Indians Looking At Right-Handed Bats
WEDNESDAY: The Indians are a fit for Houston's Carlos Lee but are wary of the cost, tweets Jon Paul Morosi. Of course, the Astros would assume a portion of Lee's $18.5MM salary.
TUESDAY: The Indians are looking at right-handed hitters such as Derrek Lee, Andruw Jones, and Mike Cameron, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Yesterday we heard the Indians have mild interest in Josh Willingham, and on Friday they were linked to Mark DeRosa.
Also, Morosi says the Indians are willing to trade from their bullpen depth to acquire the right bat.
Indians Rumors: Extensions, Asdrubal, Trades, Perez
A pair of Indians links for you Tribe followers who are still up, courtesy of the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes and MLB.com's Jordan Bastian:
- Hoynes examines how the Indians have backed off their philosophy of extending young players in recent years and wonders if the pitfalls of the Travis Hafner and Jake Westbrook contracts have made them wary.
- Hoynes quotes one agent who thinks that at this point, the Indians think it'd be too expensive to offer Asdrubal Cabrera a multiyear extension.
- GM Chris Antonetti says there are no black and white rules in the organization for signing pre-arbitration players to extensions; each case is handled on an individual basis.
- In his piece, Bastian writes that Antonetti told reporters on Tuesday at the Winter Meetings that he was discussing a trade "that would be very surprising if it came to fruition."
- The Indians are looking to improve their offense, and teams have come calling about Chris Perez. The Tribe isn't actively shopping their closer, but Bastian says they're willing to listen because of the depth they have in their bullpen, though the number of available arms doesn't give them much leverage in any potential deal. Plus, with an eye on contending in 2012, depleting their bullpen depth may not be the best strategy.
Indians Designate Hector Rondon For Assignment
The Indians designated righty Hector Rondon for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Grady Sizemore, announced the team. Rondon endured an elbow fracture in November and is facing a five to seven month recovery period. Baseball America ranked Rondon the Indians' 15th-best prospect prior to the season, even though he had Tommy John surgery in August of 2010.
AL Central Rumors: Slowey, Picollo, Choo, Tigers
The major move in the AL Central today was the Twins' re-signing of Matt Capps, but there may be more action in the division by week's end. Here are the latest rumors from the AL Central:
- Kevin Slowey, viewed as a non-tender candidate, is being shopped by the Twins, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
- Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo interviewed for the Astros' GM position tonight, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- The Indians are still interested in discussing a contract extension with Shin-Soo Choo, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
- Bastian also tweets that the Indians checked in on free agent Kevin Kouzmanoff, though their interest is likely minimal.
- The Tigers aren't ruling out the possibility of one of their young, in-house arms earning the fifth spot in the rotation, writes James Schmehl of MLive.com. If the Tigers turn to the free agent market for a veteran, they prefer one-year deals.
Rays Making Serious Run At Josh Willingham
3:04pm: The Rays are making a serious run at Willingham, tweets Crasnick. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports adds that while the Rays are not close on Willingham, they're one of three to four finalists.
2:21pm: Nine teams have called on free agent outfielder Josh Willingham, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, including the Twins, Red Sox, Indians, and Reds. The Pirates have also been linked to him. Willingham is something of a backup plan for the Red Sox and Twins, suggests Crasnick, as those teams are trying to re-sign David Ortiz and Michael Cuddyer, respectively. ESPN 1500's Phil Mackey tweets that nothing is currently brewing with the Twins and Willingham. The Indians' interest has been mild, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. The Reds' interest in Willingham is "simmering on the back burner, if that," GM Walt Jocketty told reporters including MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
Willingham, 32, hit a career-best 29 home runs for the Athletics in 2011. A right-handed hitter, Willingham compiled a .246/.332/.477 batting line in 563 plate appearances. He tallied 829 1/3 innings in left field, and also has experience in right field in 2009. First base and designated hitter could be options as well. Willingham's agent Matt Sosnick guessed in October that his client would sign a three-year deal.
Four Teams Checked In On Mark DeRosa
MONDAY: The Giants have expressed interest in re-signing DeRosa, tweets ESPN's Jayson Stark.
FRIDAY: Mark DeRosa doesn't expect any team to guarantee him an everyday job, but he does want the chance to prove that his left wrist is healthy. The free agent utility player told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that the Nationals, Rangers, Indians and Pirates have all spoken with his surgeon and that the Giants have some interest in re-signing him despite his recent injury.
“I definitely understand the concerns," DeRosa told Rosenthal. "If it wasn’t for my wrist getting banged up two years ago, I wouldn’t be in this position.”
DeRosa played in just 47 games in 2011 because of a strained left wrist. The versatile 36-year-old was productive in 2009, posting a .250/.319/.433 line and appearing at five different positions for the Indians and Cardinals. However, he has struggled to stay on the field since signing a two-year deal with the Giants two Decembers ago. When he did play for the Giants, DeRosa posted a forgettable .235/.313/.279 line.
DeRosa, who would like to be closer to his Atlanta home, may have to sign a minor league deal and play his way onto a roster next spring.
Indians Considering Casey Kotchman
Free agent first baseman Casey Kotchman is on the Indians' radar, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. Heyman says the Tribe is looking at every everyday first baseman aside from Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols. Earlier today, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweeted that the Indians are "focused on either a first baseman or complementary outfielder."
Kotchman was one of the year's best minor league signings, as he hit .306/.378/.422 for the Rays in 563 plate appearances. He ranked 36th on my top 50 free agents list.
Indians Among Nine Teams Interested In Casey Blake
The Indians are one of nine teams to have expressed interest in signing Casey Blake, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cleveland likes Blake as a super-utility type, who could back up at the corner infield and corner outfield positions.
The Dodgers turned down their $6MM option on Blake at season's end, electing instead to pay him a $1.25MM buyout and make him a free agent. The decision was unsurprising after injuries limited Blake's playing time and production in 2011. The 38-year-old hit .252/.342/.371 in 239 plate appearances. Agent Jim McDowell told MLBTR that his client expects to be 100% for 2012.
If the Indians were to sign Blake, it would be his second stint in Cleveland. The first ended in July 2008, after five and a half years, when the Tribe shipped him to Los Angeles in the trade that landed them catching prospect Carlos Santana.
Quick Hits: Nakajima, Wilson, Pena, Mariners, A’s
Some late night links from around the league…
- According to a report passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker (on Twitter), at least one MLB team has bid on Hiroyuki Nakajima since the posting process started on Monday. The Seibu Lions are expected to accept the highest bid, regardless of amount.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels has spoken to C.J. Wilson's agent as recently as today reports Jeff Wilson of The Fort Worth Star Telegram (on Twitter), and MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan says the two sides are expected to meet again at the winter meetings.
- Before signing with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks for $5MM over two years, Wily Mo Pena had drawn interest from the Indians, Giants, Brewers, and Mariners according to SI.com's Jon Heyman (on Twitter).
- Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times wonders if the Darren Ford signing clears the way for the Mariners to trade some of the outfielders on their 40-man roster, like Trayvon Robinson, Michael Saunders, or Franklin Gutierrez.
- “We’re very open,” said Athletics assistant GM David Forst to John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle when asked if any of the club's pitchers were untradeable. “If we didn’t have the (pitching) depth, we wouldn’t have this option.” Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey have been popular names, but Forst's statement suggests Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy could be had as well.
Central Links: Danks, Twins, Indians, Royals, Cubs
Here are some links from baseball's two central divisions…
- The White Sox have been shopping left-hander John Danks in advance of the winter meetings, reports Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. He won't come cheap though, with one of Cowley's sources saying: "[ChiSox GM Kenny Williams] asked for everyone on our roster in return."
- Yesterday we heard about the Twins' interest in retaining Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel, and today Joe Mauer told MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger that he's willing to help recruit free agents to Minnesota. "I told [GM Terry Ryan] and everybody here that I'm here to do everything I can to help out," said Mauer. "I want to be part of the solution that gets us back to where we need to get to."
- The Indians are not expected to bid on any Japanese players going through the posting process, reports Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain-Dealer (on Twitter). That would include Hiroyuki Nakajima (who was posted on Monday) and possibly Yu Darvish.
- ESPN's Buster Olney says (on Twitter) that the Royals are looking to a utilityman, preferably someone that hits left-handed. As our Free Agent Tracker shows, players like Andres Blanco, Craig Counsell, and Willie Harris are available.
- Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune reports that the Cubs have hired Chris Bosio to be their new pitching coach. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein confirmed that the rest of the coaching staff would be announced at the winter meetings next week.