Mets, Phillies, Dodgers Interested In Ibanez
According to Ken Davidoff of Newsday, the Mets, Phillies, and Dodgers have expressed interest in free agent outfielder Raul Ibanez. Ibanez would replace Pat Burrell in Philly, and is a backup plan for the Dodgers if they fail to sign Manny Ramirez. The Cubs and Royals may also get involved, but both clubs face payroll limitations currently.
Interest from four NL clubs means Ibanez could remain an outfielder for his age 37-39 seasons, a dicey proposition. He allowed 18 more bases than the average left fielder in 2008, according to the plus/minus system. Ibanez hit .293/.358/.479 in 707 plate appearances, earning just $5.5MM in the last year of his contract. He should be able to double his salary in ’09.
Jake Peavy Rumors: Wednesday
Dan Hayes of the North County Times talked to Jake Peavy‘s agent Barry Axelrod, who said there are "probably six or eight more teams we’d be willing to look at" beyond Peavy’s initial preferred five.
Some suggest the Cubs are still in play; MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat says talks have ended. No other team is generating buzz. The Braves certainly have the goods, if they’re willing to up their offer (and give Peavy a full no-trade clause).
Cubs Rumors: Marquis, Furcal, Peavy
The Cubs re-signed Ryan Dempster yesterday; what’s next? They’ve got one of the game’s most expensive rotations, yet could add another starter. They’re also projecting to exceed a $130MM payroll, so GM Jim Hendry will need to be creative.
- Joel Sherman expects the Cubs to try to trade Jason Marquis, who is owed $9.875MM in 2009.
- Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun-Times runs through the options for a lefthanded/switch-hitting bat.
- Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune says the Cubs spoke to Rafael Furcal‘s agent, though nothing is serious yet. Furcal was very nearly a Cub in 2006. Sullivan says the Cubs are still in on Jake Peavy and Randy Johnson.
- Padres GM Kevin Towers said yesterday (before the Dempster signing) that it was down to just the Cubs in the Peavy talks. Towers says a third or fourth team would be necessary to find a match on players.
Dempster Signing Reactions
Yesterday the Cubs signed free agent pitcher Ryan Dempster to a four-year, $52 million deal (the last year is a player option). Dempster also talked to the Blue Jays, Braves, Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets. Reactions to the deal:
- Newsday’s Ken Davidoff says it "doesn’t seem like a great investment in a 31-year-old without a proven history as a starting pitcher."
- Umpbump’s Paul Moro says "Although he’s on the wrong side of 30, I think that this will be one of the saner deals this offseason."
- Bleed Cubbie Blue says, "Good clubhouse guys aren’t easy to find, and when you have one like Dempster who gets it, in addition to being dedicated to his craft and staying in shape so he can continue to perform at the high level he did in 2008, you keep him."
- Sabernomics says, "Are teams really thinking this guy is a legitimate front-of-the-rotation starter worth $13 million a season for the next four years? … 2008 screams ‘fluke!’"
- ESPN’s Rob Neyer (whose blog is now free) says, "Dempster gave up only 14 home runs in 2008. I don’t believe that number is sustainable."
- Dave Cameron likes the deal for the Cubs, noting that the contract assumes Dempster regresses.
- Ken Rosenthal notes that the Cubs had extra appeal to Dempster because he has 10-and-5 rights with them.
- Dempster has a backloaded contract, but my math says the Cubs will now be above $130MM after arbitration raises. Payroll is expected to rise at least slightly from the $130MM level, but the Cubs don’t have much room in the budget for that lefthanded bat right now.
Tim Dierkes also contributed to this post.
Cubs Targeting Teahen
9:51pm: MLB.com’s Dick Kaegel has a source saying Dayton Moore and Jim Hendry have not discussed a deal for Teahen or David DeJesus. Moore wouldn’t comment publicly on the rumor, while Teahen and his agent are unaware of any trade talks. Still, check out Rany Jazayerli’s thoughts on the rumor.
5:02pm: More fallout from the Ryan Dempster signing. The Kansas City Star’s Bob Dutton is reporting the Cubs are once again targeting Mark Teahen to fill their right field vacancy. Dutton says discussions to acquire Teahen "stalled earlier this month, in part, because the Cubs’ wanted to hold onto several young players while discussing a possible trade with San Diego for pitcher Jake Peavy if Dempster signed elsewhere."
Now that Dempster is on board, acquiring a left handed hitting outfield bat is the Cubs’ highest priority. But who would the Cubs trade for Teahen?
The Cubs want to move Japanese import Kosuke Fukudome, but that’s a tough sell — to any team, not just the Royals — because he slumped badly last season over the closing months and is owed $38 million over the next three years.
A more-likely possibility is Felix Pie, a 23-year-old once viewed as a can’t-miss prospect. Pie batted just .223 in 260 at-bats with the Cubs over the last two years after posting strong minor-league numbers.
[snip]
The Cubs can also offer shortstop Ronny Cedeno or second baseman Mike Fontenot if the Royals prefer to acquire a middle-infield partner for Mike Aviles.
Pie is also out of options and the Cubs seem to have run out of patience, so he is a likely trade candidate. Teahen, meanwhile, has yet to live up to the hype that surrounded his promotion to the big leagues, but he could blossom hitting against weaker NL pitching. Teahen, you might remember, was one of the featured players in the book "Moneyball" and was described as a future Jason Giambi.
Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com and can be reached here.
Cubs Re-Sign Dempster
3:45pm: ESPN is reporting details of the contract. Dempster gets a $4 million signing bonus, $8MM in 2009, $12.5MM in 2010, $13.5MM in 2011, and a $14MM player option for 2012. He can make additional money based on awards. Looks like the Cubs backloaded the deal to leave payroll room.
11:51am: Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times also says there’s a four-year, $52MM agreement and Dempster will sign the deal today. I consider this an acceptable price. There’s a health risk, but Dempster already had Tommy John surgery. He can probably maintain an ERA below 4.00.
11:47am: Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger has a source saying the Cubs and Dempster have agreed on a four-year, $52MM deal.
11:24am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Cubs are "making progress" on a deal with Dempster.
10:50am: Rosenthal says the deal would be worth "slightly more than $50 million."
9:53am: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Cubs are close to re-signing Ryan Dempster to a four-year contract. Depending on their ownership situation, the Cubs may still pursue Jake Peavy or Randy Johnson. They could also be in the mix for Rafael Furcal.
Odds and Ends: Tazawa, Boras, Cuban
Links for Tuesday…
- Scouts from the Tigers and Indians visited Junichi Tazawa yesterday.
- This week’s chat has been pushed to Wednesday at 2pm CST.
- I chatted with The Baseball Opinion on November 10th.
- Patrick Newman compares Kenshin Kawakami and Hiroki Kuroda.
- Jesse Spector talks to D’Backs GM Josh Byrnes.
- Ken Davidoff explains the semantics games often played by agents, GMs, and journalists.
- Peter Abraham makes free agent predictions.
- Chat with Scott Boras at USA Today on Wednesday at 10am CST. You can submit questions in advance.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman says Mark Cuban’s bid for the Cubs wasn’t high enough, anyway.
Yankees Rumors: Abreu, Burnett, Teixeira
George King of the New York Post and Kat O’Brien of Newsday have the latest on the Yankees, who are in hot pursuit of free agent starting pitching.
- The Yankees will offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu, according to Jon Heyman. No surprise there.
- King says the Yankees are preparing an offer for A.J. Burnett, "perhaps a five-year deal worth about $80 million." Burnett’s agent says they’re just discussing parameters. It would be a strong offer, dwarfing the Blue Jays’ four years, $54MM. ESPN’s Buster Olney believes a fifth guaranteed year will ultimately result in the winning bid for Burnett.
- The Yankees may make an offer to Derek Lowe soon; they’ve reached out to Scott Boras regarding him. Other Lowe suitors: the Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets, and Rangers. O’Brien adds that the Yanks expressed interest in Mark Teixeira to Boras (despite the Nick Swisher acquisition). The Orioles are also in on in Tex.
- King talked to a "baseball exec" who sees the Cubs re-signing Ryan Dempster at four years, $52MM.
- Andy Pettitte‘s agent doesn’t want a pay cut from this year’s $16MM.
- The expectation is still for Mike Mussina to retire; we may know this week.
- The Yankees aren’t in on Jake Peavy, as evidenced by Kevin Towers’ comments last night. Rick Sutcliffe and Mark Grace have been pitching the Cubs to Peavy, though the hangup seems more about which players the Chicago would send to San Diego.
- The Yanks have an offer of about six years, $140MM on the table for C.C. Sabathia, and he’s mulling it over (somewhere).
Rosenthal’s Latest: Griffey, Peavy, Dempster
A look at the latest column from FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal:
- Rosenthal wonders if Jason Varitek‘s viral sickness and divorce last year contributed to his poor performance at the plate.
- Ken Griffey Jr.‘s wife gave him her blessing to play anywhere he’d like. If he’s focused on getting a ring, Seattle might not make sense. Griffey’s doctor believes his knee will be in better shape in 2009.
- Padres GM Kevin Towers wonders if Jake Peavy would’ve accepted a trade to the Braves, given Atlanta’s club policy against no-trade clauses. Towers isn’t talking to the Braves, Dodgers, or Yankees about Peavy, and Rosenthal says he’s "not making much headway" with the Cubs. ESPN’s Peter Gammons says the Cubs’ loss of Jose Ceda lessens their chances, while Frank Wren still believes Peavy will end up a Brave.
- The Cubs hope to resolve the Ryan Dempster situation this week. The team wants to do a four-year deal.
- The Giants are still in on Juan Cruz after their Jeremy Affeldt signing.
- The Phillies gave Pat Burrell "parameters" for a new deal, while Rosenthal speculates on the Giants and Dodgers as other possible fits.
Odds & Ends: Kawakami, Renteria, Johnson, Ohman
A number of Odds & Ends for your weekend update:
- From Japanball.com, Kenshin Kawakami is filing for free agency.
- Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports the Cubs are considering Randy Johnson for a one year deal. The 45 year old lefty is a career 13-0 against the Cubs, 4-0 at Wrigley, and needs 5 wins to reach 300.
- The Cardinals are moving in on free agent Will Ohman, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and are reportedly interested in Jeremy Affeldt and Arthur Rhodes.
- In the same article, Goold suggests the Cards will stall on their efforts to pursue Edgar Renteria until after the Tigers decline their offer of arbitration, since signing the Type A free agent beforehand would result in any team losing a first round draft pick. So despite "mutual interest", don’t expect the Cardinals, or anyone, to sign Renteria before the second week of December. Matthew Leach of mlb.com notes there are a lot of free agent shortstop options.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says Giants are finding mutual interest in Rafael Furcal and Bobby Howry.
- Utility man Donnie Murphy signed a minor-league deal with the O’s – from Peter Schmuck’s blog.
- John Hickey at The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says M’s GM Jack Zduriencik expects Raul Ibanez to wait for Seattle to name it’s next manager before making any decisions.