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.
Johan Demands Changed?
In this post written at 11am today, I outlined the seven or so clubs with a shot at acquiring Twins ace Johan Santana. However the acquisition of Delmon Young, Brendan Harris, and Jason Pridie from the Rays changes everything.
First, the loss of Matt Garza lessens the chances of trading Santana at least a little bit. The Twins have pitching depth, but that’d be 40% of their 2007 rotation gone. It was probably always the case, but it’s definite now that if the Twins trade Santana this winter they need a very good MLB-ready starter in return.
Second, the Twins no longer need any outfielders. Sure, they could add another center fielder to be safe or even move Michael Cuddyer back to third base. But in my mind third base becomes the primary need for the Twins.
So now Bill Smith should be looking for an elite young hurler and a similar young third baseman. The Yankees and Red Sox can’t offer that. The Mets, Mariners, and Cubs don’t have it either. The Angels might – Nick Adenhart and Brandon Wood. The Dodgers could pull it off too, with Andy LaRoche and Chad Billingsley. How about a wild card like the Reds? They’ve got Homer Bailey and Edwin Encarnacion. And I imagine the Twins would find a way to work Jay Bruce in if they could get him.
Odds and Ends: Livan, Bartlett, Willis, Webb
Random pieces of rumorage…
- The Mets have expressed interest in Livan Hernandez, though he appears to be their Plan C or D.
- Jim Bowden and the Nats will be active in the trade market, perhaps finally pulling the trigger on deals for Chad Cordero and/or Jon Rauch.
- The Rays and Twins have had discussions about shortstop Jason Bartlett. Would a 1 for 1 trade for Rocco Baldelli make sense? Buster Olney believes the Rays should consider trading for the Nats’ Cristian Guzman.
- Update on the Rockies’ reliever situation. They’re probably going to pass on Ron Mahay and Jeremy Affeldt, while they should hear Matt Herges‘ decision today. Ron Villone is also in their sights.
- The D’Backs will no longer look at annual payroll. Instead, they have a three-year budget to spend. This may allow for a higher payroll in 2008 than 2009. Jack Magruder guesses the number is around $230-240MM for 2008-10.
- Speaking of Arizona, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic believes some kind of Carlos Gonzalez for Dontrelle Willis swap could make sense. Another D’Back note – they offered an extension to Brandon Webb for 2011-13, but he turned down their offer.
- The Scott Linebrink signing is done, and he gets some kind of no-trade protection.
Unfounded Rumors: Bonser, Morneau
UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 10:50am: LaVelle E. Neal III and Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune looked into both of these rumors, and found nothing.
FROM 11-27-07 at 10:25pm:
We have seen some Unfounded Rumors come to fruition in the past; you never know. No insult is intended towards the originators of these, but they are reports I have not been able to verify. I know most of you just want rumors any way you can get them.
- DRays Bay has some chatter about a possible Boof Bonser to Tampa Bay deal. Apparently quotes from Bonser himself played a part in this one, though Marc Topkin isn’t buying it.
- Over at Minor League Ball, a person posted about a rumor heard on a California radio station: Justin Morneau to the Angels for Ervin Santana and Casey Kotchman. This one has zero verification but it’s rapidly making its way around the Internet today.
So there you go, a couple of Unfounded Rumors to mull over this evening.
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.
Angels Interested In Johan Santana
Hey, you can never have too much pitching right? Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times reports that Johan Santana is on the Angels’ list. They’re still all about Miguel Cabrera as Plan A and Miguel Tejada as Plan B, but they’ve inquired on Santana as well. Jon Heyman actually mentioned the Halos as a Santana suitor yesterday afternoon, but it didn’t register with me.
DiGiovanna says the Twins would ask for a third baseman, center fielder, and pitcher for Santana. Brandon Wood, Reggie Willits, and Nick Adenhart – is that too much? Another hurdle might be getting Santana to approve a trade to the West Coast.
DiGiovanna adds that the Twins have interest in Gary Matthews Jr. Could this be the mystery CF the Twins are close to acquiring? Maybe not, since Matthews is expensive, old, and mediocre.
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.
Heyman On Santana
SI.com’s Jon Heyman has the latest on the Johan Santana trade talks.
- The Twins want Melky Cabrera plus one of Chamberlain/Hughes/Kennedy from the Yankees. If the Yanks can surrender Kennedy rather than Hughes or Joba, they’ve done a nice job. Sounds like they would consider giving up Hughes though.
- The Twins want one of Clay Buchholz or Jon Lester plus Jacoby Ellsbury. Lester seems to be the only one of the three the Red Sox would part with, while they’d also be fine with sending Coco Crisp over.
- Heyman names the Mets, Dodgers, Angels, and Mariners as interested parties. First I’ve heard of the Ms or Halos being in the mix. Regarding the Dodgers, check out an interview with Ned Colletti. For what it’s worth, he doesn’t seem anxious to deal 3-5 kids for a guy like Santana or Miguel Cabrera.
Odds and Ends: Riske, Bedard, Wolf
And now for your daily jumble o’ rumors. More to come.
- The Twins cleared several spots on their 40-man roster…will they be active next week?
- The Yankees have "reached out" to free agent reliever David Riske. Troy Percival and Ron Mahay have also been linked to the Yanks this offseason.
- The Dodgers have an interest in Tony Clark, which has to bum out James Loney. Dylan Hernandez also notes that the Dodgers’ talks for Erik Bedard have stalled because the Orioles want to see what happens with Miguel Cabrera first. Ned Colletti expects Jeff Kent back, by the way.
- The Cards won’t be afraid to trade their young pitching (Anthony Reyes, Tyler Johnson, and Brad Thompson) for veteran pitching. They also still like Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse, if the price is right.
- Bob Dutton reports that the Royals’ Yasuhiko Yabuta signing will be finalized at week’s end. Meanwhile nothing is imminent with Jose Guillen.
- Linked to this earlier in a D’Backs post…the Phils are in "serious talks" with Randy Wolf. As I said there, that shouldn’t stop them from going after a more reliable starter.
- Things are heating up between the Twins and Red Sox for Coco Crisp, but that’s all Gordon Edes has for us on the topic.
- As expected, the market for Mike Cameron has picked up now that Torii Hunter signed.
Mets Interested In Santana, Dotel, Chacon
The New York Post’s Mark Hale has an update for us regarding the Mets’ pursuit of pitching.
- Even though the Wilpons haven’t made any declarations to the media, the Mets are showing interest in Johan Santana. Hale notes a couple of stipulations: David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran won’t be dealt, and the Mets would want a 72-hour negotiation window. I don’t think anyone expected anything different on either point. The Twins could certainly use an influx of outfield talent, and the Mets have it.
- Octavio Dotel is one free agent on the Mets’ radar, though we’ve known that since the 16th. "On the radar" is getting overused…I need an alternative. Dotel would be fine with a setup role, though I’m guessing it would take two years and $12MM or more. Dotel came up through the Mets’ system as a starter, and was traded to the Astros in ’99 in the Mike Hampton/Derek Bell/Roger Cedeno deal. The Tigers and Royals may also be in on Dotel.
- The Mets also like Shawn Chacon, possibly as a swingman. The Rockies have interest in Chacon but only as a reliever. He’s said that he’d prefer to start.