Cardinals Rumors

Closer Roundup: K-Rod, Fuentes, Wood, Hoffman

By Alex Walsh | November 16, 2008 at 6:35pm CDT

Joel Sherman of the New York Post takes a look at the sudden surplus of potentially available closers in major league baseball, a situation that certainly benefits the Mets considering their need to upgrade the bullpen this offseason.

Two free agent closers that seemed destined to retire with their 2008 teams, Trevor Hoffman and Kerry Wood, now appear to be more available than was expected in October. That pair, along with Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes, give the Mets and other teams several options in free agency.

Other relief pitchers with experience in the 9th inning have been recently mentioned in trade rumors. The list includes Huston Street, who may move again before the 2009 season begins, along with JJ Putz, Jose Valverde, and Bobby Jenks, mentions Sherman.

Sherman also provides a short list of teams, beyond the Mets, that may need a reliever with closing experience for 2009. The Texas Rangers, seemingly always short on pitching these days, may be a good fit for Kerry Wood; the Detroit Tigers, the St. Louis Cardinals, and most recently the Milwaukee Brewers, faced with the sudden retirement of Salomon Torres, are also in need of 9th inning help.

Sherman suggests Fuentes may be the favorite for the Mets’ closing job at this point.

Odds & Ends: Kawakami, Renteria, Johnson, Ohman

By Nat Boyle | November 16, 2008 at 11:56am CDT

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.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Peavy, Teixeira, Burnett

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | November 15, 2008 at 9:54am CDT

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.

Cardinals Infield Rumors

By Tim Dierkes | November 14, 2008 at 5:08pm CDT

5:06pm: MLB.com’s Matthew Leach says a team source was "somewhat nonplussed" by the report of the Lopez offer, and Lopez says he has not been informed of anything.

Leach says mutual interest is clear with Edgar Renteria, but the Cardinals were not among the ten teams to have expressed interest in Rafael Furcal.

2:32pm: According to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have already made an offer to free agent infielder Felipe Lopez. Lopez, a Scott Boras client, is said to desire a multiyear contract on the strength of this year’s resurgent 169 plate appearances with the Cards.

Keith Law’s thoughts on Lopez: "He’s not a .385 hitter and probably isn’t even a .300 hitter, but as a guy who could easily hit .280/.350/.400 and play a capable second base, he’s one of the best infield options on this market." However, Law notes that Lopez’s effort level has been questioned often.

Odds and Ends: Ankiel, Hoffman, Mussina

By Tim Dierkes | November 13, 2008 at 3:37pm CDT

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?

The Trevor Hoffman Situation

By Tim Dierkes | November 12, 2008 at 11:21am CDT

In a post on his blog, Padres exec Paul DePodesta outlines the progression of the Trevor Hoffman negotiations (and also explains why exercising Brian Giles’ option was an easy call). Tom Krasovic also provides details, including quotes from Hoffman’s agent Rick Thurman.

Thurman believes the $4MM offer for ’09 (with a club option at the same salary for ’10) was insincere. He feels the Padres never intended to sign Hoffman and calls the chances of a deal "miniscule." Hoffman is also upset that owner John Moores did not want to meet with him. Plus, Thurman seems annoyed that Towers contacted Hoffman directly regarding the Moores meeting.
On the Padres’ side, CEO Sandy Alderson notes that the offer was not of the "take it or leave it" variety and it is not common let an offer sit for a prolonged period of time. Thurman did not a make a counteroffer, and the Padres never wanted these negotiations to be public.
This is not a black and white situation. While the Padres’ initial offer was low, the two sides could’ve kept things private and met in the middle in the $5.75MM range. I also think Moores should’ve been willing to meet with Hoffman, as this is not a normal player negotiation.
If Hoffman does leave, Thurman considers the Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Mets, Indians, Angels, and Rangers potential suitors. Why no mention of the Tigers? Jim Baumbach likes Hoffman for the Mets.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Hardy, Flowers, Wolf

By Tim Dierkes | November 12, 2008 at 9:33am CDT

Another day, another column from Ken Rosenthal.

With multiple vacancies in the rotation and bullpen, the Brewers may need to see what kind of pitching Mike Cameron and/or J.J. Hardy can bring in return. GM Doug Melvin is not ready to shop Hardy. He’s received interest, but most teams have not given names (one team suggested swapping him for a pitcher Melvin termed, "a fifth starter.")
The Padres have asked the Braves to substitute catcher Tyler Flowers for center fielder Gorkys Hernandez in their Jake Peavy offer. Dave O’Brien sees this as unlikely.
If they can’t sign Mark Teixeira, the Angels are ready to shift gears to C.C. Sabathia, Francisco Rodriguez, or other players. The idea of a Manny Ramirez pursuit was "tabled rather quickly."
The Cardinals plan to add one or two lefthanded relievers, probably free agents.
In his quest for righthanded power, Reds GM Walt Jocketty inquired on Matt Holliday and Josh Willingham before they were traded. Purely speculative – Jermaine Dye could be a nice fit.
At least half a dozen teams have expressed interest in free agent starter Randy Wolf.

Odds and Ends: Pettitte, Zaun, Blanco

By Tim Dierkes | November 11, 2008 at 5:00pm CDT

Links for Tuesday…

Scott Bordow feels the D’Backs and Randy Johnson should meet at $5MM, which still seems light.
David Murphy explains why the Phillies make more sense than the Mariners for Jamie Moyer, geographically.
David Ortiz would like the Red Sox to add a 30 home run bat.
Richard Justice wants the Astros to sign both Randy Wolf and Andy Pettitte. He says the Cubs and Cardinals will be talking to Pettitte even though his heart is with the Yankees.
El Lefty Malo recommends the Giants sign Derek Lowe. The Giants are at least considering the big-ticket free agents.
Jeff Blair runs through a few options for the Blue Jays if A.J. Burnett leaves.
Free agent catcher Gregg Zaun is not pleased with Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi.
The D’Backs want Miguel Montero showcased as a catcher.
Ken Davidoff has a list of nine intriguing (and older) free agents.
Joel Sherman joins Buster Olney in saying Brian Giles vetoed a trade to the A’s in August, after the Red Sox won the claim and failed to make a deal. How is this possible?
Geovany Soto expects Henry Blanco to re-sign with the Cubs.
Tony Massarotti looks at possible trade partners for the Red Sox.

Matt Holliday Trade Roundup

By Tim Dierkes | November 11, 2008 at 4:45pm CDT

It seems that the Rockies will send left fielder Matt Holliday to the A’s for Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith, and Huston Street soon (assuming Smith’s elbow checks out). While the A’s were rumored to be in the mix for Holliday, the trade still comes as a surprise to most. Let’s round up today’s links on the topic.

Nick Cafardo says the Red Sox were briefly involved in talks for Holliday.
ESPN’s Peter Gammons says Beane first engaged the Red Sox on Jason Bay before moving on to Holliday.
Troy Renck says Holliday is flying to Oakland today to meet with team officials. Garrett Atkins hopes the Holliday trade keeps him in Colorado.
Dave Cameron thinks Holliday can hit around .300/.380/.500 for the A’s.
Athletics Nation considers this a message that the A’s are trying to compete in ’09, and expects more additions. They also believe Billy Beane will take stock in July and decide whether to trade Holliday or keep him all year and take the draft picks. I agree on both points.
Jack Etkin of the Rocky Mountain News and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post have scouting reports on the players Colorado will receive.
Depressed Fan tries to get a handle on Beane’s motivation for the trade.
Holliday’s dad would like to see his son join the Yankees.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Johnson, Peavy, Dempster

By Tim Dierkes | November 11, 2008 at 8:48am CDT

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

It doesn’t seem likely that Randy Johnson re-signs with the Diamondbacks, though Johnson is holding out filing for free agency until the possibility is exhausted. The D’Backs hope he will take a significant hometown discount; they have roughly $10MM to spend for Johnson and a second baseman. If a Mark Loretta type takes $2MM, will Johnson take $8MM after earning $15.1MM for a fine ’08 season?
The Braves are frustrated with the progress on the Jake Peavy talks, and will explore other options (especially once the free agent market opens Friday). Rosenthal says the Padres sent revised proposals to the Cubs and Braves yesterday, but those teams intend to stick with their offers. Will the Padres crack and make a deal before Friday?
Rosenthal criticizes the Padres for the classless farewell to Trevor Hoffman. They pulled their reduced offer, and didn’t agree to the meeting with ownership he requested.
Suddenly there may be more solid free agent closers than teams seeking one. The Mets have their pick. To me this is a sign that K-Rod will fall short of five years, $75MM.
Rosenthal believes Kevin Gregg is next up on the trading block for the Marlins, with Jeremy Hermida another possibility.
Casey Blake doesn’t have any geographic leanings regarding his next destination. His agent feels a three-year deal is reasonable. The Twins and Indians are among seven teams eyeing Blake.
The Cubs offered Ryan Dempster something in the range of Kyle Lohse’s four years, $41MM. Teams don’t like to use the Carlos Silva deal as a benchmark, because it was such a clear mistake.

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