Stark’s Latest: Burnett, Cantu, Lowe, Furcal
Jayson Stark’s got a heaping helping of hot stove updates in his most recent blog post at ESPN.com.
- The Braves’ most recent offer makes them the frontrunners for A.J. Burnett, says Stark.
- We’re still waiting for another team to come close to the Yankees’ offer for C.C. Sabathia. Stark suggests Sabathia may make up his mind by next week. He also says there’s "increasing buzz about the Yankees’ interest in Ben Sheets."
- The White Sox appear to have expressed some interest in Jorge Cantu.
- Stark doesn’t think the Phillies stand a very good chance of signing Derek Lowe.
- Only the Dodgers and A’s, and perhaps the Orioles, remain interested in Rafael Furcal.
- If the Dodgers end up missing on Furcal and Casey Blake, their focus might shift to names like Ty Wigginton and Adrian Beltre.
Olney’s Latest: Manny, Peavy, Fuentes
ESPN’s Buster Olney has a bunch of new info in today’s blog.
- Olney continues to wonder if Manny Ramirez and Scott Boras will "wave the white flag" and accept the Dodgers’ offer of arbitration. It could result in a huge one-year salary, and the current market for Manny is not robust. However, Peter Abraham said in July that a condition of Manny’s trade was that he would decline arbitration. Did anyone else write this? Hopefully a journalist will ask Boras about it soon.
- Olney says the Cubs would love to have Adam Dunn in their lineup, but he’s a stretch as a full-time right fielder. The Cubs are willing to sacrifice some defense in right, but how much?
- Could Dunn or Pat Burrell wind up with the Rays on an affordable one-year deal?
- The Cubs and Padres "have a basic framework in place" for a Jake Peavy deal built around third baseman Josh Vitters. Things may pick up after the Cubs’ ownership situation is resolved.
- The Astros don’t have a ton of flexibility to move their high-salaried stars, but Jose Valverde is one they can deal without restriction. He’s due for a nice raise from this year’s $4.7MM.
- Olney suggests the Rockies were wise to trade Matt Holliday when they did, or they might’ve gotten significantly less.
- Olney speaks of "a belief within the Rockies’ organization" that Brian Fuentes could come back on a multiyear deal. The Rockies could trade Huston Street in that case.
- The Braves may push A.J. Burnett for an answer before C.C. Sabathia signs, in case the Yanks miss out on C.C. and come after Burnett.
- Apparently there is "serious tension" between Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland.
- Olney sees Rafael Furcal signing with the A’s.
Odds and Ends: Griffey, Springer, Hoffman
Links for Wednesday…
- Common misconception Joe and I keep running into: signing one of the 15 Type A free agents who were offered arbitration will only cost the signing team one draft pick. The player’s old team also gets a second pick, but it doesn’t come from the new team. It’s just squeezed into the supplemental round. Check out a deeper explanation here.
- Nuggets from a Frank Coonelly chat: he expects the Pirates to make room on the 40-man roster for a potential Rule 5 addition, and they’d still like to re-sign Doug Mientkiewicz.
- Pirates pitcher Jason Davis looks like a non-tender candidate.
- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire doesn’t have Delmon Young in his preferred starting outfield.
- The Cubs signed pitcher Chad Fox to a minor league deal.
- Ken Griffey Jr.‘s agent Brian Goldberg says he’s fine with DHing but is capable of playing the field. Goldberg thinks Junior can bounce back and have a 30 home run season.
- Click here to listen to free agent reliever Russ Springer talk to The ITD Morning After radio show on 1380 AM. He’s gotten calls from teams in both leagues, including "World Series participants." Springer is known to be on the Phillies’ radar.
- Recently I talked to Sarah Small of the Daily Illini.
- SI.com’s Tom Verducci looks at the supposed shortstop revolution that seems to have petered out.
- Dave Cameron respects the Astros’ signing of Mike Hampton.
- Tony Jackson says the Dodgers offered a minor league deal to Juan Castro.
- Royals GM Dayton Moore did a Q&A with fans at MLB.com. His priority is adding right-handed relief help after trading Leo Nunez and Ramon Ramirez. Also, he says Mark Teahen is "more important to our team today then he was in all of 2008 — and he was very important to our team in ’08."
- McCovey Chronicles is skeptical of all the teams blaming the economy.
- Drunk Jays Fans predicts Kevin Mench‘s Japan experience.
- Jesse Spector looks at comparable pitchers for C.C. Sabathia.
- Trevor Hoffman may meet with the Mets soon. Also, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon spoke of "addition by subtraction" yesterday.
- East Windup Chronicle disputes a Richard Griffin column.
- The Phillies are still willing to sign Type A free agents who were offered arbitration, such as Raul Ibanez or Juan Cruz.
- Evan Grant’s latest Rangers mailbag, always a good read.
- Joe Sheehan discusses various poor arbitration decisions by teams.
- Minor league deals for the Mets: Nelson Figueroa, Adam Bostick, and Rene Rivera. Marty Noble adds Andy Green.
- Rany Jazayerli figures Mark Grudzielanek agreed in advance to reject the Royals’ offer of arbitration.
- As usual, ESPN will be all over the Winter Meetings. I’m told they’ll be doing daily Baseball Tonight specials and will have a team of seven on the scene in Vegas.
- ESPN’s Peter Gammons says the free agent and trade markets are flooded with corner/DH type bats. There will be bargains.
- Bruce Miles thinks Milton Bradley would be a nice match for the Cubs. The biggest issue would be his ability to play right field every day.
Astros Interested In Ross, Zaun
According to Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros have spoken to the agents for free agent catchers Gregg Zaun and Dave Ross. Ross we knew about, but Zaun is a new name. The Tigers have been linked to Zaun as well. It’s also known that Paul Bako would be interested in playing for Houston.
McTaggart also mentions in the article that pitcher Brandon Backe is a non-tender candidate (that deadline is December 12th; we’ll see a many additional players enter the free agent pool).
Astros Sign Mike Hampton
WEDNESDAY: The Astros are having a press conference for Hampton in about 25 minutes, implying that he passed his physical.
TUESDAY: Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says Hampton turned down a slightly higher offer from the Braves to be closer to his children, who are in Arizona.
MONDAY, 3:31pm: Ken Rosenthal says it’s a one-year, $2MM deal with another $2MM in appearance-based incentives. Hard to find fault in that.
2:44pm: According to FOX 26 Sports in Houston, the Astros signed pitcher Mike Hampton today. He needs to complete a physical to make it official. Hampton pitched for the Astros from 1994-99 before he was traded to the Mets.
Hampton sought a one-year deal with no option, so I imagine that’s what the Astros offered.
Astros Sign Doug Brocail
According to a press release, the Astros signed Doug Brocail to a one-year deal today. He’ll get $2.5MM plus incentives in ’09 and there’s a club option for $2.85MM plus incentives for ’10 with a $250K buyout. The Astros declined Brocail’s $3.25MM ’09 option in October and did not offer him arbitration yesterday.
Brocail, 41, posted a 3.93 ERA in 68.2 innings this year. His strikeout rate was up significantly from ’07. He struggled in July and August, but pitched well in September.
Odds and Ends: Thorman, Sabathia, Pettitte
Links for Tuesday…
- Big League Stew names Scott Boras’ ten most notorious deals. Darren Dreifort also probably belongs on the list. Any others?
- Roch Kubatko of MASN Online debunks a rumor about the Orioles offering Brian Roberts a three-year contract with a soft deadline.
- ESPN’s Keith Law likes the Astros’ signing of Mike Hampton.
- The Brewers signed first baseman Scott Thorman to a minor league deal. He hit .251/.283/.465 at Triple A this year. Also, Salomon Torres officially retired.
- C.C. Sabathia attended a Golden State Warriors game last night, for what it’s worth.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti paid lip service to the idea of re-signing Rafael Furcal.
- Joel Sherman says Andy Pettitte is a phony if he signs with a team other than the Yankees. He says the Yanks made a $10MM offer. Craig Calcaterra weighs in on Sherman’s column at Shysterball.
- I did a Q&A with Mets Fans Forever.
- Blue Jays owner Ted Rogers passed away.
Braves Rumors: Hampton, Lowe, Burnett
Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the latest on the Braves in a new blog post.
- The Braves never intended Mike Hampton to be one of the two front-rotation starters they acquire this winter, so his rejection of their offer doesn’t affect their plans much.
- O’Brien notes that he’s heard no indications that the Braves are actively pursuing Derek Lowe. A.J. Burnett seems to be their top target, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Jake Peavy talks revived at the Winter Meetings.
- The Braves made trade inquiries on Roy Oswalt and Matt Cain and "haven’t received favorable replies in those pursuits."
- Free agents Ben Sheets and Randy Johnson don’t seem to be on the radar due to concerns over their reliability.
- The Braves continue to seek a power bat, with Ryan Ludwick and Jermaine Dye the two targets mentioned in recent weeks.
Astros Decline To Offer Arb To Wolf, Brocail, Loretta
MLB.com’s Alyson Footer makes it official – the Astros did not offer arbitration to Type B free agents Randy Wolf and Mark Loretta or Type A free agent Doug Brocail. The Astros still hope to re-sign Brocail.
Just like the Cubs with Kerry Wood and the D’Backs with Adam Dunn, Wolf is a quality player who was not offered arbitration due to payroll concerns.
Richard Justice figures it may have come down to Wolf or Jose Valverde for the Astros, and they chose Valverde. Another note in Justice’s post – the Astros had their eye on Jose Ceda before he was traded to the Marlins.
Arb Offered To Orlando Cabrera, David Weathers
According to the AP, Orlando Cabrera (Type A) and David Weathers (Type B) were offered arbitration.
We await word on Type A/B free agents Mark Loretta, Randy Wolf, Doug Brocail, Juan Uribe, and Ken Griffey Jr., though the AP article implies none of the five received offers. Wolf would’ve been solid on a one-year deal; the Astros’ payroll must be really tight.