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Mark Teixeira

Stark’s Latest: Putz, Manny, Lackey, Ibanez

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Let’s take a look at the latest column from ESPN’s Jayson Stark.

  • Stark does the math and finds 15 potentially available closers versus six clubs in the market for one.  Should result in a few bargains or teams holding on to their surpluses.
  • The Mets don’t seem willing to extend to four years for Francisco Rodriguez.  Stark says J.J. Putz would become the Mets’ top closer target if he’s made available.  MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone wrote a few days ago that the Mets are likely to trade for a reliever with closing experience before attempting to sign one.
  • J.P. Ricciardi quote: "We won’t be involved with Manny."  Ricciardi last month: "He’s on our radar, but maybe not on our radar like some people will report."
  • Despite reports to the contrary, Stark talked to a rival executive who says Jake Peavy made it "onto [the Angels’] radar pretty hard."  Stark speculates that Peavy could fit if the Halos sign Mark Teixeira.
  • It seems likely that the Angels will put out an offer to Teixeira with a deadline, and then either sign him or move on.
  • John Lackey’s been telling friends he expects to have an extension with the Angels by Opening Day.  Lackey indicated last month he’d wait to see the Halos’ offensive plans before re-signing.
  • Stark suspects the Players Union might be OK with C.C. Sabathia turning down a larger offer from the Yankees if he still signed for more than Johan Santana’s $23MM per year.  I don’t really see why Sabathia would worry about the union in any regard.
  • The Dodgers inquired on the asking price of Jason Varitek, with the idea of moving Russell Martin to third base in mind.  They balked at Scott Boras’ demand for Tek, however.
  • Curt Schilling is "more likely than ever" to attempt a late June or early July comeback.
  • Tons of teams have expressed some degree of interest in Raul Ibanez: the Mets, Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Royals, Rays, Blue Jays, Rangers, Angels, and Mariners.  Some interesting new ones in there.
  • The Phillies never made a two-year, $21MM offer to Pat Burrell.  Will the Phils at least offer him arbitration?  The rumored offer was questionable from Day 1, as Paul Hagen said Burrell "reportedly turned down a two-year, $22MM offer" but didn’t reference a specific report.
  • Stark believes that the Brewers were not thrilled with the Yankees’ "overbid" for C.C. Sabathia, and therefore would prefer not to trade Mike Cameron to them.  Dan Graziano wrote yesterday about the Yanks’ conversations for Cameron.
  • Roy Oswalt wants the Astros to sign Ben Sheets, but the price tag may be too high.  Stark has the following names on their radar: Randy Wolf, Mike Hampton, Freddy Garcia, Paul Byrd, and maybe Pedro Martinez.  Is Drayton McLane willing to bring Andy Pettitte back?  GM Ed Wade seemed interested in his chat yesterday, saying, "We’ll have to see what develops down the road."

Teixeira Interested In Washington?

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Bill Ladson of MLB.com reports a mutual interest between the Washington Nationals and talented free agent Mark Teixeira. "[Maryland] is his home," mentions an anonymous source in Ladson’s article. The source also sets Miguel Cabrera’s eight-year, $153MM deal as a benchmark for Teixeira’s next contract.

Presumably, any hometown discount afforded the Nationals would also apply to the Baltimore Orioles, another team widely assumed to be on Teixeira’s short list of favorable destinations.

Brown on Sabathia, Teixeira, Lowe, Peavy

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In his latest article, Tim Brown at Yahoo! Sports considers a possibility that others have discussed: maybe C.C. Sabathia doesn’t want to play for the New York Yankees. He certainly has options–Brown’s list includes the Dodgers, Angels, White Sox, Red Sox, Mariners, Tigers, and of course, the Brewers.

Not signing C.C. would increase the likelihood that the Yankees make a serious offer to Mark Teixeira. Nick Swisher seems to have the starting job at first base for now, but failing to land Sabathia might shift the Yankees’ attention to all three of Teixeira, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, says Brown.

Lowe might take his time before signing a new deal this offseason, with the news that Scott Boras is looking for the same average annual value obtained previously by Barry Zito ($18MM).

Finally, Brown notes that Padres GM Kevin Towers is waiting to hear from the Cubs about the possibility of continued trade talks regarding Jake Peavy, now that Ryan Dempster has been signed.

Odds and Ends: Teixeira, Giles, Beimel

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Links for Wednesday…

Kasten: No Offer Yet For Teixeira

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The Washington Post’s Dave Sheinin tells us Nationals team president Stan Kasten is tempering expectations that the Nats will make an offer to free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira.

Sheinin quotes Kasten saying, "I don’t want people to have unrealistic expectations" and "You’re way ahead of us here." Then he offers some analysis:

My own take: The Nationals are still formulating the structure of the offer they plan to make to Teixeira. However, they also know they cannot compete with the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox and/or Angels when it comes to dollar figures. So they would like to get a better sense of Teixeira’s true market before they make their pitch.

It’s possible the Nationals will never get around to offering Teixeira a contract. The Yankees could start the bidding sky high, like they did with CC Sabathia.

Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com and can be reached here.

Yankees Rumors: Abreu, Burnett, Teixeira

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George King of the New York Post and Kat O’Brien of Newsday have the latest on the Yankees, who are in hot pursuit of free agent starting pitching.

  • The Yankees will offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu, according to Jon Heyman.  No surprise there.
  • King says the Yankees are preparing an offer for A.J. Burnett, "perhaps a five-year deal worth about $80 million."  Burnett’s agent says they’re just discussing parameters.  It would be a strong offer, dwarfing the Blue Jays’ four years, $54MM.  ESPN’s Buster Olney believes a fifth guaranteed year will ultimately result in the winning bid for Burnett.
  • The Yankees may make an offer to Derek Lowe soon; they’ve reached out to Scott Boras regarding him.  Other Lowe suitors: the Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets, and Rangers.  O’Brien adds that the Yanks expressed interest in Mark Teixeira to Boras (despite the Nick Swisher acquisition).  The Orioles are also in on in Tex.
  • King talked to a "baseball exec" who sees the Cubs re-signing Ryan Dempster at four years, $52MM.
  • Andy Pettitte’s agent doesn’t want a pay cut from this year’s $16MM.
  • The expectation is still for Mike Mussina to retire; we may know this week.
  • The Yankees aren’t in on Jake Peavy, as evidenced by Kevin Towers’ comments last night.  Rick Sutcliffe and Mark Grace have been pitching the Cubs to Peavy, though the hangup seems more about which players the Chicago would send to San Diego.
  • The Yanks have an offer of about six years, $140MM on the table for C.C. Sabathia, and he’s mulling it over (somewhere).

Giants Considering Top Players

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According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants have spoken with Scott Boras about Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira, but it’s unknown if they’ve made them any offers.

Giants director of player personnel Bobby Evans told Schulman “we’re willing to go after the best talent we can.”

The Giants haven’t offered Rafael Furcal a contract, but Paul Kinzer, Furcal’s agent, said that the Giants and Furcal have “serious interest” in each other. Schulman mentions Oakland as possible competition for the Giants, and the Royals could be among the many teams interested in the shortstop.

Schulman believes Furcal is looking for at least a four-year deal worth $10MM a year.

The Giants have also spoken with C.C. Sabathia’s representatives.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Peavy, Teixeira, Burnett

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Ken Rosenthal’s got an interesting new column up.

  • Now that talks with the Braves have ended for the time being, Padres GM Kevin Towers is talking with the Yankees about Jake Peavy. The Yankees have had “numerous discussions” with the Padres, even though they just offered C.C. Sabathia a contract and are still considering A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe.
  • Peavy’s agent Barry Axelrod said that “the Angels probably would be more appealing” geographically, but “from other perspectives, they might be less appealing” than other teams
  • Rosenthal talked with an agent who said that the Angels could wait a week or 10 days before making Mark Teixeira a “knockout offer” with a deadline.
  • Even though the Yankees traded for Nick Swisher, they could still have interest in Teixeira if he’s willing to consider a shorter contract of four or five years for top dollar.
  • Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi knows that Toronto “won’t be the highest bidder” for A.J. Burnett. Ricciardi hopes that Burnett likes Toronto enough to re-sign.
  • The Indians are considering going after both Juan Cruz and Jeremy Affeldt instead of an experienced closer.
  • The Phillies and Giants could also bid on Cruz.
  • The Cardinals will have interest in Affeldt and Joe Beimel as they try to strengthen their bullpen.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Sabathia, Yankees, Pirates, Rays

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Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • MetsBlog feels the reported interest in C.C. Sabathia is overblown. Rather, they see the Mets waiting for Sabathia to sign before making a move of their own for starting pitching.
  • River Ave. Blues still sees the Yankees pursuing Mark Teixeira or Adam Dunn, even with the acquisition of Nick Swisher.
  • Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke speculates on what the Pirates will do this winter while finding humor in this recent quote from the Buccos’ GM: "we’d love to upgrade the offense, upgrade our pitching, and rebuild the bench."
  • MVN Outsider takes the role of Andrew Friedman in their "Being the GM" series and proposes three moves for the Rays including trading Andy Sonnanstine and Chad Bradford for Andre Ethier.
  • With the Rays likely to trade pitching this winter, Rays Prospects takes a closer look at how the starting pitchers throughout the organization performed in 2008. Sonnanstine was clearly a better pitcher than Edwin Jackson.
  • Pinstripes Published has started a series looking at some of the cheaper alternatives that can be found in the free agent market. First up, starting pitchers.
  • Ump Bump is taking a look at what each team needs this offseason. They have already gone through eight teams including the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs and Phillies.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

Nick Swisher Trade Reactions

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The Yankees acquired Nick Swisher yesterday for Wilson Betemit, Jhonny Nunez, and Jeff Marquez.  The reactions are clearly in favor of the Yanks; let’s take a look.

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