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Rosenthal’s Latest: Prior, Bedard, Haren

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The rumor mill is picking up today, thanks in no short part to Ken Rosenthal.  Check out his latest column.

  • Rosenthal believes the Padres are Mark Prior’s first choice, but as usual they won’t pay as much as other teams.  Both Texas clubs are in the lead for Prior currently.  Rosenthal also names the Cards, Mets, and Yankees are suitors, as we knew.  The Pirates, by the way, have not inquired.
  • Talks for Erik Bedard have slowed down, because the Orioles aren’t impressed with the offers.  The Mariners, Reds, and Mets are the top contenders.  Rosenthal indicates that the Reds may be overvaluing Homer Bailey, compared to the perception of other clubs.
  • Interesting late-game suitors for Dan Haren: the Rockies and Braves.  You wonder, then, whether they’ll also inquire on Bedard. 
  • Rosenthal notes that the Chris Burke acquisition could be a sign that the D’Backs won’t re-sign Orlando Hudson.  Burke will have to show something first though.
  • The Orioles don’t seem likely to flip Luke Scott; they like his style.  The guy could hit 30 bombs this year, in the opinion of Ron Shandler and Co.
  • The Twins are up to 39 on their 40 man roster, so they’ll have to be creative to take back four players in a Johan Santana deal.  It could mean including a player with Johan.

Mark Prior Rumors: Astros, Cardinals

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More info coming in on Mark Prior, who’s starting to seem like a hot commodity.  I can see how teams find him tantalizing, though a decent half-season from him is probably the upside.

The Astros have an offer out to Prior; throwing out tons of early offers seems to be Ed Wade’s style this winter.  Wade says the expectation is for Prior to be ready by late May; you can easily push that back a month if you want to be realistic.  The ’Stros will also watch Kris Benson throw.  That means only two of the ten clubs interested in Benson remain unknown.

Another NL Central team may have an eye on Prior.  MLB.com’s Matthew Leach says Prior is on the Cardinals’ radar.  You might think the Cardinals already have enough injury risk in the rotation.  But as Larry Borowsky notes, the Edmonds trade may have left the team with enough money for one innings eating starter and one wild card like Prior.

By the way, it doesn’t appear the Mariners are interested in Prior.

Padres Acquire Jim Edmonds

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UPDATE, 12-15-07 at 3:18pm: Krasovic has learned that the Cards sent $2MM over to the Padres in the Edmonds deal.  Kevin Towers apparently pushed for more salary relief but settled there.

FROM 12-14-07 at 10:32pm:

According to Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres have agreed to trade minor league third baseman David Freese to the Cardinals for Jim Edmonds.  The Cards will also send more than a million in cash to offset some Edmonds’ $8MM salary. 

Freese is mildly interesting for a prospect who’ll be 25 in April.  He’s yet to reach Double A but he did draw 69 walks this year.  Baseball America says there’s a chance he’s moved off third eventually (and notes that he’s done some catching in an instructional league).

Edmonds is an OK one-year play for the Padres.  He dipped to a .325 OBP and .403 SLG last year as a 37 year-old, and only got into 117 games due to back/leg/groin/hamstring/shoulder/toe injuries.  It still might make sense to let Scott Hairston handle the lefties.  Edmonds seemingly waived his no-trade clause to go to San Diego.   

Joe Strauss says the Cards will first consider internal options in center.  Top prospect Colby Rasmus is 21 and hasn’t seen Triple A yet.  Rick Ankiel is also a possibility.  Guys like Mike Cameron, Kenny Lofton, Corey Patterson, Nate McLouth, or Coco Crisp could be external options.

Viva El Birdos weighs in on this deal; check it out.

Cameron, Padres Sever Ties

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The Padres and Mike Cameron will go in different directions, according to his agent.  It had been said previously that Cameron and the Padres agreed on two years but couldn’t meet on the amount of money.

Tom Krasovic notes that the Padres have already talked to the Cardinals about Jim Edmonds.  They’ve also got an eye on free agent Kenny Lofton.  Lofton may not be a defensive asset these days, but the 40 year-old still hits righties at an .800 OPS.  Scott Hairston could play center when the Padres face a southpaw.

As for Cameron, the White Sox, Twins, Rangers, Brewers, Phillies, and Braves could be options.  Ken Rosenthal adds the Cardinals, Reds, and Yankees as possibilities as well.  Cameron is the best center field free agent left on the market.

Today’s Non-tenders: Towers, Prior, Everett, Durbin

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Tim’s out for the night, so we’ve got a fresh post started for the non-tenders.  MLB.com has a running list as well.

These guys are the officials as of now:

  • As expected, the Marlins non-tendered catcher Miguel Olivo.  Johnny Estrada was another casualty; these two make up the market for starting catchers.
  • The Blue Jays non-tendered Josh Towers, a surprising move.  Some NL team could offer him two years and get league average work out of him.
  • Mark Prior has been non-tendered.  Honestly if I were the Cubs, I would’ve tossed the $3.5MM his way just to see.
  • Aaron Miles is now a free agent.
  • The A’s cut Kiko Calero loose.
  • The Padres have non-tendered four: Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, and pitchers Jack Cassell and Ryan Ketchner. RotoWorld speculates that the latter two, not arbitration eligible, could be offered minor league deals.
  • The Royals cut the cord on Emil Brown.  He turns 33 soon; he hit an ugly .257/.300/.347 in 2007.  Brown earned $3.45MM in ’07.
  • The Tigers non-tendered Chad Durbin, toss him into the free agent pool.  Guess those trade talks with the Bucs didn’t work out.
  • The Twins have let go Jason Tyner.
  • The Nats have cut bait with Nook Logan and LHP Michael O’Connor.
  • The Dodgers wave goodbye to Mark Hendrickson.
  • The White Sox have non-tendered Andy Gonzalez and LHP Heath Phillips. Joe Crede sticks with the Pale Hose for now.
  • Adam Everett has lost his job with the Astros. It’d be kind of funny if the Orioles signed him.
  • Per RotoWorld, the Angels have non-tendered Dallas McPherson. He’s full of potential, but he’s never come through. He’s only 27, though, so he could still catch on somewhere. Unless, RotoWorld notes, he has an agreement in place with the Angels.
  • The Braves have non-tendered Willie Harris, though he had already been DFA’d.

–Joe and Tim

Odds And Ends: Nats, Dodgers, Cardinals

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Couple of small signings and rumors on non-tender night:

  • The Nats have agreed with John Patterson, Ryan Wagner, and Luis Ayala to one-year deals. Wagner is coming off labrum surgery, and is expected to compete for a spot in the bullpen in Spring Training. Ayala tossed 42 decent innings after coming back from Tommy John surgery in June. After showing flashes of his potential in 2005, Patterson has hardly worked out over the past two years, but will get another shot this spring.
  • The Dodgers have signed 11 players to minor league deals with invitations to Spring Training: RHP Tanyon Sturtze, RHP Mike Koplove, RHP Brian Falkenborg, RHP Rick
    Asadoorian    , RHP Fernando Desgue, RHP Greg Jones, LHP Brian Shackelford,
    OF John-Ford Griffin, 1B John Lindsey, IF Angel Chavez and C Danny
    Ardoin    . The addition of Sturtze, coupled with the presence of Scott Proctor, gives Joe Torre two of his favorite abuse cases over the past few years.
  • The Cardinals have signed former Athletic Ron Flores to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. He throws left-handed, hence will probably get a shot for the next three or four years, even if his performance is spotty. C Mark Johnson, RHP Hugo Castellanos and 3B Rico Washington have also been signed and extended an invite.

–Joe

Padres Deep In Talks For Bay

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UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 3:56pm: Krasovic jumps in to say that the Padres definitely won’t be trading Headley to the Bucs (and probably not at all).  The Pirates and Padres have been talking a lot, and some kind of deal involving some of the players below could definitely happen. 

UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 12:01pm: Buster Olney is reporting that the Padres are "deep into discussions" with the Pirates about a multiplayer trade in which Bay would be the centerpiece.

FROM 12-12-07 at 9:30am:

Tom Krasovic checks in with all sorts of fresh Padres rumors, as he often does.  Below are the ones that haven’t come up elsewhere on the site today.

  • The Padres and Pirates might have mutual ground for some kind of multiplayer deal.  Names like Matt Morris, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and/or Nate McLouth are possible future Padres.  The Bucs could go for Michael Barrett and/or Padres’ top prospect Chase Headley.  My challenge to you: create a reasonable multiplayer trade scenario between these two clubs in the comments.
  • Krasovic says the Padres "explored a trade" for the Cardinals’ Anthony Reyes.  The Indians and Phillies have also been linked to the youngster before.
  • As you might expect, Morgan Ensberg will probably be non-tendered today.  He made $4.35MM in ’07, and the Friars don’t want to pay him anything like that.
  • Akinori Otsuka is another non-tender candidate, and the Padres could seek to bring him back if so.  Otsuka has been throwing pain-free since late October, though, so the Rangers will probably retain him.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Santana, Cabrera, Kuroda, Edmonds, Rolen

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Ken Rosenthal checks in with the latest hot stove buzz around baseball.

  • Johan Santana is Boston’s only target – they’re not after Dan Haren or any other starter.  The talks keep slugging along.  For what it’s worth, Curt Schilling expects the Red Sox to get him.
  • 36 year-old first baseman Alex Cabrera is a sleeper power threat among free agents.  The former Rockie, Cub, and Diamondback has been mashing in Japan since 2001.  The Nationals don’t have any room for him but want him anyway.  Rosenthal says A.L. clubs are looking at him as a DH candidate, also.  Cabrera hit .295/.377/.512 with 27 HR in 441 ABs in Japan in 2007.
  • Hiroki Kuroda has not reached an agreement with any team, according to Rosenthal.
  • The Padres are still considering Jim Edmonds as a center field candidate.
  • Here’s a new one: the Indians expressed interest in Scott Rolen.  The talks have cooled however.
  • Rosenthal says the Astros don’t think they will get Miguel Tejada.  Instead they’ve moved on to…Ron Mahay and Jeremy Affeldt.

Cardinals Could Make Rasmus Available

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Of course, they wouldn’t ship off the 21-year-old center fielder for just anyone. Erik Bedard is the target, according to Joe Strauss. In the weak NL Central (how many times have we all said that this winter?), Bedard is a potential difference-maker. He’d solidify a spotty starting rotation in St. Louis, though I suppose that’s true of any team he’d end up joining.

Rasmus alone won’t fetch Bedard, meaning other top prospects — Strauss mentions Bryan Anderson and Chris Perez — would have to be included. You can add 21-year-old lefty Jaime Garcia to the potential Orioles targers.

Strauss does note that two of the Cardinals’ young sluggers, Chris Duncan and Rick Akiel, likely won’t be dealt, since St. Louis is going to need their bats to go along with Albert Pujols.

Personally, I’m not sure St. Louis has enough to get it done. Their system isn’t all that great — though they could use that as a reason to empty it for Bedard and start over.

–Joe

Astros, Orioles, Were Never Close To Tejada Deal

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The Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice says that while the Astros and Orioles had intense discussions about Miguel Tejada, the two sides were "never, never, never" close to a deal.  It’s clear that Chris Burke, Adam Everett, and a prospect wouldn’t get it done.

Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun said today that the Orioles believe the Astros have the young talent needed to make a Tejada deal.  Zrebiec notes that a package based on Everett and Luke Scott wouldn’t cut it, either.  Andy MacPhail also discussed Tejada with the Cardinals, Giants, and Angels this week.  The Angels haven’t aggressively pursued him, and Andrew Baggarly said today the Giants are no longer interested.

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