The Rule 5 draft isn’t my cup of tea, but I’d like to direct you to Baseball America for coverage. By the way the Cardinals took Brian Barton. To open up a spot for him, they released So Taguchi.
Cardinals Rumors
Cardinals Turn To Free Agent Market
The Cardinals want to add at least one starting pitcher. Once thought to be interested in Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse – the "premium" options – John Mozeliak is already digging through the bargain bin. Matthew Leach and Joe Strauss have the latest.
- Mozeliak has talked to Bartolo Colon’s agent and the Cards will take a look at his medical records. It’s been suggested that Colon will not take a one-year deal.
- Livan Hernandez is under consideration, but Mozeliak says he’s "not yet" a fit.
- Josh Fogg is on the radar too.
- The Cardinals have marginal interest in Kris Benson, and they’ll attend his workout on the 17th.
- Interesting non-pitcher note from Mozeliak: the Cards have expressed interest in Aaron Rowand.
Cardinals Rumors: Rolen, Bedard, Tejada
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 8:46pm: Tony La Russa had some choice words concerning Rolen tonight. Maybe they can’t coexist, after all.
FROM 12-5-07 at 8:26pm:
Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently appeared on the radio. Colleague Bernie Miklasz transcribed it.
- Strauss suggests the chances of Scott Rolen being traded are around 20%. Tony La Russa might be able to co-exist with him, even if they don’t like each other. Still, the Milwaukee talks may be revisited.
- Strauss believes the Cards are sniffing around on Erik Bedard. MLB.com’s Jim Molony spoke of their interest yesterday.
- The Cardinals are revisiting Miguel Tejada.
- The Cards have their eye on a free agent outfielder and a free agent starter and are heightening interest.
Brewers Rumors: Street, Iguchi, Riske
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 7:52pm: Not so fast – Doug Melvin isn’t at the offer stage with Iguchi.
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 2:54pm: Iguchi’s agent expects a two-year offer from the Brewers sometime today. Iguchi is willing to play third base and is looking for a two-year deal with an option.
FROM 12-4-07 at 10:59pm:
MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy runs down the Brewers’ day.
- As you know, the Brewers are out of the running for Scott Rolen. This is due to a number of factors. McCalvy quotes an ESPN rumor of Chris Capuano and Bill Hall for Rolen, which I somehow missed. I thought it was just Capuano.
- Earlier today we wrote about many other third base options the Brewers are considering. Add Tadahito Iguchi to that list, since he’s declared he’s willing to play third base. The Giants, Rockies, Padres, and Phillies also like Iguchi.
- David Riske took a physical in Milwaukee today, though his agent says other teams are still in play.
- The Brewers apparently called the A’s to discuss Huston Street’s availability.
Cardinals Rumors: Rolen, Fogg, Lee, Millwood
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 1:55pm: Heyman says the impasse between the Cards and Brewers in the Rolen talks was the second player coming over with Chris Capuano. He thinks the two teams will revisit these discussions in the future.
FROM 12-5-07 at 7:29am:
As usual, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has all the insight into the Cardinals’ situation.
- It doesn’t look like Scott Rolen is going anywhere before the Meetings end, and GM John Mozeliak may have to start the season with him. The talks with the Brewers were disheartening, apparently. The Cards don’t think there should be a discount. There is a glimmer of hope in that Mozeliak may talk again with the Dodgers about Rolen today.
- On the starting pitching front, the Cardinals are being realistic. That means they’re looking into signing Josh Fogg. Fogg will probably get a three-year, $21MM deal or so. Other starters on the radar include Cliff Lee and a new name, Kevin Millwood. Millwood will earn $8.5MM in ’08, $11MM in ’09, and $12MM in ’10. He has a limited no-trade clause, and the club may be able to void the deal after ’09 if he misses certain innings targets.
- Seems odd that the Cards are pursuing guys like the above but are willing to deal Anthony Reyes. As we learned yesterday, the Indians and Padres like the young hurler. The Phillies have coveted him for a while as well.
Reds, Astros, Cards Interested In Rusch
Glendon Rusch is attempting a comeback, and the Reds, Astros, and Cardinals are interested. Rusch played under the Reds’ Dusty Baker in Chicago.
This morning Tom Krasovic said the Padres were close to terms with Rusch, so I guess we’ll see. The Royals are another club that has been linked to him.
Rangers Rumors: Blalock, Lamb, Padilla
Evan Grant has the latest Rangers hot stove buzz.
- 27 year-old third baseman Hank Blalock is getting a lot of play. Grant names the Cardinals, Phillies, Twins, and Dodgers as teams that have inquired. Jon Daniels says no team has made an impressive offer and he’s not inclined to trade Blalock. It would be a bit of a sell-low move.
- The Rangers met with Mike Lamb’s agent yesterday afternoon; they’re the frontrunners for him. They have a full-time first base job for Lamb, who came up in the organization.
- Teams are interested in Vicente Padilla, but everyone wants the Johan thing to be finished before moving on pitching.
Angels Not Desperate For A Third Baseman
According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Angels are telling teams they have no urgency to go out and get a third baseman after missing out on Miguel Cabrera. As far as Miguel Tejada goes, the Halos haven’t even met with the Orioles.
That said, Ken Rosenthal did indicate that the Angels are in the mix for Scott Rolen.
Latest Erik Bedard Rumors: Tuesday
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:36pm: Geoff Baker says that a Bedard trade with the Mariners would likely involve Wladimir Balentien, Adam Jones, and Brandon Morrow.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:06pm: The Dodgers met with the Orioles to talk Bedard today. Ned Colletti has pretty much deemed Broxton untouchable, and no deal is close.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 10:19pm: John Fay says the Reds are seriously pursuing Bedard. Wayne Krivsky won’t reveal much, but Fay thinks Bailey, Votto, and another prospect might interest the Orioles.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 10:16pm: The Mets again offered Heilman, Gomez, and Humber for Bedard, perhaps thinking that offering it twice would be helpful. MLB.com’s Marty Noble says the Mets may reconfigure their offer, replacing Humber with Pelfrey or Mulvey.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 4:10pm: Joel Sherman confirms the Cubs’ interest, so that’s officially 11 teams in on Bedard. Sherman says the Yankees and Mets are unlikely to snag the southpaw ace, and names the Dodgers as the frontrunner. Peter Angelos is letting Andy MacPhail run the show but doesn’t want Bedard traded within the division. Sorry Yankees and Blue Jays.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 3:10pm: Nick Cafardo notes that Cubs GM Jim Hendry and Andy MacPhail had lunch today, which leads him to believe they may have discussed Bedard. A bit of a stretch since Hendry and MacPhail used to work together. Then again the Cubs did pursue in a Mark Prior/Miguel Tejada deal a few years back. The Cubs would represent the 11th team in on Bedard.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 3:01pm: Buster Olney says the Jays continue to talk with the Orioles about Bedard, noting that the Jays have the young pitching. Bedard would certainly represent the Canadian draw they’ve been looking for.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 2:16pm: There is growing buzz that the Dodgers may get Bedard. ESPN’s Amy Nelson has a source saying a deal may be close. Matt Kemp and Jonathan Broxton would be the main pieces of a trade. Readers are reporting in that WFAN is saying the same.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 9:32am: The Mets are still hawking Gomez, trying to get Bedard. Joel Sherman adds the Tigers to the list of teams after Bedard, bringing the total to ten. He says the Tigers and Phils are getting creative trying to get Bedard. The Tigers don’t need to get that creative – they can offer Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller.
FROM 12-4-07 at 8:45am:
How many teams are after Erik Bedard? The tally yesterday included the Phillies, Cardinals, Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Angels, Dodgers, and D’Backs – that’s eight. The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly check in with the latest on the Orioles’ ace.
- There’s been a ton of trade interest in Bedard (as you might expect). Andy MacPhail is still talking about signing him to an extension, but no one really buys it. The package he’ll get in trade should rival what the Twins get for Johan.
- The Dodgers, Mariners, and Mets have been pursuing Bedard the most aggressively. More meetings with the Mets should occur today. The Mariners could make an intriguing offer built around Adam Jones and Brandon Morrow.
- A new team is added to bring the tally to nine: the Reds are interested. However, Jay Bruce is off the table.
ESPN’s Latest: Sosa, Prior, Kuroda, Reyes
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:19pm: Ah, the truth comes out. Sammy Sosa’s people approached the Royals, but they weren’t interested.
FROM 12-4-07 at 3:17pm:
ESPN has a huge team at the Meetings; here are some tidbits that haven’t appeared elsewhere on MLBTR.
- Enrique Rojas says the Royals have interest in Sammy Sosa. Could that indicate a Mark Teahen trade is in the works also? Teahen is expected to move to first base to accomodate Jose Guillen, which would push Billy Butler to DH. But Sammy can only DH.
- Buster Olney says the Rangers and Padres are in on Mark Prior.
- The Padres also like lefties Glendon Rusch and Shawn Estes, and may sign both after the Rule 5 as a means of adding starting depth.
- Jayson Stark says the Mariners made an offer to Hiroki Kuroda in the range of four years, $45MM.
- Jerry Crasnick says Anthony Reyes is generating a lot of interest. The Cards, by the way, are open to trading Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan, or Jim Edmonds.
- The Rockies have gotten in touch with Marcus Giles’ agent.
- The Astros aren’t interested in Jon Lieber, despite previous reports. They liked Matt Clement a bit among the injury guys but are over him now.
- Ryan Howard’s agent and the Phillies will sit down soon to talk about a long-term deal.
