Red Sox Leading For Santana?
UPDATE, 11-29-07 at 10:30pm: The Yankees’ offer stands at Ian Kennedy, Melky Cabrera, and maybe Jose Tabata. Phil Hughes is a big upgrade over Kennedy, and the Twins are insisting on him. Meanwhile the Red Sox are still pushing Coco Crisp while the Twins are holding out for Jacoby Ellsbury. If one of the teams cracks on Hughes or Ellsbury this thing might get done.
UPDATE, 11-29-07 at 8pm: Despite what Jon Heyman said, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo seems to think the Red Sox are still in the lead for Santana. It would be the package named below by Olney. Nothing is done yet, as Santana’s agent hasn’t been approached about an extension. Meanwhile Cafardo indicates that the Yankees may part with Robinson Cano after all. One other note: Peter Gammons suggests that the Sox would have to redo Josh Beckett’s reasonable deal if they acquire Santana and give him $20MM+.
UPDATE, 11-29-07 at 2:50pm: Buster Olney suggests the same package as Walters from the Red Sox, except with Michael Bowden rather than Masterson. However the fourth player is still undetermined. He also notes that the Yankees are simultaneously talking to the Twins.
UPDATE, 11-29-07 at 1pm: The Boston Herald has a bit more. Basically the Red Sox are only willing to include one of Ellsbury/Buchholz/Lester, while the Twins want two from that group.
FROM 11-29-07 at 8:30am:
Shooter Charley Walters is back with a new column of rumors and whatnot. Remember, Walters was the one saying the Garza for Delmon rumor wouldn’t die.
- Despite the exclusion of Jacoby Ellsbury, Walters says the Red Sox have the lead in the Johan Santana sweepstakes. The package would be Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie, Jon Lester, and Justin Masterson. Not a bad haul. I was thinking Lowrie might become a target of the Twins.
- The following clubs are interested in Carlos Silva: Tigers, Mets, Phillies, and Royals. None of those teams are new.
- The amount of cash each club is getting this year for online media properties like MLB.com sites: $25MM. And don’t forget the Twins get about $20MM in revenue sharing. Maybe that’s why they have interest in Aaron Rowand.
Odds and Ends: Riske, Bedard, Wolf
And now for your daily jumble o’ rumors. More to come.
- The Twins cleared several spots on their 40-man roster…will they be active next week?
- The Yankees have "reached out" to free agent reliever David Riske. Troy Percival and Ron Mahay have also been linked to the Yanks this offseason.
- The Dodgers have an interest in Tony Clark, which has to bum out James Loney. Dylan Hernandez also notes that the Dodgers’ talks for Erik Bedard have stalled because the Orioles want to see what happens with Miguel Cabrera first. Ned Colletti expects Jeff Kent back, by the way.
- The Cards won’t be afraid to trade their young pitching (Anthony Reyes, Tyler Johnson, and Brad Thompson) for veteran pitching. They also still like Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse, if the price is right.
- Bob Dutton reports that the Royals’ Yasuhiko Yabuta signing will be finalized at week’s end. Meanwhile nothing is imminent with Jose Guillen.
- Linked to this earlier in a D’Backs post…the Phils are in "serious talks" with Randy Wolf. As I said there, that shouldn’t stop them from going after a more reliable starter.
- Things are heating up between the Twins and Red Sox for Coco Crisp, but that’s all Gordon Edes has for us on the topic.
- As expected, the market for Mike Cameron has picked up now that Torii Hunter signed.
Royals, Orioles In Lead For Jose Guillen
According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes, the Royals and Orioles are the frontrunners to sign free agent outfielder Jose Guillen. That link is in Spanish so feel free to correct me if my translation is off. The article was published on November 18th.
Rojas reports that eight teams have shown interest in signing Guillen to a multiyear deal. We knew the Royals were dead set on Guillen; the Orioles part is new to me. The O’s already have Nick Markakis in right, so perhaps Guillen would be used in left. Sounds like he’s pretty popular despite the steroid revelations. Maybe he’ll get that three-year, $30MM deal after all.
There have been some reports floating around that a contract with the Royals was imminent, but that does not appear to be accurate based on the conversations I’ve had. Nonetheless the Royals figure to win this thing; Guillen is their top priority now that Torii Hunter is off the board.
Royals Pursue Guillen, Reportedly Set With Yabuta
The Royals were in on the Torii Hunter sweepstakes, having offered five years and $70 million, with every intention of going higher if necessary. Now that the Angels have locked him up, Jose Guillen has become the "indisputable No. 1 on the Royals’ list of off-season targets."
“Obviously, our objective remains the same,” general manager Dayton Moore said. “We do want to acquire a right-handed bat to hit in the middle of our order, and we’ll keep working through every opportunity imaginable.”
Bob Dutton thinks that losing out on Hunter could have added benefits. In addition to acquiring the cheaper Guillen, the Royals could use the Hunter money to pursue RHPs Hiroki Kuroda or Carlos Silva.
Each is seeking a four-year, $40 million deal. Added with Guillen’s asking price of three years, $30 million (though that could come down with his steroid allegations), that’s the $70 million they were offering Hunter.
Dutton also reports that the Royals have a deal in place for RHP Yasuhiko Yabuta on a two-year deal for between $5 and $6 million, with a club option for 2010. The deal should be announced once Yabuta makes his way to the States for his physical.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.
Odds and Ends: Fukudome, Eckstein, Lowell
Ah yes, the odds and ends post, where I cobble together the day’s random links.
- The Rangers have mild interest Scott Podsednik. Pods had two separate stints in the Rangers organization but never reached the bigs with them.
- The Big Lead has an interesting interview with Yahoo baseball guy Jeff Passan, wherein a run-in with Jose Lima is recounted. Passan also takes on Fire Joe Morgan a bit.
- Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog is hearing that Kosuke Fukudome is looking for three years and $30MM. Sounds fair.
- The Angels are considering signing David Eckstein and/or Darin Erstad, for some reason.
- Bob Dutton reports that the Royals can be patient with their offer to Torii Hunter, while the White Sox want a quick resolution. Bonus: a rather large, but not too pixellated picture of Hunter at the Dutton link. Hunter, by the way, could save $750K per year if he signs with the Rangers because Texas has no state income tax. Hunter is also considering the Las Vegas 51s for that same reason, I heard.
- Per Buster Olney, the Dodgers put in a three-year offer to Mike Lowell. He takes this as a sign they weren’t serious, but Ned Colletti has shown a tendency to offer fewer years and more per year. He did this with Rafael Furcal and Jason Schmidt. So maybe the Dodgers put out a 3/45 offer or something.
- The Phils picked up oft-injured outfielder Chris Snelling from the Rays for cash. He’s yet to accumulate 100 big league at-bats in a season, but maybe that’ll change in 2008.
- Ed Wade + relievers = trouble. Doug Brocail is on the radar.
- McCovey Chronicles lists some realistic position player targets for the Giants, including Jeff Clement, Andy Marte, and Adam Lind.
Hunter Receives Five Offers
Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, normally their Cubs guy, has the scoop on the Torii Hunter situation.
Wittenmyer says Hunter has at least five offers in hand. Four of them are for five years, while the Rangers have offered six. This doesn’t count the Twins’ lowball 3/45 offer.
So which five clubs have made proposals to Hunter? The Rangers, White Sox, Dodgers, Royals, and Nationals comprise the list. Wittenmyer notes that the Dodgers could get aggressive on Hunter if they miss out on Miguel Cabrera. Also, the Yankees could trade Melky Cabrera and jump in. The amounts offered aren’t well known, but Wittenmyer says the Rangers are just under $15MM per year.
Hunter hopes to decide next week so he doesn’t have to attend the Winter Meetings the week after that. Don’t underestimate the Royals, who blew everyone away last year by winning the bidding for Gil Meche. Still, the White Sox and Rangers are the clear frontrunners.
Masahide Kobayashi Signs With Indians
UPDATE: The deal is done – Kobayashi gets $6MM guaranteed over 2008-09 and has a $3.25MM club option for 2010. This seems like a fine Indians-esque bargain.
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Indians are close to signing Japanese reliever Masahide Kobayashi. The 33 year-old is taking his physical today. The Braves and Mariners were also known to have interest in him. It’s been said that Kobayashi would prefer to close but it’s not a dealbreaker.
Here’s what Bob Bavasi of JapanBall told me about Kobayashi:
This closer was the number one draft pick by the Chiba Lotte Marines in 1999. He may be the best available reliever on the free agent market, though he has not made the sort of overtures about wanting to leave Japan as the other two. During the recent playoffs in Japan, his manager, Bobby Valentine, noted that Kobayashi keeps "looking better every time out.” True enough, and a reason I like him.
And here’s what Aaron Shinsano and Jackson Broder of East Windup Chronicle said about him:
Lost seven games and ERA rose nearly a point in 2007, but that shouldn’t deter teams from pursuing this 200+ save closer for Chiba Lotte. Throws from the stretch, and has that deceptive delivery that scouts seem to like these days. Has a great forkball that often tails in toward the batter. Not as good as Iwase or Koji Uehara, but might just be an upgrade over, say, The Farns. Tak adds that he was dropped to the "minors" at the end of the season and many feel his velocity and control are slipping.
OK, Tim here again. Just wanted to add that Rosenthal also reiterated that the Royals are close on Yasuhiko Yabuta. Mark Gonzales had previously said five teams were still in the running for him.
Teams Still Competing For Yabuta?
On Friday, the word from Ken Rosenthal was that the Royals were close to signing Japanese reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta to a two-year deal with an option. However, the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales names five teams currently in the running for his services.
We already knew about the Royals and White Sox. Gonzales adds the Indians, Rays, and Pirates to the mix as well. Looks like Japanese relievers are no longer free agency’s best kept secret. Odd that teams didn’t start figuring this out until Hideki Okajima came along. There were plenty of successes before him. It almost seems like you can throw the stats out for Japanese relievers – MLB hitters just aren’t used to these guys yet.
Law: Top 10 Trade Candidates
Keith Law, a favorite here at MLBTR and at home home, River Ave. Blues, has posted an article on 10 potential trade candidates off-season. It seems that if anything big does go down this off-season, it will be in the form of a trade, since the FA market is particularly weak. So who does Law have in mind?
The most surprising name on the list is the Blue Jays’ Adam Lind. Law believes that with the next year’s financial commitments to Frank Thomas, Lyle Overbay, and now Matt Stairs, there is no obvious spot for Lind, and he’ll have to win a job in Spring Training — which he could most certainly do. It seems a bit foolish to trade a 24-year-old because of a couple of short-term financial commitments, most notably in the case of Stairs, who will be making a paltry $1 million in 2009. J.P. Ricciardi has done stranger things, though.
Another strange name is Ben Broussard, who figures to at least have a shot at being non-tendered. Law notes his favorable platoon splits against righties and figures he can help a team fill out a position. But since the Mariners already have Richie Sexson and Jose Vidro under contract, and are looking to get Adam Jones some more playing time, there doesn’t seem a logical spot for Broussard.
Law also brings up David DeJesus and Coco Crisp, often mentioned around these parts, as well as Andy LaRoche and, despite the trade of Jacques Jones, Matt Murton.
As a Yanks fan, I have to be at least a little curious at the inclusion of Cliff Lee. With Andy Pettitte’s career at the most a year from ending, and with the further possibility that he’s thrown his last pitch, the Yanks are going to need a lefty starter. Might as well inquire on Lee, as his not-so-stellar 2007 has significantly decreased his value.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog.
Royals Close To Signing Yasuhito Yabuta
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Royals are close to signing 34 year-old Japanese reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta to a two-year deal with a third year option. The White Sox had been in on him as well.
Here’s what Aaron and Jackson of East Windup Chronicle had to say about Yabuta:
Yabuta, the right-handed set up man for the Chiba Lotte Marines, is probably best known for striking out A-Rod, Derrek Lee, and Johnny Damon in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Yabuta has racked up 86 holds and a sub-3.00 ERA over the last three years for the Marines despite not panning out as a starter.