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Matt Garza For Carlos Quentin?

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Shooter!  It’s time for some new rumors courtesy of Charley Walters.  You like rumors don’t you?

  • Walters tosses out the idea of a Matt Garza for Carlos Quentin swap.  He’s the guy who was saying previously that Garza for Delmon Young wouldn’t die.  I think if Quentin demonstrated good health this could be a fair swap.  Meanwhile, Buster Olney suggests Quentin could end up an Athletic if the D’Backs look to acquire Dan Haren or Joe Blanton.  However, Nick Piecoro doesn’t see it happening.
  • No extension talks going on with Justin Morneau, and it’s arbitration time.  Hey, maybe those trade rumors had substance after all.  Nah, probably not.
  • Walters echoes Ken Rosenthal in suggesting that Joe Nathan will be traded.  He believes talks with the Brewers could be forthcoming.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Nathan, Garza, Bedard

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Ken Rosenthal recently dished out a slew of fresh rumors for us to devour.

  • Rosenthal still believes that if the Twins trade Johan Santana, they will also trade Joe Nathan in a separate deal.  Back on November 11th, Rosenthal first suggested this might happen.  About a week ago, Joe Christensen reported that the Twins exchanged contract proposals with Nathan.  Nathan is in line to earn at least $15MM per season, if he wants full market value.  Rosenthal suggests the Brewers, Indians, Tigers, Cubs, and Red Sox as possible fits for Nathan.
  • The Angels may want to keep Gary Matthews Jr., given Vladimir Guerrero’s declining defensive abilities.  Also, Guerrero may soon get a contract extension in the $18MM per season range to put him in line with Torii Hunter.  His contract runs through 2009.
  • The Twins may be close to getting a center fielder, but it may not be Coco Crisp.  Another team is chasing Crisp – perhaps the White Sox? 
  • Melky Cabrera could be dealt independent and regardless of a Johan Santana deal.  The Braves may be interested; the Yanks would then move Johnny Damon back to center.
  • Matt Garza or Boof Bonser may be moved for a bat.  Probably not Delmon Young, but some young slugger.  The Rays also want to find a young shortstop to compete with Reid Brignac.
  • The Yanks don’t want to overpay for a free agent reliever – 3/12 seems their limit on the Riskes and Mahays of the world.
  • Back at the GM meetings, the Mets inquired on Erik Bedard.  The O’s are waiting to see what happens with Miguel Cabrera since they covet many of the prospects being discussed there. 

Brewers May Pass On Gagne, Percival, Dotel

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UPDATE: Here is the official Journal-Sentinel article.  New material – Melvin admitted to an interest in David Riske, and may have an offer out to him.  Thanks to Al’s Ramblings for the tip. 

Tom Haudricourt recently spoke to Brewers GM Doug Melvin about his pursuit for a closer candidate.  Melvin recently had Kerry Wood pass over his two-year, $6MM offer for a one-year deal with the Cubs.

Melvin seemingly would only offer a one-year deal to Eric Gagne, Troy Percival, or Octavio Dotel.  All want multiyear contracts, however.  It’s a bit odd that he wouldn’t offer two years to any of these guys but did to Wood.  Maybe the Brewers only budgeted $6MM or so for this.  I imagine Gagne, for instance, would want more than that for just one year.

By the way, both Melvin and owner Mark Attanasio were perturbed by Bean Stringfellow’s handling of the Francisco Cordero negotiations.  The Crew lost out by just $4MM but didn’t get a chance to match Cincinnati’s offer.  Stringfellow’s agency represents a couple of current Brewers in Greg Aquino and Claudio Vargas, plus free agent reliever and former Brewer Luis Vizcaino.  I imagine Vizcaino is not among the eight or nine relievers on Melvin’s radar.

More Odds and Ends: Kuroda, Pena, Wolf, Percival, Molina

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Tim sent me a couple of items, so let’s create another bullet list:

  • Mariners GM Bill Bavasi and manager John McLaren have met with Hiroki Kuroda yesterday. There is no report of an offer, but it’s believed that four years and $45 million are expected. Kuroda hopes to make his decision on the 29th.
  • Impacto Deportivo, the same site that had first news of the Mets deal with Luis Castillo, reports that Carlos Pena has rejected a three-year, $30 million deal from the Rays. Pena, however, calls the report "a straight lie."
  • Randy Wolf is generating interest from the Padres, Phillies, and Astros. Ken Rosenthal notes that the market for high-risk, moderate-reward pitchers is strong, since the rest of the market isn’t very appealing. This includes Bartolo Colon, Jason Jennings, Freddy Garcia, Jon Lieber, Matt Clement, and Kris Benson.
  • The Brewers are in on Troy Percival after losing Francisco Cordero to the Reds. As has been said since the signing, this could also mean that Derrick Turnbow gets another shot in the closer’s role.
  • The Mets inquired about Bengie Molina at the GM meetings, and even though they have acquired Johnny Estrada, they could rekindle talks at the Winter Meetings. Rosenthal notes that the Giants might not want to trade Molina, since they lose considerable leverage because of the $12 million owed to him over the next two years.

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

Brewers Looking For A Closer

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The Brewers missed out on Francisco Cordero by just $4MM.  They didn’t feel Cordero was worth more than Billy Wagner, though Wagner signed several years ago.  Scott Linebrink also left for greener pastures.  Though GM Doug Melvin is giving the idea lip service, he can’t be serious about entering next season with Derrick Turnbow back at closer.  There is one internal option I like – Dave Bush closed in college.

The trade market offers Joe Nathan and Chad Cordero, according to Tom Haudricourt.  Jose Valverde, Kevin Gregg, Ryan Dempster, Brian Fuentes, Salomon Torres, Dan Wheeler, and Huston Street could be available as well.  An excess of starting pitching could be used to obtain one of these guys.

Melvin still has plenty of free agent options: Eric Gagne, Octavio Dotel, Keith Foulke, Troy Percival, and Kerry Wood.  He could even get creative with a starter like Brett Tomko or Randy Wolf, if he doesn’t like the Bush idea.  Al at the fine Al’s Ramblings blog doesn’t seem terribly concerned.

Brewers Inquire On Wood

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We learned a week ago that Brewers GM Doug Melvin has eight or nine different free agent relievers on his radar (apparently aside from Francisco Cordero or Scott Linebrink).  Four of the relievers are known: Matt Herges, LaTroy Hawkins, Ron Mahay, and Troy Percival.

Some new facts emerged today, courtesy of Tom Haudricourt (as usual).  Haudricourt says Percival wants more years and money than the Brewers are comfortable with.  I’m guessing that means $5MM+ annually over three guaranteed years?  Seems crazy but that’s my guess on what he’s asking.

We also learned a fifth reliever on Melvin’s radar: Kerry Wood.  The Red Sox and Cubs are the frontrunners but the Brewers have inquired.  If Wood somehow gets three years…wow.

Browsing the available relievers, I’ll guess that Keith Foulke, Jeremy Affeldt, David Riske, and Octavio Dotel are the other guys.

Brewers Sign Jason Kendall

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UPDATE: It’s a one-year contract with a vesting option for ’09 if he plays 115 games.

The Brewers have signed Jason Kendall, pending a physical.  The amount and length is unknown.  Let’s hope it’s around one year, $3MM.  Tom Haudricourt had said the Crew had offered both one and two-year options.

Kendall, 33, hit .242/.301/.309 last year in 466 ABs.  On the plus side he was a much better hitter for the Cubs, posting a .362 OBP in that stint.  He threw out 15.3% of runners, better than only Johnny Estrada among regular backstops in ’07.  He’s going to really have to work some magic with the pitchers if this signing is to pan out.

With Kendall off the market, the only viable free agent catchers are Michael Barrett, Paul Lo Duca, and Yorvit Torrealba.  Seems like the Marlins and Rockies will take two of them.

Yankees, Brewers, Giants, Astros, Rays After Percival

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Buster Olney sums up the known Troy Percival suitors thusly: Yankees, Brewers, Giants, Astros, and Rays.  He obviously wouldn’t close for the Yankees, but might be able to pitch the ninth for the other clubs Olney named.

The 38 year-old Percival is a fascinating story.  He missed all of 2006 and joined the Cardinals this year and posted phenomenal numbers – 1.80 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 3.6 K/BB.  Suddenly he’s primed to snag a closer gig again, if he wants it.

Olney named five clubs, but it’s been said that ten teams are in on Percival.  Teams that were confirmed to be involved last summer: Dodgers, Indians, Cardinals, Braves, Athletics, Phillies, Tigers, and Marlins.  I think it’s safe to assume the Phillies are one of the ten. 

Mets Acquire Estrada For Mota

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UPDATE: Non-tendering Estrada is still an option for the Mets, but they’ve unloaded Mota’s contract.  The Mets may shop around for better options, knowing they have an adequate fallback.  According to Jamey Newberg, the Mets found the asking prices for trade targets Gerald Laird and Ramon Hernandez to be unacceptable.

The Mets found their catcher today in the person of Johnny Estrada.  To get him from the Brewers, Omar Minaya only had to surrender Guillermo Mota.

It was a swap of a couple of unwanted guys.  The Brewers would’ve non-tendered Estrada rather than pony up $4MM+ for him.  However they’ll probably plop down something close to that for Jason Kendall, who is superior to Estrada only in the intangibles department.  Doug Melvin offered Estrada to the Mets while naming six different players he’d accept in return.

Mota was actually decent in terms of his 2.6 K/BB ratio this year, but he was hittable and home run prone.  Maybe the Brewers can make something of him, though at $3.2MM it’s a slightly pricey gamble.  Mota of course brings more steroid stigma to Milwaukee’s pen, which already has Derrick Turnbow.   

Brewers Pursuing Hunter?

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We recently named the White Sox, Dodgers, and Rangers as the teams in hot pursuit of free agent center fielder Torii Hunter.  However, those aren’t the only clubs after him.

Yahoo’s Jeff Passan talks of how Hunter was impressed with the Royals’ pitch.  Passan also adds the Brewers and Nationals as teams interested in Hunter.

Out of all these clubs, this is the first I’ve heard of Milwaukee being in the mix.  Perhaps if the Brewers let Francisco Cordero walk they’ll spend the money on Torii.  They could then move Bill Hall to third base and Ryan Braun to left field.

Hunter may sign by the end of next week.

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