Percival To Rays, Riske To Brewers
UPDATE, 11-29-07 at 8pm: Marc Topkin reports that Percival did indeed take and pass a physical with the Rays.
FROM 11-29-07 at 6pm:
Couple of notes for your drive-time commute. Ken Rosenthal reports that Troy Percival will sign with the Rays for two years and $8 million. Incentives could push it to $10 million. Here’s something you don’t see every day: they’re not making him take a physical — though they have seen his medical records.
Apparently the Yankees threw more cash at him, but he opted for the closing opportunity in Tampa Bay. I wonder where that leaves Al Reyes.
Over on the ESPN side, Buster Olney says that David Riske is close to a deal with the Brewers. Olney supplies no details beyond it being a multiyear deal. As he notes, the Royals offered him two years and $6 million earlier this off-season. This deal could be comparable to Scott Linebrink’s four years and $19 million.
Brewers Rumors: Rolen, Andruw, Mench
MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy posted a Brewers article yesterday that’s worthy of discussion.
- One reliever Doug Melvin has considered that I hadn’t heard before: Eddie Guardado. Hey, at least he’d come cheap.
- Players like Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy, and Corey Hart won’t be moved. No surprise there.
- McCalvy says Melvin confirmed having internal discussions about Scott Rolen. Would John Mozeliak trade him within the division? More importantly, would the Brewers take on the money and injury risk? The obvious match would be to send a starter over to St. Louis for Rolen.
- Which starters are available? Though you can never have too much pitching, Dave Bush, Chris Capuano, or Claudio Vargas might be considered expendable. Their salaries will all be rising as they are arbitration-eligible. None will be non-tendered.
- Aside from Rolen, another unlikely possibility is Andruw Jones. Melvin did at least speak to Scott Boras about him. Moves for Rolen or Jones would of course involve moving Ryan Braun and/or Bill Hall to other positions, something Melvin prefers not to do.
- If Melvin can’t trade Kevin Mench at the Winter Meetings, he’ll probably be non-tendered.
- By the way, Tom Haudricourt echoes the Rolen and Jones rumors in his blog this afternoon.
Troy Percival Close To Deal With Rays
UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 10pm: Olney is still certain Percival is going to the Rays on a multiyear deal. One other note is that the Giants had been in on him.
UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 7:40pm: Not so fast, says Ken Rosenthal. The Rays may be in the lead on Percival because he is close to Joe Maddon and they’ll offer two years. But the Yankees are in the mix offering a setup role and the Brewers are offering a one-year deal and a closer job.
FROM 11-28-07 at 3:40pm:
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Rays are "moving toward a deal" to sign free agent reliever Troy Percival. This could give them a potentially solid veteran relief group in Juan Rincon, Dan Wheeler, Percival, and Al Reyes.
Percival was known to have been seeking a multiyear deal (I’m guessing two years, $10MM or so). Other suitors: Yankees, Brewers, Giants, and Astros.
Brewers Not Likely To Acquire Nathan, Herges
Tom Haudricourt spoke to Brewers GM Doug Melvin recently to learn more about possible relief acquisitions.
- Acquiring Joe Nathan or Chad Cordero is highly unlikely, because the Brewers don’t want to create holes at other positions.
- The Crew has an offer out to one free agent reliever but it’s not Matt Herges. That conflicts with a report from Haudricourt from November 14th. Herges must be considering a Mystery Team along with the Rockies.
- Haudricourt speculates that the offer might be out to David Riske, who I imagine wants at least three years and $12MM.
Matt Garza For Carlos Quentin?
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
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
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
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
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
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.