Padres Working On Trade For A Starter
The Padres have already signed Greg Maddux and Randy Wolf this winter, but GM Kevin Towers isn’t done. He’s expecting to finish a trade before the Padres leave Nashville. Tom Krasovic thinks it might be Mark Prior or Josh Towers.
Both are said to be non-tender candidates, but surely the Cubs and Jays can work out deals rather than lose the pitchers for nothing. Prior is the high risk high reward guy, Towers is the opposite.
Odds and Ends: Cabrera, Blanton, Haren, Sabathia
Let’s round ’em up.
- Indians GM Mark Shapiro will soon get a contract extension offer for C.C. Sabathia approved by ownership. Then he’ll put that in front of Sabathia’s agent, with an eye on resolving the situation one way or another before Spring Training. Shapiro’s model will not be Johan Santana‘s upcoming deal but rather Jake Peavy‘s three-year, $50MMish extension.
- White Sox outfielders Ryan Sweeney and Brian Anderson might be on the fringe. The Marlins, if I recall correctly, once had interest in Anderson as a center field option.
- Miguel Cabrera is out to prove he’s a good athlete and can stay at third base – he’s beginning a rigorous workout program like nothing he’s ever done before.
- The D’Backs could pursue Joe Blanton or Dan Haren, while the Yankees may turn to Haren if they fail to acquire Johan.
- The Yankees are receiving a lot of interest in The Farnz, according to Brian Cashman.
Crasnick’s Latest: Encarnacion, Hamilton, Jenkins
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick has been working hard all day to get us some good rumors. Here’s the latest.
- The Reds want to acquire a starter, but they spent all their money on Francisco Cordero. The plan is to trade a young player for a cheap starter. Joey Votto and especially Jay Bruce would be near impossible to acquire. However the Reds will listen on Josh Hamilton and Edwin Encarnacion. They never seemed to like Encarnacion. Crasnick thinks the Cubs could work for Hamilton but they’d need to pony up more than Sean Marshall. Would Rich Hill be too much? It’s been said in the past that the Rangers inquired on Hamilton. The Giants, meanwhile, would love to pry Encarnacion loose – Noah Lowry anyone?
- The Phillies and Rays spoke to Geoff Jenkins‘ agent today, and the Padres and Rangers have their eye on him as well. A poor free agent market for corner outfielders may result in a two or even a three-year deal for Jenkins.
Odds and Ends: Loretta, Pettitte, Affeldt
Random Winter Meetings rumors…
- Doug Melvin confirms that the Nats offered Chad Cordero for Rickie Weeks. Melvin is adamant that he won’t be trading Weeks or J.J. Hardy for a closer.
- Mike Timlin for $3MM, done.
- Mark Loretta would like to return to San Diego but the Padres will pass. The Rockies may yet sign him.
- Rob Biertempfel thinks the Pirates could send a reliever to the Rockies for Jamey Carroll, if the Rockies would eat some of Carroll’s salary. That’s right, a Jamey Carroll trade rumor. For a man of his abilities Carroll is a tad pricey at $2.3MM.
- Andy Pettitte deal is official at $16MM with no option year.
- Jeremy Affeldt might be looking for four years, $16MM. Say whaaaat? The Rox offered him a mere $4MM over two years.
Brown’s Latest: Erstad, Livan, Tomko
Yahoo’s Tim Brown checks in with his own set of rumors after working the floor a bit.
- Darin Erstad is popular – the Padres, Mariners, Astros, and Rays have inquired. His mystique lives on.
- The Phillies appear to have a serious interest in Livan Hernandez, though he doesn’t seem to be what they need.
- Brett Tomko‘s agent met with the Rockies today. Brown says the Pirates, Nationals, Marlins, Reds, and Rangers are after him too. Separately it’s been said that the Astros are in on him too. The Padres made a weak $1.5MM offer to Tomko.
Levine’s Latest: Rowand, Prior, Hudson, Swisher
Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 went on air a few hours ago with some interesting tidbits regarding the Chicago teams. This was before the Sox acquired Carlos Quentin so I’m not sure what kind of effect that has on this info.
- The White Sox are still very much in the mix for Aaron Rowand, but they really don’t want to give him five years. By the way Jerry Crasnick mentioned today that the Phillies may be willing to stretch to four years on Rowand or at least three years plus a vesting option.
- The Cubs are having all sorts of trade discussions involving Mark Prior. The Rangers and Padres are said to be two interested parties.
- Of course the Cubs still have Kosuke Fukudome in their sights. But they also have their eye on Oakland’s Nick Swisher and Arizona’s Orlando Hudson. Both are switch-hitters, by the way.
Pirates Rumors: Bay, Morris, McLouth, Nady
Dejan Kovacevic and John Perrotto have the latest on the plans of Neal Huntington’s Pirates.
- Both beat writers are saying not to expect Jason Bay to be traded at the Meetings. It would be a sell-low move with bad PR.
- Both also agree that Matt Morris staying put. Kovacevic spins it as if the Pirates should actually want to keep Morris, while Perrotto’s sources suggest the Bucs would have to eat more than 70% of Morris’ contract to ditch him.
- Kovacevic also suggests that the Pirates need Jack Wilson, and that’s why he won’t be going anywhere.
- Relievers Salomon Torres, Damaso Marte, and John Grabow are available and drawing some interest. Marte in particular interests the Yankees.
- Chris Duffy can be had; the Braves and Marlins have previously expressed interest. Maybe they’ll renew that with center field vacancies and a new Pirates GM. Duffy will start in Triple A if he’s not dealt.
- The Pirates are still talking to Shawn Chacon about returning.
- Perrotto notes that interest in center fielder Nate McLouth is picking up, with the Padres and Marlins interested.
- Xavier Nady won’t be non-tendered, contrary to previous reports.
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.
Peavy Extension Could Be Model For Webb
Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks may use Jake Peavy’s new three-year extension with the Padres as a guideline for their ace, Brandon Webb. Webb recently rejected a three-year proposal from Arizona.
Peavy is to receive roughly $50MM for the three-year extension. Webb will earn only $20.5MM over the 2008-10 seasons.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Roberts, Barrett, Piazza
Ken Rosenthal is presumably in Nashville doing what he does best – collect trade rumors by the dozen. His latest column is an excellent example. What’s the over/under on Rosenthal scoops over the next four days? I’ll set it at 10.
- Rosenthal says the Mets are unwilling to extend the contract of GM Omar Minaya, who is signed through 2009. The lack of job security could compel Minaya to mortgage the future, and the Lastings Milledge trade was a good example. Carlos Gomez, watch out. Here’s MLBTR’s look at Omar Minaya’s Mets trade profile.
- The Astros, Giants, and Cardinals aren’t really in the running for Miguel Cabrera, so they don’t need to wait for that shoe to drop to go after Miguel Tejada. However it sounds like all three clubs don’t have the talent even for a Tejada trade. Jon Heyman mentioned today that the Orioles do have interest in Adam Everett and Michael Bourn of the Astros.
- Here’s a good one: Peter Angelos favorite Brian Roberts might be available. The Mets and Astros inquired but moved on, but Roberts might be just what the Cubs are looking for. The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec recently told us that he doesn’t expect Andy MacPhail to move Roberts unless he’s "totally overwhelmed."
- The Marlins, Rays, and Orioles have interest in Michael Barrett. In the case of Baltimore, the interest indicates the availability of Ramon Hernandez. If Barrett can find a multiyear deal from one of those teams, he may decline the Padres’ offer of arbitration. It’s a catch-22, though, because that would make Barrett much less signable in terms of draft pick compensation.
- If Barrett does decline, the Padres might bring Mike Piazza back.
- The Nationals keep asking for Rickie Weeks for Chad Cordero, and the Brewers keep saying no.
- The Braves are big fans of Coco Crisp, and could have a passing interest in Corey Patterson. But they certainly wouldn’t mind going with internal options in center next year.
- Aaron Rowand is definitely getting that five-year deal – a Mystery Team has already offered one. The Yanks could pursue him if they trade the Melk Man.
- Deja vu – the Yanks and Mets both like Octavio Dotel, again. It’s known that Octavio loves New York.