Stark’s Latest: Dye, Greinke, Teixeira
Jayson Stark’s Winter Meetings preview is up; let’s take a look.
- Stark sees "just about zero chance" the Padres trade Jake Peavy at the Meetings. The Cubs will need at least a few weeks to settle their ownership situation before they can make a trade and take on his contract. Plus, a Stark source says it makes sense for the Padres to wait until the top free agent starters are off the board.
- The Braves, Reds, Royals, Rays, and possibly Mets have shown interest in Jermaine Dye. Dye played for the Royals from 1997-2001 before he was traded for Neifi Perez. The White Sox are willing to trade Paul Konerko and Jim Thome too.
- The Mariners would listen on "pretty much anybody." But given the surplus of closers on the market, it seems unlikely that Jack Zduriencik will be bowled over with an offer for J.J. Putz.
- The Royals really don’t want to trade Zack Greinke, but they’ll at least discuss him. The price would be massive. It doesn’t look like they want to trade David DeJesus or Mark Teahen either, but Jose Guillen can be had.
- The Marlins have been pushing Jorge Cantu over Jeremy Hermida, though Hermida’s drawn plenty of interest. Nick Cafardo named the Rays, Reds, and Giants earlier today.
- The Angels figure to attach a two or three-day deadline to their eventual Mark Teixeira offer.
- Stark sees Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake as the two free agents most likely to sign this week. Most execs Stark surveyed see Teixeira and Manny Ramirez signing in January.
Angels Rumors: Teixeira, Sabathia
Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times has the latest on the Angels.
- The Halos still haven’t made an offer to Mark Teixeira. They’re thinking five or six years at $20MM per, but it could take seven or eight.
- The Angels need to figure out the Tex situation soon, or risk missing out on C.C. Sabathia as well.
- The Angels’ left field plans are linked to whether they sign Teixeira. If they don’t get him, they could add a Pat Burrell, Adam Dunn, or Manny Ramirez.
Olney’s Latest: Nationals, Dye, Cabrera
Buster Olney has an update on his blog. Let’s take a look…
- The Nationals are looking for a slugger, and have shown a lot of interest in Mark Teixeira. However, if they can’t sign the first baseman, they may turn their attention to Adam Dunn. Dunn would face a tough decision: Does he take what’s likely to be a larger offer from the Nationals, knowing that he’ll be put into a situation similar to the one he had in Cincinnati, playing for a losing team? Or, should he take less money to play for a team that’s more likely to contend, such as Tampa Bay? You can insert your own "he doesn’t like baseball" jokes on this one.
- The rumors of the White Sox looking to trade Jermaine Dye may be overblown. The Sox would want a good return for Dye, but he’s set to make $11.5MM in 2009, and any team really looking for a corner outfielder can simply call up Dunn or Bobby Abreu.
- Olney doesn’t expect Orlando Cabrera to accept arbitration. He thinks he’d be better suited getting out of an environment that never proved to be a fit for him, and go elsewhere. Olney names Baltimore as a potential landing place.
Manny Declines Arbitration; What’s Next?
No surprise here, but Jon Heyman writes that Manny Ramirez will decline the Dodgers’ arbitration offer.
The Dodgers can still negotiate a contract with Manny, though they need infield help and starting pitching help as well.
Manny is seeking five years, though that’s unlikely. Heyman suggests that teams may be willing to go four years, however. He also names Manny as a good fallback for the Yankees and Angels, should they fail to sign Mark Teixeira. In fact, Heyman offers up the idea of the Yankees pursuing both Manny and Tex if they fail to sign C.C. Sabathia.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Teixeira, Closers, Castillo, Cantu
Ken Rosenthal has a new column up, let’s take a look at the highlights:
- Rosenthal doesn’t see Mark Teixeira signing with the Nationals, even for the rumored ten-year, $200MM contract. He’s got better options in the Angels, Red Sox, and Yankees. Scott Boras managed to get Alex Rodriguez a ten-year deal with a losing team in 2000 when he signed with the Rangers, but Rosenthal doesn’t forsee a repeat.
- The Indians are waiting on the Mets’ closer decision to make a decision of their own. Once New York signs or trades for a closer, the market will likely collapse. The Mets are preparing simultaneous offers to Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, and Kerry Wood.
- The Brewers could spend big money on a closer once they hear from Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia. If the Brewers can somehow retain both, they won’t have money to spend on a closer and would likely have to trade Prince Fielder.
- The Mets are desperately trying to unload Luis Castillo so they can make a run at Orlando Hudson. They’re having no luck though, even in trying to swap him for another bad contract. The Rangers rejected a swap of Castillo for Vicente Padilla.
- Nationals GM Jim Bowden is interested in Willy Taveras. Doesn’t make any sense to me. The Nats already have Lastings Milledge, Josh Willingham, Elijah Dukes, and Austin Kearns.
- The Rockies prefer to keep Garrett Atkins, but the Twins, Dodgers, Giants, and Phillies are all interested. Chase Utley has been a long-time supporter of bringing his former UCLA teammate to the Phils for a reunion.
- The Marlins are getting several inquiries on Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla. They don’t plan to trade either, though if the Giants were to offer Jonathan Sanchez for Cantu, the Marlins would jump at the chance.
- Jermaine Dye, Mike Cameron, Marcus Thames, and Marlon Byrd are all available via the trade market, for teams needing a right-handed hitting outfielder. Rosenthal still feels Cameron could still end up in pinstripes.
Olney’s Latest: Winter Meetings
As we wait for arbitration decisions, Buster Olney offers his latest on the winter meetings:
- CC Sabathia, who will be sitting down with the Red Sox and Yankees today or tomorrow, may want to wait for Mark Teixeira to sign first. If the Angels don’t land Sabathia, they could be expected to compete with the Yankees $140MM offer.
- Francisco Rodriguez is not going to get the 5 year, $75MM originally anticipated by his agents and he may find it in his best interest to seek a 3 year deal, and re-enter free agency, perhaps in a better market, before he turns 30.
- Says Olney, "Look, [Jake] Peavy is going to be traded, and what will be left is a team looking at a long rebuilding process."
- The Nats are courting Adam Dunn as well as Teixeira, pointing out that Jim Bowden ran the Reds when they drafted Dunn. No word on Dunn’s interest in Washington.
- Sources say the White Sox moving Jermaine Dye is "overblown." He’ll cost $11.5MM next year with a $1MM buyout for 2010 and teams in need of a corner outfielder can target Dunn or Bobby Abreu rather than give up prospects to the White Sox.
- Orlando Cabrera has been made aware that Alexei Ramirez is the starting shortstop in 2009 and, for that reason, OC is expected to decline arbitration even in a depressed shortstop market.
- Olney reports that Rafael Furcal‘s final contract request was 4 years, $52MM. He wound up rejecting the offer of 4 years, $35-40MM.
Boras Seeking Teixeira-Varitek Package Deal?
Halfway through his column on free agents expected to decline arbitration, Ken Rosenthal buries this interesting nugget:
Some rival agents**…believe that Boras might be offering [Jason] Varitek in a "package deal" with the catcher’s friend and fellow Georgia Tech alum, free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira. The Red Sox are pursuing Teixeira, and the Nationals are among the other teams that might have interest in both players.
It’s not the first time that Boras has been accused of packaging his players, and it’s not the first time those rumors have concerned the Red Sox: when Boston signed J.D. Drew, there was a raft of unsubstantiated talk that Drew had been packaged with Daisuke Matsuzaka — in whom the Red Sox had already sunk $51.1MM for negotiating rights.
**As always, consider the source.
Sarah Green writes for UmpBump and the Boston Metro.
Orioles Rumors: Uehara, Kawakami, Millar, Tex
The latest on the Orioles…
- Dan Connolly and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun tell us the Orioles plan to meet with the agents for Japanese hurlers Koji Uehara and Kenshin Kawakami at the Winter Meetings. Lefty reliever Ken Takahashi is also on the radar.
- The Sun reporters also spoke to free agent first baseman Kevin Millar, who desires a starting gig but is realistic about his chances. Millar is willing to come back to the Orioles as a part-time player if they’ll have him. He mentioned the Mariners by name as well.
- Steve Melewski of MASN Online debates the pros and cons of the Orioles signing Mark Teixeira.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Mets, Tigers, Red Sox, Angels, Pirates
Today is free agent Cliff Floyd’s birthday. He is 36 years young. His knees are not. Also, on this date 18 years ago, the San Diego Padres sent Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter to the Blue Jays for Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez, in one of the biggest trades ever featuring young, proven talent. Got one that can top that? Let’s hear it in the comments…With little action so far this year, the Hot Stove Season is ugly, Don Mossi ugly. Let’s take a look at what is being written in the blogosphere…
- Mets Geek takes a look at three recent rumored deals that may be sitting on Omar Minaya’s desk and ponders whether or not the Mets should make each trade.
- The Detroit Tigers Weblog breaks down what a Jack Wilson trade would mean for the Tigers.
- Fire Brand of the American League feels that with the recent additions to the bullpen, the Red Sox may be better suited to insert Justin Masterson into the rotation, rather than sign a high-priced free agent.
- Ump Bump suggests that the Angels could get more bang for the buck if they sign Adam Dunn over Mark Teixeira.
- The ‘Burgh Blues picks through the scraps and identifies eight players they would like to see the Pirates invite to Spring Training, including Richie Sexson, Sidney Ponson, Mark Prior and Matt Clement.
- MLB Notebook takes a look at the big guns in the free agent market and feels that the Yankees are no longer in a position to set the pace. Rather, they argue that the Angels now control the market.
- East Windup Chronicle feels that some are underestimating the amount of potential Major League talent playing in Japan, noting the number is "at least 30" and considerably more if they had the opportunity to start in the minors out of high school.
- Bernies Crew likes the Jorge Julio signing by the Brewers, noting the move gives the team much needed flexibility and depth in the bullpen.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.
Cashman Met With Teixeira
According to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, Yankees GM Brian Cashman was in Washington yesterday to meet with free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira. The meeting came at Scott Boras’ request, and Boras was present. Previous talk of Cashman and Boras meeting in California was incorrect, according to George King of the New York Post.
King says Cashman and Boras also discussed Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe, and Oliver Perez. Mark Feinsand says Lowe was the focus of this meeting. Cashman intends to meet with C.C. Sabathia soon, Joel Sherman attempts to understand why.