Padres Rumors: Peavy, Fukudome, Clement
Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune has a new column up with some good Padres info.
- The Padres are still hammering out Jake Peavy‘s deal. It’ll include no-trade protection and a player option for 2013. Brandon Webb and his agent will be watching closely.
- The Friars have stepped up their interest in Kosuke Fukudome, who they’d use as a center fielder. The Cubs are also in hard on him. I recently broke down Fukudome’s suitors here.
- Randy Wolf will get $4MM guaranteed, with another possible $5MM in incentives.
- Matt Clement‘s top choice is the Padres, but they’re not treating the situation with any urgency given the Wolf signing. The Ms and Jays are pushing hardest for Clement. The Rockies, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Phillies, and Royals are known to have interest as well. The Bucs, in fact, recently contacted Clement’s agent.
- Eight clubs are after Brett Tomko. From yesterday we know the Padres, Nationals, Rockies, Astros, and Marlins are among them.
Padres Sign Randy Wolf
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Padres have a preliminary agreement in place with starter Randy Wolf. It’ll be final once Wolf passes a physical. The Phillies and Astros had been in on him as well.
Wolf had Tommy John surgery in July of 2005. He found his way back to a big league mound a year later. He struggled through 12 starts in ’06 to finish off a solid Phillies career. That winter the Blue Jays and D’Backs had interest, but Wolf opted to give the Dodgers a hometown discount by signing for $7.5MM in ’07 plus a $9MM club option for ’08.
Wolf felt good to start off 2007. After stumbling through a mediocre April, he was phenomenal in May with a 1.48 ERA. However he was knocked around in June and hit the DL in early July for shoulder soreness. He had a cortisone shot and started rehabbing, but had a setback and wasn’t able to return. He had shoulder surgery in late August. There hadn’t been structural damage so it must’ve been minor. He expects to be ready for Spring Training. The Dodgers opted for his $500K buyout rather than his $9MM option. The 31 year-old lefty seems a good value signing for the Friars.
Padres Rumors: Cameron, Jenkins, Colon
UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 10pm: Krasovic has an update on the Union-Tribune’s sports blog. Cameron’s agent said tonight that he would decline the Padres’ offer of arbitration. That doesn’t mean the Padres still can’t sign him, but it seems unlikely. Krasovic also notes that the Friars are pursuing Japanese reliever Kazuo Fukumori. As you know, they brought him in for a workout previously. The Rockies and Red Sox have been linked to him in the past.
FROM 11-28-07 at 10:40am:
Tim Sullivan and Tom Krasovic make are a productive tandem for Padres rumors. Sullivan and Krasovic both posted new articles today.
- Sullivan says the Padres will probably offer arbitration to Mike Cameron. Cameron will then decide whether to accept by December 7th. It wouldn’t make sense for the Padres to move on a center fielder until that is resolved. It’s also possible that the Padres just sign Cameron to a two-year deal – they’re sitting on a counteroffer from Cameron’s camp.
- The Padres admit to interest in Andruw Jones, but it seems like a longshot. They probably won’t go past one year, and even if Jones accepts that it’s not a good ballpark to rebuild value.
- Sullivan names other center field possibilities: Aaron Rowand, Gary Matthews Jr., Reggie Willits, and Coco Crisp.
- As for left field, Krasovic notes that the Padres met with Geoff Jenkins yesterday. That might allow Scott Hairston to move to center if all of the above options fail.
- On the pitchiing front, Buster Olney notes that the Padres have expressed interest in Randy Wolf, Bartolo Colon, and Mark Prior.
Odds and Ends: Riske, Bedard, Wolf
And now for your daily jumble o’ rumors. More to come.
- The Twins cleared several spots on their 40-man roster…will they be active next week?
- The Yankees have "reached out" to free agent reliever David Riske. Troy Percival and Ron Mahay have also been linked to the Yanks this offseason.
- The Dodgers have an interest in Tony Clark, which has to bum out James Loney. Dylan Hernandez also notes that the Dodgers’ talks for Erik Bedard have stalled because the Orioles want to see what happens with Miguel Cabrera first. Ned Colletti expects Jeff Kent back, by the way.
- The Cards won’t be afraid to trade their young pitching (Anthony Reyes, Tyler Johnson, and Brad Thompson) for veteran pitching. They also still like Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse, if the price is right.
- Bob Dutton reports that the Royals’ Yasuhiko Yabuta signing will be finalized at week’s end. Meanwhile nothing is imminent with Jose Guillen.
- Linked to this earlier in a D’Backs post…the Phils are in "serious talks" with Randy Wolf. As I said there, that shouldn’t stop them from going after a more reliable starter.
- Things are heating up between the Twins and Red Sox for Coco Crisp, but that’s all Gordon Edes has for us on the topic.
- As expected, the market for Mike Cameron has picked up now that Torii Hunter signed.
More Odds and Ends: Kuroda, Pena, Wolf, Percival, Molina
Tim sent me a couple of items, so let’s create another bullet list:
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi and manager John McLaren have met with Hiroki Kuroda yesterday. There is no report of an offer, but it’s believed that four years and $45 million are expected. Kuroda hopes to make his decision on the 29th.
- Impacto Deportivo, the same site that had first news of the Mets deal with Luis Castillo, reports that Carlos Pena has rejected a three-year, $30 million deal from the Rays. Pena, however, calls the report "a straight lie."
- Randy Wolf is generating interest from the Padres, Phillies, and Astros. Ken Rosenthal notes that the market for high-risk, moderate-reward pitchers is strong, since the rest of the market isn’t very appealing. This includes Bartolo Colon, Jason Jennings, Freddy Garcia, Jon Lieber, Matt Clement, and Kris Benson.
- The Brewers are in on Troy Percival after losing Francisco Cordero to the Reds. As has been said since the signing, this could also mean that Derrick Turnbow gets another shot in the closer’s role.
- The Mets inquired about Bengie Molina at the GM meetings, and even though they have acquired Johnny Estrada, they could rekindle talks at the Winter Meetings. Rosenthal notes that the Giants might not want to trade Molina, since they lose considerable leverage because of the $12 million owed to him over the next two years.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.
Phillies Make Offers To Kuroda, Wolf
According to Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies currently have offers out to free agent starters Hiroki Kuroda and Randy Wolf. There are other unknown offers out as well. The Phils are thought to have roughly $10-12MM to burn this winter.
Jayson Stark reiterated that the Phils are after Wolf, noting that he’s high on their list. Stark adds Matt Clement, Kris Benson, and Mike Wood to those coveted by the Phils. Seven other teams are after Benson, including the Royals and Marlins.
MLBTR readers also know the Phils like Jon Lieber, Bartolo Colon, Kenny Rogers, Livan Hernandez, Mark Prior, Shawn Chacon, Joe Kennedy, Brian Fuentes, and A.J. Burnett.
Rumor Roundup: Colon, Barrett, Clement, Monroe
Rounding up some of today’s rumors…
- The Phillies have had conversations about Randy Wolf and Bartolo Colon. It’s assumed they have about $10MM to spend.
- The Rockies are talking to Michael Barrett’s agent. They’ve also got some interest in Mike Maroth. He doesn’t seem like a great match. LaTroy Hawkins hasn’t had any recent discussions with the Rockies, and other teams are knocking on his door (including the Brewers).
- The White Sox may look to Japan for relief help. They’ve been linked to Yasuhiko Yabuta in the past.
- Richard Griffin notes that the Blue Jays pursued Matt Clement three years ago, and they could go after him again now. I’m guessing Clement will opt for San Diego though.
- Sabernomics interviewed ESPN’s Keith Law. I chatted with Keith back in July, if you’re interested.
- The Cubs only get a player from the Twins for Craig Monroe if the Twins can strike a deal with him. And the Twins won’t be going to arbitration with Monroe.
Astros To Make Offers To Cordero, Castillo, Wolf
So far, Ed Wade’s list of targets for the Astros is as follows:
Jeremy Affeldt
Luis Castillo
Francisco Cordero
Tom Glavine
Tadahito Iguchi
Jason Jennings
Troy Percival
Jon Lieber
Scott Linebrink
Kaz Matsui
Dontrelle Willis
Randy Wolf
According to the Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice, Wade will be making offers today to Cordero, Castillo, Wolf, and more. Wade plans to toss out "multiple offers at multiple positions" until each hole is filled with some kind of warm free agent body. It seems like a strange way to build a team. Sounds like the Astros intend to sign a second baseman, closer, and starting pitcher or two.
State Of The Dodgers
The L.A. Daily News’ Tony Jackson has a look at the Dodgers’ upcoming offseason. You also might be interested in my recent Needs and Luxuries post on the team. A summary of Jackson’s column:
- Juan Pierre could be shifted to left field to allow the Dodgers to employ a stronger arm in center field. It’s odd…teams seem to be souring on last winter’s signings even when they received exactly what everyone expected (Pierre and Jason Marquis, for example). It’d be different for the Red Sox to sour on J.D. Drew, he played well below expectations in Year 1. Anyway, Pierre could be moved to accomodate Matt Kemp (perhaps putting Andre Ethier in right), or the Dodgers could pursue a center fielder. They’ve already been connected to Andruw Jones.
- The Dodgers perceive third base as a big hole, apparently not willing to give Andy LaRoche another look. Of course we have to mention Alex Rodriguez. But how about Mike Lowell?
- The Dodgers will pass on options for Ramon Martinez and Randy Wolf, but might consider Mike Lieberthal at $1.5MM. Liebs could earn almost $40K per game next year, not too shabby.
- L.A. has a couple of non-tender candidates: Mark Hendrickson and Chin-hui Tsao. Apparently they will keep Hendrickson but cut Tsao loose.
Wolf Hopes To Return To Dodgers In ’08
According to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, Randy Wolf would like to return to the Dodgers for the 2008 season. Last winter, the Dodgers snagged Wolf on a below-market $8MM deal with a $9MM club option for ’08. Wolf expects them to decline the option. His season was abbreviated by shoulder surgery.
As Hernandez mentions, the Dodgers appear to be set with Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Jason Schmidt, Chad Billingsley, and Esteban Loaiza for the ’08 rotation. But how many times have we seen a team go all year starting only its Opening Day five? Wolf at $4-5MM is an excellent signing. He says he feels like he didn’t even have surgery.
The Dodgers should sign Wolf, and then use he or Loaiza in relief until a spot opens up. Penny always wears down; maybe the Dodgers could use their sixth man to get him an extra day’s rest more often. Billingsley might pitch around 150 innings this year, meaning you wouldn’t want to take him past 180 in ’08. Loaiza and Schmidt are both obvious health risks. Hopefully Ned Colletti doesn’t pass on a bargain-priced Wolf to add depth for ’08.