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White Sox Shopping Vazquez, Swisher?

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8:43pm: Ken Davidoff says the Yankees had "extremely preliminary" talks with the Sox regarding Swisher.  Something to keep an eye on if the Yanks don’t sign Mark Teixeira.  Additionally, Davidoff says the White Sox are not anxious to unload Vazquez.

9:42am: According to Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune, the White Sox are aggressively shopping Javier Vazquez and Nick Swisher.  Additionally, the Sox reportedly have interest in Rockies center fielder Willy Taveras.

GM Ken Williams didn’t offer much info regarding possible trade talks.  Van Dyck speculates on names like Luis Castillo or Julio Lugo for Vazquez, seemingly suggesting Vazquez has a terrible contract too.  Hard to figure out, as he remains a useful mid-rotation starter. Sox Machine wants the abuse of logic to stop. 

Van Dyck wonders whether the A’s or Red Sox would have interest in Swisher, based on some tenuous Moneyball connection.  Joel Sherman believes Swisher could be a fit for the Yankees due to his versatility.  Williams replied in the negative when asked whether Swisher would play center field for the ’09 White Sox, which could be interpreted multiple ways.

Van Dyck says the Rockies wouldn’t have interest in Vazquez or Swisher, but rather a young pitcher like Lance Broadway for Taveras.

Red Sox Rumors: Bay, Tazawa, Kawakami, Lugo

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Collecting today’s Red Sox rumors and links…

  • Nick Cafardo says the Red Sox did not meet with C.C. Sabathia’s agent and he doesn’t appear to be in their plans.
  • The Sox are eyeing southpaw reliever Billy Traber, according to WEEI’s Alex Speier.
  • Scott Boras believes Derek Lowe would be a good fit in Boston or New York.  Nick Cafardo says Lowe would like to return to Boston, maybe even at a slight discount.
  • Jason Bay’s agents say he’s loving Boston and is open to a contract extension.
  • When asked about the possibility of Manny Ramirez signing with the Yankees, Red Sox GM Theo Epstein basically said it’s not his concern.
  • Otherwise, the theme of Epstein’s comments was flexibility.  Justin Masterson could be a starter or reliever, and Epstein won’t get hung up on acquiring any one player.
  • Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox are heavily involved on Junichi Tazawa, though the Braves and Mariners are after him as well.  The Sox also like Kenshin Kawakami and may have interest in Paul Byrd and Javier Vazquez.
  • Cafardo believes the Mets and White Sox have interest in Julio Lugo.  It would have to be a bad contract swap.  Cafardo adds that the Red Sox view Jacoby Ellsbury as their starting center fielder, and there has been trade interest in Coco Crisp.
  • Boston’s luxury tax threshold for 2009 is $160.5MM.
  • By tomorrow the Red Sox should receive the Jason Varitek book compiled by the Boras corporation.  Boras gave a ridiculous Varitek pitch to the media; click the link for quotes.  Epstein will meet with Boras today to discuss his clients.
  • The Red Sox plan to talk to the Rangers, with Taylor Teagarden, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Gerald Laird as possibilities.  For Teagarden, the Red Sox would probably have to give up Clay Buchholz or Michael Bowden.

Brown’s Latest: Teixeira, Crede, Friedman

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Yahoo’s Tim Brown filed a column late last night; let’s take a look.

  • Scott Boras doesn’t know of any kind of contingency where the Dodgers would have to unload Andruw Jones’ contract before signing Manny Ramirez.
  • The Angels have not yet made an offer to Mark Teixeira, but they’ll deal with that situation before moving on to other needs.  Boras is suggesting Teixeira pays for himself.
  • Boras compared Joe Crede to Magglio Ordonez.  I think he is implying that he may seek big money for Crede but allow a team to opt out after a year if he hits the DL for back problems.
  • Ken Williams spoke up manufacturing runs, while Billy Beane still prefers walks and homers.
  • Rays GM Andrew Friedman doesn’t have a contract, but he isn’t concerned.

Heyman’s Latest: Sabathia, Burnett, Matsui

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Here’s a look at the latest column from SI.com’s Jon Heyman.

  • C.C. Sabathia is the Yankees’ top offseason target, and they’ll make him an offer beyond Johan Santana’s $137.5MM.  Heyman also sees the Yanks pursuing A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe, and Oliver Perez (with Ben Sheets a less likely target).  Heyman’s sources believe the Yanks could even attempt to sign three free agent starters.
  • The Yankees aren’t counting on Mike Mussina, and may wait on him before considering Andy Pettitte.
  • Contradictory note from Heyman: the White Sox have no plans to try to keep Joe Crede or Juan Uribe, but might consider bringing Uribe back as a utility man.
  • Heyman dismisses vague rumors about Hideki Matsui trade talks.

Mets Interested In Javier Vazquez?

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10:34am: Sherman says Minaya is not high on Vazquez as he once was.  He heard the Mets might require the White Sox take Castillo’s contract, which would probably be a dealbreaker.

TUESDAY, 8:16am: Joel Sherman and Mike Puma of the New York Post talked to a Mets official who called the Vazquez idea a "pipe dream."  It’s difficult to see the White Sox taking Luis Castillo’s contract back in a trade; Vazquez’s value is not that low.

MONDAY: According to Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune, the Mets are interested in White Sox pitcher Javier Vazquez.  Van Dyck implies that the Sox could move top prospect Aaron Poreda into the rotation to replace him.

Vazquez has a connection to Omar Minaya, who traded him to the Yankees in December of 2003 as the Expos’ GM.  Vazquez is owed $23MM for 2009-10.  He’d give the Mets a pretty deep rotation.  Van Dyck doesn’t believe it’d take much if the Mets paid all of his salary.  Aaron Heilman could be a start.

Rockies Shopping Holliday, Atkins, Taveras

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9:11pm: According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves are not interested in Taveras after all.

10:47am: According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post and Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News, the Rockies are shopping Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins, and Willy Taveras.

Holliday, a Scott Boras client, is set to earn $13.5MM in 2009 before reaching free agency.  Ringolsby says the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Angels, Mets, and Phillies have shown interest. Renck has the Cardinals as a lurker.  The Nats may also be interested.  The Rockies will target young pitching in return.

Atkins is under team control for 2009 and 2010.  Ringolsby has the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Angels, Mets, Phillies, White Sox, and Twins as interested parties.  Renck sees the Indians as another possibility.

Taveras is also under team control through 2010.  Ringolsby says the Royals, Yankees, White Sox, and Braves are in on him, while Renck adds the Nationals.

White Sox Looking To Trade Vazquez?

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The latest on the White Sox…

  • GM Ken Williams wants a younger, more athletic club, but still expects to compete in 2009.  Players such as Chris Getz, Josh Fields, Jayson Nix, Jerry Owens, Brian Anderson, and Clayton Richard could play prominent roles on next year’s team.  Sox Machine offers their take on Williams’ comments.
  • Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times lists Brian Roberts, Coco Crisp, Chone Figgins, and Orlando Hudson as potential Sox targets.  Williams didn’t talk much about his wish list yesterday, suggesting that last year’s openness hindered his progress.  If the Sox sign Hudson, they’ll give their #24 pick in next year’s draft to the D’Backs.
  • Joe Cowley of the Sun-Times says trading starter Javier Vazquez is Williams’ top offseason priority.  Cowley believes Williams could look for an infielder in return.  Vazquez will earn $23MM over the next two seasons, and has a limited no-trade clause to block trades to NL and AL West teams.
  • Also in Cowley’s article – free agent catcher Toby Hall seems likely to re-sign.

What’s Next For Ken Griffey Jr.?

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According to Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald, Ken Griffey Jr. said he wants to play three more seasons.  Junior is a free agent now, and the White Sox will probably not re-sign him. Though Griffey is a Type B free agent, the Sox probably won’t risk offering him arbitration.

Could Griffey finish his career back with the Mariners?  It’s not known if interest is mutual, as Ms GM Jack Zduriencik would not comment.  Griffey, 39, hit .249/.353/.424 in 575 plate appearances this year.  Larry LaRue offers commentary on the Griffey idea in a blog post.

White Sox Decline Options On Griffey, Hall

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According to a press release, the White Sox have officially declined their options on Ken Griffey Jr. and Toby Hall for 2009.

The Sox chose Griffey’s $4MM buyout over his $16MM option (they’ll split the buyout with the Reds).  For Hall, they chose a $150K buyout over his $2.25MM option.  Hall may still be re-signed.

Reds Will Consider Mulder

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John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer spoke to Reds GM Walt Jocketty recently.  A few nuggets from the conversation:

  • The Reds will "at least explore" signing free agent lefty Mark Mulder.  Jocketty, of course, has a history with Mulder from the Cardinals.  Mulder recently told MLB.com’s Mychael Urban he won’t consider signing until he’s healthy and throwing well.
  • Jocketty has spoken to the agents for free agents David Weathers, Mike Lincoln, Jeremy Affeldt, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Javier Valentin.  Weathers doesn’t seem interested in taking a discount, while Valentin said last month he’d love to return.
  • The Reds aren’t interested in signing Ken Griffey Jr.  The White Sox are expected to pass as well, but Mark Gonzales believes he could be considered in a lesser role if healthy.  At any rate, the two teams will split Junior’s $4MM buyout.
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