Tigers Targeting Wood, Putz
6:13pm: Yahoo’s Gordon Edes says the Tigers made overtures to Wood, while the Red Sox like the idea of signing him as a setup man.
4:36pm: Geoff Baker says Tigers prospect Jeff Larish has attracted interest from the Mariners in the past.
On the Kerry Wood topic, a thought – now that the Tigers spent only a million bucks on their shortstop, maybe they have more cash to work with for their closer.
1:29pm: According to Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers are targeting Kerry Wood and J.J. Putz for their closer vacancy. The Mets are also competing for both relievers.
Also, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick notes that the Tigers considered trading for Angels catcher Mike Napoli before they acquired Laird. The price for Napoli was too high. WEEI reports that the Tigers also inquired on Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden. The Tigers decided against Jason Varitek after he was offered arbitration, plus they liked Laird more anyway. According to WEEI’s Lou Merloni, Varitek continues to seek a multiyear deal and a starting gig.
Three Teams Interested In Garland
Mike DiGiovanna spoke to Jon Garland‘s agent Craig Landis, who said three teams have expressed serious interest in his client. The Orioles are in; the Angels are out. Garland seeks a two or three-year deal, and the Angels had no interest in that. They were obviously OK with one year since they offered arbitration.
Landis indicated that Garland could still wind up back with the Angels if he can’t find a satisfactory offer elsewhere and decides to settle for one year.
Only Oliver, Weathers Accept Arb Offers
SI.com’s Jon Heyman says relievers Darren Oliver and David Weathers were the only two players of the 24 who accepted offers of arbitration. That means Juan Cruz, Orlando Hudson, Mark Teixeira, Francisco Rodriguez, and Jon Garland declined in addition to those we’ve already reported.
Odds and Ends: Teahen, Mastny, Clement
Sunday evening links…I will add to this post as needed.
- Dejan Kovacevic describes what it’s like for a reporter at the Winter Meetings.
- The Royals do not want to trade Mark Teahen. They’ve received inquiries on Teahen, David DeJesus, Jose Guillen, and Billy Butler. They mainly seem willing to move Guillen, which Jayson Stark reported earlier.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along nuggets on Kenshin Kawakami and Koji Uehara. He says the Angels contacted Kawakami’s agent, while the Tigers and Giants have been in touch with Uehara’s.
- Newman also says the Yokohama BayStars acquired reliever Tom Mastny from the Indians.
- Free agent infielder Nick Punto admitted to LEN3 that it’d be hard to leave the Twins.
- John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus says the Pirates are "willing to take a flyer on free-agent local boy Matt Clement." Clement may also consider Cleveland if they’ll have him.
- Other teams are pulling ahead of the Rockies in the pursuit for free agent lefty Joe Beimel. Nothing against Beimel, but it seems that every year one free agent lefty reliever is elevated beyond his true value. It might be Beimel this year.
- Jon Paul Morosi discusses trading Dontrelle Willis.
- The Marlins figure to hang on to Dan Uggla.
- Roch Kubatko says Orioles exec Mike Flanagan won’t be attending the Meetings, sparking speculation about his future with the team.
Stark’s Latest: Dye, Greinke, Teixeira
Jayson Stark’s Winter Meetings preview is up; let’s take a look.
- Stark sees "just about zero chance" the Padres trade Jake Peavy at the Meetings. The Cubs will need at least a few weeks to settle their ownership situation before they can make a trade and take on his contract. Plus, a Stark source says it makes sense for the Padres to wait until the top free agent starters are off the board.
- The Braves, Reds, Royals, Rays, and possibly Mets have shown interest in Jermaine Dye. Dye played for the Royals from 1997-2001 before he was traded for Neifi Perez. The White Sox are willing to trade Paul Konerko and Jim Thome too.
- The Mariners would listen on "pretty much anybody." But given the surplus of closers on the market, it seems unlikely that Jack Zduriencik will be bowled over with an offer for J.J. Putz.
- The Royals really don’t want to trade Zack Greinke, but they’ll at least discuss him. The price would be massive. It doesn’t look like they want to trade David DeJesus or Mark Teahen either, but Jose Guillen can be had.
- The Marlins have been pushing Jorge Cantu over Jeremy Hermida, though Hermida’s drawn plenty of interest. Nick Cafardo named the Rays, Reds, and Giants earlier today.
- The Angels figure to attach a two or three-day deadline to their eventual Mark Teixeira offer.
- Stark sees Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake as the two free agents most likely to sign this week. Most execs Stark surveyed see Teixeira and Manny Ramirez signing in January.
Angels Rumors: Teixeira, Sabathia
Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times has the latest on the Angels.
- The Halos still haven’t made an offer to Mark Teixeira. They’re thinking five or six years at $20MM per, but it could take seven or eight.
- The Angels need to figure out the Tex situation soon, or risk missing out on C.C. Sabathia as well.
- The Angels’ left field plans are linked to whether they sign Teixeira. If they don’t get him, they could add a Pat Burrell, Adam Dunn, or Manny Ramirez.
Cafardo’s Latest: Halladay, Hermida, Abreu
Time for a look at the latest column from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- Relievers on the Tigers’ radar: Trevor Hoffman, David Weathers, Arthur Rhodes, and Joe Beimel.
- Blue Jays J.P. Ricciardi is frank: "We will not trade Roy Halladay."
- Marlins right fielder Jeremy Hermida is said to interest the Reds, Rays, and Giants. John Perrotto says the Rays have inquired on Hermida.
- Cafardo believes the Dodgers will turn to Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, or Jermaine Dye if they fail to re-sign Manny Ramirez.
- Cafardo likes the Angels and Brewers as dark horses for Jake Peavy.
- Cafardo says not to discount the possibility of the Nationals signing Ken Griffey Jr.
Manny Declines Arbitration; What’s Next?
No surprise here, but Jon Heyman writes that Manny Ramirez will decline the Dodgers’ arbitration offer.
The Dodgers can still negotiate a contract with Manny, though they need infield help and starting pitching help as well.
Manny is seeking five years, though that’s unlikely. Heyman suggests that teams may be willing to go four years, however. He also names Manny as a good fallback for the Yankees and Angels, should they fail to sign Mark Teixeira. In fact, Heyman offers up the idea of the Yankees pursuing both Manny and Tex if they fail to sign C.C. Sabathia.
Darren Oliver To Accept Arbitration
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Darren Oliver will likely accept the Angels’ offer of arbitration.
OIiver, 38, made $2MM last season, posting a 2.88 ERA and a nice 3:1 K:BB ratio through 72 IP for the Halos. Opposing lefties hit just .229 against him. He’ll almost certainly receive a raise for the 2009 season.
Olney’s Latest: Winter Meetings
As we wait for arbitration decisions, Buster Olney offers his latest on the winter meetings:
- CC Sabathia, who will be sitting down with the Red Sox and Yankees today or tomorrow, may want to wait for Mark Teixeira to sign first. If the Angels don’t land Sabathia, they could be expected to compete with the Yankees $140MM offer.
- Francisco Rodriguez is not going to get the 5 year, $75MM originally anticipated by his agents and he may find it in his best interest to seek a 3 year deal, and re-enter free agency, perhaps in a better market, before he turns 30.
- Says Olney, "Look, [Jake] Peavy is going to be traded, and what will be left is a team looking at a long rebuilding process."
- The Nats are courting Adam Dunn as well as Teixeira, pointing out that Jim Bowden ran the Reds when they drafted Dunn. No word on Dunn’s interest in Washington.
- Sources say the White Sox moving Jermaine Dye is "overblown." He’ll cost $11.5MM next year with a $1MM buyout for 2010 and teams in need of a corner outfielder can target Dunn or Bobby Abreu rather than give up prospects to the White Sox.
- Orlando Cabrera has been made aware that Alexei Ramirez is the starting shortstop in 2009 and, for that reason, OC is expected to decline arbitration even in a depressed shortstop market.
- Olney reports that Rafael Furcal‘s final contract request was 4 years, $52MM. He wound up rejecting the offer of 4 years, $35-40MM.