Astros Acquire Matt Lindstrom
7:56pm: MLB.com's Brian McTaggart says the Marlins will also obtain the Astros' pick in tomorrow's Rule 5 Draft.
5:44pm: Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald tweets that the Marlins obtain righty Robert Bono and shortstop Luis Bryan for Lindstrom.
4:22pm: The Astros have acquired Lindstrom, reports ESPN's Peter Gammons. The reliever is flying to Houston for a physical.
3:29pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Astros are close on Lindstrom – swapping medicals (acknowledged by Lindstrom himself). Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel agrees that the deal is close.
3:14pm: MLB.com's Joe Frisaro tweets of a rumor that the Marlins will make a deal today. He's unsure whether it'll be Lindstrom, Dan Uggla, or Renyel Pinto on the move.
1:55pm: The Astros are close to acquiring reliever Matt Lindstrom from the Marlins, writes Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post. Capozzi notes that the Marlins have been close on other deals that failed to materialize, however. The Astros are also considered a finalist for Rafael Soriano; I imagine they won't get both.
Lindstrom, 30 in February, lost his closer job to Leo Nunez midseason as he dealt with an elbow strain. He's arbitration-eligible for the first time.
Dodgers, Cubs Interested In Alfredo Amezaga
WEDNESDAY, 1:30pm: Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel tweets that the Cubs have also shown interest in Amezaga.
MONDAY, 2:19pm: The Dodgers are inquiring on Marlins utility man Alfredo Amezaga, tweets MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. Amezaga, 32 in January, missed most of the season due to a knee injury that eventually required microfracture surgery. He's one of the Marlins' 11 arbitration-eligible players and shouldn't cost much to acquire.
Orioles Rumors: Millwood, Uggla, Atkins, Beltre
WEDNESDAY, 10:02am: Millwood update: Zrebiec says the Rangers originally wanted David Hernandez and a low-level prospect for Millwood, and were willing to pay $3MM of the $12MM owed to the veteran. Meanwhile Zrebiec's colleague Peter Schmuck says Chris Ray could be involved and the Rangers would pick up most of Millwood's salary, in one scenario.
TUESDAY, 9:36pm: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun reports that the O's are still exchanging trade proposals with the Rangers for Kevin Millwood. T.R. Sullivan reported that the Rangers wanted Chris Tillman initially, but talks have since developed. The Orioles are among the frontrunners for Millwood.
The O's met with the Marlins about Dan Uggla, but the Marlins want two pitching prospects in return and the Orioles are reluctant to hand that kind of package over. The Marlins have one less suitor for Uggla, according to Andrew Baggarly, who says the Giants aren't serious bidders, so that could lower the asking price for the arbitration-eligible infielder.
Here are even more O's rumors:
- Kevin Kouzmanoff and Garrett Atkins interest the O's to an extent.
- Joe Crede and Pedro Feliz remain options for Baltimore, but Adrian Beltre has priced himself out of reach.
- We heard about their interest in Hank Blalock, Carlos Delgado and Nick Johnson earlier today.
- They also have "tepid" interest in Russell Branyan.
- The Orioles aren't particularly intrigued by Joe Blanton and Derek Lowe, who are both available via trade.
- Vladimir Guerrero, Adam LaRoche, Jose Valverde and Kevin Gregg all interest the O's slightly.
- They do have interest in Rafael Soriano, and spoke with the Braves about him.
- They're not interested in J.J. Putz.
- MLB.com's Spencer Fordin reports that the Royals engaged the O's in Felix Pie trade talks without ever coming close to a deal.
Odds & Ends: Unit, Rhodes, Crisp, Valverde
More links for the evening…
- The Red Sox will find out tomorrow if their claim on Rays righty Ramon A. Ramirez went through, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. This isn't the same Ramon Ramirez that appeared in 70 games for Boston last year.
- Randy Johnson is still undecided about 2010, according to this AP report on ESPN.com.
- The Rangers discussed Arthur Rhodes with the Reds today, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. The Rangers are on the lookout for lefty relievers.
- The Rangers are considering Jason Kendall and Rod Barajas behind the plate, according to Sullivan. ESPN.com's Keith Law says this is a problem for the Rangers. He doesn't think much of any of the free agent catchers they're considering.
- Coco Crisp would be up for signing with the White Sox, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
- Talks between the Twins and Joe Crede are progressing slowly, according to MLB.com's Kelly Thesier.
- The Mariners are keeping in touch with Rich Harden's agents, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
- The Nats were interested in Jose Valverde, but they felt his asking price was too high, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times reports that Scott Boras will meet with Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik tonight. Adrian Beltre is one of Boras' clients, so they'll presumably discuss him.
- White Sox reliever Matt Thornton tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that he's recruiting J.J. Putz. Thornton says he and Putz have a long-standing "bromance" that dates back to their Seattle days.
- ESPN.com's Keith Law says Justin Smoak and Neftali Feliz are too much to give up for Josh Johnson. Apparently, the Rangers offered the pair of top prospects up.
- Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus likes the Ivan Rodriguez signing for the Nats, partly because Pudge could help develop Stephen Strasburg.
- By the way, the deal is pending a physical, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- The Braves are interested in Xavier Nady, according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com says the Mets may be more inclined to pay top dollar for John Lackey now that they've seen the asking prices of some lesser starters.
- The Cardinals won't be involved with Lackey, but they have interest in signing a lefty bench bat, according to MLB.com's Matthew Leach.
Rangers Interested In Jorge Cantu
The Rangers are showing "strong interest" in Marlins infielder Jorge Cantu, according to one of Jon Paul Morosi's sources. The FOX reporter writes that the Rangers could offer a starting pitcher in exchange for Cantu, though Kevin Millwood's $12MM salary is almost certainly too much for the cash-strapped Marlins.
Brandon McCarthy might be a better fit, according to a second source. The 26-year-old will likely earn about $1MM next year.
Rangers Offered Smoak & Feliz For Johnson
The Rangers must be confident in their chances next year. Both T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com and Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com are reporting that the team offered Justin Smoak and Neftali Feliz to the Marlins for Josh Johnson.
If that offer didn't get it done, then the Marlins truly are committed to starting the season with their 25-year-old ace. Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post says the Marlins are still open to an extension with Johnson.
Marlins Talking Uggla, Lindstrom, Pinto
5:32pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Marlins are exchanging names as they discuss potential deals involving Uggla, Pinto and Lindstrom.
3:38pm: John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle heard four teams are in on Uggla.
12:17pm: CBS Sports' Danny Knobler has five or six teams in on Lindstrom, and says talks for the reliever are further along than those for Uggla.
8:15am: The Orioles are in the mix for second baseman Dan Uggla, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. Since Marlins officials were late to arrive in Indianapolis, Uggla talks with various clubs did not begin until the evening. Frisaro believes Uggla will wind up in the AL, unless the Giants get him. ESPN's Buster Olney heard last night that the Giants were not close to a deal. Frisaro notes that there aren't many clubs seriously interested in Uggla.
A couple of other arbitration-eligible Marlins are hot topics on the trade market: Renyel Pinto and Matt Lindstrom.
Pirates, Blue Jays Discussing Ryan Doumit
The Pirates and Blue Jays are discussing a trade for catcher Ryan Doumit, reports Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. One Kovacevic source wonders if Jays reliever Jeremy Accardo could be involved. Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports first reported mild interest from Toronto in Doumit on Wednesday. The backstop is owed $9.15MM over the next two seasons and was sidelined by wrist surgery this year.
Kovacevic says the Mariners and Giants might also be in the mix, but not the Mets, Rangers, or Marlins.
Orioles Day One Recap
The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec takes a look back at Baltimore's first day of the Winter Meetings:
- The O's targeted pitching heavily, inquiring on Kevin Millwood and attaining the medical record for former Baltimore ace Erik Bedard. The O's would want Texas to eat some of Millwood's $12MM salary. They won't go after Bedard (or any other pitcher) if they're not 100% for Opening Day.
- Andy MacPhail will meet with Bedard's agent in the next couple of days.
- The Orioles were interested in Rafael Soriano prior to his decision to accept arbitration from the Braves.
- Kevin Gregg is an option for relief help, but Baltimore sees him as a 7th or 8th inning guy, not a closer.
- Felix Pie has drawn a lot of inquiries, but MacPhail points out that none of Pie, Nolan Reimold, and Adam Jones have played a full, healthy season yet, and the depth is probably a good thing for the Orioles when taking that into consideration.
- Lots of young O's pitching has come up, including Zach Britton and David Hernandez.
- MacPhail met with Joe Urbon, agent for Mark Hendrickson. Zrebiec says it's only a matter of time before a deal is done.
- There hasn't been much in the way of talks for Dan Uggla recently.
- Baltimore won't be bidders for John Lackey, but they like Hank Blalock, Nick Johnson, and Carlos Delgado as options for first base. Luke Scott is not a full-time first base option. Pedro Feliz is their primary third base target.
- Baltimore isn't in on talks for Edwin Jackson or Matt Lindstrom, but they did meet with the agent for Aroldis Chapman.
- Baltimore may sign another catcher, but it's not a priority.
Orioles Rumors: Soriano, Bedard, Jackson, Lindstrom
Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun has the latest Orioles buzz from the Meetings, found here and here.
- Should Rafael Soriano decline the Braves' offer of arbitration, the Orioles are "particularly interested." He'd cost their #39 pick in the June draft (though the pick will be pushed back further).
- The Orioles are reviewing medical records on Erik Bedard as well as other free agents with injury issues. MacPhail downplayed the reviewing as standard preliminary procedure rather than serious talks.
- We can rule the O's out for Edwin Jackson and Matt Lindstrom, while nothing is cooking currently on John Lackey or Dan Uggla.