Dodgers Starting With Infield
More from Ken Rosenthal. The FOX hot stove guru says the Dodgers plan to sort out their infield before worrying about starting pitching. They can use Blake DeWitt at second or third, but that still leaves them two infielders short.
Casey Blake is the obvious free agent fit at the hot corner; maybe the Dodgers will stretch and give him that third year. If they miss out on Blake they could always go for Joe Crede. It doesn’t sound like Ned Colletti plans to sign any of the top three free agent shortstops, while talks have stalled for Jack Wilson. Just wondering, how about a trade for Miguel Tejada or Jason Bartlett?
Rosenthal sees plenty of starting pitching options for the Dodgers, tossing out names like Randy Wolf and Randy Johnson. Meanwhile Tom Krasovic says the Dodgers are gathering information on Johnson, Andy Pettitte, and Trevor Hoffman. Ken Gurnick adds Russ Springer to the mix. The Dodgers are searching for a veteran who can help the team’s young pitchers.
Rosenthal considers re-signing Manny Ramirez a longshot, meaning the Dodgers may have to turn to another free agent like Adam Dunn to replace his OBP and power.
Odds and Ends: Thorman, Sabathia, Pettitte
Links for Tuesday…
- Big League Stew names Scott Boras’ ten most notorious deals. Darren Dreifort also probably belongs on the list. Any others?
- Roch Kubatko of MASN Online debunks a rumor about the Orioles offering Brian Roberts a three-year contract with a soft deadline.
- ESPN’s Keith Law likes the Astros’ signing of Mike Hampton.
- The Brewers signed first baseman Scott Thorman to a minor league deal. He hit .251/.283/.465 at Triple A this year. Also, Salomon Torres officially retired.
- C.C. Sabathia attended a Golden State Warriors game last night, for what it’s worth.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti paid lip service to the idea of re-signing Rafael Furcal.
- Joel Sherman says Andy Pettitte is a phony if he signs with a team other than the Yankees. He says the Yanks made a $10MM offer. Craig Calcaterra weighs in on Sherman’s column at Shysterball.
- I did a Q&A with Mets Fans Forever.
- Blue Jays owner Ted Rogers passed away.
Cards Decline To Offer Arb To Springer, Looper, Isringhausen
TUESDAY: Another note from Strauss – it seems the Cardinals are moving on from Springer.
MONDAY: According to MLB.com’s Matthew Leach, the Cardinals declined to offer arbitration to Russ Springer, Braden Looper, and Jason Isringhausen (as well as their other free agents). The Looper decision comes as a surprise, as he earned only $5.5MM in ’08 and would’ve been a solid addition or trade chip for ’09. He’s a Type B free agent, but the Cards won’t get a pick now. Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Looper is seeking at least a three-year deal. Springer is a Type A, so now he’s much more attractive to other teams.
Strauss has a few other Cards notes. He says the Cardinals are not one of the teams interested in Randy Johnson, but may have interest in Andy Pettitte. Also, the signing of lefty reliever Trever Miller is being held up due to health concerns that surfaced at the physical.
Yankees Decline To Offer Arb To Pettitte, Abreu, Mussina
8:04pm: One of Abreu’s agents, Chris Leible, spoke to Peter Abraham. Though Cashman said he was still engaged with Abreu, Leible says he hasn’t heard from the Yankees once since the end of the season.
4:48pm: According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Yankees declined to offer arbitration to Type A free agents Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu, and Mike Mussina (and all other free agents). Peter Abraham and Ed Price may have had this on the web earlier; it was close.
The Abreu decision comes as a surprise; until this morning most believed the Yankees were willing to risk a one-year deal with him to have a chance at the two draft picks. Abreu is certainly more attractive to potential suitors now. Abraham has Brian Cashman saying the Yanks remain engaged with Abreu and Pettitte.
Another note from Heyman: the Yankees have not ruled out signing Manny Ramirez.
Colletti: “Some” Interest In Pettitte
George King of the New York Post swapped emails with Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, who admitted to "some" interest in free agent southpaw Andy Pettitte. Ken Rosenthal originally reported the Dodgers possibility on Tuesday, and on Wednesday Ken Davidoff talked to a team official who considered a deal unlikely.
With Pettitte considering the Dodgers, King says the Yanks have a dilemma regarding the decision to offer him arbitration. River Ave. Blues runs through the scenarios. In a recent poll of over 2,700 MLBTR readers, 39.1% expected the Yanks to offer Pettitte arbitration.
Pettitte Considering Dodgers
WEDNESDAY: Newsday’s Ken Davidoff talked to a Dodgers official who said it’s unlikely they will sign Pettitte.
TUESDAY: According to Ken Rosenthal, free agent lefty Andy Pettitte spoke to Joe Torre multiple times about the possibility of signing with the Dodgers. Rosenthal notes that Pettitte has a history of leaving when he doesn’t feel wanted, and the Yankees are taking a laid-back approach toward him this winter. Still, the Yankees remain Pettitte’s first choice. Rosenthal does not see Pettitte returning to Houston.
Stark’s Latest: Putz, Manny, Lackey, Ibanez
Let’s take a look at the latest column from ESPN’s Jayson Stark.
- Stark does the math and finds 15 potentially available closers versus six clubs in the market for one. Should result in a few bargains or teams holding on to their surpluses.
- The Mets don’t seem willing to extend to four years for Francisco Rodriguez. Stark says J.J. Putz would become the Mets’ top closer target if he’s made available. MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone wrote a few days ago that the Mets are likely to trade for a reliever with closing experience before attempting to sign one.
- J.P. Ricciardi quote: "We won’t be involved with Manny." Ricciardi last month: "He’s on our radar, but maybe not on our radar like some people will report."
- Despite reports to the contrary, Stark talked to a rival executive who says Jake Peavy made it "onto [the Angels’] radar pretty hard." Stark speculates that Peavy could fit if the Halos sign Mark Teixeira.
- It seems likely that the Angels will put out an offer to Teixeira with a deadline, and then either sign him or move on.
- John Lackey‘s been telling friends he expects to have an extension with the Angels by Opening Day. Lackey indicated last month he’d wait to see the Halos’ offensive plans before re-signing.
- Stark suspects the Players Union might be OK with C.C. Sabathia turning down a larger offer from the Yankees if he still signed for more than Johan Santana‘s $23MM per year. I don’t really see why Sabathia would worry about the union in any regard.
- The Dodgers inquired on the asking price of Jason Varitek, with the idea of moving Russell Martin to third base in mind. They balked at Scott Boras’ demand for Tek, however.
- Curt Schilling is "more likely than ever" to attempt a late June or early July comeback.
- Tons of teams have expressed some degree of interest in Raul Ibanez: the Mets, Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Royals, Rays, Blue Jays, Rangers, Angels, and Mariners. Some interesting new ones in there.
- The Phillies never made a two-year, $21MM offer to Pat Burrell. Will the Phils at least offer him arbitration? The rumored offer was questionable from Day 1, as Paul Hagen said Burrell "reportedly turned down a two-year, $22MM offer" but didn’t reference a specific report.
- Stark believes that the Brewers were not thrilled with the Yankees’ "overbid" for C.C. Sabathia, and therefore would prefer not to trade Mike Cameron to them. Dan Graziano wrote yesterday about the Yanks’ conversations for Cameron.
- Roy Oswalt wants the Astros to sign Ben Sheets, but the price tag may be too high. Stark has the following names on their radar: Randy Wolf, Mike Hampton, Freddy Garcia, Paul Byrd, and maybe Pedro Martinez. Is Drayton McLane willing to bring Andy Pettitte back? GM Ed Wade seemed interested in his chat yesterday, saying, "We’ll have to see what develops down the road."
Lowe Wants $16MM
Today we’ve heard Scott Boras wants a Zito-like contract for Derek Lowe, or at least a five-year deal. Now SI.com’s Jon Heyman says Lowe seeks $16MM per year, on par with Andy Pettitte‘s 2008 salary.
That salary is pretty reasonable; I would’ve thought Boras would start the bidding around $18MM and worked his way down. What do you think – four years, $64MM for Lowe?
Yankees Rumors: Abreu, Burnett, Teixeira
George King of the New York Post and Kat O’Brien of Newsday have the latest on the Yankees, who are in hot pursuit of free agent starting pitching.
- The Yankees will offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu, according to Jon Heyman. No surprise there.
- King says the Yankees are preparing an offer for A.J. Burnett, "perhaps a five-year deal worth about $80 million." Burnett’s agent says they’re just discussing parameters. It would be a strong offer, dwarfing the Blue Jays’ four years, $54MM. ESPN’s Buster Olney believes a fifth guaranteed year will ultimately result in the winning bid for Burnett.
- The Yankees may make an offer to Derek Lowe soon; they’ve reached out to Scott Boras regarding him. Other Lowe suitors: the Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets, and Rangers. O’Brien adds that the Yanks expressed interest in Mark Teixeira to Boras (despite the Nick Swisher acquisition). The Orioles are also in on in Tex.
- King talked to a "baseball exec" who sees the Cubs re-signing Ryan Dempster at four years, $52MM.
- Andy Pettitte‘s agent doesn’t want a pay cut from this year’s $16MM.
- The expectation is still for Mike Mussina to retire; we may know this week.
- The Yankees aren’t in on Jake Peavy, as evidenced by Kevin Towers’ comments last night. Rick Sutcliffe and Mark Grace have been pitching the Cubs to Peavy, though the hangup seems more about which players the Chicago would send to San Diego.
- The Yanks have an offer of about six years, $140MM on the table for C.C. Sabathia, and he’s mulling it over (somewhere).
Odds and Ends: Holliday, Takahashi, Lincecum
Links for Wednesday…
- Richard Justice says the Astros should offer Andy Pettitte $7-8MM to come back.
- Joe Christensen doesn’t see Huston Street landing in Minnesota.
- Larry Beinfest dismissed a "cyberspace rumor" that the Marlins are planning a run at Manny Ramirez.
- Gordon Wittenmyer says the Cubs could fit both Jake Peavy and Ryan Dempster into the payroll, and that the Peavy situation will be resolved first.
- Today is the deadline for MLB.com’s Free Agent Frenzy. You have until 4pm CST to submit your picks for 15 free agents. Here are my predictions from November 3rd…I would change the Furcal and Sheets ones for starters.
- Who had the Matt Holliday scoop? SI.com’s Jon Heyman broke the story, while Yahoo’s Tim Brown was the first to name the players involved.
- Holliday figures to be a three to six month rental for the A’s. Over at FanGraphs, Dave Cameron takes a closer look at Carlos Gonzalez and Greg Smith. ESPN’s Keith Law says the Rockies received a "fair return" for Holliday.
- Athletics Nation suggests the A’s sign Derek Lowe.
- Ken Davidoff looks at the Yankees’ seesawing philosophy.
- Japanese southpaw Ken Takahashi intends to sign with an MLB club, and the Mets may be interested. Nikkan Sports says the Cubs, Padres, and Giants are also in on him.
- River Ave. Blues looks ahead to Derek Jeter‘s next contract.
- Andrew Baggarly reminds us that Tim Lincecum intends to go year to year.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney talked to one GM who expects "a whole lot of bargains" in late January, given the nation’s economy.
- Rany Jazayerli didn’t like the Royals’ acquisition of Mike Jacobs, but doesn’t think it’s the end of the world.
- Braves GM Frank Wren on Jeff Francoeur: "We haven’t talked about him at all. It’s not to say that we wouldn’t."