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Hiroki Kuroda

D’Backs Still Searching For A Starter

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The D’Backs’ loss of Livan Hernandez should become official today when he declines their offer of arbitration.  That leaves the team with a rotation of Brandon Webb, Randy Johnson, Doug Davis, and Micah Owings.  The Big Unit is a question mark, so a starter must be acquired.

Back on November 15th, Nick Piecoro noted the team’s interest in Matt Clement and Bartolo Colon.  But the Diamondbacks are sticking to their no bonuses/no escalator clauses mandate.  So that pair will probably look elsewhere.

Hiroki Kuroda received a three-year offer and a pitch video featuring Randy Johnson.  He’ll visit Arizona next week.  If he chooses Seattle, L.A., or Kansas City, the D’Backs will have to move on.  It’s rumored that the Ms added a fourth year to their offer.

The big name is Dan Haren.  Jack Magruder says Arizona’s proposal included two of Carlos Gonzalez, Emilio Bonifacio, and Brett Anderson.  Magruder believes the A’s are also seeking Major Leaguers, which makes sense.  So that huge untouchables list might have to be compromised if the D’Backs are to get Haren.

Heyman’s Latest: Santana, Gagne, Kuroda

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman has penned (or typed I guess) a new column with some hot stove banter.

  • The Mets are offering Carlos Gomez, Mike Pelfrey, and others for Santana.  Joel Sherman thinks the offer is at least viable, and that Aaron Heilman may interest Minnesota..  The Yankees offered Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, and Jeff Marquez.  The Red Sox proposed Jon Lester, Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie, and Justin Masterson.  The Mariners have offered Adam Jones and Brandon Morrow.  Seems to me the Red Sox still have the advantage, at least slightly.
  • Heyman says the Brewers and Astros are in the mix for Eric Gagne (if he doesn’t accept arbitration).  Regarding the Brewers, though, Doug Melvin said today that they already have a closer in Derrick Turnbow.
  • Heyman says offers for Hiroki Kuroda are expected to approach $15MM per year.  Damn, for him?

Phillies Rumors: Iguchi, Inge, Silva, Ensberg

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Sounds like there’s a whole lot of ’nothin’ going on with the Phillies.

  • As you know, the Phils are out on Hiroki Kuroda.
  • Yesterday the Phillies made an offer and a second improved offer to Tadahito Iguchi.  Iguchi is looking for a three-year deal for around the $16.5MM Kaz Matsui received.
  • Todd Zolecki says the Phils have "kicked around" Brandon Inge’s name; he’s definitely available. The general sentiment is that the Tigers would have to eat some of the $19.1MM owed to Inge over the next three seasons.  Plus, the Phillies already tried the defense-first idea at third base.
  • Talks with Mike Cameron went nowhere, as the Phillies didn’t want to consider a multiyear deal. Aaron Rowand is also a long shot.  Not a very exciting Meetings for Phillies fans.
  • Scott Lauber checks in this morning and says Carlos Silva would like to return to the Phillies.  The interest isn’t mutual, however, if Silva continues to ask for four or five years.
  • Lauber suggests Morgan Ensberg is a strong non-tender candidate and someone the Phils should look at.

Hiroki Kuroda Rumors: Wednesday

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UPDATE, 12-6-07 at 1:08am: Geoff Baker reads between the lines, and thinks the Mariners may have added that fourth year to their offer for Kuroda.

UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 5:59pm: Per Scott Lauber, the Phils are out on Kuroda.

UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 10:46am: Todd Zolecki says Kuroda will visit the D’Backs, Mariners, and Dodgers next week, so it’s fair to assume those are three of the four finalists.

FROM 12-5-07 at 9:41am:

Yesterday morning it was reported that the Mets had reached "Round 2" of the bidding for free agent Hiroki Kuroda.  At that time 8-10 teams were in on him.

Now, the Kuroda derby is down to four finalists and the Mets aren’t one of them. David Lennon agrees, saying the Mets were "drifting to the back of the pack" for Kuroda.

My guess on the four finalists: Mariners, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Royals.

Odds and Ends: Guzman, Shelton, Garcia, Jones

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Rounding up some smaller rumors…

Giants Rumors: Silva, Kuroda, Lowry

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Andrew Baggarly checks in with some new Giants information.

  • He says the Giants are acting as if they’re planning on trading a pitcher, checking in with the agents for Carlos Silva and Hiroki Kuroda.  Brian Sabean found the cost for Kuroda prohibitive, though.  This activity is, of course, linked to the rumored Tim Lincecum trade.
  • No truth to the rumors linking the Giants to Ben Broussard and Shawn Green.
  • Teams have called about Noah Lowry, but the Giants have only gotten lowball offers.

ESPN’s Latest: Sosa, Prior, Kuroda, Reyes

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UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:19pm: Ah, the truth comes out.  Sammy Sosa’s people approached the Royals, but they weren’t interested.

FROM 12-4-07 at 3:17pm:

ESPN has a huge team at the Meetings; here are some tidbits that haven’t appeared elsewhere on MLBTR.

  • Enrique Rojas says the Royals have interest in Sammy Sosa.  Could that indicate a Mark Teahen trade is in the works also?  Teahen is expected to move to first base to accomodate Jose Guillen, which would push Billy Butler to DH.  But Sammy can only DH.
  • Buster Olney says the Rangers and Padres are in on Mark Prior.
  • The Padres also like lefties Glendon Rusch and Shawn Estes, and may sign both after the Rule 5 as a means of adding starting depth.
  • Jayson Stark says the Mariners made an offer to Hiroki Kuroda in the range of four years, $45MM.
  • Jerry Crasnick says Anthony Reyes is generating a lot of interest.  The Cards, by the way, are open to trading Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan, or Jim Edmonds.
  • The Rockies have gotten in touch with Marcus Giles’ agent.
  • The Astros aren’t interested in Jon Lieber, despite previous reports.  They liked Matt Clement a bit among the injury guys but are over him now.
  • Ryan Howard’s agent and the Phillies will sit down soon to talk about a long-term deal.

Dodgers Still In On Andruw, Rowand?

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UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:03pm: Talks between the Dodgers and Andruw revived today, according to Ken Gurnick.  Gurnick thinks Scott Boras is looking for something similar to J.D. Drew’s Dodgers deal, a long-term one with an opt out in the middle.  Boras told Jerry Crasnick today that he does not have a one or two-year deal in mind for Andruw.

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 2:00am: MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick is with Tony Jackson on this one…Colletti hasn’t made any offers and will move on to other priorities unless Jones and Rowand reduce their demands.  Gurnick notes that the Dodgers are still in hard on Hiroki Kuroda but don’t seem terribly interested in David Wells.

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:44am: Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times does not agree with Jackson exactly…he says the Dodgers still want to sign Jones or Rowand.

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 11:49pm: Jackson now has some quotes from Ned Colletti…Colletti wasn’t able to get to the point of making an offer to Andruw.  Apparently Boras wants far more than the Dodgers think Jones is worth.  Also, Aaron Rowand wants 5/70 and the Dodgers ain’t havin’ that.

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 9:31pm: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News counters Crasnick’s report, saying the Dodgers did not offer 2/32 to Andruw.  As far as Jackson can tell, no offer at all was made to Jones today.

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 1:04pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says the Dodgers have a two-year, $32MM offer on the table.  That seems a little light; I suggested $38MM earlier.

FROM 12-3-07 at 1:24am:

According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, the Dodgers have stepped up their talks with free agent Andruw Jones.  As we suggested before, it seems Ned Colletti’s rift with Scott Boras was overblown.

Andruw is asking for something bigger than Torii Hunter’s five-year, $90MM pact.  However, Jones had a terrible 2007 and the Dodgers only want to give him two guaranteed years.  This is one of Ned Colletti’s methods that I actually like, the paying more to decrease the term (see Rafael Furcal and Jason Schmidt).

So if Torii makes $18MM annually, maybe the Dodgers will offer Andruw two years, $38MM?  That would keep their risk low while giving Jones a chance to become a free agent as he enters his age 33 season.  If no agreement can be reached, it sounds like the Dodgers could make a similar high-dollar short-term offer to Aaron Rowand.  Failing that, they’d turn to Mike Cameron.

Gurnick adds that the Dodgers are aggressively pursuing Hiroki Kuroda for rotation depth.

D’Backs Rumors: Haren, Kuroda, Carlos Gonzalez

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MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert has some trade rumors to digest this evening concerning the D’Backs.

  • Arizona had discussions with the A’s about Dan Haren today.  Many names were thrown about.  Conor Jackson was not involved.  The A’s asked about Max Scherzer and were told he’s not available.  We learned earlier that Carlos Gonzalez’s name came up. 
  • By the way, the D’Backs aren’t interested in Joe Blanton.
  • Arizona is still around 3/30 on Hiroki Kuroda.
  • The Rangers inquired about Carlos Gonzalez but wouldn’t consider parting with Eric Hurley for him.
  • The Nats are indeed interested in Miguel Montero, as reported previously.

Kuroda Wants Four Years

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UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 6:28pm: Tony Jackson dug up some info on this situation.  He says the Mariners’ three-year offer worth $30-33MM is tops so far, despite other reports.  He doesn’t believe the Mariners are at 4/44.  The Ms and Dodgers, as expected, are the leaders for Kuroda.

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 3:55pm: First Heyman suggested 3/45 for Kuroda.  Now Jeff Passan is saying 5/50!  Passan throws the Giants into the mix for him, which is a new one. 

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 3:29pm: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News confirms that the Dodgers have an offer out to Kuroda, probably in the 3/30 range.  He says that the Ms are reportedly already at four years and more than $40MM.

FROM 12-4-07 at 1:26pm:

Previous reports floating about had the Mariners offering four years, $44MM to Hiroki Kuroda.  Not so, according to MLB.com’s Jim Street.  Street says the Mariners, Dodgers, and D’Backs have all made offers in the three-year, $30MM range.  None of the three clubs wants to go to four years on soon-to-be 33 year-old pitcher with no MLB experience.

Kuroda may make his decision early next week, after his agents meet with the interested parties.

Street adds that the Ms plan to meet with the Orioles today to discuss Erik Bedard possibilities.  Also, he mentions the rumor that the Mariners inquired on Ben Sheets.  Maybe it was both the Dodgers and Mariners.

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