Rockies, Mariners Interested In Marcus Giles
Second baseman Marcus Giles was awful this year, hitting .229/.304/.317 in 420 ABs. You don’t hear statheads talking him up quite as much these days. Nonetheless ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports that the Rockies and Mariners have interest. Apparently one other NL team is interested as well.
For the Rox, Giles would be a fallback option if they can’t sign Mark Loretta. The Mariners are trying to find someone to challenge or replace Jose Lopez. Giles made $3.75MM this year and doesn’t figure to get much more on the open market.
Odds and Ends: Loretta, Pettitte, Affeldt
Random Winter Meetings rumors…
- Doug Melvin confirms that the Nats offered Chad Cordero for Rickie Weeks. Melvin is adamant that he won’t be trading Weeks or J.J. Hardy for a closer.
- Mike Timlin for $3MM, done.
- Mark Loretta would like to return to San Diego but the Padres will pass. The Rockies may yet sign him.
- Rob Biertempfel thinks the Pirates could send a reliever to the Rockies for Jamey Carroll, if the Rockies would eat some of Carroll’s salary. That’s right, a Jamey Carroll trade rumor. For a man of his abilities Carroll is a tad pricey at $2.3MM.
- Andy Pettitte deal is official at $16MM with no option year.
- Jeremy Affeldt might be looking for four years, $16MM. Say whaaaat? The Rox offered him a mere $4MM over two years.
Brown’s Latest: Erstad, Livan, Tomko
Yahoo’s Tim Brown checks in with his own set of rumors after working the floor a bit.
- Darin Erstad is popular – the Padres, Mariners, Astros, and Rays have inquired. His mystique lives on.
- The Phillies appear to have a serious interest in Livan Hernandez, though he doesn’t seem to be what they need.
- Brett Tomko‘s agent met with the Rockies today. Brown says the Pirates, Nationals, Marlins, Reds, and Rangers are after him too. Separately it’s been said that the Astros are in on him too. The Padres made a weak $1.5MM offer to Tomko.
Rockies Eyeing Burke, Ohman, Capuano
Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News has a list of available players the Rockies like. He names Chris Burke, Mark Redman, Steve Trachsel, Will Ohman, and Chris Capuano as the targets.
Trachsel and Redman we know about; they are two among a slew of starters the Rockies are considering. Capuano is new to the list, however. They’ll have some competition from the Cardinals on him.
Burke is an option for second base and a player the Rox liked a year ago for the Jason Jennings deal. Now he’ll come ultra-cheap. Mark Loretta is considered a long shot.
The Rockies like Ohman, who the Cubs consider expendable. It’s strange, though, because the Rockies are currently shopping a better southpaw reliever in Brian Fuentes. Fuentes wants to close, so Dan O’Down will listen to offers. But it doesn’t make sense that a team would surrender a young, eighth-inning ready reliever for Fuentes.
Tomko Not Close To Signing With Padres
The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Tom Krasovic reported today that Padres GM Kevin Towers expects to sign Brett Tomko for a relief role. Tomko was quoted as saying "Of course, we’re interested."
To clear things up, ESPN’s Amy Nelson spoke to Tomko today. He’s not close to signing with the Padres. In an ideal world he’d get a multiyear deal and a chance to start. The Padres offered one year and a bullpen job. Said Tomko: "It’s not like I’m looking to be the highest-paid 4-12 pitcher ever. But I don’t feel like I’m desperate. I’m willing to wait for a couple of other guys to sign." Nelson adds that more than six teams have inquired on Tomko, including the Nationals, Rockies, Astros, and Marlins. He’s an intriguing bargain buy.
But this begs the question: who was the highest paid 4-12 pitcher ever? Tomko made $4.1MM this year, $5.1MM if you count his buyout. Since 1901, 27 pitchers have gone 4-12. Since 1990, only Tomko, Mark Gubicza, and Darryl Kile have done it. Gubicza earned $1.6MM in ’96, while Kile earned $1.272MM in ’95. So Tomko technically already is the highest paid 4-12 pitcher ever.
Odds and Ends: Colon, Clark, Gagne
Random rumors, let’s round ’em up.
- How about Bartolo Colon to the Mets? David Lennon notes that Omar Minaya sold the farm to acquire him in 2002 as the Expos’ GM.
- Scott Lauber says Aaron Rowand is insisting on a five-year deal. He adds that the Phils have interest in Geoff Jenkins but he might be too expensive.
- Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller are considered untouchable, so don’t look for the Tigers to make any big trades.
- Patrick Saunders runs down some free agents the Rockies may consider for the back end of their rotation: Tony Armas, Matt Clement, Steve Trachsel, Josh Fogg, Jason Jennings, Jon Lieber, Mark Redman, Brett Tomko, and Kip Wells.
- The Rays may go after Tony Clark, in large part because they’re seeking leadership. Marc Topkin agrees, and also rattles off Geoff Jenkins, Brad Wilkerson, Cliff Floyd, Mike Lamb, Mark Sweeney, Corey Koskie, and Greg Nortion as other possibilities.
- It’s expected that Eric Gagne will not accept Boston’s offer of arbitration, because he wants to close. One place he could do so is Texas, who like him if he’ll take one year.
- The Marlins’ new marketing materials exclude Miguel Cabrera.
- The Rangers have interest in Sean Casey and Mike Lamb.
Yankees Not Close With Loretta
UPDATE, 12-01-07 at 1pm: Olney now says the Yanks don’t have any serious interest in Loretta, and haven’t spoken to him in over a month.
UPDATE, 11-30-07 at 10am: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post has more on this situation. The Rockies got in touch with Loretta’s agent recently but weren’t optimistic on getting a deal done. While Loretta is close with the Yanks, he will let the Rockies’ second base situation play out before signing because Colorado is his first choice.
FROM 11-30-07 at 8:40am:
Ryne Crabb of The Transaction Guy writes of a Buster Olney radio report wherein the Yankees were said to be close to signing Mark Loretta.
Before we punch Robinson Cano‘s ticket to Minnesota, remember that the Yanks have liked Loretta in the past as a first base and/or backup infield option. It may be as simple as that. To his credit, Loretta posted a .352 OBP last year (though he was awful after the break).
Rockies Talking To Redman, Trachsel
UPDATE, 11-30-07 at 11am: Troy E. Renck spoke to Dan O’Dowd, who indicates the Rox are not close on Redman or Trachsel. They like that pair, but Brett Tomko and Jason Jennings continue to catch O’Dowd’s eye.
FROM 11-29-07 at 2pm:
According to Tracy Ringolsby, the Rockies already have their 2008 rotation picked out: Aaron Cook, Jeff Francis, Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales, and Jason Hirsh. Of course, counting on each to make 30 starts would be folly. With that in mind, Dan O’Dowd is looking for some veteran filler. Specifically, he’s trying to sign Mark Redman and Steve Trachsel. Trachsel in particular would like to become a Rockie.
Trax is 37; he pitched 159 innings over 29 starts in 2007. He’s always working out of a jam, given the amount of baserunners he puts on. And he definitely pitches to contact. Whenever a pitcher walks more than he whiffs, that’s not good. The Cubs deemed him to be worth less than $4.75MM, declining his ’08 option for that amount. I’m thinking one year, $3MM.
Redman will be 34 in January. At one point he could almost be called an innings-eater, but the lefty doesn’t appear to have much left in the tank.
The Rockies have also been linked to Matt Clement, Cliff Lee, Brett Tomko, Jason Jennings, and Ian Snell this winter.
Odds and Ends: Jenkins, Piazza, Kuroda
Random rumors for this evening…
- ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that the Rays have contacted Geoff Jenkins‘ agent. They’re eyeing him to replace Delmon Young in right field.
- Cubs lefty Scott Eyre exercised his $3.8MM player option for 2008.
- Terrmel Sledge never quite caught on in the U.S., so he’s headed to Japan. I thought he was a sleeper entering 2007 as he’d posted a .985 OPS in Triple A in ’06.
- The Yorvit Torrealba deal is official at two years and $7.25MM with a $4MM mutual option for 2010. Mutual options never get exercised by both sides so that doesn’t mean much. Michael Barrett and Paul Lo Duca are the two remaining free agent starting catchers.
- It’s true, Mike Piazza does have some interest from a Japanese team. But he also has three MLB teams interested, and he’s much more likely to stay in the U.S.
- Could Yasuhiko Yabuta lead the Royals to sign Hiroki Kuroda? It’s a possibility. The D’Backs are after him as well; Nick Piecoro has some in-depth info about Kuroda.
Tigers Offer Contract To Hawkins?
Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press writes that the Tigers have interest in free agent reliever LaTroy Hawkins and may have even offered him a multiyear contract. Among free agent relievers the Tigers have previously expressed interest in Octavio Dotel.
Dotel is 32 and a health risk, but he still has that huge strikeout rate. I’m guessing he wants at least two years, $12MM.
Hawkins is 35 and healthy; he did somehow manage to post a 3.42 ERA in 55 innings with the Rockies. That’s not easy to do. But his 1.8 K/BB and 4.7 K/9 rates were not impressive. He might be after a two-year, $8MM deal.