Rockies Rumors

Rockies Interested In Brandon Webb

By Mike Axisa | November 28, 2010 at 4:45pm CDT

Let's add the Rockies to the ever-growing number of teams interested in free agent right-hander Brandon Webb. Troy Renck of The Denver Post tweets that Colorado has expressed interest in the sinkerballer, who would be a nice fit in Coors Field if healthy.

The Cubs, Pirates, Twins, Rangers, and Nationals are already in on Webb, who is a big unknown at this point. He hasn't been on a big league mound in close to 21 months because of shoulder problems. Two weeks ago, Webb's agent Jonathan Maurer gave MLBTR his take on Webb's September/October instructional games. Maurer said Webb is expected to prepare at a normal pace and is ready to make 30-plus starts in 2011.

Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.

Nine Teams Interested In Jesse Crain

By Mike Axisa | November 28, 2010 at 4:12pm CDT

Joaquin Benoit was the top right-handed setup man available on the free agent market, but with him off the board teams now appear to be turning their attention to Jesse Crain. MLB.com's Peter Gammons tweets that a total of nine teams – the Rays, Rockies, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Mariners, Orioles, Cubs, Nationals, and Blue Jays – are "already in" on the former Twin.

Crain, 29, has returned from a 2007 shoulder surgery to post a 3.70 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 182.1 innings over the last three seasons. In 68 innings this year, he posted a career-high 8.2 K/9 and a career-low .215 batting average against. Minnesota offered the Type-B free agent arbitration, so the club will receive a draft pick if he signs elsewhere even though the signing team will not have to give one up.

Renck On Rockies’ Pitching Targets

By Mark Polishuk | November 27, 2010 at 8:32pm CDT

Jon Garland, Hiroki Kuroda and Jake Westbrook were three of the top names on Colorado's wish list of free agent starters, but all three signed elsewhere. Troy Renck of the Denver Post (via Twitter links) chimes in about some other arms that have caught the Rockies' interest.

The Rockies could join the Cubs and at least four other teams in the Brandon Webb sweepstakes. Renck says Colorado "might check in on Webb later."
There's no better than a "50-50" chance that Jeff Francis re-signs with the Rockies. Francis is looking for a "one-year deal, [with] guaranteed money," so it may just be a case of whether or not the Rockies want to outbid other interested teams.
Tampa Bay is "in holding mode" with its pitchers right now, which may be preventing Colorado from making a serious bid for Matt Garza or James Shields.
Some of Colorado's "secondary targets" include Jeremy Bonderman, Dave Bush, Aaron Harang and Kevin Millwood. Renck specifies that Bush and Harang would be offered minor league contracts, but if no veteran pitchers are signed, then Esmil Rogers and the newly-acquired Felipe Paulino "would both get a shot in the rotation."

Renck On De La Rosa, Floyd, Nationals

By Mark Polishuk | November 24, 2010 at 7:19pm CDT

Troy Renck of the Denver Post shared a few Rockies-related items and opinions with his Twitter followers today. All links within quote marks are tweets unless noted otherwise…

Renck feels it's "highly unlikely" that Jorge de la Rosa will re-sign with Colorado. As we heard last week, the Rockies aren't prepared to offer the free agent starter anything more than a three-year contract, and one of the many clubs interested in De La Rosa will offer him at least four years.
Renck personally would have pursued De La Rosa had he been the Rockies GM, but he thinks the club should "shift toward" trading for Gavin Floyd and acquiring two of Kevin Kouzmanoff, Jose Lopez or Josh Willingham. Kouzmanoff and Lopez have drawn some interest from the Rockies already.
The White Sox "like Ian Stewart," Renck said in regards to rumors from earlier in the week that Chicago and Colorado had at least discussed swapping the third baseman for Floyd. Stewart would give the Sox some left-handed pop, possibly in a third base platoon with Dayan Viciedo.
Also noted in Renck's previous Twitter link was the fact that the Nationals "want pitching in every trade. Either big league pitching or guys who are close [to the majors]."
Type A free agent Carl Pavano will turn 35 in January and would cost the Rockies a draft pick to sign him, but Renck feels Pavano is "worth the risk" if the Rockies can't get Floyd.

Rockies Rumors: De La Rosa, Garland, Daley

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | November 24, 2010 at 10:56am CDT

The Rockies are on the lookout for pitching and they already made one minor deal. Jim Armstrong and Troy Renck of the Denver Post have the details:

The Rockies haven’t ruled out bringing Jorge de la Rosa back, but his agent continues talking to other teams and the Rockies are not going to offer more than three years. Some teams are prepared to make a four-year commitment to the left-hander, according to Armstrong.
Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd is going through the process of finding a replacement in case De La Rosa leaves. Jon Garland, who is looking for a multi-year deal, is one of the team’s targets, O’Dowd confirmed.
The Rockies agreed to sign Matt Daley to a contract that will pay the right-hander $422K in the majors and $236K in the minors, according to Renck. Daley, who is not yet arbitration eligible, posted a 4.24 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 28 relief appearances last year.

National League Free Agent Arbitration Offers

By Tim Dierkes | November 23, 2010 at 11:01pm CDT

11 National League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make, and we'll group them in this post. For a fantastic customizable chart with all 65 Type A/B free agents and their decisions in real-time, click here.

The Padres offered Jon Garland (B), Yorvit Torrealba (B) and Kevin Correia (B) arbitration, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock (on Twitter). They did not offer Miguel Tejada (A) and David Eckstein (B) arbitration.
The Reds declined to offer Orlando Cabrera (B) or Arthur Rhodes (A) arbitration, according to the team (on Twitter).
The Dodgers declined to offer arbitration to Scott Podsednik (B), Rod Barajas (B) and Vicente Padilla (B), according to the team (on Twitter).
The Giants offered Juan Uribe (B) arbitration, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter).
In a surprising move, the Brewers decided to offer Trevor Hoffman (B) arbitration, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reports that Hoffman has agreed to turn the offer down (Twitter link).
The Diamondbacks announced that they offered arbitration to Adam LaRoche (B) and Aaron Heilman (B).
The Rockies will offer arbitration to Jorge de la Rosa (A) and Octavio Dotel (B), according to Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post.
The Braves will not offer arbitration to first baseman Derrek Lee (A), according to GM Frank Wren via David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Twitter.
The Nationals offered arbitration to first baseman Adam Dunn (A), reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
The Mets will offer arbitration to lefty Pedro Feliciano (B), tweets Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.
Yesterday, MLB.com's Todd Zolecki learned that the Phillies will offer arbitration to Jayson Werth (A) but not Chad Durbin (B).

Eight Teams Interested In Lance Berkman

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | November 23, 2010 at 8:48pm CDT

Lance Berkman tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that eight teams have expressed some interest in him this offseason. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reported earlier in the month that the A's were interested and Rosenthal adds the Cubs and Rockies to the list.

Berkman says Oakland has been the "most aggressive" in terms of contacting him. The 34-year-old isn't ruling the A's out, but he'd prefer not to be a DH and Oakland has first baseman Daric Barton and lots of outfielders.

“I’m not a DH-slash-first baseman," Berkman told Rosenthal. "I’m a first baseman-slash-outfielder.”

Berkman has not played the outfield since 2007, but he says he feels better now that he has recovered from the arthroscopic knee surgery he underwent in March. Berkman has said he'll look for an everyday role and he told Rosenthal that he would like to return to the National League. There will be no reunion with the Astros, however.

Vazquez Seeks One-Year Deal; Marlins In Pursuit

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | November 23, 2010 at 6:35pm CDT

Javier Vazquez wants a one-year deal, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. The right-hander could be looking to re-establish his value and hit the open market a year from now in search of a bigger payday.

Vazquez has turned down at least one offer worth about $20MM over two years, according to Stark. The Nationals, Cubs and Rockies have expressed interest in Vazquez, but another club appears to be in the lead for his services.

Talks with the Marlins have gotten "hot," according to Stark. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports confirms on Twitter that the sides had extensive discussions about a deal. We heard last week that there's mutual interest between the team and the pitcher, partly since the Marlins play relatively close to Vazquez's native Puerto Rico.

The Yankees offered Vazquez arbitration, but he appears to have agreed to turn it down and, because he is a Type B free agent, no team will have to surrender a pick to sign the 34-year-old.

Odds & Ends: Pirates, Royals, Sizemore, Matsui

By Mike Axisa | November 20, 2010 at 10:37pm CDT

Links for Saturday…

MLB Network's Peter Gammons hears from an agent that the Pirates and Royals are "offering big" this offseason, and that the "Angels, Red Sox, [and] Mets could be left behind." (Twitter link)
In a mailbag piece, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer says he doesn't believe Grady Sizemore has any trade value until he shows he can play after having microfracture surgery on his left knee. Sizemore will earn $7.5MM in 2011, then the team will have to decide between his $9MM option for 2012 or a $500K buyout.
Jason Coskrey of The Japan Times passes along another report indicating that the Rakuten Golden Eagles have interest in both Kazuo Matsui and Kenshin Kawakami (Twitter link).
Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer says you can bet on the Phillies adding an "older pitcher on a non-guaranteed contract" to compete with Kyle Kendrick and Vance Worley for the team's fifth starter spot.
MLB.com's Carrie Muskat lists some pitching coach candidates for the Cubs in the wake of Larry Rothschild leaving for the same position with the Yankees.
Troy Renck of The Denver Post passes along some quotes from Felipe Paulino about joining the Rockies. Colorado acquired Paulino from the Astros on Thursday.

Odds & Ends: Soria, Garland, Abreu, Ramirez

By Mark Polishuk | November 19, 2010 at 8:54pm CDT

Here's a round-up of news tidbits from around the majors today…

The Royals might as well also trade Joakim Soria if they're going to move Zack Greinke this winter, reasons Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Soria will make $4MM next season and then has team options worth $6MM, $8MM and $8.75MM in 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively. Those are big numbers for a closer on a non-contending team, but if Soria is moved to the rotation and keeps producing, those salaries will be bargains. Interestingly, Soria has a limited no-trade clause that gives him the right to veto deals to the Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies, Red Sox, Tigers and Yankees.
Heyman also tweets that Colorado wants to sign Jon Garland to a one-year contract with an option for 2012, but Garland will probably find a guaranteed multi-year deal elsewhere.
Bobby Abreu would be happy to become a full-time DH if the Angels were to sign a left fielder like Carl Crawford, reports MLB.com's Lyle Spencer.
Manny Ramirez's 2010 season is compared to the most recent walk years of Vladimir Guerrero and Gary Sheffield by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci. We know that Scott Boras sees Ramirez as this year's Guerrero, but Verducci points out that with the glut of DH-types on the market this winter, there's at least a chance that Ramirez could end up without a contract as Sheffield did last offseason.
Speaking of Manny, MLB.com's Jane Lee shoots down a reader's query about Ramirez possibly ending up in Oakland. She says Ramirez is too expensive, would cost the A's a draft pick to sign him and Ramirez "wouldn't exactly fit the veteran-leadership mold the club is looking to also get out of their DH next year." Bad news for those of us that thought Ramirez would end up in Oakland green in 2011. Keep in mind that since Manny is highly unlikely to be offered arbitration by the White Sox on Tuesday, draft pick compensation will not be a factor.
Doug Melvin might be in "a no-win situation" in his attempts to trade or hold onto Prince Fielder, writes The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Anthony Witrado.
Tribe GM Chris Antonetti tells MLB.com's Jordan Bastian that a third baseman and a starting pitcher are his club's offseason priorities. Antonetti says the Indians are specifically looking for a veteran hurler who can eat innings and provide "certainty" within the otherwise young rotation.
Now that Zach Duke has been designated for assignment, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets that the odds of the Pirates signing a free agent starter have risen. Biertempfel mentions Jorge de la Rosa, though the Bucs will have to out-negotiate several other clubs to sign him.
David Waldstein of the New York Times thinks Bob Melvin will be the next Mets manager, though he notes that "if this really were a horse race, I would box Melvin and [Terry] Collins in an exacta."

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Rockies Rumors

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect