Gammons’ Latest: Bradley, Griffey, Padilla
ESPN’s Peter Gammons has a new blog post to discuss.
- Gammons says Cubs manager Lou Piniella would like to add a left-handed hitting right or center fielder to bat fifth. Milton Bradley and Ken Griffey Jr. seem like long shots though. It’s odd that the Rangers wouldn’t want to move Bradley.
- Gammons notes that the Rangers wanted Mike Pelfrey, Aaron Heilman, and Deolis Guerra for Vicente Padilla in the offseason. Even as a negotiation starting point, that’s a ton for Padilla.
Rangers Expected To Be Sellers
At 7-15, the Rangers have the worst record in the American League. Team president Nolan Ryan doesn’t seem ready for a fire sale yet, but you have to figure the Rangers will be clear sellers come June.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post recently suggested Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Hank Blalock, Frank Catalanotto, and Milton Bradley as trade candidates. As Sherman says, Millwood could be a hot commodity. He looks healthy and would certainly help a contender. Gerald Laird, Marlon Byrd, Jamey Wright, and Joaquin Benoit could also be dealt.
The Rangers already have the fourth-best farm system in baseball according to Baseball America; Jon Daniels’ team could climb even higher with another bountiful July.
Padres May Learn Today About Fukudome Offer
Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune has a new column up, chock full of Padres rumors. Let’s discuss.
- The Padres have a three-year offer out to Kosuke Fukudome that may make him the highest paid Padre ever, aside from Jake Peavy. Kevin Towers expects to get an answer today from Fukudome’s agent, Joe Urbon. Urbon basically said that geography would only come into play if offers from competing teams were similar. Towers admitted he sees the Cubs as the lead horse in this race.
- San Diego has a strong need for an outfielder or two, especially now that Milton Bradley went to the Rangers for an extra million bucks. There was some sentiment from Bradley that the Padres were glad they were outbid, maybe even planned it that way. It would seem more clever if they’d offered Bradley arbitration, though.
- Mike Cameron, Geoff Jenkins, and Jason Bay remain on Towers’ radar as alternatives to Fukudome. Krasovic recently suggested the Reds could jump in on Cameron if they trade Josh Hamilton.
Rangers Reach Deal With Bradley
MLB.com is reporting that the Rangers have come to terms with outfielder Milton Bradley on what appears to be a one-year deal. Its base worth is $5 million, though Bradley can earn a few incentives.
Of course, there’s still the issue of Bradley’s knee. He suffered a torn ACL towards the end of the season in that strange scuttle with Mike Winters and Padres manager Bud Black. Some reports have Bradley being ready by Opening Day, some have him sitting out the first month of the season.
Not that we could have expected it, but this report gives us no further insight into Bradley’s health condition. It does mention, though, that Bradley has to take a physical. I would certainly hope so.
–Joe
Rangers Like Patterson, Ethier, Hamilton, Fukudome
According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers are targeting various young outfielders.
- Corey Patterson, 28, is a free agent and Scott Boras client. He’s looking for multiple years while the Rangers only want to give one. His talent might tantalize somebody, though he hit just .269/.304/.386 this year. He’s shown in the past that he can hit like a league average CF and play plus defense, so he could be a bargain. Patterson reversed his platoon split this year, hitting lefties pretty well. He’s an Atlanta native; maybe the Braves would be a match.
- Andre Ethier, 26 in April, is expendable now that the Dodgers have four outfielders. His career line of .295/.357/.464 is solid, though that is average for an AL right fielder. The Dodgers may opt to move Juan Pierre instead, if they can find a taker. The Dodgers previously had interest in Rangers reliever Joaquin Benoit, according to Sullivan. The Rangers would have competition from the Rays on Ethier.
- Josh Hamilton, 27 in May, could be moved by the Reds for a starting pitcher. Hamilton was incredible in 300 ABs for the Reds this year in his MLB debut, despite several years off and only 89 ABs above A ball. That’s #1 pick talent. He dealt with wrist, hamstring, and stomach problems this year however. Sullivan says the Reds would want Edinson Volquez for him; there was talk of sending him to Florida for Dontrelle Willis previously.
- Kosuke Fukudome, 31 in April, hasn’t decided yet whether to play in MLB. Even limited by an elbow issue he hit .294/.443/.520 in Japan.
- Milton Bradley, 30 in April, needs more time to decide on the Padres’ $4MM offer. Coming off knee surgery, he might be interested in the Rangers’ open DH job. Bradley is injury-prone, but he hit .306/.402/.545 in 209 ABs this year.
- Others who have been mentioned: Coco Crisp, Rocco Baldelli, Jim Edmonds, and Juan Pierre.
Odds and Ends: Sabathia, Loretta, Patterson
You know the drill, here’s a roundup of some rumor nuggets. I’ll update the post continuously throughout the day.
- Corey Patterson wants a multiyear deal, which probably isn’t something the Rangers want to do.
- The Indians met with C.C. Sabathia‘s agent on Thursday, but have yet to submit an extension proposal. That will happen this month, most likely.
- Check out how excited Pirates Rule 5 pick Evan Meek was. Pretty cool.
- The Astros expect Mark Loretta to accept their offer of arbitration. The deadline is midnight tonight for players to decide. Despite what Ed Wade says I doubt they really want a $4MM utility player.
- David Wells, Jon Lieber, and Brett Tomko are the types of names the Reds are considering. Tomko came up a Red but went to Seattle in the Griffey deal. Boomer is also a former Red.
- The Padres signed Shawn Estes, but it sounds like they’ve only made an offer to Milton Bradley.
- Andy MacPhail didn’t say no when asked whether he had interest in Eric Gagne and Octavio Dotel. Didn’t say yes, either.
ESPN’s Latest: Barrett, Ensberg, Mahay
Who said the Meetings are over? ESPN’s Peter Gammons, Buster Olney, and Jerry Crasnick are still running down rumors.
- The Rays want Michael Barrett, according to Gammons.
- Looks like Kevin Mench will be non-tendered.
- Crasnick says the Marlins may go after Morgan Ensberg, who is also likely to be non-tendered. The Phillies aren’t much interested in him.
- Gammons says Ron Mahay is down to the Yanks or Royals.
- He also says the Padres’ Milton Bradley signing won’t get in the way of their Kosuke Fukudome pursuit.
- Olney backs up the rumor about the Giants’ interest in Hideki Matsui.
Padres Near Deal With Milton Bradley
UPDAT, 12-6-07 at 12:11pm: MLB.com’s Corey Brock says the deal is worth $3.5-4MM.
FROM 12-6-07 at 11:24am:
According to MLB.com’s Jim Molony, the Padres are nearing a one-year deal with outfielder Milton Bradley. Bradley is expected to be ready to play in April; hopefully he can stay healthy and give the Padres 400-500 good ABs. Bradley recently lost 15 pounds in an effort to reduce his injury risk.
Does this take the Padres out of the Kosuke Fukudome sweepstakes? Probably not – the Padres won’t sign both Fukudome and Mike Cameron, but Bradley probably came cheaply.
Rangers Rumors: Lamb, Gagne, Prior
As usual, Evan Grant has the latest Rangers hot stove buzz.
- New acquisition Chris Shelton may see some time at first base for the Rangers. As far as left-handed hitters, the Rangers’ options are Mike Lamb, Sean Casey, and in-house choice Frank Catalanotto.
- Free agents Eric Gagne, LaTroy Hawkins, Corey Patterson, and Milton Bradley are still on the radar.
- Contrary to previous reports, the Rangers aren’t interested in Mark Prior.
- The Rangers don’t want to move Vicente Padilla or Kevin Millwood as straight-up salary dumps.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Bradley, Haren
Ken Rosenthal checks in with the latest buzz.
- The Astros might be "on the verge of a major deal." Rosenthal notes the availability of Chris Burke and Luke Scott plus the team’s interest in Damaso Marte. He also says some clubs are after Houston’s young pitching. Ed Wade spoke of two-way, three-way, and even four-way discussions before he hit the hay last night, but nothing seemed imminent.
- Rosenthal says the Padres might have a better chance of re-signing Milton Bradley than Mike Cameron. He also implies that the Friars could reach a one-year agreement with Michael Barrett and then shop him.
- Despite Hank’s proclamations, Rosenthal says the Yanks are "lurking" on Dan Haren. Sounds creepy.