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Odds and Ends: Fukudome, Eckstein, Lowell

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Ah yes, the odds and ends post, where I cobble together the day’s random links.

  • The Rangers have mild interest Scott Podsednik.  Pods had two separate stints in the Rangers organization but never reached the bigs with them.
  • The Big Lead has an interesting interview with Yahoo baseball guy Jeff Passan, wherein a run-in with Jose Lima is recounted.  Passan also takes on Fire Joe Morgan a bit.
  • Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog is hearing that Kosuke Fukudome is looking for three years and $30MM.  Sounds fair.
  • The Angels are considering signing David Eckstein and/or Darin Erstad, for some reason.
  • Bob Dutton reports that the Royals can be patient with their offer to Torii Hunter, while the White Sox want a quick resolution.  Bonus: a rather large, but not too pixellated picture of Hunter at the Dutton link.  Hunter, by the way, could save $750K per year if he signs with the Rangers because Texas has no state income tax.  Hunter is also considering the Las Vegas 51s for that same reason, I heard. 
  • Per Buster Olney, the Dodgers put in a three-year offer to Mike Lowell.  He takes this as a sign they weren’t serious, but Ned Colletti has shown a tendency to offer fewer years and more per year.  He did this with Rafael Furcal and Jason Schmidt.  So maybe the Dodgers put out a 3/45 offer or something.
  • The Phils picked up oft-injured outfielder Chris Snelling from the Rays for cash.  He’s yet to accumulate 100 big league at-bats in a season, but maybe that’ll change in 2008.
  • Ed Wade + relievers = trouble.  Doug Brocail is on the radar.
  • McCovey Chronicles lists some realistic position player targets for the Giants, including Jeff Clement, Andy Marte, and Adam Lind.

Hunter Receives Five Offers

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Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, normally their Cubs guy, has the scoop on the Torii Hunter situation.

Wittenmyer says Hunter has at least five offers in hand.  Four of them are for five years, while the Rangers have offered six.  This doesn’t count the Twins’ lowball 3/45 offer.

So which five clubs have made proposals to Hunter?  The Rangers, White Sox, Dodgers, Royals, and Nationals comprise the list.  Wittenmyer notes that the Dodgers could get aggressive on Hunter if they miss out on Miguel Cabrera.  Also, the Yankees could trade Melky Cabrera and jump in.  The amounts offered aren’t well known, but Wittenmyer says the Rangers are just under $15MM per year.   

Hunter hopes to decide next week so he doesn’t have to attend the Winter Meetings the week after that.  Don’t underestimate the Royals, who blew everyone away last year by winning the bidding for Gil Meche.  Still, the White Sox and Rangers are the clear frontrunners.

Olney On Blanton And Haren

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Buster Olney has been digging up all sorts of good trade rumors, and I’m happy to pass along his info.  Let’s start with the A’s.

We recently discussed Eric Chavez, who as far as we know is staying put but wouldn’t get in Billy Beane’s way if he decides to move him.  However, with apologies to Chavez, the hot stove buzz around the A’s will be focused on their young pitching.

We know Dan Haren would draw a huge bounty of three to five very good young players.  We can assume that Joe Blanton would command a similar price, maybe slightly less.  Olney revealed today that Billy Beane isn’t likely to rebuild and try to contend simulataneously.  Instead, he would have a massive fire sale.  If Haren goes, Blanton and Huston Street probably would too.  Olney says Beane’s plan would be similar to the Marlins with Miguel Cabrera – target specific blue-chip prospects and approach those teams.

The Dodgers, Mets, Diamondbacks, and Yankees are named as teams that would figure to be in on an Oakland fire sale.  Those are the clubs with top shelf prospects that are going hard after starting pitching this winter.  This is shaping up to be one hell of a hot stove league.  Matthew Cerrone adds that if the Angels strengthen themselves by adding Cabrera (which Olney expects), that would further encourage the A’s to punt on ’08.

Miguel Cabrera Rumors

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I think it’s about time to dissect the Miguel Cabrera situation, don’t you?  The Angels, Dodgers, Giants, White Sox, and maybe the Rangers are battling to acquire him.

Five days ago, the Angels were the frontrunners.  It was even suggested a trade could be completed by Thanksgiving.  But according to Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers now have the lead.  It may require Matt Kemp, Andy LaRoche, and Clayton Kershaw.  Now that’s quality. 

Rosenthal has a source saying the Halos may counter with Ervin Santana, Howie Kendrick, Chris Bootcheck, and Nick Adenhart.  It’s thought that the Angels’ acquisition of Jon Garland frees them up to trade a starter or two.  Many other Angels interest the Marlins – Joe Saunders, Brandon Wood, Mike Napoli, Jeff Mathis, or Reggie Willits could enter the picture.  Miguel Tejada is said to be the Angels’ fallback option. 

The proposed White Sox package of Josh Fields, Ryan Sweeney, and Gio Gonzalez just doesn’t seem comparable to the above.

Should the Dodgers give up Kemp to snag Cabrera, they’ll then sign a free agent center fielder.  Aaron Rowand is the flavor of the week.      

Rangers, Hunter Talking Five Year Deal

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According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, Torii Hunter denied the Chicago Sun-Times report that he would sign with the Sox this week.  The White Sox, Dodgers, and Rangers remain the major players for Hunter. 

The Rangers had dinner with Hunter last night; he’s their top priority.  Currently the two sides are talking about a five-year deal but Jon Daniels doesn’t expect anything to happen this week.

Orioles, Dodgers Talking Bedard, Kemp

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Earlier this month, we learned that the Orioles will listen to offers for Erik Bedard. Sounds kinda crazy, shopping a potential Cy Young candidate with two years remaining until free agency. But if the Orioles can pick up a couple of younger but still MLB-ready players, so be it. The first connection comes from the Dodgers, who are offering a package centered around — guess who — Matt Kemp.

Kemp himself won’t get this deal done. Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports lists the usual suspects from the Dodgers: Andy LaRoche (because 93 at-bats is a plenty big sample), Jonathan Meloan, James Loney, Clayton Kershaw, Delwyn Young, Andre Ethier, and Tony Abreu.

Of course, Kemp would play a large part in a potential Miguel Cabrera trade, so the Dodgers must choose wisely. They certainly have the players it would take to land either player.

Brown notes that the Dodgers are already looking to upgrade at center field. We all know what that means: Hunter, Rowand, and Jones.

Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.

Odds and Ends: Glavine, Rowand, A-Rod Clark, LoDuca

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Hi. I’m Joe. Tim is busy today, so I’ll be filling in. You can send any tips right to my email. So onto a few morning tidbits.

  • Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution hears that the Braves are "close" to a deal with

    Tom Glavine. His agent, Gregg Clifton, thinks "it’s a good possibility" that a deal gets done today.

  • Aaron Rowand’s agent Craig Landis says that the "interest is definitely mutual" between his client and the Dodgers.
  • Since I run a Yankees site, I suppose I can’t finish an odds and ends post without a mention of Alex Rodriguez. Ed Price of the Star Ledger says that the soon-to-be MVP’s deal is "intricate," and that we shouldn’t expect a deal until "perhaps after Thanksgiving."
  • The Twins are said to be interested in Tony Clark. Not quire sure adding another low-OBP bad in addition to Craig Monroe is very smart here. Plus, this would make Clark the de-facto DH, and we know he’s looking for a starting gig.
  • Mike Puma of the New York Post speculates that recently displaced Paul LoDuca could swap with Yorvit Torrealba and catch on as the Rockies’ starter for 2008.

    •  

Joe Pawlikowski is a co-author of River Ave. Blues, a New York Yankees blog.

Dodgers Pursuing Aaron Rowand

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Buster Olney’s blog today had some good rumors to digest.

  • Olney writes that the Dodgers are making a "heavy play" for Aaron Rowand.  Apparently they love the idea of adding a good character guy to the clubhouse.  They’d be paying $25MM for Rowand and Juan Pierre in their outfield for the next several years.
  • The Phillies are making a "big play" for Mike Lowell.  This certainly doesn’t jive with the speculation that the Phils only have $10MM to spend and it’s going toward pitching.  By the way, Ruben Amaro Jr. ruled out the possibility of signing Torii Hunter.
  • Olney has an exec source who believes Hunter will sign with the Rangers for six years and $90MM.
  • Olney doesn’t see Kenny Rogers apologizing to the Rangers anytime soon.
  • Mike Cameron has a better chance of re-signing with the Padres, now that his 2008 season will be reduced by 15% in playing time.
  • Six teams are in on Matt Clement, but he’s still expected to land in San Diego.  The Royals are probably one of the six.
  • Speculation is growing that the Braves might consider bringing Andruw Jones back.

Rivera Wants Four Years

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Why is that three-year, $45MM offer to Mariano Rivera from the Yankees still on the table?  According to Ken Rosenthal, it’s because Rivera wants four guaranteed years.  He’s looking at the contracts of Jorge Posada, Billy Wagner, and even Alex Rodriguez in demanding to be paid through his age 41 season.  As I said before, I think it’s time for the Yankees to go to Plan B.

Rosenthal says the Yanks are still the favorite for Rivera, despite his quote about playing for the Dodgers.  Rivera has apparently told his agents to shop him around, as he’s annoyed by Hank Steinbrenner’s public comments about his age.  Hank seems to make a lot of public comments that don’t seem professional or well thought-out. 

Orioles To Attempt To Extend Bedard

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It looks like Erik Bedard is Andy MacPhail’s top priority right now.  He’s already gauged the trade interest for his ace, and is now exploring the idea of a contract extension.

Jeff Zrebiec says the Mets, Yankees, Angels, and Dodgers expressed interest in the southpaw starter.  Interesting to see the Halos in the mix.  The Dodgers are pushing the hardest for him.  Two years of Bedard is expected to cost a team three MLB-ready players.  The names mentioned for the Dodgers are Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp, and Clayton Kershaw.  While Kershaw’s not MLB-ready, I doubt the Orioles would mind.  Zrebiec says the problem with the Dodgers is that Kemp and Kershaw would be part of a Miguel Cabrera package.

What would a contract extension cost?  I’m thinking it would require something like four years, $65MM to cover the two team-controlled years and two years of free agency.

Zrebiec also mentions that the Mets inquired on Ramon Hernandez, but found the price of a high-end prospect prohibitive.

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