LaRue’s Latest: Manny, Ibanez, Putz
Larry LaRue of The News Tribune has several new rumors…
- Scott Boras has floated an asking price for Manny Ramirez that begins at $27MM per year. It seems that the Dodgers may be willing to offer that salary for two years, but Boras wants a significantly longer term.
- The Cubs and Mets expressed interest to Raul Ibanez‘s agent. Does this mean the Cubs are comfortable with the idea of Ibanez in right field?
- The Tigers crave a closer, and J.J. Putz may be a target. Putz will earn $5MM in ’09 with an $8.6MM option for ’10.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Fielder, Beimel, Eckstein
Ken Rosenthal is on the scene at the GM meetings, and as usual has all kinds of new info.
- The Brewers are unlikely to trade Prince Fielder, and reluctant to trade J.J. Hardy or Alcides Escobar. It’d be smart to retain those three players.
- Rosenthal still likes the Braves as the favorite for Jake Peavy, but wonders if the Cubs or another team could incorporate a third team to get it done.
- The Cubs will need to spend much of their available money on pitching, which may leave little payroll room for an outfielder like Bobby Abreu. They could backload contracts and move some of Jason Marquis‘ salary though.
- The Mets are interested in lefty reliever Joe Beimel, as well as usual suspects Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, and Kerry Wood. They also like Raul Ibanez.
- The Cardinals could move forward with a Ryan Ludwick/Colby Rasmus/Rick Ankiel outfield, or trade one of them. Ankiel, entering his contract year, seems most likely to go if Rasmus is ready.
- David Eckstein is marketing himself as a second baseman for 2009.
- Don’t look for the Phillies to move Shane Victorino in a Matt Holliday deal.
- The Cardinals and Nationals are not contenders for A.J. Burnett. Still no word on Burnett’s opt-out.
- The Marlins may wait until some of the top free agent starters sign before shopping Scott Olsen.
More Peavy: Yankees, Angels, Cubs
10:37pm: Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune comments on the Cubs’ interest in Peavy. There’s not much new here – if the Cubs can’t re-sign Ryan Dempster, they could take a crack at Peavy. Van Dyck has an unconfirmed rumor of a Cubs offer of Felix Pie, Ronny Cedeno, and others. The others would be pretty important in such a scenario.
Van Dyck makes a good point in that the Cubs might have to dive into the pool of second tier free agent starters if they can’t get Dempster or Peavy.
8:42pm: Padres GM Kevin Towers recently spoke to the press, stating that Jake Peavy has approved two AL teams in addition to his known five NL clubs. The Yankees and Angels are now possibilities. If there were to be any acceptable AL teams, it figured to be these two based on earlier rumblings.
NPB Rumors: Tazawa, Iwase, Iguchi
Some Japanese baseball-related rumors, courtesy of Patrick Newman at NPB Tracker:
- Seven teams have surfaced in Japanese media reports as suitors for free agent amateur pitcher Junichi Tazawa: the Red Sox, Braves, Mariners, Pirates, Tigers, Cubs, and Phillies. David O’Brien of the AJC says the Braves are "legit players" for Tazawa. The Red Sox are seen as the frontrunner, according to Paul Hoynes. Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald agrees that Boston is in the lead, and adds the Marlins to the mix.
- Reliever Hitoki Iwase will remain in Japan. Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka is a free agent, but may not necessarily come to MLB.
- So Taguchi and Tadahito Iguchi may return to Japan for the ’09 season.
- Saburo Ohmura is a 32 centerfielder with an eye on MLB. Newman tells me he profiles as more of a fourth outfielder.
Jake Peavy Rumors: Monday
12:08pm: Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says Towers still considers the Braves the best match for a Peavy trade. Cafardo says the Braves appear willing to trade shortstop Yunel Escobar. He adds that the Red Sox haven’t been ruled out but they’re far down the list.
9:35am: Padres GM Kevin Towers arrived early at the GM meetings, with trading Jake Peavy high on his to-do list. The latest from Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune:
- Towers is "focused on three" teams. Krasovic believes these to be the Cubs, Dodgers, and Braves. He’s matched up with Jim Hendry and Ned Colletti before, and has known Frank Wren for many years. It is believed that Towers would charge the Dodgers a premium for being in their division. The Braves do not want to include top prospects such as Tommy Hanson and Jason Heyward.
- Towers isn’t opposed to a three-team deal, but he’s never done one. He’d prefer to make a normal direct trade.
- Towers wants quality over quantity, saying the right two or three players could get it done.
Odds and Ends: Pudge, Ohman, Manny
Rounding up linkage for Monday…
- The Jays claimed two players off waivers: shortstop Angel Sanchez and pitcher Kelvin Jimenez.
- The Cubs and Nationals swapped minor leaguers. The Cubs sent pitcher Matt Avery to the Nats for another pitcher named Ryan Buchter.
- Good stuff from ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick – he surveyed 15 front-office people on the top stories of the offseason.
- One of a million conversations taking place at the GM meetings: Brian Cashman chatting with Walt Jocketty.
- Tony Massarotti’s top five lies told during free agency.
- Ken Davidoff names his top ten GMs.
- Joe Posnanski on the Mike Jacobs–Leo Nunez trade.
- River Ave. Blues explains why the Yankees should offer arbitration to Ivan Rodriguez.
- The official list of the 191 players eligible for free agency.
- The Braves hope to re-sign free agents Will Ohman, Greg Norton, and John Smoltz. The Smoltz situation may not be resolved until January.
- Tracy Ringolsby lists needs for every team.
- The Tigers signed an independent league lefty named Kris Regas to a minor league deal.
- John Shea says the Giants and A’s will consider the big-name free agent sluggers this winter.
- Padres GM Kevin Towers doesn’t see Manny Ramirez signing until Christmas time. He sees the New York and L.A. teams as suitors.
- Joe Sheehan proposes five radical offseason moves.
- The Cubs signed a couple of Korean players: catcher/outfielder Jae-hoon Ha and pitcher Soo-min Jung.
Dempster Will Test Open Market
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Ben Sheets, and Derek Lowe have some company at the top of the list of free agent starters this offseason. Ryan Dempster will not re-sign with the Cubs before hearing what other teams have to offer:
Dempster, 31, plans to test the open market, major-league sources say. He filed for free agency on Friday, and does not intend to sign with the Cubs before their exclusive negotiating period with him expires on Nov. 13.
After spending three years closing games for the Cubs, Dempster was tremendous in their rotation this year, posting a 17-6 record with a 2.96 ERA and 187 Ks to go along with just 76 walks through 206.2 IP.
The Cubs could certainly retain Dempster, but that task just became much more difficult, as many teams are looking to add starting pitching. Dempster could certainly fetch a very lucrative four-year deal on the open market, likely in excess of $60MM.
Rosenthal lists the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Angels as possible suitors. We also know that the Braves are looking to add at least two starters to their rotation this year.
Rosenthal also notes that if Dempster does sign elsewhere, it could increase the Cubs’ interest in San Diego ace Jake Peavy, though I still don’t feel like the Cubs have the pieces that the Padres are looking for in return for Peavy.
Cafardo’s Latest: Contract Swap Meet
The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo wonders:
"I never really understood why there aren’t more "swap meet" type deals in baseball. As in, ‘You take what I can’t use and I’ll take what you can’t use.’"
It’s a valid question if you believe a change of scenery can help a player and yet these deals rarely happen. Cafardo then goes on to list all of the players he considers "overpriced, underperforming, too old, or not useful to their present teams." Here’s the list:
Table 1, starting pitchers: Barry Zito (Giants); Dontrelle Willis and Nate Robertson (Tigers); Adam Eaton (Phillies); Carlos Silva, Miguel Batista, and Jarrod Washburn (Mariners); Daniel Cabrera (Orioles); Jeff Suppan (Brewers); Ian Kennedy and Kei Igawa (Yankees); Scott Olsen (Marlins).
Table 2, relief pitchers: Mike MacDougal (White Sox); Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoenweis (Mets); Jason Frasor (Blue Jays); Luis Vizcaino (Rockies); Kevin Gregg (Marlins); Justin Speier (Angels); Brandon Backe (Astros).
Table 3, infielders: Julio Lugo (Red Sox); Jack Wilson and Freddie Sanchez (Pirates); Scott Rolen (Blue Jays); Miguel Tejada (Astros); Melvin Mora (Orioles); Rickie Weeks and Bill Hall (Brewers); Mark Teahen and Ross Gload (Royals); Nick Johnson and Dmitri Young (Nationals); Luis Castillo (Mets).
Table 4, catchers: Yorvit Torrealba (Rockies); Ramon Hernandez (Orioles); Bengie Molina (Giants); Kenji Johjima (Mariners).
Table 5, outfielders: David Dellucci (Indians); Eric Byrnes (Diamondbacks); Nick Swisher (White Sox); Dave Roberts and Randy Winn (Giants); Kosuke Fukudome and Alfonso Soriano (Cubs); Gary Sheffield (Tigers); Gary Matthews Jr. (Angels); Austin Kearns and Wily Mo Pena (Nationals); Jeremy Hermida and Josh Willingham (Marlins); Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, and Melky Cabrera (Yankees); Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones (Dodgers); Willy Taveras (Rockies); Jeff Francoeur (Braves).
Cafardo says the reason we don’t see more of these "swaps" is that GMs fear ridicule if these deals don’t pan out for them and that matching salaries can be tricky.
He cites a few examples: Julio Lugo for Nate Robertson or Dontrelle Willis as being a possible – this has been discussed here before as a longshot idea. Or what about Kosuke Fukudome for Gary Matthews?
See anything better?
Edmonds Plans On Playing Next Year
According to Buster Olney, Jim Edmonds intends on playing in 2009. His agent, Paul Cohen, told Olney that Edmonds is "definitely coming back."
Edmonds hit .256/.369/.568 for the Cubs this year after struggling with the Padres. He'll meet with Cohen to discuss his plans in the next few days. Lou Piniella has said that he plans on platooning Reed Johnson with Kosuke Fukudome in center field in 2009.
About a month ago, Edmonds was considering retirement, but Cohen says his client is ready to play again in 2009.
Cubs Decline Blanco’s Option
According to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cubs declined their $3MM option for 2009 on backup catcher Henry Blanco. However, the Cubs are expected to re-sign him at a lower salary. Blanco, 37, hit .292/.325/.392 in 128 plate appearances as Geovany Soto‘s backup and mentor.