Rosenthal’s Latest: Cordero, Livan, Jenkins
Somehow, I missed a Ken Rosenthal column. This thing is already 14 hours old. I’m slipping.
- A Mystery Team has already made a four-year offer to Francisco Cordero. We know the Brewers made an offer on Monday but Rosenthal may be referring to another club.
- Rosenthal suggests Scott Linebrink could be reunited with Bruce Bochy to become the Giants’ closer. It’s known that the Astros already have an offer out to Linebrink.
- Teams interested in Geoff Jenkins: the Cubs, Padres, Giants, Rangers, and Royals. Several of those are new to me.
- The Tigers’ payroll is expected to exceed $115MM. Time to head over to Cot’s and do some math. By my count the Tigers are around $105MM right now (includes some arbitration guesses). That leaves room for one starting pitcher signing, be it Kenny Rogers, Carlos Silva, or whoever.
- The Cardinals, Astros, and Mets have their eye on Livan Hernandez. Mets’ management is divided on signing him, since he’s a back-rotation guy.
- Rosenthal believes the Reds could shop Joey Votto or Josh Hamilton a year from now in hopes of acquiring starting pitching.
- Tony Clark is gaining in popularity as a cheap power source. He might be looking at two years, $4MM plus more playing time.
Astros To Make Offers To Cordero, Castillo, Wolf
So far, Ed Wade’s list of targets for the Astros is as follows:
Jeremy Affeldt
Luis Castillo
Francisco Cordero
Tom Glavine
Tadahito Iguchi
Jason Jennings
Troy Percival
Jon Lieber
Scott Linebrink
Kaz Matsui
Dontrelle Willis
Randy Wolf
According to the Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice, Wade will be making offers today to Cordero, Castillo, Wolf, and more. Wade plans to toss out "multiple offers at multiple positions" until each hole is filled with some kind of warm free agent body. It seems like a strange way to build a team. Sounds like the Astros intend to sign a second baseman, closer, and starting pitcher or two.
Molony’s Latest: Glavine, Fukudome, Percival
MLB.com’s Jim Molony has a new column up with some solid info.
- Molony says Tom Glavine will wait about a week and then announce he’ll pitch for the Braves in ’08. It would probably be for $8-9MM for ’08 with a mutual option for ’09.
- Molony suggests that the Phillies might go after Kosuke Fukudome, or lesser options like Brad Wilkerson or Trot Nixon.
- Eight teams are after Troy Percival, four of which consider him an option at closer. The Tigers aren’t involved as of yet. Maybe the Cubs are in the mix? Also a reader just emailed me to tell me that 790 The Sports Animal in Houston says the Astros are in on Percival.
Odds and Ends: Garcia, Greene, DeJesus
With so many rumors, there’s a need for a daily Odds and Ends post to catch ’em all.
- Buster Olney talked to Freddy Garcia‘s agent. He’s looking at a June return from shoulder surgery.
- Indians GM Mark Shapiro made an offer on Brad Lidge. The Astros didn’t even reply. They did hear back from the Marlins on their Miguel Cabrera inquiry. The price is seemingly too high for talks to continue. Peter Gammons says that before the Astros got Michael Bourn, the White Sox pushed for a Chad Qualls for Ryan Sweeney swap.
- Evan Grant notes that the Rangers have discussed trading shortstop Joaquin Arias to the Royals for Joey Gathright. They’ve also talked to the Brewers about Tony Gwynn Jr. GM Jon Daniels needs to have options if he can’t afford Torii Hunter or the other free agents. Grant adds that the Rangers have already been in touch with Kerry Wood.
- Jose Guillen declined his $5MM option with the Mariners – that’s no surprise. So far the Royals have expressed interest.
- Khalil Greene is under the Padres’ control through 2009, but his salary is going to jump significantly in arbitration for the ’08 and ’09 seasons. The Padres want to sign him to a multiyear deal, perhaps buying out one year of free agency. GM Kevin Towers is also posturing that he might use Scott Hairston as the regular center fielder next year, which seems a stretch. Also, Geoff Jenkins is on Towers’ radar.
- Ed Wade and the Astros have asked the Marlins about Dontrelle Willis. However the ‘Stros probably do not have the goods.’
- One way or another, the Marlins will ditch Miguel Olivo. They hope to bring Yorvit Torrealba aboard, which would take an offer better than two years, $6MM. The Mets, Brewers, and Blue Jays also like Torrealba. The Marlins are serious about upgrading behind the plate and will spend some money to do so.
- Jorge Posada seems set on testing the market, which never bodes well for the incumbent team.
- David DeJesus is a hot commodity as an affordable center fielder, but Dayton Moore expects to hang onto him. Maybe he’ll change his mind once some big names are off the board.
Odds and Ends: Lowell, Sabathia, Polanco
I’m going to start up a catch-all Odds and Ends post for smaller rumors and notes today. Refresh to see it grow.
- A reader emailed me to tell me that Buster Olney said on XM Radio recently that there are talks of the Twins going after Scott Rolen. These reports can be tough to confirm, but there you go. UPDATE: Joe Christensen squashes this one.
- Mark Feinsand doesn’t think Epstein is keen on giving Mike Lowell even a three-year contract. He might get five on the open market. UPDATE: The Red Sox apparently have a three-year offer out to him, and he’s still mulling it over.
- The White Sox inquired about Bill Hall, but Kenny Williams and Doug Melvin couldn’t find a match.
- Baseball America weighs in on the Brad Lidge trade. BP’s Nate Silver gives his opinion here and here. He thinks the Phillies made a mistake.
- The Astros have contacted Jeremy Affeldt‘s agent. Also, Jim Molony speculates in this piece that speedy Josh Anderson could be expendable because of the Michael Bourn addition.
- Back to where it all began: the Dodgers have signed Chan Ho Park. No need for more starters now!
- Andy Pettitte hopes to tell the Yankees whether he’ll play by the New Year. Also, Ken Davidoff notes that the Yanks would prefer to trade Hideki Matsui over Johnny Damon, but Godzilla’s full no-trade clause would be the problem.
- Theo Epstein let Scott Boras pitch his entire client list last night, A-Rod included. There’s a very slight chance the Red Sox sign Eric Gagne, and a contract extension for Jason Varitek may have been discussed. Also I hear Boras did the hard sell on Bruce Chen. Just kidding. UPDATE: That slight chance for Gagne just went away, as he’ll be closing according to Boras.
- Mark Shapiro is preparing a contract extension offer for C.C. Sabathia; he’ll have to run it by the Dolans first. No surprise there. Paul Hoynes notes that Sabathia gets an extra $2MM for ’08 if he wins the ’07 Cy Young. Shapiro, by the way, would listen to offers on any player. I get the feeling the Indians could come from out of nowhere and do something big this winter.
- Could the Tigers send Placido Polanco to the Mets? Mark Healey suggests it.
- The Giants included a vesting option for 2009 in Omar Vizquel‘s deal. McCovey Chronicles weighs in.
Phillies Acquire Brad Lidge For Michael Bourn
A major trade was struck tonight, as the Phillies acquired Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett for Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary, and Mike Costanzo.
The makings of this deal surfaced earlier today, as it was revealed the Astros had interest in Francisco Cordero. The ‘Stros had been talking about bringing in a center fielder, though no one expected Bourn.
Phillies fans have to be happy to hear that the acquisition will allow Brett Myers to move back into the starting rotation. We were hearing just yesterday that Myers would remain in the pen. Perhaps Pat Gillick surveyed the market for a top-rotation starter and didn’t like the prices. Besides bolstering the bullpen for 2008, Gillick should snag a draft pick or two if Lidge leaves for a multiyear deal via free agency (assuming he has a good 2008 season).
Bourn is obviously the key to the deal for Ed Wade and the Astros. He’s a burner and prototypical leadoff man as well as a plus on defense. The move seems to give Wade a new trading chip, right fielder Luke Scott.
Roger Clemens Kind Of Retires
Another offseason, another Roger Clemens non-story. This time, we’ve been informed by his agents that he’ll begin his personal services contract with the Astros next year, but could still come back and pitch in a shortened season again. It sounds like the candidates would again be the Astros, Red Sox, and Yankees.
Even if the Rocket does retire, the Astros’ staff may get a boost from his tutelage. Perhaps he can help Wandy Rodriguez, Matt Albers, or Troy Patton take it to the next level.
Astros Contact Cordero, Iguchi, Matsui
As promised, new Astros GM Ed Wade has touched base with a ton of free agents. We already knew about Luis Castillo, Jon Lieber, Scott Linebrink, Torii Hunter, Aaron Rowand, and Tom Glavine (see Astros rumor archive).
Today we’ve got more names to add to the list, courtesy of Jose de Jesus Ortiz. The most interesting one: closer Francisco Cordero. Buster Olney’s thinking is that the Astros contacting Cordero indicates a willingness to trade incumbent closer Brad Lidge. Olney spoke to one executive who predicted Cordero would get $40MM this winter. That sounds about right. Cordero’s agent, the delightfully named Bean Stringfellow, represented Billy Wagner for his landmark four-year, $43MM deal in November of 2005. If several teams decide they need to have an All-Star closer, I could see bidding getting closer to $50MM for Cordero. Or even a five-year deal.
The Astros are also poking around on a couple of second baseman, despite their supposed satisfaction with Chris Burke. Aside from Castillo, Wade has contacted Tadahito Iguchi and Kaz Matsui. That trio pretty much sums up the second base market.
By the way, Olney also notes that any notion of the Astros making Roy Oswalt available is false.
Astros Interested In Lieber, Linebrink
Ed Wade is contacting all sorts of free agents, and going public with it. The latest was starter Jon Lieber, who seems like a bargain and a decent fit for them. Wade was behind the Phillies’ signing of Lieber in ’04.
Lieber will turn 38 in April of next year. He only pitched 78 innings for the Phils in ’07 a strained oblique and a ruptured tendon in his foot. He had surgery on the foot in July. Maybe the Astros can get him on a one-year deal.
Jim Molony’s MLB.com article also mentions that the Astros have reached out to reliever Scott Linebrink. The Astros lost Linebrink to a Padres waiver claim in May of ’03.
It’s been previously stated that Wade has been in touch with Torii Hunter, Aaron Rowand, Luis Castillo, and perhaps Tom Glavine.
Odds and Ends: Glavine, Kent, Kuroda
Picking up some rumors and tidbits that haven’t been otherwise posted during this busy day…
- An Atlanta TV station states that Tom Glavine would take a lot less money to play for the Braves. Also, the Astros have reportedly been in touch with him.
- Joe Torre senses that Jeff Kent will return in 2008. The Dodgers certainly hope so; he led the team with 20 home runs in ’07.
- Trey Hillman took a parting shot at Japanese reporters (hat tip to JapanBall).
- Reliever Masafumi Hirai might come over to MLB. I’ll have to learn more about him.
- Hiroki Kuroda prefers to play on the West Coast because he doesn’t like cold weather. Hmmm, Chicago might not work for him. Kuroda has declared free agency, and the Mariners are interested. There is word here that the Rangers have scouted him as well.
- The Braves are interested in Masahide Kobayashi to close, while the Mariners like him as a middle reliever (link in Japanese).
- There will be no Mike Lowell + A-Rod combo in Boston.
- Luis Gonzalez would like to return to the Tigers, while the team is interested in Cliff Floyd and Shannon Stewart for left field. Ben Broussard may also be on the radar.
- The Rangers also like Broussard, and they’ve contacted Mike Lamb as well regarding their first base vacancy. Lamb could play third if they trade Hank Blalock. Jon Daniels also has Kerry Wood in his sights.
- The Rockies like Shawn Chacon, but only as a reliever.
- Derrick Goold breaks down the options for the Cardinals at shortstop.
- Don’t forget to make an entry in our Hot Stove Hysteria contest. The deadline is November 12th. If you feel the need to edit your entry, just post a new one. They’re time-stamped; your latest entry will be used. A new prize has been added: a fantasy draft kit from Big Dawg Baseball.