Heyman’s Latest: Piazza, Matthews, Milledge
SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in with a new Daily Scoop column full of rumors.
- A lot of the standard trade talk we’ve seen regarding Miguel Cabrera, Johan Santana, Miguel Tejada, and Dan Haren. All these guys require two good young players or more in a trade.
- Mike Piazza is considering DHing in Japan if he doesn’t find anything he likes in the U.S.
- Heyman talked to an AL exec who speculated that the Angels may try to unload Gary Matthews Jr. GMJ makes $9MM in ’08, $10MM in ’09, $11MM in ’10, and $12MM in ’11. He currently has a full no-trade clause.
- Juan Uribe and Vicente Padilla are two salary-dump types whose names have surfaced in recent trade talks (unrelated to each other). Padilla is owed $24.75MM over the next two seasons.
- Heyman believes the Mets are very willing to trade Lastings Milledge and have discussed him often.
- We knew the Mets had discussed Ramon Hernandez and Gerald Laird. Heyman adds the Nats’ Brian Schneider to the mix. He makes $4.9MM in ’08 and another $4.9MM in ’09.
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.
Mets Eyeing Freddy Garcia
The Mets have already inquired on free agent Freddy Garcia, though he won’t be ready to pitch until June. Garcia had very serious surgery on his labrum and rotator cuff. He’s thinking of pulling a Roger Clemens, allowing a contender to add a top-rotation guy midseason without giving up prospects. Yes, I know Roger didn’t quite fill that role in ’07.
My guess is that Garcia could end up getting around $8MM for a half-season. Maybe he’s not a $16MM pitcher, but when teams are in need and there are no free agent alternatives, there’s bound to be some inflation.
That said, Garcia’s agent will still be discussing him at the Winter Meetings to gauge interest. I imagine if a huge offer came in (say $9-10MM for ’08 with a player option for ’09) Garcia might go for it at that time.
Stark’s Latest: Santana, Hamilton, Snell
Ah, a new Rumblings and Grumblings from Jayson Stark. Let’s dig in.
- It sounds like the Yankees would discuss Phil Hughes and the Red Sox might part with one of Ellsbury/Lester/Buchholz to acquire Johan Santana. The acquiring team would need an extension window though. The Mets are in on Santana big-time and would have to give up Carlos Gomez and then some. If the Twins do trade Santana, they would probably hang onto Matt Garza. But otherwise Garza could be traded for a young hitter, as we’ve been hearing.
- The Fish want four 0-3 players for Miguel Cabrera, pretty much the names we’ve been tossing around here at MLBTR for a while.
- The Marlins would ask for two 0-3 guys for Dontrelle Willis, but aren’t inclined to trade him unless they’re blown away. Stark names the Mets, Mariners, and D’Backs as suitors. So think Gomez, Adam Jones, or Carlos Gonzalez.
- The Orioles and Cardinals don’t want to eat any money on Miguel Tejada and Scott Rolen, respectively. The Cards were asking for too much from the Yanks for Rolen – one of their top three young pitchers (you know the trio).
- The Reds are willing to trade Ryan Freel or Josh Hamilton to clear space for Jay Bruce.
- Ian Snell could be available. It’s not the first time his name has appeared in the rumor mill. Hell, Snell for Hamilton kind of makes sense.
Olney On Blanton And Haren
Buster Olney has been digging up all sorts of good trade rumors, and I’m happy to pass along his info. Let’s start with the A’s.
We recently discussed Eric Chavez, who as far as we know is staying put but wouldn’t get in Billy Beane’s way if he decides to move him. However, with apologies to Chavez, the hot stove buzz around the A’s will be focused on their young pitching.
We know Dan Haren would draw a huge bounty of three to five very good young players. We can assume that Joe Blanton would command a similar price, maybe slightly less. Olney revealed today that Billy Beane isn’t likely to rebuild and try to contend simulataneously. Instead, he would have a massive fire sale. If Haren goes, Blanton and Huston Street probably would too. Olney says Beane’s plan would be similar to the Marlins with Miguel Cabrera – target specific blue-chip prospects and approach those teams.
The Dodgers, Mets, Diamondbacks, and Yankees are named as teams that would figure to be in on an Oakland fire sale. Those are the clubs with top shelf prospects that are going hard after starting pitching this winter. This is shaping up to be one hell of a hot stove league. Matthew Cerrone adds that if the Angels strengthen themselves by adding Cabrera (which Olney expects), that would further encourage the A’s to punt on ’08.
Mets Acquire Estrada For Mota
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.
Odds and Ends: Kendall, Crisp, Gagne
I’m back in the swing of things, kind of. We’re still living out of boxes, but I’ve got a laptop and I’m digging into all the rumors I missed. Joe did a great job the last couple of days. Be sure to visit his Yankees blog, River Ave. Blues. On to today’s random rumors…
- I’m hearing that Jason Kendall could be a fallback for the Mets if they can’t pry Ramon Hernandez loose from the Orioles.
- The Blue Jays have about $4MM to spend, and J.P. Ricciardi likes the idea of Michael Barrett splitting time behind the plate with Gregg Zaun. It seems unlikely, though, because the Padres would have to not offer arbitration to Barrett. And Barrett would have to take a one-year, $4MM deal.
- Jamey Newberg discusses the idea of a Coco Crisp for Gerald Laird swap. He notes that the market for Laird should be picking up, but the Red Sox might prefer to wait to trade Crisp.
- Haven’t heard this one much yet…how about Eric Gagne for the Houston closer vacancy? Would Scott Boras present a problem?
- David Wells could be an option for the Mets, if he doesn’t retire or end up on the West Coast.
- One free agent from Japan who hasn’t gotten much press is Marc Kroon. He didn’t catch on in MLB but has been doing well for Yokohama the past few years. Kroon holds the record for the fastest pitch ever thrown in a Japanese game (161 km/h, which is about 100 mph). You can see that in this video (the second pitch he throws, the crowd loves it). Kroon is considering trying the Majors again; he says so on his website (note that his site plays music when you visit).
Braves Sign Tom Glavine
It’s now official: the Braves have signed Tom Glavine to a one-year, $8MM deal. There doesn’t appear to be any kind of second-year option. The Braves initially came in at $6.5MM. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the Nationals and Phillies were in on him, but never really had a shot at making a deal. The Mets probably aren’t terribly concerned about the loss, since they get the Braves’ valuable #18 overall pick next June plus a supplemental pick as compensation.
After a 2007 lacking in rotation depth, the Braves have a slew of candidates to start. Even without counting on Mike Hampton for anything, they are in good shape. Pitching depth can unravel quickly, but things look good as of November 19th, 2007.
The Braves might be pretty much set this winter, assuming they like Josh Anderson as their starting center fielder.
Mets Give Castillo Four Years, $25 Million
UPDATE, 11-19-07: The AP confirms it. Seems like there were more creative ways to fill the second base vacancy. Castillo was playing it safe, and four years is too much.
UPDATE, 11-18-07: Now Ken Rosenthal has this one.
This one just came in from Tim. Dominican sports website Impacto Deportivo is reporting that the Mets and Luis Castillo have agreed to a four-year deal worth $25 million. They say to expect an official announcement shortly.
I got the summary from Tim. If anyone could head to the website and translate, it would be greatly appreciated.
Oh, and just because it’s the same thing as we’ve been hearing since yesterday and I didn’t want to give it another post, Glavine’s agent is saying that his client and the Braves are "maybe one or two phone calls away" from a deal.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.
MetsBlog: Lo Duca The Best Choice
Matthew Cerrone at MetsBlog takes on the question facing the Mets since mid-day yesterday: Who starts at catcher next year?
Ramon Hernandez, who was offered a contract by the Mets two years ago when he was a free agent, is said to be Omar Minaya’s top choice. However, this presents a problem. Hernandez won’t come cheap, and the Mets would need to retain their best trading chips if they want to acquire a front-line starter. This would seemingly rule Hernandez out, since "word from Baltimore had been that Hernandez would cost a high-end prospect."
A cheaper trade option would be Miguel Olivo, though it’s likely he will be non-tendered by the Marlins, who probably don’t want to give him a raise over his $2 million 2007 salary. Gerald Laird is another option, as the Rangers have Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, and Max Ramirez in tow. The Mets might be able to acquire him without giving up a piece of the puzzle to acquire an ace.
Olivo and Laird would be more likely to platoon in some capacity with Ramon Castro, while Hernandez would be more likely take on a starting role.
Cerrone says the Mets prefer to sign a catcher. He mentions Michael Barrett, but notes his Type A status, which may be a deterrent for many teams. Maybe he’d make sense for a bottom-15 team, since Barrett would then cost a second rounder. Jason Kendall is also mentioned, though his horrid 2007 is giving pause to potential suitors.
So, in the end, Paul Lo Duca appears the best choice. He costs neither draft picks nor prospects. True, he might not be able to hold up over an entire season, but that’s why the Mets signed a capable backup in Castro.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.