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Battle For Teixeira

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ESPN’s Buster Olney gives his take on the Mark Teixeira situation in his blog this morning.  Olney believes the Yankees will "bid heavily" on Tex, perhaps $120MM over six years.  Teixeira turned down $140MM from the Rangers last year, though that was for eight years.  Ken Davidoff of Newsday believes that since the Yanks are prioritizing pitching, they’ll probably go with cheaper options like Casey Blake or Kevin Millar.

Olney says there’s debate about Boston’s level of interest in Teixeira – do they truly want him, or are they trying to drive up the price for the Yankees?  He suggests a scenario where the Sox sign Teixeira and keep Mike Lowell – Kevin Youkilis goes to left field, Jason Bay to right, and J.D. Drew to center (pushing Jacoby Ellsbury to a utility role and leaving Coco Crisp out of a job). 

Meanwhile, the Angels told Francisco Rodriguez’s agent that their initial focus this winter is signing Teixeira.  Dylan Hernandez and Mike DiGiovanna see the Halos in the six-year, $120MM range.

Rockies Rumors: Holliday, Atkins, Podsednik

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Let’s check in on the Rockies next.

  • Matt Holliday may be selling his Denver-area home, not that it means anything.  Tracy Ringolsby has the Nationals, Rays, Cardinals, and Mets as teams interested in Holliday.  Meanwhile, Troy E. Renck explores a Yankees scenario.
  • Renck can’t see the Rox trading both Holliday and Garrett Atkins.  Ringolsby says the Angels are more interested in Atkins than Holliday.  Renck has the Indians and Twins as suitors for Atkins.
  • Scott Podsednik is open to returning to the Rockies, and they could have a place for him if Willy Taveras is dealt.
  • Renck expects the Rockies to be in on Carl Pavano if the Yankees don’t re-sign him.

Cafardo Rumors: Wigginton, Ibanez, Rodney

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A few rumors we missed from Nick Cafardo’s Sunday column…

  • The Indians would want a young closer type in return for catcher Kelly Shoppach.
  • The Tribe has Houston’s Ty Wigginton on the radar as a third base possibility.  But then who would play third for the Astros?
  • The Yankees have been calling around aggressively, even inquiring on Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman.  They’re not available.
  • The Mets are said to be eyeing Raul Ibanez for left field.
  • The Tigers are dangling setup man Fernando Rodney, hoping to acquire a better closer.  Jon Paul Morosi believes the Tigers might aim for a reliever they control for a year or two, as their in-house options should be ready by 2010.
  • A conflict might arise with the Angels hoping to sign Mark Teixeira quickly while Scott Boras plans to let the market develop.

More Peavy: Yankees, Angels, Cubs

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10:37pm: Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune comments on the Cubs’ interest in Peavy.  There’s not much new here – if the Cubs can’t re-sign Ryan Dempster, they could take a crack at Peavy.  Van Dyck has an unconfirmed rumor of a Cubs offer of Felix Pie, Ronny Cedeno, and others.  The others would be pretty important in such a scenario.

Van Dyck makes a good point in that the Cubs might have to dive into the pool of second tier free agent starters if they can’t get Dempster or Peavy.

8:42pm: Padres GM Kevin Towers recently spoke to the press, stating that Jake Peavy has approved two AL teams in addition to his known five NL clubs.  The Yankees and Angels are now possibilities.  If there were to be any acceptable AL teams, it figured to be these two based on earlier rumblings.

Rockies Shopping Holliday, Atkins, Taveras

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9:11pm: According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves are not interested in Taveras after all.

10:47am: According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post and Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News, the Rockies are shopping Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins, and Willy Taveras.

Holliday, a Scott Boras client, is set to earn $13.5MM in 2009 before reaching free agency.  Ringolsby says the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Angels, Mets, and Phillies have shown interest. Renck has the Cardinals as a lurker.  The Nats may also be interested.  The Rockies will target young pitching in return.

Atkins is under team control for 2009 and 2010.  Ringolsby has the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Angels, Mets, Phillies, White Sox, and Twins as interested parties.  Renck sees the Indians as another possibility.

Taveras is also under team control through 2010.  Ringolsby says the Royals, Yankees, White Sox, and Braves are in on him, while Renck adds the Nationals.

Rockies Won’t Re-Sign Fuentes

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According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, the Rockies will not be re-signing free agent closer Brian Fuentes.  Fuentes’ likely price tag – three years, $36MM+ – is just too high.  Renck believes Fuentes may even be able to snag four years given the poor market for closers after Francisco Rodriguez.

Fuentes’ agent listed the Mets, Cardinals, and Angels as interested teams.  A meeting with the Mets should come soon.  The best case for the Rockies would be the Cardinals, as the Rockies would receive their #19 pick in next year’s draft.

Cafardo’s Latest: Contract Swap Meet

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The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo wonders:

"I never really understood why there aren’t more "swap meet" type deals in baseball. As in, ’You take what I can’t use and I’ll take what you can’t use.’"

It’s a valid question if you believe a change of scenery can help a player and yet these deals rarely happen. Cafardo then goes on to list all of the players he considers "overpriced, underperforming, too old, or not useful to their present teams." Here’s the list:

Table 1, starting pitchers: Barry Zito (Giants); Dontrelle Willis and Nate Robertson (Tigers); Adam Eaton (Phillies); Carlos Silva, Miguel Batista, and Jarrod Washburn (Mariners); Daniel Cabrera (Orioles); Jeff Suppan (Brewers); Ian Kennedy and Kei Igawa (Yankees); Scott Olsen (Marlins).

Table 2, relief pitchers: Mike MacDougal (White Sox); Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoenweis (Mets); Jason Frasor (Blue Jays); Luis Vizcaino (Rockies); Kevin Gregg (Marlins); Justin Speier (Angels); Brandon Backe (Astros).

Table 3, infielders: Julio Lugo (Red Sox); Jack Wilson and Freddie Sanchez (Pirates); Scott Rolen (Blue Jays); Miguel Tejada (Astros); Melvin Mora (Orioles); Rickie Weeks and Bill Hall (Brewers); Mark Teahen and Ross Gload (Royals); Nick Johnson and Dmitri Young (Nationals); Luis Castillo (Mets).

Table 4, catchers: Yorvit Torrealba (Rockies); Ramon Hernandez (Orioles); Bengie Molina (Giants); Kenji Johjima (Mariners).

Table 5, outfielders: David Dellucci (Indians); Eric Byrnes (Diamondbacks); Nick Swisher (White Sox); Dave Roberts and Randy Winn (Giants); Kosuke Fukudome and Alfonso Soriano (Cubs); Gary Sheffield (Tigers); Gary Matthews Jr. (Angels); Austin Kearns and Wily Mo Pena (Nationals); Jeremy Hermida and Josh Willingham (Marlins); Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, and Melky Cabrera (Yankees); Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones (Dodgers); Willy Taveras (Rockies); Jeff Francoeur (Braves).

Cafardo says the reason we don’t see more of these "swaps" is that GMs fear ridicule if these deals don’t pan out for them and that matching salaries can be tricky.

He cites a few examples: Julio Lugo for Nate Robertson or Dontrelle Willis as being a possible – this has been discussed here before as a longshot idea. Or what about Kosuke Fukudome for Gary Matthews?

See anything better?

White Sox Looking To Trade Vazquez?

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The latest on the White Sox…

  • GM Ken Williams wants a younger, more athletic club, but still expects to compete in 2009.  Players such as Chris Getz, Josh Fields, Jayson Nix, Jerry Owens, Brian Anderson, and Clayton Richard could play prominent roles on next year’s team.  Sox Machine offers their take on Williams’ comments.
  • Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times lists Brian Roberts, Coco Crisp, Chone Figgins, and Orlando Hudson as potential Sox targets.  Williams didn’t talk much about his wish list yesterday, suggesting that last year’s openness hindered his progress.  If the Sox sign Hudson, they’ll give their #24 pick in next year’s draft to the D’Backs.
  • Joe Cowley of the Sun-Times says trading starter Javier Vazquez is Williams’ top offseason priority.  Cowley believes Williams could look for an infielder in return.  Vazquez will earn $23MM over the next two seasons, and has a limited no-trade clause to block trades to NL and AL West teams.
  • Also in Cowley’s article – free agent catcher Toby Hall seems likely to re-sign.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Sabathia, Teixeira, Peavy

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports posted a new column yesterday; let’s take a look.

  • Rosenthal says the "expectation in some baseball circles" is that the Brewers will offer a four-year, $100MM contract to C.C. Sabathia.  However, between the Yankees, Angels, and Dodgers he could probably do significantly better.
  • Mark Teixeira should draw interest from the Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels.  Rosenthal adds that Mike Lowell does not have a no-trade clause (I believe I wrote earlier that he did).
  • The Padres and Braves are at an impasse in the Jake Peavy talks, with the Padres seeking five players.  The Braves don’t want to surrender Tommy Hanson, as Tom Krasovic reported Saturday.
  • Scott Boras is reportedly pitching Jason Varitek as the Tigers’ next catcher.
  • Rosenthal suggests that Manny Ramirez’s defense may keep NL teams away.

Odds and Ends: Myers, Crede, Giants

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