Mets Still Like Joe Blanton
Peter Botte of the New York Daily News says the Mets have asked Billy Beane to "keep them in mind" as he’s shopping Joe Blanton. Blanton could be their fallback plan for Johan Santana. Botte says the Twinsa are still hung up on Jose Reyes, though La Velle E. Neal III heard otherwise.
On December 20th, Buster Olney said a package of Carlos Gomez, Aaron Heilman, and Kevin Mulvey would probably net Blanton for the Mets.
If the Mets can’t get Santana or Blanton, they may move on to free agent targets such as Kyle Lohse, Livan Hernandez, Jon Lieber, Freddy Garcia, or Matt Morris. Botte does not mention Bartolo Colon as a free agent on the Mets’ radar.
Johan Santana Rumors: Saturday
Burned out on vague Johan Santana non-rumors yet? Me neither! Here we go…
- Hank: "leaning towards doing it." Hmmm, that makes it seem like the Twins aren’t part of this decision. Hank notes that he has final say over Brian Cashman, in case you were wondering.
- Pete Caldera says the Yankees do not have a standing offer. This seems more a technicality than anything, because I imagine the offer is still good.
- LEN3 says the Twins are backing off a bit on their demands – they realize they won’t get both Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. Instead, Jeff Marquez, Kei Igawa, and maybe others could be substituted for Kennedy.
- LEN3 adds that the Twins have accepted that the Mets won’t part with Jose Reyes, and will still talk.
- Meanwhile the Red Sox and Twins haven’t spoken much lately but Boston is still offering two different packages (one centered around Jacoby Ellsbury, the other around Jon Lester).
Odds and Ends: Cameron, Inge, Bay
Here are some random rumors and links I’ve cobbled together today.
- The Fish officially signed Jorge Cantu to a minor-league deal worth $500K with $100K in incentives.
- The Cardinals re-upped Aaron Miles for $1.4 mil. This team needs some good middle infielders.
- According to Tyler Kepner, Alex Rodriguez has been "privately endorsing" Mike Cameron. Well, it’s not private anymore! The Yankees could entertain such a signing if they trade Melky Cabrera but don’t want to move Johnny Damon back to center. Kepner’s article also discusses the internal struggle between Hank and Hal Steinbrenner. Hank wants Johan Santana, Hal wants to show a little financial restraint.
- Lynn Henning digs into the Brandon Inge situation, with help from the always-insightful Keith Law. Henning believes Inge would view a shift back to catcher "with contempt."
- Scott Wuerz runs through various possible Cardinals targets. He notes that the Pirates had considered the White Sox their best possible trade partner for Jason Bay, and are disappointed by Chicago’s Nick Swisher acquisition.
- Seems that Bartolo Colon has yet to crack 90 mph in the Dominican Winter League.
- There are rumblings that the Astros are considering bringing Freddy Garcia back.
- R.J. Anderson snagged an interesting interview with Paul DePodesta.
- Minor League guru and MLB.com senior writer Jonathan Mayo has a new book coming out about what it’s like to face Roger Clemens. I’m going to do a Q&A with Jonathan next week; if you have any good question ideas leave ’em in the comments. By the way, Mayo finished his book before the Mitchell Report came out.
- Yankees fans – Ray Istorico has an illustrated history of the early Yankees coming out in a few months.
- I will be appearing on XM Radio’s MLB Home Plate show on Sunday around 2:25 CST.
Latest Santana Buzz From MetsBlog
MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone has a couple of recent radio reports referencing the team’s talks for Johan Santana. One involves Mike Francesa, the other Jon Heyman.
- Francesa says the Twins are still demanding Jose Reyes, and the Mets will never do that.
- According to Heyman, the Mets might be willing to give up any four of their prospects. As in Fernando Martinez, Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, and Kevin Mulvey? That would seemingly be impossible for the Twins to turn down. ESPN’s Keith Law went as far to say today that he "wouldn’t deal Martinez for one year of Santana under any circumstances."
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.
Hank Speaks About Johan
Yesterday it seemed that the Yankees’ talks for Johan Santana were pretty much dead, with his contract extension presenting an issue. But Hank Steinbrenner weighed in with Anthony McCarron, and the Yankees seem squarely in the mix. Key points of the article:
- The implication is that the Yankees’ best offer – Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, Jeff Marquez, and a fourth player – is still on the table.
- Hank says point blank the Yankees are best-equipped to handle Santana’s contract demands. Yesterday Gordon Edes said Santana’s agent implied a seven-year, $140MM deal would be necessary and the Red Sox were willing to pay it.
- Despite just "minor dialogue" between the Yanks and Twins lately, Steinbrenner seems unwilling to let the situation linger more than another two weeks.
- McCarron says the Mets remain in the mix as well. Matthew Cerrone believes the Yankees, Mets, and Red Sox "have essentially made their final offers."
- The Sports Hernia weighs in on Hank’s comments.
Latest Johan Santana Rumors
UPDATE, 1-2-08 at 10:45pm: Nothing new with Boston’s pursuit of Santana; Nick Cafardo says the Sox still have two different offers on the table for the Twins. Cafardo notes that Santana’s agent quoted the starting bid around seven years, $140MM – and the Red Sox are fine with that.
UPDATE, 1-2-08 at 4:19pm: LEN3 adds that the Mariners are not in the running for Johan. Coupled with the info below it seems to be between the Mets and Red Sox currently.
FROM 1-2-08 at 1:21pm:
Peter Abraham had a note this morning about Johan Santana. He says "there are no indications the Yankees will suddenly get back into the mix for Santana." Abraham notes that the main issue for the Yanks remains the massive extension they’d have to give Santana.
Back on December 28th Joel Sherman said the Yanks had "become more entrenched in their unwillingness to pay the price both in prospects and dollars." He noted that they were reluctant to hand over Phil Hughes or $130MM to Johan.
On the 27th, Jayson Stark said the Yankees last offer was Hughes, Melky Cabrera, Jeff Marquez, and an undetermined fourth player, but the proposal was off the table. Stark believed that Hank Steinbrenner could still decide to re-engage the Santana talks though.
Mets Pitching Plans
Many readers have written me asking what the Mets are going to do to upgrade their starting rotation. Matthew Cerrone as a man in the know, and he’s written a summary over at MetsBlog.
- Cerrone senses nothing much cooking on the Johan Santana front, yet the Mets remain "oddly confident."
- Cerrone believes the Mets will probably sign one rehabber – Freddy Garcia or Bartolo Colon. He says reviews on Colon in the Dominican Winter League have been positive. Omar Minaya knows Colon well, having traded the farm for him as GM of the Expos. Garcia may be ready to pitch around June. Coming off a frayed rotator cuff and labrum he may not contribute much in 2008.
- Bullpen wise, Cerrone says Octavio Dotel is on the radar, especially if Aaron Heilman is traded.
- There’s a lack of buzz with the Mets for Kyle Lohse, Livan Hernandez, and Joe Blanton currently.
Johan Santana Rumors
UPDATE, 12-29-07 at 10:59am: Jayson Stark’s sources speak of glacially moving Santana talks with the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, and Mariners that may drag out for several more weeks.
UPDATE, 12-28-07 at 11:00am: Joel Sherman’s sources name the Red Sox as the "strong favorite" to acquire Santana in the new year. He sees the Yankees backing down and the Mets as lagging behind for lack of MLB-ready young players in their offer. Also here’s a Jayson Stark Santana article I missed yesterday giving his take on the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets.
UPDATE, 12-27-07 at 2:59pm: Charley Walters has some quotes from the Twins’ president. He gives the impression that the Twins’ priority is still to sign Santana to an extension, for what it’s worth. They’ll have to do better than four years and $80MM though.
FROM 12-26-07 at 10:50pm:
LEN3 checks in with the latest Johan Santana rumors this evening.
- The Mets appear to be a solid contender, even without offering up Jose Reyes. Neal ponders whether the Twins would prefer to send Santana to the NL so they can avoid him. Matthew Cerrone has been saying this for some time, adding that Santana would prefer to come to the NL as well.
- Interesting note – Neal says Kei Igawa‘s name has surfaced in regards to the Yankees talks. It wouldn’t materially change the deal though.
- Neal says talks with the Red Sox are currently dormant.
Twins Back Down On Santana Demand
Murray Chass reports this morning that the Twins have scaled back their demands for Johan Santana, at least with the Yankees. He says they are now willing to substitute Jeff Marquez for Ian Kennedy. So the Yankees would have to give up Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, and Marquez (and one more player, I’m guessing).
Marquez is a 23 year-old Double A righty who probably does not fall within the Yankees’ top ten prospects. He seems a more reasonable demand than Kennedy. About three weeks ago, Bill Madden said the Yanks could’ve acquired Santana for Hughes, Cabrera, Marquez, and Mitch Hilligoss but bailed out for financial reasons.
Anyway, Chass adds that the Yanks would be hit by luxury tax if they acquired and extended Santana. For example, a five-year, $100MM deal would result in a constant $7.5MM annually in luxury tax. This does not seem to bother the Yankees.
Nick Cafardo wrote a few days ago that the Red Sox are standing pat with an offer of Coco Crisp, Jon Lester, Justin Masterson, and Jed Lowrie for Santana. For what it’s worth, David Ortiz doesn’t think the Sox will get Johan.