Phillies Interested In Cameron, Benson
ESPN’s Jayson Stark wrote recently that the Phillies have expressed interest in center fielder Mike Cameron, now that the Padres are out of the mix. Pat Gillick, who had Cameron back in Seattle, may have warmed to the idea of a two-year contract. Back on December 6th Todd Zolecki said the Phils didn’t even want to go that far. Stark says the White Sox and Rangers are other contenders for Cameron.
Also, both the Phillies and Padres remain on the trail of Geoff Jenkins, according to Zolecki. His choices have been narrowed down to those two clubs since Friday.
The Phils will be among many teams watching Kris Benson throw tomorrow. Benson is a popular bargain option; we’ve known that the Yankees, Cardinals, Royals, and Marlins may be watching on Monday as well. Nick Cafardo says ten teams will observe Benson, adding the Rockies and Dodgers as new ones. We’re still three short!
The Phils also could give a minor-league deal to Sidney Ponson. I’ll let you add your own punchline there.
Padres Acquire Jim Edmonds
UPDATE, 12-15-07 at 3:18pm: Krasovic has learned that the Cards sent $2MM over to the Padres in the Edmonds deal. Kevin Towers apparently pushed for more salary relief but settled there.
FROM 12-14-07 at 10:32pm:
According to Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres have agreed to trade minor league third baseman David Freese to the Cardinals for Jim Edmonds. The Cards will also send more than a million in cash to offset some Edmonds’ $8MM salary.
Freese is mildly interesting for a prospect who’ll be 25 in April. He’s yet to reach Double A but he did draw 69 walks this year. Baseball America says there’s a chance he’s moved off third eventually (and notes that he’s done some catching in an instructional league).
Edmonds is an OK one-year play for the Padres. He dipped to a .325 OBP and .403 SLG last year as a 37 year-old, and only got into 117 games due to back/leg/groin/hamstring/shoulder/toe injuries. It still might make sense to let Scott Hairston handle the lefties. Edmonds seemingly waived his no-trade clause to go to San Diego.
Joe Strauss says the Cards will first consider internal options in center. Top prospect Colby Rasmus is 21 and hasn’t seen Triple A yet. Rick Ankiel is also a possibility. Guys like Mike Cameron, Kenny Lofton, Corey Patterson, Nate McLouth, or Coco Crisp could be external options.
Viva El Birdos weighs in on this deal; check it out.
Cameron, Padres Sever Ties
The Padres and Mike Cameron will go in different directions, according to his agent. It had been said previously that Cameron and the Padres agreed on two years but couldn’t meet on the amount of money.
Tom Krasovic notes that the Padres have already talked to the Cardinals about Jim Edmonds. They’ve also got an eye on free agent Kenny Lofton. Lofton may not be a defensive asset these days, but the 40 year-old still hits righties at an .800 OPS. Scott Hairston could play center when the Padres face a southpaw.
As for Cameron, the White Sox, Twins, Rangers, Brewers, Phillies, and Braves could be options. Ken Rosenthal adds the Cardinals, Reds, and Yankees as possibilities as well. Cameron is the best center field free agent left on the market.
Padres Sign Glendon Rusch
A small signing this evening, as the Padres inked 33 year-old southpaw Glendon Rusch to a minor-league deal. He missed the entire ’07 season due to a blood clot.
Add this to the recent Shawn Estes signing, and I wonder whether the Padres are content with their depth for the fifth starter spot. They’ve also got Clay Hensley and Justin Germano on the roster to compete for that job. My guess is that this means the Padres won’t pursue Mark Prior aggressively.
Jenkins Will Choose Phillies Or Padres
According to Ken Rosenthal, both the Phillies and Padres are vying for the services of Geoff Jenkins. He’s expected to choose one of the two clubs. The Rays are now out of the mix, having signed Cliff Floyd.
Both opportunities in Philly and San Diego would probably be platoon situations. Jenkins seems decent at one-year, $5MM, but I wonder if he’ll require two years.
Padres Rumors: Iguchi, Prior, Cameron
Padres rumor guru Tom Krasovic checks in with the latest.
- Why does Tadahito Iguchi love San Diego so much? He passed on far superior offers (and hitter’s parks) from the Rockies and Phillies. The Padres have definitely developed a competitive advantage over the years in that guys will make concessions to play there.
- Nine teams have expressed interest in Mark Prior, according to his agent. The Astros are confirmed. The Reds, Rangers, and Phillies are other possibilities. The Padres haven’t checked in yet but they are expected to.
- Talks are still ongoing between Mike Cameron and the Padres.
Today’s Non-tenders: Towers, Prior, Everett, Durbin
Tim’s out for the night, so we’ve got a fresh post started for the non-tenders. MLB.com has a running list as well.
These guys are the officials as of now:
- As expected, the Marlins non-tendered catcher Miguel Olivo. Johnny Estrada was another casualty; these two make up the market for starting catchers.
- The Blue Jays non-tendered Josh Towers, a surprising move. Some NL team could offer him two years and get league average work out of him.
- Mark Prior has been non-tendered. Honestly if I were the Cubs, I would’ve tossed the $3.5MM his way just to see.
- Aaron Miles is now a free agent.
- The A’s cut Kiko Calero loose.
- The Padres have non-tendered four: Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, and pitchers Jack Cassell and Ryan Ketchner. RotoWorld speculates that the latter two, not arbitration eligible, could be offered minor league deals.
- The Royals cut the cord on Emil Brown. He turns 33 soon; he hit an ugly .257/.300/.347 in 2007. Brown earned $3.45MM in ’07.
- The Tigers non-tendered Chad Durbin, toss him into the free agent pool. Guess those trade talks with the Bucs didn’t work out.
- The Twins have let go Jason Tyner.
- The Nats have cut bait with Nook Logan and LHP Michael O’Connor.
- The Dodgers wave goodbye to Mark Hendrickson.
- The White Sox have non-tendered Andy Gonzalez and LHP Heath Phillips. Joe Crede sticks with the Pale Hose for now.
- Adam Everett has lost his job with the Astros. It’d be kind of funny if the Orioles signed him.
- Per RotoWorld, the Angels have non-tendered Dallas McPherson. He’s full of potential, but he’s never come through. He’s only 27, though, so he could still catch on somewhere. Unless, RotoWorld notes, he has an agreement in place with the Angels.
- The Braves have non-tendered Willie Harris, though he had already been DFA’d.
–Joe and Tim
Bay, Pads Talks “Completely Untrue”
We hear rumors earlier in the day that the Padres and Pirates were in "deep talks" regarding Jason Bay. Now, Dejan Kovacevic says that no such talks have occurred. This comes after the revelation that Chase Headley wouldn’t be involved in any deal.
The only talks between the two clubs, according to Kovacevic, have regarded catcher Michael Barrett. According to the source "those talks didn’t expand beyond Barrett."
–Joe
Padres Deep In Talks For Bay
UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 3:56pm: Krasovic jumps in to say that the Padres definitely won’t be trading Headley to the Bucs (and probably not at all). The Pirates and Padres have been talking a lot, and some kind of deal involving some of the players below could definitely happen.
UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 12:01pm: Buster Olney is reporting that the Padres are "deep into discussions" with the Pirates about a multiplayer trade in which Bay would be the centerpiece.
FROM 12-12-07 at 9:30am:
Tom Krasovic checks in with all sorts of fresh Padres rumors, as he often does. Below are the ones that haven’t come up elsewhere on the site today.
- The Padres and Pirates might have mutual ground for some kind of multiplayer deal. Names like Matt Morris, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and/or Nate McLouth are possible future Padres. The Bucs could go for Michael Barrett and/or Padres’ top prospect Chase Headley. My challenge to you: create a reasonable multiplayer trade scenario between these two clubs in the comments.
- Krasovic says the Padres "explored a trade" for the Cardinals’ Anthony Reyes. The Indians and Phillies have also been linked to the youngster before.
- As you might expect, Morgan Ensberg will probably be non-tendered today. He made $4.35MM in ’07, and the Friars don’t want to pay him anything like that.
- Akinori Otsuka is another non-tender candidate, and the Padres could seek to bring him back if so. Otsuka has been throwing pain-free since late October, though, so the Rangers will probably retain him.
Padres Sign Tadahito Iguchi
UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 9:15am: Iguchi gets "nearly $4 million," according to Krasovic. It’s surprising he couldn’t do better elsewhere.
FROM 12-11-07 at 10:25pm:
Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the Padres have signed second baseman Tadahito Iguchi to a one-year deal. This will give Matt Antonelli time to get a little more seasoning. The second base prospect will turn 23 in April; he has 49 games above A ball under his belt. The free agent market for second basemen is now pretty bleak, with David Eckstein perhaps the best choice.
Now that the Padres’ top offseason target Kosuke Fukudome is a Cub, the Padres will set their sights on other outfielders. Mike Cameron and Geoff Jenkins remain the top options, according to Krasovic.