Prince Fielder Rumors: Friday
The Cubs are the early front-runners to sign Prince Fielder, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. But in the words of one executive, agent Scott Boras can usually “pull a rabbit out of his hat” for his top free agent clients, so other teams are very much in the mix for the 27-year-old free agent. Here’s the latest:
- Cubs manager Dale Sveum says the team hasn't had conversations with Fielder, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). Sveum says the Cubs "haven't initiated any contact at all," according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (on Twitter).
- It looks like the Cubs and Mariners are Fielder’s most serious suitors, Rosenthal reports.
- The Cubs don’t want to give Fielder a ten-year deal and would be more comfortable with a six or seven-year term, according to Rosenthal.
- The Rangers and Marlins won’t bid on Fielder, according to Rosenthal’s sources. The Orioles may only be a viable suitor for Fielder if he lacks other options.
- Boras wants an opt-out clause for Fielder, Rosenthal reports.
Marlins & Red Sox Have Discussed Hanley Ramirez
The Red Sox are among the teams that have had cursory trade dialogue with the Marlins about Hanley Ramirez, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). However, the talks have no traction.
The Marlins don't intend to trade Ramirez, even after signing shortstop Jose Reyes. However, Olney reported Sunday that at least four teams have talked to the Marlins about a possible deal involving Ramirez. At this point he projects as the team's everyday third baseman, though he appears to prefer playing shortstop.
Ramirez, who signed with the Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 2000, appeared in just 92 games this past season due to a sprained left shoulder. He posted a .243/.333/.379 line in 385 plate appearances — far from his career .306/.380/.506 line.
The Latest On Gio Gonzalez
The Gio Gonzalez trade rumors have been vast and varied so far this offseason. Here's the latest on the A's left-hander from Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com:
The Mets and Mariners are now among the teams in on Gonzalez, a source tells Rosenthal (Twitter link), while the Marlins, Reds, Red Sox and Rangers remain in the mix.
As well, the Nationals are interested in Gonzalez, according to Rosenthal (via Twitter), who adds that Washington considers White Sox lefty John Danks an alternative. The Nats' focus remains acquiring a left-handed starter after missing out on Mark Buehrle, who signed with the Marlins.
The Mets are an odd addition to the growing list of Gonzalez suitors, as they have been rumored to be open to trading one of their young pitchers, Jonathon Niese. The Mariners, meanwhile, are thought to be seeking offense – including, perhaps, Prince Fielder – although Gonzalez would make for a nice No. 2 or 3, along with Michael Pineda, behind ace Felix Hernandez.
Quick Hits: Dobbs, Indians, Zumaya, Mariners
MLB announced that baseball’s 30 owners unanimously approved the five-year collective bargaining agreement with the MLB Players Association today. Here are some other notes from around MLB…
- The Marlins remain in the mix to sign Greg Dobbs, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. The Nationals are also interested in the free agent utility player.
- The Mets remain in regular contact with free agent shortstop Jack Wilson, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
- Though the Indians never made Josh Willingham a former proposal, they indicated that they were willing to offer a two-year deal in the $15MM range, according to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (Twitter links). Willingham has agreed to terms with the Twins, but GM Chris Antonetti says the Indians are still considering external options.
- A scout tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that just about every team in baseball saw free agent right-hander Joel Zumaya throw in Houston yesterday (Twitter link).
- Japanese shortstop Munenori Kawasaki is in Seattle and may sign a minor league deal with the Mariners in the relatively near future, according to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times (Twitter links). The deal may not be finalized until after the holidays, but he will sign with Seattle, Stone reports.
Bidding Period For Yu Darvish Ends
The deadline for teams to submit bids to the Nippon Ham Fighters for the exclusive rights to negotiate with Yu Darvish passed at 4pm central time today. Nippon Ham has until 4pm CDT on December 20th to accept or reject the high bid, according to a Japanese report passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker (on Twitter). The latest updates:
- The Giants did not bid on Darvish, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link).
- The A's didn't bid on Darvish, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter).
- The Marlins did not bid on Darvish, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (on Twitter).
- The Mets didn't place a bid, Howard Megdal of the Journal News reports.
- The Yankees' bid is modest, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Indications are the winning bid is "sky high."
- Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports (on Twitter) that the Fighters plan to accept the posting bid no matter how large it is.
- The Nippon Ham Fighters were very excited by how large the high bid was according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Still no word on the the money, though.
- The Yankees did post a bid, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Twitter link).
- The Rays did not bid, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (on Twitter).
- The Angels did not bid on Darvish, according to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (on Twitter).
- Three MLB executives speculated that the Blue Jays and Rangers are candidates to win the bidding for Darvish, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
- The Twins did not bid on Darvish, according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (on Twitter).
- The Red Sox did not bid on Darvish, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).
- At least one team submitted a bid on Darvish, according to Jack Curry of the YES Network (on Twitter). Nippon, which doesn't know the identity of the MLB team that won the bidding, must decide whether to accept the high bid by Tuesday.
- One MLB official expects an announcement regarding the winning bid tonight or tomorrow morning, tweets Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
- The Orioles are not bidding on Darvish, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports (on Twitter).
- Darvish has more leverage than any previous player coming from Japan to MLB, one executive tells Yahoo's Jeff Passan, because the righty seems willing to stay with the Fighters. In October, my poll of five agents and one team executive showed that they felt he has the leverage to extract a five or six-year deal worth $72-75MM from the winning team, on top of a posting fee for the Fighters ranging from $30-55MM. Passan's survey of six executives suggests the Rangers and Blue Jays are favorites for Darvish and the Nationals, Yankees, and Mariners may submit bids. Darvish appears to have a strong preference for the West Coast. Passan feels that the higher the posting fee gets, the less likely Darvish is to sign.
- In a poll of over 26,000 MLBTR readers yesterday, 27% felt the Yankees would win the bid, followed by 17% for the Blue Jays and 15% for the Rangers.
Prince Fielder Rumors: Wednesday
Approximately nine out of every ten MLBTR readers expect Prince Fielder to sign a deal in the five-to-eight year range, today's poll question revealed. But that doesn't answer the question of where the 27-year-old Scott Boras client will sign. Here's the latest on Fielder:
- Marlins president David Samson told Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio that the Marlins never had interest in Fielder because he wasn’t a fit (Twitter link).
- Marlins and Red Sox officials confirmed to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that they don't plan to pursue Fielder. Morosi breaks down the market for Fielder, from legitimate suitors like the Cubs, Orioles and Mariners to long shots like the Yankees and Cardinals.
- Scott Miller of CBSSports reported today that Fielder seeks a ten-year deal (Twitter link).
NL East Links: Rollins, Conrad, Mets, Baxter
Eight years ago today, the Braves acquired J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero from the Cardinals in exchange for Ray King, Jason Marquis, and a pitching prospect named Adam Wainwright. Here's the latest from the NL East (all links go to Twitter) …
- Dan Lozano, agent for Jimmy Rollins, told a source of ESPN's Jayson Stark that he is having dialogue with a team other than the Phillies. The Tigers are believed to have interest, however Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com says they insist they won't pursue the shortstop. People with other teams believe they will though, according to Knobler.
- The Braves non-tendered Brooks Conrad yesterday, and Dave O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution heard that the team told him to check out the free agent market. They do have interest in bringing him back on a minor league deal, though.
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson told Adam Rubin of ESPN New York that adding starting pitching will be tricky because they need to have the flexibility to move a new starter to the bullpen or even option him to the minors.
- The Mets have interest in bringing Mike Baxter back according to Rubin, though it depends on what the market offers the outfielder. Baxter was non-tendered yesterday.
- Alderson told Andy Martino of The New York Daily News that minority sales of the Mets could be complete next month. The GM answered more financial questions on FOX Business' "After The Bell," today. MLB.com's Anthony DiComo has a transcript.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro reports (on Twitter) that Nick Green's minor league contract with the Marlins has been finalized. The infielder has not played in MLB since 2010, but he gets an invite to Spring Training.
The Latest On Gio Gonzalez
The Tigers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Rangers are among the teams pursuing Athletics left-hander Gio Gonzalez, reports Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. The bidding figures to heat up a bit once the posting period for Yu Darvish ends at 4pm CT tomorrow. Here's the latest on Gonzalez, courtesy of Knobler…
- The Athletics did indeed ask the Marlins for Mike Stanton in a trade, though the talks understandably went nowhere.
- A's GM Billy Beane in enamored with Tigers' top pitching prospect Jacob Turner, and Detroit is willing to move him for Gonzalez. They balked at Beane's request for prospects Nick Castellanos and Drew Smyly in addition to Turner, though.
- If the Tigers don't swing a trade for Gonzalez, Knobler says that they'll likely find a Brad Penny-type to be their fifth starter (Twitter links). They also want to find an upgrade at second or third base.
- The Red Sox have shown just as much interest in Gio as they have closer Andrew Bailey.
- The Phillies also inquired about Gonzalez, but the Athletics didn't like what they had to offer.
Venezuelan Notes: Zambrano, Hanley, Vizquel
The Venezuelan Winter League's annual home run derby took place last night at City University (Ciudad Universidad) in Caracas, with longtime Mariners minor leaguer Luis Jimenez besting a host of MLB talent including Pablo Sandoval, Carlos Gonzalez, Andruw Jones, Bobby Abreu, Miguel Montero, and Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano, a surprise entry, made a decent showing, hitting his first offering out to left field and ultimately tying Gonzalez with two bambinazos, according to Oscar Alonso Delgado at Correo del Carroní. He also had the quote of the night. Links are in Spanish…
- Talking to reporters at the derby, Zambrano outlined his re-commitment to the Cubs following a disastrous 2011 season. "I'm preparing like when I was a rookie, climbing mountains, running on the beach, and exercising hard so that I can arrive at Spring Training in optimal shape," he said, as relayed by Joiner Martinez at Líder en Deportes. "I want to stay in Chicago for the two seasons I still have with the team. I'm not a coward who would take the back door out of the majors."
- Alas, Ozzie Guillen didn't participate in the derby, but he did speak to the press, contesting recent reports that Hanley Ramirez has resisted moving to third base. "It never came from Hanley that he was upset. That was from the press," Guillen said, according to Manuel Lira at Líder. "He's calm. I've talked with him through Miguel Cabrera. He knew before the signing what the Marlins were going to do, and afteward, he talked with the front office for 20 minutes and didn't express any unhappiness. I want Hanley to be happy, and I'll talk with him when things quiet down."
- Guillen also shared the mic briefly with Omar Vizquel, who complained to the Venezuelan press earlier this offseason that that the White Sox treated him like he was "in intensive care" last season. Guillen joked, "They booted me [from Chicago] because of Vizquel," but apparently feelings aren't too raw, because in a separate piece in Líder by Joiner Martinez, the new Marlins manager added, "Omar Vizquel is a possibility for our team… We don't know which players we're going to sign, but Vizquel could play two or three more years in the big leagues." Guillen clarified, however, that Zambrano isn't in his plans at the moment.
Marlins Notes: Hanley, Buehrle, Badenhop
The Marlins non-tendered Clay Hensley and traded Burke Badenhop last night, eliminating any doubt that their bullpen will look considerably different in 2012. Here are some more notes on the Marlins, one of the most aggressive spenders in baseball so far this offseason…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggests the Marlins should trade Hanley Ramirez and considers possible suitors such as the Mariners, Tigers and Giants.
- Rosenthal also notes that the Mariners are having trouble luring free agents to Seattle and that the Tigers have shown a willingness to move Jacob Turner in the right deal.
- Mark Buehrle's backloaded deal with the Marlins will act as a no-trade clause of sorts, according to Rosenthal (Twitter links). The left-hander will earn $6MM in 2012, $11MM in 2013, $18MM in 2014 and $19MM in 2015. The deal also includes a $4MM signing bonus that's deferred without interest.
- Badenhop told Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post that the deal was “kind of nuts. I really wasn’t expecting that to say the least.” Badenhop was the last player remaining in Miami from the 2007 deal that sent Miguel Cabrera to Detroit.