Yankees Rumors

Manny Ramirez Rumors: Saturday

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 28, 2009 at 7:01pm CDT

7:01pm: According to Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News, Boras and Dodgers GM Ned Colletti had a conversation earlier today. Colletti called it a "cordial and informative" chat, but contract talks apparently haven’t progressed.

6:49pm: Daniel Barbarisi of the Providence Journal weighs in:

Deferred money or not, Boras and Ramirez seem out of touch to be holding out in a market with no other real bidders. If they don’t take this deal now, a better one probably isn’t coming along.

5:32pm: Twins manager Ron Gardenhire revealed a hunch to Phil Miller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Saturday. He thinks the Yankees could make another splash:

"I still don’t think they’re done, I really don’t. I think there’s one more guy out there that eventually, someone’s going to say (sign him)," Gardenhire said. Miller suggests that he could be referring to Manny.

9:52am: According to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney some baseball executives estimate that the deferred money offered by the Dodgers would be worth roughly $41MM in present value, including $22.5MM this year. As Olney says, that’s still more than the combined base salaries of Bobby Abreu, Orlando Hudson, Pat Burrell, Joe Crede, Cliff Floyd, Mark Loretta and Takashi Saito.

9:19am: Yesterday, we heard that the Dodgers’ most recent offer to Manny Ramirez included deferred money, but Manny and Scott Boras want a deal without deferred payments. Today, a trio of LA Times writers kick off the Manny rumors.

Dylan Hernandez reports that Manny and Scott Boras are waiting to hear whether the Dodgers will accept their counter-offer of two years and $45MM, without any deferred money and with an opt-out clause for Manny at the end of this year.

Bill Shaikin points out just how much the economy has changed since the Dodgers first offered Manny a deal and Brian Kamenetzky writes that Manny shouldn’t expect to make as much as A-Rod.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Yankees, Oil Can, Halladay, Mets

By Cork Gaines | February 27, 2009 at 1:08pm CDT

On this date 21 years ago, the Baltimore Orioles traded Ray Knight to the Tigers, only one year after signing the World Series hero as a free agent. The O’s received Mark Thurmond, who would go 1-8 in 1988 with an 85 ERA+. Knight would only play 105 games for the Tigers before retiring. With spring training now in full swing, several veteran free agents are still without contracts or guaranteed jobs and may be on the verge of retirement. Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

More Hardball puts together a 25-man roster of veteran players in camps on minor league deals.
6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba spoke with Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch about a number of topics including what the will happen once the current contracts for Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter expire.
Sully Baseball makes a case for a team, any team, signing Oil Can Boyd.
The Phrontiersman takes a look at the possibility of the Phillies trading for Roy Halladay at some point during the season.
Megamets argues for the Mets adding Dennys Reyes, over the other available lefty relievers.
The Sports Banter puts together their own list of off-season winners.
Midwest Sports Fans project the Twins opening day roster.

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

Rosenthal On Cabrera, Cruz, Nady, Swisher

By Tim Dierkes | February 23, 2009 at 8:57am CDT

Let’s take a look at the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

The A’s are offering more at-bats to Nomar Garciaparra than the Phillies. If the A’s sign Nomar, that wouldn’t stop them from adding Orlando Cabrera. However, Rosenthal’s source says Cabrera and the A’s "are not even close" in terms of his value.
Nothing is close with the Juan Cruz situation; "New teams entered the mix after the sign-and-trade option became more realistic." Rosenthal says it’s still possible that a team will simply sign Cruz and give up a draft pick. La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says the Twins have made an offer to Cruz, but did not speak to his agent yesterday.
Even with the Orlando Hudson signing, Blake DeWitt still has a role with the Dodgers pitching in at second base, third base, and even shortstop.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman "didn’t particularly like" any of the offers he’s received for Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady.
Rosenthal leaves the door slightly ajar for the Astros and Pudge: "the team continues to indicate that it cannot afford free agent Ivan Rodriguez unless his price drops significantly." Astros GM Ed Wade said on Wednesday: "We’re not signing Pudge. Put that one to rest. We have no expectation to sign Pudge."

Odds and Ends: Smoltz, Crede, Burnett

By Tim Dierkes | February 22, 2009 at 6:38pm CDT

A few links for Sunday evening…

Chicago Tribune reporters Todd Lighty and Oscar Avila have more info on the David Wilder bonus-skimming scandal.
Terence Moore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to John Smoltz recently about players leaving or choosing not to sign with the Braves.
SI.com’s Pablo S. Torre digs into Ken Griffey Jr.’s decision.
Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel learned that Marlins third baseman Dallas McPherson (42 home runs at Triple A last year) would like 500 at-bats, but a bench role is more likely. McPherson is out of options.
Joe Crede talked about the White Sox going young, but Ozzie Guillen did not agree.
Newsday’s Kat O’Brien talked to A.J. Burnett, who was leaning toward the Yankees well before he signed. He chatted often with Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon this winter.
Speaking of Damon, River Ave. Blues points out a passage in Joe Torre’s book about how the Yankees chose Rondell White over him back in ’02.
Nationals special assistant Jose Rijo is taking a leave of absence, partially because of the Esmailyn Gonzalez scandal. ESPN’s Jorge Arangure Jr. has much more on the situation, after talking to Gonzalez/Lugo’s trainer.
South Side Sox takes a stab at fixing free agent compensation.
Orlando Hudson could’ve had $24MM for 2009-11 if he’d taken an offer the D’Backs made before the ’08 season. Nick Piecoro says Hudson’s counteroffer was "so unrealistic that it actually upset people with the Diamondbacks."

Odds And Ends: Royals, Zimmerman, A-Rod

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 21, 2009 at 10:04am CDT

Links for Saturday…

ESPN.com’s Buster Olney breaks down the 2009 Royals and considers them an improvement over last year’s team.
According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Brendan Ryan is not yet out of options because of the time he spent on the DL back in 2006.
Yahoo’s Tim Brown writes that the Nationals lack stability. He wonders "if the organization really is getting anywhere."
Chico Harlan of the Washington Post heard that Ryan Zimmerman thinks the time is right for a long-term deal with the Nats, despite the weakened market and his 2008 injuries.
Wallace Matthews of Newsday thinks Hank Steinbrenner should have let Alex Rodriguez sign elsewhere after 2007 because the slugger’s become a "toxic mortgage" to the team. Say what you will about A-Rod, it’s hard to match his production.
The Tigers don’t have the organizational depth they did when they dealt for Miguel Cabrera, but FanGraphs examines what’s left in the minors.

Odds and Ends: Lester, Arbitration, Beimel

By Tim Dierkes | February 20, 2009 at 3:00pm CDT

Links for Friday…

RotoAuthority hosts a roundtable discussion of the worst fantasy picks of the first three rounds.
Nationals president Stan Kasten expects "heavy trade talk," given the team’s surplus of first basemen/outfielders. Nick Johnson is the most likely candidate.
Mark Sweeney may be forced into retirement, according to Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News.
Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal wonders if Jon Lester could be the next Red Sox player to get a long-term extension.
Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball analyzes the salary arbitration class of 2009.
Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle has Astros GM Ed Wade explain split contracts.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes the Yankees outfielders and Scott Boras clients Xavier Nady and Johnny Damon have been affected by the Stanford financial scandal.
MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan says Joe Beimel turned down a minor league offer from the Rangers about a month ago. Tough time to be a lefty reliever.

Padres Closing In On Deal With Walter Silva

By Tim Dierkes | February 19, 2009 at 1:52pm CDT

1:52pm: MLB.com’s Corey Brock says the Padres are closing in on a minor league deal with Silva.

11:29am: According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Yankees and Padres are in the bidding for pitcher Walter Silva. Olney says the 32 year-old righty "had a strong showing in the Mexican Winter League" and must be purchased from the Monterrey franchise.

Braves Leaning Toward Internal Options In OF

By Tim Dierkes | February 19, 2009 at 1:12pm CDT

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick talked to Braves GM Frank Wren, who says the Braves are more likely to try their young outfielders than acquire a veteran outfielder after failing to sign Ken Griffey Jr.

Crasnick adds that the Braves "aren’t very excited" about Garret Anderson and have little to no interest in Jim Edmonds and Luis Gonzalez. He says the salaries of Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher might be prohibitive. Pure speculation on my part – the Braves could definitely afford Luke Scott if he’s available for trade.

Orlando Hudson Rumors: Thursday

By Tim Dierkes | February 19, 2009 at 8:13am CDT

Yesterday we learned from MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has ongoing talks for free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson. Today, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Dodgers appear to be the front-runner for Hudson. Signing him wouldn’t affect their chances of locking up Manny Ramirez. MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick says Colletti has also not ruled out relief help from guys like Joe Beimel, Dennys Reyes, or Jason Isringhausen.

Even as divisional rivals the D’Backs may be rooting for the Dodgers to sign Hudson, since they’d receive L.A.’s #17 pick in the June draft as part of the compensation. Rosenthal says the Royals and other unknown clubs remain in the mix for him, with the White Sox, Cardinals, Yankees, and Mets seemingly not seriously involved. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star discusses the Royals angle in a column today.

Brian Giles Likes Red Sox, Yankees, Angels

By Tim Dierkes | February 17, 2009 at 10:42pm CDT

Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune talked to Padres outfielder Brian Giles today. At $9MM, Giles is the Padres’ second highest-paid player behind Jake Peavy. He’s a trade candidate this season, though he has full no-trade rights. He carries the baggage of a lawsuit with his former girlfriend as well as an additional $2MM in salary if traded. The Padres exercised his ’09 option on November 7th last year, and I’m guessing they’re already regretting it.

Krasovic learned that Giles’ favored trade destinations would be the Red Sox, Yankees, and Angels. The Yankees and Angels have surpluses in the outfield currently, though Giles would love to stay in California. Giles vetoed a trade to Boston last year due to playing time issues and an expectation that Theo Epstein would’ve traded him after the season.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Yankees Rumors

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect