Heyman’s Latest: Lowe, Teixeira, Guillen
SI.com’s Jon Heyman recently published several new blog posts.
- Free agent outfielder Garret Anderson has a new agent: Scott Boras. Click here for our full list of Boras clients.
- Rangers starters Vicente Padilla and Kevin Millwood are drawing interest from the Braves, Dodgers, and Mets. Padilla is owed $12MM in 2009 with a 2010 option for the same ($1.75MM buyout). Millwood gets $23MM over the next two seasons and has a limited no-trade clause.
- Heyman says rather than battle for A.J. Burnett, the Red Sox and Yankees may duke it out for Derek Lowe. Other suitors for Lowe: the Mets, Braves, Phillies, Giants, Mariners and Dodgers. There he goes naming the Mariners again as a player for a major free agent…interesting. The Giants are a new one as well, though Heyman says Lowe may prefer to head back east.
- Heyman agrees with info from Nick Cafardo, that the Red Sox and Tigers have discussed swapping Julio Lugo for Dontrelle Willis.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti admitted to interest in C.C. Sabathia. Colletti said he’s waiting to hear from Scott Boras regarding Manny Ramirez, even though the Dodgers pulled their two-year, $45MM offer.
- It hasn’t happened yet, but the Angels plan to make a "very serious" offer to Mark Teixeira. A competing exec guessed eight years, $160MM. Remember, that’s a non-Angels exec making a guess. Heyman tosses a new team into the mix for Tex: the Mariners.
- The Royals are "quietly shopping" Jose Guillen. Guillen, 33 in May, hit .264/.300/.438 in 633 plate appearances this year while playing below-average defense. He’s owed $24MM for the 2009-10 seasons.
- Competing execs tell Heyman the Mets appear open to trading Ramon Castro or Brian Schneider. The Mets would then presumably sign a free agent catcher.
Hampton Seeks One-Year Deal
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick spoke to Mike Hampton‘s agent Mark Rodgers, who said, "We’re looking for a straight one-year deal – no option, no nothing." Hampton obviously just wants to re-establish himself as a healthy, useful starting pitcher after so many lost seasons. It’s unclear whether Rodgers’ statement means Hampton will avoid incentive-based offers.
Crasnick says Hampton wants to pitch near his Arizona home, but the Braves, Astros, Padres, Giants, and Cardinals could be fits. Astros GM Ed Wade said recently he’s had dialogue with Rodgers and Hampton is open to returning to Houston. The Braves have also had dialogue.
Hampton, 36, posted a 4.17 ERA in 11 starts over the season’s final two months. Still, his peripheral stats were not impressive during that period.
Giants Interested In Hudson
According to Chris Haft of MLB.com, the Giants are seriously interested in signing Orlando Hudson.
The Giants have already signed Jeremy Affeldt and Haft says their big off-season plans could also include C.C. Sabathia, Edgar Renteria, Rafael Furcal and Juan Cruz.
Kevin Frandsen, who’s played mostly at second base, could play third if the Giants obtain Hudson.
The Indians, Mets, Yankees and Dodgers all seem interested in Hudson too.
C.C. Sabathia Rumors: Thursday
8:15pm: According to ESPN.com, Hal Steinbrenner said Sabathia will have a deadline to accept his current offer. The Yankees made Sabathia a record-setting offer for a pitcher, but Steinbrenner said "it’s not going to be there forever."
2:22pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Dodgers, Giants, Red Sox, and Angels have checked in on Sabathia since the Yankees made their bid. All four clubs face various obstacles.
9:26am: The latest on C.C. Sabathia…
- Ken Davidoff and Anthony Rieber pass along a Peter Gammons report saying Sabathia will not sign until after Thanksgiving. Perfectly logical, though I cannot find where Gammons wrote this. (I see he wrote that it will "take a while.") Send me the link (ESPN.com, not Newsday) if you can help out.
- Andrew Baggarly’s source says the Giants are "not in offer mode" with Sabathia. He does believe they will take a shot.
Jake Peavy Rumors: Thursday
2:00pm: David O’Brien says the Padres and Braves need each other and still believes Peavy winds up in Atlanta. I agree. O’Brien also says the Braves’ talks for Ryan Ludwick aren’t dead.
10:29am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman talked to Peavy’s agent, Barry Axelrod. Peavy hasn’t revised his original list of five teams, but Axelrod says the NL West would interest Peavy (aside from the Rockies). So, maybe Giants fans have something new to speculate about. Axelrod says the list was only guidance for Towers.
8:52am: Let’s round up today’s Jake Peavy linkage.
- MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat said yesterday the Cubs’ talks for Peavy had ended due to budget restraints. Those limitations still exist, so the Cubs would have to get creative.
- Padres GM Kevin Towers told MLB.com’s Corey Brock Wednesday night that he talked to Jim Hendry and the Cubs are still interested in Peavy. Yahoo’s Tim Brown heard the same from a source. It’d require a third or fourth team and the aforementioned financial creativity.
- Towers told Tom Krasovic that talks with the Braves have not resumed and he hasn’t heard from the Angels. Krasovic also said, "Among some of his ballplayer friends, Peavy has created the impression that if he is traded, he would like to pitch for the Cubs."
Odds and Ends: Wade, Crisp, Holliday
Links for Thursday…
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- Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald wonders if Kerry Wood might accept an offer of arbitration from the Cubs.
- Hal Steinbrenner officially took over control of the Yankees from George.
- Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire takes a look at Jeremy Affeldt‘s motivations in signing early with the Giants.
- Check out recent fan chats with Astros GM Ed Wade and agent Scott Boras. Wade still hopes to sign Randy Wolf and Doug Brocail and doesn’t seem keen on trading Jose Valverde. Some fans didn’t seem to realize that just holding payroll steady will pose problems for the Astros.
- Joe Posnanski discusses the Royals’ acquisition of Coco Crisp.
- Nick Cafardo wonders if the Crisp trade sets up other moves for the Red Sox. They’ll explore signing Rocco Baldelli, according to Amalie Benjamin.
- Sox Machine reflects on Nick Swisher‘s time with the White Sox.
- A’s owner Lew Wolff would prefer to keep Matt Holliday all year.
- Tom Haudricourt wonders if the Brewers will pursue David DeJesus if they trade Mike Cameron.
- MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone lists which teams have been connected to the top free agent starting pitchers.
- Chad Finn wonders if the Red Sox are considering trading David Ortiz.
- Alan Schwarz has a nice article on Junichi Tazawa.
Schulman On The Giants
Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle gives us a look at what the Giants’ offseason plans look like right now.
- For one, they’d like to upgrade at shortstop. However, the Giants’ current pursuit of Rafael Furcal would be "impacted," says Schulman, by any deal that sends Jake Peavy to Atlanta. It’s expected the Braves would get in on the bidding for Furcal if Peavy were acquired. By "impacted," I’m going to assume this means the Giants would be much less interested in the free agent shortstop.
- Second, they need an impact bat for the middle of the order. There seems to be "some dialog" between the Giants and Brewers regarding Prince Fielder and J.J. Hardy. However, Schulman notes that teams across the league, the Brewers included, are hesitant to give up everyday players in exchange for anything but top-tier pitching.
- As for pitching, the Giants are keeping an eye on Japanese starting pitcher Kenshin Kawakami, and will give Keiichi Yabu another shot at a spot in the bullpen this spring.
Graziano’s Latest: Sabathia, Halladay
4:39pm: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News shoots down all Dodgers rumors – no offer in the near future for Sabathia, no talks for Halladay, and no interest in Raul Ibanez.
I think Graziano’s Halladay musings have been distorted a bit – he basically said the Blue Jays might explore the trade market at some point.
3:31pm: Graziano adds in a new post that the Giants plan to make a six-year offer in excess of $100MM but under $140MM. Tom Haudricourt had info about a Giants bid several hours earlier as well.
Haudricourt adds that the Angels will make a bid, but reports about the Dodgers may be inaccurate.
12:26pm: Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger explains why C.C. Sabathia is taking his time while mulling over the Yankees’ six-year, $140MM offer. Graziano believes Sabathia and his agents are waiting to see what the Dodgers propose.
Graziano speaks of "rumblings today that the Dodgers either have offered or are about to offer Sabathia a six-year contract worth between $110 and $120 million." He believes this could compel the Yankees to increase their offer, just to ensure a ridiculous ($30MM+) gap between the two proposals.
Graziano has a source who continues to insist the Blue Jays will explore the market for ace Roy Halladay, who has two years and $30MM left on his deal. In that case, he believes the Dodgers are the most likely match. If the Dodgers acquire Halladay, they would focus on Manny Ramirez rather than Sabathia.
Gammons Rumors: Sabathia, Manny, Furcal, Bradley
Here’s how ESPN’s Peter Gammons sees some of the bigger free agent dominoes falling, assuming the Dodgers land Sabathia:
Interesting how many GMs think that if the Dodgers get C.C. Sabathia, the Giants will get big into Manny Ramirez, and Billy Beane and the A’s will continue to move fast on Rafael Furcal. Also, expect Toronto to make good on its promise to Milton Bradley that he is the Blue Jays’ priority.
Would Beane and Brian Sabean really be influenced by Sabathia landing in L.A.? We may never know, as the Yankees have come out of the free agent gate with their guns blazing. I can see Beane getting Furcal regardless, even with Bobby Crosby under contract for ’09.
I guessed Bradley would land in Toronto, but only because I like the fit. This is the first I’ve heard of them making him a priority over Jason Giambi or Manny.
Affeldt Signing Reactions
Giants GM Brian Sabean kicked off the free agent proceedings yesterday by signing southpaw Jeremy Affeldt to a two-year, $8MM deal. Reactions:
- ESPN’s Keith Law likes the move. Affeldt has good stuff, it’s a short-term deal, and it doesn’t cost the Giants a draft pick. Affeldt definitely could’ve gotten more money elsewhere.
- El Lefty Malo says "this was about as good a cost/benefit move the Giants could make for a free agent reliever."
- Affeldt says signing was a no-brainer for him after the Giants came in and met the dollars he was looking for. Henry Schulman’s San Francisco Chronicle article implies Affeldt could get a shot at starting at some point during the deal.