Coco Still Possibility For Cubs, White Sox
Two suitors for the affable Coco Crisp, both in the Windy City.
According to Chris De Luca at the Chicago Sun Times,
"The Cubs and Red Sox have had talks centering on Crisp in recent weeks, though the subject was broached by Boston, sources say, and evidently the Red Sox were not interested when the Cubs dangled outfielder Matt Murton. Talks could resume during spring training, however, depending on the Red Sox’ need for starting pitching — an area where the Cubs are expected to have some surplus with Ryan Dempster or Jason Marquis getting nudged out of the rotation."
And also from the same source,
"They, too, could find themselves in the market later in camp if Jerry Owens doesn’t pan out in center. Manager Ozzie Guillen has long admired Crisp, but the White Sox don’t figure to have a surplus of starting pitching by the end of spring training."
On a related side note, I caught the BoSox/Twins preseason game on Friday night and got a chance to watch Twins CF incumbent Carlos Gomez unload a scud missile from centerfield to get Dustin Pedroia at homeplate. With Gomez in house, I can see why rumors of the Twins as an option for Coco have cooled. Thoughts?
Gammons’ Latest: Bonds, Murton
ESPN’s Peter Gammons has a new blog post with some hot stove info.
- Gammons has a quote from Andrew Friedman that should be the final word on Barry Bonds to Tampa Bay: If I didn’t entertain ideas, be it a signing of a great hitter like Bonds or a trade, I should be fired. But that is past. Let’s take Friedman at his word and rule Bonds out for the Rays.
- Gammons notes that the Cubs have discussed Matt Murton with the Rangers and Red Sox, but he alone wouldn’t get them Marlon Byrd or Coco Crisp. Murton was drafted 32nd overall by Boston in ’03, and then traded to the Cubs a year later in the Nomar Garciaparra deal. Murton would remain pretty well blocked in Boston though.
Brian Roberts Rumors
Yesterday, SI.com’s Jon Heyman wrote that the Cubs-Orioles Brian Roberts trade talks still have a little life, and the O’s are scouting various young Cubs. On Sunday Jim Salisbury said the Orioles only needed to decide which pitchers they want to complete a deal.
Today, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times checks in with the latest. To begin with, Mark DeRosa‘s heart complications seem under control, and won’t force the Cubs’ hand.
Wittenmyer adds that the ball is indeed in Baltimore’s court, and their scouts will need at least a week to observe various Cubs. He says the Orioles are requesting Ronny Cedeno, Sean Gallagher, and two more top youngsters. That steep price could cause the Cubs to turn to Coco Crisp or Marlon Byrd. However, neither the Red Sox nor the Rangers seem to value either as a fourth outfielder.
Theo Epstein WEEI Interview: Crisp, Santana
WEEI recently posted an interesting interview with Red Sox GM Theo Epstein. Epstein was frank with his answers and didn’t duck questions. A few points of interest:
- Epstein observed a "horrible free agent market, bereft of talent." The one surplus he noted was center field, which he feels resulted in the lack of a trade market for Coco Crisp (the best defensive center fielder in the game last year, according to Epstein). Epstein said he learned his lesson with Jay Payton and does not want to be forced to trade Crisp as he was Payton. He won’t deal Crisp from a "position of weakness." Michael Silverman believes a team will have to have its center fielder significantly injured for a market for Crisp to develop. Or, a prospect like Felix Pie or Colby Rasmus will have to prove not ready or be traded.
- As for Johan Santana, the Red Sox were "in it, with limits." Epstein said he left the Twins with two solid offers, but Bill Smith wanted a package that would’ve been "completely irresponsible." He felt that Boston’s offer was better than that of the Mets.
Odds and Ends: Crisp, Stewart, Meyer
Let’s round ’em up!
- I’m doing a fantasy baseball mailbag feature at The Hardball Times. Check out the first entry.
- Nothing really new from Coco Crisp…if he loses the center field battle, he’ll probably prefer a trade.
- The Brewers are close to a minor league deal with Russell Branyan, who might have a hard time sniffing the big league roster anytime this season.
- The Toronto Star relays from J.P. Ricciardi that the Blue Jays no longer have an offer on the table for Shannon Stewart.
- Turns out Oakland’s Dan Meyer has a fourth option, meaning he’s likely to lose the fifth starter battle to Dana Eveland.
- I can’t help it…I love the Juan Gonzalez story. I’m rooting for him for no apparent reason.
- Mark Teixeira didn’t offer much info regarding extension talks with the Braves. He did refute that report about building a home in Atlanta and another about a rift with Scott Boras.
- Peter Abraham thinks the Yanks should trade Hideki Matsui.
Odds and Ends: Helms, Bako, Crisp
I am going to toss today’s non-Santana odds and ends into this post.
- Paul Hagen runs through some possibilities for the likely-to-be-traded Wes Helms: Marlins, Rays, Twins, Giants, and A’s. Any teams you’d like to add to his speculation?
- The Pirates have moved on from Johnny Estrada to Paul Bako. He’d battle to back up Ronny Paulino.
- OK this is Santana-related. Gordon Edes says the Red Sox will listen to offers for Coco Crisp, but are fine with keeping him around as perhaps the game’s best fourth outfielder. See any good fits for Crisp?
Johan Santana Traded To Mets
UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 4:22: Ken Rosenthal says the 72-hour window to sign Santana is now open.
UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 3:15pm: Bob Nightengale of USA Today says an agreement to trade Santana to the Mets has been reached. They’ll send Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, Deolis Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey to the Twins. The Mets still have to work out a six or seven year extension for Santana, according to Nightengale. If this baby reaches its true conclusion we’ll sit down and analyze.
UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 2:55pm: More from Olney. His sources say the Mets have the best offer, the Red Sox also made offers, and the Yanks are out. Santana apparently asked the Twins to make a decision, wrap this thing up. Wrap it up! Olney is not sure whether F-Mart is part of the Mets’ offer.
UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 2:06pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman weighs in. He sees the Mets as the frontrunner, the Red Sox on the fringes, and the Yankees as nearly out of the running. The Mets are offering Gomez/Humber/Mulvey/Guerra but not Fernando Martinez. If they get Santana, the Mets will commit to only five years but with a high average annual value of $22-25MM.
UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 1:11pm: WFAN’s Mike Francesa believes the Twins upped their offer to five years, $100MM for Santana, but he rejected it.
UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 9:42am: ESPN’s Buster Olney says the Twins asked for each team’s "last and best offers" on Monday. They could decide Santana’s fate as early as today. Olney adds that the Yankees "appear to be not presently engaged whatsoever in the Santana talks." Olney used to be a Yankees beat writer, so he’s bound to have a good line on this.
As for the Red Sox – Olney is hearing conflicting things about Jon Lester‘s availability. It’s possible that Lester could only be had in a more limited package – he, Coco Crisp, and not much else.
FROM 1-29-08 at 8:02am:
Over at MetsBlog today, Matthew Cerrone does a nice job summing up the Johan Santana situation.
The New York Daily News indicates that the Mets are the one team pushing for Santana, but the Twins might use the Erik Bedard haul as a measuring stick. Joel Sherman sees it as a Mets-Red Sox battle. He notes that Carlos Gomez will skip the Caribbean Series not because of an impending trade but just to limit his games.
We could finally get some kind of resolution with Santana this week. Just to keep things interesting, check out Mark Healey’s note about the Dodgers "creeping into the picture."
A’s Interested In Cameron
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports in with new info regarding an A’s target. She says Mike Cameron is in their sights, and the A’s have had "several conversations" with his agent. The A’s weren’t mentioned as a contender for Cameron last night; he is expected to land with the Brewers or Yankees.
Slusser also names a couple of available right-handed hitting free agent outfielders in Reggie Sanders and Rondell White. Those are just examples, though – there is no current indication that the A’s have interest.
Slusser adds that there’s nothing to recent rumors of a Huston Street for Coco Crisp swap. That one sounds like fan speculation (in fact I think I saw it in our comments somewhere).
Notes From Hot Stove, Cool Music: Cashman, Santana, Varitek
A few interesting tidbits came about via the Hot Stove, Cool Music charitable event on Saturday. The Boston Herald’s Rob Bradford has the details.
- Brian Cashman admitted that he lost some power when the Hank and Hal regime took over. He no longer has full authority to run everything, a sticking point when he signed on several years ago. It would not be shocking to see Cashman move on when his term ends after the 2008 season. He’s finishing up a three-year, $5.4MM deal.
- For what it’s worth, Theo Epstein seemed to indicate that the dragging Johan Santana talks are not holding up other moves for the Red Sox. But really it’s hard to believe that Coco Crisp‘s situation hasn’t been delayed. Boston already lost the White Sox as a suitor, most likely.
- During Spring Training, Scott Boras plans to begin contract extension talks with the Red Sox for Jason Varitek. Here’s a look at other free agent backstops the Sox could consider after the ’08 season. Kenji Johjima could be an interesting signing.
Gammons Chat: Crisp, Santana, Ramirez
The Boston Globe ran a chat with Peter Gammons today, and some good hot stove material came about.
- Gammons believes the Rangers or A’s could go after Coco Crisp if he’s not dealt to the Twins. He notes that "the A’s think he’s the best CF in the game right now," and that Billy Beane could acquire him to flip him.
- He says the Mets are currently trying to build up inventory to trade for Johan Santana, and that might be why Bill Smith hasn’t pulled the trigger on anything yet.
- Gammons believes the Red Sox will exercise Manny Ramirez‘s $20MM options for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He notes that Manny is getting himself into phenomenal shape this winter.