Abraham On Hawkins, Igawa, Santana
Peter Abraham of The Journal News checks in on his blog with a couple of new Yankees tidbits.
- The Yankees are considering LaTroy Hawkins, Ron Mahay, and a return of Luis Vizcaino among relief possibilities. Hawkins has the Tigers and Rockies after him. Mahay interests the Braves, Brewers, and Royals. Haven’t heard much about the Viz yet.
- Abraham says there is a market for Kei Igawa. The Yanks don’t have a rotation spot for him, but they are paying him through 2011. He’s signed cheaply since a large part of the expenditure was his posting fee. Other teams known to have shown interest in Igawa at one point: Padres, Orioles, Mariners, D’Backs, Dodgers, Mets, Cubs, Braves, Tigers, and Indians.
- Abraham does not think the Mets will surrender Jose Reyes, and therefore doesn’t think they can pull off a Johan Santana deal.
Odds and Ends: Livan, Bartlett, Willis, Webb
Random pieces of rumorage…
- The Mets have expressed interest in Livan Hernandez, though he appears to be their Plan C or D.
- Jim Bowden and the Nats will be active in the trade market, perhaps finally pulling the trigger on deals for Chad Cordero and/or Jon Rauch.
- The Rays and Twins have had discussions about shortstop Jason Bartlett. Would a 1 for 1 trade for Rocco Baldelli make sense? Buster Olney believes the Rays should consider trading for the Nats’ Cristian Guzman.
- Update on the Rockies’ reliever situation. They’re probably going to pass on Ron Mahay and Jeremy Affeldt, while they should hear Matt Herges‘ decision today. Ron Villone is also in their sights.
- The D’Backs will no longer look at annual payroll. Instead, they have a three-year budget to spend. This may allow for a higher payroll in 2008 than 2009. Jack Magruder guesses the number is around $230-240MM for 2008-10.
- Speaking of Arizona, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic believes some kind of Carlos Gonzalez for Dontrelle Willis swap could make sense. Another D’Back note – they offered an extension to Brandon Webb for 2011-13, but he turned down their offer.
- The Scott Linebrink signing is done, and he gets some kind of no-trade protection.
Yankees Interested In Mahay, Linebrink
According to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, the Yankees are interested in relievers Ron Mahay and Scott Linebrink. Offers have not yet been extended.
Signing Linebrink would be costly beyond the three years and $12MM+ he might require. Assuming the Brewers offer arbitration and Linebrink declines (a safe assumption), the Yankees would have to hand over their 28th overall pick next June. It’s known that the Astros already have an offer out to Linebrink, and the White Sox and Pirates may also be interested.
Since he’s a Type B, Mahay doesn’t carry the same risk. The Braves, Brewers, Rays, Rockies, and Royals are in on him currently.
Braves Offer $7MM To Glavine
According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves have made a one-year, $7MM offer to free agent starter Tom Glavine. Glavine has already come back with a counterproposal, and O’Brien expects a deal shortly.
If Braves GM Frank Wren is to be taken for his word, the Braves may be done acquiring pitching after Glavine. He says they would have eight starter for five spots:
John Smoltz
Tim Hudson
Tom Glavine
Chuck James
Mike Hampton
Jair Jurrjens
Jo-Jo Reyes
Buddy Carlyle
I have to admit, that looks like decent depth to start the ’08 season. What would be next? One emailer speculated the Braves might go after Bill Hall. Are there enough center fielders already? Thoughts? It seems that Josh Anderson is the frontrunner but not a lock for the starting job.
Lefty relief help is also a supposed need. We knew Wren was considering bringing Ron Mahay back. O’Brien adds that they’ve looked into Jeremy Affeldt a bit as well.
Frank Wren Chat At MLB.com
Braves GM Frank Wren chatted with fans today at MLB.com. A hot stove summary is below.
- Wren is working on various short-term options for center field, as he does not want to block his two center field prospects.
- Rumors that the Braves would sign Mike Lowell or trade for Ken Griffey Jr., which were silly from Day 1, were shot down.
- Octavio Dotel wants a multiyear deal, and Wren doesn’t seem to expect him back. The Braves do have interest in re-signing Ron Mahay though.
- Wren says that he won’t go after any more starters if the Braves sign Tom Glavine.
- There haven’t been any talks with Mark Teixeira regarding a contract extension yet.
Brewers Targeting Herges, Hawkins, Mahay
UPDATE: Melvin signed sidearmer Randy Choate this afternoon to start things off. This MLB.com article also quotes Cordero’s agent Bean Stringfellow that "numerous" teams have shown serious interest in the closer. The Astros may be making a strong push.
Tom Haudricourt checks in with some names among the eight or nine free agent relievers on Brewers GM Doug Melvin’s radar. And to think, they cut this part out of Haudricourt’s newspaper article.
Melvin is currently interested in righties Matt Herges and LaTroy Hawkins, as well as southpaw Ron Mahay. The Rockies have one-year offers on the table for Herges and Hawkins in the $1.5-2MM range. Any team guaranteeing two years can probably have Herges or Hawkins. Mahay’s in the three-year, $12MM class. Haudricourt suggests David Riske, another 3/12 type, might also be a consideration.
The Brewers have an offer out to Francisco Cordero, and haven’t decided whether to make a proposal to Scott Linebrink. Both are Type A free agents, so at least the Brewers should offer them arbitration. I say let ’em both walk and reap the draft picks. (The Mets, by the way, seemingly won’t be in on Linebrink).
Rays Interested In Mahay
According to Marc Topkin, the Rays have interest in southpaw reliever Ron Mahay (hat tip DRays Bay). The 36 year-old had a well-timed solid season in 2007. J.C. Romero‘s three year, $12MM deal might have moved the bar a little for middle relievers. If Romero gets that, then maybe Mahay gets three years, $15MM. I would think that closing experience would be a prerequisite for an AAV higher than $5MM.
Aside from the Rays, the Rockies and Royals are known to be interested in Mahay.
Rockies Rumors: Atkins, Barrett, Fukumori
What are the Rockies up to as they plot to defend their NL pennant? Tracy Ringolsby and Troy E. Renck have the latest.
- Ringolsby says Garrett Atkins is staying put, which should help the third baseman relax a little bit. This echoes Renck’s sentiments yesterday. Renck also noted that the Rox won’t be offering Atkins a multiyear deal anytime soon.
- Yesterday Renck said that after Yorvit Torrealba, the Rockies were considering Jose Molina, Paul Lo Duca, Jason Kendall, and Ramon Castro for catcher. However Ringolsby says today that Michael Barrett and Kendall are the main targets. Renck has come on board with that today, noting that Dan O’Dowd has contacted the agents for Barrett, Kendall, and Lo Duca.
- Ringolsby adds that the Rockies are exploring the Japanese reliever market, namely Hitoki Iwase and Kazuo Fukumori. Fukumori might appeal as the cheaper of the two.
- Meanwhile the Indians, Brewers, Phillies, and Mets like Brian Fuentes. We’ve also read about the Tigers’ interest. The Rockies’ willingness to trade him may depend on the progress of 2007 top draft pick Casey Weathers.
- Jason Jennings might be leaning toward signing with the Padres. This echoes an obscure article we found back in July.
- Renck says that if the Rockies don’t hear by Tuesday about their offers to Kaz Matsui, Matt Herges, LaTroy Hawkins, and Torrealba, they’ll start looking at other options.
- Renck adds that the Rockies have checked in with Ron Mahay‘s people. He’s getting popular.
- The Rockies are out on Jon Garland – they can’t fit his $12MM salary into the 2008 budget. Matsui moving on would clear $3MM though.
- The idea of locking up Troy Tulowitzki long-term is being entertained. It probably wouldn’t happen until after the 2008 season though.
Royals Rumors: Cordero, Silva, Guillen
Some good info surfacing regarding the Royals, as usual courtesy of the KC Star’s Bob Dutton.
- While Joakim Soria will remain in the pen, the Royals want to add more relief help. They could re-sign David Riske, and even plan to contact Francisco Cordero‘s agent (Bean Stringfellow). Bringing back Octavio Dotel is also being considered, though Soria would remain the closer.
- Ron Mahay is on the radar. It’s thought that he’ll require something close to a three-year, $12MM deal as one of the better southpaw relievers out there. Riske wants a deal like that too. Dayton, just take the draft pick.
- I’ve yet to mention here Dayton Moore’s quotes. Basically, steroid allegations won’t affect the team’s pursuit of any player, meaning they still like Jose Guillen. It’s not surprising to see GMs moving in this direction.
- Japan presents options such as Hitoki Iwase, Kazuo Fukumori, and Yashuhiko Yabuta. New manager Trey Hillman observed Iwase up close this year.
- What about more starting pitching? The Royals like Carlos Silva, Hiroki Kuroda, Kris Benson, Matt Clement, and Jason Jennings. Something useful could come out of that.
- By the way, the Royals saw Glendon Rusch work out recently. The swingman came up as a Royal before being traded to the Mets in ’99.
Braves Acquire Mark Teixeira
UPDATE: ESPN adds that one of the pitching prospects is Neftali Feliz.
According to Ken Rosenthal, the deal is finally done, pending a review of medical records. The Braves will receive Mark Teixeira and lefty reliever Ron Mahay, while the Rangers will get Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, and two pitching prospects. Matt Harrison is said to be one of them; his MRI today came up clean.
I’ll have some analysis of the deal once we have all the details. Kind of makes tomorrow anticlimactic, doesn’t it?