Odds and Ends: Riske, Bedard, Wolf
And now for your daily jumble o’ rumors. More to come.
- The Twins cleared several spots on their 40-man roster…will they be active next week?
- The Yankees have "reached out" to free agent reliever David Riske. Troy Percival and Ron Mahay have also been linked to the Yanks this offseason.
- The Dodgers have an interest in Tony Clark, which has to bum out James Loney. Dylan Hernandez also notes that the Dodgers’ talks for Erik Bedard have stalled because the Orioles want to see what happens with Miguel Cabrera first. Ned Colletti expects Jeff Kent back, by the way.
- The Cards won’t be afraid to trade their young pitching (Anthony Reyes, Tyler Johnson, and Brad Thompson) for veteran pitching. They also still like Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse, if the price is right.
- Bob Dutton reports that the Royals’ Yasuhiko Yabuta signing will be finalized at week’s end. Meanwhile nothing is imminent with Jose Guillen.
- Linked to this earlier in a D’Backs post…the Phils are in "serious talks" with Randy Wolf. As I said there, that shouldn’t stop them from going after a more reliable starter.
- Things are heating up between the Twins and Red Sox for Coco Crisp, but that’s all Gordon Edes has for us on the topic.
- As expected, the market for Mike Cameron has picked up now that Torii Hunter signed.
Royals Pursue Guillen, Reportedly Set With Yabuta
The Royals were in on the Torii Hunter sweepstakes, having offered five years and $70 million, with every intention of going higher if necessary. Now that the Angels have locked him up, Jose Guillen has become the "indisputable No. 1 on the Royals’ list of off-season targets."
“Obviously, our objective remains the same,” general manager Dayton Moore said. “We do want to acquire a right-handed bat to hit in the middle of our order, and we’ll keep working through every opportunity imaginable.”
Bob Dutton thinks that losing out on Hunter could have added benefits. In addition to acquiring the cheaper Guillen, the Royals could use the Hunter money to pursue RHPs Hiroki Kuroda or Carlos Silva.
Each is seeking a four-year, $40 million deal. Added with Guillen’s asking price of three years, $30 million (though that could come down with his steroid allegations), that’s the $70 million they were offering Hunter.
Dutton also reports that the Royals have a deal in place for RHP Yasuhiko Yabuta on a two-year deal for between $5 and $6 million, with a club option for 2010. The deal should be announced once Yabuta makes his way to the States for his physical.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.
Wood On BoSox Radar
In Nick Cafardo’s column in the Boston Globe today, he mentions that Kerry Wood is on Sox’s radar. He says they envision him as the guy they were looking for when they traded for Eric Gagne on July 31. Unfortunately, this may not jibe with Wood’s intentions. As Tim has discussed here, he might be looking to remain as a starter, though that would limit the teams that are interested in him. Presumably, given his injury history and temporary success as a reliever in ’07, more teams would line up to have Wood in their bullpens.
The Cubs, who could use Wood either as a starter or a reliever — even a closer — remain the front runners. Other teams with a noted interest include the Reds, the Rangers, and the Yankees.
Cafardo also offers up the standard-issue rumors regarding Matt Clement (Padres or Royals), Bartolo Colon (Giants, Cubs, White Sox, Phillies), and Kris Benson ("drawing a lot of interest"). He also mentions the Tigers in connection with Livan Hernandez, Carlos Silva, and obviously Kenny Rogers. He also notes that without Joel Zumaya, the team might be looking at Eric Gagne.
And then there’s the recycled Miguel Cabrera talks. Cafardo describes the situation as we’ve all known it for some time now (guess what…Angels and Dodgers!).
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.
Cardinals Interested In Silva, Lohse
Joe Strauss has the latest regarding the Cardinals’ pursuit for starting pitching. The team is interested in free agents Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse. Matthew Leach recently quoted John Mozeliak as searching for a starter with some upside, so maybe the Cards favor Lohse. They’d have to tangle with Scott Boras to get him – I’ve heard some speculate that Lohse could get a Gil Meche 5/55 deal.
Strauss’s article also mentions that the Cards are exploring options besides David Eckstein for shortstop. They’ve recently been linked to Cesar Izturis. Maybe the Cardinals could try to get a shortstop in return for Scott Rolen, someone like Erick Aybar or Rafael Furcal. Derrick Goold recently had a nice breakdown of the available shortstop options.
Finally, Strauss’s report adds that Mozeliak "downplayed any interest in Barry Bonds." It might be tough to fit both Chris Duncan and Bonds into the outfield.
Mariners Searching For Starters
John Hickey has an update on the Mariners’ starting pitching targets. The options look grim.
As far as trade targets, there’s always Johan Santana and Dontrelle Willis. The Mariners have long had their eye on Dontrelle, so maybe they’d offer a Wladimir Balentien/Jeff Clement package.
Carlos Silva might be on the radar, but Hickey says the vibe is that he could get north of $12MM per season. A better deal might be Hiroki Kuroda, who is estimated to earn $7-9MM annually by Hickey. The Mariners may have the edge on Kuroda because of their location and Japanese catcher. I keep reading that Kuroda throws in the mid-90s…forgive me if I’m skeptical.
Hickey notes that Bartolo Colon might also be on the radar, and implies that they could pick up Carl Pavano on a whim if he’s released.
Odds and Ends: Rolen, Silva, Capps
Here are some hot stove links to digest this evening.
- The New York Post’s Joel Sherman runs down some third base options for the Yankees. He feels that Scott Rolen, Bill Hall, Freddy Sanchez, and a few others might be reasonable options. Bernie Miklasz says there’s no indication any team is truly interested in Rolen, though Randy Youngman suggests the Angels may look at him.
- Youngman also believes the Halos have slight interest in Carlos Silva, if he can be had at less than $10MM annually. Not bloody likely.
- Jon Paul Morosi thinks the Tigers could go after the Pirates’ Damaso Marte, Salomon Torres, or even Matt Capps.
- Hat tip to Bucco Blog on the Sherman and Morosi links above. Check out Jake’s latest post, where he uncovers some interesting minor league free agents.
- Rob Biertempfel names David Riske, Doug Brocail, Shawn Camp, and Scott Linebrink as some relievers the Pirates might consider. I imagine Riske and Linebrink will be too pricey.
- Troy E. Renck believes the Rockies might inquire about Cliff Lee.
- RotoAuthority assesses the health risks within the Nationals’ rotation.
Reds Have Roughly $6MM To Spend?
Reds beat writer John Fay takes his guess at the team’s 2008 payroll: around $75MM. By his estimate, their current players will tie up $69MM of that. That would leave just $6MM to spend on free agents this winter, unless someone is traded to clear payroll.
The Reds’ need is pitching, both of the starting and relieving variety. Carlos Silva would be a nice addition to the rotation. If Wayne Krivsky is creative with the contract he could probably sign him for 4/40 and still stay around $75MM for ’08.
Joe Christensen recently reported on the teams interested in Silva, but the Reds weren’t one of them. He listed the Mets, Phillies, Royals, and Tigers. My money is on the Mets or Phillies.
Royals Rumors: Cordero, Silva, Guillen
Some good info surfacing regarding the Royals, as usual courtesy of the KC Star’s Bob Dutton.
- While Joakim Soria will remain in the pen, the Royals want to add more relief help. They could re-sign David Riske, and even plan to contact Francisco Cordero‘s agent (Bean Stringfellow). Bringing back Octavio Dotel is also being considered, though Soria would remain the closer.
- Ron Mahay is on the radar. It’s thought that he’ll require something close to a three-year, $12MM deal as one of the better southpaw relievers out there. Riske wants a deal like that too. Dayton, just take the draft pick.
- I’ve yet to mention here Dayton Moore’s quotes. Basically, steroid allegations won’t affect the team’s pursuit of any player, meaning they still like Jose Guillen. It’s not surprising to see GMs moving in this direction.
- Japan presents options such as Hitoki Iwase, Kazuo Fukumori, and Yashuhiko Yabuta. New manager Trey Hillman observed Iwase up close this year.
- What about more starting pitching? The Royals like Carlos Silva, Hiroki Kuroda, Kris Benson, Matt Clement, and Jason Jennings. Something useful could come out of that.
- By the way, the Royals saw Glendon Rusch work out recently. The swingman came up as a Royal before being traded to the Mets in ’99.
Twins Willing To Trade Garza
Terry Ryan hung on to his fine corral of young pitchers, and it’s hard to find fault with that. However, new GM Bill Smith is open to dealing one of them for a high impact young hitter.
Specifically, Joe Christensen says the Twins are willing to move 24 year-old Matt Garza, who posted a 3.69 ERA this year. The price would be huge – the names the Twins have in mind are Delmon Young, B.J. Upton, and Carlos Gomez. Upton, a favorite of theirs, seems like the least available of the three. Marc Topkin agrees that a Young-Garza rumor has been floating around.
If the Twins want to make a lesser deal, teams have also been asking about Kevin Slowey and Scott Baker. But those two aren’t chopped liver, and Rocco Baldelli doesn’t seem like enough. The Padres want in on the young pitchers, but aren’t willing to give up third baseman Chase Headley.
There’s also word in Christensen’s article that the Twins haven’t heard back from Torii Hunter and Carlos Silva regarding their weak offers. A more legitimate effort will be made to re-sign Johan Santana.
Tigers Could Lose Rogers, Move On To Silva
Leave it to Scott Boras to be unsatisfied with Kenny Rogers‘ declarations that he will either play for the Tigers or retire. Boras told Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski yesterday that Rogers wanted to explore the open market.
The Tigers remain Rogers’ first choice, but Boras wants to be make sure the the 43-year old southpaw is paid at a level commensurate with his peers. To Boras that would be the Maddux-Schilling-Glavine range, which is roughly $10MM. Rogers earned $8MM in 2007, and is probably a tad less appealing than that trio. According to Jon Paul Morosi (linked above), the Mariners and Rangers would be in the mix if the Tigers couldn’t get something done.
Dombrowski won’t let the Rogers wrinkle stop him from pursuing other pitchers. Morosi says the Tigers have already expressed interest in Carlos Silva. Wow, that list is growing rapidly.
The team’s other focus is relief pitching, given Joel Zumaya‘s injury. They still want to re-sign Todd Jones, and Matt Mantei is a mildly interesting wild card. Morosi added today that the Tigers have talked to the Rockies about Brian Fuentes. Morosi says relievers from the Cubs and Pirates could also be available – I’m guessing Ryan Dempster, Will Ohman, Damaso Marte, and Salomon Torres. An intriguing trade option: Jose Valverde.