Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Cardinals Rumors

Cardinals Far Apart With Ankiel, Ludwick

By | at

As reported by MLB.com’s Matthew Leach, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said Wednesday that little progress has been made with arbitration-eligible outfielders Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick.

"There’s not a whole lot to comment on," Mozeliak said. "Right now we’re just preparing. I think if there is a settlement before we enter in, it would be a [last-minute] type of thing."

Both players are pretty far apart in negotiations with the club.  Ludwick asked for $4.25MM and was offered $2.8MM, while Ankiel asked for $3.3MM and the Cardinals countered with $2.35MM.  The Cards haven’t required an arbitration hearing since 1999, but it looks like that’s about to change.

Rosenthal On Peavy, Ohman, Looper

By | at

Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

  • Jeff Moorad’s acquistion of the Padres does not affect the likelihood of a Jake Peavy trade, according to Rosenthal’s source.  There have been no recent conversations with the Cubs about Peavy.
  • The Phillies had been confident of signing Ty Wigginton before the Orioles offered two years.  The Phils are still mulling Nomar Garciaparra and Rich Aurilia, with the Giants also in on Aurilia.  The Phillies are out on Will Ohman.
  • Braden Looper is receiving interest from Baltimore, but he prefers the NL.  The Brewers are not optimistic about signing Looper despite a recent conversation with one of his agents (Tom Haudricourt believes the Brewers are "laying in the weeds" for when the right pitcher comes along).  Looper is Plan B behind Randy Wolf for the Dodgers, and not a candidate to return to the Cardinals (who are apparently out of money).  One other team known to have interest in Looper is the Pirates.

Orioles Close To Deal With Cubs For Hill

By | at

9:41pm: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has more on the Orioles trading for Cubs pitcher Rich Hill.

The deal would be for a player to be named later, Zrebiec writes, and it could be announced as early as Monday.

Hill will be reunited with pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Alan Dunn, who worked with him in the Cubs’ organization, Zrebiec notes.

Hill is out of options, so he’ll have to make the Orioles’ Opening Day roster or they could lose him. … Hill will be given an opportunity to win a spot in the rotation, which currently has three vacancies behind Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehara.

6:12pm: Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun believes the Baltimore Orioles will complete a trade for Cubs left-handed pitcher Rich Hill by Tuesday — if the Orioles will do the deal at all.

Schmuck writes that now other organizations are aware that Hill could be made available, additional teams — including the Royals and Mariners — could make an offer.

Orioles general manager Andy MacPhail might be waiting to see if he can sign free agent right-handed pitcher Braden Looper, Schmuck adds.

They might be willing to acquire both pitchers, but there is the small matter of moving players off the 40-man roster to make room, so maybe Andy is just going to take one or the other.

Hill, 29 in March, is 18-17 in 57 starts with a 4.37 ERA during a short four-season career. He spend much of 2008 in Triple-A.

Looper, 34, went 12-14 in 33 starts with a 4.16 ERA with the St. Louis Cardinals last season.

Rosenthal On Abreu, Garland, Glavine, Sisco

By | at

The latest from Ken Rosenthal…

  • The Mariners and Giants are interested in Bobby Abreu, if the price is right.  Yesterday Buster Olney suggested that Abreu is willing to take a one-year deal.  The A’s and Nationals have other targets, while the Mets, White Sox, and Braves are seen as long shots.
  • Rosenthal examines the nuances of Jon Garland’s December 7th decision to reject arbitration, saying that it wasn’t an obvious mistake at the time.
  • Tom Glavine’s agent Gregg Clifton did not attend yesterday’s meeting with Frank Wren; it was a health update and not a contract negotiation.  Rosenthal says Glavine figures to seek a Freddy Garcia-like deal.  The Braves need to save money to add an outfielder, with Nick Swisher atop their list.  The Yankees’ goal in moving Swisher or Xavier Nady would be to recoup prospects.
  • The Brewers are not interested in projects such as Kris Benson, Jason Jennings, Mark Redman, and Victor Zambrano.  They’re just lukewarm on Mark Mulder.  Benson is drawing interest from the Dodgers, Rangers, and Cardinals; one exec reviewed his audition as "so-so."
  • Rosenthal doesn’t seem to buy the idea that Jason Varitek and Scott Boras feared the Red Sox could cut him if he accepted arbitration, noting that Boras client Travis Lee was advised to accept years ago.
  • The Braves have reservations about re-signing Andruw Jones, who could be a Spring Training cut.
  • The A’s deal for Russ Springer will be worth more than $3MM plus incentives.  They’re also eyeing Brian Shouse and Andrew Sisco as possible pen additions.  Sisco, recovering from Tommy John, has also auditioned for the Rockies and Giants.

Manny Ramirez Rumors: Wednesday

By | at

11:39pm: Dylan Hernandez and Ken Gurnick talked to Ned Colletti tonight about Manny, but there’s not much new to report.

3:50pm: Not sure where the rumor started, but you can cross the Cardinals off the list for Manny suitors.

8:39am: Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times talked to Scott Boras, who anticipates that his client Manny Ramirez will be signed by Spring Training (February 14th).  Boras claims the Manny negotiations are taking shape and progressing and "the train has left the station."  Of course, we all recall Kevin Towers saying the same thing about a Jake Peavy trade.

Boras acknowledged that he’s still talking with the Dodgers and (of course) implied that he has more than one additional suitor.

In other Manny news, Mets manager Jerry Manuel said he’d like to add the slugger (despite the team’s lack of interest).

Odds and Ends: Lohse, Reyes, Greinke, Howard

By | at

Links for Tuesday…

  • Chat today, 2pm CST.
  • Rangers president Nolan Ryan called the Winter Meetings "a big waste of money and time."
  • Nationals GM Jim Bowden implied that a Tom Glavine signing is unlikely.
  • Kyle Lohse feels the pain of all the unsigned free agents; he didn’t sign until March 14th last year.  Lohse said he "put a lot of pressure on all parties" to get his four-year, $41MM extension done on September 29th.  Given that it wasn’t on the open market, Scott Boras did well for Lohse.
  • The Dodgers prefer Dennys Reyes over Luis Ayala, says Ken Gurnick.
  • Joe Posnanski loves the Zack Greinke signing.  Sam Mellinger says the Royals and fans are no longer allowed to complain about baseball’s financial structure.
  • Maury Brown leans slightly toward Ryan Howard winning his arbitration case.  I think the Phillies will prevail.
  • Brandon Lyon turned down more lucrative offers for a chance to close in Detroit.  ESPN’s Keith Law likes the Tigers’ signing, in part due to Jim Leyland’s track record with relievers.
  • The Marlins seem to prefer the trade market, if they are to add a catcher.
  • Joe Nathan knows his $47MM extension signed in March of ’08 is looking pretty good right now.

Benson Works Out In Front Of Nine Teams

By | at

Free agent right-hander Kris Benson worked out Saturday for nine teams and demonstrated that he should be ready to compete for a job in Spring Training, MLB.com reports.

Agent Gregg Clifton said the throwing session “went well, and he showed teams that he’s ahead of schedule in getting ready for the ’09 season.”

The article only lists the Rockies as being there, though it does note that nine teams were in attendance. This post lists the Dodgers, Rangers, Padres, Diamondbacks, Indians and Cardinals as teams that planned to attend.

Benson, 34, missed the 2007 season because of surgery on his right shoulder. He spent last season in the minors with the Phillies. He is 68-73 with a 4.34 ERA in 195 career starts.

Brandon Lyon To Sign With Tigers

By | at

12:34pm: The AP reports that the deal pays Lyon $4.25MM in guaranteed money, but could be worth up to $500K more.

11:09am: The AP reports the Tigers announced the deal at TigerFest.

SATURDAY, 8:44am: MLB.com’s Jason Beck also hears from an industry source that Lyon’s nearing a one year deal with the Tigers. Beck expects an official announcement this morning at TigerFest.

FRIDAY, 8:30am: Lyon’s agent Barry Meister says, "We continue to work through it.  Everything is moving forward."  Lyon is at home in Utah currently.

THURSDAY, 9:04pm: Ken Rosenthal heard from a major league source that Lyon’s close to a one year deal worth just under $5MM with the Tigers. The deal includes incentives.

3:47pm: Jon Paul Morosi takes it a step further, saying the Tigers are "nearing an agreement on a multiyear contract" with Lyon.  The 29 year-old righty started strong with a 1.64 ERA through May, but posted a 6.51 mark thereafter.  He lost the D’Backs’ closer job to Chad Qualls in September.

3:27pm: According to MLB.com’s Jason Beck, Brandon Lyon is down to two teams and may reach an agreement by Friday.  Beck says the Tigers are one of the two and appear to be in the lead.   According to Ken Rosenthal, the Cardinals are the other contender.  I guess that means the Twins are out.

Cardinals’ Non-Roster Invitees

By | at

Here are the Cardinals’ non-roster Spring Training invitees, via a press release on MLB.com.

Pitchers Jess Todd, Adam Ottavino, Tyler Herron, Clayton Mortensen, Ian Ostlund, Fernando Salas, Francisco Samuel and P.J. Walters, catchers Bryan Anderson, Tony Cruz, Luis De La Cruz, Steve Hill, Justin Knoedler and Matt Pagnozzi, infielders Allen Craig, David Freese, Joe Thurston and Brett Wallace and outfielders Colby Rasmus and Jon Jay.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top