Hunter Receives Five Offers
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?
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
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.
Rangers, Hunter Talking Five Year Deal
According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, Torii Hunter denied the Chicago Sun-Times report that he would sign with the Sox this week. The White Sox, Dodgers, and Rangers remain the major players for Hunter.
The Rangers had dinner with Hunter last night; he’s their top priority. Currently the two sides are talking about a five-year deal but Jon Daniels doesn’t expect anything to happen this week.
White Sox Trade Jon Garland For Orlando Cabrera
UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal reports that the White Sox received $1.5MM in the deal. It certainly seems that the Sox are clearing payroll for Torii Hunter. Mark Gonzales notes that while the Sox hope to sign Cabrera long-term, they’ll still benefit from this trade if they don’t. Cabrera is likely to be a Type A a year from now while Garland will probably be a B.
According to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, the White Sox acquired shortstop Orlando Cabrera for starter Jon Garland today.
In a vacuum, this seems like a pretty even swap to me. Just comparing the two players involved, it’s fair. Garland is a solid if not spectacular starter, and Cabrera is the same at shortstop. Both players’ contracts run through 2008. Garland is at $12MM and Cabrera $9MM, so the Sox save a few bucks here. Plus, they will get some cash from the Angels.
But trades aren’t made in a vacuum; you have to look at their effects on the teams involved.
The White Sox will seemingly put Juan Uribe at second base, if they don’t trade him. They could potentially have one of the game’s finest defensive double play combinations. And Cabrera’s .345 OBP last year, while nothing amazing, is good for a shortstop and looks great for an OBP-starved team like the Sox. The question is whether the Sox can sustain the loss of Garland in the rotation. They’ll now go with Buehrle, Vazquez, Contreras, Danks, and maybe Gavin Floyd or Gio Gonzalez. That group could work but you could see Contreras and the kids flopping and Buehrle coming back down to Earth.
Kenny Williams has shown some ability to dig up starting pitching, so maybe he’s playing to his strength. How about the return of Bartolo Colon?
The Angels now have an embarrassment of starting pitching. They’ve got Lackey, Escobar, Weaver, Garland, Saunders, and Ervin Santana. Nick Adenhart should be around soon also. The Angels may now be compelled to flip Santana for a bat. Meanwhile they have plenty of solid options at shortstop with Brandon Wood, Erick Aybar, Chone Figgins, and Maicer Izturis.
Hunter, Sox Could Agree This Week
Torii Hunter might be a White Sox before the week is out. According to Joe Cowley, "’the climate was there for a deal to be announced soon." Of course, Cowley adds that this is unless another team swoops in at the last second with a mind-boggling offer. Next to the White Sox, the Rangers are mentioned most often as Hunter’s destination. The Royals also have interest.
This report is coming from sources within both the club and Hunter’s camp. The two sides have sat down twice, with the financial package being discussed in the latter meeting. Buster Olney has mentioned a six-year, $90 million potential deal with the Rangers (or was he just speculating?).
Cowley says that this all fits in with Ken Williams’s plan to model the team after the 2005 one: pitching and defense. And while having Juan Uribe (if indeed he does move to second), Orlando Cabrera, and Torii Hunter up the middle is potentially solid for next year, they aren’t exactly flush with pitching, and losing Jon Garland doesn’t help. Mark Buehrle and Javy Vazquez will head the rotation, but after that it’s some combination of Jose Contreras, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, and possibly Gio Gonzalez.
Ah, but some people in the ChiSox organization "privately some in the organization felt that Garland had reached his ceiling in 2005 and ’06, winning 18 games in both years." Well, his walks rose and his strikeouts fell a bit in 2007 (and his home runs plummeted), but based on pure results, he had a better 2007 than 2006.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.
Teams Still Competing For Yabuta?
On Friday, the word from Ken Rosenthal was that the Royals were close to signing Japanese reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta to a two-year deal with an option. However, the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales names five teams currently in the running for his services.
We already knew about the Royals and White Sox. Gonzales adds the Indians, Rays, and Pirates to the mix as well. Looks like Japanese relievers are no longer free agency’s best kept secret. Odd that teams didn’t start figuring this out until Hideki Okajima came along. There were plenty of successes before him. It almost seems like you can throw the stats out for Japanese relievers – MLB hitters just aren’t used to these guys yet.
Odds and Ends: Kuroda, Hunter, Crede
What’d I miss recently? Here are some odds and ends.
- The Tigers have expressed interest in Hiroki Kuroda. They join the Phillies, Mariners, Dodgers, Royals, Rangers, Cubs, and Mets in that pursuit.
- 10 teams are interested in Aaron Rowand! That’s almost 1/3 of all baseball teams!
- Torii Hunter is after a seven-year deal. Most feel he’s saying that because he wants six. Clever!
- The Twins are taking a look at Tony Clark as a cheap DH option. He’s supposedly looking for something like two years, $4MM and more playing time. This would be a very Twins-like signing.
- T.R. Sullivan has a Rangers update. Apparently Jon Daniels is checking in on big names like Johan Santana, Erik Bedard, and Miguel Cabrera. More realistically Daniels may go out to Japan for players such as Kosuke Fukudome and Hiroki Kuroda (we knew that already). We also knew the Rangers had Kerry Wood and Eric Gagne on their radar. Sullivan speculates that Scott Linebrink and LaTroy Hawkins could also be in the mix.
- Barry Rozner expects Joe Crede to be traded. It seems like Crede is a Plan B or C for a lot of teams and Kenny Williams may have to wait til a few dominoes fall first.
Royals Close To Signing Yasuhito Yabuta
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Royals are close to signing 34 year-old Japanese reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta to a two-year deal with a third year option. The White Sox had been in on him as well.
Here’s what Aaron and Jackson of East Windup Chronicle had to say about Yabuta:
Yabuta, the right-handed set up man for the Chiba Lotte Marines, is probably best known for striking out A-Rod, Derrek Lee, and Johnny Damon in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Yabuta has racked up 86 holds and a sub-3.00 ERA over the last three years for the Marines despite not panning out as a starter.
Rumor Roundup: Colon, Barrett, Clement, Monroe
Rounding up some of today’s rumors…
- The Phillies have had conversations about Randy Wolf and Bartolo Colon. It’s assumed they have about $10MM to spend.
- The Rockies are talking to Michael Barrett’s agent. They’ve also got some interest in Mike Maroth. He doesn’t seem like a great match. LaTroy Hawkins hasn’t had any recent discussions with the Rockies, and other teams are knocking on his door (including the Brewers).
- The White Sox may look to Japan for relief help. They’ve been linked to Yasuhiko Yabuta in the past.
- Richard Griffin notes that the Blue Jays pursued Matt Clement three years ago, and they could go after him again now. I’m guessing Clement will opt for San Diego though.
- Sabernomics interviewed ESPN’s Keith Law. I chatted with Keith back in July, if you’re interested.
- The Cubs only get a player from the Twins for Craig Monroe if the Twins can strike a deal with him. And the Twins won’t be going to arbitration with Monroe.