Brown’s Latest: Fuentes, Hoffman, Wilson, Aurilia
Here’s a look at the latest from Yahoo’s Tim Brown.
- The Mets kicked around the idea internally of signing both Brian Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman. The eighth inning would be a tough sell for either pitcher though.
- Brown says that if the Angels fail to sign Mark Teixeira they will try to sign C.C. Sabathia as well as a closer like Fuentes.
- The Dodgers want the Pirates to eat "a huge chunk" of the $7.85MM Jack Wilson has coming.
- The Giants and Dodgers have shown interest in Rich Aurilia.
Odds and Ends: Maddux, Krivsky, Maroth
Links for Wednesday…
- Greg Maddux says he hasn’t officially decided about retirement yet, but he’ll "try to figure it out in the next couple of days."
- David Newhan is now a free agent.
- Marc Hulet looks at interesting names for the Rule 5 draft over at Baseball Analysts.
- Roch Kubatko reports that the Orioles hired former Reds GM Wayne Krivsky as a special assistant to Andy MacPhail.
- Lefty Mike Maroth is feeling good following May shoulder surgery and intends to pitch in 2009.
- South Side Sox believes the White Sox are trimming payroll.
- Minor league free agent shortstop Luis Hernandez signed with the Royals.
- SoxProspects.com says the Red Sox inked Billy Traber, Marcus McBeth, and Gil Velazquez to minor league deals.
- The Dodgers re-signed Luis Maza to a minor league contract. Also at that link, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt hinted that the team may be unwilling to increase its two-year, $45MM offer to Manny Ramirez.
Rosenthal On Boras’ Scheme
Ken Rosenthal has a theory on Scott Boras’ goals in the free agent game:
- Mark Teixeira and Jason Varitek to the Red Sox
- C.C. Sabathia and Manny Ramirez to the Angels
- Derek Lowe to the Yankees
The crux of the theory seems to be that Boras would want Manny near his Newport Beach headquarters to better babysit him. Personally I have a hard time seeing any team sign two of the big three free agents, and it’s difficult to picture Manny as an Angel.
Rosenthal doesn’t see the Dodgers as major players, partially based on recent comments made by the McCourts.
Crasnick’s Free Agent Bargains
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick lists nine possible free agent bargains in his column today. A few notes:
- Randy Johnson is looking for a one-year deal, and his agent says the list of interested clubs is approaching double figures. The Dodgers may make sense, though Johnson is on the backburner for them.
- Crasnick speculates that Philadelphia could be a nice fit for Felipe Lopez.
- Scott Boras seemingly wants a multiyear deal for Joe Crede, as he’s using the Magglio Ordonez contract as a model. Maybe his new team would have the ability to opt out after the season if Crede hits the DL for back problems again. Crasnick mentions the Rangers as an interesting fit for Crede.
- Crasnick talked to execs who see Juan Rivera signing a two-year deal in the $6-8MM range.
- Also weighing in on free agent bargains: Dave Cameron at FanGraphs and ESPN’s Keith Law.
Pettitte Considering Dodgers
WEDNESDAY: Newsday’s Ken Davidoff talked to a Dodgers official who said it’s unlikely they will sign Pettitte.
TUESDAY: According to Ken Rosenthal, free agent lefty Andy Pettitte spoke to Joe Torre multiple times about the possibility of signing with the Dodgers. Rosenthal notes that Pettitte has a history of leaving when he doesn’t feel wanted, and the Yankees are taking a laid-back approach toward him this winter. Still, the Yankees remain Pettitte’s first choice. Rosenthal does not see Pettitte returning to Houston.
Rafael Furcal Rumors: Tuesday
10:30pm: Ken Rosenthal reports that Furcal, his wife, and his agent Paul Kinzer met with the A’s in Oakland today. He received the full tour. They may discuss financial terms tomorrow. The Giants and a mystery team are also said to be in the mix. However, MLB.com’s Chris Haft learned that Kinzer hasn’t spoken with the Giants in two days.
2:56pm: I exchanged emails with Yancen Pujols, sports editor at the El Caribe newspaper. He reminded me that the author of their article, Rafael Fellito Ortiz, quoted Furcal himself regarding offers from the A’s and Mets. So the unanswered question here is why Furcal said these things.
9:23am: Let’s sort out the facts involving free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal.
- Reports about Furcal from yesterday from El Caribe and Impacto Deportivo have been dismissed. There has been no four-year, $48MM offer from the A’s, no four-year, $52MM offer from the Braves, and no interest from the Mets. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the Braves wouldn’t be in a position to make an offer unless they dealt Yunel Escobar or Kelly Johnson first.
- Three teams have made offers for Furcal, at least one of them for four years according to Dylan Hernandez. The A’s and Giants seem to be in the lead, while the Dodgers are slipping out of the picture. Hernandez says they’re "reluctant to even match the three-year, $39 million contract he completed this year."
- Susan Slusser expects negotiations for Furcal to drag into December.
- The third team making an offer seems to be the "surprise team." That team is not the Mets, and probably not the Dodgers, Reds, or Braves. Brown wondered if it could be the Cubs, Orioles, or Cardinals.
Odds and Ends: Kawakami, Griffey, Greinke
Links for Tuesday…
- The weekly chat has been moved to Wednesday at 2pm CST this time.
- I’ll be on Seth Stohs’ radio show tonight around 8pm CST.
- From NPB Tracker: Kenshin Kawakami has switched to Dan Evans as his agent, while Koji Uehara wants a rotation spot and multiple years.
- Ken Griffey Jr.‘s agent, Brian Goldberg, has been in contact with nine teams (six AL, three NL). The Mariners were one of the AL teams.
- It’s been over a decade since the White Sox signed a free agent from another team for more than $20MM.
- Justin Morneau would like the Twins to add one more bat.
- East Windup Chronicle has scouting reports on Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel.
- Things are quiet with the Dodgers – no recent talks for Manny Ramirez, "no real movement" on C.C. Sabathia.
- Rany Jazayerli questions the Royals’ nonchalance toward signing Zack Greinke.
- Nothing is close with the Tigers and Joe Beimel, and the team will not make an offer to Junichi Tazawa (partially to preserve their relationships in Japan).
- The Brewers signed Jason Bourgeois to a minor league deal. Bourgeois, 27 in January, hit .286/.335/.404 in Triple A this year.
- Quietly, the Indians signed reliever Greg Aquino. He pitched well in Triple A this year but missed time with a hamstring strain.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Dye, Burrell, Young
Here’s a look at the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- Rosenthal says the Braves are interested in A.J. Burnett, but you already knew that.
- Rosenthal believes Trevor Hoffman to the Dodgers "makes sense."
- The Red Sox apparently have confidence they could trade Mike Lowell if need be, but rival execs believe he’d have to prove his health in spring first. Lowell has two years and $24MM on his deal.
- The White Sox want a young starter and additional players for right fielder Jermaine Dye. The Mets, Rays, and Phillies are "balking at such a price." Rosenthal learned that most of the six teams on Dye’s no-trade list are in the northeast. Interesting that the White Sox are still willing to trade Dye after moving Nick Swisher.
- The Mets "aren’t enamored" with Javier Vazquez.
- Rosenthal suggests the Rays will sit back and hope one of the free agent DH-types becomes a bargain for them.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman wrote on Friday that the "Braves, Dodgers, and Mets are believed to be among teams that have inquired about Rangers starting pitchers Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla." However, Rosenthal says the Braves and Mets are not interested in either pitcher and the Rangers aren’t desperate to move them.
- Rosenthal has Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, and Pat Burrell on the Angels’ radar if they fail to sign Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, or Manny Ramirez.
- A rival GM tells Rosenthal Twins outfielder Delmon Young is "very, very much out there."
Rogers’ Latest: Royals/Cubs, Peavy, Phillies
Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune has an interesting piece covering many topics throughout MLB:
- The Royals are specifically eyeing Sean Marshall and Mike Fontenot as targets while discussing a trade for Mark Teahen with the Chicago Cubs. We’ve heard some conflicting reports recently about whether or not this trade was actually being talked about. Teahen could fill the Cubs’ right field vacancy, but his offensive struggles since moving to the outfield have been well-documented.
- Houston could still be a dark-horse candidate for Jake Peavy. Roy Oswalt has been telling Peavy the two of them could make Houston contenders together. I can’t see a sensible package coming from Houston without opening new holes, however.
- The Phillies don’t plan on making any drastic moves, despite Chase Utley and Pedro Feliz undergoing surgery.
- The Dodgers and Tigers are both interested in Orlando Cabrera.
With Billingsley Hurt, Dodgers Eyeing Peavy?
Chad Billingsley slipped on ice, fell, and broke his leg according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times, spreading the Dodgers rotation thin as it stands.
"How this will affect the Dodgers’ maneuverings in the free-agent and trade markets, if at all, is… uncertain. General Manager Ned Colletti was unavailable for comment Saturday night. With [Derek] Lowe and [Brad] Penny expected to sign elsewhere and Greg Maddux likely to retire, the Dodgers’ rotation at this point consists of only Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda and 20-year-old Clayton Kershaw."
Hernandez reports the Dodgers are saying he’ll be ready for spring training. Buster Olney thinks that’s what you say when you might suddenly be re-interested in front-end rotation depth, namely Jake Peavy.
The Dodgers had previously lost interest when Kevin Towers asked for a package including Billingsley.