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Rosenthal’s Latest: Cordero, Livan, Jenkins

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Somehow, I missed a Ken Rosenthal column.  This thing is already 14 hours old.  I’m slipping.

  • A Mystery Team has already made a four-year offer to Francisco Cordero.  We know the Brewers made an offer on Monday but Rosenthal may be referring to another club.
  • Rosenthal suggests Scott Linebrink could be reunited with Bruce Bochy to become the Giants’ closer.  It’s known that the Astros already have an offer out to Linebrink.
  • Teams interested in Geoff Jenkins: the Cubs, Padres, Giants, Rangers, and Royals.  Several of those are new to me.
  • The Tigers’ payroll is expected to exceed $115MM.  Time to head over to Cot’s and do some math.  By my count the Tigers are around $105MM right now (includes some arbitration guesses).  That leaves room for one starting pitcher signing, be it Kenny Rogers, Carlos Silva, or whoever.
  • The Cardinals, Astros, and Mets have their eye on Livan Hernandez.  Mets’ management is divided on signing him, since he’s a back-rotation guy.
  • Rosenthal believes the Reds could shop Joey Votto or Josh Hamilton a year from now in hopes of acquiring starting pitching.
  • Tony Clark is gaining in popularity as a cheap power source.  He might be looking at two years, $4MM plus more playing time.

Cardinals Interested In Silva, Lohse

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Joe Strauss has the latest regarding the Cardinals’ pursuit for starting pitching.  The team is interested in free agents Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse.  Matthew Leach recently quoted John Mozeliak as searching for a starter with some upside, so maybe the Cards favor Lohse.  They’d have to tangle with Scott Boras to get him – I’ve heard some speculate that Lohse could get a Gil Meche 5/55 deal.

Strauss’s article also mentions that the Cards are exploring options besides David Eckstein for shortstop.  They’ve recently been linked to Cesar Izturis.  Maybe the Cardinals could try to get a shortstop in return for Scott Rolen, someone like Erick Aybar or Rafael Furcal.  Derrick Goold recently had a nice breakdown of the available shortstop options.

Finally, Strauss’s report adds that Mozeliak "downplayed any interest in Barry Bonds."  It might be tough to fit both Chris Duncan and Bonds into the outfield.

Scott Rolen Is Available

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Cardinals GM John Mozeliak confirmed this morning that third baseman Scott Rolen is indeed available in trade.  The topic definitely came up at the GM meetings.  It seems that Rolen and Tony La Russa just can’t get along.

Rolen would be up for waiving his no-trade clause for a competitive team.  He’s owed $36MM over three years, probably a touch more than he could get on the open market right now.  But not terribly different.  Joe Strauss’s article says the Cardinals are reluctant to eat salary and want full value in return.

Who needs a third baseman?  The Red Sox, Yankees, Indians, Tigers, Twins, Angels, and Dodgers could conceivably trade for Rolen.  The Brewers and Phillies might have the need but those clubs don’t seem likely.  The Cards and Twins may have already had low-level talks about Rolen.

If the Cards create a need at third base, they might have to fill it by signing a Mike Lamb type.  I can’t see how they could acquire an MLB-ready third baseman for Rolen.  That wouldn’t make sense for the other team. 

Odds and Ends: Clark, Izturis, Clemens

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First day for teams to negotiate with free agents, always a good time.  Here are today’s odds and ends.

  • Jeff Blair notes that one athlete may still be better paid than Alex Rodriguez: Kimi Raikkonen, a Formula One driver, earns $51MM per year.  No need to debate on whether race car drivers should be considered athletes, I just thought it was interesting.
  • The D’Backs don’t figure to spend much on free agents, because they’re a smart team. Tony Clark wants two years, $4MM, and the team is thinking it over.
  • The Bucs will probably hold onto Jack Wilson this winter, as they’re cutting Cesar Izturis loose rather than pay him $5.45MM.  The Cardinals have interest in Izturis, by the way.
  • Confirming what we already knew: the Yankees will pursue Mike Lowell and Johan Santana.
  • Marty York has a source saying the Blue Jays might pursue Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.  Say what?
  • Doug Melvin isn’t planning on moving Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun from third base unless the Brewers acquire another "legitimate, bona fide third baseman."
  • Mark Gonzales notes that the White Sox tried to acquire Scott Linebrink and Octavio Dotel in 2006, implying that Kenny Williams might go after one of them now.  Linebrink is going to be a costly sign, as he’s a Type A and I imagine the Brewers will offer him arbitration.
  • Scott Gregor places odds on various center field possibilities for the White Sox.  He thinks they have a decent chance of trading for Coco Crisp.

Odds and Ends: Rolen, Silva, Capps

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Here are some hot stove links to digest this evening.

Did Twins and Cards Discuss Rolen?

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Buster Olney is a trusted source for baseball info if there ever was one.  Here’s an excerpt from his blog today:

The Cardinals are shopping Scott Rolen. Heard on Thursday that the Twins and Cardinals are talking about a deal for Rolen, who is owed $33 million over the next three years.  The Cardinals presumably are asking for pitching in return, but because of the money involved and Rolen’s injury history, they might not get a lot, because this is more of a salary dump.

On the other hand, Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is obviously very close to the Twins.  He spoke to two Twins officials yesterday who said they’ve had no discussions about Rolen at all.  Could it be that those two officials didn’t speak to the Cards about Rolen, but another member of the Twins’ front office did?  It wouldn’t be the first time baseball execs played coy with the media.

Ricciardi Willing To Listen On Burnett

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UPDATE, 11-7-07: This isn’t really an update.  Ricciardi kind of clarified his comments, saying that the Jays aren’t shopping Burnett.  But he never said they were in the first place.  He originally said if he was blown away, he’d trade Burnett.  The only people confused were those who didn’t closely read his original comments.

FROM 11-6-07: Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi has said something interesting things to the media in recent times, from lying to the public about B.J. Ryan’s injury to questioning A.J. Burnett’s manliness.  It’s not that his actions and opinions are astounding; it’s just odd to see a GM so publicly frank about things.

Today, Ricciardi was upfront with ESPN about the possibility of trading Burnett.  If he’s blown away by an offer, he’ll trade him.  It’s not really a groundbreaking assertion.  I imagine most GMs feel that way about most players.

In Burnett, another high impact arm enters the trade market.  His opt-out clause after the 2008 season effectively makes his contract worse than a one-year deal, as we discussed here.  Jerry Crasnick says the Cardinals, Phillies, and even Orioles are possible fits.  I could imagine the Braves, Mets, Astros, and Diamondbacks expressing interest as well.  Burnett has no-trade protection against 15 teams, so that might require compensation.  He’ll earn a reasonable $12MM in 2008.   

Odds and Ends: Glavine, Kent, Kuroda

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Picking up some rumors and tidbits that haven’t been otherwise posted during this busy day…

Yankees Aiming Higher Than Crede

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According to Ken Davidoff of Newsday, the Yankees aren’t likely to trade for Joe Crede.  They’re aiming for bigger fish like Mike Lowell, Adrian Beltre, Miguel Cabrera, and Scott Rolen.  Garrett Atkins has been deemed unavailable.  Additionally, Kenny Williams hopes to deal Crede relatively quickly and the Yankees are in no rush to fill their third base vacancy.  Maybe the Phillies will jump into the fray for Crede.

Lowell at least won’t involve giving up young talent.  But there are some questions about how he’d hit away from Fenway.  And we’re talking four or even five years to lure him.  Beltre would be a fine acquisition and is affordable, though I don’t know why the Mariners would part with him.  And the Ms would want at least one blue-chipper, I’d imagine.  The Yanks would have to mortgage tons of young talent for Cabrera.  Davidoff’s dark horse, Rolen, suddenly makes the most sense.  It would be a salary dump and a health risk, but 3/36 isn’t that scary for the Yanks.  And it’s less than Lowell would sign for.

Davidoff has a tidbit at the end of his column, a one-liner, that the Yanks are likely to re-sign Mariano Rivera at three years, $40MM soon.  I’m surprised Newsday didn’t call more attention to that part. 

Odds and Ends: Fukudome, Burrell, Furcal, Rolen

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Two of my favorite local blogs have good hot stove posts for us today as part of Odds and Ends.

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