Hunter Receives Five Offers
Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, normally their Cubs guy, has the scoop on the Torii Hunter situation.
Wittenmyer says Hunter has at least five offers in hand. Four of them are for five years, while the Rangers have offered six. This doesn’t count the Twins’ lowball 3/45 offer.
So which five clubs have made proposals to Hunter? The Rangers, White Sox, Dodgers, Royals, and Nationals comprise the list. Wittenmyer notes that the Dodgers could get aggressive on Hunter if they miss out on Miguel Cabrera. Also, the Yankees could trade Melky Cabrera and jump in. The amounts offered aren’t well known, but Wittenmyer says the Rangers are just under $15MM per year.
Hunter hopes to decide next week so he doesn’t have to attend the Winter Meetings the week after that. Don’t underestimate the Royals, who blew everyone away last year by winning the bidding for Gil Meche. Still, the White Sox and Rangers are the clear frontrunners.
Brewers Pursuing Hunter?
We recently named the White Sox, Dodgers, and Rangers as the teams in hot pursuit of free agent center fielder Torii Hunter. However, those aren’t the only clubs after him.
Yahoo’s Jeff Passan talks of how Hunter was impressed with the Royals’ pitch. Passan also adds the Brewers and Nationals as teams interested in Hunter.
Out of all these clubs, this is the first I’ve heard of Milwaukee being in the mix. Perhaps if the Brewers let Francisco Cordero walk they’ll spend the money on Torii. They could then move Bill Hall to third base and Ryan Braun to left field.
Hunter may sign by the end of next week.
Rangers, Hunter Talking Five Year Deal
According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, Torii Hunter denied the Chicago Sun-Times report that he would sign with the Sox this week. The White Sox, Dodgers, and Rangers remain the major players for Hunter.
The Rangers had dinner with Hunter last night; he’s their top priority. Currently the two sides are talking about a five-year deal but Jon Daniels doesn’t expect anything to happen this week.
Odds and Ends: LaRue, Rogers, Hunter
Some random rumorage before I shut it down for the evening…
- My 2008 MLB Free Agents list is current; take a gander.
- The Cardinals signed Jason LaRue to be their backup catcher. LaRue had a nice five-year trend of rising OPS, culminating with an .806 mark in 2005. Then he lost all ability to hit whatsoever. Fortunately, he can still throw guys out. The Cards also inked a couple of sweet former Rated Rookies in Dewon Brazelton and John Wasdin.
- The Tigers have begun chatting with Kenny Rogers again, this time with The Gambler representing himself.
- Don’t buy that Torii Hunter White Sox jersey just yet – Hunter is finishing up a tasty meal at Tom Hicks’ house as we speak. If Hicks was smart he whipped up some chicken fried rice for Torii.
Hunter, Sox Could Agree This Week
Torii Hunter might be a White Sox before the week is out. According to Joe Cowley, "’the climate was there for a deal to be announced soon." Of course, Cowley adds that this is unless another team swoops in at the last second with a mind-boggling offer. Next to the White Sox, the Rangers are mentioned most often as Hunter’s destination. The Royals also have interest.
This report is coming from sources within both the club and Hunter’s camp. The two sides have sat down twice, with the financial package being discussed in the latter meeting. Buster Olney has mentioned a six-year, $90 million potential deal with the Rangers (or was he just speculating?).
Cowley says that this all fits in with Ken Williams’s plan to model the team after the 2005 one: pitching and defense. And while having Juan Uribe (if indeed he does move to second), Orlando Cabrera, and Torii Hunter up the middle is potentially solid for next year, they aren’t exactly flush with pitching, and losing Jon Garland doesn’t help. Mark Buehrle and Javy Vazquez will head the rotation, but after that it’s some combination of Jose Contreras, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, and possibly Gio Gonzalez.
Ah, but some people in the ChiSox organization "privately some in the organization felt that Garland had reached his ceiling in 2005 and ’06, winning 18 games in both years." Well, his walks rose and his strikeouts fell a bit in 2007 (and his home runs plummeted), but based on pure results, he had a better 2007 than 2006.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Bonds, Broussard, Hunter, Rowand, More
We missed an installment from good ol’ Kenny Rosenthal yesterday. He’s back today in full force (unlike another great rumor source, Buster Olney, who posted nothing really new in his blog today).
- The A’s, once considered the best bet for Barry Bonds, are no longer interested in the indicted slugger. Rosenthal thinks it’s likely that Bond’s trial will start after Opening Day, causing him to miss time regardless of the verdict. And then there’s the whole prison issue.
- The Rangers spoke to the Mariners at the GM meetings regarding the availability of Ben Broussard. Talks didn’t really go anywhere, since Broussard is a non-tender candidate. The Mariners might not be too keen on offering Broussard a raise over the $3.55 million he made last year, in which he managed just 264 plate appearances.
- Teams, including the Dodgers, might be more interested in Aaron Rowand over Torii Hunter because of one year and $30 million. Rowand is seeking five years, $60 million, while Hunter wants six and $90 mil. Hunter is far more proven a commodity, though, and is more athletic than Rowand. The negative in Hunter’s corner is that he’s two years older than Rowand.
- He mentions that the Cubs are interested in Luis Castillo and Kaz Matsui, both switch hitters, to play second base next year. The Astros and Mets are also in on Castillo, while the Rockies would like to re-sign Kaz — though they have a number of internal candidates, including Ian Stewart.
- The Padres are considering offering arbitration to Mike Cameron and Mike Barrett. Barrett seems like a no-brainer. He’s a Type A free agent, and would probably be worth a one-year deal. He could be pricey, though, as Ivan Rodriguez and Jorge Posada are making $13 million or more. Cameron also makes sense. The Padres still need a center fielder for 2008, and they’d do well to sign Cam to a one-year deal should he accept arbitration. Otherwise, the supplemental pick would be nice.
- Reggie Sanders will consider retirement if he can’t land a deal with the Dodgers, Giants, or Padres. Sanders missed most of the 2007 season with hamstring problems.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.
Odds and Ends: Kuroda, Hunter, Crede
What’d I miss recently? Here are some odds and ends.
- The Tigers have expressed interest in Hiroki Kuroda. They join the Phillies, Mariners, Dodgers, Royals, Rangers, Cubs, and Mets in that pursuit.
- 10 teams are interested in Aaron Rowand! That’s almost 1/3 of all baseball teams!
- Torii Hunter is after a seven-year deal. Most feel he’s saying that because he wants six. Clever!
- The Twins are taking a look at Tony Clark as a cheap DH option. He’s supposedly looking for something like two years, $4MM and more playing time. This would be a very Twins-like signing.
- T.R. Sullivan has a Rangers update. Apparently Jon Daniels is checking in on big names like Johan Santana, Erik Bedard, and Miguel Cabrera. More realistically Daniels may go out to Japan for players such as Kosuke Fukudome and Hiroki Kuroda (we knew that already). We also knew the Rangers had Kerry Wood and Eric Gagne on their radar. Sullivan speculates that Scott Linebrink and LaTroy Hawkins could also be in the mix.
- Barry Rozner expects Joe Crede to be traded. It seems like Crede is a Plan B or C for a lot of teams and Kenny Williams may have to wait til a few dominoes fall first.
Dodgers Pursuing Aaron Rowand
Buster Olney’s blog today had some good rumors to digest.
- Olney writes that the Dodgers are making a "heavy play" for Aaron Rowand. Apparently they love the idea of adding a good character guy to the clubhouse. They’d be paying $25MM for Rowand and Juan Pierre in their outfield for the next several years.
- The Phillies are making a "big play" for Mike Lowell. This certainly doesn’t jive with the speculation that the Phils only have $10MM to spend and it’s going toward pitching. By the way, Ruben Amaro Jr. ruled out the possibility of signing Torii Hunter.
- Olney has an exec source who believes Hunter will sign with the Rangers for six years and $90MM.
- Olney doesn’t see Kenny Rogers apologizing to the Rangers anytime soon.
- Mike Cameron has a better chance of re-signing with the Padres, now that his 2008 season will be reduced by 15% in playing time.
- Six teams are in on Matt Clement, but he’s still expected to land in San Diego. The Royals are probably one of the six.
- Speculation is growing that the Braves might consider bringing Andruw Jones back.
Rangers Would Require Apology From Rogers
There was some speculation a few days ago that the "right circumstances" that would allow a Kenny Rogers-Rangers reunion would be an apology to management. Owner Tom Hicks erased any ambiguity on that front today, saying Rogers would have to apologize to the Rangers for them to entertain signing him. Evan Grant notes that made all sorts of apologies after his cameraman incident, but one to the Rangers was conspicuously absent.
Rogers, a Scott Boras client, wants a one-year, $10MM contract. The Tigers are still atop his list, but the Rangers, Mariners, Phillies, Dodgers, and Mets could also enter the picture.
Regarding Torii Hunter, it turns out Hicks did not attend the Tuesday night dinner. It was just Jon Daniels; maybe Hicks doesn’t like Arby’s. Hunter has also met with the White Sox and Royals. Grant believes a contract offer from the Rangers could come next week.
Rangers Rumors: Rogers, Gagne, Hunter
MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan has some new info regarding the Rangers’ plans this offseason.
- Kenny Rogers has already had three separate stints with the Rangers, the last one ending with the cameraman incident. The Rangers would like to bring him back for a fourth tour, if the price is right. One emailer speculated that the team also wouldn’t mind an apology to management for the incident, also. Sullivan says the Mariners, Phillies, Dodgers, and Mets may also have Rogers on the radar. Seems like Ned Colletti is letting bygones be bygones with Scott Boras. UPDATE: Boras reiterated tonight that the Tigers are Rogers’ priority. He seemingly wants one year and $10MM.
- The Rangers have interest in another Boras client, Eric Gagne. I think I read this in ESPN Magazine recently – how about re-signing him and flipping him all over again at the ’08 deadline?
- Owner Tom Hicks and GM Jon Daniels had dinner with Torii Hunter tonight. I heard they had the roast beef. The Rangers will make an offer later this week, though they’ll have to top whatever the White Sox come up with.
- The Rangers also want to bring back Jamey Wright for the ‘pen.