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Red Sox Notes: Buchholz, Gonzalez, Ellsbury, Okajima

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Here's the latest on the Red Sox, including some continued fallout from the blockbuster Adrian Gonzalez deal…

  • The Red Sox are interested in adding a complementary right-handed bat, GM Theo Epstein tells Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald (Twitter link).
  • The Red Sox have offered Taylor Buchholz a minor league deal and are one of 12 teams to express interest in the right-hander, according to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.
  • Felix Doubront, Jed Lowrie, and Jacoby Ellsbury's names were all discussed in the Boston/San Diego trade talks, says John Tomase of the Boston Herald.  Ellsbury was the only one that drew much interest from the Padres, but they decided against him since Ellsbury's forthcoming arbitration raise would make him too expensive and a trade candidate himself in the near future.
  • Also from Tomase, both Chicago teams were "finalists" for Gonzalez and were offering at least one major league player in their trade packages.  Ultimately, San Diego decided that it preferred the prospects in Boston's offer.
  • John Boggs, Gonzalez's agent, talks to WEEI.com's D.J. Bean about the contract extension negotiations that nearly held up the trade on the weekend.  "We’re not working in a spirit to get [the Red Sox] by the jugular or squeeze every nickel, or set a precedent-setting deal," Boggs said.
  • The agent for Hideki Okajima tells ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes (Twitter link) that he will talk with the Red Sox "soon," though there has been "pretty strong" interest in Okajima from some other clubs.
  • It's not often the Red Sox are priced out of a signing, but FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says Jayson Werth's contract with Washington may have made Carl Crawford too expensive for Boston's liking, especially since the Sox now have to fit a Gonzalez extension ("the parameters" for which are $154MM over seven years) into their budget.  The Red Sox may instead focus on acquiring relievers or finding a cheaper outfield option, like trading for Josh Willingham.
  • Adrian Beltre's asking price is $85MM over five years, Rosenthal reports.  Boston would be interested in re-signing the third baseman if "the market for Beltre collasped," but the plan is to play Kevin Youkilis at third with Gonzalez taking over at first.  Rosenthal says the Red Sox aren't considering moving Youkilis to left field to make room for Beltre.

Nightengale On Gonzalez, Beckham, Mariners

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The Red Sox have a preliminary agreement to sign Adrian Gonzalez to a seven-year extension worth $154MM, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale. The possible deal, which Ken Rosenthal anticipated earlier today, probably won't be announced until April because of MLB's luxury tax.

The White Sox, a runner-up in the Gonzalez sweepstakes, offered Gordon Beckham and prospects to the Padres, according to Nightengale (Twitter links). Nightengale reports that the Mariners were the other finalist for the slugging first baseman.

Odds & Ends: Nishioka, Uggla, Soriano, Wigginton

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The typical Winter Meetings barrage of links…

White Sox, Konerko Talking

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MONDAY, 1:15am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that Monday's meeting will involve Konerko's agent and assistant GM Rick Hahn. With the Orioles viewed as the only other serious suitor for Konerko, there's a "strong feeling" the White Sox will get a deal done as early as this week.

SUNDAY, 9:29pm: Reinsdorf will do anything he can to re-sign Konerko, a source tells Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com.

1:42pm: A deal between Konerko and the White Sox will probably happen but nothing is imminent, sources tell Buster Olney of ESPN (via Twitter).

1:34pm: Konerko won't be meeting with White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf tomorrow, only his agent Craig Landis will, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Rosenthal believes that the two sides will reach an accord, though they're not close just yet.

12:58pm: Jerry Reinsdorf and Paul Konerko are very close, according to Jon Heyman of SI (via Twitter).  The slugger and White Sox chairman are scheduled to meet tomorrow.

Re-signing Konerko would cap off an incredibly busy week for the White Sox who also reeled in Adam Dunn and retained A.J. Pierzynski.  On Friday GM Kenny Williams told reporters that both Dunn and Pierzynski will accept deferred payment on their newly minted contracts, giving the club the ability to make Konerko a solid offer.

Odds & Ends: Hardy, Punto, Dunn, Marlins, Lee

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Some items to wrap up the week…

Execs Think Konerko Will Stay With White Sox

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"Competing execs" think Paul Konerko will ultimately re-sign with the White Sox for around $13MM per season, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.  Konerko's close relationship with owner Jerry Reinsdorf is cited as a main factor.

The Cubs, Orioles and Rangers have all been mentioned as suitors for Konerko this winter, and the Orioles have made Konerko an offer.  Still, moving elsewhere could be a tough call for Konerko given his ties to the White Sox and the fact that the team seems to be doing all it can to find payroll space for him.  Adam Dunn and A.J. Pierzynski deferred money from their contracts just so the Sox could have more cash available in 2011 to re-sign Konerko.  "They literally put their money where their mouth is so we can put a better offer on the table for Paulie," GM Kenny Williams told MLB.com's Scott Merkin.

Braves Acquire Scott Linebrink

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The Braves acquired Scott Linebrink and $3.5MM from the White Sox for minor league pitcher Kyle Cofield. Linebrink, 34, posted a 4.40 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 57 1/3 innings for the White Sox in 2010. He's entering the final year of the four-year, $19MM deal he signed before the 2008 season and will earn $5.5MM in 2011. 

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports broke the story (Twitter links) and MLB.com's Mark Bowman reported the amount of cash changing hands (on Twitter).

The Braves selected Cofield in the eighth round of the 2005 draft. The 23-year-old right-hander spent most of the 2010 season at Double-A, where he posted a 4.39 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 55 1/3 innings. Baseball America ranked Cofield 24th among Braves prospects before the season, noting that he has a low 90s fastball and a plus curveball that he struggles to command. 

White Sox Sign Adam Dunn

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The White Sox added one of the game's most consistent sluggers today, locking Adam Dunn up to a four-year $56MM deal. The team has officially announced the deal.

Dunn settled for a two-year, $20MM deal when he last hit free agency, but his representation at Legacy Sports was aggressive this time, setting their client up with the biggest contract so far this offseason and nearly tripling the value of Dunn's previous deal.

Dunn has hit 38 or more homers in each of the past seven seasons. He boasts a career .250/.381/.521 line with 354 home runs in ten seasons. Few players are as durable as the 31-year-old, who has appeared in 150 or more games in eight of nine seasons since becoming a regular.

It's not clear how often Dunn will play in the field, but that likely depends on Chicago's pursuit of free agent first baseman Paul Konerko. Dunn appeared reluctant to be a full-time DH despite criticisms of his defensive play.

The Nationals, who discussed extensions with the slugger all season long, will obtain a supplementary first rounder plus Chicago's 23rd overall pick in next year's draft. Adam LaRoche and Carlos Pena are Washington's most likely first base targets, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter).

Crasnick reported that the White Sox had serious interest in Dunn, Jon Heyman of SI.com reported that the sides were closing in on a deal and Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times reported the terms of the contract. Peter Gammons of MLB Network and Bob Nightengale of USA Today also reported elements of the story on Twitter.

Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Olney On Crawford, Berkman, Konerko

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The Angels are seen as the favorites to sign Carl Crawford and we know the Red Sox met with him and his representatives, but it looks like at least one more American League team has strong interest in the left fielder. ESPN.com's Buster Olney has the details:

  • The Yankees are very much engaged in conversations with Crawford, though it's unclear whether they have the flexibility to spend on him and Cliff Lee (Twitter links). The Yankees plan to set up a meeting with Crawford, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).
  • The A's are targeting Lance Berkman enthusiastically, but they haven't started talking salary with him (Twitter link).
  • The White Sox still appear to be the favorites to sign Paul Konerko, Olney writes. The Orioles and Cubs appear to be in on the first baseman, but the Diamondbacks may no longer be bidding for him.
  • Olney says the Nationals missed out on a chance to extend Adam Dunn or recoup more value for him. 
  • Olney boldly predicts that the Yankees will reach an agreement with Derek Jeter today.

American League Non-Tenders

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This post will list all the American League players non-tendered today, but the best place to track all 200+ arbitration eligible players is our new non-tender tracker.

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