Rangers Signing Fukumori
UPDATE, 12-13-07 at 10:20am: Rosenthal confirms this signing; it kind of flew under the radar. Pretty cheap at $1.5MM per year.
UPDATE, 12-12-07 at 1:57pm: My Japanese-speaking friend says that this article indicates Fukumori signed with Texas for two years and $3MM. The $1.5MM salary is about twice what he made in ’07. Fukumori also had offers from the Pirates and Rays.
FROM 12-12-07 at 9:08am:
According to Evan Grant, the Rangers are "on the verge" of signing Japanese reliever Kazuo Fukumori. It would be a two-year deal.
As many as 10 teams were said to be interested in Fukumori, including the Yankees, Nationals, Royals, and Red Sox. Ken Davidoff recently spoke to a scout who described Fukumori as "not bad."
Cliff Floyd To Sign With Rays
UPDATE, 12-13-07 at 4:44pm: The deal is done, for $3MM plus another possible $2MM in incentives.
FROM 12-12-07 at 2:58pm:
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that the Rays should have a deal in place with Cliff Floyd by this weekend. Floyd would spend time at DH and right field for them in ’08.
Yanks Interested In Kazuo Fukumori
31 year-old Japanese reliever Kazuo Fukumori is drawing plenty of interest – 10 teams have inquired, if you believe his agent. A new interested party has been revealed – the Yankees. They met with Alan Nero on Wednesday. Fukumori wants a two-year deal.
Ken Davidoff’s article says the Padres and Rays are also in the mix. The Nationals, Royals, and Red Sox are others who have been connected. The Rockies will pass on Fukumori because of concerns over his elbow. East Windup Chronicle profiled Fukumori here. A scout Davidoff talked to saw him as a sixth or seventh inning guy; he didn’t seem thrilled.
Rangers Like Patterson, Ethier, Hamilton, Fukudome
According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers are targeting various young outfielders.
- Corey Patterson, 28, is a free agent and Scott Boras client. He’s looking for multiple years while the Rangers only want to give one. His talent might tantalize somebody, though he hit just .269/.304/.386 this year. He’s shown in the past that he can hit like a league average CF and play plus defense, so he could be a bargain. Patterson reversed his platoon split this year, hitting lefties pretty well. He’s an Atlanta native; maybe the Braves would be a match.
- Andre Ethier, 26 in April, is expendable now that the Dodgers have four outfielders. His career line of .295/.357/.464 is solid, though that is average for an AL right fielder. The Dodgers may opt to move Juan Pierre instead, if they can find a taker. The Dodgers previously had interest in Rangers reliever Joaquin Benoit, according to Sullivan. The Rangers would have competition from the Rays on Ethier.
- Josh Hamilton, 27 in May, could be moved by the Reds for a starting pitcher. Hamilton was incredible in 300 ABs for the Reds this year in his MLB debut, despite several years off and only 89 ABs above A ball. That’s #1 pick talent. He dealt with wrist, hamstring, and stomach problems this year however. Sullivan says the Reds would want Edinson Volquez for him; there was talk of sending him to Florida for Dontrelle Willis previously.
- Kosuke Fukudome, 31 in April, hasn’t decided yet whether to play in MLB. Even limited by an elbow issue he hit .294/.443/.520 in Japan.
- Milton Bradley, 30 in April, needs more time to decide on the Padres’ $4MM offer. Coming off knee surgery, he might be interested in the Rangers’ open DH job. Bradley is injury-prone, but he hit .306/.402/.545 in 209 ABs this year.
- Others who have been mentioned: Coco Crisp, Rocco Baldelli, Jim Edmonds, and Juan Pierre.
Barrett Accepts Arbitration
Catcher Michael Barrett has accepted the Padres’ offer for arbitration, taking him off the free agent market. He should end up on a reasonable one year, $5MMish deal, and the Padres will explore trade options.
Ken Rosenthal names the Rays and Pirates as interested parties. Barrett is a lot more attractive to those clubs now that they don’t have to surrender draft picks to get him. Rosenthal says a mid-level prospect would do the trick. At one point this winter the Marlins were said to have interest; Barrett would be their highest-paid player.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Santana, Fuentes, Heilman
The execs may be on a plane home right now, but the writers are still filing all sorts of rumors. Here’s Ken Rosenthal’s latest piece.
- Rosenthal says the Mets did not talk to the Twins about Johan Santana today, which is surprising. But they did talk earlier this week, at which point the Twins gave the Mets a list of players they liked. The Mets were fine with everyone on the list, which probably included Carlos Gomez and Mike Pelfrey. Rosenthal adds that the Mets are the only NL team firmly in the mix for Santana, and shipping him to the other league might be a factor for the Twins.
- The Giants turned down an offer of Delmon Young for Tim Lincecum before Young was sent to the Twins. This leaves skepticism that the Giants will accept three years of Alex Rios after turning down five of Young.
- The Mets made a straight up offer of Aaron Heilman for Brian Fuentes. As far as I can tell Heilman doesn’t reach free agency until after the 2010 season, so the Rockies would be doing pretty well here. Plus, they could plug him into the rotation. Oddly the dealbreaker was the Rox asking for Scott Schoeneweis as well. I thought the 34 year-old had negative trade value. Rosenthal adds that the Tribe took a glance at Fuentes as well.
- The Rox offered Jamey Carroll for Josh Barfield, which is pretty lopsided even with the year Barfield had. Of course the Indians declined.
Three-Team Deal Fell Through
Quick note from MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. He has a source indicating that the Diamondbacks were close to a three-team trade with the Rays and another club, but it fell through. Any guesses? Something involving the Astros and Luke Scott, maybe? Ed Wade spoke of multiteam deals that didn’t work out.
Rays Rumors: Pena, Floyd, Scott
UPDATE, 12-6-07 at 2:17pm: Molony confirms that the Rays have talked to the Astros about Scott, though the Padres are still the frontrunner.
FROM 12-6-07 at 8:29am:
A few minor Rays nuggets (hat tip Drays Bay)…
- Marc Lancaster talked to Scott Boras about the possibility of Carlos Pena signing a long-term deal with the Rays. Pena is eligible for free agency after the 2009 season. Boras indicated that Pena would go year to year. If 2008 and 2009 are in the stratosphere of what Pena did in ’08, he’s looking at four years, $60MM easily in my opinion.
- Adam Rubin reports that the Rays are eyeing Cliff Floyd, a name we’ve seen linked to them before.
- Marc Topkin considers Luke Scott a realistic possibility for the Rays, Luis Gonzalez and Josh Hamilton not so much. Topkin suggests Andre Ethier could be a good match, in a separate post.
ESPN’s Latest: Barrett, Ensberg, Mahay
Who said the Meetings are over? ESPN’s Peter Gammons, Buster Olney, and Jerry Crasnick are still running down rumors.
- The Rays want Michael Barrett, according to Gammons.
- Looks like Kevin Mench will be non-tendered.
- Crasnick says the Marlins may go after Morgan Ensberg, who is also likely to be non-tendered. The Phillies aren’t much interested in him.
- Gammons says Ron Mahay is down to the Yanks or Royals.
- He also says the Padres’ Milton Bradley signing won’t get in the way of their Kosuke Fukudome pursuit.
- Olney backs up the rumor about the Giants’ interest in Hideki Matsui.
Padres To Acquire First Rule 5 Pick, Take Barton?
UPDATE, 12-6-07 at 1:12am: Chris Kline at Baseball America believes the Padres may buy the first pick from the Rays and take Barton.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 9:50pm: Damn it, looks like the Rays don’t want Barton after all. Baseball America has that tip plus other Rule 5 rumors.
UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 11:59am: Looks like we were on to something here, as Baseball America also thinks the Rays will grab Barton with the first pick.
FROM 12-2-07 at 7:59am:
The Rule 5 draft is coming up on Thursday, and the Rays have the first pick. They might be able to find something good – Josh Hamilton and Joakim Soria were selected last year. In ’06 the Rays sold their first pick to the A’s for $100K. Anyway, A reliable source has informed MLBTR that the Rays are eyeing 25 year-old outfielder Brian Barton from the Indians for the first pick. Barton was once fairly highly regarded, but the Tribe chose not to protect him this year.
Of course with the Rule 5 the selection has to stay on the Major League roster all year. Barton may be polished enough to do so without causing harm, as he’s posted solid numbers in Double A. Barton is a center fielder by trade. Acquiring him makes sense for Tampa Bay given their subtraction of Delmon Young and Jason Pridie.
Barton may be near MLB-ready but some have questioned his ceiling. Said Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein: "He’s always been old for his level and many scouts see him as a mistake hitter and minor league performer as opposed to a player with long-term major league value."