AL East Links: Red Sox, Cespedes, Danks, Beltran
The Red Sox were one of the finalists for Gio Gonzalez, but GM Ben Cherington was "not motivated" to deal four prospects for Gonzalez, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. With Gonzalez now on his way to Washington, the Sox will look at other pitching targets like Gavin Floyd, Roy Oswalt, Hiroki Kuroda and Andrew Bailey, all of whom have drawn some interest from Boston this winter.
Here's the latest from the AL East…
- The Red Sox will hire Bob McClure as the club's new pitching coach, reports Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. McClure has spent the last six seasons as the Royals' pitching coach and was hired by Boston last month as a minor league instructor and special assignment scout.
- The Yankees' chances of signing Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes are "slim to none," according to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger (Twitter link).
- The Yankees weren't close to a deal for John Danks, a source tells Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York. Brian Cashman and Kenny Williams "haven't spoken in weeks" after some initial contact, but the Yankees weren't interested in meeting Chicago's demands for their left-hander. Danks and the White Sox agreed to a five-year contract extension yesterday, ending the Danks trade rumors for the foreseeable future.
- The Yankees and Red Sox were the only teams that paid a luxury tax penalty for 2011, reports The Associated Press. New York paid a $13.9MM penalty (the team's lowest since 2003) while Boston paid $3.4MM.
- The Rays fell out of the race for Carlos Beltran due to Beltran's concerns about playing on turf and spending too much time as a designated hitter, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. The Cardinals, Indians and Blue Jays appear to be the finalists for Beltran, though the Jays could be similarly hampered by the turf and DH issues.
- The Blue Jays are looking for bullpen help in the form of a lefty specialist and a right-handed setup option, reports MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm. Also as part of this mailbag piece, Chisholm answers a reader question about Prince Fielder by noting that the Jays are "extremely unlikely" to pursue the free agent slugger unless his "market completely collapses." The major stumbling block is the Jays' club policy against not giving a player more than five guaranteed years on a contract, while Fielder is looking for a 10-year deal.
A’s Talking Gio Gonzalez, Andrew Bailey
3:02pm: Rival executives say the Nationals have the best chance at obtaining Gonzalez and some believe Danny Espinosa or Ian Desmond could be in play, according to Heyman.
2:44pm: The Red Sox are trying to get Gonzalez and Bailey in a "monster deal," tweets Rosenthal. The Rays are also in on Bailey and the Nationals are the team to beat on Gonzalez, Rosenthal reports.
2:20pm: The Red Sox are still discussing both Andrew Bailey and Gonzalez with the Athletics, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The Red Sox "obviously won't get both," Cafardo writes.
2:14pm: It looks like the Nationals and Red Sox are the finalists for Gonzalez, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Peter Gammons of MLB Network tweets that the Red Sox or Nationals will likely acquire Gonzalez today. Both Heyman and Gammons suggest the Nationals are the favorites to obtain the left-hander.
1:10pm: The A's are moving closer to a Gio Gonzalez trade, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (all links go to Twitter). The bidding is down to two teams, one of which is the Nationals. The Marlins and Red Sox may also be involved, but the Rangers are not. The Yankees and A's never built momentum toward a deal involving Gonzalez, Olney reports. The Mariners had discussed Gonzalez and it's not clear if they're involved in the current trade talks.
The Nationals are believed to be willing to include multiple top prospects for Gonzalez, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Prospects such as Brad Peacock, Destin Hood, Eury Perez and A.J. Cole could be available to the Athletics. Derek Norris is in the discussion, Olney writes.
Gonzalez is under team control through 2015 and has reached the 200-inning plateau in each of the past two seasons without posting an ERA above 3.23. However, no MLB pitcher has walked more opponents in the past two seasons than Gonzalez and he's about to get expensive through arbitration (projected 2012 salary of $4.2MM).
Indians, Others Have Inquired On Nick Swisher
The Indians are one of several clubs that has called the Yankees about Nick Swisher, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Cleveland GM Chris Antonetti, a finalist for free agent Carlos Beltran, is also considering trades to improve his club’s offense.
However, Swisher doesn’t appear to be a realistic option for the Indians, since the Yankees don’t have an obvious replacement for Swisher and it wouldn’t be easy to match his production through free agency. The Yankees value Swisher as one of the game’s better right fielders and one of Rosenthal’s sources says they’re “up against their payroll [limit],” for what it’s worth.
Swisher, 31, posted a .260/.374/.449 line with 23 home runs in 635 plate appearances this past season. The Yankees exercised their $10.25M club option for the switch-hitter after the 2011 season and he's set to hit free agency after the 2012 campaign.
New York Notes: Thole, Wright, Yankees
The Yankees and Mets play in baseball’s biggest market, but both are in the midst of quiet offseasons, as our Free Agent Tracker shows. The Bronx Bombers re-signed Freddy Garcia and extended C.C. Sabathia after exercising options on Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano. The Mets lost Jose Reyes to the Marlins, traded for Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez and signed Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco. Here are the latest rumors from New York:
- The Mets continue to explore possibilities behind the plate and they had interest in Luis Martinez before the Padres sent him to the Rangers yesterday, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. Josh Thole, the Mets’ projected starter, will head to Dallas to work on his receiving with catching coordinator Bob Natal in the coming weeks, Puma writes. Mike Nickeas projects as the Mets' backup now that they non-tendered Ronny Paulino.
- Troy Renck of the Denver Post expects the Mets to hold onto David Wright until the July trade deadline (Twitter link).
- The Mets and Yankees are two of the teams that continue to seek a utility infielder, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The Braves, Cubs and Giants are also interested in utility infielders and Jack Wilson, Ronny Cedeno, Craig Counsell and Aaron Miles are among the available free agents.
Pitching Rumors: Red Sox, Felix, Giants, Jurrjens
The Nationals, Red Sox, Marlins, Blue Jays, Royals, Tigers, Mariners, Yankees and Orioles are among the teams still looking to add one or more starting pitchers this offseason, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. Here are more details on the market for starting pitching:
- The Red Sox are “in on everybody,” Knobler reports. Peter Gammons of MLB Network confirms that the Red Sox are still looking for starters (Twitter link).
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports makes the case that the Mariners should trade Felix Hernandez this offseason, but Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik disagrees. “I still say, as I’ve said all along, we’ve still got the best young pitcher in the game, and that’s pretty darned good,” Zduriencik said. Rosenthal pointed to the prospects the Padres obtained for Mat Latos and the fact that the AL West has become tougher this offseason.
- The Giants aren’t looking for a free agent to replace Jonathan Sanchez, but are interested in adding pitchers who are willing to accept minor league contracts, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- The Orioles, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rockies, Tigers and Rangers are among the teams that have expressed some interest in Jair Jurrjens, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. The Braves have suggested they won’t trade the right-hander within their division.
Rangers Won Darvish Bidding Easily
The Rangers won the rights to Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish with a $51.7MM bid this week and though the Toronto Star reported yesterday that the Blue Jays weren't far behind, reports today indicate the Rangers outbid rival teams by a significant margin.
Jeff Blair said this morning on Sportsnet 590 the FAN that the Blue Jays "did not bid $50MM, as the Toronto Star is reporting. That's totally, absolutely false and inaccurate" (hat tip Drunk Jays Fans). Buster Olney of ESPN.com believes the Blue Jays were in, but not close and suggests “nobody, including Toronto, was within country miles” of the Rangers’ bid (Twitter links). Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com agrees that no one else was close. The Rangers easily out-bid the Blue Jays and the Yankees bid in the $15-17MM range, according to Heyman.
Darvish posted a 1.44 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 232 innings this past season and he hasn't posted an ERA above 2.00 since 2007. The Rangers have until January 18th to work out a deal with him. If the sides don't agree to a deal by next month's deadline, Darvish will stay in Japan and the Nippon Ham Fighters won't obtain any cash from the Rangers.
Many Teams In On Roy Oswalt; No Deal Close
Roy Oswalt is believed to have drawn some interest from the Red Sox, Nationals, Marlins, Blue Jays, Yankees, Rangers and Twins, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. However, Oswalt is waiting for trade candidates such as Gio Gonzalez to be dealt before agreeing to a contract.
Interest in the 34-year-old right-hander spiked with yesterday’s news that he’s looking for a one-year deal. However, the Rangers won the bidding for Yu Darvish and already have a full rotation, so their interest in Oswalt may be fading. The Yankees seem to have prioritized others and the Twins may not be able to afford the Bob Garber client.
Yoenis Cespedes Links: Tuesday
With the Rangers now officially owning the rights to negotiate with Yu Darvish, another international player, Yoenis Cespedes, takes center stage. The difference, as Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com notes, is that Cespedes will be a free agent in the traditional sense, with every team being allowed to negotiate with the center fielder as they would any other player. Here's the latest on Cespedes:
- The expectation in baseball is that the bidding for Cespedes could get "crazy." One team official said the outfielder's agent is seeking $25-45MM, but many believe the total value of the contract will exceed that.
- Some teams regard the Marlins as the early favorite to sign Cespedes.
- The White Sox, who have a strong track record with Cuban defectors Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo, reportedly held a private workout for Cespedes.
- The Yankees are expected to be involved but their interest has been described as "moderate."
- The Yankees are reluctant to spend big on a player based on video and scouting sessions, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
- Sherman adds that the Tigers like Cespedes, and that owner Mike Ilitch is known to expand his budget for the right player (via Twitter).
- Knobler, meanwhile, tweets that the Tigers have a pretty limited budget to bid on Cespedes.
Blue Jays Bid $50MM For Darvish
The Blue Jays bid over $50MM for Yu Darvish, falling just short of the Rangers' $51.7MM bid, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star. Here's the latest on the Blue Jays’ division, starting with a right-hander who spent three up-and-down seasons in Toronto…
- Several teams are kicking the tires on acquiring A.J. Burnett, but the Yankees will have to absorb significant salary to make a deal and Burnett can veto trades to ten teams per year, according to George A. King III of the New York Post.
- The Yankees bid less than $20MM for Darvish, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com.
- Orioles GM Dan Duquette explains the team's shrinking pro scouting department to MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. "In an effort to make an impact on the franchise, I can argue that the scouts are most valuable to a team at the amateur level,” Duquette said. “They can have a bigger impact on this organization.”
- Former Rays catcher Toby Hall has decided to retire, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. The 36-year-old spent seven seasons with the Rays and last played in the Major Leagues in 2008.
- Dan Hayes of the North County Times hears the Rays are one of the teams that has asked the Padres about Anthony Rizzo (Twitter link). However, the Padres, who have been flooded with interest, aren't matching up that well with the Rays at this point, according to Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio and ESPN.com (on Twitter).
- MLB executives expect Gio Gonzalez to be traded relatively soon now that Darvish is no longer available, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). The Red Sox are among Gonzalez’s suitors.
Hiroki Kuroda May Be Nearing Deal
Yahoo’s Tim Brown heard yesterday that Hiroki Kuroda was close to agreeing to a new contract. However, it’s not clear which team is nearing a deal with the right-hander. Here are the details and more of Brown’s links from around MLB:
- The Mariners, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Rangers, Red Sox and Yankees were among the teams that informed Brown they were not the team nearing a deal with Kuroda.
- The Dodgers didn’t scout Yoenis Cespedes in earnest or consider bidding on Yu Darvish, Brown reports. It cost the Rangers $51.7MM for the rights to negotiate with Darvish and Cespedes figures to cost tens of millions as well, so the players are too expensive for the cash-strapped Dodgers to consider.
- Carlos Beltran figures to agree to terms by Sunday. His market includes the Cardinals, Blue Jays, Red Sox and a fourth team, possibly the Rays. Beltran is weighing two and three-year offers, Brown reports.