At Least Four Teams Interested In Loretta
According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, at least four teams are interested in free agent infielder Mark Loretta. Among them: the Phillies, Pirates, Diamondbacks, and Dodgers. The Pirates have talked to Loretta’s agent twice.
Crasnick figures the Astros won’t offer Loretta arbitration this time around; he accepted last year. He lost his case but still earned $2.75MM. The 37 year-old hit .280/.350/.383 in 297 plate appearances while playing a below-average second base and an above-average third base.
Perrotto’s Latest: Teixeira, Burnett, Wilson
John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus has his Sunday article up. Let’s go through it:
- The Angels may be willing to match the Yankees $140MM offer to CC Sabathia. They won’t offer 10 years to Mark Teixeira. If they can’t land Teixeira, they will consider Pat Burrell for first base.
- A.J. Burnett is looking at the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees, Braves, Orioles, and Phillies.
- The Twins want a left-side infielder for Delmon Young, so they can open a spot for Denard Span in the starting lineup.
- The Tigers are pursuing Jack Wilson from the Pirates and Matt Treanor from the Marlins. They are also putting high priority on signing Joe Beimel who’s getting interest from a number of teams.
- The Dodgers will not re-sign Rafael Furcal for health reasons so the Giants, Athletics, and Reds are his most likely destinations.
- The Cubs will need to offer more than Jason Marquis to the Royals for David DeJesus. If they can’t get it done, they’d sign Raul Ibanez over Bobby Abreu.
- The Braves are interested in Javier Vazquez and Jermaine Dye…
- The Reds need to offer more than Homer Bailey to get Dye.
- The Mets are considering Jon Garland, Vazquez, Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine. The Rays want more than Aaron Heilman for either of their starters.
- The Mets could soon become suitors for Manny Ramirez.
- The Brewers could soon become suitors for Francisco Rodriguez.
- The Astros are targeting Paul Bako and David Ross as backup catchers.
- The Rockies are trying to find lefthanders, eyeing Alan Embree, Will Ohman, Brian Shouse, and Glendon Rusch.
Cafardo’s Latest: Lowe, Lowell, Dye, Saltalamacchia
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says when Derek Lowe sat down with his agent, he inquired first about the Boston Red Sox. Says Cafardo,
"This Lowe doesn’t bear much resemblance to the guy who left the Sox after 2004. Back then, his out-of-control personal life seemed to consume him. The Red Sox didn’t want to deal with it and let him become a free agent. Lowe feels leaving was the best thing. ‘I think I’m a lot better pitcher now, teammate now, than I was four years ago,’ he said. ‘Sometimes you have to learn, and I think getting out of Boston was the best thing for me.’"
Lowe notes the Red Sox fit the mold of what he’s looking for in his next team.
And around the bigs:
- Roy Oswalt is pushing Ben Sheets to consider the Astros.
- Split opinions on interest in Mike Lowell, but either way this shouldn’t affect the Red Sox pursuit of Mark Teixeira. Cafardo lists Dodgers, Angels, Indians, and Twins as possible destinations for Lowell.
- Jermaine Dye is a good fit for Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, and the Mets. The White Sox would want more than Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson in exchange for Dye.
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia looks good in the Dominican League, hitting .435 with 4 homeruns and 2 doubles in 23 ABs.
- Willie Bloomquist could be Alex Cora’s replacement at utility in Boston.
Odds And Ends: Astros, Kawakami, Uehara, Giambi, Cabrera
It’s a lazy Saturday afternoon, but one gets the feeling there’s a major signing or trade lurking right around the corner. In the meantime, here are some odds and ends:
- Fox Sports’ Jeff Moore looks back at the top trades of the past three offseasons. His number one? Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota to Boston for Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Jesus Delgado and Harvey Garcia.
- The Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice says everyone knows Astros owner Dayton McLane has told GM Ed Wade "to keep the payroll at around $100 million," but "to keep the current team together would mean a $120-million payroll." Justice says McLane should ‘fess up about his financial shortcomings.
- SI’s John Donovan gives a shoutout to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, which is most writers’ go-to site for baseball contract info.
- NPB Tracker, a site that reads Japanese baseball articles and distills them into bite-size English nuggets, says the Rangers are interested in Kenshin Kawakami, while Koji Uehara is practicing throwing a Major League ball (which is slightly larger than the ball they use in Japan).
- DRays Bay wants the Rays to sign Jason Giambi.
- MASN’s Roch Kubatko says, "The Orioles still haven’t decided what to do with pitcher Daniel Cabrera, but they have until Dec. 12 to figure it out. That’s when they’ll need to tender him a contract and risk going to arbitration, or turn him loose and hope he doesn’t evolve into another Curt Schilling."
Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com and can be reached here.
Astros Rumors: Wolf, Brocail, Ross
Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle has the latest on the Astros:
- Astros GM Ed Wade said that he’s had to slow down negotiations with free agent lefty Randy Wolf because he’s unsure how much payroll he’s working with. Negotiations are on hold at least until next week, but the Astros would still like to sign Wolf to a multi-year deal.
- The Astros still hope to bring back reliever Doug Brocail, but they haven’t negotiated with his agent in over a week.
- Wade said he’ll try to address the team’s catching needs via trades or free agency. Houston is interested in free agent catcher David Ross.
- The Astros are also reportedly interested in converting free agent pitcher and former NCAA home run champion John Van Benschoten into a hitter.
Astros Slow Negotiations For Randy Wolf
According to Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros slowed negotiations with free agent lefty Randy Wolf due to payroll concerns. The Astros made an offer earlier this month, but now GM Ed Wade says: "I told Arn that we still had interest but weren’t prepared to move forward at this time."
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Varitek, Burnett, Teixeira
Let’s take a look at what is being written around the Blogosphere…
- River Ave. Blues debates Ben Sheets versus A.J. Burnett and wonders if Sheets will be the better bargain in the end.
- Detroit Tiger Thoughts shows that Jason Varitek is not a good fit with the Tigers, even in a platoon situation.
- Fire Brand of the American League lays down several reasons why the Red Sox should avoid signing Teixeira.
- Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke? sees no downside to the Pirates’ signing of Indian imports Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh.
- The ‘Burgh Blues feels Eric Hinske is an economical fit for the Bucs.
- Amazin’ Avenue does not see Raul Ibanez as an upgrade for the Mets, suggesting he may not be any better than Fernando Tatis.
- The Baseball Opinion breaks down what the acquisition of Tyler Lumsden means for the Royals and Astros.
- Batter’s Box takes a look a recent J.P. Ricciardi quote and the current state of the economy and wonders if the Jays are going to reduce their payroll.
- Royals Review lists the ten best free agent signings in Royals history, topped by David Cone. Amazingly, four of the signings occurred in the last five seasons.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.
Rangers Rumors: Byrd, Valverde, Littleton
We haven’t discussed the Rangers much lately. Let’s take a look at the latest from MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (here and here). Hat tip: The Newberg Report.
- The interest shown in Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla has been "tentative at best."
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels wants Clay Buchholz from the Red Sox for one of his catchers, but Sullivan says the Sox made it clear Buchholz is not available under any circumstances. Sullivan suggests the Sox might be more inclined to trade Justin Masterson or Michael Bowden if they bolster their minor league pitching depth by signing Junichi Tazawa.
- Sullivan wonders if swapping John Mayberry Jr. for Greg Golson gives the Rangers the outfield depth to trade Marlon Byrd (perhaps because Golson is capable of playing center field).
- A club official told Sullivan it’s "doubtful" that the Rangers would be interested in Jose Valverde.
- Wes Littleton has drawn trade interest; he was designated for assignment last week.
Astros Interested In Dave Ross
MLB.com’s Nick Zaccardi talked to Dave Ross‘ agent Ryan Gleichowski, who said the Astros are one of at least seven teams to express interest in his client. The interest is mutual. Ross, 32 in March, hit .225/.369/.352 in 182 plate appearances for the Reds and Red Sox. He showed big-time power in 2006, but not much since.
Zaccardi also talked to Barry Meister, who represents Paul Bako. The Louisiana native would be interested in playing for the Astros, but Meister wouldn’t say whether the Astros have been in touch.
Astros Acquire Lumsden
According to MLB.com’s Jim Molony, the Astros acquired lefty pitching prospect Tyler Lumsden from the Royals for a player to be named later or cash considerations. The Royals had designated him for assignment a few days ago; he was knocked around at Triple A this year. Baseball America liked his stuff coming into the season, but noted his poor command.