According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, the Blue Jays have discussed Astros third baseman Ty Wigginton and have looked at Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett. The Jays like Wigginton as a third baseman despite Scott Rolen’s presence. And as you know, J.P. Ricciardi met with Rafael Furcal’s agent.
Rafael Furcal
Rafael Furcal Rumors: Tuesday
5:59pm: Kinzer told Rosenthal the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Royals, and A’s are in the running for Furcal, who still wants a four-year deal.
5:34pm: The Red Sox have not contacted Paul Kinzer about Furcal, says WEEI’s Alex Speier.
3:28pm: J.P. Ricciardi confirmed his informational meeting with Furcal’s agent. The Jays would have to move some things around to fit in any significant acquisition.
12:12pm: The Dodgers have made re-signing Furcal their top priority, says Tom Verducci.
12:32am: Though Furcal reportedly rejected an Oakland offer of four years for $35-40MM, GM Billy Beane would not say his pursuit is over.
12:11am: According to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, the Dodgers re-opened talks with Rafael Furcal Monday night. They are unwilling to give him a four-year deal.
Bradley To Rays Or Royals?
11:20pm: Dayton Moore shot down the Bradley rumor this evening. The KC Star’s Bob Dutton says the Royals still like Rafael Furcal and Orlando Hudson, but they’d need to free up money first. They’d be willing to trade Jose Guillen if there was a taker, but don’t want to move Gil Meche.
9:05pm: Ken Rosenthal spoke to a Rangers official who expects Milton Bradley to move on (at least they’ll snag a supplemental pick). This official believes the Rays and, surprisingly, the Royals are the leading suitors for Bradley. The Rays came away impressed after their lunch date with Bradley, who was in town for Eddie Guardado’s poker tournament.
Colletti Frustrated With Manny Situation
9:44pm: Jayson Stark says Boras requested a meeting with the Dodgers for Tuesday, presumably to discuss Manny. However, Danny Knobler suggests negotiations for Manny will be handled by Frank McCourt.
3:34pm: Dodgers GM Ned Colletti seems frustrated with the Manny Ramirez situation, based on quotes obtained by ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick:
"I just find it curious. We made an offer and never heard back. We made an arbitration offer and never heard back. Maybe we have to look into the communications we’re using."
It seems that Scott Boras didn’t seriously consider accepting either offer, given the complete lack of communication. Colletti will continue trying to fill the team’s other needs.
Colletti was chatty with reporters; Joel Sherman has more. The Dodgers have moved on from Derek Lowe and are past the possibility of Jason Varitek. C.C. Sabathia doesn’t sound like a priority for Colletti, while Rafael Furcal remains on the radar. And of course a deal may be close with Casey Blake.
Blue Jays Interested In Furcal
According to Yahoo’s Tim Brown, the Blue Jays feel they may be able to sign Rafael Furcal with the money they intended for A.J. Burnett. The Jays would obviously have to top Oakland’s four-year, $35-40MM offer.
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.
Indians Interested in Furcal?
Jon Heyman writes that the Indians may be emerging as a new suitor for free agent Rafael Furcal.
Furcal recently turned down a four-year, $36MM offer from the A’s. Heyman is unsure what went wrong with Oakland, but notes that Furcal was indeed serious about the possibility, having flown there for a tour.
There has long been talk of the Indians moving Jhonny Peralta to third base, and signing Furcal would allow for just that, with Asdrubal Cabrera playing second. Earlier we had heard the the Indians were shifting their focus to a closer. Have they changed their philosophy once again?
Heyman notes that there are also two mystery teams still interested in Furcal. The Cubs are focused on a left-handed hitting outfielder, the Dodgers don’t want to go more than two years, and the Braves still haven’t traded Yunel Escobar, so those three don’t currently make too much sense. Any guesses as to who the other two teams are?
Heyman’s Latest: Furcal, Sabathia, K-Rod
Jon Heyman has a few new posts on his Fan-Nation blog:
- Heyman thinks its peculiar that Rafael Furcal passed up his last offer of 4 years, $35-40MM, especially while the shortstop market is thinning out. The Giants signed Edgar Renteria. The Cubs want a lefty-bat. The Braves need to deal Yunel Escobar before they’ll be interested in Furcal. Again, Buster Olney noted today that Furcal was asking 4 years, $52MM.
- Can the Giants afford CC Sabathia? They’ve already signed Renteria, Jeremy Affeldt, and Bobby Howry. And he would be the team’s second $100MM contract having already made the mistake of overpaying Barry Zito. They admit they need a bat more than another arm. And while Sabathia would like to play in San Francisco, would he like to make less than Zito’s $18MM on the same team?
- No surprise that Francisco Rodriguez is sitting atop the Mets closer wish-list. According to Heyman, he’s followed by Brian Fuentes, Kerry Wood, and then a combination of Trevor Hoffman and Huston Street, who would need to be dealt from the Rockies. Heyman doesn’t complete the list beyond those 4 options and notes that the Hoffman/Street option is a popular idea in the organization. For K-Rod, 3-4 years would be the Mets threshold.
Thin Market for Furcal
3:07pm: There’s a great debate going on in the comments about whether the Twins could swoop in and make an offer to Furcal now that they’ve pulled out of negotiations with Casey Blake. I do wonder if word that the A’s and Furcal couldn’t come to terms precipitated the sudden split between the Twins and Blake. Certainly, Tim saw a good fit between the Twins and Furcal back in October, and Furcal is four years younger than Blake — but still, I think Furcal’s monetary demands are pretty steep. No official Twins-Furcal rumors yet, but if anything comes in in the next couple of hours I’ll update this post again.
As reported here yesterday, after shortstop Furcal rejected the A’s offer of 4 years, $35-40MM, the A’s in turn declined to go any further with Furcal.
2:13pm: Buster Olney says that the market for Rafael Furcal "never really developed; if you were to draw up a list of five players who have been hurt by the economic slowdown, Furcal might be somewhere near the top of the list." Olney breaks down how Furcal’s suitors all ended up looking elsewhere, and says the A’s biggest need is veteran starting pitching. Furcal is "the perfect player for some big-money contender to snag for a big-money, short-term deal, but such an offer may not emerge for some time."
Meanwhile, Athletics Nation agrees that "the only person who believes there is a big market for Rafael Furcal appears to be Furcal" and says A’s GM Billy Beane is now the one holding all the cards in that (apparently bilateral) negotiation.
Chris Haft at MLB.com lists Oakland’s other options at short.
Sarah Green writes for UmpBump and the Boston Metro.
A’s Out Of Running For Furcal
According to Ken Rosenthal, Rafael Furcal declined the A’s contract proposal of four years in the $35-40MM range. The A’s then told Furcal’s agent Paul Kinzer they’re moving on. Kinzer says the door is still open, but Rosenthal says the A’s won’t raise their offer. The A’s were thought to be Furcal’s most likely suitor after they wined and dined him in Oakland. Rosenthal ponders whether Furcal would be willing to play second base to expand his market.
The A’s will pencil in Bobby Crosby for another year while moving on to free agent targets such as Randy Johnson, Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell, and Jason Giambi.
