Indians Asked About Miguel Cabrera
Anthony Castrovince has a few notes about the Indians this evening.
- For Miguel Cabrera, the Marlins asked for Asdrubal Cabrera, Adam Miller, and then some. Obviously the Tribe said no thanks.
- There’s not much going on with the Indians and Jason Bay. And rumors of their interest in Alex Rios proved false.
- Cliff Lee has been linked to the Mariners, Pirates, and Blue Jays. However no one has given the Indians an actual offer for Lee.
- Castrovince suggests the Indians may explore a long-term deal for Fausto Carmona this spring.
Crasnick’s Latest: Lee, Wells, Bay
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick just cranked out a bunch of good stuff.
- The Indians have talked to the Cardinals about sending Cliff Lee over for Anthony Reyes and catcher Bryan Anderson.
- The Giants could trade for Ben Broussard, but want to see if he’s non-tendered first.
- Kip Wells is being marketed as a setup man, since things didn’t work out as a starter. Who knows, he puts a few mph on the heater in relief and maybe he takes off.
- Crasnick kills the Bay for Shoppach/Lee rumor…didn’t seem right to begin with.
Rockies Rumors: Fuentes, Fogg
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:28am: More from Renck. He confirms the Red Sox’ interest in Fuentes and adds the Astros to the mix. While the Rox like Burke, the teams don’t really match up because that’s not enough.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:01am: The Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck has more.
- Brian Anderson – remember him? – is on the radar as a lefty swingman. The 35 year-old hasn’t pitched in the bigs since ’05.
- Renck ponders whether the Rox might revisit talks for Matt Morris, a sentiment echoed by Jenifer Langosch.
- Nothing seems to be imminent on the Fuentes-Lowrie rumor.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 9:21pm: A suitor for Fuentes has emerged. ESPN’s Amy Nelson says the Red Sox are interested and the Rockies could seek Jed Lowrie. Lowrie would be a nice fit at second base.
FROM 12-3-07 at 8:28pm:
MLB.com’s Thomas Harding checks in with some Rockies nuggets.
- The Rockies have no pressing need to trade Brian Fuentes, so they’ll sit pretty with two closers unless an impressive and helpful offer comes along. Dan O’Dowd believes four or five clubs might have the goods and need to get Fuentes. We’ll see.
- The Rox let Josh Fogg‘s agent know they’d like to explore bringing him back. No figures were exchanged.
- The team still hopes to bring LaTroy Hawkins back, but they’d have to go to two years to pull that off. They already chose not to exercise an effective $3.5MM option on him. It seems the Rockies may have underestimated the interest in Hawkins.
Jays In On Lincecum, Bedard, Bay
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:34am: Blair has updated his article to reflect the Jays’ interest in Cain and Lincecum. He says the Giants spent much of the day watching tape of the two, trying to decide which they prefer. Putting two and two together, maybe the "interesting offer" Brian Sabean spoke of today was Alex Rios?
FROM 12-3-07 at 8:46pm:
The Globe and Mail’s Jeff Blair has several new rumors in his column tonight.
- The Jays’ President, Paul Godfrey, is all about bringing in a big-name Canadian player. Blair rattles off Jason Bay, Erik Bedard, Ryan Dempster, Rich Harden, and Eric Gagne as available Canada natives. Of course, not all of those guys would be draws.
- The Jays are indeed in on Bedard, which is a surprise since starting pitching is a strength of theirs. This idea has been around since at least May though. Blair talked to one exec who said the Jays are planning to get "aggressive and creative." It had been previously thought the Jays would have a low-key winter.
- Blair talks of somehow sending A.J. Burnett to Baltimore in a Bedard deal, which makes little sense for the O’s even if Burnett would like to play there. In my estimation the O’s could ask for Alex Rios or Dustin McGowan for Bedard. The Jays could try to push Adam Lind and Shaun Marcum instead but I don’t see that getting it done. I could see the O’s asking about Travis Snider as well.
- Blair says the Jays could get Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum "right away" if they’d offer Rios to the Giants. Blair even says an expanded deal could send Lind and/or Troy Glaus over to San Francisco as well. Hmmm.
- Jordan Bastian of MLB.com isn’t hearing any of this stuff – but he did connect the Jays to…Paul Bako. Blair and Bastian present two very different stories around the same ballclub.
Cubs Looking At Hamilton, McLouth
The Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan has a new column up discussing a couple of outfielders in the Cubs’ sights aside from Kosuke Fukudome. Apparently they’re after someone who can handle center field in case Felix Pie falters.
- Those Josh Hamilton rumors are real – and the Reds are asking for Sean Marshall. I think the Cubs would pull the trigger on that one. Jerry Crasnick first suggested this match about five hours ago. He thought Marshall wouldn’t be enough and I agreed. Guess we’ll see. Sullivan notes that Lou Piniella had some contact with Hamilton back when he managed the Devil Rays.
- The Cubs are also in talks regarding Nate McLouth. Sullivan thinks McLouth would come cheap – for a reliever like Carmen Pignatiello, Neal Cotts, or Will Ohman. Damn, that’s cheap. We learned today that the Giants, Padres, and Marlins like McLouth; Sullivan adds the Braves to the mix as well.
Tigers Willing To Trade Miller In Haren Deal?
A short note from Yahoo’s Tim Brown: the Tigers were apparently willing to put stud starter Andrew Miller in a deal for Dan Haren. It’s interesting to hear that the Tigers inquired on Haren. You have to figure Miller or Cameron Maybin would be a requirement.
Meanwhile Brown reiterates that the D’Backs checked in on both Haren and Joe Blanton. Arizona may have also checked in on Ian Snell, if you believe lobby fodder.
Pirates Rumors: Bay, McLouth, Morris
MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch jumps into the fray with her own set of Pirates rumors.
- Jason Bay rumors are flying around. Langosch mentions Steve Phillips’ rumor at ESPN: Kelly Shoppach and Cliff Lee for Bay. Andy Marte could be involved as well.
- The Rangers have decided they desire a corner outfielder, and moved from Nate McLouth to Bay accordingly. Langosch suggests the Rangers would send relievers over to Pittsburgh – now that would be a bad trade for the Bucs.
- McLouth, by the way, is drawing interest from the Giants and Padres. He’s also been linked to the Marlins.
- The Rockies may have some interest in Matt Morris.
- Dealing Morris might allow the Bucs to give Brett Tomko what he wants – an opportunity to start. The Pirates will meet with Tomko’s agent this week.
Rangers Rumors: Bay, Gagne, Fukudome
T.R. Sullivan has the Rangers goods for us this evening. Wow, did MLB.com send 30+ reporters out to Nashville?
- The Rangers are still pursuing Eric Gagne to return as their closer (and then maybe they’d flip him again). The interest is mutual.
- The team is also considering LaTroy Hawkins, Shawn Chacon, Luis Vizcaino, Trever Miller, and Octavio Dotel. Basically, most of the relief market. Problem is, the Rangers don’t want to give more than one year to any of these guys.
- The Rangers are moving toward filling center field internally after exploring options. Carlos Gomez, Felix Pie, and Carlos Gonzalez proved unavailable or too pricey (though if all the Mets wanted for Gomez was Gerald Laird, Daniels should’ve pounced).
- Daniels has shifted gears to a corner outfielder. Kosuke Fukudome remains on the radar.
- The Rangers had a preliminary conversation with the Bucs about Jason Bay.
- The team isn’t focused on getting pitching for once, but Daniels is still perusing medical reports on Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, and Jason Jennings.
- Daniels said he’s not shopping Hank Blalock.
O’Brien’s Latest: Andruw, Marte, James
The AJC’s David O’Brien has a rumor update on his blog. Let’s summarize.
- The White Sox are very reluctant to go after Andruw Jones, because of Scott Boras. They’d offer three years and less than $30MM, which would result in a dial tone. Unless it was a cell phone.
- The Braves need a lefty reliever, and might turn to the Pirates for Damaso Marte. That’d be easier to pull off if the Yankees opt to sign Ron Mahay or Jeremy Affeldt for their lefty reliever.
- O’Brien suggests the Braves have collected a starting pitching surplus, which is a dangerous thought. What do you want to bet there’d be no surplus six months from now, if the current group is maintained? O’Brien believes some team might push hard for Chuck James, anyway.
- Matt Diaz may be available, if Brandon Jones proves MLB-ready. First baseman Scott Thorman may also be on the market.
Odds and Ends: Loretta, Pettitte, Affeldt
Random Winter Meetings rumors…
- Doug Melvin confirms that the Nats offered Chad Cordero for Rickie Weeks. Melvin is adamant that he won’t be trading Weeks or J.J. Hardy for a closer.
- Mike Timlin for $3MM, done.
- Mark Loretta would like to return to San Diego but the Padres will pass. The Rockies may yet sign him.
- Rob Biertempfel thinks the Pirates could send a reliever to the Rockies for Jamey Carroll, if the Rockies would eat some of Carroll’s salary. That’s right, a Jamey Carroll trade rumor. For a man of his abilities Carroll is a tad pricey at $2.3MM.
- Andy Pettitte deal is official at $16MM with no option year.
- Jeremy Affeldt might be looking for four years, $16MM. Say whaaaat? The Rox offered him a mere $4MM over two years.