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Aaron Heilman

Heyman’s Latest: Santana, Gagne, Kuroda

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman has penned (or typed I guess) a new column with some hot stove banter.

  • The Mets are offering Carlos Gomez, Mike Pelfrey, and others for Santana.  Joel Sherman thinks the offer is at least viable, and that Aaron Heilman may interest Minnesota..  The Yankees offered Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, and Jeff Marquez.  The Red Sox proposed Jon Lester, Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie, and Justin Masterson.  The Mariners have offered Adam Jones and Brandon Morrow.  Seems to me the Red Sox still have the advantage, at least slightly.
  • Heyman says the Brewers and Astros are in the mix for Eric Gagne (if he doesn’t accept arbitration).  Regarding the Brewers, though, Doug Melvin said today that they already have a closer in Derrick Turnbow.
  • Heyman says offers for Hiroki Kuroda are expected to approach $15MM per year.  Damn, for him?

Heyman’s Latest: Santana, Bedard, Willis

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UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 5:48pm: Jayson Stark confirms the Reds’ interest in Willis.  However he suggests that the Marlins would ask for Homer Bailey and then some in return.

FROM 12-3-07 at 11:41am:

SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in with the latest hot stove banter he’s hearing.  There’s some confusion here as Heyman has contrary info to other published sources.

  • Heyman believes Johan Santana is "more likely than not" to get traded at the Meetings, and quite possibly today. 
  • Heyman says the Red Sox and Yankees are the two teams Santana would waive his veto power for, running contrary to LENIII’s recent note.
  • Heyman reports that the Mets offered Gomez/Humber/Heilman for Erik Bedard, though as you may recall Roger Rubin said it was Lastings Milledge and not Gomez.  Whatever it was, the Orioles weren’t impressed with the offer.  Heyman says the Mets feel they still have a chance.  The Dodgers, Mariners, and loser of Santana will be in on Bedard as well.
  • Heyman seems to indicate the Marlins are still asking for Adenhart and Ervin Santana in a Miguel Cabrera deal, despite Peter Gammons’ comment this morning.
  • The Reds may pursue Dontrelle Willis.  I was thinking they might, the fit makes sense.  A package with Josh Hamilton and one of the Reds’ stud pitchers might be required though.  Also keep in mind that Joe Frisaro said the Marlins plan to keep Willis at least until July.
  • Heyman suggests the Mets could re-acquire Xavier Nady to play right field for them.

Erik Bedard Rumors

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The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec has the latest regarding ace Erik Bedard.  Some rank Bedard as the best available starter, all-in-all – he’s under team control for longer than Johan Santana, doesn’t have no-trade rights, and has better stuff than Dan Haren.

  • The Orioles and Bedard’s agent never actually exchanged salary figures, and now contract extension talks have come to a stop.  Andy MacPhail isn’t concerned but no one seems to expect the O’s to pony up the money needed to retain their ace beyond 2009. Johan Santana should set the bar; Bedard may become a $20MM pitcher.
  • Zrebiec lists the Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Angels, and Dodgers as teams that have inquired on Bedard.  It’s surprising to see the Red Sox omitted from that list.
  • The Mets made an offer: Carlos Gomez, Aaron Heilman, and perhaps Phil Humber.  That’s an OK starting point but the O’s could do better.
  • The Dodgers have also had talks with the O’s, with Matt Kemp, Jonathan Broxton, and Clayton Kershaw coming up.  That’s certainly worth mulling over.

Can Mets Acquire An Ace?

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We’ve discussed this before…it seems like the Mets don’t stack up with certain other clubs trying to acquire available frontline starting pitching.  Ken Rosenthal definitely feels this way – Carlos Gomez is considered a blue-chipper but the others may not be.

Rosenthal notes that a package starting with Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman doesn’t do much for Billy Beane.  The A’s don’t see Milledge as a long-term center field solution, and Heilman is a reliever.  Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber aren’t the top-shelf pitching prospects the A’s covet in return for Dan Haren or Joe Blanton.  It seems as if the very best package the Mets can assemble might only be enough for Blanton.

The Mets are also after Johan Santana and Erik Bedard, but it’s the same story.  Unless they create a huge hole by trading Jose Reyes, it doesn’t seem they can offer the best package.  Though the Twins still want Reyes, Adam Rubin and Joel Sherman indicate that’s not an option.   

Dipping into the free agent market for Hiroki Kuroda or Carlos Silva seems to make more sense.  One option the Mets have been linked to in the past, Dontrelle Willis, may be off the market now.

Mets Focused On Blanton/Haren?

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According to David Lennon of Newsday, the Mets are focused on getting Dan Haren or Joe Blanton from the A’s.  Lennon admits they probably don’t have the chips to get Johan Santana, which makes me wonder how they’d have enough to get Blanton or Haren.

Omar Minaya and Billy Beane discussed these guys a year ago, and couldn’t come to an agreement.  Now Beane’s price has risen – Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman won’t cut it (not sure if it would’ve last year anyway).  I’m not sure if adding any Mets pitching prospect to that pair would be enough to get Blanton, who would have a lesser price tag than Haren.  Add Carlos Gomez to the package and you might have something.

I honestly can’t see how the Mets would present the best package for Haren, but maybe they have a shot at getting Blanton.  Lennon notes that the A’s are more eager to trade Blanton, since he’s arbitration-eligible for the first time.

Latest Mets Rumors: A-Rod, Silva, Blanton

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Plenty of action around the Mets lately; Omar Minaya has his work cut out for him.  Hat tip to MetsBlog for several of the links.

  • The sensational storyline here is that Minaya will meet with Scott Boras to discuss Alex Rodriguez.  However, Boras and Minaya might spend more time discussing Kyle Lohse and Eric Gagne than A-Rod – the Mets’ focus is pitching.
  • Newsday’s Ken Davidoff reminds us of past trade talks regarding Joe Blanton, Jose Contreras, and Jon Garland.  Those talks may be re-opened, though Davidoff notes that the White Sox aren’t enamored of Lastings Milledge.  Additionally, the Mets will meet with Carlos Silva’s people this week.
  • Buster Olney discusses the Mets’ pursuit for pitching today in his blog.  They need a horse, somebody who can chew up innings.  Aside from the aforementioned Silva and Blanton, Olney names Roy Oswalt, Dan Haren, Scott Kazmir, and Dontrelle Willis as possible targets (though Marc Lancaster considers the declaration of Kazmir’s availability to be "dubious at best."  Meanwhile one exec thinks the Rays would only make him available if "his arm is about to blow.")  Olney’s guess is that the Mets will acquire Blanton.  The Mets have some combination of Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber, Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, and Aaron Heilman to offer.  There are pros and cons to dealing each.
  • There are other concerns besides pitching: second base and catcher.  Besides the forthcoming monster offer to Jorge Posada, the Mets are considering Paul Lo Duca and Yorvit Torrealba as fallbacks.  Ramon Castro is looking for a two-year deal, and hopes it’s with the Mets.  However, the Rockies have their eye on him. 
  • Pedro Martinez expects to pitch beyond 2008.  Whether that will be for the Mets or someone else, who knows.
  • Marlon Anderson’s two-year deal will be announced today, according to Adam Rubin.  The Mets will pass on Jose Valentin and Brian Lawrence’s options.   

Mets Still Trying For Dan Haren?

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UPDATE: Spoke to my Mets source, and he indicated that the below trade possibility could be expanded to include Michael Devaney and Santiago Castilla.

According to a Bay Area official speaking to Gotham Baseball, the Mets and A’s "are finally discussing a deal that could send right-hander Danny Haren to the Mets in return for Aaron Heilman, Lastings Milledge and a minor league pitcher."

Gotham’s source goes on to say that the A’s would prefer to put Joe Blanton in that deal instead but the Mets are holding out for Haren.  Can Omar Minaya and Billy Beane find common ground here?

Tribune: Cubs After Heilman

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According to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs have interest in acquiring Aaron Heilman to be their fifth starter in 2007.  Heilman will be 28 next season.

Sullivan notes that Jim Hendry hopes to bring in one or two frontline starters not including Heilman. He doesn’t mention what the Cubs have that the Mets would want…Eric Patterson?

Healey: Red Sox Like Heilman, Milledge

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Mark Healey of Gotham Baseball has a new but familiar trade rumor for us: it appears that the Red Sox would like to acquire Aaron Heilman to be their closer next year.  In addition, Theo Epstein and Co. may have their eye on Lastings Milledge.  It could be the makings of a Manny Ramirez trade, if the Mets want to pay Ramirez’s $39MM salary over the next two seasons.

Healey was not able to confirm this info from multiple sources, but has faith in his Boston source here.

Manny’s contract may be slightly less daunting than it looks.  That’s because $8MM of the $31MM is deferred and will be paid out in $1.94MM doses over 2011-2026.  I believe that is the first time MLBTradeRumors has referenced the year 2026.

Mets To Deal Aaron Heilman?

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With Aaron Heilman being named a goat in some New York papers, the idea has arisen that the Mets should look to trade him.  Seems like shaky logic – if Heilman hadn’t allowed Yadier Molina to go deep, would that change everyone’s opinion?

Whether or not it’d be a "sell low" move by Omar Minaya, Heilman’s going to have some major value on the trade market.  He’s got a 3.37 ERA over the last two seasons (195 innings, mostly in relief).  Next year will be Heilman’s age 28 season.

The tantalizing thing about the 6-5 righty is that he seems capable of starting in the bigs.  Heilman hasn’t been a full-time starter since ’04, and he struggled in the role.  But it’s the plus changeup that seems to leave the possibility open.  Heilman will throw it behind in the count, and if he can work in his slider he might be able to go six solid innings.

Many teams would have interest in Heilman.  While the Mets have holes at LF and 2B, the consensus seems that they’d look to acquire the scarcest commodity, a starter.  We hear a lot about Heilman as part of a Dontrelle Willis package.  How about two other guys I keep talking about – Jason Jennings and Jake Westbrook?  Both reach free agency after 2007.  Doesn’t seem that Heilman alone would be enough, but it would be a good start.  If the Mets are without Pedro and Glavine to start 2007, they’re going to need two good replacements.

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