Johan Santana Rumors: Wednesday
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 7:50pm: Tim Brown says the Red Sox had a moment of doubt, but they remain the frontrunner for Santana. The previously mentioned packages apply.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 6:21pm: LENIII checks in on the interest level of the six teams involved.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 5:05pm: Santana’s agent, Peter Greenberg, indicated that the Mets are in the running for Santana.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 2:48pm: BP’s John Perrotto talked to a Twins official, and it definitely looks like the Meetings will end without a Johan deal. Perrotto says he’s still likely to be dealt before Spring Training.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 2:18pm: Ken Rosenthal believes the door is open for more teams to jump in, especially the Mariners.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 12:43pm: Jon Heyman reports that the Mets are trying to work their way back into the mix. They’re still viewed as a longshot without Jose Reyes in the offer, but at least the Twins are listening.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 12:21pm: The Red Sox and Twins are still engaged in talks. The Sox are still considering the Yankees a factor. And no, Ellsbury signing on with Boras doesn’t change the Twins’ opinion of him.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 11:26am: Joel Sherman describes Boston’s two goals in the Santana Sweepstakes. He wonders whether the Sox and Twins could reach an accord on players and then the Red Sox wouldn’t be able to agree with Santana on an extension. Meanwhile Gammons himself reiterates that he senses the Twins will hold onto Santana.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 10:54am: Peter Gammons via Amy Nelson is saying Santana may not be traded.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 9:56am: According to Keith Law via MetsBlog, the Twins have reached out to the Mets, Dodgers, and Angels to revisit Santana talks.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 9:43am: Joel Sherman agrees with Bill Madden’s take below – part of the reason the Yankees pulled out is that even they have a payroll.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 8:30am: The Yankees could’ve had Santana for Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, Jeff Marquez, and Mitch Hilligoss. Brian Cashman, however, never wanted to sacrifice Hughes for Santana and convinced his bosses that the Yankees couldn’t afford him now that Andy Pettitte is in the fold. This near-trade won’t be forgotten by Yankees fans, unless Hughes takes off in ’08.
FROM 12-5-07 at 12:55am:
Time for a fresh Johan thread. Yesterday’s had 297 comments on it.
The Boston Herald’s Rob Bradford says the Red Sox told Ryan Kalish‘s agent that his name has never come up in the Santana talks with Minnesota. Peter Gammons had said the 19 year-old outfielder was added to the deal to make it a 5-for-1 around 3pm yesterday.
Cubs Interested In Figgins
The Cubs’ interest in Chone Figgins persists. Dave Kaplan of WGN Radio 720 out of Chicago recently spoke of their desire to acquire him to play center field.
Jerry Crasnick spoke of the Cubs’ interest yesterday, but said the Angels could ask for Aramis Ramirez in return.
Willits Not On Braves’ Radar
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 6:50pm: O’Brien corrects himself – Willits is not on the Braves’ radar. Nor is Josh Hamilton, in case you were wondering. They’ve got some mild interest in Chris Duffy.
FROM 12-4-07 at 8:26pm:
According to David O’Brien of the AJC, the Braves have talked to the Angels about outfielder Reggie Willits. The Braves could plug Willits into their center field spot for a few years. But what could they offer the Angels?
Angels Not Desperate For A Third Baseman
According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Angels are telling teams they have no urgency to go out and get a third baseman after missing out on Miguel Cabrera. As far as Miguel Tejada goes, the Halos haven’t even met with the Orioles.
That said, Ken Rosenthal did indicate that the Angels are in the mix for Scott Rolen.
Latest Erik Bedard Rumors: Tuesday
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:36pm: Geoff Baker says that a Bedard trade with the Mariners would likely involve Wladimir Balentien, Adam Jones, and Brandon Morrow.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:06pm: The Dodgers met with the Orioles to talk Bedard today. Ned Colletti has pretty much deemed Broxton untouchable, and no deal is close.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 10:19pm: John Fay says the Reds are seriously pursuing Bedard. Wayne Krivsky won’t reveal much, but Fay thinks Bailey, Votto, and another prospect might interest the Orioles.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 10:16pm: The Mets again offered Heilman, Gomez, and Humber for Bedard, perhaps thinking that offering it twice would be helpful. MLB.com’s Marty Noble says the Mets may reconfigure their offer, replacing Humber with Pelfrey or Mulvey.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 4:10pm: Joel Sherman confirms the Cubs’ interest, so that’s officially 11 teams in on Bedard. Sherman says the Yankees and Mets are unlikely to snag the southpaw ace, and names the Dodgers as the frontrunner. Peter Angelos is letting Andy MacPhail run the show but doesn’t want Bedard traded within the division. Sorry Yankees and Blue Jays.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 3:10pm: Nick Cafardo notes that Cubs GM Jim Hendry and Andy MacPhail had lunch today, which leads him to believe they may have discussed Bedard. A bit of a stretch since Hendry and MacPhail used to work together. Then again the Cubs did pursue in a Mark Prior/Miguel Tejada deal a few years back. The Cubs would represent the 11th team in on Bedard.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 3:01pm: Buster Olney says the Jays continue to talk with the Orioles about Bedard, noting that the Jays have the young pitching. Bedard would certainly represent the Canadian draw they’ve been looking for.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 2:16pm: There is growing buzz that the Dodgers may get Bedard. ESPN’s Amy Nelson has a source saying a deal may be close. Matt Kemp and Jonathan Broxton would be the main pieces of a trade. Readers are reporting in that WFAN is saying the same.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 9:32am: The Mets are still hawking Gomez, trying to get Bedard. Joel Sherman adds the Tigers to the list of teams after Bedard, bringing the total to ten. He says the Tigers and Phils are getting creative trying to get Bedard. The Tigers don’t need to get that creative – they can offer Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller.
FROM 12-4-07 at 8:45am:
How many teams are after Erik Bedard? The tally yesterday included the Phillies, Cardinals, Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Angels, Dodgers, and D’Backs – that’s eight. The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly check in with the latest on the Orioles’ ace.
- There’s been a ton of trade interest in Bedard (as you might expect). Andy MacPhail is still talking about signing him to an extension, but no one really buys it. The package he’ll get in trade should rival what the Twins get for Johan.
- The Dodgers, Mariners, and Mets have been pursuing Bedard the most aggressively. More meetings with the Mets should occur today. The Mariners could make an intriguing offer built around Adam Jones and Brandon Morrow.
- A new team is added to bring the tally to nine: the Reds are interested. However, Jay Bruce is off the table.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Rolen, Haren, Prior, Hawkins
Ken Rosenthal has some new rumors for us.
- The Dodgers lead the chase for Scott Rolen, with the Angels also in the mix. The Giants’ Brian Sabean denied interest.
- The D’Backs view the Athletics’ requests for Dan Haren to be quite excessive.
- Talks between the Padres and Cubs for Mark Prior have cooled.
- The Rangers offered LaTroy Hawkins a one-year deal with a club option. As you know, he wants two years.
Angels, White Sox, Rockies, A’s Interested In Burke
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 9:45pm: A White Sox source told MLB.com’s Alyson Footer not to look too much into their supposed interest in Burke.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 9:25pm: The Rockies have made a trade offer for Burke, according to the Denver Post.
FROM 12-4-07 at 8:07pm:
Just talked to a source close to Chris Burke. So far four teams have contacted Burke’s agent: the White Sox, Rockies, A’s, and Angels.
The 2001 first rounder is almost certain to be traded by the Astros; he just wants an opportunity to start somewhere. The Angels’ could have an opening if they trade Howie Kendrick.
Crasnick’s Latest: Hamilton, Figgins, Andruw, Inge
Jerry Crasnick filed more rumors ripe for discussion.
- The Reds may consider trading Josh Hamilton, but not to an NL Central team. There was nothing to the Hamilton-Cubs rumor anyway, according to Bruce Levine. And now officials from both teams have debunked it.
- The Cubs actually want to add two left-handed hitting outfielders, for some reason. Beyond Kosuke Fukudome, Geoff Jenkins remains on the radar. Jim Hendry likes Chone Figgins, but the Angels would ridiculously ask for Aramis Ramirez in that one.
- Scott Boras is still saying Andruw Jones isn’t looking for a one or two-year deal.
- The Rays have checked into Shawn Green, Geoff Jenkins, and Cliff Floyd. No truth to the rumor that Green is considering retirement.
- Brandon Inge hits the market, though he’s got three years and $19.1MM left on his deal. Plenty of clubs are in the market for a third baseman assuming the Tigers will eat some of the contract. Inge probably won’t be moving back behind the plate, by the way.
Reagins Clears Things Up
Angels GM Tony Reagins recently held court with the media to debunk most of the Angels rumors swirling about recently.
- The Angels are not currently in the mix for Johan Santana. Reagins spoke to Bill Smith last night, but not about Johan.
- The Angels haven’t met with the Orioles, so there haven’t been discussions about Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada at the Meetings.
- Reagins wasn’t involved much with Miguel Cabrera before the Tigers snagged him.
- On the less boring front, Reagins said "some interesting and exciting things have surfaced" with surprising new teams. Get your speculating caps on.
Latest Miguel Cabrera Trade Rumors
You can check out the old thread here, based on Rosenthal’s Cabrera/Willis to Detroit rumor. ESPN’s Peter Gammons has an update on the Cabrera situation involving the Angels.
Gammons says the Marlins and Angels are "serious about moving Cabrera to the Angels." The current rumor: Howie Kendrick, Nick Adenhart, Jeff Mathis, and one other prospect.