According to Corey Brock of MLB.com, the Padres declined to offer arbitration to reliever Trevor Hoffman. Kevin Towers pretty much announced the plan earlier. Hoffman is a Type A free agent, but his new team will not have to surrender a draft pick upon signing him.
Padres Rumors
Rosenthal’s Latest: Peavy, Wilson
Lots to cover in the latest from Ken Rosenthal:
- Jake Peavy to the Cubs is still being explored despite complications: The Cubs are being sold. Ryan Dempster was re-signed for 4 years, $52MM. The Padres are trying to include a third party to net the package GM Kevin Towers is seeking. If this happened then the Cubs would need to move Jason Marquis. Rosenthal suggests the Padres could take him if the Cubs ate around $3MM of his $9MM owed next season, or the Cubs could deal him and cash to another team (Rosenthal suggests the Rockies, Reds, or Giants). Rosenthal also backs the rumors of the Orioles involvement as the third team and having interest in Felix Pie.
- As an update to this post, the Dodgers stopped pursuing Jack Wilson when the Pirates asked for a third player in the package of Chin-Lung Hu and Delwyn Young as compensation for the Dodgers request for cash to reduce Wilson’s contract. Wilson is set to make $7.25MM next season with an $8.4 club option or $600,000 buyout, and the Dodgers don’t believe Wilson offers enough offensive production to justify those figures. The Pirates agreed to include cash and would offer more cash for a better prospect; however, the Dodgers did not want any part of that.
Third Team In Peavy Deal: Orioles?
According to Jeff Zrebiec and Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles appear to be the third team in the Jake Peavy-Cubs trade talks. Kevin Towers told Tim Brown earlier this week he may have found the third team.
According to the Sun, one scenario could have the Cubs sending Felix Pie to Baltimore for Garrett Olson, who would become part of the Cubs’ package for Peavy. The Orioles once targeted Pie during the Brian Roberts talks, while the Padres wanted Olson for Khalil Greene. No deal is imminent. The authors add that acquiring Pie would not affect the Orioles’ pursuit of Mark Teixeira, even if some current team members lose playing time.
Odds And Ends: Tazawa, Hoffman, Halladay
Links for Saturday…
- Junichi Tazawa is expected to announce early next week that he will sign with the Red Sox. He turned down offers from the Rangers, Mariners and Braves.
- The Padres recently offered to talk with Trevor Hoffman, but he hasn’t responded. Tom Krasovic also has a Sandy Alderson quote that the Padres are "highly unlikely" to offer Hoffman arbitration.
- Robert MacLeod talked to Blue Jays insiders who believe trading ace Roy Halladay would send "the wrong signal" to fans since the Jays want to compete in 2009.
- Rob Neyer wonders how C.C. Sabathia’s weight will affect his performance going forward.
- Joba Chamberlain tops Peter Abraham’s list of the 20 most important people to the Yankees organization.
- Peter Gammons asks five post-Thanksgiving questions about free agents and trades. Also within that blog post, Gammons mentions that Kevin Towers went to Sunday’s Chargers game with Brad Ausmus and hopes to sign him.
- Larry LaRue writes that the Mariners could use a couple good outfielders to go along with Ichiro.
- Bob Verdi expects a quiet retirement accouncement from Greg Maddux.
Towers Finds Third Team For Cubs-Peavy Deal?
Yahoo’s Tim Brown has new info on Jake Peavy:
Padres general manager Kevin Towers said Wednesday night he might have identified a third team that would facilitate sending the standout pitcher to the Cubs, who don’t possess the depth in prospects or big league-ready talent to meet the Padres’ asking price.
Feel free to pose your guesses in the comments. Cubs top prospect Josh Vitters seems the most reasonable candidate to be in the middle of this trade. The 19 year-old third baseman is a few years away from the bigs, while the Padres want MLB-ready talent. Brown says Towers plans to speak with Jim Hendry after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Twins Rumors: Padres, Blake, Reyes
Joe Christensen brings us the latest on the Twins, but unfortunately there’s not much going on.
- Christensen learned from a Padres official that there’s been very little dialogue with the Twins. Some have suggested Kevin Kouzmanoff and Khalil Greene would be fits for Minnesota. Hopefully they’re setting their sights higher.
- On the Casey Blake front: slight progress.
- The Twins have an arbitration decision to make by Monday’s deadline with Dennys Reyes, who is a Type B. The Twins won’t get burned badly if Reyes accepts, so I imagine they’ll offer. He probably wants two years somewhere instead.
Padres Rumors: Greene, Peavy
Let’s check in on the Padres.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman talked to GM Kevin Towers, who doesn’t anticipate a deal for Khalil Greene anytime soon. The market for free agent shortstops is buzzing right now, so it makes sense to wait until after the top guys sign.
- MLB.com’s Corey Brock says Towers can’t move to address other team needs until the Jake Peavy situation is resolved. The package for Peavy will likely fill multiple pitching needs, and then Towers can move on to free agent bargains and a backup catcher.
- Sean McAdam has a Padres article up at ESPN.com, describing the sad state of affairs.
Cubs Rumors: Ibanez, Abreu, Teahen
Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times has a couple of new Cubs articles up, here and here.
- Manager Lou Piniella would prefer the Cubs acquire a middle of the order hitter over a leadoff man, if only one can be acquired.
- Piniella had kind words for possible free agent target Raul Ibanez.
- Piniella continued to dismiss the idea of the Cubs pursuing Jake Peavy (despite recent comments from Padres GM Kevin Towers).
- He’d like to give Mike Fontenot more playing time in 2009, which would help balance the lineup. In the spring the Cubs will see if Fontenot can chip in at shortstop.
- The idea that the Cubs can only move Alfonso Soriano down in the order if they acquire a known leadoff man lives on.
- Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News reported on Friday that the Cubs had expressed interest in Bobby Abreu. Wittenmyer says that’s not true.
- Wittenmyer also reports a lack of movement on the Mark Teahen front, suggesting Phil Rogers’ recent report of Kansas City’s focus on Sean Marshall and Fontenot "continues to ring of hollow speculation."
Jake Peavy Rumors: Monday
SI.com’s Jon Heyman has the latest on the Jake Peavy trade talks, after talking to Padres GM Kevin Towers.
Towers seems to think the Cubs are a more likely suitor for Peavy than the Braves. The Cubs have obstacles – their ownership/financial situation is in flux, and they’ll need a third team to get the Padres the players they want. But Towers hasn’t spoken to the Braves in weeks, and they may object to Peavy’s desire for a full no-trade clause.
With Billingsley Hurt, Dodgers Eyeing Peavy?
Chad Billingsley slipped on ice, fell, and broke his leg according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times, spreading the Dodgers rotation thin as it stands.
"How this will affect the Dodgers’ maneuverings in the free-agent and trade markets, if at all, is… uncertain. General Manager Ned Colletti was unavailable for comment Saturday night. With [Derek] Lowe and [Brad] Penny expected to sign elsewhere and Greg Maddux likely to retire, the Dodgers’ rotation at this point consists of only Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda and 20-year-old Clayton Kershaw."
Hernandez reports the Dodgers are saying he’ll be ready for spring training. Buster Olney thinks that’s what you say when you might suddenly be re-interested in front-end rotation depth, namely Jake Peavy.
The Dodgers had previously lost interest when Kevin Towers asked for a package including Billingsley.
