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Kenny Lofton

Brewers Rumors: DeJesus, Lofton

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Tom Haudricourt recently spoke with Brewers’ GM Doug Melvin.

He learned that Melvin spoke with the Royals about David DeJesus at the Winter Meetings, but the Royals have backed off on those talks after signing Jose Guillen.  Melvin doesn’t expect DeJesus to be traded.  I talked to the Kansas City Star’s Bob Dutton recently about DeJesus’ trade value, if you’re interested.

Meanwhile the Brewers are still considering Kenny Lofton.  They’re just debating whether they want to use him in left or move Bill Hall, neither of which appeals to them.

Brewers Considering Luis Gonzalez, Kenny Lofton

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The Brewers are in the hunt for a left-handed hitting left fielder.  Luis Gonzalez and Kenny Lofton remain under consideration.  With Gonzo, the interest is mutual.

I’m thinking Gonzalez would be happy with $4MM or so, maybe some incentives too.  I think he just wants to get 400+ ABs somewhere.  He could only play left field, which would seemingly lock Ryan Braun in at third.

Lofton could play left and Braun could stay at third.  Or, Lofton could shift to center, Bill Hall to third, and Braun to left.  I’m not sure which alignment is optimal.  Thoughts? 

Brewers Like Lofton?

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UPDATE, 12-21-07 at 10:50am: Brewers GM Doug Melvin says he hasn’t spoken to Lofton’s agent for weeks.

FROM 12-20-07 at 11:51am:

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that the Brewers have their eye on free agent center fielder Kenny Lofton.  Such a signing would allow them to shift Bill Hall to third base and Ryan Braun to left field.  How much of a defensive gain would they get from this?  One reader suggested to me that the Crew might instead just use Lofton in left and leave Hall and Braun where they are.

Lofton is terrible against southpaws, so the Brewers would need to find a platoon partner.  Corey Hart could be that guy but that would open up right field.  The Brewers’ interest in Lofton dates back to July, according to Evan Grant.

Crasnick says the Brewers are also considering Luis Gonzalez, if they decide not to move Braun.  Previously we’ve heard the Giants, Rangers, Twins, and White Sox could be interested.

Stark’s Latest: Prior, Lofton, Otsuka

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ESPN’s Jayson Stark dishes some good rumorage in his latest column.

  • Stark dug around to find all the Mark Prior suitors and came up with this list: Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, Mets, Cardinals, Padres, Astros, Giants, Reds, Nationals (11 teams).  Let’s compare notes.  MLBTR readers have seen the Yankees, Mets, Cards, Padres, Astros, Reds, and Nats linked to Prior already.  So Stark has added the Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, and Giants.  The idea of the Mariners runs contrary to this MLB.com article.  Stark did not name the Rangers, who are said to be aggressively pursuing Prior.  Prior is dead set on a one-year deal and would take a big league mound in May in the best case.
  • The Phils are focused on Geoff Jenkins and Mike Cameron, offering two year deals to each.  They might just take the first one to accept.  Stark says Kenny Lofton could be an option if both decline.  Lofton batted a career-best .335 for the Phils in ’05.
  • Stark rattles off a laundry list of pitchers the Phillies are interested in: Akinori Otsuka, Byung-Hyun Kim, Roberto Hernandez, Kris Benson, John Parrish, Sidney Ponson, Chad Durbin, Kyle Lohse, and Jeremy Affeldt.  Given Stark’s 21 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, I imagine he has a connection or two.  Most of those are new names besides Benson, Lohse, Ponson, and Affeldt.
  • A source of Stark picks the Yankees as the favorite for Johan, but it should be noted that they’re having internal debates about pulling Phil Hughes off the table.
  • For all the crazy Cubs fans we’ve got here: Stark says they’ve talked to the Orioles about both Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard, but couldn’t pull off a deal for both.  They favor Roberts even though they need Bedard much more.

Nationals Rumors: Colon, Fukumori

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MLB.com’s Bill Ladson has a handful of Nationals rumors tonight.

  • As you know, Damian Miller, Johnny Estrada, and Miguel Montero have been targeted at the catcher position.
  • The Nats want to sign Bartolo Colon to a one-year deal, but it appears he craves multiple years.
  • As mentioned earlier, the Nats like Kazuo Fukumori.  What we didn’t mention earlier was the idea that Fukumori could start.  The notion seems questionable, as the 31 year-old hasn’t started a game since 2002.
  • The Nationals have no interest in David Eckstein or Kenny Lofton, despite their desire for a leadoff hitter.  They certainly don’t need an outfielder, anyway.

Odds and Ends: Abreu, Beckett, Helton, Schilling

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Friday afternoon rumor tidbits…

  • The Indians will probably let Kenny Lofton leave while exercising Joe Borowski’s $4MM option.  No big surprise there.
  • Nor is it a surprise that the Yankees are heavily leaning towards exercising Bobby Abreu’s $16MM option.
  • From the what might’ve been department: Red Sox owner John Henry was in favor of signing A.J. Burnett instead of trading for Josh Beckett.  One could make a solid argument that the Red Sox would be better off if Henry had gotten his wish.  Beckett and Julio Lugo combined for 8.6 wins at $14MM this year while Burnett and Hanley Ramirez combined for 14.8 wins at $12.4MM (according to WARP).
  • From that same department – Tom Gage notes that the Tigers once nearly acquired Todd Helton for Tony Clark.  There were many Clark rumors from 1999-2001 before the Red Sox claimed him off waivers.  I heard Buck and McCarver talking recently about how Helton is not a product of his home park.  For the record Helton has hit .368/.474/.668 at home in his career and .304/.409/.515 on the road.  He probably belongs in the Hall but it would be a lot tighter if his career OPS was .924 instead of 1.014.
  • Nick Cafardo makes his case for the Red Sox to re-sign Curt Schilling.
  • A scouting look at Hiroki Kuroda, plus other Japanese pitchers who may come over (hat tip to MetsBlog).  Jason Churchill estimates a three-year deal for Kuroda at $9-11MM per.
  • How would you like to face a 125 mph fastball?

Indians Trade For Kenny Lofton

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According to Dennis Manoloff, the Indians are close to acquiring outfielder Kenny Lofton.  The Rangers will receive catcher Max Ramirez, who the Indians got for Bob Wickman last year. 

Ramirez, 22, has a nice .923 OPS in 77 High A games.  However, Baseball Prospectus’s Nate Silver is skeptical.  This acquisition certainly wouldn’t stop the Rangers from getting Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

It’s great to see Lofton back in Cleveland, even if he won’t be in center field.  He’s been around forever, but still knows how to get on base and swipe ’em with a high success rate.  Probably not someone you want to start against southpaws, but he makes the perfect platoon partner for Jason Michaels.

Interestingly, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus reports that the Indians and Rangers didn’t just discuss Lofton – Mark Teixeira’s name came up as well.

New Plan: Extension For Gagne

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The Rangers are throwing trade rumor junkies a curveball – they’re now thinking about hanging onto Eric Gagne and signing him to a contract extension.  This development may be related to the limited trade options for the rejuvenated closer.

Keep in mind that the extension talk may just be lip service.  As a Scott Boras client, wouldn’t the oft-injured Gagne require a good three years, $36MM guaranteed?  That’s my guess.  That would be very risky.  Assuming Mariano Rivera remains a Yankee, Francisco Cordero will be the only free agent closer near Gagne’s level.  Nice timing for Coco, by the way.

I’m still learning how the Elias Bureau determines its free agent classifications.  My guess is that Gagne would not earn the Type A designation because he missed most of last year.  I’ll have to confirm that.  If I’m correct, the Rangers wouldn’t be able to collect much in the way of draft picks if Gagne walks.

Evan Grant also notes that Joaquin Benoit has moven to the forefront as the Ranger reliever must likely to be dealt.  Akinori Otsuka’s injury may prevent him from full re-establishing his value by July 31st.  Benoit will not become a free agent until after 2008, and he’s in the midst of a career year after rediscovering his control.  The Dodgers and Brewers may be interested.  L.A. could get desperate if Takashi Saito’s injury is serious, although it does not appear to be.  On the other hand, it’s certainly in Ned Colletti’s best interest to downplay the injury.  For the Brew Crew, Benoit could slide into the closer role in 2008 if they allow Cordero to leave.

Grant adds that the Rangers and Dodgers have had slow-moving talks about Mark Teixeira, and that the Braves were scouting the game on Friday as well.  The Braves could’ve been looking at relievers though.

One final note: contrary to a previous report, Grant says Kenny Lofton is drawing significant interest from the Tribe.  Lofton’s agent has heard the rumor as well.  Kenny implied yesterday that he’d play a corner outfield position if need be.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Lohse, Hunter, Contreras

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The latest trade and signing rumors from Ken Rosenthal:

  • Rosenthal believes Alex Rodriguez’s ability to play shortstop could increase the number of suitors.  Take a look at the free agents – there may not be a single viable option at short this winter.  Still, the number of suitors for Rodriguez is severely limited by his massive contract requirement.  Not too many clubs aside from the Yankees and Red Sox can get in on $240MM over eight years or whatever.  The lack of available, reasonably priced shortstops could compel the Braves and Orioles to aggressively shop Edgar Renteria and Miguel Tejada.
  • As a 29 year-old free agent starter with decent stuff, Scott Boras could sell Kyle Lohse as the next Gil Meche this winter.  Meche’s work in the season’s first three months would only aid the wishcasting.  I put up a little Lohse history here, writing that his deal will likely fall somewhere between Jason Marquis and Meche.  Other free agent starters who will be under 30 for the 2008 season: Carlos Zambrano, Jason Jennings, Joe Kennedy, and Byung-Hyun Kim.
  • Rosenthal believes the Rangers will bid on Torii Hunter this winter unless they acquire a proven center fielder this summer.  He mentions that Jon Daniels set his sights on Shane Victorino but the Phils would rather trade Michael Bourn.  Unless the Rangers get a proven guy they will still go after Hunter.
  • The Mariners scouted Jose Contreras and Matt Morris recently, but both were lousy.  I still think Jennings could sneak in there as the best available starter, but he too hasn’t pitched well in July.  Definitely seems like the Mariners will snag some kind of starter.
  • Rosenthal disputes Evan Grant’s report of the Brewers and Indians showing interest in Kenny Lofton.  The Brewers are getting Bill Hall back soon and the Indians have some outfielders on the road to recovery as well.  Perfect, this frees him up for the Cubs!
  • Rosenthal mentions the same teams I did for Kevin Millar, but sees an August deal as a possibility.  Waiting until August doesn’t seem to make sense for the Orioles, as things get trickier then.
  • The Padres could trade Scott Linebrink in order to make payroll room for a starter.  Or they could just sign Brian Lawrence.  I discussed some other options for the Friars here.

Indians, Brewers Interested In Lofton

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Kenny Lofton is the perfect mercenary.  He’s been with a million different teams, and has 84 games of playoff experience.  Even at age 40, he provides an OBP spark atop the lineup.  He makes $6MM this year for the Rangers, so there’s about $2.6MM left on his contract.  He gets another $100K if he’s traded.

According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, Lofton has "drawn significant interest from Cleveland and Milwaukee."  Other teams are checking him out as well.  It’d be fun to see Lofton back with the Tribe, the team he’s best known for.  He actually came up as an Astro though. 

As a Cubs fan I’d welcome Lofton back to Chicago.  After abandoning the Alfonso Soriano experiment, the Cubs have employed Angel Pagan, Jacque Jones, and Felix Pie in center.  None have hit particularly well.  I would’ve signed Lofton this winter, working Pie in carefully. 

Grant’s column also mentions Sammy Sosa, who is drawing a little bit of interest.  With his OBP down to .294, Sosa is being sold as a lefty-masher instead of a regular.  Grant believes the Twins and Yankees might find him useful.   

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