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Crasnick’s Latest: Kuroda, Marquis, Morris

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ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick has an in-depth look at the pitching market.  I’ll highlight a few new tidbits.

  • Hiroki Kuroda might require four years, as some teams are viewing him as the best available free agent starter.
  • Scott Boras might wait out the market a bit and then push for five years for Kyle Lohse.  That’s right, five years for Kyle Lohse.
  • Matt Clement to the Reds is a possibility I hadn’t considered.  Clement did pitch for Dusty Baker with the Cubs.
  • Crasnick reports there would be huge interest in Mark Prior if the Cubs non-tender him.  As in, pretty much every team in baseball.  Crasnick’s source indicates that Prior and the Cubs don’t have the best relationship.
  • Crasnick spoke to Doug Melvin and confirmed that Claudio Vargas and Chris Capuano will not be non-tendered.  But they could definitely be traded.
  • The Cubs are listening to offers for Jason Marquis, who is owed $16.25MM over 2008-09.  So maybe they are still in on Kuroda.
  • New Pirates GM Neal Huntington is shopping Dave Littlefield’s mistake, Matt Morris.  Morris makes $9.5MM in ’08 and would be owed a $1MM buyout in ’09.

Unfounded Rumor: Kaz Matsui

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UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 10:45am: Buster Olney says talks for Matsui are indeed picking up, and the Cubs are in the thick of things.  He notes that if a team is dead set on acquiring a left-handed hitting middle infielder, its options are limited.  It’s possible the Astros are still talking to Matsui.

FROM 11-28-07 at 8:30am:

Since last night, about a dozen people have emailed me about a supposed Denver radio station report.  This report purportedly claimed Kaz Matsui had signed with the Cubs for three years and $14MM.

However, none of the emailers had actually heard the report with their own two ears.  Details are slim – no one knows who actually said it on air.  While the rumor sounds reasonable, it may be made up or a contortion of the truth.  It may also be accurate – we don’t know yet.

One sign that the hot stove season has officially kicked in is the spreading of unverifiable radio rumors.  These are slippery because they’re very difficult to confirm but have an air of authority to them.  That makes radio rumors easy to fabricate and spread around the ’Net.  I’ve also seen many cases where radio personalities were clearly speculating, but a few games of telephone later and they were talking about actual offers.

All that said, radio reports have value when verified.  For instance Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio 1000 out of Chicago scooped everyone on the Kerry Wood and Scott Linebrink signings.

Cubs May Trade Mark Prior

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Three articles about the Cubs’ Mark Prior situation came out today – Buster Olney, Paul Sullivan, and Gordon Wittenmyer.  The Cubs have until December 12th to make a decision one way or another – that date is the last day for teams to offer 2008 contracts to unsigned players.

The Cubs may try to keep Prior and see if they can salvage anything.  He hasn’t taken a big league mound since August 10, 2006, when he got knocked around by the Brewers.  What the Cubs don’t want is to bring Prior back for 2008, see him rebuild value, and then have him jump ship after the season.  Instead they want an option for 2009 tacked on.  The least the Cubs can sign him for ’08 is $2.86MM.  Prior won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2009 season since he accrued no MLB service time this year.  So I’m not sure why the Cubs would be terribly concerned with ’09 since they would control him for that year anyway.   UPDATE: From what I’m hearing he is a free agent after ’08 after all.

As Buster Olney notes, the Cubs also have the option of trading Prior right now.  Then his new team can deal with the contract situation.    There’s definitely a little bit of low-cost upside there, and the Padres are said to be interested. 

The third option is to non-tender Prior, which seems dumb to me.  It’d be better to keep him around for one more year at $3MM.

Cubs Sign Kerry Wood

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UPDATE, 11-26-07 at 1:45pm: It’s official, and it’s worth $4.2MM plus another possible $3.45MM in incentives.  Ryan Dempster’s move to the rotation is official, and it looks like the Cubs may not pursue another starter (they had been linked to Hiroki Kuroda).

FROM 11/26/07 at 11:50am:

According to Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio 1000, the Cubs have signed Kerry Wood to a one-year, $4MM deal with no options.  Wood apparently had four other offers for two years worth $5-6MM.  The Padres, Brewers, and Red Sox were among them.

I like the lack of risk here; it’s hard to find a reliever with Wood’s upside for one year.  I really thought he’d get two years, $10MM.  Of course, I am biased as a Cubs fan.  We all know Wood remains a significant injury risk.

Odds and Ends: Santana, Hunter

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Let’s kick off the morning with some odds and ends, absent any earth-shattering rumors.  I’ll keep adding to this post.

  • Awesome inside look at the Torii Hunter deal via Bob Nightengale.  Hunter’s first choice outside of Minnesota was the Cardinals, but they weren’t interested.
  • Hunter – not overpaid?  So says J.C. Bradbury.
  • Still some confusion about Johan Santana’s no-trade clause.  Buster Olney says it’s full and doesn’t indicate that the rights change on any certain date.  Matthew Cerrone says it’s a full NTC only until Opening Day ’08, when it switches to 12 teams.  Those are not mutually exclusive comments, so I guess we’ll see.
  • Phil Rogers doesn’t think the Cubs will re-sign Kerry Wood.  He also sees the Giants in the lead for Miguel Cabrera now.
  • My coworker Jonathan makes a good point – thought the Sox wouldn’t give four-year deals to pitchers?  They made a huge fuss over Mark Buehrle.  Suddenly Scott Linebrink is worthy of breaking the rule again?  Some are skeptical.
  • Bobby Kielty typically smacks around left-handed pitching (Brian Fuentes for example).  He’ll hook on as some team’s fourth outfielder as a free agent.  He’d like to return to Boston, but that would require a Coco Crisp trade. Rob Bradford names the Twins, Braves, Rangers, and White Sox as possibilities otherwise. 

Rockies Rumors: Herges, Torrealba

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Troy E. Renck has the Rockies hot stove buzz, as usual.

  • The Rockies are close with reliever Matt Herges, but other teams remain in the mix.  It’s known that Herges wants a two-year deal and the Brewers are interested.
  • The Rockies are also making progress on a deal with catcher Yorvit Torrealba.  The Mets saw something they didn’t like in Torrealba, so he’s come back to the Rockies to talk.  Renck says the Rockies had previously offered two years and $7MM with a vesting option for 2010 (seems reasonable).  Now they might be able to get him without guaranteeing that third year.
  • Renck says Kaz Matsui may sign with the Cubs or Astros next week.  Matsui has priced himself out of the Rockies’ range.

Cubs Rumors: Wood, Matsui, Crawford

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The Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan has the latest on the Cubs this morning.

  • It’s been known for a few days now that the Red Sox like the idea of adding Kerry Wood as their setup man.  Sullivan confirms the interest, and quotes Cubs GM Jim Hendry saying Wood is "getting a lot of action around the industry."  In a pitching-starved market, teams will convince themselves Wood can stay healthy and dominant.  Sullivan speculates that it could take multiple years at $5MM per.  To see a team go 3/15 would not shock me.
  • Kaz Matsui is still on the Cubs’ radar for a three-year deal.  They could consider using him at shortstop or second base.  Two days ago Tracy Ringolsby had said Matsui "appeared headed to the Astros," but Ken Rosenthal chimed in noting the Cubs and Rockies are ahead of Houston in the Matsui derby.  Hendry met with Matsui yesterday, but no deal is imminent.
  • A left-handed hitting outfielder remains on Hendry’s wish list.  Carl Crawford hasn’t yet been made available according to Sullivan, but the Cubs will surely look into it if he is.  Kosuke Fukudome remains a possibility as well.  Bruce Miles adds Ryan Church to the mix.
  • The Cubs expect to increase payroll beyond last year’s $110MM.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Bonds, Broussard, Hunter, Rowand, More

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We missed an installment from good ol’ Kenny Rosenthal yesterday. He’s back today in full force (unlike another great rumor source, Buster Olney, who posted nothing really new in his blog today).

  • The A’s, once considered the best bet for Barry Bonds, are no longer interested in the indicted slugger. Rosenthal thinks it’s likely that Bond’s trial will start after Opening Day, causing him to miss time regardless of the verdict. And then there’s the whole prison issue.
  • The Rangers spoke to the Mariners at the GM meetings regarding the availability of Ben Broussard. Talks didn’t really go anywhere, since Broussard is a non-tender candidate. The Mariners might not be too keen on offering Broussard a raise over the $3.55 million he made last year, in which he managed just 264 plate appearances.
  • Teams, including the Dodgers, might be more interested in Aaron Rowand over Torii Hunter because of one year and $30 million. Rowand is seeking five years, $60 million, while Hunter wants six and $90 mil. Hunter is far more proven a commodity, though, and is more athletic than Rowand. The negative in Hunter’s corner is that he’s two years older than Rowand.
  • He mentions that the Cubs are interested in Luis Castillo and Kaz Matsui, both switch hitters, to play second base next year. The Astros and Mets are also in on Castillo, while the Rockies would like to re-sign Kaz — though they have a number of internal candidates, including Ian Stewart.
  • The Padres are considering offering arbitration to Mike Cameron and Mike Barrett. Barrett seems like a no-brainer. He’s a Type A free agent, and would probably be worth a one-year deal. He could be pricey, though, as Ivan Rodriguez and Jorge Posada are making $13 million or more. Cameron also makes sense. The Padres still need a center fielder for 2008, and they’d do well to sign Cam to a one-year deal should he accept arbitration. Otherwise, the supplemental pick would be nice.
  • Reggie Sanders will consider retirement if he can’t land a deal with the Dodgers, Giants, or Padres. Sanders missed most of the 2007 season with hamstring problems.

Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.

Law: Top 10 Trade Candidates

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Keith Law, a favorite here at MLBTR and at home home, River Ave. Blues, has posted an article on 10 potential trade candidates off-season. It seems that if anything big does go down this off-season, it will be in the form of a trade, since the FA market is particularly weak. So who does Law have in mind?

The most surprising name on the list is the Blue Jays’ Adam Lind. Law believes that with the next year’s financial commitments to Frank Thomas, Lyle Overbay, and now Matt Stairs, there is no obvious spot for Lind, and he’ll have to win a job in Spring Training — which he could most certainly do. It seems a bit foolish to trade a 24-year-old because of a couple of short-term financial commitments, most notably in the case of Stairs, who will be making a paltry $1 million in 2009. J.P. Ricciardi has done stranger things, though.

Another strange name is Ben Broussard, who figures to at least have a shot at being non-tendered. Law notes his favorable platoon splits against righties and figures he can help a team fill out a position. But since the Mariners already have Richie Sexson and Jose Vidro under contract, and are looking to get Adam Jones some more playing time, there doesn’t seem a logical spot for Broussard.

Law also brings up David DeJesus and Coco Crisp, often mentioned around these parts, as well as Andy LaRoche and, despite the trade of Jacques Jones, Matt Murton.

As a Yanks fan, I have to be at least a little curious at the inclusion of Cliff Lee. With Andy Pettitte’s career at the most a year from ending, and with the further possibility that he’s thrown his last pitch, the Yanks are going to need a lefty starter. Might as well inquire on Lee, as his not-so-stellar 2007 has significantly decreased his value.

Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog.

Odds and Ends: Kendall, Matsui, Fukumori

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Here are some non A-Rod/Lowell rumors from today…

  • MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy says the Brewers are interested in Jason Kendall.  Kendall is somehow seeking a two-year deal.  The Rockies are in on him as well.  The Brewers still have Johnny Estrada, but they’re not happy with him.  He could be traded or non-tendered.
  • WGN Radio’s Dave Kaplan reported that the Cubs could complete a contract with second baseman Kaz Matsui this week.  It’d be a multiyear deal; not sure if the Cubs would have to go three years on it.  This would be an indefensible signing.  UPDATE: A source of Troy E. Renck’s believes the Cubs may have offered something close to three years, $14.4MM.
  • East Windup Chronicle profiles free agent reliever Kazuo Fukumori.  The Rockies, Royals, Rays, and Red Sox are said to be interested in him.

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