Blue Jays, Indians, Dodgers Interested In Kris Benson
Roch Kubatko of MASN Online ran into Kris Benson, who says he’s fully recovered from rotator cuff surgery. The Blue Jays, Indians, and Dodgers have expressed interest.
Indians Hope Mets Sign K-Rod
8:55pm: Rosenthal says the Indians met with Kerry Wood‘s agent today and remain interested in Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman.
1:03pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Indians hope the Mets sign Francisco Rodriguez, as they’d like to get a bargain on Brian Fuentes. The Tribe could also attempt to acquire J.J. Putz from the Mariners.
Twins, Indians Not Interested In Tejada
8:31pm: MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince says Mark Shapiro shook his head when the Tejada rumor was brought up. Maybe someone on the Astros’ side floated all this rumored interest in the shortstop.
8:15pm: Twins assistant GM Rob Antony suggested with facial expressions and body language that they’re not in on Tejada, according to Phil Miller.
7:00pm: Yahoo’s Jeff Passan says the Indians have also discussed a Tejada trade with the Astros. The Indians’ interest depends on how much they spend on a closer.
As for the Twins…LEN3 says, "Miguel Tejada is NOT an option."
6:57pm: MLB.com’s Alyson Footer says the Twins expressed interest in Tejada. The Astros would like to get one of the Twins’ young starters, and would be willing to eat salary.
Footer adds that interest in Ty Wigginton is "abundant," with the Twins again a possible match. She nixes the idea of the ‘Stros acquiring Ramon Hernandez from Baltimore.
4:10pm: According to Phil Miller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press:
Can’t vouch for its veracity – not sure I really believe it myself — but I just heard in the gossip scrum that is forming at the edge of the Bellagio lobby that there was at least a phone call between the Astros and Twins regarding Miguel Tejada, the long-ago MVP shortstop.
Coming from a "gossip scrum," it’s hard to know what to make of it. But, Miller felt it was worthy of publishing.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Burnett, Garland, Aurilia
8:22pm: John Mozeliak said tonight the Cardinals never engaged with Burnett’s agent. A commitment of more than two years to a free agent starter is extremely unlikely.
3:40pm: Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says it’s "not true" that the Cardinals are players for Burnett.
8:30am: The latest from Ken Rosenthal:
- The Cardinals are a serious bidder for A.J. Burnett. They also pursued him back in 2005. The Blue Jays would get the Cardinals’ #19 pick next June if they sign him. However, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently wrote that the Cards "are not expected to pursue the free agent pool’s bigger fish: C.C. Sabathia, Ben Sheets, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe."
- The Mets have Jon Garland on the radar. Jerry Crasnick likes Garland as a fit for the Cards.
- The Brewers haven’t decided to increase their offer to C.C. Sabathia at this time, and won’t consider it until they meet with the big lefty. A meeting is scheduled; Sabathia may grill the Brewers about their other offseason plans. Rosenthal thinks Kerry Wood might make the most sense among free agent closers.
- The Mets, Indians, and Cardinals are interested in J.J. Putz.
- The Cubs are eyeing Rich Aurilia, but only if they happen to move Ronny Cedeno or Mike Fontenot.
- The Nationals "aren’t terribly enamored" of Willy Taveras, contrary to previous reports. The Nats instead have Carlos Gonzalez in their sights.
Rangers Could Still Trade Another Catcher
3:58pm: Both Peter Gammons and Ken Rosenthal are saying the Rangers could still trade another catcher (for a young starter). Gammons cites Salty specifically.
10:48am: WEEI’s Alex Speier takes a look at the market for catching.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti is on record saying he’s "probably not" interested in Jason Varitek.
- The Red Sox, Reds, Marlins, and Astros continue to hunt for catching.
- Speier talked to an official who believes the Rangers would have to be overwhelmed to trade a second catcher. Keeping in mind that Max Ramirez may have to move out from behind the plate, it may make sense to just let Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden compete for the job.
- The Red Sox have talked to the Indians about Kelly Shoppach; the Reds like him as well. The Indians would want a big league second baseman, third baseman, or closer back for Shoppach. The Indians have not entertained offers for Victor Martinez.
- The D’Backs would like a second baseman or pitching for Miguel Montero or Chris Snyder.
Odds and Ends: Teahen, Mastny, Clement
Sunday evening links…I will add to this post as needed.
- Dejan Kovacevic describes what it’s like for a reporter at the Winter Meetings.
- The Royals do not want to trade Mark Teahen. They’ve received inquiries on Teahen, David DeJesus, Jose Guillen, and Billy Butler. They mainly seem willing to move Guillen, which Jayson Stark reported earlier.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along nuggets on Kenshin Kawakami and Koji Uehara. He says the Angels contacted Kawakami’s agent, while the Tigers and Giants have been in touch with Uehara’s.
- Newman also says the Yokohama BayStars acquired reliever Tom Mastny from the Indians.
- Free agent infielder Nick Punto admitted to LEN3 that it’d be hard to leave the Twins.
- John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus says the Pirates are "willing to take a flyer on free-agent local boy Matt Clement." Clement may also consider Cleveland if they’ll have him.
- Other teams are pulling ahead of the Rockies in the pursuit for free agent lefty Joe Beimel. Nothing against Beimel, but it seems that every year one free agent lefty reliever is elevated beyond his true value. It might be Beimel this year.
- Jon Paul Morosi discusses trading Dontrelle Willis.
- The Marlins figure to hang on to Dan Uggla.
- Roch Kubatko says Orioles exec Mike Flanagan won’t be attending the Meetings, sparking speculation about his future with the team.
Indians Interested in Furcal?
Jon Heyman writes that the Indians may be emerging as a new suitor for free agent Rafael Furcal.
Furcal recently turned down a four-year, $36MM offer from the A’s. Heyman is unsure what went wrong with Oakland, but notes that Furcal was indeed serious about the possibility, having flown there for a tour.
There has long been talk of the Indians moving Jhonny Peralta to third base, and signing Furcal would allow for just that, with Asdrubal Cabrera playing second. Earlier we had heard the the Indians were shifting their focus to a closer. Have they changed their philosophy once again?
Heyman notes that there are also two mystery teams still interested in Furcal. The Cubs are focused on a left-handed hitting outfielder, the Dodgers don’t want to go more than two years, and the Braves still haven’t traded Yunel Escobar, so those three don’t currently make too much sense. Any guesses as to who the other two teams are?
Rosenthal’s Latest: Teixeira, Closers, Castillo, Cantu
Ken Rosenthal has a new column up, let’s take a look at the highlights:
- Rosenthal doesn’t see Mark Teixeira signing with the Nationals, even for the rumored ten-year, $200MM contract. He’s got better options in the Angels, Red Sox, and Yankees. Scott Boras managed to get Alex Rodriguez a ten-year deal with a losing team in 2000 when he signed with the Rangers, but Rosenthal doesn’t forsee a repeat.
- The Indians are waiting on the Mets’ closer decision to make a decision of their own. Once New York signs or trades for a closer, the market will likely collapse. The Mets are preparing simultaneous offers to Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, and Kerry Wood.
- The Brewers could spend big money on a closer once they hear from Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia. If the Brewers can somehow retain both, they won’t have money to spend on a closer and would likely have to trade Prince Fielder.
- The Mets are desperately trying to unload Luis Castillo so they can make a run at Orlando Hudson. They’re having no luck though, even in trying to swap him for another bad contract. The Rangers rejected a swap of Castillo for Vicente Padilla.
- Nationals GM Jim Bowden is interested in Willy Taveras. Doesn’t make any sense to me. The Nats already have Lastings Milledge, Josh Willingham, Elijah Dukes, and Austin Kearns.
- The Rockies prefer to keep Garrett Atkins, but the Twins, Dodgers, Giants, and Phillies are all interested. Chase Utley has been a long-time supporter of bringing his former UCLA teammate to the Phils for a reunion.
- The Marlins are getting several inquiries on Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla. They don’t plan to trade either, though if the Giants were to offer Jonathan Sanchez for Cantu, the Marlins would jump at the chance.
- Jermaine Dye, Mike Cameron, Marcus Thames, and Marlon Byrd are all available via the trade market, for teams needing a right-handed hitting outfielder. Rosenthal still feels Cameron could still end up in pinstripes.
Indians Sign Tomo Ohka
According to MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince, the Indians signed pitcher Tomo Ohka to a minor league deal. He spent all of ’08 at Triple A, tossing 135.2 innings with a 4.18 ERA for the Triple A affiliate of the White Sox. Ohka is an interesting character; I took a closer look at him in a post written two years ago.
Rockies To Keep Atkins?
THURSDAY, 8:10pm: Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports on comments from Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd. O’Dowd says Atkins’ future with the Rockies is closely tied to the future of Todd Helton. If Helton can’t produce, Atkins becomes a seemingly irreplaceable part of the Rockies offense.
WEDNESDAY, 11:27pm: MLB.com’s Thomas Harding talked to Atkins’ agent, who said his client is still willing to listen if the Rockies make a fresh extension offer.
11:13am: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post gets the impression that Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins will not be traded this winter. Renck says GM Dan O’Dowd fielded inquiries from the Reds and Twins but hasn’t found a match. The Rockies would want pitching in return. Atkins is under team control for two more years, so O’Dowd isn’t pressing to move him.
The Indians were also linked to Atkins at one point, but MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince says they’ve cooled on the idea.