Crede, Gagne Twins Talks Held Up?
A few people have sent in this link from Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, which contains one Twins hot stove line:
The word is that length of contract is holding up the Twins’ signing of former White Sox third baseman Joe Crede and relief pitcher Eric Gagne.
The implication is that the two Scott Boras clients are seeking more than one year, which would be a surprise. If the Twins do get Crede, he’ll be one of just a handful of players to make the Chicago-Minnesota jump.
A’s, Twins, Dodgers Eyeing Russ Springer
According to Ken Rosenthal, the A’s, Twins, and Dodgers are pursuing Russ Springer. Rosenthal adds that the Twins prefer Springer to Eric Gagne. The Twins’ interest in Springer was first reported by Seth Stohs, while Buster Olney mentioned the A’s a few days ago. Ken Gurnick had the Springer-Dodgers connection back in December.
Twins Rumors: Crede, Gagne, Springer
La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune checks in with the latest on the Twins.
- Free agent third baseman Joe Crede will work out for scouts next week, and the Twins are expected to attend. Neal’s source says Crede believes he’s finally overcome his back problems with a minor surgery this winter. He’s willing to sign for one year to re-establish himself.
- Brandon Lyon and Eric Gagne remain in the Twins’ sights, with the Twins "swapping offers" with Scott Boras for Gagne.
- Neal was able to confirm a rumor first reported by Seth Stohs: the Twins have interest in Russ Springer.
Twins Closing In On Gagne?
La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune heard from an insider source that the Twins aren’t far apart in contract negotiations with Eric Gagne.
A second source cautioned that the team is looking at several relievers, and that Gagne is only one of them, but it appears the Twins are finally close to inking some bullpen help. Gagne, 33, posted a 3.52 ERA after the All-Star break last season. He had a 5.44 ERA in 50 appearances overall.
Twins Pursuing Lyon, Gagne
MLB.com’s Kelly Thesier has an update on the Twins’ ongoing search for a setup man. According to her report, the team is focused on Brandon Lyon and Eric Gagne.
- Lyon has drawn interest from several teams this offseason and, according to his agent, could sign with one of them next week. The Tigers and Cardinals are two of the teams in pursuit of his services. The 29-year-old righty posted a 4.70 ERA while recording 26 saves for the Diamondbacks last season.
- A source told Thesier that the Twins have actually discussed terms with Gagne’s representatives. He’s coming off his worst major league season and should come fairly cheap. Then again, his agent is Scott Boras.
Twins Inquire On Eric Gagne
According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins inquired on free agent reliever Eric Gagne. Gagne, a Scott Boras client, posted a 5.44 ERA in 46.3 innings for the Brewers in ’08. It was $10MM poorly spent, though it was cool when Gagne bought up several thousand tickets to a September game and gave them away for free.
Rangers Rumors: Manny, Sheets, Gagne, Young
SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in with a post on the Rangers; most of the info came up during his recent MLB Network appearance.
- Heyman says the Rangers "are considering a pursuit" of Manny Ramirez, noting that Jon Daniels isn’t currently pursuing him but didn’t rule it out. Heyman still considers the Dodgers and Giants the top suitors. El Lefty Malo doesn’t seem him landing with San Francisco.
- The Rangers maintain interest in Ben Sheets and are also considering bringing Eric Gagne back. T.R. Sullivan also mentions Tim Redding, Chad Cordero, Jason Isringhausen, and Eddie Guardado.
- The Rangers have received inquiries on Vicente Padilla (Braves) and Michael Young. Young has been loosely linked to the Twins, Mets, Angels, Dodgers, and Royals. Sullivan names Hank Blalock and Kevin Millwood as other trade candidates.
Brewers Offer Arb To Sabathia, Sheets, Shouse
According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Brewers offered arbitration to C.C. Sabathia (Type A), Ben Sheets (Type A), and Brian Shouse (Type B). They declined to offer arb to Eric Gagne (Type B).
Sheets and Shouse were the question marks. The Brewers apparently don’t mind getting Shouse back on a one-year deal, though he seeks two years. Sheets also seems likely to decline and pursue multiple years. If he declines and signs elsewhere, his new team will lose a draft pick to the Brewers. Ken Davidoff wonders if Sheets might accept the offer.
Odds and Ends: Patterson, Lowry, Alvarez
Today’s linkage…
- Brewers fans, act quickly to snag free tickets to tonight’s game courtesy of Eric Gagne. Nice gesture.
- Of course Ned Colletti wants to re-sign Manny Ramirez. It’s just a question of dollars and years. Does Manny get the rumored 4/100 he might desire?
- The Jays locked manager Cito Gaston up through 2010.
- Richard Griffin says the Blue Jays will be better for it if they lose A.J. Burnett. Meanwhile, River Ave. Blues is open to the idea of the Yankees signing him.
- No, Corey Patterson is not dating Dusty Baker’s daughter. And Baker says he wasn’t behind the signing, either.
- The Reds might not be in the market for a catcher this winter, if they go with Ryan Hanigan as the starter in ’09.
- The Mariners officially founded the 100/100 club.
- Peter Abraham sees the Yankees going with Brett Gardner as the center fielder in 2009. Peter Gammons is "convinced he is going to be an everyday center fielder."
- Sam Mellinger discusses a way to drastically shake up the Royals: trade both Zack Greinke and Joakim Soria for loads of young, cheap players. As he notes, the strategy could work out but might cause a fan revolt.
- Andrew Baggarly wonders if Noah Lowry‘s injury problems could prevent a Matt Cain trade. Also, Baggarly sees a non-tender in Kevin Correia‘s future.
- Frank Coonelly suggested Pedro Alvarez‘s new deal is comparable in value to the original. Scott Boras then jumped on the conference call to say it was a favorable change, and much different from the original. Additionally, Coonelly contacted Baseball America’s Jim Callis to dispute the idea of a premeditated plan to negotiate with Alvarez after the deadline.
- The Marlins will focus on improving their defense this winter.
Week in Review: 8/17 – 8/23
Another week in the books, and we keep seeing big names moved after the July 31 non-waiver deadline. Let’s look back on the past week:
- The Dodgers acquired Greg Maddux from the Padres for two minor league players to be named later. Nice acquisition to bolster their rotation, and does anyone want to place bets on how excited 20-year-old Clayton Kershaw is to get tips from Maddux every day for the rest of the season?
- The Pirates are exploring the idea of trading Jack Wilson this offseason more and more. Given the slim free agent market for shortstops, he would likely gather a lot of interest.
- Nate Robertson’s struggles this season have lost him his spot in the rotation, but have they also lost him a spot with the Tigers after 2008?
- Orlando Hernandez needs surgery on his foot, and that could likely mean that El Duque’s career would be over.
- Lots of speculation lately about where Ben Sheets is going to land after 2008. And while there’s no way to tell right now, Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman have stepped up and said they would like the Astros front office to go out and sign him in the offseason.
- A lot of minor-league deals signed this week: Kip Wells signed with Kansas City, the Mets added Al Reyes, the Astros signed Jose Castillo, the Red Sox signed Dave Ross, and the Braves took a flyer on Rodrigo Lopez following his Tommy John surgery last year. The Jays made a trade to acquire Jose Bautista for a PTBNL as well.
- The Rangers would like Milton Bradley back in 2009, and the feeling is mutual, though negotiations will wait until after the season. Similarly, Frank Thomas would prefer to stay with the A’s in 2009.
- Eric Gagne, David Riske, and David Weathers all cleared waivers this week. The first two make sense to me, but given Weathers’ success this year, his affordable contract for the rest of the season, and all of the teams desperately seeking bullpen help, it seems strange that no one would place a claim on him. Here’s an updated list of all the players who have been confirmed to have cleared waivers this year.