Rosenthal’s Latest: Griffey, Peavy, Dempster
A look at the latest column from FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal:
- Rosenthal wonders if Jason Varitek‘s viral sickness and divorce last year contributed to his poor performance at the plate.
- Ken Griffey Jr.‘s wife gave him her blessing to play anywhere he’d like. If he’s focused on getting a ring, Seattle might not make sense. Griffey’s doctor believes his knee will be in better shape in 2009.
- Padres GM Kevin Towers wonders if Jake Peavy would’ve accepted a trade to the Braves, given Atlanta’s club policy against no-trade clauses. Towers isn’t talking to the Braves, Dodgers, or Yankees about Peavy, and Rosenthal says he’s "not making much headway" with the Cubs. ESPN’s Peter Gammons says the Cubs’ loss of Jose Ceda lessens their chances, while Frank Wren still believes Peavy will end up a Brave.
- The Cubs hope to resolve the Ryan Dempster situation this week. The team wants to do a four-year deal.
- The Giants are still in on Juan Cruz after their Jeremy Affeldt signing.
- The Phillies gave Pat Burrell "parameters" for a new deal, while Rosenthal speculates on the Giants and Dodgers as other possible fits.
Rafael Furcal Rumors: Monday
8:04pm: Furcal is "shocked and excited" about possible interest from the Braves, though Yunel Escobar would have to be traded first. Furcal already has a three-year, $39MM offer on the table from an unknown team. Kinzer says it might be a few weeks before his client signs.
MLB.com’s Chris Haft says the Giants are also considering Orlando Cabrera and Edgar Renteria as shortstop options. However, those players might cost the Giants their second-round draft pick (Furcal wouldn’t). The Giants are also still pondering making a play for one of the Big Three free agents, according to Jon Heyman.
1:26pm: Mychael Urban of MLB.com talked to Rafael Furcal‘s agent Paul Kinzer this morning. Kinzer says six teams have contacted him about Furcal since free agency opened Friday. The A’s have yet to make an offer, but Kinzer’s comments imply that the Giants might have. Both teams have very strong interest in the 31 year-old shortstop, who could sign before the winter meetings. When asked about the reported four-year, $40MM demand for Furcal, Kinzer said it was in the ballpark.
It’s hard to peg the other four suitors, but the Cubs, Blue Jays, and Orioles are possibilities. The Cardinals and Dodgers may be out, while the Royals, Tigers, and Dodgers may balk at the salary or term. Presumably the Braves are backing off given the state of the Jake Peavy talks. Kinzer and Furcal will narrow it down to three teams soon.
Giants Sign Jeremy Affeldt
2:39pm: MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon says it’s a two-year, $8MM deal for Affeldt. Nice signing! Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says the Giants are not done looking for relievers, though Chris Haft figures Joe Beimel is out on account of his left handedness.
1:46pm: According to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, the Giants signed lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt to a two-year deal. He was a Type B free agent, so the Reds will receive a sandwich pick for him in the June draft.
I’m surprised Affeldt didn’t pursue a closing job; ESPN’s Keith Law ranked him as the second best reliever on the market (ahead of Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes). Affeldt seemingly overplayed his hand as a free agent last offseason, so maybe that was a factor.
Giants Interested In Beimel
On Friday evening, MLB.com’s Chris Haft revealed that the Giants have "sincere" interest in free agent lefty Joe Beimel. Beimel, 32 in April, is probably in line for a three-year, $12MM deal. Remarkably, he allowed just one home run (to Carlos Beltran) over 116.3 innings the last two seasons. Beimel has also been linked to the Cardinals, Rockies, and Mets.
Giants GM Brian Sabean has reportedly expressed varying degrees of interest in many other free agents, including Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Bob Howry, Juan Cruz, Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixeira, and C.C. Sabathia.
Odds & Ends: Kawakami, Renteria, Johnson, Ohman
A number of Odds & Ends for your weekend update:
- From Japanball.com, Kenshin Kawakami is filing for free agency.
- Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports the Cubs are considering Randy Johnson for a one year deal. The 45 year old lefty is a career 13-0 against the Cubs, 4-0 at Wrigley, and needs 5 wins to reach 300.
- The Cardinals are moving in on free agent Will Ohman, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and are reportedly interested in Jeremy Affeldt and Arthur Rhodes.
- In the same article, Goold suggests the Cards will stall on their efforts to pursue Edgar Renteria until after the Tigers decline their offer of arbitration, since signing the Type A free agent beforehand would result in any team losing a first round draft pick. So despite "mutual interest", don’t expect the Cardinals, or anyone, to sign Renteria before the second week of December. Matthew Leach of mlb.com notes there are a lot of free agent shortstop options.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says Giants are finding mutual interest in Rafael Furcal and Bobby Howry.
- Utility man Donnie Murphy signed a minor-league deal with the O’s – from Peter Schmuck’s blog.
- John Hickey at The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says M’s GM Jack Zduriencik expects Raul Ibanez to wait for Seattle to name it’s next manager before making any decisions.
Giants Considering Top Players
According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants have spoken with Scott Boras about Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira, but it’s unknown if they’ve made them any offers.
Giants director of player personnel Bobby Evans told Schulman “we’re willing to go after the best talent we can.”
The Giants haven’t offered Rafael Furcal a contract, but Paul Kinzer, Furcal’s agent, said that the Giants and Furcal have “serious interest” in each other. Schulman mentions Oakland as possible competition for the Giants, and the Royals could be among the many teams interested in the shortstop.
Schulman believes Furcal is looking for at least a four-year deal worth $10MM a year.
The Giants have also spoken with C.C. Sabathia‘s representatives.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Peavy, Teixeira, Burnett
Ken Rosenthal’s got an interesting new column up.
- Now that talks with the Braves have ended for the time being, Padres GM Kevin Towers is talking with the Yankees about Jake Peavy. The Yankees have had “numerous discussions” with the Padres, even though they just offered C.C. Sabathia a contract and are still considering A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe.
- Peavy’s agent Barry Axelrod said that “the Angels probably would be more appealing” geographically, but “from other perspectives, they might be less appealing” than other teams
- Rosenthal talked with an agent who said that the Angels could wait a week or 10 days before making Mark Teixeira a “knockout offer” with a deadline.
- Even though the Yankees traded for Nick Swisher, they could still have interest in Teixeira if he’s willing to consider a shorter contract of four or five years for top dollar.
- Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi knows that Toronto “won’t be the highest bidder” for A.J. Burnett. Ricciardi hopes that Burnett likes Toronto enough to re-sign.
- The Indians are considering going after both Juan Cruz and Jeremy Affeldt instead of an experienced closer.
- The Phillies and Giants could also bid on Cruz.
- The Cardinals will have interest in Affeldt and Joe Beimel as they try to strengthen their bullpen.
Yanks Make Offer To Sabathia
5:13pm: Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News says the offer is for six years and $140MM.
4:37pm: Ed Price of the Newark Star-Ledger says the Yankees made their initial offer to Sabathia, but they expect his agents to look around a bit.
1:14pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Yankees will also make offers to A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe within the next day or two.
FRIDAY, 10:27am: ESPN’s Buster Olney says this initial Yankees offer will be in the $140-142MM range. By the way, the Giants have already touched base with Sabathia’s agents.
THURSDAY: According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yankees will "aggressively extend a proposal" to C.C. Sabathia tomorrow. He believes the Yankees will go to "a financial region that no other franchise would even consider" to lure the ace. Sherman’s guess is an initial bid in the six-year, $150MM range (and that may not be the final offer).
If the Yankees are successful in signing Sabathia, they hope to add A.J. Burnett or Derek Lowe next.
Odds and Ends: Ankiel, Hoffman, Mussina
Linkage for Thursday…
- Viva El Birdos tries to put a price on Rick Ankiel, and decides now is the time to trade him. Ankiel, a Scott Boras client, is eligible for free agency after the ’09 season.
- Derrick Goold runs through the lefty reliever options for St. Louis on his blog. It doesn’t seem like Trevor Hoffman is on the Cardinals’ radar. Hoffman wants to remain a closer, so he won’t be going to San Francisco either.
- Brian Cashman explains that $6MM for one year of Damaso Marte was too much, but $12MM over three years works. Ken Davidoff still doesn’t get it.
- Mike Mussina will make his decision early next week.
- Tony Massarotti runs through best and worst case scenarios for the Yankees and Red Sox.
- Jeff Zrebiec names ten possible free agent targets for the Orioles.
- Omar Minaya spilled the beans to WFAN’s Mike Francesa. He’s not interested in Ben Sheets, but will make an offer to Pedro Martinez.
- The Twins seem more likely to make trades than sign free agents, according to Joe Christensen.
- Could Ted Turner buy back the Braves?
Odds and Ends: Holliday, Takahashi, Lincecum
Links for Wednesday…
- Richard Justice says the Astros should offer Andy Pettitte $7-8MM to come back.
- Joe Christensen doesn’t see Huston Street landing in Minnesota.
- Larry Beinfest dismissed a "cyberspace rumor" that the Marlins are planning a run at Manny Ramirez.
- Gordon Wittenmyer says the Cubs could fit both Jake Peavy and Ryan Dempster into the payroll, and that the Peavy situation will be resolved first.
- Today is the deadline for MLB.com’s Free Agent Frenzy. You have until 4pm CST to submit your picks for 15 free agents. Here are my predictions from November 3rd…I would change the Furcal and Sheets ones for starters.
- Who had the Matt Holliday scoop? SI.com’s Jon Heyman broke the story, while Yahoo’s Tim Brown was the first to name the players involved.
- Holliday figures to be a three to six month rental for the A’s. Over at FanGraphs, Dave Cameron takes a closer look at Carlos Gonzalez and Greg Smith. ESPN’s Keith Law says the Rockies received a "fair return" for Holliday.
- Athletics Nation suggests the A’s sign Derek Lowe.
- Ken Davidoff looks at the Yankees’ seesawing philosophy.
- Japanese southpaw Ken Takahashi intends to sign with an MLB club, and the Mets may be interested. Nikkan Sports says the Cubs, Padres, and Giants are also in on him.
- River Ave. Blues looks ahead to Derek Jeter‘s next contract.
- Andrew Baggarly reminds us that Tim Lincecum intends to go year to year.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney talked to one GM who expects "a whole lot of bargains" in late January, given the nation’s economy.
- Rany Jazayerli didn’t like the Royals’ acquisition of Mike Jacobs, but doesn’t think it’s the end of the world.
- Braves GM Frank Wren on Jeff Francoeur: "We haven’t talked about him at all. It’s not to say that we wouldn’t."