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Cards Considering Jack Wilson, Izturis, Tejada

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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss has an excellent update on the Cardinals’ pursuit of a new starting shortstop. 

  • Sounds like the end of the David Eckstein Era in St. Louis – Strauss says it’s a widespread belief that Eckstein will not be offered arbitration and probably will not stay around.
  • While the Cards are drawn to Miguel Tejada, a deal seems highly unlikely.  John Mozeliak wants to move quickly to fill the shortstop position and the Orioles are taking their time with Tejada.
  • Sounds like there’s a very good chance the Cards get Jack Wilson from the Bucs.  They’re OK with paying all of the $13.75MM owed to him through 2009.
  • If Wilson doesn’t work out, Cesar Izturis is the one free agent the Cardinals are considering.  They could have some competition from the Rays.
  • There isn’t much interest in acquiring Juan Uribe or going with internal option Brendan Ryan.
  • A few speculative options not mentioned by Strauss: Cristian Guzman, Alexei Ramirez, Jason Bartlett, Adam Everett, Joaquin Arias, Clint Barmes, and Russ Adams.

Crisp Rather Than Rowand For White Sox?

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Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times says Aaron Rowand has already priced himself out of the White Sox’s range.  Apparently the Sox talked to Rowand before they made an offer to Torii Hunter, and found the number of years Rowand requested to be out of the question.  Randy Miller said back in mid-October that Rowand was looking for a six-year, $84MM deal.  Cowley sees the Rangers and Dodgers as the main suitors for Rowand.

Cowley believes the White Sox, meanwhile, will move on to Coco Crisp.  They’ve long had interest in him.  I’m not sure how the White Sox and Red Sox would match up though.  The Red Sox are asking for quite a bit for Crisp – three prospects.  The Rangers balked upon hearing this.

Cowley also suggests that Kenny Williams could attempt to acquire Willy Taveras.  This seems more speculation than anything, based on Williams’ pursuit of him a year ago.  Trading him would seem to create a hole for the Rockies, and they have no need for Joe Crede.

Heyman’s Latest: Piazza, Matthews, Milledge

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in with a new Daily Scoop column full of rumors.

  • A lot of the standard trade talk we’ve seen regarding Miguel Cabrera, Johan Santana, Miguel Tejada, and Dan Haren.  All these guys require two good young players or more in a trade.
  • Mike Piazza is considering DHing in Japan if he doesn’t find anything he likes in the U.S. 
  • Heyman talked to an AL exec who speculated that the Angels may try to unload Gary Matthews Jr.  GMJ makes $9MM in ’08, $10MM in ’09, $11MM in ’10, and $12MM in ’11.  He currently has a full no-trade clause.
  • Juan Uribe and Vicente Padilla are two salary-dump types whose names have surfaced in recent trade talks (unrelated to each other).  Padilla is owed $24.75MM over the next two seasons.
  • Heyman believes the Mets are very willing to trade Lastings Milledge and have discussed him often.
  • We knew the Mets had discussed Ramon Hernandez and Gerald Laird.  Heyman adds the Nats’ Brian Schneider to the mix.  He makes $4.9MM in ’08 and another $4.9MM in ’09.

Odds and Ends: Santana, Hunter

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Let’s kick off the morning with some odds and ends, absent any earth-shattering rumors.  I’ll keep adding to this post.

  • Awesome inside look at the Torii Hunter deal via Bob Nightengale.  Hunter’s first choice outside of Minnesota was the Cardinals, but they weren’t interested.
  • Hunter – not overpaid?  So says J.C. Bradbury.
  • Still some confusion about Johan Santana’s no-trade clause.  Buster Olney says it’s full and doesn’t indicate that the rights change on any certain date.  Matthew Cerrone says it’s a full NTC only until Opening Day ’08, when it switches to 12 teams.  Those are not mutually exclusive comments, so I guess we’ll see.
  • Phil Rogers doesn’t think the Cubs will re-sign Kerry Wood.  He also sees the Giants in the lead for Miguel Cabrera now.
  • My coworker Jonathan makes a good point – thought the Sox wouldn’t give four-year deals to pitchers?  They made a huge fuss over Mark Buehrle.  Suddenly Scott Linebrink is worthy of breaking the rule again?  Some are skeptical.
  • Bobby Kielty typically smacks around left-handed pitching (Brian Fuentes for example).  He’ll hook on as some team’s fourth outfielder as a free agent.  He’d like to return to Boston, but that would require a Coco Crisp trade. Rob Bradford names the Twins, Braves, Rangers, and White Sox as possibilities otherwise. 

Torii Hunter – Additional Thoughts

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Random thoughts in the aftermath of the Torii Hunter shocker…

  • We can’t really say whether the Hunter signing was about money or winning, because a winning team made an offer far beyond any other club.  It is inconclusive.
  • U.S.S. Mariner notes that Hunter received the same contract Ichiro did, but he’s not the same caliber of player.
  • David Pinto sees a very old Angels outfield in the future.
  • The Rangers were at five years, $75MM with a club option for 2013.  Both Texas and the White Sox may now turn their attention to Aaron Rowand.  Suddenly his perception that he’s a $14MM player seems more realistic.
  • The Twins must be pleasantly surprised – they get the Angels’ 27th overall pick next June.  All the other teams thought to be in the mix for Hunter had their first round picks protected.  The loss of the pick just accentuates how much the Halos overpaid here.

White Sox Sign Scott Linebrink

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First reported by Bruce Levine of ESPN Sports Radio 1000 out of Chicago – the White Sox have signed free agent Scott Linebrink to a four-year, $19MM contract.  The Brewers have to be a bit disappointed, as Chicago’s 8th overall pick in next June’s draft is protected.  Instead they’ll get a second round pick from the Sox as compensation for the Type A reliever.

Four years is a long time to lock in the 31 year-old Linebrink.  He’s never pitched in the American League, and you have to think he’ll struggle.  This seems like a poor signing to me.

Odds and Ends: Fukudome, Eckstein, Lowell

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Ah yes, the odds and ends post, where I cobble together the day’s random links.

  • The Rangers have mild interest Scott Podsednik.  Pods had two separate stints in the Rangers organization but never reached the bigs with them.
  • The Big Lead has an interesting interview with Yahoo baseball guy Jeff Passan, wherein a run-in with Jose Lima is recounted.  Passan also takes on Fire Joe Morgan a bit.
  • Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog is hearing that Kosuke Fukudome is looking for three years and $30MM.  Sounds fair.
  • The Angels are considering signing David Eckstein and/or Darin Erstad, for some reason.
  • Bob Dutton reports that the Royals can be patient with their offer to Torii Hunter, while the White Sox want a quick resolution.  Bonus: a rather large, but not too pixellated picture of Hunter at the Dutton link.  Hunter, by the way, could save $750K per year if he signs with the Rangers because Texas has no state income tax.  Hunter is also considering the Las Vegas 51s for that same reason, I heard. 
  • Per Buster Olney, the Dodgers put in a three-year offer to Mike Lowell.  He takes this as a sign they weren’t serious, but Ned Colletti has shown a tendency to offer fewer years and more per year.  He did this with Rafael Furcal and Jason Schmidt.  So maybe the Dodgers put out a 3/45 offer or something.
  • The Phils picked up oft-injured outfielder Chris Snelling from the Rays for cash.  He’s yet to accumulate 100 big league at-bats in a season, but maybe that’ll change in 2008.
  • Ed Wade + relievers = trouble.  Doug Brocail is on the radar.
  • McCovey Chronicles lists some realistic position player targets for the Giants, including Jeff Clement, Andy Marte, and Adam Lind.

Hunter Receives Five Offers

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Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, normally their Cubs guy, has the scoop on the Torii Hunter situation.

Wittenmyer says Hunter has at least five offers in hand.  Four of them are for five years, while the Rangers have offered six.  This doesn’t count the Twins’ lowball 3/45 offer.

So which five clubs have made proposals to Hunter?  The Rangers, White Sox, Dodgers, Royals, and Nationals comprise the list.  Wittenmyer notes that the Dodgers could get aggressive on Hunter if they miss out on Miguel Cabrera.  Also, the Yankees could trade Melky Cabrera and jump in.  The amounts offered aren’t well known, but Wittenmyer says the Rangers are just under $15MM per year.   

Hunter hopes to decide next week so he doesn’t have to attend the Winter Meetings the week after that.  Don’t underestimate the Royals, who blew everyone away last year by winning the bidding for Gil Meche.  Still, the White Sox and Rangers are the clear frontrunners.

White Sox Shopping Uribe?

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UPDATE: Good stuff from Eduardo Encina.  Apparently the Rays don’t like Uribe’s weight or price tag, and their interest is "very limited."  By the way, per Keith Law, Uribe can be traded despite being signed as a free agent by the Sox. 

With Orlando Cabrera in house, the White Sox now have an extra shortstop in Juan Uribe.  They’d like to clear his $4.5MM salary to create more room for Torii Hunter.  I imagine it wouldn’t take much in return – it might be more of a salary dump.  In hindsight maybe Williams should’ve declined to re-sign Uribe, but who knows where the Cabrera deal was at that time.

The above-linked Chicago Tribune names the Rays as one possible suitor for Uribe.  Marc Lancaster acknowledges the need for a shortstop, but notes that the team wants defense and that isn’t Uribe’s forte.  What is his forte these days?  Uribe once played stellar defense, and a change of scenery could bring back the championship-level glovework.

Any other teams in the hunt for a second-division shortstop?  As I have speculated before, the Orioles might be if they trade Miguel Tejada.  The Cubs might be looking but Uribe wouldn’t present much of an upgrade.  The Astros, Pirates, and Cardinals might be options. 

Miguel Cabrera Rumors

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I think it’s about time to dissect the Miguel Cabrera situation, don’t you?  The Angels, Dodgers, Giants, White Sox, and maybe the Rangers are battling to acquire him.

Five days ago, the Angels were the frontrunners.  It was even suggested a trade could be completed by Thanksgiving.  But according to Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers now have the lead.  It may require Matt Kemp, Andy LaRoche, and Clayton Kershaw.  Now that’s quality. 

Rosenthal has a source saying the Halos may counter with Ervin Santana, Howie Kendrick, Chris Bootcheck, and Nick Adenhart.  It’s thought that the Angels’ acquisition of Jon Garland frees them up to trade a starter or two.  Many other Angels interest the Marlins – Joe Saunders, Brandon Wood, Mike Napoli, Jeff Mathis, or Reggie Willits could enter the picture.  Miguel Tejada is said to be the Angels’ fallback option. 

The proposed White Sox package of Josh Fields, Ryan Sweeney, and Gio Gonzalez just doesn’t seem comparable to the above.

Should the Dodgers give up Kemp to snag Cabrera, they’ll then sign a free agent center fielder.  Aaron Rowand is the flavor of the week.      

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