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Rafael Furcal Rumors: Thursday

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8:35pm: According to Jeff Passan, Furcal has been offered many three-year deals, but he wants a four-year contract. Furcal’s agent, Paul Kinzer confirmed that the Orioles, Braves, Giants, Cubs, Dodgers and A’s are interested, along with one unnamed "mystery" team.

1:30pm: MLB.com’s Mychael Urban talked to Kinzer, who said the A’s have examined Furcal’s medical records.  Urban also says the A’s expressed interest in Jason Giambi.

9:40am: Rounding up the recent Rafael Furcal links…

C.C. Sabathia Rumors: Thursday

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8:15pm: According to ESPN.com, Hal Steinbrenner said Sabathia will have a deadline to accept his current offer. The Yankees made Sabathia a record-setting offer for a pitcher, but Steinbrenner said "it’s not going to be there forever."

2:22pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Dodgers, Giants, Red Sox, and Angels have checked in on Sabathia since the Yankees made their bid.  All four clubs face various obstacles.

9:26am: The latest on C.C. Sabathia…

  • Ken Davidoff and Anthony Rieber pass along a Peter Gammons report saying Sabathia will not sign until after Thanksgiving.  Perfectly logical, though I cannot find where Gammons wrote this.  (I see he wrote that it will "take a while.")   Send me the link (ESPN.com, not Newsday) if you can help out.
  • Andrew Baggarly’s source says the Giants are "not in offer mode" with Sabathia. He does believe they will take a shot.

Heyman’s Latest: Burnett, Lowe, Hudson, Tex

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman has several new blog posts up.  Let’s take a look.

  • The Yankees planned offers in the four-year, $60MM range for A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, but that’s not sufficient for either pitcher.  Burnett wants five years, and Lowe presumably at least $16MM per year and perhaps five as well.
  • The Indians, Mets, and Yankees are in on Orlando Hudson, who wants a five-year, $50MM deal.  The Dodgers are another possibility.  The New York teams would have to do some shuffling to make room for Hudson.  Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported the Indians’ interest yesterday evening.  The Tribe is also in on Orlando Cabrera, according to Yahoo’s Tim Brown.
  • Heyman says the Angels will make a "fair proposal with a deadline" for Mark Teixeira, with Miguel Cabera’s eight-year, $153MM deal as a baseline.  This echoes recent columns from Ken Rosenthal and Bill Ladson.

Stark’s Latest: Putz, Manny, Lackey, Ibanez

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Let’s take a look at the latest column from ESPN’s Jayson Stark.

  • Stark does the math and finds 15 potentially available closers versus six clubs in the market for one.  Should result in a few bargains or teams holding on to their surpluses.
  • The Mets don’t seem willing to extend to four years for Francisco Rodriguez.  Stark says J.J. Putz would become the Mets’ top closer target if he’s made available.  MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone wrote a few days ago that the Mets are likely to trade for a reliever with closing experience before attempting to sign one.
  • J.P. Ricciardi quote: "We won’t be involved with Manny."  Ricciardi last month: "He’s on our radar, but maybe not on our radar like some people will report."
  • Despite reports to the contrary, Stark talked to a rival executive who says Jake Peavy made it "onto [the Angels’] radar pretty hard."  Stark speculates that Peavy could fit if the Halos sign Mark Teixeira.
  • It seems likely that the Angels will put out an offer to Teixeira with a deadline, and then either sign him or move on.
  • John Lackey’s been telling friends he expects to have an extension with the Angels by Opening Day.  Lackey indicated last month he’d wait to see the Halos’ offensive plans before re-signing.
  • Stark suspects the Players Union might be OK with C.C. Sabathia turning down a larger offer from the Yankees if he still signed for more than Johan Santana’s $23MM per year.  I don’t really see why Sabathia would worry about the union in any regard.
  • The Dodgers inquired on the asking price of Jason Varitek, with the idea of moving Russell Martin to third base in mind.  They balked at Scott Boras’ demand for Tek, however.
  • Curt Schilling is "more likely than ever" to attempt a late June or early July comeback.
  • Tons of teams have expressed some degree of interest in Raul Ibanez: the Mets, Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Royals, Rays, Blue Jays, Rangers, Angels, and Mariners.  Some interesting new ones in there.
  • The Phillies never made a two-year, $21MM offer to Pat Burrell.  Will the Phils at least offer him arbitration?  The rumored offer was questionable from Day 1, as Paul Hagen said Burrell "reportedly turned down a two-year, $22MM offer" but didn’t reference a specific report.
  • Stark believes that the Brewers were not thrilled with the Yankees’ "overbid" for C.C. Sabathia, and therefore would prefer not to trade Mike Cameron to them.  Dan Graziano wrote yesterday about the Yanks’ conversations for Cameron.
  • Roy Oswalt wants the Astros to sign Ben Sheets, but the price tag may be too high.  Stark has the following names on their radar: Randy Wolf, Mike Hampton, Freddy Garcia, Paul Byrd, and maybe Pedro Martinez.  Is Drayton McLane willing to bring Andy Pettitte back?  GM Ed Wade seemed interested in his chat yesterday, saying, "We’ll have to see what develops down the road."

Brown on Sabathia, Teixeira, Lowe, Peavy

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In his latest article, Tim Brown at Yahoo! Sports considers a possibility that others have discussed: maybe C.C. Sabathia doesn’t want to play for the New York Yankees. He certainly has options–Brown’s list includes the Dodgers, Angels, White Sox, Red Sox, Mariners, Tigers, and of course, the Brewers.

Not signing C.C. would increase the likelihood that the Yankees make a serious offer to Mark Teixeira. Nick Swisher seems to have the starting job at first base for now, but failing to land Sabathia might shift the Yankees’ attention to all three of Teixeira, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, says Brown.

Lowe might take his time before signing a new deal this offseason, with the news that Scott Boras is looking for the same average annual value obtained previously by Barry Zito ($18MM).

Finally, Brown notes that Padres GM Kevin Towers is waiting to hear from the Cubs about the possibility of continued trade talks regarding Jake Peavy, now that Ryan Dempster has been signed.

Graziano’s Latest: Sabathia, Halladay

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4:39pm: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News shoots down all Dodgers rumors – no offer in the near future for Sabathia, no talks for Halladay, and no interest in Raul Ibanez.

I think Graziano’s Halladay musings have been distorted a bit – he basically said the Blue Jays might explore the trade market at some point.

3:31pm: Graziano adds in a new post that the Giants plan to make a six-year offer in excess of $100MM but under $140MM.  Tom Haudricourt had info about a Giants bid several hours earlier as well.

Haudricourt adds that the Angels will make a bid, but reports about the Dodgers may be inaccurate.

12:26pm: Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger explains why C.C. Sabathia is taking his time while mulling over the Yankees’ six-year, $140MM offer.  Graziano believes Sabathia and his agents are waiting to see what the Dodgers propose.

Graziano speaks of "rumblings today that the Dodgers either have offered or are about to offer Sabathia a six-year contract worth between $110 and $120 million."  He believes this could compel the Yankees to increase their offer, just to ensure a ridiculous ($30MM+) gap between the two proposals.

Graziano has a source who continues to insist the Blue Jays will explore the market for ace Roy Halladay, who has two years and $30MM left on his deal.  In that case, he believes the Dodgers are the most likely match.  If the Dodgers acquire Halladay, they would focus on Manny Ramirez rather than Sabathia.

Mets, Phillies, Dodgers Interested In Ibanez

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According to Ken Davidoff of Newsday, the Mets, Phillies, and Dodgers have expressed interest in free agent outfielder Raul Ibanez.  Ibanez would replace Pat Burrell in Philly, and is a backup plan for the Dodgers if they fail to sign Manny Ramirez.  The Cubs and Royals may also get involved, but both clubs face payroll limitations currently.

Interest from four NL clubs means Ibanez could remain an outfielder for his age 37-39 seasons, a dicey proposition.  He allowed 18 more bases than the average left fielder in 2008, according to the plus/minus system.  Ibanez hit .293/.358/.479 in 707 plate appearances, earning just $5.5MM in the last year of his contract.  He should be able to double his salary in ’09.

Tigers Interested In Beimel

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Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press reports that the Tigers are interested in LHP Joe Beimel, according to Beimel’s agent.

Biemel, 31, posted a 2.02 ERA for the Dodgers in 2008. He’s only allowed one home run over the past two seasons, while pitching a combined 116.1 innings. However, he did give up 50 hits in 49 innings last year.

Morosi mentions that the Tigers are also in the hunt for a closer, making it clear that Beimel isn’t the answer for the 9th inning in Detroit. Darren Oliver and Arthur Rhodes also appear on the Tigers’ short list of interesting free agent relievers.

Odds and Ends: Tazawa, Boras, Cuban

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Links for Tuesday…

Yankees Rumors: Abreu, Burnett, Teixeira

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George King of the New York Post and Kat O’Brien of Newsday have the latest on the Yankees, who are in hot pursuit of free agent starting pitching.

  • The Yankees will offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu, according to Jon Heyman.  No surprise there.
  • King says the Yankees are preparing an offer for A.J. Burnett, "perhaps a five-year deal worth about $80 million."  Burnett’s agent says they’re just discussing parameters.  It would be a strong offer, dwarfing the Blue Jays’ four years, $54MM.  ESPN’s Buster Olney believes a fifth guaranteed year will ultimately result in the winning bid for Burnett.
  • The Yankees may make an offer to Derek Lowe soon; they’ve reached out to Scott Boras regarding him.  Other Lowe suitors: the Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets, and Rangers.  O’Brien adds that the Yanks expressed interest in Mark Teixeira to Boras (despite the Nick Swisher acquisition).  The Orioles are also in on in Tex.
  • King talked to a "baseball exec" who sees the Cubs re-signing Ryan Dempster at four years, $52MM.
  • Andy Pettitte’s agent doesn’t want a pay cut from this year’s $16MM.
  • The expectation is still for Mike Mussina to retire; we may know this week.
  • The Yankees aren’t in on Jake Peavy, as evidenced by Kevin Towers’ comments last night.  Rick Sutcliffe and Mark Grace have been pitching the Cubs to Peavy, though the hangup seems more about which players the Chicago would send to San Diego.
  • The Yanks have an offer of about six years, $140MM on the table for C.C. Sabathia, and he’s mulling it over (somewhere).
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