Indians Interested In Blake
According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Indians have expressed interest in bringing third baseman Casey Blake back to Cleveland. Blake stands out in a weak free agent market at the hot corner. The Dodgers are also interested, but they may view other needs as a higher priority. At the least, they should offer him arbitration as a Type B free agent.
Blake’s agent anticipates offers ranging from one to three years. Blake brings the added benefit of versatility, as he can play first base and right field as well.
In other Indians news, agent Rick Thurman plans to meet with the Tribe to discuss his clients. He has Brian Fuentes, Trevor Hoffman, and Jason Isringhausen. The Indians almost signed Hoffman a few years ago.
Latest Dodgers Info
Alex Speier of WEEI has the latest Dodgers chatter, as GM Ned Colletti held court this evening. Ned wasn’t in a very revealing mood.
- Colletti reiterated that no offer has been made to Manny Ramirez. He hasn’t met with Scott Boras yet. Since the Dodgers have so many needs, Colletti would like to resolve the Manny situation quickly. In Jerry Crasnick’s survey of 15 executives, 10 chose the Dodgers as Manny’s destination. It’s unlikely that the Dodgers are able to sign Ramirez and C.C. Sabathia.
- Those other needs include shortstop, third base, the bullpen, and the rotation.
- Colletti was not sure whether Jeff Kent and/or Nomar Garciaparra will retire.
Jake Peavy Rumors: Monday
12:08pm: Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says Towers still considers the Braves the best match for a Peavy trade. Cafardo says the Braves appear willing to trade shortstop Yunel Escobar. He adds that the Red Sox haven’t been ruled out but they’re far down the list.
9:35am: Padres GM Kevin Towers arrived early at the GM meetings, with trading Jake Peavy high on his to-do list. The latest from Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune:
- Towers is "focused on three" teams. Krasovic believes these to be the Cubs, Dodgers, and Braves. He’s matched up with Jim Hendry and Ned Colletti before, and has known Frank Wren for many years. It is believed that Towers would charge the Dodgers a premium for being in their division. The Braves do not want to include top prospects such as Tommy Hanson and Jason Heyward.
- Towers isn’t opposed to a three-team deal, but he’s never done one. He’d prefer to make a normal direct trade.
- Towers wants quality over quantity, saying the right two or three players could get it done.
Andruw Wants To Return To Atlanta
Jennifer Brett of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to Dodgers outfielder Andruw Jones, who says he’d like to come back and play for the Braves again. It’s unclear from his quote whether Jones is campaigning to return to the Braves in 2009 or after that. It takes two to tango, however, and the Braves are probably looking for an outfielder who is not coming off a historically bad season. The Braves didn’t even offer Jones arbitration last year.
A few weeks ago, Jones said, "I’m an everyday guy or I need to move out." However, he hasn’t formally requested a trade from the Dodgers. The 31 year-old is set to earn a $15MM salary next year. He’ll also receive $2.1MM of his signing bonus in ’09 and another $5MM in ’10.
Odds and Ends: Jacobs, Howard, Renteria
Links for Friday…
- The A’s claimed infielder Joe Dillon off waivers from the Brewers.
- Dave Cameron criticizes the Royals’ acquisition of Mike Jacobs. ESPN’s Keith Law also panned the move, suggesting Jacobs was a non-tender candidate for the Marlins.
- Peter Abraham breaks down the different types of hot stove stories and sources.
- Derrick Goold looks at Ryan Howard‘s arbitration case.
- MLB.com’s Chris Haft talked to various scouts about Matt Cain‘s trade value.
- Edgar Renteria hopes to remain in Detroit, saying "Next year, we are going to win everything."
- ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian names his top ten offseason storylines.
- Ken Davidoff says the Mets were interested in Brad Lidge last year, but the Astros’ asking price was too high.
- Joel Sherman debates the merits of a Luis Castillo–Andruw Jones swap while stressing that no such deal is actually being discussed.
- The 2008 Fielding Bible awards are out.
Padres To Explore Peavy Deals With Cubs, Dodgers
According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Padres intend to explore a possible Jake Peavy trade with the Cubs and Dodgers at next week’s GM meetings. Apparently Padres GM Kevin Towers would like to exhaust his possibilities with Peavy’s five preferred NL clubs before engaging others.
Rosenthal notes that the Cubs do not have the quality young pitching the Padres crave. They still have interest in Peavy, especially if they fail to re-sign Ryan Dempster.
The Dodgers aren’t keen on giving up Clayton Kershaw or James McDonald. Rosenthal believes the Dodgers have enough in-house pitching depth to buy out Brad Penny‘s 2009 option.
If Towers moves on to negotiate with the Yankees, Peavy will complicate matters by demanding his contract be supplemented.
Dodgers Rumors: Manny, Furcal, Peavy
Dodgers GM Ned Colletti talked to the media yesterday; here’s the latest.
- Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News believes Colletti will pursue a competent backup catcher to allow more rest for Russell Martin. A decision is due on Gary Bennett‘s $900K option within seven days.
- So far this offseason, Colletti and Scott Boras have exchanged two voicemails. They’ll meet in person to discuss Manny Ramirez and other Boras clients (Derek Lowe, Greg Maddux, Andruw Jones, maybe Joe Crede) at next week’s GM meetings. Colletti will not put the other team needs on hold to deal with Manny.
- Colletti has had preliminary talks with the agents for Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, and Nomar Garciaparra, while Jeff Kent is expected to retire.
- Colletti intends to acquire a top of the line starting pitcher, but Jake Peavy is unlikely (the Dodgers would have to pay extra due to the same-division factor). Free agents Lowe and C.C. Sabathia may be considered. The Dodgers have seven days to decide on Brad Penny‘s $9.25MM option versus the $2MM buyout.
- The Dodgers would love to have Takashi Saito back, but the situation with his elbow injury is unclear.
- Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones have expressed a desire to be traded through the media, but not formally to the Dodgers.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Sabathia, Teixeira, Peavy
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.
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Sunday
As we await an offer from the Dodgers to Manny Ramirez, the notion is often floated that a six year contract for Manny is better suited for an American League team. There he can spend the latter half of his deal, presumably the final years of his career, transitioning to DH.
Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune reports that Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi confirmed that he has interest in Manny Ramirez. Rogers quotes Ricciardi: "I’ve always liked him," Ricciardi told the Toronto Sun. "But obviously getting him and liking him are two different things." We’ve heard this before here.
Rogers goes on to explain that if Manny is going to wind up on a team in Chicago, it would first require a trade. The Cubs will need to deal Alfonso Soriano, as we discussed last week, and the White Sox would need to trade Paul Konerko or Jermaine Dye for either team to be able to afford Ramirez. The article mentions a bad history between White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Scott Boras, but it does give credit to Ken Williams’ craftiness and Manny’s power potential as a righty in U.S. Cellular Field. Jim Thome and Manny hitting back-to-back would be imposing to say the least.
Odds and Ends: Iwase, Martin, Manny
Links for Saturday…
- Japanese reliever Hitoki Iwase will receive a multiyear offer from the Chunichi Dragons. If he turns it down, he’ll attract interest from MLB teams.
- Richard Justice describes the bad blood between former Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker and owner Drayton McLane.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman talked to a "Dodgers-connected person" who believes Russell Martin was "just another catcher" this year. Mitchel Lichtman does not agree.
- Heyman named the Orioles as a potential Manny Ramirez suitor, but Roch Kubatko finds a signing highly unlikely.