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Mike Cameron Yankees Rumors

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SUNDAY, 1:51pm: George A. King III with the New York Post writes that the Yankees want the Brewers to take on Igawa’s contract as well, but that Milwaukee doesn’t want to pay much of the $12MM he has left. The Brewers are trading Cameron to trim payroll, and don’t want to unload $10MM for Cameron just to take on another $4MM for Igawa.

New York has told Milwaukee that no pitcher on their 40-man roster is available.  Both sides still expect a deal to get done eventually; Doug Melvin told Tom Haudricourt talks will resume tomorrow.  River Ave. Blues thinks the Yankees should hold off, for now.

FRIDAY, 3:50pm: Haudricourt heard this might get tabled until Monday, though now with Burnett signed maybe the Yankees will switch their focus.  Or maybe they’ll spend the weekend working on Andy Pettitte/celebrating the Burnett signing.

THURSDAY, 5:40pm: Haudricourt now writes that the Cameron negotiations are back underway after a "hiccup". Haudricourt heard from Doug Melvin that there’s a "strong possibility it could still happen." The clubs are negotiating over finances and whether a second player would go to the Brewers with Cabrera.

1:01pm: Cameron’s agent told Tyler Kepner nothing has been completed.  Kepner says the Brewers have actually been asking about Igawa.

11:49am: Joel Sherman talked to a top exec involved in the talks who called the chances of a deal "remote." Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times was told the deal is done, however.

11:17am: Ken Rosenthal says the potential deal hit a roadblock over the Yankees’ desire to have Milwaukee pick up part of the tab on Cameron.  Also, the Brewers want a second player after Cabrera.  Tom Haudricourt says the Yankees tried to unload Kei Igawa on them.

9:28am: The Cabrera for Cameron deal is close but not done, according to Joel Sherman’s source.  He says the Brewers could receive a pitcher as well, with the quality depending on whether they’ll assume salary.

8:41am: Tom Haudricourt is not sure this is done. He says the Yankees like Bill Hall as well.  The Brewers could gain quite a bit of payroll flexibility here.  It’d be interesting to see all three Brewers friends (including Sabathia) move to the Yanks.

7:15am: Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News says the Yankees are set to acquire Cameron for Cabrera.

12:55am: According to Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger, the Yankees met with the Brewers Wednesday to resume trade talks for Mike Cameron that began at the GM Meetings.  Whatever mild concern the Brewers reportedly had about trading away a friend of C.C. Sabathia’s is gone.

On November 7th, Peter Abraham wrote that Ian Kennedy and Melky Cabrera were on the Brewers’ radar.  Clearly the Brewers want to add a starting pitcher.

Brewers Interested In Unit, Moyer, Smoltz, Wolf

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Tom Haudricourt has the latest from Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin as the Brewers try to strengthen their rotation. Melvin just confirmed interest in Randy Johnson, Jamie Moyer, Randy Wolf and John Smoltz.

Melvin acknowledged that “nobody’s going to replace C.C.,” but the Brewers have “ongoing discussions” with all four of the pitchers he mentioned.

Haudricourt writes that of the four, only Wolf seems likely to get offers longer than one year.

Dodgers Could Pursue Hoffman; Cards Unlikely

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5:56 pm: According to Jayson Stark, the Dodgers, who are likely to non-tender Takashi Saito, could pursue Hoffman. Stark has sources who say that if the price is low enough and the contract is short-term, the Dodgers might be interested.

9:17 am:Cardinals manager Tony La Russa: "I mean, I love and respect Trevor Hoffman. But I don’t know that that’s the guy we’ve talked about a lot."  Instead, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Brian Fuentes is the Cardinals’ priority.

The Brewers seek a closer as well, but they’ll also take a pass on Hoffman.  We’ll have to see what the Tigers do.  The Dodgers don’t seem passionate; Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune thinks it’s time to mend fences with the Padres if they can afford Hoffman.

Rangers Rumors: Millwood, Sanchez, Salty

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MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan sums up the latest Rangers buzz…

  • The Brewers inquired about Kevin Millwood, but the teams didn’t find a match.  Millwood has a limited no-trade clause and will earn $11MM next year.  If he pitches 182 innings in ’09, a $12MM salary for ’10 will become guaranteed.
  • A Rangers source told Sullivan the Giants "made it abundantly clear" they’re not trading Jonathan Sanchez.
  • The Royals are interested in Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but talks didn’t go anywhere.

Ben Sheets Rumors: Wednesday

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9:05pm: Sheets had his house for sale in Dallas but recently took it off the market, for what it’s worth.

1:01pm: Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Brewers GM Doug Melvin met with Ben Sheets and his agent Casey Close yesterday.  The Brewers did not make an offer, but haven’t ruled it out.  Haudricourt notes that Sheets signing with the Yankees would be bad for Milwaukee, since the Brewers can’t get a second first-round compensation pick from them.

Brewers Looking For Pitching

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9:00pm: Tom Haudricourt has an update.  Nothing came of Doug Melvin’s talks with the Rangers, and he denied talking to the Giants or Mariners.

The Brewers haven’t made an offer yet to Randy Johnson, who seems to prefer the West Coast.  Melvin says he won’t pursue Hoffman.  And, some of the $100MM offered to Sabathia is available for pitching.

5:06pm: MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan says Melvin spoke to the Rangers about pitching.  Melvin is said to hold Kevin Millwood in high regard.

3:27pm: Danny Knobler heard from two sources that Brewers GM Doug Melvin can’t shift any of the $100MM offered to C.C. Sabathia to players, and the Brewers are "very unlikely" to pursue a closer (this despite meetings with closers that are known to have taken place).

1:51pm: This information has all pretty much surfaced prior to today, but let’s put it all in one place.  The Brewers are considering Brian Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman as closer options, with Randy Johnson a rotation option.

J.J. Putz Rumors: Wednesday

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2:04pm: Ken Rosenthal says the Cardinals offered Rick Ankiel and a prospect for Putz.  The Tigers remain interested as well.

9:23am: According to Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press, "the Tigers’ interest in acquiring closer J.J. Putz from Seattle appears stronger than ever."  Morosi says the Mariners insist the Tigers include Jeff Larish and Matt Joyce in a deal.  If the Ms acquire Larish and are convinced he can play third base, they may be motivated to shop Adrian Beltre.  Morosi adds that Brewers and Cardinals have also inquired on Putz.

Brian Fuentes still seems too pricey for Detroit, and Kerry Wood is apparently off the board.  Morosi says the Tigers have "mild interest" in Baltimore’s George Sherrill.  Joe Beimel remains their top choice among lefty relievers, but the Tigers have yet to offer a contract.

Sabathia Signs With Yankees

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1:25pm: Sherman has more details on the Yankees’ talks with Sabathia.

12:49pm: Rosenthal talked to a rival exec who sees no upside to Sabathia’s opt-out clause.  I think it could benefit the Yankees if Sabathia performs decently in the third year but the Yanks do not feel he’ll be worth $92MM over the following four years.  But, opt-out clauses obviously favor the player.

10:50am: For the first time, Brewers GM Doug Melvin confirmed he offered five years and slightly more than $100MM to Sabathia.  Adding a sixth year was under serious consideration.  Tom Haudricourt also learned from Melvin that Sabathia wanted an opt-out clause no matter where he signed, and the Brewers were prepared to offer one.  Ken Rosenthal says the Brewers will not conduct a fire sale in the wake of Sabathia’s departure; Melvin intends to "scramble for pitching."

10:14am: Tim Brown and Gordon Edes of Yahoo report that the deal is for $161MM over seven years (which would top Johan’s average annual value). 

The deal has an opt-out clause after the first three years, which are worth $69MM.  The 31 year-old Sabathia will make his opt-out decision after the 2011 season with four years, $92MM remaining on the deal.  He would have to buck the opt-out trend (or renegotiate) to make this more than a three-year, $69MM deal for the Yankees.  That is not necessarily a bad thing for them.

8:07am: Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the deal is seven years for approximately $160MM – the fourth largest in MLB history.  If that’s the exact amount it’s a hair under the average annual value of Johan Santana’s deal.

7:53am: According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, C.C. Sabathia has chosen to accept the Yankees offer after his latest meeting with Brian Cashman.  The news first came in around 3:36am CST.

After three straight days of face-to-face meetings between GM Brian Cashman and Sabathia, the big lefty decided he wants to spend the next six years of his career as a Yankee. The decision came late last night after Cashman flew to see Sabathia at his home in San Francisco. By the time the meeting was concluded, Sabathia had informed the Yankees that he had made his decision to call New York his baseball home, the Post has learned.

Sherman says the deal is not finalized and that there are still "minor hurdles" to overcome. Sherman does not mention if the final offer was any different than the original six-year, $140MM offer or if the contract will require an opt-out clause as was previously speculated.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.  Tim Dierkes also contributed to this post.

Randy Johnson Rumors

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WEDNESDAY, 1:11pm: Nolan Ryan confirmed the Rangers’ interest in Johnson.

TUESDAY, 8:37pm: Jack Magruder says the Astros and Angels met with Johnson’s reps at the Meetings.  He adds that the Rangers, Brewers, and Cubs touched base before the Meetings.

2:54pm: Four California teams are said to be eyeing Randy Johnson: the Dodgers, Angels, Giants, and A’s.  Mike DiGiovanna learned that the Dodgers and Angels are more on the fringes.  We’ve also seen Johnson linked to the Cubs as a fallback for Jake Peavy.

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