Graziano’s Latest: Sabathia, Halladay
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
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
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
Links for Tuesday…
- Scouts from the Tigers and Indians visited Junichi Tazawa yesterday.
- This week’s chat has been pushed to Wednesday at 2pm CST.
- I chatted with The Baseball Opinion on November 10th.
- Patrick Newman compares Kenshin Kawakami and Hiroki Kuroda.
- Jesse Spector talks to D’Backs GM Josh Byrnes.
- Ken Davidoff explains the semantics games often played by agents, GMs, and journalists.
- Peter Abraham makes free agent predictions.
- Chat with Scott Boras at USA Today on Wednesday at 10am CST. You can submit questions in advance.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman says Mark Cuban’s bid for the Cubs wasn’t high enough, anyway.
Yankees Rumors: Abreu, Burnett, Teixeira
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).
Gammons Rumors: Sabathia, Manny, Furcal, Bradley
Here’s how ESPN’s Peter Gammons sees some of the bigger free agent dominoes falling, assuming the Dodgers land Sabathia:
Interesting how many GMs think that if the Dodgers get C.C. Sabathia, the Giants will get big into Manny Ramirez, and Billy Beane and the A’s will continue to move fast on Rafael Furcal. Also, expect Toronto to make good on its promise to Milton Bradley that he is the Blue Jays’ priority.
Would Beane and Brian Sabean really be influenced by Sabathia landing in L.A.? We may never know, as the Yankees have come out of the free agent gate with their guns blazing. I can see Beane getting Furcal regardless, even with Bobby Crosby under contract for ’09.
I guessed Bradley would land in Toronto, but only because I like the fit. This is the first I’ve heard of them making him a priority over Jason Giambi or Manny.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Griffey, Peavy, Dempster
A look at the latest column from FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal:
- Rosenthal wonders if Jason Varitek‘s viral sickness and divorce last year contributed to his poor performance at the plate.
- Ken Griffey Jr.‘s wife gave him her blessing to play anywhere he’d like. If he’s focused on getting a ring, Seattle might not make sense. Griffey’s doctor believes his knee will be in better shape in 2009.
- Padres GM Kevin Towers wonders if Jake Peavy would’ve accepted a trade to the Braves, given Atlanta’s club policy against no-trade clauses. Towers isn’t talking to the Braves, Dodgers, or Yankees about Peavy, and Rosenthal says he’s "not making much headway" with the Cubs. ESPN’s Peter Gammons says the Cubs’ loss of Jose Ceda lessens their chances, while Frank Wren still believes Peavy will end up a Brave.
- The Cubs hope to resolve the Ryan Dempster situation this week. The team wants to do a four-year deal.
- The Giants are still in on Juan Cruz after their Jeremy Affeldt signing.
- The Phillies gave Pat Burrell "parameters" for a new deal, while Rosenthal speculates on the Giants and Dodgers as other possible fits.
Dodgers Withdraw Manny Offer
7:31pm: Jesse Spector of the New York Daily News chatted with Colletti about Manny and much more.
5:04pm: According to MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick, the Dodgers withdrew their two-year, $45MM offer to Manny Ramirez. Ned Colletti plans to continue negotiations. Do you think Ramirez will ultimately get four or more guaranteed years?
Do Angels Have Genuine Interest In Manny?
Angels owner Arte Moreno had kind words for Manny Ramirez in a recent radio appearance, sparking talk that he could jump in and swipe the slugger from the Dodgers. However, the general sense is that Moreno just wanted to get people talking about the Angels and perhaps hopes to drive up Ramirez’s price for the Dodgers.
Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times gets a peek at Scott Boras’ binder for Ramirez, which predicts 204 home runs and 684 RBIs over the next six years. Shaikin quotes Angels GM Tony Reagins saying his priority is elsewhere and the Manny discussion hasn’t taken place, so right now the Dodgers don’t face serious competition.
Shaikin also notes that the Dodgers are more likely to sign Orlando Cabrera to a short-term deal than re-sign Rafael Furcal.
Dodgers Interested In Randy Johnson
We learned yesterday that the Diamondbacks offered Randy Johnson around $2-3MM, while he would’ve settled for $8MM. Now he’s on the open market, and could be a bargain on a one-year deal. The Angels are not interested, but MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick says Johnson is high on the Dodgers’ list. This would be a fine way for Ned Colletti to kick off his offseason.