Cubs May Shop Murton, Like Ibanez
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 5:53pm: Geoff Baker checks in with some more info about the Cubs’ interest in Ibanez. He is apparently their fallback option behind Fukudome. Baker notes the frightful possibility of using Ibanez in right field. One trade idea I hadn’t considered is swapping Ibanez for Mark Prior.
FROM 12-3-07 at 9:48am:
Jim Hendry may view 26 year-old outfielder Matt Murton as expendable, if only because he’s not the left-handed hitter the Cubs crave.
Murton has a respectable career line of .296/.365/.455 in 289 games. While it would be nice to see his power develop a bit, he’s a decent option in right field. Outside of Kosuke Fukudome, the Cubs might end up acquiring an outfielder who is no better than Murton, just because of handedness. Even though he’s been solid it doesn’t seem that the price tag on Murton would be terribly high.
Meanwhile, Gordon Wittenmyer notes that Brian Roberts and Raul Ibanez remain on the Cubs’ wish list. Murton would be useful for the O’s but it would take a lot more to get Roberts.
Heyman’s Latest: Santana, Bedard, Willis
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 5:48pm: Jayson Stark confirms the Reds’ interest in Willis. However he suggests that the Marlins would ask for Homer Bailey and then some in return.
FROM 12-3-07 at 11:41am:
SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in with the latest hot stove banter he’s hearing. There’s some confusion here as Heyman has contrary info to other published sources.
- Heyman believes Johan Santana is "more likely than not" to get traded at the Meetings, and quite possibly today.
- Heyman says the Red Sox and Yankees are the two teams Santana would waive his veto power for, running contrary to LENIII’s recent note.
- Heyman reports that the Mets offered Gomez/Humber/Heilman for Erik Bedard, though as you may recall Roger Rubin said it was Lastings Milledge and not Gomez. Whatever it was, the Orioles weren’t impressed with the offer. Heyman says the Mets feel they still have a chance. The Dodgers, Mariners, and loser of Santana will be in on Bedard as well.
- Heyman seems to indicate the Marlins are still asking for Adenhart and Ervin Santana in a Miguel Cabrera deal, despite Peter Gammons’ comment this morning.
- The Reds may pursue Dontrelle Willis. I was thinking they might, the fit makes sense. A package with Josh Hamilton and one of the Reds’ stud pitchers might be required though. Also keep in mind that Joe Frisaro said the Marlins plan to keep Willis at least until July.
- Heyman suggests the Mets could re-acquire Xavier Nady to play right field for them.
Rockies, Mariners Interested In Marcus Giles
Second baseman Marcus Giles was awful this year, hitting .229/.304/.317 in 420 ABs. You don’t hear statheads talking him up quite as much these days. Nonetheless ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports that the Rockies and Mariners have interest. Apparently one other NL team is interested as well.
For the Rox, Giles would be a fallback option if they can’t sign Mark Loretta. The Mariners are trying to find someone to challenge or replace Jose Lopez. Giles made $3.75MM this year and doesn’t figure to get much more on the open market.
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.
Royals Willing To Pay Up For Guillen
It’s always dangerous to commit to acquiring one specific player, because then he has all the leverage. Kind of like buying a house I guess. The Royals are dead-set on signing Jose Guillen, who wants a four-year contract despite his steroid issues.
Bob Dutton believes Guillen is just posturing, as the Mets are the only other interested club. It still seems like Guillen can’t get more than three years, but you never know. Dutton notes that the Mariners accurately judged the interest in Guillen to be weak, and preferred to abandon a sandwich pick rather than risk getting stuck with him for one more year.
Dutton says the Royals plan to spend the $70MM they tried to give Torii Hunter on Guillen and Hiroki Kuroda. That could almost work – $30MM and three years for Guillen, $40MM and four years for Kuroda. It would be a little light for Kuroda, who wants to play on the West Coast and reportedly has a four-year, $44MM offer in hand from the Mariners.
Erik Bedard Rumors: Monday
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:20am: MLB.com’s Jim Molony has a big ol’ post up at his blog. Molony names the Phillies and Cardinals as new teams interested in Bedard. Previously we’d learned that the Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Angels, Dodgers, and D’Backs had inquired. Neither the Phils nor the Cards would appear to have the goods in my estimation.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 9:06pm: Andy MacPhail says he told the Washington Post that extension talks with Bedard had cooled, but the door remains open. Something have gotten lost in translation. MLB.com’s Spencer Fordin believes Bedard and Miguel Tejada could both be traded by week’s end, anyway.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 4:55pm: Sounds like the Mariners might make a run at Bedard now, but it’d cost ’em Adam Jones, Brandon Morrow, and Jeff Clement. That bounty sounds about right.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 2:38pm: ESPN 1050 via MetsBlog reports Andy MacPhail as saying he will meet with Omar Minaya while in Nashville to discuss Bedard again.
UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 8:35am: I knew the Red Sox belonged in the mix for Bedard. Jayson Stark confirms their interest, and adds a new one in the Phillies. Stark also verifies that the Orioles want more for Bedard than the Twins want for Santana – as in four top youngsters. Stark’s source thinks the Orioles will hang onto Bedard.
FROM 12-2-07 at 11:30pm:
According to Dave Sheinin and Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post, Erik Bedard has informed the Orioles that he has no interest in signing an extension. He’s under Baltimore’s control through the 2009 season.
The authors indicate that Bedard would cost half the talent Johan Santana will. I don’t agree with that assertion – two years of a cheap Bedard is easily worth more than one of Santana, without question. If anything, Bedard should require more talent than Santana to pry loose.
According to Jeff Zrebiec, six teams have inquired on Bedard so far: the Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Angels, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks. The Mets reportedly made an offer of Lastings Milledge, Aaron Heilman, and Philip Humber to the Orioles before trading Milledge to Washington, according to the Roger Rubin of the Daily News. A source of Rubin’s believes replacing Milledge with Carlos Gomez or even Ryan Church would represent a superior offer. And to further the speculation, I think the Mets would have to replace Humber with Mike Pelfrey to really get the Orioles thinking. I repeat: Erik Bedard is worth more than Johan Santana.
Hat tip to MetsBlog on the Daily News link.
Johan Santana Rumors
UPDATE, 12-1-07 at 10:30pm: Yanks and Twins are haggling over the third guy – Twins want Horne or Austin Jackson per Jon Heyman. The Yanks are apparently holding out on that front, trying to retain some dignity. Peter Abraham says the Yanks will also slap a deadline on their offer and then turn their attention to Dan Haren.
Concurrently, the Red Sox will only give up Ellsbury if they get more than Santana back. How about making this thing a real blockbuster, getting Joe Nathan involved? Imagine a 7-8-9 combo of Gagne-Nathan-Papelbon (if Gagne were to accept arb). Peter Abraham is saying the Sox aren’t serious though.
UPDATE, 12-1-07 at 5pm: Ken Rosenthal says the Twins are asking for shortstop Alberto Gonzalez or starter Alan Horne as the third player from the Yankees. Doesn’t sound like Hughes + Kennedy is any kind of possibility. The Yankees cracked and put Hughes in…unless the Red Sox crack and put Ellsbury in it seems like Santana will end up in the Bronx.
UPDATE, 12-1-07 at 3:30pm: La Velle E. Neal III has a Santana update for us. He says the Yanks are offering Hughes, Cabrera, and Ian Kennedy right now. If that’s for real, I think the Twins should accept. However, Neal’s assertion runs contrary to Jon Heyman’s take – he says the third player will not be Kennedy, Alan Horne, or Jose Tabata.
Meanwhile it sounds like the Red Sox are still pushing Coco Crisp over Jacoby Ellsbury. Neal adds that the Mets might re-consider their stance on Jose Reyes, and that the Twins would prefer to ship Santana over to the NL.
UPDATE, 12-1-07 at noon: Buster Olney says the Yanks’ upgraded offer is now on the table, but the Twins will meet with the Red Sox this afternoon to see if they can get Theo Epstein to include both Ellsbury and Buchholz.
UPDATE, 11-30-07 at 10pm: It’s been decided: the Yanks will put Hughes in their offer. John Harper and Bill Madden feel that it was Brian Cashman who needed convincing. Cabrera remains in the package, which will be rounded out by an additional pitching prospect. This collection of youngsters apparently puts the Yankees in the lead for Santana.
UPDATE, 11-30-07 at 6pm: The Yankees’ front office has been debating whether to surrender Phil Hughes in a trade for Santana. Buster Olney reports that they’re leaning toward doing it. Melky Cabrera and one other prospect would be sent over as well. The Yankees, as well as the Red Sox, are hedging their bets by talking to Billy Beane about Dan Haren at the same time.
UPDATE, 11-30-07 at 11:25am: David Andriesen says the Mariners are not serious players on Santana. However, Geoff Baker says the Ms have inquired but not made an offer for him. However Baker talked to a friend of Santana’s who indicated the ace wouldn’t be jazzed signing a contract extension with a West Coast team. U.S.S. Mariner recommends against a Santana acquisition.
FROM 11-30-07 at 8:45am:
I think it’s time for a new Johan Santana thread. We’ll start today with a Peter Gammons report today on Mike & Mike In The Morning. This comes from a trusted MLBTR reader.
Gammons favors the Yankees in the Santana derby, because he feels that Hank Steinbrenner could overrule Brian Cashman and include Phil Hughes in the deal. Some feel that the Red Sox are just trying to pump up the price and would then turn to the A’s to get Dan Haren. Getting Haren instead of Santana may have the added benefit of not pissing off Josh Beckett about his salary.
Hiroki Kuroda Coming To MLB
Hiroki Kuroda has publicly made the decision to leave Japan to pursue a career in MLB. The L.A. Times reports the Mariners, D’Backs, Dodgers, and Royals as interested parties. The Mariners already have a four-year offer out to him.
The Phillies, Cubs, Rangers, and Mets might be considered on the fringes of this pursuit, as all have been linked to him in the past.
Mariners Rumors: Kuroda, Affeldt, Guillen
Let’s talk Mariners rumors, aside from their questionable interest in Johan Santana. David Andriesen breaks it down.
- The Ms will acquire at least one solid starter, and hopefully two. They’ve got a four-year offer out to Hiroki Kuroda, which is pretty aggressive. It’s possible that if they land him they could look internally for the #5 starter.
- One interesting rotation option is Jeremy Affeldt, who grew up in Washington about four hours away from Seattle. Affeldt said he’d consider starting again, which is probably the only way the Ms would have interest in him. His agent is already talking to the Ms.
- Bill Bavasi doesn’t sound thrilled with Jose Lopez at second base. Kaz Matsui and Mark Loretta will end up elsewhere, basically leaving Marcus Giles, Tadahito Iguchi, and David Eckstein as the options. Or, they could trade Richie Sexson for Ray Durham.
- There’s a slight chance Jose Guillen would accept arbitration if offered. I doubt it though; he’ll get two or more years somewhere. My guess is that it’s offered and declined.
Erik Bedard Rumors
The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec has the latest regarding ace Erik Bedard. Some rank Bedard as the best available starter, all-in-all – he’s under team control for longer than Johan Santana, doesn’t have no-trade rights, and has better stuff than Dan Haren.
- The Orioles and Bedard’s agent never actually exchanged salary figures, and now contract extension talks have come to a stop. Andy MacPhail isn’t concerned but no one seems to expect the O’s to pony up the money needed to retain their ace beyond 2009. Johan Santana should set the bar; Bedard may become a $20MM pitcher.
- Zrebiec lists the Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Angels, and Dodgers as teams that have inquired on Bedard. It’s surprising to see the Red Sox omitted from that list.
- The Mets made an offer: Carlos Gomez, Aaron Heilman, and perhaps Phil Humber. That’s an OK starting point but the O’s could do better.
- The Dodgers have also had talks with the O’s, with Matt Kemp, Jonathan Broxton, and Clayton Kershaw coming up. That’s certainly worth mulling over.