Other Suitors For Sabathia, Rodriguez, Fuentes
Joel Sherman of the New York Post offers some potential spoilers for the Yankees and Mets in regards to C.C. Sabathia and closers Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes.
Sherman suggests that Sabathia could wind up in an Angels uniform if Mark Teixeira isn’t re-signed. Owner Arte Moreno won’t wait around for Scott Boras’s games, and has stated that he’ll make an offer with a time limit. If Teixeira can’t be had, the Angels will likely shift their focus to Sabathia.
Sherman likens this situation to that of the 2004 Astros, who waited until mid-January for Boras and Carlos Beltran to decide on the Mets. That loss crippled the Astros’ offseason, as their #2 and #3 targets had by that point been signed. Sherman feels Moreno won’t make that mistake. Sabathia has pointed out a strong desire to pitch in the National League and/or on the West Coast:
He has placed a value on either the NL and/or West Coast, and could take less to fill at least one of those desires. How? Remember that Johan Santana’s current pitching record deal of six years at $137.5 million is loaded with deferrals that make the real present-day annual average not $22.92 million, but $20.66 million. So maybe a West Coast team only has to beat that lower annual total.
Sherman also feels the Brewers could swoop in and snatch up a top-tier closer away from the Mets. The Brewers have shown a willingness to pay for this position (offering Francisco Cordero a four-year, $40MM contract, and then signing Eric Gagne to a one-year, $10MM deal when Cordero went to the Reds). Sherman offers a scenario where the Ben Sheets accepts the Brewers’ arbitration offer to re-build his reputation on a one-year, $15MM deal, which could alleviate the need for starting pitching and lead to the Brewers signing a top-tier closer.
With the Angels freeing up a lot of money, and Salomon Torres telling the Brewers he’s hanging it up, both of these situations seem plausible, particularly the Brewers scenario if you ask this guy. What does everyone else think? Can the Angels really land Sabathia?
Mets Rumors: Castillo, K-Rod, Abreu
A few Mets rumors have surfaced today…
- According to David Lennon of Newsday, Mets GM Omar Minaya is ready to go ahead with Luis Castillo at second base next year.
- Paul Kinzer, the agent for Francisco Rodriguez, expects to meet with the Mets next week to negotiate for K-Rod, according to Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. After the Mets review K-Rod’s medical records, Kinzer acknowledged that the next step would be a face-to-face meeting.
- And Anthony McCarron has a source who says the Mets and Cubs have both expressed interest in Bobby Abreu. However, the Mets continue to say their priority is pitching.
Heyman’s Latest: Lowe, Teixeira, Guillen
SI.com’s Jon Heyman recently published several new blog posts.
- Free agent outfielder Garret Anderson has a new agent: Scott Boras. Click here for our full list of Boras clients.
- Rangers starters Vicente Padilla and Kevin Millwood are drawing interest from the Braves, Dodgers, and Mets. Padilla is owed $12MM in 2009 with a 2010 option for the same ($1.75MM buyout). Millwood gets $23MM over the next two seasons and has a limited no-trade clause.
- Heyman says rather than battle for A.J. Burnett, the Red Sox and Yankees may duke it out for Derek Lowe. Other suitors for Lowe: the Mets, Braves, Phillies, Giants, Mariners and Dodgers. There he goes naming the Mariners again as a player for a major free agent…interesting. The Giants are a new one as well, though Heyman says Lowe may prefer to head back east.
- Heyman agrees with info from Nick Cafardo, that the Red Sox and Tigers have discussed swapping Julio Lugo for Dontrelle Willis.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti admitted to interest in C.C. Sabathia. Colletti said he’s waiting to hear from Scott Boras regarding Manny Ramirez, even though the Dodgers pulled their two-year, $45MM offer.
- It hasn’t happened yet, but the Angels plan to make a "very serious" offer to Mark Teixeira. A competing exec guessed eight years, $160MM. Remember, that’s a non-Angels exec making a guess. Heyman tosses a new team into the mix for Tex: the Mariners.
- The Royals are "quietly shopping" Jose Guillen. Guillen, 33 in May, hit .264/.300/.438 in 633 plate appearances this year while playing below-average defense. He’s owed $24MM for the 2009-10 seasons.
- Competing execs tell Heyman the Mets appear open to trading Ramon Castro or Brian Schneider. The Mets would then presumably sign a free agent catcher.
Mets Rumors: Castillo, Heilman, Putz
The latest on the Mets…
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post says Luis Castillo met with the Mets and implored them to keep him. Castillo said he’ll get into shape this winter. The Mets will still consider trade possibilities, but a deal doesn’t seem likely.
- David Lennon of Newsday reports that Aaron Heilman called Omar Minaya yesterday to request a move to the rotation. The Mets are still opposed to it. Lennon adds that the Mets have received Francisco Rodriguez‘s medical records. Sherman says the Mets don’t even want to do four years for K-Rod though.
- Tracy Ringolsby says the Mets have targeted J.J. Putz as their priority. ESPN’s Jayson Stark said the same yesterday. With Putz set to earn just $5MM next year, the move would give the Mets the flexibility to fill other needs or add a free agent closer anyway. Similarly, Shermans says the Mets "remain very interested in Huston Street."
Minaya On The Mets
Matthew Cerrone has the latest from Mets GM Omar Minaya.
Even though Aaron Heilman sees himself as a starter, Minaya still prefers to have him coming out of the bullpen. Heilman hasn’t started a game since 2005.
Minaya says the Mets are going to focus on pitching for the time being. After that, he’ll see where the Mets stand and consider adding outfielding help.
Daniel Murphy, who just pulled a hamstring in the AFL, will play mostly in left field next year. Though he could play some first, Minaya didn’t mention Murphy as an option at second base.
Odds and Ends: Phillies, Blake, Pedro
More links for Thursday…
- Don McKee says the Phillies should consider Jim Edmonds for the outfield.
- Ken Mandel has a source who says the Phillies have discussed Raul Ibanez. Mandel adds that it hardly means the Phillies plan on going after him aggressively.
- The Indians are keeping Casey Blake on their radar, but they’re just talking for now.
- Rob Neyer of ESPN.com writes that the Royals’ trades have them headed in the wrong direction.
- Nick Swisher says he would be "super excited" if the Yankees sign C.C. Sabathia. He adds that playing for the Yankees is a "dream come true."
- Howard Megdal thinks the Mets should part ways with Pedro Martinez.
Heyman’s Latest: Burnett, Lowe, Hudson, Tex
SI.com’s Jon Heyman has several new blog posts up. Let’s take a look.
- The Yankees planned offers in the four-year, $60MM range for A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, but that’s not sufficient for either pitcher. Burnett wants five years, and Lowe presumably at least $16MM per year and perhaps five as well.
- The Indians, Mets, and Yankees are in on Orlando Hudson, who wants a five-year, $50MM deal. The Dodgers are another possibility. The New York teams would have to do some shuffling to make room for Hudson. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported the Indians’ interest yesterday evening. The Tribe is also in on Orlando Cabrera, according to Yahoo’s Tim Brown.
- Heyman says the Angels will make a "fair proposal with a deadline" for Mark Teixeira, with Miguel Cabera‘s eight-year, $153MM deal as a baseline. This echoes recent columns from Ken Rosenthal and Bill Ladson.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Teixeira, Lowe, Everett
Time to discuss Ken Rosenthal’s latest…
- Mark Teixeira is likely to sign before Manny Ramirez. The Nationals and Orioles are in the mix, but the Angels and Red Sox are more likely destinations.
- One GM predicted Raul Ibanez will receive a three-year deal worth $8-12MM per year. Not exactly going out on a limb there. ESPN’s Jayson Stark named a dozen teams that have expressed interest.
- Rosenthal says the Mets are more likely to sign Brian Fuentes or Francisco Rodriguez than to acquire a closer via trade. Doesn’t exactly fit with Stark’s statement that J.J. Putz would go to the top of the Mets’ list if available.
- Scott Boras emphatically disputed the notion that he wants a Barry Zito-like contract for Derek Lowe.
- Rosenthal wonders if Adam Everett would make sense for the Tigers.
Odds and Ends: Wade, Crisp, Holliday
Links for Thursday…
- New commenters are signing up every day as MLB Trade Rumors grows. Before commenting, be sure to read our policy. If you ever see someone violating the policy just send me an email and I’ll take care of it.
- If you receive an email from noreply@mlbrumors.com talking about some kind of newsletter, that has nothing to do with me or MLB Trade Rumors. We have a daily email of our latest posts, and that comes from dierkes@gmail.com.
- Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald wonders if Kerry Wood might accept an offer of arbitration from the Cubs.
- Hal Steinbrenner officially took over control of the Yankees from George.
- Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire takes a look at Jeremy Affeldt‘s motivations in signing early with the Giants.
- Check out recent fan chats with Astros GM Ed Wade and agent Scott Boras. Wade still hopes to sign Randy Wolf and Doug Brocail and doesn’t seem keen on trading Jose Valverde. Some fans didn’t seem to realize that just holding payroll steady will pose problems for the Astros.
- Joe Posnanski discusses the Royals’ acquisition of Coco Crisp.
- Nick Cafardo wonders if the Crisp trade sets up other moves for the Red Sox. They’ll explore signing Rocco Baldelli, according to Amalie Benjamin.
- Sox Machine reflects on Nick Swisher‘s time with the White Sox.
- A’s owner Lew Wolff would prefer to keep Matt Holliday all year.
- Tom Haudricourt wonders if the Brewers will pursue David DeJesus if they trade Mike Cameron.
- MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone lists which teams have been connected to the top free agent starting pitchers.
- Chad Finn wonders if the Red Sox are considering trading David Ortiz.
- Alan Schwarz has a nice article on Junichi Tazawa.
Stark’s Latest: Putz, Manny, Lackey, Ibanez
Let’s take a look at the latest column from ESPN’s Jayson Stark.
- Stark does the math and finds 15 potentially available closers versus six clubs in the market for one. Should result in a few bargains or teams holding on to their surpluses.
- The Mets don’t seem willing to extend to four years for Francisco Rodriguez. Stark says J.J. Putz would become the Mets’ top closer target if he’s made available. MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone wrote a few days ago that the Mets are likely to trade for a reliever with closing experience before attempting to sign one.
- J.P. Ricciardi quote: "We won’t be involved with Manny." Ricciardi last month: "He’s on our radar, but maybe not on our radar like some people will report."
- Despite reports to the contrary, Stark talked to a rival executive who says Jake Peavy made it "onto [the Angels’] radar pretty hard." Stark speculates that Peavy could fit if the Halos sign Mark Teixeira.
- It seems likely that the Angels will put out an offer to Teixeira with a deadline, and then either sign him or move on.
- John Lackey‘s been telling friends he expects to have an extension with the Angels by Opening Day. Lackey indicated last month he’d wait to see the Halos’ offensive plans before re-signing.
- Stark suspects the Players Union might be OK with C.C. Sabathia turning down a larger offer from the Yankees if he still signed for more than Johan Santana‘s $23MM per year. I don’t really see why Sabathia would worry about the union in any regard.
- The Dodgers inquired on the asking price of Jason Varitek, with the idea of moving Russell Martin to third base in mind. They balked at Scott Boras’ demand for Tek, however.
- Curt Schilling is "more likely than ever" to attempt a late June or early July comeback.
- Tons of teams have expressed some degree of interest in Raul Ibanez: the Mets, Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Royals, Rays, Blue Jays, Rangers, Angels, and Mariners. Some interesting new ones in there.
- The Phillies never made a two-year, $21MM offer to Pat Burrell. Will the Phils at least offer him arbitration? The rumored offer was questionable from Day 1, as Paul Hagen said Burrell "reportedly turned down a two-year, $22MM offer" but didn’t reference a specific report.
- Stark believes that the Brewers were not thrilled with the Yankees’ "overbid" for C.C. Sabathia, and therefore would prefer not to trade Mike Cameron to them. Dan Graziano wrote yesterday about the Yanks’ conversations for Cameron.
- Roy Oswalt wants the Astros to sign Ben Sheets, but the price tag may be too high. Stark has the following names on their radar: Randy Wolf, Mike Hampton, Freddy Garcia, Paul Byrd, and maybe Pedro Martinez. Is Drayton McLane willing to bring Andy Pettitte back? GM Ed Wade seemed interested in his chat yesterday, saying, "We’ll have to see what develops down the road."