Gagne May Accept Arbitration
According to Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald, Eric Gagne may accept Boston’s offer of arbitration. The deadline for that decision occurs tomorrow. Bradford says a surprising number of players might accept tomorrow.
Bradford thinks it may just be posturing, and Gagne will hook on to close with the Brewers, Rangers, or Astros. After all, he’d make more money in 2009 if he finished ’08 with 30 saves.
Rangers Rumors: Lamb, Gagne, Prior
As usual, Evan Grant has the latest Rangers hot stove buzz.
- New acquisition Chris Shelton may see some time at first base for the Rangers. As far as left-handed hitters, the Rangers’ options are Mike Lamb, Sean Casey, and in-house choice Frank Catalanotto.
- Free agents Eric Gagne, LaTroy Hawkins, Corey Patterson, and Milton Bradley are still on the radar.
- Contrary to previous reports, the Rangers aren’t interested in Mark Prior.
- The Rangers don’t want to move Vicente Padilla or Kevin Millwood as straight-up salary dumps.
Rangers Rumors: Patterson, Bradley, Bay
T.R. Sullivan recently filed his Rangers report at MLB.com.
- The Rangers will meet with Scott Boras soon to talk about Eric Gagne.
- Another topic for the Boras conversation: Corey Patterson.
- The Rangers like Milton Bradley, and have asked for his medical reports. Bradley’s agent said a few days ago that he would be ready for Opening Day.
- The Bucs’ asking prices for Jason Bay and Nate McLouth were deemed too high – Eric Hurley and Elvis Andrus were suggested.
- External first base options: Mike Lamb, Tony Clark, and Ben Broussard.
Odds and Ends: Tavarez, Lieber, Stewart
Another collection…
- A few notes from Brian Cashman…the Yanks have talked to Luis Vizcaino‘s agent about bringing him back. Also, they’ve yet to inquire on any free agent center fielders.
- Miguel Cabrera has been talking to Ozzie Guillen daily since the season ended. The article makes Cabrera sound like a big kid.
- The Red Sox have had a couple of inquiries on Julian Tavarez.
- Five or six teams have inquired on Shannon Stewart, who wants a two-year pact apparently.
- The Phillies, contrary to previous reports, are not interested in re-signing Jon Lieber.
- On a scale of 1 to 10, the chances of the Astros trading for a Miguel Tejada were rated a 2. The ‘Stros don’t want to give up the farm. That’s also why Joe Nathan is unlikely for Houston.
- Scott Boras recently called Ed Wade to sell him on Eric Gagne, Jeff Weaver, and Rodrigo Lopez. Wade seemed unimpressed.
- Nothing much new on the Padres front – still interested in Kosuke Fukudome, Geoff Jenkins, Jim Edmonds, Darin Erstad, and Mark Prior.
- Brian Cashman’s phone has been ringing off the hook about Melky Cabrera.
Rangers Rumors: Bay, Gagne, Fukudome
T.R. Sullivan has the Rangers goods for us this evening. Wow, did MLB.com send 30+ reporters out to Nashville?
- The Rangers are still pursuing Eric Gagne to return as their closer (and then maybe they’d flip him again). The interest is mutual.
- The team is also considering LaTroy Hawkins, Shawn Chacon, Luis Vizcaino, Trever Miller, and Octavio Dotel. Basically, most of the relief market. Problem is, the Rangers don’t want to give more than one year to any of these guys.
- The Rangers are moving toward filling center field internally after exploring options. Carlos Gomez, Felix Pie, and Carlos Gonzalez proved unavailable or too pricey (though if all the Mets wanted for Gomez was Gerald Laird, Daniels should’ve pounced).
- Daniels has shifted gears to a corner outfielder. Kosuke Fukudome remains on the radar.
- The Rangers had a preliminary conversation with the Bucs about Jason Bay.
- The team isn’t focused on getting pitching for once, but Daniels is still perusing medical reports on Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, and Jason Jennings.
- Daniels said he’s not shopping Hank Blalock.
Brewers Rumors: Crede, Riske, Gagne, Dotel
MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy recently filed a report with a few new Brewers tidbits. Nothing new on the Scott Rolen front, but feel free to jump over to that rumor to discuss it. On to McCalvy’s article:
- The Brewers briefly discussed Joe Crede at last month’s GM Meetings. The Brewers and White Sox have been on friendly terms in the past; maybe they can work something out. There hasn’t been much buzz about Crede lately, but the Carlos Quentin acquisition seems to punch his ticket out of town.
- The Brewers passed on an effective one-year, $8.5MM contract for Geoff Jenkins for ’08. The Brewers prefer to replace him with a lefty hitter with a solid OBP, but don’t find the free agent options to be superior. A Gabe Gross/Tony Gwynn Jr. combo may be sufficient.
- The David Riske signing may be announced Tuesday, but the Brewers need to clear up a 40-man roster spot first. My guess is that Melvin will dispense of Kevin Mench one way or another.
- The Brewers have a passing interest in Eric Gagne and Octavio Dotel, but probably won’t end up with either due to injury concerns. Melvin has not been in touch with their agents.
Odds and Ends: Colon, Clark, Gagne
Random rumors, let’s round ’em up.
- How about Bartolo Colon to the Mets? David Lennon notes that Omar Minaya sold the farm to acquire him in 2002 as the Expos’ GM.
- Scott Lauber says Aaron Rowand is insisting on a five-year deal. He adds that the Phils have interest in Geoff Jenkins but he might be too expensive.
- Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller are considered untouchable, so don’t look for the Tigers to make any big trades.
- Patrick Saunders runs down some free agents the Rockies may consider for the back end of their rotation: Tony Armas, Matt Clement, Steve Trachsel, Josh Fogg, Jason Jennings, Jon Lieber, Mark Redman, Brett Tomko, and Kip Wells.
- The Rays may go after Tony Clark, in large part because they’re seeking leadership. Marc Topkin agrees, and also rattles off Geoff Jenkins, Brad Wilkerson, Cliff Floyd, Mike Lamb, Mark Sweeney, Corey Koskie, and Greg Nortion as other possibilities.
- It’s expected that Eric Gagne will not accept Boston’s offer of arbitration, because he wants to close. One place he could do so is Texas, who like him if he’ll take one year.
- The Marlins’ new marketing materials exclude Miguel Cabrera.
- The Rangers have interest in Sean Casey and Mike Lamb.
Today’s Arbitration Decisions
The decision whether to offer your own free agent arbitration can affect your team in two ways: you may end up retaining a player you didn’t want, or you may score a draft pick or two as compensation. With that in mind let’s run down the rumors regarding some Type A and B free agents.
- The Red Sox plan on offering arbitration to Type B Eric Gagne. Worst case scenario, they hang onto him for one more year. Best case, they get a sandwich pick.
- The Astros have to decide on Trever Miller and Mark Loretta. Both are Type Bs, but the Astros might not want them back. Richard Justice notes that the old Astro regime made a mistake not offering arbitration to Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.
- The Angels decided not to offer arby to Bartolo Colon, because the most they could give him would be a 20% pay cut. So best case scenario they could get him for one year, $11.2MM. Colon is not a Type A or B, so there’s no compensation regardless.
- The Phils will offer arb to Aaron Rowand but not Freddy Garcia. Rowand is a Type A, Garcia a Type B. It’s a no-brainer with Rowand, who will hopefully net them a first-round pick plus a supplemental depending on who he signs with. With Garcia they risked getting burned as he might’ve accepted.
- The D’Backs will offer arbitration to Livan Hernandez, who will likely decline it to pursue a three-year deal. He’s a Type B so they’ll snag a sandwich pick.
- The Padres will offer arbitration to Michael Barrett, and Kevin Towers actually hopes he accepts. No worries if he doesn’t – Barrett is a Type A. The Friars will also offer arby to Mike Cameron and Doug Brocail. Brocail nets them a sandwich pick for sure; Cameron still has a slight chance of accepting.
- The Braves did not offer arb to Andruw Jones but did for Ron Mahay. Both are Type Bs; I’m surprised they didn’t want to risk Andruw returning on a one-year deal.
Rangers Rumors: Dunn, Hamilton, Kemp
MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan has some interesting hot stove banter surrounding the Rangers.
- A three-year deal for Kosuke Fukudome or a two-year pact for Mike Cameron might be the most sensible options to fill the Rangers’ center field void. Aaron Rowand is probably too expensive.
- While the Rangers have a touch of interest in Adam Dunn and Coco Crisp, they prefer the idea of acquiring a young bat. Names they like: Fernando Martinez, Carlos Gomez, Carlos Gonzalez, and Matt Kemp. Sullivan notes that the Rangers have talked to the Reds about Josh Hamilton.
- If the Rangers sign starting pitching it’s likely to be of the injury comeback variety – Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Jason Jennings.
- Eric Gagne is still under consideration to be signed for their vacant closer role.
Brewers May Pass On Gagne, Percival, Dotel
UPDATE: Here is the official Journal-Sentinel article. New material – Melvin admitted to an interest in David Riske, and may have an offer out to him. Thanks to Al’s Ramblings for the tip.
Tom Haudricourt recently spoke to Brewers GM Doug Melvin about his pursuit for a closer candidate. Melvin recently had Kerry Wood pass over his two-year, $6MM offer for a one-year deal with the Cubs.
Melvin seemingly would only offer a one-year deal to Eric Gagne, Troy Percival, or Octavio Dotel. All want multiyear contracts, however. It’s a bit odd that he wouldn’t offer two years to any of these guys but did to Wood. Maybe the Brewers only budgeted $6MM or so for this. I imagine Gagne, for instance, would want more than that for just one year.
By the way, both Melvin and owner Mark Attanasio were perturbed by Bean Stringfellow’s handling of the Francisco Cordero negotiations. The Crew lost out by just $4MM but didn’t get a chance to match Cincinnati’s offer. Stringfellow’s agency represents a couple of current Brewers in Greg Aquino and Claudio Vargas, plus free agent reliever and former Brewer Luis Vizcaino. I imagine Vizcaino is not among the eight or nine relievers on Melvin’s radar.