Bidding For Yu Darvish Ends Wednesday
6:22pm: The Nationals have interest in Darvish, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. GM Mike Rizzo didn't divulge whether the Nats plan to bid, but his refusal to comment suggests to Kilgore that they will.
4:50pm: Now that Darvish has been posted, teams will have until 4:00pm CST on December 14th (four business days) to submit bids, tweets Buster Olney.
12:40pm: The Yankees are unsure about whether they'll bid on Darvish, tweets Buster Olney. He considers their interest lukewarm. I think everyone's playing coy at this stage; we'll see where the bids were when the dust settles. By the way, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said this week he will not be bidding on Darvish, according to Jason Beck.
11:07am: The Dodgers won't be bidding on Darvish, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, but A's assistant GM David Forst wouldn't rule it out in talking to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News hears the Rangers aren't willing to gamble $100MM on Darvish. The Red Sox will discuss Darvish but feel pretty good about the front end of their rotation already, GM Ben Cherington told reporters.
4:56am: Following the announcement last night that the Nippon-Ham Fighters will post ace Yu Darvish, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports write that the Rangers, Blue Jays, and Yankees are all expected to bid on the Japanese righty. ESPN's Buster Olney also tweets that rival executives are expecting both the Rangers and Blue Jays to bid big Darvish, with the Rangers fueled by the expected loss of C.J. Wilson to the Angels or Marlins.
Rosenthal and Morosi write that the Red Sox could be a wild card for a big Darvish bid, as new manager Bobby Valentine, who saw Darvish first-hand many times as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines from 2004-2009, is said to "love" the 25-year old. FOX's duo also note that both Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos and Rangers GM Jon Daniels saw Darvish pitch in Japan last season.
The posting period will last four days, and the winning team will have a 30-day exclusive negotation period with Darvish and his representatives Don Nomura and Arn Tellem. If a contract agreement cannot be reached between Darvish and the winning team, that team will be refunded the total of the posting fee.
Tim Dierkes and Luke Adams contributed to this post.
AL East Notes: Eyre, Jeroloman, Golson, Miller, Rays
The Yankees, Red Sox, and the rest of the AL East have been overshadowed this morning by a big spender out west, but here's what's going on in the division:
- The Orioles designated reliever Willie Eyre for assignment to make room on the roster for Dana Eveland, announced the team. The 33-year-old would have been arbitration eligible. The O's also announced second baseman Greg Miclat will go the Texas as the player to be named later in the Taylor Teagarden deal.
- The Blue Jays have designated Brian Jeroloman for assignment, tweets MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm. The move clears a roster spot for the returning Kelly Johnson.
- Greg Golson has been released by the Yankees, tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. Having added two players in this morning's Rule 5 draft, the Yanks needed space on their roster, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
- The Yankees are close to signing former Indians prospect Adam Miller to a minor league deal, tweets Sherman. Miller ranked among Baseball America's top 100 prospects for five straight years from 2005 to 2009.
- The Rays are open-minded about listening to trade offers, even for players like James Shields or Jeremy Hellickson, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. However, they'd need a very large return for their high-end pitchers.
- Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal looks at a few Red Sox trade chips, as the team searches for pitching help.
2011 Rule 5 Draft Results
Rule 5 players must stay with their new big league club all year or be offered back to the old team. MLB.com has a full recap of both the Major League and minor league portions of the draft. The results of the Major League phase are listed below:
- Astros take Rhiner Cruz from Mets.
- Twins take Terry Doyle from White Sox.
- Mariners take Lucas Luetge from Brewers.
- Orioles take Ryan Flaherty from Cubs.
- Royals take Cesar Cabral from Red Sox; traded to Yankees for cash.
- Cubs take Lendy Castillo from Phillies.
- Padres
- Pirates take Gustavo Nunez from Tigers.
- Marlins
- Rockies
- Athletics
- Mets
- White Sox
- Reds
- Indians
- Nationals
- Blue Jays
- Dodgers
- Angels
- Giants
- Braves take Robert Fish from Angels.
- Cardinals take Erik Komatsu from Nationals.
- Red Sox take Marwin Gonzalez from Cubs, traded to Astros for Marco Duarte
- Rays
- Diamondbacks take Brett Lorin from Pirates.
- Tigers
- Brewers
- Rangers
- Yankees take Brad Meyers from Nationals.
- Phillies
Angels Want Pujols And Wilson
We heard late last night that there is "no shot" Albert Pujols will make a decision before the Winter Meetings end. Still, here's the latest on the man who has $200MM+ offers from three teams including the Cardinals, Angels, and a mystery team who would reportedly need to trade an established first baseman to clear a path for the three-time MVP:
- The Angels want both Pujols and C.J. Wilson, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Angels have offered Pujols a ten-year deal worth at least $210MM and Wilson a five-year deal worth more than $70MM, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times.
- ESPN's Buster Olney says that the Yankees are not the mystery team that's trying to set up a Pujols deal (Twitter link). That makes sense, given that Mark Teixeira has a full no-trade clause in his contract.
Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.
Overnight Links: Wise, Gonzalez, Fielder, Rule 5
Some links for the bleary-eyed readers still awake at their computers/smartphones/tablets:
- The Yankees are discussing a minor league deal with outfielder Dewayne Wise, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). A strong defender, Wise is probably best known for preserving former teammate Mark Buehrle's 2009 perfect game in the ninth inning by robbing a home run off the bat of Gabe Kapler.
- Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets that the Rangers met with Scott Boras to discuss Mike Gonzalez today, and they also checked in on Prince Fielder.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin said his team probably won't make a pick in Thursday's Rule 5 Draft, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
- The Pirates have at least thought about picking Nationals lefty Josh Smoker in the Rule 5 Draft, though it's not a lock according to John Perotto of Baseball Prospectus (on Twitter). Smoker was selected 31st overall by the Nats in 2007.
- Even with tonight's hiring of Jeff Luhnow as the new Astros GM, it will be interim GM Dave Gottfried and scouting director/assistant GM Bobby Heck calling the shots at the Rule 5 Draft tomorrow, tweets Alyson Footer of the Astros.
- Baseball America's John Manuel writes that reports of the Twins focusing on pitching led to speculation on Mets righty Rhiner Cruz, but a club source said the team is looking in another direction.
- The Red Sox compensation from the Cubs for Theo Epstein is expected to be sorted out after the Rule 5 Draft, writes MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.
Five Teams In On Hiroki Kuroda
The Cubs, Rockies, Diamondbacks, and others are trying for Hiroki Kuroda, tweets MLB Network's Jon Heyman, though he could still return to Japan. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick adds the Yankees and Red Sox to the list of suitors.
The Rockies also remain interested in the Reds' Edinson Volquez, tweets Troy Renck.
Yankees Willing To Assume $8MM In Burnett Trade
The Yankees will listen to offers for starter A.J. Burnett, reports George A. King III of the New York Post, and they're willing to assume $8MM of the $33MM owed to him for 2012-13.
I don't think teams will be lining up to pay Burnett $25MM over two years, however, so the Yankees will probably have to do better to move him. Burnett, 34, posted a 5.15 ERA, 8.2 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 1.47 HR/9, and 49.2% groundball rate in 190 1/3 innings this year. A change of scenery might help.
Overnight Links: Gio, Rangers, Yankees, Astros
As you probably know by know, MLBTR will have 24-hour coverage of the Winter Meetings. I'll be at the wheel until 8am, so feel free to stay up late with me. Here's tonight's batch of overnight quick hits:
- Not surprisingly, Athletics GM Billy Beane told MLB.com's Jane Lee and other reporters that a long-term deal for Gio Gonzalez isn't happening anytime soon. Beane said they had talks last year. Gonzalez has become one of the hottest trade chips on the market at the Winter Meetings.
- Octavio Dotel could be a target for the Rangers, speculates T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Rangers brass met with Beverly Hills Sports Council (Dotel's agency) reps today, and some Texas officials have a high opinion of Dotel.
- John Harper of the New York Daily News is of the opinion that as tough as it sounds, the Yankees should be willing to trade Jesus Montero in a Gio Gonzalez deal.
- The Astros may name a new GM this week, writes Danny Knobler of CBS Sports, and Rockies executive Bill Geivett may be the favorite.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times tweets that Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik met with Carlos Guillen's agent on Tuesday. We heard Monday they were one of five teams in on the former Tiger.
- Angels skipper Mike Scioscia told reporters, including Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times, that he prefers to add a starting pitcher rather than a bat: "…you need a full rotation to give yourself that opportunity to get into the playoffs." DiGiovanna's piece has a video link of Scioscia discussing C.J. Wilson, whom the Angels are targeting. The Angels though, reportedly won't offer six years.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears Mets GM Sandy Alderson would like to bring back Chris Young a minor league deal in 2012 (Twitter link). Young was limited to 24 innings with the Mets due to shoulder troubles in 2011, and has totaled just 120 innings since the end of 2008.
Cashman: “I Think It’s Going To Be Hard To Add”
Yankees GM Brian Cashman told Jack Curry of the YES Network that he's not optimistic about making a trade or signing a free agent (Twitter link). Said Cashman, "I think its going to be hard to add." Here's some more Yankees notes:
- Danny Knobler of CBS Sports tweets that one rival team predicted the Yankees will eventually end up with Gio Gonzalez. The Tigers are currently reported to be making a run at the A's lefty.
- The New York Post's Joel Sherman tweets that the Yankees believe Hiroki Kuroda will come east, but they see him as a tough fit because he's not a clear top-of-the-rotation addition.
Tigers Attempting Strong Push For Gio Gonzalez
The Tigers are trying to "make a strong push" to acquire Athletics lefty Gio Gonzalez, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. However, the Tigers aren't sure whether they'll be able to make an offer as strong as a potential Yankees proposal, Slusser says (Twitter link).
It was reported today, by Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record, that the Athletics asked the Yankees for Jesus Montero plus either Dellin Betances or Manny Banuelos in exchange for Gonzalez (Twitter link). With the Yankees highly unlikely to part with such a significant haul, the two teams may not be a match, since the Yanks don't have the high-upside young outfielders the Athletics covet.