Giants Considering Offer For Sabathia?
According to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, the Giants are considering making an offer to C.C. Sabathia. It’d be more than $100MM but far less than $140MM. I imagine the Giants are trying to determine how much money Sabathia would leave on the table to come to San Francisco.
There was a lot of talk yesterday about the Giants being a darkhorse for Sabathia; the pitcher’s wife is said to prefer San Francisco.
Giants Sign Renteria?
11:24pm: Henry Schulman says Renteria took a physical for the Giants today and "a deal appears to be done."
9:26pm: Renteria’s (other?) agent Jeff Lane told MLB.com’s Chris Haft, "We’re very close to a deal."
7:51pm: Jon Paul Morosi also talked to Meister, who said the Giants are making "substantial progress" toward signing Renteria. Henry Schulman gets the vibe the Giants might announce a deal with him tomorrow.
4:49pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Giants asked the Brewers about J.J. Hardy, but Milwaukee doesn’t want to move him. So Brian Sabean moved on to Cantu.
4:12pm: Brian Sabean told reporters he hopes to sign a free agent infielder later this week.
3:42pm: Jon Heyman chimes in; he also thinks a two-year deal could be completed soon. Heyman says the Giants have yet to decide whether to target C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, or Manny Ramirez. Are we seeing a shift back to the win-now plan in San Francisco?
1:53pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick talked to Renteria’s agent Barry Meister, who said they’re "much, much closer" to a deal with the Giants but "nothing is done." Crasnick’s source says it could be in the two-year, $18MM range.
12:58pm: According to Yahoo’s Tim Brown, the Giants "believe they are closing in on signing shortstop Edgar Renteria." Brown also says the Giants have discussed trading Jonathan Sanchez to the Marlins for Jorge Cantu. That’d be a steal for the Marlins, who plucked Cantu off the scrap heap in January for a half-million bucks.
Brown adds that the Cubs remain in the mix for Jake Peavy, and they have two possible matches for a third team in the deal (the Orioles being one).
Rosenthal’s Latest: Dunn, Burrell, Manny
6:16pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the Braves are not interested in Dunn because they seek a right-handed bat. Does that rule out Raul Ibanez as well?
1:51pm: The latest from Ken Rosenthal:
- The Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, and Phillies are pursuing free agent outfielder Rocco Baldelli.
- Now that Adam Dunn wasn’t offered arbitration, the market is starting to take shape. The Braves, Mariners, and Nationals are interested, and the Dodgers and Angels consider him a fallback option. How about Dunn and Russell Branyan in the same lineup? Rosenthal considers the Yankees another possibility.
- Teams considering Pat Burrell, who was also not offered arb: the Mariners, Angels, and Giants.
- Rosenthal considers the Giants a darkhorse for C.C. Sabathia. Tim Brown says the Giants may be closing in on Edgar Renteria; Rosenthal has the Dodgers and Cardinals as other suitors.
- The Brewers will need to increase their offer to Sabathia to six years to have a shot.
- Rosenthal believes Jason Varitek will accept his offer of arbitration. He also wonders if Orlando Cabrera could accept. He expects Ben Sheets to decline (I made an error on this eariler).
- Rosenthal ponders the chances of Manny Ramirez accepting the Dodgers’ offer of arbitration. Buster Olney says three GMs wondered the same. I was under the impression Manny declining arbitration was a condition of his trade.
- The Cardinals want to add a young starter with upside. They also may go after a closer like Brian Fuentes or Kerry Wood if prices drop.
- Rosenthal believes the Reds could discuss a two-year deal with David Weathers.
Stark’s Latest: Sabathia, Furcal, Peavy
A few notes from Jayson Stark’s latest blog post…
- Stark believes the possibility of C.C. Sabathia signing with the Giants is alive, and the Giants have talked to the pitcher’s agent. Such a signing might compel Brian Sabean to remove Matt Cain‘s "untouchable" tag, in Stark’s opinion. Earlier today Ken Rosenthal suggested the Giants were a dark horse for C.C. Also, Sabathia’s wife Amber prefers the Giants according to George King.
- The Giants offered three years to Rafael Furcal. He wants four, so they switched their attention to Edgar Renteria. The Giants want a shorter-term deal so their own prospects can take over within a few years.
- Stark notes that the recent Jake Peavy-Cubs rumors do not seem to be coming out of Chicago. He suggests those talks may not be active, partially because the Cubs are in payroll limbo til their sale goes through.
- The Twins and Dodgers have two year offers out to Casey Blake. Whichever team blinks and adds a third year can get him.
Giants Sign Bob Howry
4:03pm: According to the AP, Howry gets a reasonable base salary of $2.75MM. He can earn an additional $500K based on games and another $1MM based on games finished. Dave Cameron calls it a bargain.
2:45pm: According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants signed Bob Howry to a one-year deal. They moved quickly after the Cubs decided not to offer arbitration to the Type A free agent. If Howry bounces back (the Giants think Lou Piniella overworked him this year), he’ll be a nice complement to Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson in the late innings.
Howry came up through the Giants’ system before being traded to the Sox in the White Flag deal of ’97.
Lincecum Open To Long-Term Deal
Back in August, Tim Lincecum‘s agent was telling reporters he preferred going year-to-year. Lincecum won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2013 season. However, Lincecum told John Shea yesterday that he’s now open to an extension.
The Giants would probably have to pay at least $15MM for Lincecum’s three arbitration years (unless he’s a Super Two) plus at least $12MM for each free agent year.
Giants Rumors: Renteria, Howry
8:02pm: MLB.com’s Chris Haft says the Giants accelerated their pursuit of Bob Howry now that the Cubs chose not to offer him arbitration.
6:55pm: The AP has an update on the Giants’ pursuit of free agent shortstop Edgar Renteria, though there’s not much new info. The Giants and Renteria are discussing the parameters of a deal and he is their top option at short. It makes sense that things will get moving now that Renteria failed to receive an offer of arbitration from the Tigers.
Odds and Ends: Thorman, Sabathia, Pettitte
Links for Tuesday…
- Big League Stew names Scott Boras’ ten most notorious deals. Darren Dreifort also probably belongs on the list. Any others?
- Roch Kubatko of MASN Online debunks a rumor about the Orioles offering Brian Roberts a three-year contract with a soft deadline.
- ESPN’s Keith Law likes the Astros’ signing of Mike Hampton.
- The Brewers signed first baseman Scott Thorman to a minor league deal. He hit .251/.283/.465 at Triple A this year. Also, Salomon Torres officially retired.
- C.C. Sabathia attended a Golden State Warriors game last night, for what it’s worth.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti paid lip service to the idea of re-signing Rafael Furcal.
- Joel Sherman says Andy Pettitte is a phony if he signs with a team other than the Yankees. He says the Yanks made a $10MM offer. Craig Calcaterra weighs in on Sherman’s column at Shysterball.
- I did a Q&A with Mets Fans Forever.
- Blue Jays owner Ted Rogers passed away.
Braves Rumors: Hampton, Lowe, Burnett
Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the latest on the Braves in a new blog post.
- The Braves never intended Mike Hampton to be one of the two front-rotation starters they acquire this winter, so his rejection of their offer doesn’t affect their plans much.
- O’Brien notes that he’s heard no indications that the Braves are actively pursuing Derek Lowe. A.J. Burnett seems to be their top target, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Jake Peavy talks revived at the Winter Meetings.
- The Braves made trade inquiries on Roy Oswalt and Matt Cain and "haven’t received favorable replies in those pursuits."
- Free agents Ben Sheets and Randy Johnson don’t seem to be on the radar due to concerns over their reliability.
- The Braves continue to seek a power bat, with Ryan Ludwick and Jermaine Dye the two targets mentioned in recent weeks.
Tigers Decline To Offer Arb To Renteria
3:31pm: Andrew Baggarly thinks Renteria and the Giants are "gravitating toward each other" now that he won’t cost a draft pick. Baggarly believes the Giants might be ready to back off from Furcal over health concerns.
2:42pm: According to Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers declined to offer arbitration to Edgar Renteria today. The risk of the Type A free agent accepting must’ve been too strong. Since he will not cost any draft picks, Renteria now becomes more appealing to potential suitors. Rafael Furcal is neither Type A nor B, so he carries the same appeal.
Only 17.3% of MLBTR readers expected the Tigers to offer arb to Renteria.