The Rays are interested in Edwin Encarnacion, tweets Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse, seemingly as a designated hitter/first base option. Encarnacion, typically a third baseman, was non-tendered by the Athletics this month. He hit 21 home runs in 367 plate appearances this year for the Blue Jays.
Rays Rumors
Damon, Sheffield Interested In Rays
11:16pm: Johnny Damon told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that he'd like to play for the Rays. Damon said earlier this offseason that he'd like to re-join the Yankees.
4:07pm: Gary Sheffield told Steve Kornacki of MLive.com that he wants to play next year and that the Tampa Bay Rays are his first choice. Sheffield, who has ruled out a return to Detroit, wants to play for a competitive team. He says one team offered him an everyday job last year, but he turned the gig down because of doubts that the club could compete.
Sheffield batted .276/.372/.451 in 312 plate appearances for the 2009 Mets. It seems unlikely that National League teams would be comfortable allowing Sheffield to patrol the outfield on a daily basis, as he's now 42. Sheffield was born in Tampa and would like to play close to home.
Rays, White Sox Interested In Accardo
Add the Rays and White Sox to the list of teams showing interest in non-tendered reliever Jeremy Accardo, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Dodgers and Pirates have already expressed interest in the former Blue Jays closer.
Accardo, 29 this month, saved 30 games and posted a 2.14 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 2007. He has since bounced between the majors and minors and spent most of last season a Triple-A Las Vegas, where he posted a 3.48 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.
Orioles-Rays Swap ‘Not Happening’
5:13pm: The Orioles are moving on to other targets, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark (on Twitter). Those alternatives include trade candidates Brendan Ryan, J.J. Hardy and free agent Orlando Cabrera.
4:48pm: Reimold is off the table, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). He isn't going to Tampa and he's probably staying put.
4:13pm: The trade is "not happening," a source tells ESPN.com's Jayson Stark (on Twitter).
3:37pm: There will be no deal today, according to Ghiroli (on Twitter). The sides are close, but a trade now seems less likely than it did earlier.
2:38pm: No deal is imminent and the names vary, tweets MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. The Rays want Reimold and Alfredo Simon for Bartlett, tweets Connolly.
1:26pm: The Rays are talking with the Orioles about Bartlett, and it's for more than Reimold, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.
11:49am: A possible deal sending Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett to the Orioles for outfielder/first baseman Nolan Reimold is heating up, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. He has one source who expects the trade to happen today.
The Rays are one of few teams with a shortstop surplus, and Bartlett may earn over $5MM in his last year before free agency. Reimold had a strong rookie season for Baltimore in '09 but had a lost 2010.
Matt Garza Rumors: Tuesday
The Rays have lots of pitching depth and a number of holes to address, so the Matt Garza rumors were inevitable. Here's the latest on the Rays righty:
- Garza is a fallback plan for the Rangers in case they can't sign Cliff Lee or trade for Zack Greinke, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse. Price reports that the Rays are motivated to move Garza.
- The Brewers have talked to the Rays about Garza, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (on Twitter).
Rays, Mariners Eyeing Mark Hendrickson
The Rays and Mariners are interested in lefty reliever Mark Hendrickson, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Hendrickson's former team, the Orioles, is also keeping tabs on him. The O's declined a $1.2MM option on him last month.
Hendrickson, a 6'9" southpaw, turned 36 in June. This year he posted a 5.26 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9, and 42.9% groundball rate in 75.3 innings. Hendrickson's FanGraphs splits show he's been plenty effective against left-handed batters over the past few years.
At Least Seven Teams Checked In On Rich Harden
The Yankees, Twins, Rays, Diamondbacks, Brewers, Mariners, and Rockies have checked in on free agent righty Rich Harden, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi says some teams like Harden as a starter, others as a reliever.
The oft-injured Harden received a $7.5MM guarantee from the Rangers last year, but had a lost season. He posted a 5.58 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 6.1 BB/9, 1.8 HR/9, and 34.5% groundball rate in 92 innings, battling a strained glute and shoulder tendinitis. These days he's a fastball/changeup pitcher with a 90.5 mph average heater.
Rays Rumors: Howell, Johnson, Bartlett
The latest on the Rays, who are looking to re-build their bullpen and acquire a hitter or two:
- The Rays have progressed toward a deal with J.P. Howell, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (on Twitter). The team non-tendered the lefty last week.
- The Rays avoided arbitration with Dan Johnson and agreed on a 2011 salary of about $1MM, according to Topkin (Twitter links).
- The Rays and O's were discussing a trade that would have sent Jason Bartlett to Baltimore for a package similar to the one the Orioles sent to Arizona for Mark Reynolds, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown (Twitter link).
- Cardinals GM Joh Mozeliak told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he's not looking to acquire middle infielders, so a Barlett trade seems highly unlikely.
- Rays President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Topkin that he wouldn't be surprised if he ends up making a trade or two this week (Twitter link).
Stark On Crawford, Beltre, Lee, Greinke, Bartlett
In his latest piece for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark discusses the ripple effect that Jayson Werth's $126MM deal will have on the remaining free agents. One AL official opines that it raises Carl Crawford's price in a "big, big way": "He's looking at maybe eight years, $180 million now, maybe 10 years, $190 million." Here are the rest of Stark's hot stove notes:
- Crawford is the clear top target for the Angels, but in the past they've tried to avoid going as high as eight years for any player, let alone ten.
- Despite getting Werth's contract done already, Scott Boras often drags out negotiations for his top clients. Stark polled a dozen people across baseball on when Adrian Beltre would sign, and many predicted it wouldn't happen until Christmas or later.
- Neither the Yankees or Rangers have made a formal offer to Cliff Lee yet, but many of those baseball people polled by Stark expect a deal to get done within the next week.
- There's good news and bad news for the Royals and Zack Greinke's trade value: with many free agent arms coming off the board already, Greinke has become more valuable in a pitching-thin market. However, according to one AL source, "Greinke has been trying to convince the Royals that it's not a great idea if he's there next year," which reduces Kansas City's leverage.
- The Diamondbacks haven't totally ruled out trading Justin Upton, though it appears unlikely. Kevin Towers tells Stark "it's going to take somebody a little on the crazy side" to get anything done.
- There's a sense that Jason Bartlett is the player most likely to be traded this week. However, Stark has trouble finding a team in need of a shortstop that matches up well with the Rays, who would like a late-inning reliever in return.
- With Werth off the market, the Phillies will look to replace him with a complementary player rather than a big name. Stark lists Scott Hairston, Jeff Francoeur, and Matt Diaz as a few possible targets. Philadelphia has also been trying to find a taker for Raul Ibanez, but would likely have to eat a good chunk of salary to do so.
Cubs, Other Teams Also Pursuing Adrian Gonzalez
The Red Sox aren't the only team in the hunt for Adrian Gonzalez. "Multiple teams besides [the] Red Sox," including the Cubs, are interested in the Padres slugger, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. This isn't the first time we've heard about Chicago's interest in Gonzalez, and the Cubs' search for a big-hitting first baseman may have intensified now that Adam Dunn has signed with the crosstown rival White Sox.
Two big obstacles stand in the way of a Cubs/Padres deal: the Cubs' ability to provide the blue-chip prospects that San Diego desires in any Gonzalez trade, and whether the Cubs can afford the long-term extension that Gonzalez wants after 2011. One obviously impacts the other, since it would be foolish for the Cubs to move several prospects for just one season of Gonzalez. With the Carlos Silva and Kosuke Fukudome contracts coming off the books after this year, Chicago has about $63MM committed to their 2012 payroll.
Besides the Cubs, Rosenthal lists the Angels, Blue Jays, Orioles, Nationals, Rangers and Rays as having a "possible interest" in a Gonzalez trade. All of the teams could potentially afford a Gonzalez extension except Tampa Bay, and all of the clubs have intriguing minor league prospects to interest the Padres (though it might be hard for L.A. to acquire Gonzalez without giving up star prospect Mike Trout). Dan Hayes of the North County Times tweets that it's the Cubs and Red Sox, however, who are the "main focus" of San Diego's trade talks.
