Joel Sherman of the New York Post is "hearing from multiple sources that the Yankees will have nothing to do with Ben Sheets" given his health concerns. They don’t want another health risk in the rotation after signing A.J. Burnett. Aside from cautious interest from the Rangers, it’s been quiet on the Sheets front.
Yankees Rumors
Mark Teixeira Rumors: Thursday
9:58pm: Red Sox owner John Henry said:
"We met with Mr. Teixeira and were very much impressed with him. After hearing about his other offers, however, it seems clear that we are not going to be a factor."
Wow. From favorites to out of the bidding.
9:16pm: Gordon Edes says Boston’s eight-year offer is more than $160MM but less than the $184MM figure Lynch mentioned. In a newer article, Edes talked to a Red Sox exec who called the idea of a $25MM salary for Tex "ridiculous." This info gels with the Gammons/Olney suggestion of $22MM per year. Edes adds that it won’t be a "take it or leave it" type of meeting.
Edes says the Angels haven’t budged off their original offer, which is north of $160MM. The Nationals have been told by Boras that they’d have to pay extra.
8:38pm: The Red Sox "aren’t close to getting a deal done" with Teixeira according to an updated report by Dan Roche of WBZTV.
8:34pm: When asked whether the Angels might improve their offer to Teixeira, Tony Reagins simply repeated that he had already made him a "fair offer."
6:55pm: Dan Roche of WBZTV also confirms the meeting. He suggests an eight-year Red Sox offer in the $180MM range, but hears that Boston doesn’t expect anything "conclusive" tonight.
6:38pm: Buster Olney and Peter Gammons confirm Lynch’s report. ESPN has heard from major league sources that Boras may soon meet with Red Sox executives. Olney and Gammons heard from another team’s executive who expects the offer to be for "about $22MM" per year for eight years, or about $176MM in total.
5:21pm: Mike Lynch from Channel 5 in Boston reports John Henry and Theo Epstein will meet with Scott Boras tonight with the aim of signing Teixeira tonight or Friday morning. Lynch says the Sox are offering eight years and $184MM.
1:59pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman on rumored offers for Tex:
One source said he believed that Boston was in for close to $180 million over eight years and the Angels in for about the same. The Nats may be as high, or even higher than that. Some suggest they have either hit the $200 million mark, or gotten very close. Or that someone else has.
Heyman expects Teixeira to sign next week, and agrees that the Red Sox are the favorites. He provides odds of each bidding team signing Teixeira.
8:55am: Yesterday’s Mark Teixeira post focused on the Orioles – they seem to be falling behind, though Andy MacPhail said there’s flexibility with their offer.
We learned today from Kat O’Brien of Newsday today that the Yankees have not made an offer to Teixeira, and may not if the bidding gets too high.
Nick Cafardo’s been talking to a GM involved in the bidding, and that person says the Red Sox have the highest offer on the table. The offer could be eight years at the highest average annual salary. Sean McAdam says the Red Sox have their own ceiling and won’t get into a bidding war. He adds that there’s no backup plan for Boston – "it’s Teixeira or bust."
Odds And Ends: Cameron, Abreu, Treanor
Links for Thursday night…
- Brian Cashman phoned Doug Melvin to explain that he hadn’t called earlier because the Yanks have "a lot of things going on." The Brewers GM said he’s "probably going to hang on to" Mike Cameron.
- Ozzie Guillen spoke with Bobby Abreu and said "interest exists" from the White Sox perspective.
- GM Dave Dombrowski was part of the reason Matt Treanor chose the Tigers.
- T.R. Sullivan continues to track interest in Ben Sheets, and doesn’t see the Yankees being very aggressive on that front.
- Adam Dunn and Pat Burrell don’t deserve raises if you ask Rob Neyer, but he knows they’re likely to get them.
- Kerry Wood sounds happy to be in Cleveland and has "no desire to ever start again."
- The other top reliever to be introduced today, J.J. Putz, said he expected to become a Tiger.
Pettitte Hopes To Return To Yankees
On the day the Yankees introduced their new big-name pitchers, The New York Post reports that Andy Pettitte still wants to play in pinstripes. According to the Post Joe Girardi talked with Pettitte and heard that "he is still excited about coming back."
Girardi heard that Pettitte "is very excited" about recent additions A.J. Burnett and C.C. Sabathia. The Post also reports that Yankees GM Brian Cashman thinks the negotiations are progressing well for the Yankees.
Odds and Ends: Abreu, Millwood, Wigginton
Links for Thursday…
- Luke Hudson agreed to stay with the Royals on a minor league deal. And because Braves fans keep emailing it…the Braves signed Lance Niekro as a pitcher, as noted in the minor league transactions we linked yesterday. Talking Chop and Henry Schulman have more.
- Along similar lines, here’s a link to Joel Sherman’s December 12th story about the Orlando Hudson and Adam Dunn being the Nationals’ backup plan for Mark Teixeira. That came four days before the Jon Heyman report people keep emailing.
- C.C. Sabathia’s preferred teams heading into free agency: the Yankees, Brewers, and Angels.
- Dave O’Brien tries to figure out what the Braves should do with all their money.
- John Fay explains why the Reds may attempt to acquire a young shortstop.
- The Orioles may move on to Gregg Zaun now that Matt Treanor is off the board.
- Geoff Baker speculates on a possible Mariners-Brewers trade match, though nothing seems to be cooking currently.
- RotoAuthority looks at the biggest losers, comparing ’09 fantasy baseball mock draft positions to ’08.
- I did a Q&A with Called Safe At Second.
- ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick writes about how teams view free agent outfielder Bobby Abreu.
- Kevin Millwood has twelve million reasons to pitch 180 innings in 2009. I never understood that phrase. Why is each dollar a reason?
- Dejan Kovacevic says Ty Wigginton has no wish to return to Pittsburgh.
- Roch Kubatko is hearing the Orioles may have reached a settlement with Sidney Ponson regarding the grievance.
- Pitcher Jon Leicester is the latest to head to Japan.
- Might not read about this on MLBTR, eh? Chico Harlan says the Nationals signed 16 year-old Dominican prospects Bill Pena and Gregory Baez.
Heyman’s Latest: Perez, Greinke, Dye, Garland
The latest from SI.com’s Jon Heyman, non-Teixeira department…
- Heyman describes the Mets’ chance of signing Oliver Perez as "remote for now." He names other "potential suitors" – the Brewers, Dodgers, Reds, and perhaps Mariners.
- Apparently some Yankees people wouldn’t mind if Andy Pettitte passed on their $10MM offer, as they’d be able to pursue Ben Sheets or Derek Lowe.
- The Red Sox "looked into" trading for Zack Greinke but didn’t like the price.
- Heyman says the Reds, Braves, and Rays are still showing interest in Jermaine Dye.
- He says the Dodgers, White Sox, and Mets "could be possibilities" for Jon Garland. A return to Chicago?
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Thursday
Hoping the Yankees sign Manny Ramirez? Ken Davidoff of Newsday gives it about a 20% chance. As for Manny signing with the Mets, Davidoff gives it no chance.
Davidoff’s colleague Kat O’Brien paints a similar picture, suggesting that the Yankees’ baseball operations people "have not even discussed Ramirez at any length." O’Brien says the Yanks are more interested in Mark Teixeira, who is also a long shot. Tex is expected to sign before Manny.
Did the Mike Cameron talks fizzle to allow for a Yankees pursuit of Manny? Mark Feinsand’s source says there’s no connection. Still, Feinsand believes Hank Steinbrenner is pushing for Ramirez.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Teixeira, Markakis, Johnson
We have a new column from Ken Rosenthal this evening.
- Mark Teixeira is holding up many areas of the free agent market, as guys like Brian Fuentes and Milton Bradley know the Angels will be interested if Tex signs elsewhere.
- Rosenthal believes the Yankees should continue to be aggressive and make a competitive bid for Teixeira.
- The "poor working conditions and occasionally unruly crowd behavior" make it hard for the A’s to attract free agents. Their move in 2012 should help.
- Rosenthal believes Chase Utley’s seven year, $85MM deal could provide a framework for a Nick Markakis extension.
- The A’s will wait for free agent bargains now that they’ve lost Rafael Furcal.
- The Red Sox and Mets are the main suitors for Derek Lowe, with the Yankees less likely.
- The Braves have been shopping Kelly Johnson for an outfielder. Attempts to acquire Ryan Ludwick or Corey Hart did not work out.
Mike Cameron-to-Yankees Dead?
6:07pm: Kat O’Brien just got off the phone with Brewers GM Doug Melvin:
He said: "Nothing new. At this point, I don’t anticipate it’s something that we would (do). … I haven’t talked to Brian (Cashman) since last week." Melvin said they had originally looked at moving Cameron to gain some flexibility on the pitching front but that is no longer such a need.
Melvin added that trading Cameron was "not something that we’re pushing at this time." Sounds like it’s dead. (For now, anyway.)
TUESDAY 3:09pm: Ed Price says the Yankees are discussing this deal internally and don’t feel like they have to rush. Price’s source says a tentative deal has been reached and it’s up to the Yankees now. Tom Haudricourt says the Brewers haven’t heard from the Yanks this week and assistant GM Gord Ash is starting to wonder whether they’re still interested. Yahoo’s Tim Brown says the Brewers will get in on Brian Fuentes if they’re able to move Cameron.
12:10pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Mike Cameron for Melky Cabrera deal is on the backburner for now. Still, he says the Brewers agreed to take Kei Igawa and pay a small amount of the $12MM he’s owed. That amount is not enough for the Yankees, currently.
Sarah Green also contributed to this post.
Sheets Market Still Developing
According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman:
There’s no evidence Ben Sheets has received any proposals for two years or more yet, though he’s drawing interest from at least the Rangers and Yankees, and very likely his old Brewers team, as well.
As Heyman says, Sheets’ timing was terrible. If his flexor tendon injury had occurred in April and he finished the season strong, he might’ve been looking at three or four years. Instead, the lingering memory of the September injury had a huge effect on his market despite the fact that he made 31 starts in 2008. Heyman says the Yankees may wait to bid on Sheets until they hear Andy Pettitte’s decision.
As Sheets is a Type A free agent offered arbitration, the Brewers could swipe a first-round pick if he signs elsewhere. Assuming they can’t sign him, they have to be rooting for a new team to jump into the fray since they wouldn’t get a first-round pick from the Rangers or Yankees.
