Latest On Bids For Yu Darvish
6:46pm: The Nippon Ham Fighters are expected to accept a posting price on Darvish just before Tuesday's deadline, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.
2:14pm: There are strong signs the Blue Jays and Rangers made serious bids, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
9:43am: There's "buzz" that Toronto had a "whopper of an offer," according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). Grant suggests the Rangers bid in the $40-49MM range.
THURSDAY, 7:44am: The Cubs placed a bid on Darvish, according to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune. The Rangers and Blue Jays placed bids, according to Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio (on Twitter).
WEDNESDAY: The posting system is far from transparent to begin with and tonight’s barrage of tweets, articles and blog posts probably didn’t make it any easier for fans to decipher. If you’d rather skip our lengthy summary of the most recent Yu Darvish rumors and read on to the essentials, you’re in the right place.
The identity of the team that won exclusive negotiating rights with Darvish remains unknown, but here’s what we do know. The deadline for teams to bid for negotiating rights with Darvish via the posting system passed earlier this evening. The Nippon Ham Fighters plan to accept the top bid — and it’s reportedly “sky-high.” Nippon Ham, which doesn't know the identity of the MLB team that won the bidding, has until 4pm CDT on December 20th to accept or reject the high bid.
The Yankees are the one team that’s known to have placed a bid on the 25-year-old right-hander. Conversely, the Giants, Athletics, Marlins, Mets, Rays, Angels, Twins, Red Sox and Orioles are out of the mix for Darvish, according to tonight’s reports.
Darvish posted a 1.44 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 232 innings this past season and he hasn't posted an ERA above 2.00 since 2007. MLB agents suggested to MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes that it will cost at least $100MM to lock Darvish up, including the posting fee and contract.
Prince Fielder Rumors: Thursday
At least one MLB general manager believes Prince Fielder and agent Scott Boras are looking for a ten-year deal that approaches the value of Albert Pujols' $254MM contract, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Heyman lists the Rangers as the favorite to sign Fielder, but suggests it's too early to rule out the Blue Jays, Mariners and Cubs, among others. Here are the latest rumors on Fielder:
- The Marlins are denying interest in Prince Fielder, but some rival execs aren't convinced, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.
- The Cubs are not major players for Fielder, as they are "not ready to spend big," tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- There are indications that the Cubs are ramping up their pursuit of Fielder, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. It's not clear where the Cubs stand with the first baseman now, but they're gathering information and may make a push for him soon.
- Here's a recap of yesterday's Fielder rumors.
Minor Moves: Rangers, Lindsay, Texeira, James
Here's where we'll track today's minor moves, most of which were reported by Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus on Twitter…
- The Rangers invited recent non-tender Fabio Castillo and catcher Chris Robinson to Spring Training, according to Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest.com (on Twitter). The Rangers signed former supplemental first round pick Zach Jackson, according to Goldstein.
- The Twins signed right-hander Daryl Thompson, Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets. They also signed lefty Aaron Thompson, according to Goldstein.
- The Dodgers signed Shane Lindsay.
- The Reds signed Kanekoa Texeira.
- The Pirates signed lefty Kris Johnson.
- The Giants signed Joaquin Arias.
- The Mariners signed catcher Guillermo Quiroz.
- The Blue Jays signed 2002 first rounder Clint Everts.
- The Rays signed right-hander Matt Torra.
- The Mets announced the signing of left-hander Chuck James, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter). James appeared in eight games for the Twins this past season, and spent most of the season at Triple-A. The 30-year-old posted a 2.30 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 62 2/3 innings as a reliever for the Twins' top affiliate.
- The Padres released utility man Eric Patterson, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America.
- The Royals released righty Jake Rodriguez, tweets Eddy.
- The Red Sox released righty Miguel Gonzalez.
Heyman On Fielder, Moreland, Kuroda
Agent Scott Boras hasn’t explicitly stated Prince Fielder’s asking price, but one GM with some interest in the free agent first baseman says he knows the target figure. "Isn't it obvious?," the GM asked Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, implying that Fielder will look to approach Albert Pujols’ $254MM deal. Here’s the latest on Fielder, plus other notes from Heyman:
- Though Rangers people have suggested they're focused on pitching and trades, Heyman says the team talked about deals involving Mitch Moreland. Barring an addition at first base, the Rangers will be relying on Moreland in 2012.
- The Blue Jays “are said to be thinking long and hard about Fielder.”
- There’s “no way” Adam Jones is going to Atlanta for Jair Jurrjens, an Orioles person says. The Braves and Orioles discussed a deal involving Jurrjens and Martin Prado, according to FOX Sports. It should be noted that FOX didn’t say Jones was available in trade talks with the Braves.
- The Yankees seem to like Hiroki Kuroda more than the other free agent pitchers, according to Heyman.
Angels, Blue Jays Interested In Darren Oliver
Add the Angels and Blue Jays to the list of American League teams interested in Darren Oliver. Those two clubs, plus the Red Sox and Rangers have shown interest in the veteran left-hander, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
Oliver, 41, posted a 2.29 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 51 innings for the Rangers in 2011. The Jeff Frye client is one of the top left-handed relievers available in free agency. It's worth noting that the Angels signed former Rangers left-hander C.J. Wilson earlier this offseason.
The Blue Jays' interest is no surprise. They dealt Marc Rzepczynski last summer and Evan Crawford and Luis Perez are the only left-handed relievers on their 40-man roster at the moment. I'd be surprised if the team hasn't shown interest in most of the competent, available left-handers this offseason and I expect them to acquire one by Opening Day.
The Latest On Gio Gonzalez
The Tigers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Rangers are among the teams pursuing Athletics left-hander Gio Gonzalez, reports Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. The bidding figures to heat up a bit once the posting period for Yu Darvish ends at 4pm CT tomorrow. Here's the latest on Gonzalez, courtesy of Knobler…
- The Athletics did indeed ask the Marlins for Mike Stanton in a trade, though the talks understandably went nowhere.
- A's GM Billy Beane in enamored with Tigers' top pitching prospect Jacob Turner, and Detroit is willing to move him for Gonzalez. They balked at Beane's request for prospects Nick Castellanos and Drew Smyly in addition to Turner, though.
- If the Tigers don't swing a trade for Gonzalez, Knobler says that they'll likely find a Brad Penny-type to be their fifth starter (Twitter links). They also want to find an upgrade at second or third base.
- The Red Sox have shown just as much interest in Gio as they have closer Andrew Bailey.
- The Phillies also inquired about Gonzalez, but the Athletics didn't like what they had to offer.
Rangers Focused On Trading For Starting Pitching
The Rangers are more focused on trading for a starter than signing Prince Fielder or bidding on Yu Darvish, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Here are the details on the Rangers…
- The Rangers appear to have less payroll flexibility than expected and are interested in trading for arms such as Matt Garza, Wade Davis and Gio Gonzalez. Texas did not make official offers to C.J. Wilson or Mark Buehrle before the southpaws signed elsewhere, Rosenthal and Morosi report.
- It's worth noting that Texas has a full projected rotation: Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland, Scott Feldman, Alexi Ogando and Colby Lewis.
- The Rangers remain "in" on Mike Gonzalez, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). The Yankees and Cardinals also have some interest in the free agent left-hander.
American League Non-Tenders
Today's American League non-tenders are below, but you can keep track of all teams in our non-tender tracker.
- The Mariners announced that they non-tendered Dan Cortes and Chris Gimenez.
- The Orioles announced that they non-tendered Willie Eyre, the right-handed reliever who was designated for assignment last week. They non-tendered Jo-Jo Reyes, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). The Orioles also non-tendered Luke Scott, tweets Connolly. Scott, who battled a shoulder injury in 2011 and underwent surgery this summer, projected to earn $6MM through arbitration.
- The Rays non-tendered Andy Sonnanstine, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (Twitter link).
- The Rangers non-tendered right-hander Fabio Castillo, according to Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest.com (Twitter link).
- The Red Sox announced that they non-tendered Rich Hill.
- The Royals announced that they will non-tender left-hander Aaron Laffey.
- The Twins announced that they've non-tendered left-hander Jose Mijares (Twitter link).
- The Tigers non-tendered second baseman Will Rhymes, announced the team. Rhymes is not yet close to being arbitration eligible, as he has less than one year of big league service time. Rhymes, 28, hit .306/.377/.390 at Triple-A this year.
Brewers Will Not Bid On Prince Fielder
Albert Pujols is off the board with a $254MM contract from the Angels, but Scott Boras is going to let the Prince Fielder market simmer this month. The latest:
- GM Doug Melvin confirmed to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the Brewers are out on Fielder (Twitter link). "I think Scott [Boras] understands that," Melvin told Haudricourt.
- The Cubs are definitely in the mix for Fielder, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. He adds that the Mariners are trying and the Blue Jays and Rangers are "among teams showing interest and thinking hard about it." At the Winter Meetings, Rangers president Nolan Ryan told reporters his team is not in on Fielder.
Olney On Braun, Hanley, Darvish, Pujols, A’s
A few notes from Buster Olney's latest Insider-only blog entry at ESPN.com:
- Olney discusses the Ryan Braun bombshell, noting players across the league "are much more vigilant about PED use than they used to be." While players often treated PED users with indifference in the past, many now view users as a threat to their livelihood. The Brewers released a statement on Braun late last night.
- At least four teams have talked to the Marlins about a Hanley Ramirez trade, but none of the discussions seem to have progressed at all.
- Within the industry, the Rangers are viewed as the frontrunner for Yu Darvish, given the extensive scouting they've done.
- The fact that Albert Pujols agreed to sign with the Angels without a single face-to-face visit with the Angels' brass or to Anaheim is a strong indicator that Pujols was unhappy with the Cardinals' negotiations, says Olney.
- Having dealt Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow, the Athletics will continue making moves and will "probably" trade Andrew Bailey and Gio Gonzalez in the coming weeks.