Torii Hunter Signs With Angels
Who saw this one coming? Now only did he sign on Thanksgiving Day, but Torii Hunter signed with the Angels. The news broke a little after midnight. It’s a five-year contract for $90MM. That’s a surprising $18MM annually for those poor in math. No one even knew the two sides were talking! Hunter just isn’t an $18MM player to me. I can see why he jumped on this.
The Halos now have six players for three outfield spots and one DH spot. Hunter will always be in center, and Vlad will always be at DH or in right. So then only two of Garret Anderson, Juan Rivera, Reggie Willits, and Gary Matthews Jr. will be in the lineup (unless someone goes to first base and knocks Casey Kotchman to the bench).
GM Tony Reagins says this doesn’t affect his other dealings, so perhaps he’s created these outfield and pitching surpluses to acquire Miguel Cabrera or Miguel Tejada. Willits would be appealing to the Marlins, I imagine.
Odds and Ends: Fukudome, Eckstein, Lowell
Ah yes, the odds and ends post, where I cobble together the day’s random links.
- The Rangers have mild interest Scott Podsednik. Pods had two separate stints in the Rangers organization but never reached the bigs with them.
- The Big Lead has an interesting interview with Yahoo baseball guy Jeff Passan, wherein a run-in with Jose Lima is recounted. Passan also takes on Fire Joe Morgan a bit.
- Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog is hearing that Kosuke Fukudome is looking for three years and $30MM. Sounds fair.
- The Angels are considering signing David Eckstein and/or Darin Erstad, for some reason.
- Bob Dutton reports that the Royals can be patient with their offer to Torii Hunter, while the White Sox want a quick resolution. Bonus: a rather large, but not too pixellated picture of Hunter at the Dutton link. Hunter, by the way, could save $750K per year if he signs with the Rangers because Texas has no state income tax. Hunter is also considering the Las Vegas 51s for that same reason, I heard.
- Per Buster Olney, the Dodgers put in a three-year offer to Mike Lowell. He takes this as a sign they weren’t serious, but Ned Colletti has shown a tendency to offer fewer years and more per year. He did this with Rafael Furcal and Jason Schmidt. So maybe the Dodgers put out a 3/45 offer or something.
- The Phils picked up oft-injured outfielder Chris Snelling from the Rays for cash. He’s yet to accumulate 100 big league at-bats in a season, but maybe that’ll change in 2008.
- Ed Wade + relievers = trouble. Doug Brocail is on the radar.
- McCovey Chronicles lists some realistic position player targets for the Giants, including Jeff Clement, Andy Marte, and Adam Lind.
Miguel Cabrera Rumors
I think it’s about time to dissect the Miguel Cabrera situation, don’t you? The Angels, Dodgers, Giants, White Sox, and maybe the Rangers are battling to acquire him.
Five days ago, the Angels were the frontrunners. It was even suggested a trade could be completed by Thanksgiving. But according to Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers now have the lead. It may require Matt Kemp, Andy LaRoche, and Clayton Kershaw. Now that’s quality.
Rosenthal has a source saying the Halos may counter with Ervin Santana, Howie Kendrick, Chris Bootcheck, and Nick Adenhart. It’s thought that the Angels’ acquisition of Jon Garland frees them up to trade a starter or two. Many other Angels interest the Marlins – Joe Saunders, Brandon Wood, Mike Napoli, Jeff Mathis, or Reggie Willits could enter the picture. Miguel Tejada is said to be the Angels’ fallback option.
The proposed White Sox package of Josh Fields, Ryan Sweeney, and Gio Gonzalez just doesn’t seem comparable to the above.
Should the Dodgers give up Kemp to snag Cabrera, they’ll then sign a free agent center fielder. Aaron Rowand is the flavor of the week.
White Sox Trade Jon Garland For Orlando Cabrera
UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal reports that the White Sox received $1.5MM in the deal. It certainly seems that the Sox are clearing payroll for Torii Hunter. Mark Gonzales notes that while the Sox hope to sign Cabrera long-term, they’ll still benefit from this trade if they don’t. Cabrera is likely to be a Type A a year from now while Garland will probably be a B.
According to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, the White Sox acquired shortstop Orlando Cabrera for starter Jon Garland today.
In a vacuum, this seems like a pretty even swap to me. Just comparing the two players involved, it’s fair. Garland is a solid if not spectacular starter, and Cabrera is the same at shortstop. Both players’ contracts run through 2008. Garland is at $12MM and Cabrera $9MM, so the Sox save a few bucks here. Plus, they will get some cash from the Angels.
But trades aren’t made in a vacuum; you have to look at their effects on the teams involved.
The White Sox will seemingly put Juan Uribe at second base, if they don’t trade him. They could potentially have one of the game’s finest defensive double play combinations. And Cabrera’s .345 OBP last year, while nothing amazing, is good for a shortstop and looks great for an OBP-starved team like the Sox. The question is whether the Sox can sustain the loss of Garland in the rotation. They’ll now go with Buehrle, Vazquez, Contreras, Danks, and maybe Gavin Floyd or Gio Gonzalez. That group could work but you could see Contreras and the kids flopping and Buehrle coming back down to Earth.
Kenny Williams has shown some ability to dig up starting pitching, so maybe he’s playing to his strength. How about the return of Bartolo Colon?
The Angels now have an embarrassment of starting pitching. They’ve got Lackey, Escobar, Weaver, Garland, Saunders, and Ervin Santana. Nick Adenhart should be around soon also. The Angels may now be compelled to flip Santana for a bat. Meanwhile they have plenty of solid options at shortstop with Brandon Wood, Erick Aybar, Chone Figgins, and Maicer Izturis.
Brewers, Padres, Angels, Rockies, Astros After Iguchi
In some ways, Tadahito Iguchi might be a better buy at second base than Luis Castillo. He’s getting half the press, but that doesn’t mean he’s getting half the interest. Iguchi’s agent said today that the Astros, Brewers, Padres, Angels, and Rockies have expressed interest. Keep in mind that the Phillies asked Iguchi about playing third base several weeks ago and he said he’d rather sign elsewhere at a second baseman.
I wonder if Iguchi may have relaxed that stance. The Brewers and Angels have third base vacancies. They have Rickie Weeks and Howie Kendrick at second base, respectively. Weeks could be an interesting option in center, and Kendrick has been rumored as part of a Miguel Cabrera package. So Iguchi could theoretically still play second for either club.
The Padres and Rockies just have good old-fashioned vacancies at second base. Both clubs could still fill the spot internally – the Padres with Matt Antonelli and the Rockies with Ian Stewart.
As for the ‘Stros, well, Ed Wade has contacted half the free agent class.
Did Mike Lowell Really Receive Four Offers?
This has all been covered here on MLBTR, but I guess it’s gotten lost in the shuffle because I’m receiving tons of email about it. Maybe I’ll try to build something into the site to better keep up with the big names besides just reading through everything. In the meantime, you can always use the search bar on the sidebar.
Anyway, let’s talk about this Mike Lowell rumor from WHDH Channel 7 News out of Boston. These guys are getting a ton of traffic to this rumor and I just gave them more. Oh well.
The uncredited rumor says a source close to Lowell indicates that he’s received four-year offers in the $55-60MM range from the Braves, Angels, Cardinals, and Yankees.
GM Frank Wren debunked the Braves portion today. Esteemed St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Bernie Miklasz killed the Cardinals portion last night. The Boston Herald’s Rob Bradford shot down the Angels rumor.
So we have an uncredited rumor that is currently 0 for 3.
A different Boston TV station, WBZ, said today that the Yanks did make an offer in the $56-60MM range to Lowell today (courtesy of Dan Roche). That could be accurate but I would like to see some of the regular Yankees beat writers pick it up also.
Orioles To Attempt To Extend Bedard
It looks like Erik Bedard is Andy MacPhail’s top priority right now. He’s already gauged the trade interest for his ace, and is now exploring the idea of a contract extension.
Jeff Zrebiec says the Mets, Yankees, Angels, and Dodgers expressed interest in the southpaw starter. Interesting to see the Halos in the mix. The Dodgers are pushing the hardest for him. Two years of Bedard is expected to cost a team three MLB-ready players. The names mentioned for the Dodgers are Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp, and Clayton Kershaw. While Kershaw’s not MLB-ready, I doubt the Orioles would mind. Zrebiec says the problem with the Dodgers is that Kemp and Kershaw would be part of a Miguel Cabrera package.
What would a contract extension cost? I’m thinking it would require something like four years, $65MM to cover the two team-controlled years and two years of free agency.
Zrebiec also mentions that the Mets inquired on Ramon Hernandez, but found the price of a high-end prospect prohibitive.
Angels and Dodgers Battling For Miguel Cabrera
UPDATE, 11-15-07: MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says the Angels are in the lead now, and trade talk for Cabrera is picking up with A-Rod on the verge of signing. Frisaro says a deal could be done by Thanksgiving, in contrast to Joe Capozzi’s suggestion that this would happen at the Winter Meetings. The L.A. Times explained several Dodgers/Angels scenarios on Wednesday; that’s also worth a read.
FROM 11-13-07:
Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post says the Dodgers and Angels are leading the pack in the Miguel Cabrera derby. Four other clubs are said to be in the mix. The Marlins will continue to field offers and hope to trade Cabrera at the Winter Meetings in a few weeks.
Both the Dodgers and Angels are also in the mix for Alex Rodriguez. Scott Boras must love Cabrera messing up his market. A friend of Tommy Lasorda’s told me today that Lasorda puts the Dodgers’ chances of signing A-Rod around 25%.
From the Angels, the Marlins want Howie Kendrick, Nick Adenhart, another pitcher, and an outfielder. Now that’s a tall order! Ervin Santana or Joe Saunders could be in the mix. Maybe the Marlins like Terry Evans, Nathan Haynes, or Reggie Willits as well.
The Dodgers are being asked to pony up four of Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Andy LaRoche, James Loney, and Matt Kemp. Capozzi suggests the Dodgers would probably only include one of the pitchers. Even so, a Kershaw/LaRoche/Loney/Kemp package is insane for one player. That has to be well over $100MM of value – a bit less than 20 team-controlled seasons. Three of the five would still make for a sweet bounty. The team acquiring Cabrera would probably be compelled to lock him in past 2009.
An educated guess at the other four teams in the mix for Cabrera: White Sox, Red Sox, Yankees, and Giants. I’ll guess that the Indians have bowed out.
Odds and Ends: Kendrick, Uggla, Haren
Another random collection of rumorage…
- The Braves have "many millions more" to spend on players this winter. One emailer suggested that maybe the Braves will offer arbitration to Andruw Jones and he’ll accept.
- Corey Patterson and the Nationals have mutual interest. Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheehan considers him a possible bargain, noting that he is only 28.
- We figured the Padres and Matt Clement had mutual interest. Now it’s official. Clement wants a one-year deal with incentives.
- Tracy Ringolsby confirms that Yorvit Torrealba wants a three-year deal. He says the Rockies are at two years, $7MM, the Marlins are in the same range, and the Mets are at two years, $9MM. UPDATE: The Denver Post says Torrealba will have a decision Thursday.
- Interesting Miguel Cabrera stuff from the L.A. Times. Howie Kendrick is not considered untouchable, but the Marlins might have to include Dan Uggla. Basically if the Marlins are to get four players back, they’ll have to add Uggla or Dontrelle Willis to the deal.
- Our friends at Gotham Baseball say if the Mets were to acquire Dan Haren, the package would start with Billy Beane favorite John Maine. Mark Healey figures Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman would have to go also.
- Ken Rosenthal thinks a one-year, $8MM offer from Atlanta would be enough to secure Tom Glavine.
- The D’Backs’ main trading chip is outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. It appears that the team explored what they could get for Conor Jackson and decided to keep him.
Mets Targeting Livan Hernandez?
Ben Shpigel of the New York Times has some new Mets info for us today.
- Surprisingly, Shpigel believes the one free agent starter the Mets will seriously consider is Livan Hernandez. That is odd because I had read Livan wasn’t high on Omar Minaya’s list. We’ve seen the Mets connected to free agents Byung-Hyun Kim, Carlos Silva, Hiroki Kuroda, Kyle Lohse, and Jason Jennings so far this offseason.
- As far as some unsung trade opportunities, my Mets guy says Ervin Santana, Chris Capuano, Claudio Vargas, and Noah Lowry are being considered.
- According to Shpigel, the Mets hope to re-sign Ramon Castro as their backup catcher. I don’t see that happening, as he’ll probably be able to snag a starting job elsewhere. Options the Mets are considering to start at catcher include Yorvit Torrealba, Ramon Hernandez, Ronny Paulino, Gerald Laird, and Paul Lo Duca. A source tells me the D’Backs’ Miguel Montero may also be on the radar.
- Shpigel says Luis Castillo might command a four-year deal. Say what? The Mets may yet re-sign Castillo but want to see what the trade market offers first. Shpigel names Orlando Hudson, while I’ve also heard Alberto Callaspo.