Tigers Rumors

Odds and Ends: Sheets, Moeller, Yankees

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 13, 2008 at 11:24am CDT

Links for Saturday…

As more teams lock up lefty relievers, Jon Paul Morosi sees the Tigers as more likely to land Joe Beimel.
Tom Haudricourt has heard that Ben Sheets is more likely to sign with the Rangers, who have Mike Maddux campaigning for them, than the Yankees.
Peter Schmuck hears that the Orioles have signed catcher Chad Moeller to a minor league deal.
Ken Davidoff writes that the Yankees shouldn’t concern themselves with Andy Pettitte just yet.
Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star doesn’t like the Yankees’ aggressive spending.
Jack Curry of the New York Times writes that the Yankees are instant favorites for the World Series.
Another New York Times writer, Ben Shpigel, writes that the Mets especially need Oliver Perez now that the Phillies have signed Raul Ibanez.
RotoAuthority breaks down the re-vamped San Francisco bullpen for fantasy baseball purposes.
Matt Clement’s optimistic about his fresh start with the Jays.
Two players re-signed with their clubs after being non-tendered: Norris Hopper of the Reds and Scott Mathieson of the Phils.
Hideki Okajima will run a marathon Sunday, and the Red Sox aren’t thrilled.

Odds and Ends: Burrell, Braves, Red Sox

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 12, 2008 at 7:53pm CDT

Links for Friday night…

The Reds are going to call Pat Burrell’s agent.
Ken Rosenthal breaks down the Braves’ options now that they’ve lost out on A.J. Burnett. Could they sign Rafael Furcal as a second baseman and move Kelly Johnson to left field?
The Red Sox signed five players to minor league deals, including Paul McAnulty and Billy Traber.
T.R. Sullivan takes a look at the market for Ben Sheets from the Rangers’ perspective.
Keith Law calls the Raul Ibanez signing ’absurd’ for the Phillies.
Orioles manager Dave Trembley thinks his team is still in the running for Mark Teixeira.
Dean Jones Jr. breaks down the Orioles’ Rule 5 draft selections.
Dave Dombrowski isn’t the only one who’d like to bring John Smoltz to Detroit. Even college basketball coach Tom Izzo likes the fit.
Jay Bruce also plays GM; he wants the Reds to keep their young pitching. Bruce also revealed that Jerry Hairston Jr. is considering the Phillies and Mariners in addition to the Reds.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Tigers, Braves, Red Sox, Pirates

By Cork Gaines | December 12, 2008 at 11:50am CDT

Today is free agent Orlando Hudson’s 31st birthday and the 29th birthday of Garrett Atkins, the subject of many recent trade rumors.

Also, on this date 10 years ago, Kevin Brown became the first player to sign a contract worth at least $100MM, when he signed a seven-year/$105MM contract with the Dodgers. The deal came when Brown was 34, one season after going 18-7 with a 2.38 ERA. Brown’s first two seasons with the Dodgers (18-9, 3.00 and 13-6, 2.58) were solid, but he would only make 29 starts in years three and four combined. Since then, two pitchers have signed deals for at least six years. Mike Hampton and Barry Zito. That doesn’t bode well for C.C. Sabathia, but it’s a small sample size…With the winter meetings now wrapped up, let’s take a look at what is being said in the Blogosphere…

T ake 75 North feels the Tigers are going to regret acquiring Edwin Jackson and lament the loss of Matt Joyce.
The Detroit Tigers Weblog does not get the Edwin Jackson/Matt Joyce deal noting that at least Joyce has shown signs of being a very good player.
When Sid Slid weighs the merits of acquiring Jake Peavy or A.J. Burnett and sees Burnett as the better option.
Infield Chatter warns the Red Sox about signing Mark Teixeira, feeling Theo Epstein should be more concerned with acquiring a pitcher and noting the Red Sox have Lars Anderson waiting in the minors.
Pirate Revolution feels the Pirates need to move Adam LaRoche, Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson and John Grabow to unblock the paths of younger players.
DraftInfo has a Q&A with Max Stassi, a high school catcher that is projected to be selected in the first round.
Fire Brand of the American League takes a look at the impact C.C. Sabathia will have on the AL East.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.

Tigers Sign Santiago, Eye Turnbow

By Tim Dierkes | December 12, 2008 at 9:48am CDT

According to Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers avoided arbitration with shortstop Ramon Santiago. He’ll get $825K in 2009.

Morosi also reports that the Tigers have been in contract with Derrick Turnbow’s agent. Turnbow has also drawn interest from the Rockies, Pirates, and Giants. He’ll have a throwing session for scouts in mid-January.

Details On Tigers’ Failed Putz Bid

By Tim Dierkes | December 12, 2008 at 9:20am CDT

Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press has the details on the Tigers’ failed bid for J.J. Putz:

One proposal involved the Tigers sending Matt Joyce to Tampa Bay and outfielders Wilkin Ramirez and Casper Wells to Seattle. Putz was the only player the Tigers would have received.

According to Joe Strauss, the Cardinals also pursued Putz (as well as Aaron Heilman).

After the proposal failed, the Tigers shipped Joyce to Tampa Bay for Edwin Jackson. Brian Fuentes may be the Tigers’ best remaining option from a baseball standpoint, but Morosi believes they’d have to move other contracts off the books to afford him. I’m surprised – they’ll spend less than $10MM in ’09 on their new catcher, shortstop, and starter.

Tigers Unlikely To Add Closer

By Steve Adams | December 11, 2008 at 8:04pm CDT

8:04: Steve Kornacki doesn’t feel that the Tigers are done adding to their bullpen yet. He feels Dave Dombrowski will pursue Fuentes is the price comes down.

He also looks at what he deems the other six viable options left: John Smoltz, Trevor Hoffman, Brandon Lyon, David Weathers, Chad Cordero, and Eric Gagne. Hardly an impressive crop. Kornacki lists Lyon and Weathers as the most attractive options, unless the Tigers can luck out and pry Smoltz away from Atlanta. Smoltz is a Michigan native.

6:44: Danny Knobler of CBS Sports says that getting a closer is no longer a priority for the Tigers.

Detroit isn’t interested in Trevor Hoffman, can’t afford Brian Fuentes, and they tried for Kerry Wood but missed. The Tigers feel they could have landed J.J. Putz, but the Mets swooped in with a last minute offer and won his services.

Knobler also wonders if the Tigers could release Dontrelle Willis if he doesn’t show something in Spring Training.

Sheffield Staying Put For Now

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 11, 2008 at 6:41pm CDT

According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers don’t expect to deal for Gary Sheffield. A Rangers official said the club would “consider it” if the Tigers took on enough of Sheffield’s $14MM 2009 salary, but the Tigers aren’t going to give him away.

Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski thinks that Sheffield “can still hit,” so he’s in no rush to trade him.

The Rangers inquired on Sheffield yesterday, but Sullivan says it “was not a serious conversation.”

Odds and Ends: Giambi, Saberhagen, Chacon

By Tim Dierkes | December 11, 2008 at 3:25pm CDT

Today’s stray Winter Meetings links as everyone heads home…

Jason Giambi maintains hopes of returning to the Yankees; he may be willing to take a discount.
Dave Cameron believes the Rays won the Edwin Jackson–Matt Joyce swap, handily.
Brett Saberhagen was hired as an agent for Dan Evans’ firm. He’ll focus on pitchers.
Shawn Chacon’s agent is trying to find his client a job. Troy Renck also notes that the Rockies’ offer to Glendon Rusch is a $750K minor league deal.
Kevin Kaduk relays his first Winter Meetings experience.

Odds and Ends: Rule 5, Beltre, Schmidt, Bako

By Tim Dierkes | December 11, 2008 at 7:00am CDT

Stray links I’ve collected over the past few days…

John Manuel and Jonathan Mayo get us ready for the Rule 5 draft. Manuel has a second post on it here.
Sarah Green looks at A.J. Burnett’s possible commutes.
LEN3 suggests the Twins might be part of Adrian Beltre’s limited no-trade clause.
K-Rod signing analysis from Dave Cameron, Jesse Spector, and Keith Law. Also check out the usual solid analysis over at Ken Davidoff’s blog.
Law also takes on the Edwin Jackson, Ramon Hernandez, J.J. Putz, and C.C. Sabathia moves.
The Red Sox are likely to non-tender Kevin Cash. Josh Bard is one free agent on their radar. Also, Tony Massarotti learned that the Red Sox are strongly opposed to opt-out clauses.
UmpBump found some C.C. Sabathia rumors we missed on Monday. Also, the Brewers’ offer to C.C. had unique clauses and two club options.
The Dodgers knew Jason Schmidt had a partial rotator cuff tear when they signed him.
Rany Jazayerli on recent Royals rumors, reliever and otherwise.
Bruce Miles says the Cubs have some interest in bringing Paul Bako back.
Jason Davis, Raul Chavez, and R.A. Dickey became free agents. Davis may be headed to Japan.
Nick Piecoro says Junior Spivey is looking for a job.
Much of the money saved from recent White Sox trades was repurposed for Dayan Viciedo.

Jack Wilson Rumors: Thursday

By Tim Dierkes | December 11, 2008 at 1:10am CDT

Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes about Jack Wilson:

Only the Minnesota Twins are known to be interested, but the Los Angeles Dodgers could come back if their bid to re-sign free agent Rafael Furcal falls short.

Ken Rosenthal chimes in that the Astros could become an option if they first overcome the "extremely slim" odds against trading Miguel Tejada. Kovacevic adds that in the Pirates’ final Wilson proposal to the Tigers a few days ago they sought shortstop prospect Danny Worth and one of the team’s top pitching prospects.

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