Phillies Rumors: Moyer, Lowe, Burrell
The latest buzz around the Phillies…
- It’s unclear what’s holding up the Jamie Moyer negotiations, but Todd Zolecki guesses it’s money rather than years. Moyer’s agent admits he’s spoken to other teams. Still, ESPN’s Buster Olney says Moyer and the Phillies maintain mutual interest.
- Zolecki’s source says the Phillies have not made an official offer to Derek Lowe, but parameters have been discussed. Yesterday morning, Tony Massarotti said the Phils made him an offer, but Jayson Stark couldn’t confirm it. Ruben Amaro Jr. would only confirm interest. The Phils have talked to other free agent pitchers too, A.J. Burnett among them.
- Pat Burrell seems to be on the backburner for the Phillies, who have prioritized pitching ahead of left field.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Byrd, Putz, Wilson
Rumor machine Ken Rosenthal has a new column…
- Free agent starters C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett are in no hurry to sign. Makes sense; they’re obviously special compared to the other starters on the market.
- Nationals owner Ted Lerner "has spent extensive time" with Scott Boras, presumably in regard to Mark Teixeira.
- The Cubs want to acquire their left-handed hitting outfielder before worrying about Jake Peavy. Rosenthal says the trade market is bleak, suggesting free agents such as Raul Ibanez and Milton Bradley might make sense. As we’ve said, there is no perfect fit for the Cubs’ right field vacancy (unless Brian Giles will waive his no-trade clause).
- Paul Byrd is "virtually certain" to decline Boston’s offer of arbitration. He aims to pitch near his Atlanta home – the Braves, Marlins, or Rays could work for him.
- A Rosenthal source pegged Jon Garland‘s chance of accepting arbitration at less than 50-50. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick recently indicated it was 75-25 he’d decline. Buster Olney says "some executives are stunned" that Garland will seemingly not accept.
- Rosenthal spoke to officials from two teams interested in Mariners closer J.J. Putz. The Ms haven’t decided yet whether to make him available, contrary to a previous report. Jack Zduriencik apparently doesn’t consider his club in rebuild mode.
- The Giants’ signing of Edgar Renteria: "widely panned in industry circles." Joel Sherman found the same consensus. This differs from the web, where Keith Law and Dave Cameron liked it.
- Rosenthal says the Dodgers are not pursuing Jack Wilson; those talks broke down earlier in the offseason. Who to believe? He says the Tigers are making a "more serious push."
- Phillies shortstop prospect Jason Donald is a popular trade target, but the Phils might need him to fill in for Chase Utley at the start of the season.
Stark’s Latest: Burnett, Cantu, Lowe, Furcal
Jayson Stark’s got a heaping helping of hot stove updates in his most recent blog post at ESPN.com.
- The Braves’ most recent offer makes them the frontrunners for A.J. Burnett, says Stark.
- We’re still waiting for another team to come close to the Yankees’ offer for C.C. Sabathia. Stark suggests Sabathia may make up his mind by next week. He also says there’s "increasing buzz about the Yankees’ interest in Ben Sheets."
- The White Sox appear to have expressed some interest in Jorge Cantu.
- Stark doesn’t think the Phillies stand a very good chance of signing Derek Lowe.
- Only the Dodgers and A’s, and perhaps the Orioles, remain interested in Rafael Furcal.
- If the Dodgers end up missing on Furcal and Casey Blake, their focus might shift to names like Ty Wigginton and Adrian Beltre.
Lowe Receives Two Offers
5:27pm: George King at the New York Post has details on the Cashman-Boras meeting. An offer for Lowe is not mentioned, but a reluctance to offer Lowe five years is cited. As for the Boras clients beyond Lowe that were discussed, King explicitly mentions Mark Teixeira, Manny Ramirez, and Oliver Perez.
3:30pm: Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. wouldn’t confirm or deny his team’s rumored offer to Lowe, but he admitted interest. I imagine he would’ve denied it if it was false. Amaro noted that he’s talked to the representatives for many free agent pitchers. He’s reluctant to go past three years on one, but might consider it.
9:11am: Tony Massarotti, citing a baseball source, says free agent starter Derek Lowe has received two offers. One is from the Phillies, and the other is not from the Yankees or Red Sox. Massarotti believes Lowe will land a three or four-year deal at $15-16MM per. Jon Heyman recently named the Mets, Giants, Mariners, and Dodgers as other Lowe suitors.
Massarotti’s source adds that Yanks GM Brian Cashman flew to California to visit with Scott Boras today. That could lead to an offer for Lowe, though other Boras clients may be discussed as well. The Red Sox like Lowe, but may choose to avoid a bidding war. Massarotti still likes the Sox as a match for Mark Teixeira.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Johnson, Cano, Peavy
4:54pm: The Big Unit is open to the Giants or A’s, not a big surprise. Johnson’s agent says about ten teams have expressed interest, Giants included.
11:49am: Ken Rosenthal is working overtime; here’s his latest.
- The A’s remain the frontrunners for Rafael Furcal. Also, they’re targeting starter Randy Johnson to add a veteran presence to their rotation. Rosenthal adds that the A’s may prefer Nick Johnson over Jason Giambi.
- The Phillies made an offer to Derek Lowe, who seems to be their backup plan if they can’t sign Jamie Moyer. Rosenthal speculates that the Dodgers could consider Moyer. If the Phils sign Lowe, they may have to go cheap in left field.
- Oliver Perez and Randy Wolf are on the Yankees’ radar.
- The Braves haven’t ruled out five guaranteed years for A.J. Burnett. Rosenthal agrees with Mark Bowman that the Braves actually have little interest in Adam Dunn. He adds that Raul Ibanez might be out of their price range. Instead, the Braves could choose to trade Kelly Johnson for an outfielder.
- Rosenthal believes the Dodgers will renew talks for Robinson Cano at the Winter Meetings, and the Yankees will again ask for Matt Kemp.
- The Cubs are speaking daily to the Padres about Jake Peavy. Rosenthal says the Orioles do not seem to be the third team at this time.
- Rosenthal believes the Royals could make a run at Kyle Farnsworth.
Perrotto’s Latest: Dye, Jenks, Werth, Madson
THURSDAY: David Lennon of Newsday talked to a source who said there’s "nothing there" in regard to the rumor of a Dye and Jenks to the Mets blockbuster. Joel Sherman talked to a few Mets officials who called the rumor nonsense. Sherman says Martinez is "all but untouchable."
WEDNESDAY: Let’s dig into the latest column from John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus.
- Perrotto speaks of whispers of a possible White Sox-Mets blockbuster. The Mets would receive Jermaine Dye and Bobby Jenks and the White Sox would receive Fernando Martinez among others.
- Regarding the Orioles’ possible involvement in a trade that would send Jake Peavy to the Cubs, Perrotto says Baltimore seeks Ronny Cedeno and Felix Pie from Chicago.
- Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has spoken to outfielder Jayson Werth and setup man Ryan Madson about contract extensions. Madson might be a tough one as he’s represented by Scott Boras (who recently compared him to Mariano Rivera). Both players are under team control for one more season.
- The Red Sox are considering free agents Willie Bloomquist, Jay Payton, and Mark Loretta as possible bench additions. A return to Boston seems to be Payton’s preference.
- Perrotto believes the only player seriously considering accepting arbitration is Darren Oliver. Oliver’s already seen the Reds drop out of the mix due to the draft pick price.
- Perrotto says the Tigers and Orioles are showing interest in Jack Wilson, while the Dodgers have backed off.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Dunn, Burrell, Manny
6:16pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the Braves are not interested in Dunn because they seek a right-handed bat. Does that rule out Raul Ibanez as well?
1:51pm: The latest from Ken Rosenthal:
- The Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, and Phillies are pursuing free agent outfielder Rocco Baldelli.
- Now that Adam Dunn wasn’t offered arbitration, the market is starting to take shape. The Braves, Mariners, and Nationals are interested, and the Dodgers and Angels consider him a fallback option. How about Dunn and Russell Branyan in the same lineup? Rosenthal considers the Yankees another possibility.
- Teams considering Pat Burrell, who was also not offered arb: the Mariners, Angels, and Giants.
- Rosenthal considers the Giants a darkhorse for C.C. Sabathia. Tim Brown says the Giants may be closing in on Edgar Renteria; Rosenthal has the Dodgers and Cardinals as other suitors.
- The Brewers will need to increase their offer to Sabathia to six years to have a shot.
- Rosenthal believes Jason Varitek will accept his offer of arbitration. He also wonders if Orlando Cabrera could accept. He expects Ben Sheets to decline (I made an error on this eariler).
- Rosenthal ponders the chances of Manny Ramirez accepting the Dodgers’ offer of arbitration. Buster Olney says three GMs wondered the same. I was under the impression Manny declining arbitration was a condition of his trade.
- The Cardinals want to add a young starter with upside. They also may go after a closer like Brian Fuentes or Kerry Wood if prices drop.
- Rosenthal believes the Reds could discuss a two-year deal with David Weathers.
Odds and Ends: Griffey, Springer, Hoffman
Links for Wednesday…
- Common misconception Joe and I keep running into: signing one of the 15 Type A free agents who were offered arbitration will only cost the signing team one draft pick. The player’s old team also gets a second pick, but it doesn’t come from the new team. It’s just squeezed into the supplemental round. Check out a deeper explanation here.
- Nuggets from a Frank Coonelly chat: he expects the Pirates to make room on the 40-man roster for a potential Rule 5 addition, and they’d still like to re-sign Doug Mientkiewicz.
- Pirates pitcher Jason Davis looks like a non-tender candidate.
- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire doesn’t have Delmon Young in his preferred starting outfield.
- The Cubs signed pitcher Chad Fox to a minor league deal.
- Ken Griffey Jr.‘s agent Brian Goldberg says he’s fine with DHing but is capable of playing the field. Goldberg thinks Junior can bounce back and have a 30 home run season.
- Click here to listen to free agent reliever Russ Springer talk to The ITD Morning After radio show on 1380 AM. He’s gotten calls from teams in both leagues, including "World Series participants." Springer is known to be on the Phillies’ radar.
- Recently I talked to Sarah Small of the Daily Illini.
- SI.com’s Tom Verducci looks at the supposed shortstop revolution that seems to have petered out.
- Dave Cameron respects the Astros’ signing of Mike Hampton.
- Tony Jackson says the Dodgers offered a minor league deal to Juan Castro.
- Royals GM Dayton Moore did a Q&A with fans at MLB.com. His priority is adding right-handed relief help after trading Leo Nunez and Ramon Ramirez. Also, he says Mark Teahen is "more important to our team today then he was in all of 2008 — and he was very important to our team in ’08."
- McCovey Chronicles is skeptical of all the teams blaming the economy.
- Drunk Jays Fans predicts Kevin Mench‘s Japan experience.
- Jesse Spector looks at comparable pitchers for C.C. Sabathia.
- Trevor Hoffman may meet with the Mets soon. Also, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon spoke of "addition by subtraction" yesterday.
- East Windup Chronicle disputes a Richard Griffin column.
- The Phillies are still willing to sign Type A free agents who were offered arbitration, such as Raul Ibanez or Juan Cruz.
- Evan Grant’s latest Rangers mailbag, always a good read.
- Joe Sheehan discusses various poor arbitration decisions by teams.
- Minor league deals for the Mets: Nelson Figueroa, Adam Bostick, and Rene Rivera. Marty Noble adds Andy Green.
- Rany Jazayerli figures Mark Grudzielanek agreed in advance to reject the Royals’ offer of arbitration.
- As usual, ESPN will be all over the Winter Meetings. I’m told they’ll be doing daily Baseball Tonight specials and will have a team of seven on the scene in Vegas.
- ESPN’s Peter Gammons says the free agent and trade markets are flooded with corner/DH type bats. There will be bargains.
- Bruce Miles thinks Milton Bradley would be a nice match for the Cubs. The biggest issue would be his ability to play right field every day.
Phillies Decline To Offer Arbitration To Burrell, Moyer
According to Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies declined to offer arbitration to Type A free agents Pat Burrell and Jamie Moyer. The decisions are somewhat surprising; MLB.com had a story this morning saying arb offers were likely for both. Paul Hagen adds that Type B free agent Rudy Seanez also did not receive an offer.
Sluggers Burrell and Adam Dunn were both denied today, as the Phillies and D’Backs didn’t feel two draft picks were worth the risk. The Phils are still working to re-sign Moyer.
At Least Four Teams Interested In Loretta
According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, at least four teams are interested in free agent infielder Mark Loretta. Among them: the Phillies, Pirates, Diamondbacks, and Dodgers. The Pirates have talked to Loretta’s agent twice.
Crasnick figures the Astros won’t offer Loretta arbitration this time around; he accepted last year. He lost his case but still earned $2.75MM. The 37 year-old hit .280/.350/.383 in 297 plate appearances while playing a below-average second base and an above-average third base.