Twins Still Exploring Shortstop Options
According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins are still exploring shortstop options despite signing Nick Punto.
Two of the team’s targets do not seem available – J.J. Hardy and Yunel Escobar. The Braves were hard-pressed to discuss Escobar even when they thought they had Rafael Furcal, though the Twins inquired. And Doug Melvin is sticking to his stance on Hardy.
We talked about other failed Twins infield pursuits yesterday.
Wigginton Too Pricey For Twins?
According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
The Twins like Ty Wigginton but believe he’s looking for a bigger contract than the three-year, $17.5 million deal the Los Angeles Dodgers gave Casey Blake. So the Twins have had little to no dialogue with Wigginton’s agent, Dan Lozano.
I had Wigginton pegged for two years and $12MM or so, but he is four years younger than Blake and outhit him in 2008 (though he had 172 fewer plate appearances and was largely aided by Minute Maid Park). If Wiggy can really get a better contract than Blake, it would’ve made sense for the Astros to tender him a contract and then trade him.
Christensen adds that the Twins still have hope for acquiring Mark DeRosa, but talks for Garrett Atkins and Adrian Beltre hit dead ends. Also, Jon Heyman tosses the Twins into the mix for Michael Young. We’d previously heard about the Mets, Angels, Dodgers, and Royals discussing him. Heyman did not find evidence talks for Young got serious with any team, though, and he wonders if Young would approve a trade to Minnesota.
In other Twins news, Christensen notes that the Twins expressed interest in free agent reliever Brandon Lyon, who seems to be waiting until Brian Fuentes signs.
Orioles Interested In Redding, Looper, Kawakami
9:55pm: Peter Schmuck agrees – Pavano is not on Baltimore’s radar. Instead, they like Redding, Braden Looper, and Kenshin Kawakami. He says they’ve extended an offer to Kawakami. Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker learned of two new Kawakami suitors today via a Sponichi report: the Twins and Giants. Interesting to see the Twins linked; signing Kawakami could give them the depth to make a trade.
3:07pm: MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says the Orioles’ main focus is Redding rather than Pavano.
1:36pm: According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Orioles have been talking to agent Tom O’Connell, who represents free agent starters Tim Redding and Carl Pavano. Crasnick notes that the Padres have no interest in either pitcher. The Orioles are looking into tons of mid-rotation types.
Redding has drawn interest from the Mets and Rockies since being non-tendered Friday. Pavano has been linked to the Blue Jays, Marlins, and Red Sox.
Four Teams Interested In Wigginton
According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Indians, Giants, Pirates, and Reds have expressed interest in new free agent Ty Wigginton. Dejan Kovacevic confirms Pittsburgh’s interest. Neal says the Twins have admired Wiggy for years as well. He adds that Wigginton was nearly dealt to the Giants before being non-tendered. Ken Davidoff thinks the Mets should look into it.
What will it take to sign Wigginton? Casey Blake‘s three-year, $17.5MM deal might be optimistic, but Neal figures Wigginton could get a similar average annual salary. Still might take two years to sign Wigginton though. Beyond Joe Crede, there’s not much else out there for third base.
Pirates Sign Ramon Vazquez
FRIDAY, 1:51pm: Kovacevic says the Vazquez signing is official at two years and $4MM.
THURSDAY, 11:37pm: Dejan Kovacevic says the Pirates have agreed to the framework of a contract with Vazquez. The contract is not signed yet, and Vazquez needs to take a physical. Another note: the Twins’ signing of Nick Punto reduces the already-weak market for Jack Wilson. Kovacevic says the Dodgers have leverage if they want to go after Wilson as a Rafael Furcal fallback.
12:32am: Vazquez’s agent told Kovacevic they’re "very, very close" but not done. Neal Huntington also said it’s not done.
10:51am: Dejan Kovacevic phrases it as "trying to sign" Vazquez.
10:12am: According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Pirates are on the verge of a two-year, $4MM deal with infielder Ramon Vazquez. Vazquez should be able to step in at either middle infield position if the Bucs manager to trade Freddy Sanchez or Jack Wilson. He needs to sit against lefties though.
Twins Inquire On Joaquin Benoit?
FRIDAY: La Velle E. Neal III has an update on this one – he says a Twins official shot it down. He hasn’t heard anything other relievers linked to the Twins.
TUESDAY: According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, the Twins inquired on Rangers reliever Joaquin Benoit. Sullivan says the Twins are willing to trade Boof Bonser. I suppose this could have appeal to the Rangers in that Bonser could be a rotation candidate.
Benoit, 31, posted a 5.00 ERA in 45 innings this year while battling shoulder issues. He’s set to earn $3.5MM plus games finished incentives in ’09 before becoming eligible for free agency. Bonser is under team control through 2012.
Jake Peavy Rumors: Thursday
10:56pm: Axelrod suggestion the Giants as a possible destination for Peavy in a talk with Tim Sullivan. He said, "I think they’ve got the money. But I don’t know if they’ve got the prospects."
8:20pm: Jon Heyman says that Peavy is frustrated by the team’s inability to trade him. His agent, Barry Axelrod, says that Peavy had begun to get used to the idea of being a Cub, and now that opportunity is apparently gone. Axelrod says if the Padres approach he and his client with a trade, they’ll consider it, but there won’t be any more lists of approved teams.
Axelrod also criticizes the majority of baseball executives for their lack of action at the Winter Meetings.
"It’s amazing to me how many people can waste time, money and resources, and get nothing done," Axelrod said. "Baseball moved lock, stock and barrel into that town, and absolutely nothing happened."
6:45: Mike DiGiovanna at the LA Times says that the Angels are now in the mix for Peavy. Trade talks could begin as soon as next week, with Brandon Wood, Erick Aybar, Reggie Willits, Nick Adenhart, and Kevin Jepsen all names that could be talked about. The Angels will only pursue Peavy if they can’t re-sign Mark Teixeira.
5:02pm: Talked to a person familiar with the Cubs’ thinking…he really could not see the Cubs revisiting a Peavy trade. The Padres need to get Peavy’s $63MM off the books soon, yet were trying to swing 6-for-1 or 7-for-1 deals for him despite the extremely limited market. Marshall was never in the mix, by the way.
3:27pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the Braves "won’t even think about renewing their pursuit of Peavy unless the talks are initiated by the Padres, who will no longer find a compensation package that includes Yunel Escobar." Escobar is apparently off the table because the Braves no longer have Brent Lillibridge.
2:56pm: Tim Brown and Gordon Edes say the Cubs "remain optimistic that they can acquire Peavy, all but ignored Towers’ self-imposed deadline." Meanwhile, Gerry Fraley says the Angels have already put together a package for the Padres to consider.
12:01pm: Kevin Towers told reporters the proposed Peavy deal with the Cubs is dead. The Cubs pulled out. Mike DiGiovanna heard earlier that the Angels remain interested. Towers is not certain he wants to engage in further Peavy discussions at this time. I think even hot stove junkies wouldn’t mind a respite.
11:30am: Towers still hasn’t heard back from Hendry on the Peavy deal. Ken Rosenthal says eight to ten teams have called on DeRosa, adding the A’s to the mix of known suitors.
12:33am: Multiple reports suggested yesterday that the Cubs would not trade Mark DeRosa. But new stories in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times do not support that notion.
Paul Sullivan of the Trib says DeRosa "appears to be the key to any Peavy deal." Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun-Times heard the Cubs would only trade DeRosa as part of a Peavy deal, and Jim Hendry inquired on Chone Figgins as a possible replacement. And La Velle E. Neal III believes DeRosa is fair game in a Peavy deal or separately for the Twins or Phillies. As far as Jason Marquis, both Chicago writers see him landing in San Diego with the Cubs eating about half his salary (one sign that the Cubs have "hand," as George Costanza would say).
Padres GM Kevin Towers wants to get a framework in place today. The Cubs have the leverage, with Wittenmyer suggesting they also want to keep Sean Marshall. One player most writers believe will be sent from the Cubs to the Padres is Josh Vitters. But Towers says it’s in the Cubs’ hands.
Beltre Adds Twins To No-Trade Clause
Yesterday, La Velle E. Neal of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune heard about no-trade problems for the Twins with Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre. Today, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times has further detail:
When [the Twins] attempted to investigate a possible deal, they discovered that — since the last time they’d looked into Beltre during the season — he’d added the Twins to a list of teams on his limited no-trade clause. Twins officials were somewhat surprised, though it’s not unusual. When a player sees a team showing public interest in trading for him, they will sometimes amend their no-trade to include that club and then use it as a bargaining chip down the road. Usually, some kind of cash settlement is needed.
If players can freely swap out or add teams to their partial no-trade clause, why do such clauses exist? Did Scott Boras negotiate some type of flexible no-trade clause, or are all partials like this? I don’t have the answers, but Baker says this is a "workable" scenario in regard to the Twins and Beltre. He seems to be the best available third baseman. Any team acquiring him gets him for one year plus probable Type A draft pick compensation if he’s offered arb and leaves.
Twins Re-Sign Punto
According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins re-signed infielder Nick Punto to a two-year, $8.5MM deal with an option for 2011. Punto drew interest from the D’Backs, Yankees, Phillies, Mets, and Tigers at the Meetings.
Odds and Ends: Rule 5, Beltre, Schmidt, Bako
Stray links I’ve collected over the past few days…
- John Manuel and Jonathan Mayo get us ready for the Rule 5 draft. Manuel has a second post on it here.
- Sarah Green looks at A.J. Burnett‘s possible commutes.
- LEN3 suggests the Twins might be part of Adrian Beltre‘s limited no-trade clause.
- K-Rod signing analysis from Dave Cameron, Jesse Spector, and Keith Law. Also check out the usual solid analysis over at Ken Davidoff’s blog.
- Law also takes on the Edwin Jackson, Ramon Hernandez, J.J. Putz, and C.C. Sabathia moves.
- The Red Sox are likely to non-tender Kevin Cash. Josh Bard is one free agent on their radar. Also, Tony Massarotti learned that the Red Sox are strongly opposed to opt-out clauses.
- UmpBump found some C.C. Sabathia rumors we missed on Monday. Also, the Brewers’ offer to C.C. had unique clauses and two club options.
- The Dodgers knew Jason Schmidt had a partial rotator cuff tear when they signed him.
- Rany Jazayerli on recent Royals rumors, reliever and otherwise.
- Bruce Miles says the Cubs have some interest in bringing Paul Bako back.
- Jason Davis, Raul Chavez, and R.A. Dickey became free agents. Davis may be headed to Japan.
- Nick Piecoro says Junior Spivey is looking for a job.
- Much of the money saved from recent White Sox trades was repurposed for Dayan Viciedo.