No Agreement Yet For Moyer
12:01pm: David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News says everyone expects the Phils to re-sign Moyer. He says not to read into the Lowe/Burnett inquiries; the team has inquired on more than 25 free agents. MLB.com’s Ken Mandel names six of them: Doug Brocail, Russ Springer, Raul Ibanez, Rocco Baldelli, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Nick Punto.
10:16am: According to Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies are still talking to free agent pitcher Jamie Moyer but don’t have an agreement yet. Moyer apparently wants a multiyear deal. The Phils recently contacted Derek Lowe and A.J. Burnett to hedge their bets.
Perrotto’s Latest: Free Agent Predictions
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.
Twins Rumors: Blake, Escobar, Hardy
Joe Christensen has an update on the Twins’ search for help on the left side of the infield. Minnesota is one of seven teams interested in Casey Blake, according to Blake’s agent Jim McDowell.
Blake hit .274/.345/.463 last year for the Indians and Dodgers this year. He’s been released twice by the Twins, but he could come back to stabilize their third base situation.
Christensen has sources who suggest that the Twins are also targeting Yunel Escobar and J.J. Hardy in trades. If no deal is made, they could re-sign Nick Punto, who played 61 games at shortstop in 2008.
The Twins are also interested in trading for Garrett Atkins, who’s six years younger than Blake.
Twins Offseason Plans
SUNDAY: Further reading on the Twins: a Q&A with Smith conducted by La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Smith doesn’t tip his hand on whether he’d be more willing to trade an outfielder or a starting pitcher.
SATURDAY: Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press dishes on the Twins, who are holding their organizational meetings this weekend.
- GM Bill Smith is looking for help in the bullpen and middle infield. Powers still expects free agent Dennys Reyes to sign elsewhere; perhaps the Twins will sign a righty reliever. Nick Punto seems more likely to be re-signed. Another infielder will probably still be added.
- Powers sees Smith as more likely to trade a pitcher than Delmon Young. I agree – it’d be surprising to see the Twins give up on Young after one year.
- Smith had all kinds of trade discussions this summer, but ultimately felt some GMs were "trying to pick on the rookie."
- For more on the Twins, check out our Offseason Outlook.