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Latest Johan Santana Rumors

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The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo has the latest on the lingering Johan Santana saga.

  • The Red Sox are standing pat with their offer of Coco Crisp, Jon Lester, Justin Masterson, and Jed Lowrie.  I’ve said it before – I consider this an excellent offer, though I might try to find a permutation that involves Jacoby Ellsbury and another player rather than Crisp/Lester.  The Twins seem to like this offer too; they just want to see if the Yankees crack and offer up Ian Kennedy, Melky Cabrera, and Phil Hughes.
  • The Theo Epstein regime typically hasn’t been jazzed about contracts exceeding four years.  However they will break that rule for a Santana extension and are prepared to go seven if they have to.
  • Cafardo dismisses the idea that Josh Beckett would be upset by Santana earning twice his salary.  Beckett will get his payday after the 2010 season, unless he flames out or the Red Sox extend him earlier.
  • Random question: is there any chance the Red Sox exercise Manny Ramirez’s $20MM option for 2009?  Rob Bradford discussed this very topic over at the Boston Herald.

Yankees Done With Santana?

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Newsday’s Kat O’Brien recently spoke to a source with knowledge of the Yankees’ talks with the Twins for Johan Santana.  According to the source:

"I don’t see it happening with us.  We pulled out in Nashville, and we haven’t put an offer back on the table."

O’Brien always has Hank Steinbrenner’s ear, and Hank was noncommittal this time when asked about the Yanks’ chances.  It sounds like the Yankees would need to crack and put Ian Kennedy into the deal, which just doesn’t seem wise.  They’d be better off just calling off the whole thing, and it sounds like that’s the likely path. 

White Sox Sign Alexei Ramirez

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UPDATE, 12-22-07 at 6:00pm: Ramirez can earn another $3.25MM in incentives.

UPDATE, 12-21-07 at 10:57pm: Ramirez gets a mere $4.75MM over the four-year pact.  That’s an excellent move right there, in my opinion.  Dirt cheap – low risk, decent reward.

FROM 12-21-07 at 5:35pm:

The White Sox made an interesting move today, signing Cuban defector Alexei Ramirez to a four-year contract.  The presence of Jose Contreras should be helpful for him.  Ramirez probably profiles as Chicago’s center fielder, though he could also play second base.  Here’s what Baseball America had to say about him a few months ago.

It’s tough to judge this signing until we hear the money involved.  He was apparently highly sought after, as ESPN says he worked out for the Red Sox, Indians, Reds, Cubs, Mets, Yankees, Twins, and A’s too.  Ramirez is apparently 26 years old.  I think he’s going to need some time in the minors, as Clay Davenport has equated Cuban baseball with our short season A ball.

As a means of comparison, Yuniesky Betancourt signed for four years and $2.826MM in January of 2005.  Kendry Morales signed a four-year deal worth around $10MM in December of 2004.

The Mark Prior Derby

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Let’s do a recap on the Mark Prior Derby, which is getting more confusing each day.  Jerry Crasnick has added some good info this afternoon.  Prior wants a one-year deal and hopes to be on a big league mound before the end of May.

  • Yankees – They’ll probably pass, per Hank Steinbrenner.
  • Red Sox – Named only by Jayson Stark.
  • White Sox – Named only by Stark.
  • Mariners – Named by Stark, denied by Jim Street.
  • Mets – Named by Stark, Crasnick, Ken Rosenthal, Ed Price
  • Cardinals – Named by Stark, Crasnick, Rosenthal, Matthew Leach
  • Padres – Named by many, made an offer according to Crasnick. Prior went to USC but would have to take less money to play in San Diego
  • Astros – Named by many, made an offer according to Alyson Footer
  • Giants – Named only by Stark
  • Reds – Named by Stark, Crasnick. Prior previously played under Dusty Baker
  • Nationals – Named by Stark, Crasnick, Bill Ladson
  • Rangers – Named by Crasnick but not Stark, aggressively pursuing according to Rosenthal
  • Marlins – Named only by Crasnick
  • Indians – Named only by Crasnick

One more and we’re at half of all baseball teams linked at some point.  The Phillies and Pirates are not interested, and it’s probably safe to count the Cubs out.

Steinbrenner: “Outside Chance” For Johan

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Hank Steinbrenner spoke to Kat O’Brien yesterday regarding Johan Santana.  The key quote: "There’s still an outside chance that we get him."  Steinbrenner also indicated that he has final say over this deal, in case you were wondering.

Plus, Steinbrenner said the Yankees looked into Mark Prior but are not currently interested.  No worries for Prior, he’s got plenty of suitors.

Stark’s Latest: Prior, Lofton, Otsuka

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ESPN’s Jayson Stark dishes some good rumorage in his latest column.

  • Stark dug around to find all the Mark Prior suitors and came up with this list: Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, Mets, Cardinals, Padres, Astros, Giants, Reds, Nationals (11 teams).  Let’s compare notes.  MLBTR readers have seen the Yankees, Mets, Cards, Padres, Astros, Reds, and Nats linked to Prior already.  So Stark has added the Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, and Giants.  The idea of the Mariners runs contrary to this MLB.com article.  Stark did not name the Rangers, who are said to be aggressively pursuing Prior.  Prior is dead set on a one-year deal and would take a big league mound in May in the best case.
  • The Phils are focused on Geoff Jenkins and Mike Cameron, offering two year deals to each.  They might just take the first one to accept.  Stark says Kenny Lofton could be an option if both decline.  Lofton batted a career-best .335 for the Phils in ’05.
  • Stark rattles off a laundry list of pitchers the Phillies are interested in: Akinori Otsuka, Byung-Hyun Kim, Roberto Hernandez, Kris Benson, John Parrish, Sidney Ponson, Chad Durbin, Kyle Lohse, and Jeremy Affeldt.  Given Stark’s 21 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, I imagine he has a connection or two.  Most of those are new names besides Benson, Lohse, Ponson, and Affeldt.
  • A source of Stark picks the Yankees as the favorite for Johan, but it should be noted that they’re having internal debates about pulling Phil Hughes off the table.
  • For all the crazy Cubs fans we’ve got here: Stark says they’ve talked to the Orioles about both Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard, but couldn’t pull off a deal for both.  They favor Roberts even though they need Bedard much more.

Latest Johan Santana Non-Rumors

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After getting volumes of new information each day during the Winter Meetings, the rumors surrounding the Johan Santana talks have slowed to a boring trickle.  It’s still a big deal, though, so here’s the latest.

  • Yesterday Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe notes that it may make sense for the Twins and Red Sox to hammer out a deal before front offices shut down for a week to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s.  He says talks between the two parties are ongoing, and the Twins are sitting back and hoping for the Red Sox to crack and put two of Ellsbury/Buchholz/Lester in the package.  The Yankees are lurking but similarly won’t give up two of Chamberlain/Hughes/Kennedy.  The Mets aren’t deemed worthy based on their prospects.  Edes’ source doesn’t expect a deal soon.
  • Today, Charley Walters wrote that the Red Sox are the favorites with their firm offer of Lester/Crisp/Lowrie/Masterson.  He says there’s buzz something could be done within days.  Walters reiterates Edes’ take on the Yankees’ stance and tosses the Angels into the mix as a dark horse.

About Nine Teams Watch Benson

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UPDATE, 12-19-07 at 11:07am: The Braves were in attendance, according to a source of mine. 

UPDATE, 12-19-07 at 8:42am: The Giants were in attendance, so we know eight of the nine teams that watched Benson.  Is it normal for each team to send three scouts, by the way?  It’s been said that 25 of them watched.

UPDATE, 12-18-07 at 1:39pm: The Yankees, Mets, Astros, and Phillies definitely attended.  I also received an email about a radio report indicating the Cards were there. That’s seven of the nine.

FROM 12-18-07 at 10:40am:

According to Todd Zolecki, about nine teams watched free agent Kris Benson throw 60 pitches yesterday.  The Phillies and Nationals were definitely present.

Feel free to guess at the other seven teams.  The Astros were probably there, and some of the Yankees, Cardinals, Royals, Marlins, Rockies, and Dodgers were probably on hand as well.

Benson had surgery in March to repair a partially torn rotator cuff.  Before that he’d usually been good for 180 nearly league average innings.

Mariano Rivera Confusion?

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Here is a December 17th press release from the Yankees announcing Mariano Rivera’s three-year deal.  Here is a New York Daily News article from early this morning indicating that Rivera has yet to sign on the dotted line.  There is a lot of dated information in the Daily News article, so it seems as if they simply accidentally posted an old story, nothing more.  Threw me for a loop, though.

Melky Held Out Of Winter Ball?

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Peter Abraham noted yesterday that Melky Cabrera was set to play winter ball.  However, it seems that the Yankees have changed their mind and won’t let Cabrera play this year.

There is a "fatigue clause," where if a player played a certain amount during the regular season the player cannot participate in winter ball.  It seems that typically teams lift this clause and allow players to join the winter leagues, but this year they refused to lift the clause for Cabrera.  The implication is that Cabrera is a trade candidate, perhaps in a Johan Santana deal.

More info on this extreme fatigue clause can be found here.  Thanks to Carlos S. for the links and translation and to Keith Law for translation.

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