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Mark Teixeira

Nationals Not Pursuing Manny

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Yesterday, Yahoo’s Tim Brown suggested the Nationals and Jim Bowden were "promising everyone they’re going to be players in the Manny bidding."  However, Bowden sent an email to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson today: "We are not pursuing Manny Ramirez."

Ladson says the Nationals are still in the market for a lefthanded slugger – Mark Teixeira, Adam Dunn, and Prince Fielder remain on the radar.  And despite their abundance of outfielders, they’ve expressed interest in new Rockie Carlos Gonzalez.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Hardy, Flowers, Wolf

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Another day, another column from Ken Rosenthal.

  • With multiple vacancies in the rotation and bullpen, the Brewers may need to see what kind of pitching Mike Cameron and/or J.J. Hardy can bring in return.  GM Doug Melvin is not ready to shop Hardy.  He’s received interest, but most teams have not given names (one team suggested swapping him for a pitcher Melvin termed, "a fifth starter.")
  • The Padres have asked the Braves to substitute catcher Tyler Flowers for center fielder Gorkys Hernandez in their Jake Peavy offer.  Dave O’Brien sees this as unlikely.
  • If they can’t sign Mark Teixeira, the Angels are ready to shift gears to C.C. Sabathia, Francisco Rodriguez, or other players.  The idea of a Manny Ramirez pursuit was "tabled rather quickly."
  • The Cardinals plan to add one or two lefthanded relievers, probably free agents.
  • In his quest for righthanded power, Reds GM Walt Jocketty inquired on Matt Holliday and Josh Willingham before they were traded.  Purely speculative – Jermaine Dye could be a nice fit.
  • At least half a dozen teams have expressed interest in free agent starter Randy Wolf.

Royals Payroll Could Reach $70 Million

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Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City talked to Royals GM Dayton Moore recently.

  • Moore hopes to sign Zack Greinke long-term.  Greinke, however, is comfortable going year to year to maximize his earnings.
  • Moore named three free agent bats he ranked above Mike Jacobs: Mark Teixeira, Manny Ramirez, and Bobby Abreu.  He implied those three are out of the Royals’ price range.  Moore feels that Jacobs will continue to improve.
  • Moore says he has flexibility to extend payroll toward $70MM or even higher.  He notes that last year the Royals tried to sign Jose Guillen and Torii Hunter, which would’ve pushed payroll to that range. 
  • Moore lists his needs as speed, OBP, a starting pitcher, and bullpen help.
  • Mike Aviles could be shifted to second base if the Royals can acquire a "proven everyday shortstop."  Royals Authority says: don’t move him!

Angels Hold Off On Teixeira Bid

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Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times describes the Angels’ strategy regarding free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira.  He says that since Tex will test the open market regardless, the Halos will not make an offer within their exclusive negotiation period.  So much for resolving the situation quickly.

The Angels do not want Scott Boras shopping around their offer to the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, and Nationals and driving up the price.  Just a guess, maybe the Nats consider Josh Willingham their cleanup hitter acquisition and will back out of the Teixeira derby.

DiGiovanna adds that the Angels "plan a serious run" at C.C. Sabathia and could bid on A.J. Burnett.  He also describes their stance on their own free agents aside from Teixeira:

The team will look to re-sign reliever Darren Oliver, is open to retaining closer Francisco Rodriguez and outfielder Juan Rivera, and seems lukewarm to the idea of retaining pitcher Jon Garland and outfielder Garret Anderson.

Perrotto’s Latest: Free Agent Predictions

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John Perrotto has his Every Given Sunday column up over at Baseball Prospectus. Perrotto offers a list of some educated guesses as to where some of the top free agents in baseball will land, with some surprises here and there. Let’s take a look:

  • Perrotto lists the Yankees loading up on starting pitching, landing C.C. Sabathia and Derek Lowe, while the Dodgers land Manny Ramirez after doubling their initial offer to four years, $100MM.
  • Perrotto says the Nationals will land Mark Teixeira, as they could be prepared to offer Teixeira – a Maryland native – ten years, $200MM. Turning down that kind of money would certainly be difficult.
  • Perrotto has Adam Dunn landing on the North Side of Chicago and having an adventurous time in right field for the Cubs. According to these predictions, he’ll be joined by Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood – neither of whom are going anywhere.
  • Perrotto feel Andy Pettitte won’t be back with the Yankees, and feels that he will either take a below-market contract from his hometown Astros or retire. He also pegs Mike Mussina to likely retire, but agrees he’ll be back with the Yankees if he does indeed make a run at 300 wins.
  • Other predictions from Perrotto: Raul Ibanez  and Francisco Rodriguez to the Mets, Milton Bradley to Toronto, Orlando Cabrera to Minnesota, Casey Blake back to Cleveland, A.J. Burnett to the Orioles, Brian Fuentes to the Angels, Nick Punto to St. Louis, Randy Johnson to the Angels, Jason Giambi to Oakland, and Orlando Hudson to the Mets.
  • The list of players who will end up back with their current teams: Ben Sheets, Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, Jamie Moyer, and Jason Varitek, on a two-year $20MM contract, courtesy of Scott Boras.

Angels Rumors: K-Rod, Teixeira, Figgins

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Randy Youngman of the Orange County Register has some Angels rumors.

Youngman heard that Angels owner Arte Moreno has already decided against bringing back Francisco Rodriguez. If the Angels don’t re-sign K-Rod, they could give the closer’s job to Jose Arredondo, the 24-year-old reliever who had a 1.62 ERA in 61 innings as a rookie this year. The Angels were one of four teams who asked to see reliever Chad Cordero’s medical records this week.

Youngman expects the Angels to make Mark Teixeira an offer before their exclusive rights to him expire Thursday. He predicts a six or seven year offer for about $20MM per season. Earlier in the week, Buster Olney expected a similar offer.

If the Angels trade for Garrett Atkins, Youngman suggests that Chone Figgins could move to left field and replace Garret Anderson.

Odds and Ends, Prospects Edition: Kendry Morales, Dayan Viciedo, Logan Morrison

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Some news from the winter leagues and beyond:

  • Kendry Morales homered and doubled in Dominican Winter League play yesterday. "Morales is 9-for-23 and has homered in four of his six games in the Dominican Republic," reports Rotoworld. "He’s trying to force the Angels to open up either first base or DH for him next year." Of course, if the Angels can’t re-sign Mark Teixeira, Morales may not have to do much forcing (as the Angels have known all along).
  • Seen as the future "Babe Ruth of Cuba" until he defected, Dayan Viciedo has been cleared by MLB to be a free agent. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times has the White Sox ready to snap up the third-base prospect, who is still just 19.
  • First-baseman Justin Smoak, the Rangers’ first-round pick this year, is hitting .389 in the Arizona Fall League. The AFL is quite a ways from MLB, but even so, I can’t help but think that the last thing the Rangers really need in their pipeline is more offense…
  • Another first-base prospect, the Marlins’ Logan Morrison, is leading the AFL in batting average (.457), currently has a 12-game hit streak and has 5 homers through 17 games. Morrison was a 22nd-round pick in 2005, but has come a long way, writes ESPN.com’s Jason Grey, who sees in him the man to anchor Florida’s ’initial sack’ in the future.
  • A little more on those two Indian pitching prospects, Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel — 19 years old, they pitched in front of 30 scouts in Arizona on Thursday. Patel hit 90 mph on the radar gun during a 30-pitch session, Singh 84 mph. The two former javelin throwers managed a few breaking balls, as well, and agent Jeff Borris said he expected "multiple offers." No word on whether those offers have come in.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Nationals, Manny, Peavy, Vazquez

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We’ve already touched on Ken Rosenthal’s Matt Holliday update, but there are other good tidbits in the article as well:

  • "Club officials believe" that the Nationals are "reasonably close to a breakthrough." They blame 2008’s sorry performance on the raft of injuries Washington suffered, which is why they’re willing to spend now for a big bat — the key names floating around have been the aforementioned Holliday, Adam Dunn, and Mark Teixeira, though Rosenthal seems skeptical they could snag any of them. But what about Manny Ramirez? "Jim Bowden, the Nats’ unconventional GM, probably would love the idea, but D.C. might not be big enough for Manny and Barack Obama." Looking at the impact that Manny has had on the LA’s attendance, and looking at the empty seats at Nationals Park, it could make sense.
  • Obligatory Jake Peavy update: Padres discuss keeping the ace, Braves grow impatient. Cubs are still in the mix, while the Dodgers and Yankees are "on the backburner." (Buster Olney had a subtly different take posted a few hours later — that Peavy would be dealt before the turkey hits the sideboard.) Rosenthal also quotes Pads GM Kevin Towers as wanting to move the fences in at Petco (which is hard enough just to write without typing in "cavernous" as an automatic prefix).
  • The Mets, among other ballclubs, are interested in Rays’ righties Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson, but the Rays are in no hurry to make a deal.
  • "The White Sox are in an ideal position with" Javier Vazquez if they wait until Peavy, CC Sabathia, et al are placed and then shop him, Rosenthal argues. The 32-year old righty will make $23 MM through 2010, which he calls "a bargain for a pitcher who has produced four straight 200-inning seasons, albeit with a 49-51 record and 4.41 ERA." On the other hand, Vazquez has also hit the 200-strikeout mark in each of the last two seasons.

Sarah Green can be reached here.

Yankees Rumors: Teixeira, Igawa, Sabathia

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The Yankees chatter died down a bit today, but here’s what we’ve got.

Red Sox Rumors: Crisp, Lugo, Burnett, Baldelli

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Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has the latest on the Red Sox.

  • GM Theo Epstein says there’s one deal he might be able to do before the winter meetings, possibly involving Coco Crisp or Julio Lugo.  The free agent market for center fielders and shortstops is weak this year.
  • Cafardo doesn’t believe the Sox are in on C.C. Sabathia or A.J. Burnett, and he says they’re unsure about Derek Lowe.  However, Buster Olney says "there is an expectation within other quarters of the AL East that the Red Sox will get in on the Burnett bidding."  Cafardo does see Boston adding a starter of some kind, possibly a Japanese free agent.
  • Catchers on Epstein’s radar to varying degrees: Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, Jeff Clement, Bengie Molina, and Ivan Rodriguez.
  • Cafardo says the Red Sox are "more than intrigued" by Rocco Baldelli, who could fill their fourth outfielder role if and when Mark Kotsay leaves.
  • Tony Massarotti discusses Mark Teixeira in-depth at his blog.
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