule 5 draft with Aneury Rodriguez of the Rays listed as one of the top options overall.
DRaysBay looks at some relief pitchers that are available in the Rule 5 draft.
We Should Be GMs examines the free agent market for relief pitchers and who might be a good fit for the Phillies.
The Pinstriper looks back at what might have happened had the Yankees not re-signed Alex Rodriguez in '07.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.

Four Teams Interested In Pudge?

By Mike Axisa | December 5, 2009 at 3:32pm CDT

3:32pm: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times says not to expect any interest in Rodriguez from the Rays.

11:56am: Yesterday we heard that the Royals were interested in free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez, and today SI.com's Jon Heyman adds the Rangers, Giants, and Rays to the mix.

Texas could be looking to bring Pudge back for depth after Jarrod Saltalamacchia left winter ball with a shoulder injury, while the Giants and Royals are looking to replace the departed Bengie Molina and Miguel Olivo, respectively. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, currently has both Kelly Shoppach and Dioner Navarro under contract, however both are prime non-tender candidates if the Rays don't like price tags.

The 38-year-old catcher hit .249/.280/.384 last year, and is a Type-B free agent. If he signs elsewhere, the Rangers will receive a supplemental first round draft pick, somewhere around 50th overall.

Royals Interested In Pudge

By Mike Axisa | December 4, 2009 at 6:23pm CDT

The Royals have interest in free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez, according to MLB.com's Dick Kaegel.

"He can still catch and throw pretty good," Moore said. "You look at the supply out there for free-agent catchers and there aren't a lot of options."

Pudge is expected to turn down the Rangers' offer of arbitration, however he's only a Type-B free agent, so whatever signs him won't have to forfeit a draft pick. Kansas City has already declined Miguel Olivo's option, and John Buck is a prime non-tender candidate, so they're certainly in the market for a backstop. The 38-year-old Rodriguez hit .249/.280/.384 in 448 plate appearances for the two Texas-based teams in 2009.

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