Sox, Betemit Agree To Terms
ESPN is reporting that the White Sox signed Wilson Betemit to a one-year, $1.3MM contract.
Betemit, acquired by the Sox in the Nick Swisher trade, will likely spend some time at third base for Chicago, who hasn’t re-signed Joe Crede.
White Sox Have Inside Track On Abreu?
Here’s a rumor from Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News that slipped through the cracks yesterday. His source says the White Sox seem to have the inside track on Bobby Abreu, assuming they trade Jermaine Dye first. Feinsand doesn’t figure the Rays will match Abreu’s price, though they met with his agents at in Vegas. He adds that Johan Santana is pushing the Mets to sign Abreu.
Odds and Ends: Rule 5, Beltre, Schmidt, Bako
Stray links I’ve collected over the past few days…
- John Manuel and Jonathan Mayo get us ready for the Rule 5 draft. Manuel has a second post on it here.
- Sarah Green looks at A.J. Burnett‘s possible commutes.
- LEN3 suggests the Twins might be part of Adrian Beltre‘s limited no-trade clause.
- K-Rod signing analysis from Dave Cameron, Jesse Spector, and Keith Law. Also check out the usual solid analysis over at Ken Davidoff’s blog.
- Law also takes on the Edwin Jackson, Ramon Hernandez, J.J. Putz, and C.C. Sabathia moves.
- The Red Sox are likely to non-tender Kevin Cash. Josh Bard is one free agent on their radar. Also, Tony Massarotti learned that the Red Sox are strongly opposed to opt-out clauses.
- UmpBump found some C.C. Sabathia rumors we missed on Monday. Also, the Brewers’ offer to C.C. had unique clauses and two club options.
- The Dodgers knew Jason Schmidt had a partial rotator cuff tear when they signed him.
- Rany Jazayerli on recent Royals rumors, reliever and otherwise.
- Bruce Miles says the Cubs have some interest in bringing Paul Bako back.
- Jason Davis, Raul Chavez, and R.A. Dickey became free agents. Davis may be headed to Japan.
- Nick Piecoro says Junior Spivey is looking for a job.
- Much of the money saved from recent White Sox trades was repurposed for Dayan Viciedo.
Reds Rumors: Baldelli, Rivera, Burrell
11:46pm: Amusing story from Joe McDonald:
A group of Cincinnati Reds personnel, including manager Dusty Baker, were playing roulette Tuesday night. A member of the contingent yelled "Put it on No. 5 for Rocco Baldelli" and now it appears the Reds are having talks with his agent.
McDonald adds that the Red Sox have apparently stepped back with their interest in Baldelli. Buster Olney wrote on Monday that he’d be shocked if Boston didn’t sign Baldelli.
9:24pm: According to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds talked to the agents for Rocco Baldelli and Juan Rivera (the agents initiated). Pat Burrell‘s agents also want to meet. Fay says the Reds have at least $10MM to spend.
MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon adds that Moises Alou‘s agent contacted Walt Jocketty, but the Reds aren’t interested. Nor are they interested in Garrett Anderson. Sheldon adds that there’s been "no real activity towards reviving the Jermaine Dye deal."
White Sox, Reds Still Talking Dye
1:21pm: Danny Knobler believes the White Sox want to see whether they can move Dye for pitching before entering the free agent market.
WEDNESDAY, 12:23pm: Ken Rosenthal says the Dye-Reds discussions continue at a moderate level, but for now the Sox expect Dye to be their Opening Day right fielder. A deal was close at one point, but Dye’s salary became an issue for the Reds. Rosenthal specualates that the Reds could now just try to get a bargain on Bobby Abreu or Pat Burrell.
TUESDAY, 10:37pm: MLB.com’s Scott Merkin says the White Sox have not talked to the Braves since the Javier Vazquez deal. It’s been a quiet Winter Meetings for the Sox so far.
12:17pm: MetsBlog passes along a WFAN report from Sweeny Murti that the Braves are in serious discussions for Dye.
11:11am: From SI.com’s Jon Heyman:
A person familiar with the White Sox’s thinking said late Monday night, "The Jermaine Dye trades are dead … for tonight, anyway.”
Heyman says the Rays, Braves, and Reds were among ten teams to to express interest. He adds that Homer Bailey alone would not have been enough.
Royals Moving Closer To Signing Reliever
According to Bob Dutton, Dayton Moore admitted the Royals are moving closer to signing a reliever. Dutton believes their preference is Kyle Farnsworth.
Also, Moore shot down rumors involving Zack Greinke, David DeJesus, Mark Teahen, and Jermaine Dye.
Bailey-Dye Trade Report Shot Down
9:06pm: Ken Williams speaks. No Dye trade, but plenty of interest.
6:26pm: Dusty Baker spoke about the Dye trade talks today, saying he thought they were "kind of off because of economics and because everybody wants your young players."
MONDAY, 4:24pm: McCoy talks more about the rumor he originated. He said a reliable White Sox insider told him the Dye deal was in place and wonders if Ken Williams changed his mind.
SUNDAY, 10:06pm: Walt Jocketty on the report: "Wrong. It’s not even close." The Reds haven’t had talks with the Sox since before Thanksgiving.
9:32pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick adds that Dye and his agent "haven’t heard a word" about a trade. Reds assistant GM Bob Miller rejected the report, adding, "We haven’t talked to White Sox since we got here."
8:51pm: Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune says "a source familiar with the talks" rejected the report below. The Sox want more than just Bailey. Gonzales’ source adds that talks with the Mets for Bobby Jenks fell apart over Omar Minaya’s unwillingness to include Bobby Parnell.
7:46pm: According to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, a Major League source told him a Homer Bailey for Jermaine Dye trade "is done and will be announced this week."
It’d essentially be six years of Bailey for one of Dye (plus possible draft pick compensation), as Dye has a mutual option for 2010 at $12MM. Those almost never get fully exercised – if one side wants it, the other doesn’t. It would be interesting to see what the White Sox could do with Bailey given their recent success developing young pitchers.
Orlando Cabrera Declines Arb Offer
According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, Orlando Cabrera will decline Chicago’s offer of arbitration. Ken Williams can rest easy. Cabrera’s a Type A, so the Sox will score two draft picks if he signs elsewhere. There’s an extra tax of one draft pick for the team that signs him.
Stark’s Latest: Dye, Greinke, Teixeira
Jayson Stark’s Winter Meetings preview is up; let’s take a look.
- Stark sees "just about zero chance" the Padres trade Jake Peavy at the Meetings. The Cubs will need at least a few weeks to settle their ownership situation before they can make a trade and take on his contract. Plus, a Stark source says it makes sense for the Padres to wait until the top free agent starters are off the board.
- The Braves, Reds, Royals, Rays, and possibly Mets have shown interest in Jermaine Dye. Dye played for the Royals from 1997-2001 before he was traded for Neifi Perez. The White Sox are willing to trade Paul Konerko and Jim Thome too.
- The Mariners would listen on "pretty much anybody." But given the surplus of closers on the market, it seems unlikely that Jack Zduriencik will be bowled over with an offer for J.J. Putz.
- The Royals really don’t want to trade Zack Greinke, but they’ll at least discuss him. The price would be massive. It doesn’t look like they want to trade David DeJesus or Mark Teahen either, but Jose Guillen can be had.
- The Marlins have been pushing Jorge Cantu over Jeremy Hermida, though Hermida’s drawn plenty of interest. Nick Cafardo named the Rays, Reds, and Giants earlier today.
- The Angels figure to attach a two or three-day deadline to their eventual Mark Teixeira offer.
- Stark sees Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake as the two free agents most likely to sign this week. Most execs Stark surveyed see Teixeira and Manny Ramirez signing in January.
Cafardo’s Latest: Halladay, Hermida, Abreu
Time for a look at the latest column from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- Relievers on the Tigers’ radar: Trevor Hoffman, David Weathers, Arthur Rhodes, and Joe Beimel.
- Blue Jays J.P. Ricciardi is frank: "We will not trade Roy Halladay."
- Marlins right fielder Jeremy Hermida is said to interest the Reds, Rays, and Giants. John Perrotto says the Rays have inquired on Hermida.
- Cafardo believes the Dodgers will turn to Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, or Jermaine Dye if they fail to re-sign Manny Ramirez.
- Cafardo likes the Angels and Brewers as dark horses for Jake Peavy.
- Cafardo says not to discount the possibility of the Nationals signing Ken Griffey Jr.