Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rays Rumors

AL East Notes: Yankees, Nova, Vargas, Rays

By | at

Links out of the AL East..

  • The Yankees are still listening to offers on Curtis Granderson, Phil Hughes, and Ivan Nova, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter).  Team executives have acknowledged that Granderson and Hughes have come up in trade talks but say that it would be tough to replace both in the short-term.
  • Right-hander Claudio Vargas has agreed to a minor league deal with the Blue Jays, according to Metis Sports Management (via Twitter).  Vargas retired in summer 2011 before inking a minor league deal with the Brewers this past spring.
  • The Rays aren't going to be shaking things up right away but there could be some trades on the horizon, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.  "At the very least we have more clarity. I wouldn't say anything is imminent. But we just have more clarity on how we might be able to complete this offseason looking out over the next six-to-eight weeks," said executive VP Andrew Friedman.
  • It seems that almost everyone in Nashville this week was poised to spend big bucks except for the Yankees, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Scott Boras and two other agents who have discussed clients with the Yankees in recent days said their perception was a clamp had been placed on spending with the team’s payroll already at $168MM for 2013.  Meanwhile, the Yanks still have major needs in right field, the left side of the infield, and at catcher.

Latest On The Royals

By | at

The latest on the Royals, who continue to seek a front-rotation starting pitcher…

  • The Royals are exploring a group of free agent starters that includes Brett Myers, Kevin Correia, and Jair Jurrjens, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, which could be a backup plan if they fail to acquire a No. 1.  Dutton has heard differently, saying he's been told the Royals have no intention for now of pursuing any pitcher who wouldn't front their rotation.
  • The Royals' payroll pinch is tighter than initially believed, explains Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  In fact, the team appears to already be over budget.  Regarding the Shields talks, a Royals official told Dutton, "It’s not like we’re going to bend over backward,” one club official said. “We’re not going to do that. We want to make a trade to get another starter, be it Shields or someone else, but we don’t feel we have to make a trade."  The Rays are likely to wait to move Shields until Zack Greinke signs, writes Dutton.

Earlier updates:

Rays Sign James Loney

By | at

Last winter, the Rays signed a low-average, high-power hitter in Carlos Pena to man first base in Tampa. A year later, it seems the Rays are turning to Pena's polar opposite. The Rays have officially signed James Loney to a one-year deal worth $2MM, plus an additional $1MM in incentives. Even if he hits all of those incentives, Loney's total payday will be less than half of the $6.375MM he earned in his final year of arbitration last offseason.

Uspw_6593118The 28-year-old CAA client batted .249/.293/.336 with six homers in 465 plate appearances for the Dodgers and Red Sox in 2012. He was included as part of Boston's return in the blockbuster trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to Los Angeles. Last year marked the first full season of Loney's career in which he posted an OBP lower than .329 and fewer than 10 homers.

The Dodgers selected Loney 19th overall in 2002 out of high school, and he served as the team's primary first baseman from 2007 up until the time of the trade. He never put together the tools that landed him on Baseball America's Top 100 list from 2003-07, however. To Loney's credit, he's regarded as a solid defender and has been incredibly durable throughout his career. He's averaged 156 games per year over the past five seasons.

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported (on Twitter) the agreement between Loney and the Rays, after Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports reported late Sunday night that the two sides were nearing an agreement. Heyman (on Twitter) and Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio (on Twitter) added the financial details. Luke Adams contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2012 Rule 5 Draft Results

By | at

Each year, Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings conclude with the Rule 5 Draft. For those who are unfamiliar with the event, MLBTR offers an in-depth description, but here's a quick overview.

Players are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft if they aren't on the 40-man roster four or five years after signing, depending on the age at which they signed. Teams draft in the reverse order of the previous season's standings but aren't required to make a selection. If they do choose a player, they pay his former team $50K and must keep that player on the Major League roster all season or offer him back to his original team for $25K.

The results from the Major League phase:

  1. Astros take righty Josh Fields from Red Sox
  2. Cubs take righty Hector Rondon from Indians
  3. Rockies take lefty Danny Rosenbaum from Nationals
  4. Twins take righty Ryan Pressly from Red Sox
  5. Indians take first baseman Chris McGuiness from Rangers
  6. Marlins take outfielder Alfredo Silverio from Dodgers
  7. Red Sox take second baseman Jeff Kobernus from Nationals; traded to Tigers for infielder/outfielder Justin Henry
  8. Royals
  9. Blue Jays
  10. Mets take lefty Kyle Lobstein from Rays; traded to Tigers for cash considerations
  11. Mariners
  12. Padres
  13. Pirates
  14. Diamondbacks take righty Starling Peralta from Cubs
  15. Phillies take outfielder Ender Inciarte from Diamondbacks
  16. Brewers
  17. White Sox take infielder Angel Sanchez from Angels
  18. Dodgers
  19. Cardinals
  20. Tigers
  21. Angels
  22. Rays
  23. Orioles take lefty T.J. McFarland from Indians
  24. Rangers take righty Coty Woods from Rockies
  25. Athletics
  26. Giants
  27. Braves
  28. Yankees
  29. Reds
  30. Nationals

Second round of Major League phase:

Overnight Links: Burnett, Phillies, Giants, Rays

By | at

It's the middle of the night, but news rarely stops coming in over the course of baseball's Winter Meetings. Here are some links from around the baseball world for those who are still awake…

Rays Sign Jason Bourgeois

By | at

Outfielder Jason Bourgeois has popped up as a non-roster invitee on the Rays' official site, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, suggesting the Rays signed him to a minor league deal.

Bourgeois, 31 in January, has a .261/.306/.324 line in 497 career big league plate appearances for the White Sox, Brewers, Astros and Royals.  He's stolen 51 bases in 61 tries in that time.

AL East Notes: Rays, Yankees

By | at

The Orioles' re-signing of left fielder Nate McLouth sums up the Winter Meetings Day 3 action coming out of the AL East.  The latest around the division:

  • The Rays pursued right fielder Nate Schierholtz to the end and finished a close second, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.  Schierholtz ultimately signed a one-year, $2.25MM deal with the Cubs.
  • "There's a few potential outcomes that are really exciting to us and we're going to work toward trying to make them materialize," Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times earlier today.
  • The Yankees never made offers to Jeff Keppinger and Eric Chavez, tweets Jack Curry of YES Network.
  • Scott Boras questioned the Yankees' choice to reduce payroll, according to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.  Responded president Randy Levine, "Scott’s a great agent, but he’s an agent.  Last I looked, he had zero experience running a professional sports team. I think the Yankees have done pretty well following our own course. My advice to Scott is stick to your day job representing players."

Marlins, Rays Interested In Juan Francisco

By | at

The Braves' current depth chart features Martin Prado in left field and Juan Francisco at third base, but that could change if the Braves acquire an outfielder. If Atlanta were to add an outfielder and move Prado to third base, the club may trade Francisco, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). The Marlins and Rays are among the teams that would have interest in Francisco, says Knobler.

Francisco, 25, received a career-high 192 plate appearances in 2012 and hit .234/.278/.432. As a pre-arb player, his salary is likely part of the appeal for cost-conscious teams like the Marlins and Rays.

After locking up B.J. Upton, the Braves are reportedly not overly interested in other free agent outfielders. However, various reports have suggested the club is still perusing trade options.

AL East Rumors: Rays, Jays, Keppinger, Ellsbury, O’s

By | at

As the third day of the 2012 Winter Meetings gets underway, let's round up a few items out of the AL East…

  • Keppinger was the Yankees' first choice as the right-handed part of a third base platoon, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  With Keppinger signing with Chicago, the Yankees are forced to move on to Plan B.

Earlier updates:

Free Agent Rumors: Rolen, Bourn, McCarthy, Drew

By | at

A number of free agents have found deals in Nashville this week, but there are still a ton available, including 29 of our top 50. Here's the latest on a few of the remaining options:

  • Scott Rolen remains undecided on whether he'll retire or continue his playing career, his agent tells John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. If Rolen decides he wants to play, Fay believes the Reds could be interested in bringing him back in some role.
  • Former Rockie Ryan Spilborghs is drawing serious interest in Japan, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

  • The Mariners like Michael Bourn "very much," though the Phillies and Rangers remain in on the speedy outfielder, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
  • A couple reasons the Angels' interest in Brandon McCarthy has picked up in Nashville are his age (29) and the fact that he likely won't command more than a two-year deal, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
  • Stephen Drew figures to land at least a two-year deal, which would probably take the Tigers out of the running, says MLB.com's Jason Beck. The Red Sox continue to be in on Drew, however, according to WEEI.com's Rob Bradford.
  • In their hunt for left-handed relief help, the Cardinals have inquired on Manny Parra and explored what it would take to sign Sean Burnett, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cards are expected to find their man fairly soon, says Goold.
  • Dan Johnson, who was non-tendered by the White Sox last week, is interested in returning to the Rays, but may end up in Japan, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
Show all

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

hide arrows scroll to top