Odds and Ends: Blue Jays, Dodgers, Dunn
Happy Thanksgiving! Here are some links to snack on before the big meal.
- Blue Jays interim CEO Paul Beeston believes they have a chance to re-sign A.J. Burnett, but may choose to save the money earmarked for him if he signs elsewhere.
- ESPN’s Jayson Stark assesses the Tigers. Catching seems to be their top priority this winter, though they need a shortstop and closer too.
- There is a growing sentiment that the Blue Jays will have less to spend this winter than originally anticipated.
- Bill Plaschke attempts to get clarification from Jamie McCourt on her recent quotes.
- Curt Schilling remembers the events leading up to his trade to the Red Sox.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the market is eerily quiet for Adam Dunn so far.
Dodgers Talks For Wilson At Impasse
WEDNESDAY, 10:34pm: Rosenthal actually posted this update last night, but we’re adding it now. He says the Pirates sought Hu, Delwyn Young, and a third player for Wilson. That caused talks to grind to a halt. Rosenthal added that the Dodgers are showing mild interest in Edgar Renteria but not Orlando Cabrera.
TUESDAY, 6:34pm: Rosenthal says the Pirates wanted Hu and two other young players, and the Dodgers balked at the price.
6:06pm: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers are again considering trading for Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson. The Bucs would like to receive Chin-Lung Hu in return to replace Wilson at short. The Tigers are known to have interest in Wilson as well. He’s set to earn $7.25MM in ’09 and has a $8.4MM option for ’10 with a $600K buyout. Wilson is known for his defense; he made sixteen more plays than the average shortstop in this year despite playing fewer than 700 innings.
Rosenthal says the Dodgers aren’t likely to sign Rafael Furcal and aren’t pursuing Orlando Cabrera or Edgar Renteria. He notes that four teams are in on Cabrera.
Rafael Furcal Rumors: Wednesday
7:58pm: Kinzer told Joe Stiglich of the Contra Costa Times that the A’s are "right at the top of the list."
7:05pm: Kinzer revealed to Yahoo’s Tim Brown that the two unknown Furcal suitors "have to make some moves first." So think of teams with incumbent shortstops, like the Braves. Or perhaps a team that has to clear payroll like the Cubs.
4:25pm: Kinzer told Haft they’ll have it down to two teams before Monday or Tuesday. The A’s, Giants, and two other clubs are still in the mix for Furcal. This time, Kinzer told Haft he did talk to the Giants yesterday. It’s unknown whether he has an offer from San Francisco, but there’s nothing from the A’s yet.
12:55pm: Susan Slusser and Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle learned that Kinzer did have talks with the Giants about Furcal on Tuesday. MLB.com’s Chris Haft had Kinzer saying last night that he hadn’t spoken to Giants officials in two days.
10:11am: Rafael Furcal met with the A’s yesterday, and it’s not a stretch to suggest they’re the frontrunner for his services. SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the A’s, Giants, Cubs, Dodgers, Braves, and a mystery team remain involved. Interesting note from Heyman:
Furcal’s agent, Paul Kinzer, said by phone that he hasn’t fielded a correct guess from any media member on said mystery team. I gave it a shot on Tuesday night, throwing out the Reds — who appear to be in the mix on some surprising names — but he said that was incorrect.
Jon! No! You wasted your guess. I believe the mystery team boils down to the Indians or Twins. Thoughts?
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.