At Least Three Teams In On Albert Pujols
11:20pm: Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets that the dollar amount on the Marlins' nine-year offer to Pujols is believed to be "well below" what the Cardinals offered prior to the season.
7:56pm: We already know that the Marlins have made Albert Pujols a contract offer and that the Cardinals met with his agent today in Milwaukee, but Yahoo's Tim Brown says those are just two of at least three teams "actively jockeying" for Pujols' services. While Brown is unsure of the identity of the third team, he guesses it could be the Rangers or Cubs.
The list of suitors for Pujols figures to grow before the slugger eventually makes a decision. According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link), the Cards plan to stay under the radar in the bidding, and say that nothing is imminent between the two sides (Twitter link).
Quick Hits: Wood, Red Sox, Angels, Lidge, Astros
Let's round up some links left over from Day Two of the GM meetings in Milwaukee….
- David Kaplan of CSNChicago reports that Kerry Wood is likely to return to the Cubs rather than retire, and may even sign a multiyear deal.
- Echoing Larry Lucchino's sentiment from earlier this evening, GM Ben Cherington told reporters, including ESPNBoston's Gordon Edes (Twitter link), that there's "an expectation" the Red Sox will expand their managerial search. Dale Sveum, the only candidate the Sox have interviewed twice, has reportedly been offered the Cubs' position.
- The Angels promoted Justin Hollander, previously the player development and scouting assistant, to director of baseball operations, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
- Brad Lidge's agent, Rex Gary, declined to comment to Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald about which clubs had contacted him about the right-hander. However, Gary continues to say his client is open to any role: "He's listening. We’ll listen to whatever clubs want to outline. He certainly can close, but he's open to any other circumstances that presents an opportunity for him to succeed."
- The Angels are among the clubs who seem lukewarm about the idea of the Astros' move to the AL West, writes DiGiovanna.
Cubs Offer Dale Sveum Position As Manager
10:10pm: The Cubs have offered Sveum the job as manager, tweets Heyman. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports notes (via Twitter) that the Red Sox, who are also considering Sveum, haven't made him an official offer.
10:03pm: Mike Maddux will most likely drop out of the running for the Cubs managerial opening due to family matters, tweets MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. As such, all signs are pointing to Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum for the job, as Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets.
Sveum is the only candidate the Cubs have interviewed twice in person so far, and Heyman notes (on Twitter) that Larry Lucchino's comments about potentially expanding the Red Sox managerial search could be another indication that Sveum will end up on the Cubs' bench in 2012.
In addition to Sveum and Maddux, the Cubs are also considering Pete Mackanin, DeMarlo Hale, and Sandy Alomar Jr.
McLane Confirms Astros Will Move To AL West In 2013
Drayton McLane confirmed to reporters, including Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link), that the Astros will be moving to the American League West for 2013. McLane added that the Astros' sale is on the agenda for the owners' meetings tomorrow, at which point Jim Crane is expected to be approved as the team's new owner.
More links on the Astros and the rest of the clubs they'll compete with in the NL Central for one more year:
- McLane said he's "kind of sad" to be moving on, but that the Astros will have a "very good" owner in Crane, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
- Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press reports that Major League Baseball told Crane it wouldn't approve his purchase of the Astros unless he agreed to move the team to the AL.
- The Reds "made good progress" with Brandon Phillips' agent today, though no long-term deal is imminent yet, tweets Jon Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
- MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has the latest details on the Cubs' managerial search.
Quick Hits: Sizemore, Ponson, Braves
Wednesday afternoon linkage as the news continues to fly in from the Milwaukee meetings..
- A number of teams remain in play for Grady Sizemore including the Giants, Rockies, Cubs, Red Sox, Rangers, Mariners, and Nationals, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
- The Athletics met with Sidney Ponson's agent today, a source tells Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter).
- Braves GM Frank Wren and agent Adam Katz are now meeting in Milwaukee, tweets MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith. Katz is a part of Wasserman Media Group and represents a number of players, including Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. To view WMG's client list, check out MLBTR's Agency Database.
GM Meetings Notes: Kelly Johnson, Carlos Zambrano
Here are some notes from the GM Meetings as team owners and presidents check in to Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel in anticipation of the quarterly Owners Meetings:
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is strongly considering re-signing free agent second baseman Kelly Johnson. “There’s a lot of scenarios and ways that we could go and bringing Kelly back is certainly one of them,” Anthopoulos said. He declined to comment on possible changes to the Elias rankings system, but it’s something the Blue Jays will monitor closely given the many ranked free agents they have this offseason. Johnson is a Type A free agent, but he may become a Type B under the upcoming CBA.
- The Blue Jays would like to add starting pitching, but they don’t intend to force an acquisition, since they consider it more of a want than a need. “If we can get a front-to-mid-rotation starter, we’d love to do that,” Anthopoulos told MLBTR. “At the same time I think every team would tell you the same thing. Everyone’s going to look for that.”
- Carlos Zambrano met with Cubs president Theo Epstein this week to discuss his future with the team. GM Jed Hoyer says the Cubs are still in the process of determining how the right-hander fits in to the 2012 plan. “He’s in very good shape,” Hoyer said. “He had a very good lunch with Theo the other day. He’s had some incidents here — we can’t ignore the past, but at the same time we talked about a lot of things we can do. It’s too early to make a decision, but so far it’s been positive.”
Cubs Willing To Listen On Everyone
The Cubs are telling teams they'll listen to trade offers on everyone this winter while trying to rebuild the team to be competitive in the future, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports tweeted something very similar around the same time, so perhaps the Cubs are trying to get the word out. ESPN's Buster Olney also joined in, saying Sean Marshall and Matt Garza figure to draw the most interest between now and July 31st.
The concept of listening to offers for any player is not unexpected for new Cubs president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer, and marks a change from Jim Hendry's reported summer stance of not listening on players he thought could help him in 2012. Still, a team drawing three million fans a year doesn't often embark on a full-on offseason rebuilding effort. The Cubs certainly haven't done that anytime recently. Hoyer isn't afraid to make an unpopular decision, though, having traded Adrian Gonzalez for prospects months after his Padres nearly won the NL West. And even after trading Gonzalez, Hoyer made a series of moves designed to keep the team competitive in 2011. The Cubs aren't ruling out anything at this point, Hoyer told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.
Garza, 27, could be one of the best available starters this offseason. He's made 30 starts each of the last four years, has AL East experience, and struck out a career-best 197 this year with the move to the NL. He's under team control for two more years, though his salary could approach $9MM in 2012 and will likely enter eight figures in '13. Marshall is under contract for $3.1MM in 2012 and eligible for free agency after that. With a 2.45 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, and 0.2 HR/9 over the last two years, he's become an elite reliever capable of a Mike Adams-like bounty.
Bruce Chen Weighing Multiyear Offers
Lefty Bruce Chen has multiyear offers, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. He says the Royals and Cubs are among the teams talking to Chen, with the Royals perhaps focused on him.
Chen, a 34-year-old Scott Boras client, has never had a multiyear deal in his career. This year for the Royals he posted a 3.77 ERA, 5.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9, and 34.6% groundball rate in 155 innings.
Quick Hits: Phillips, Kuroda, Ortiz, Wood, Counsell
It's been a busy first day of the GM meetings, but we don't want to let anything fall through the cracks. Here's a collection of assorted links from throughout the day:
- The Reds don't intend to make Brandon Phillips available in a trade, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
- Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers confirms a rumor we'd heard about previously, telling MLB.com's Ken Gurnick that his team has interest in Hiroki Kuroda.
- The Red Sox aren't the only team meeting with David Ortiz's agent tonight. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that the Orioles will also meet with Fern Cuza, and could be interested in Ortiz as well. GM Dan Duquette noted that Cuza also represents Vladimir Guerrero, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com.
- Former Angels pitching coach Marcel Lachemann has rejoined the team as an assistant to new GM Jerry Dipoto, says Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
- Earlier this week, we heard the Angels were eyeing right-handed relief help. DiGiovanna has more details on their search, naming Octavio Dotel, Todd Coffey, and Matt Capps as some possible targets.
- Cubs GM Jed Hoyer will explore the possibility of bringing back Kerry Wood, says MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.
- At U.S.S. Mariner, Dave Cameron explains why he doesn't think the Mariners should open their wallets to sign Prince Fielder.
- Craig Counsell is open to both playing and "non-playing" offers, tweets Tom Haudicourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Counsell isn't necessarily leaning toward retirement, but would seriously consider it for the right non-playing opportunity.
Cubs, Buehrle’s Agent Have Had Multiple Discussions
The Cubs have had multiple discussions with Mark Buehrle's agent Jeff Berry, a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Berry also met with Marlins earlier today. Morosi sums up the other interested clubs: the White Sox, Blue Jays, Royals, Angels, Nationals, and Diamondbacks.
Earlier in November, we heard that the Cubs would have interest in the longtime White Sox pitcher "if the price tag and years aren't astronomical." Considering the number of Buehrle rumors we've heard so far this offseason, there appears to be plenty of competition, but we don't have a clear idea yet of the years and dollars the lefty might be offered.