Red Sox To Sign Tazawa?
8:41pm: Several Japanese sources report the Red Sox are set to sign Tazawa as early as December 1st, according to Newman. It seems that Boston did not have the top offer, but Tazawa likes their development plan.
MONDAY, 10:40am: Newman passes along another report that says the Rangers were the fourth team to make an offer to Tazawa, and their offer was the largest. Jon Daniels won’t confirm or deny it. Jim Allen recently wrote a scouting report on Tazawa for ESPN.com:
He has good command of his fastball and slurve, but he lacks velocity, stamina and the ability to keep the ball down. At 22, Tazawa is unlikely to throw much harder than he does now; his fastball barely tops 90 mph when he is rested, and he struggled to hit 88 mph at the end of last season.
SUNDAY, 10:35pm: Newman has more on Boston’s offer to Tazawa, via Sponichi. Another report from Nikkan Sports says Tazawa has already decided on the Red Sox.
2:01pm: Patrick Newman at NPB Tracker is reporting that Red Sox vice president of international scouting, Craig Shipley, had formal negotiations with Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa, which resulted in a $6MM contract offer. No word yet on whether or not it’s a Major League deal.
Current reports state that both the Red Sox, Braves, and Mariners have offered contracts to the 22-year-old right-hander.
Heyman’s Latest: Lowe, Teixeira, Guillen
SI.com’s Jon Heyman recently published several new blog posts.
- Free agent outfielder Garret Anderson has a new agent: Scott Boras. Click here for our full list of Boras clients.
- Rangers starters Vicente Padilla and Kevin Millwood are drawing interest from the Braves, Dodgers, and Mets. Padilla is owed $12MM in 2009 with a 2010 option for the same ($1.75MM buyout). Millwood gets $23MM over the next two seasons and has a limited no-trade clause.
- Heyman says rather than battle for A.J. Burnett, the Red Sox and Yankees may duke it out for Derek Lowe. Other suitors for Lowe: the Mets, Braves, Phillies, Giants, Mariners and Dodgers. There he goes naming the Mariners again as a player for a major free agent…interesting. The Giants are a new one as well, though Heyman says Lowe may prefer to head back east.
- Heyman agrees with info from Nick Cafardo, that the Red Sox and Tigers have discussed swapping Julio Lugo for Dontrelle Willis.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti admitted to interest in C.C. Sabathia. Colletti said he’s waiting to hear from Scott Boras regarding Manny Ramirez, even though the Dodgers pulled their two-year, $45MM offer.
- It hasn’t happened yet, but the Angels plan to make a "very serious" offer to Mark Teixeira. A competing exec guessed eight years, $160MM. Remember, that’s a non-Angels exec making a guess. Heyman tosses a new team into the mix for Tex: the Mariners.
- The Royals are "quietly shopping" Jose Guillen. Guillen, 33 in May, hit .264/.300/.438 in 633 plate appearances this year while playing below-average defense. He’s owed $24MM for the 2009-10 seasons.
- Competing execs tell Heyman the Mets appear open to trading Ramon Castro or Brian Schneider. The Mets would then presumably sign a free agent catcher.
Phillies Trade Golson To Rangers For Mayberry
According to Scott Lauber, the Phillies sent outfield prospect Greg Golson to the Rangers for another outfield prospect, John Mayberry Jr.
Golson, 23, hit .282/.333/.434 in 426 Double A at-bats this year. Mayberry, 25 in December, hit .263/.316/.474 at Triple A. Both are former first round picks. Baseball America says both have a wealth of potential – Golson projects as a young Ron Gant in the best case, while Mayberry has a 35 home run ceiling.
Rangers Sell Loe To Japanese Team
According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Rangers sold the rights to 27 year-old pitcher Kameron Loe to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks for an undisclosed amount. Loe then signed with the Hawks for $2MM over two years. Loe dealt with elbow and back issues during his 343.2 innings with the Rangers, posting a 4.77 ERA.
Stark’s Latest: Putz, Manny, Lackey, Ibanez
Let’s take a look at the latest column from ESPN’s Jayson Stark.
- Stark does the math and finds 15 potentially available closers versus six clubs in the market for one. Should result in a few bargains or teams holding on to their surpluses.
- The Mets don’t seem willing to extend to four years for Francisco Rodriguez. Stark says J.J. Putz would become the Mets’ top closer target if he’s made available. MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone wrote a few days ago that the Mets are likely to trade for a reliever with closing experience before attempting to sign one.
- J.P. Ricciardi quote: "We won’t be involved with Manny." Ricciardi last month: "He’s on our radar, but maybe not on our radar like some people will report."
- Despite reports to the contrary, Stark talked to a rival executive who says Jake Peavy made it "onto [the Angels’] radar pretty hard." Stark speculates that Peavy could fit if the Halos sign Mark Teixeira.
- It seems likely that the Angels will put out an offer to Teixeira with a deadline, and then either sign him or move on.
- John Lackey‘s been telling friends he expects to have an extension with the Angels by Opening Day. Lackey indicated last month he’d wait to see the Halos’ offensive plans before re-signing.
- Stark suspects the Players Union might be OK with C.C. Sabathia turning down a larger offer from the Yankees if he still signed for more than Johan Santana‘s $23MM per year. I don’t really see why Sabathia would worry about the union in any regard.
- The Dodgers inquired on the asking price of Jason Varitek, with the idea of moving Russell Martin to third base in mind. They balked at Scott Boras’ demand for Tek, however.
- Curt Schilling is "more likely than ever" to attempt a late June or early July comeback.
- Tons of teams have expressed some degree of interest in Raul Ibanez: the Mets, Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Royals, Rays, Blue Jays, Rangers, Angels, and Mariners. Some interesting new ones in there.
- The Phillies never made a two-year, $21MM offer to Pat Burrell. Will the Phils at least offer him arbitration? The rumored offer was questionable from Day 1, as Paul Hagen said Burrell "reportedly turned down a two-year, $22MM offer" but didn’t reference a specific report.
- Stark believes that the Brewers were not thrilled with the Yankees’ "overbid" for C.C. Sabathia, and therefore would prefer not to trade Mike Cameron to them. Dan Graziano wrote yesterday about the Yanks’ conversations for Cameron.
- Roy Oswalt wants the Astros to sign Ben Sheets, but the price tag may be too high. Stark has the following names on their radar: Randy Wolf, Mike Hampton, Freddy Garcia, Paul Byrd, and maybe Pedro Martinez. Is Drayton McLane willing to bring Andy Pettitte back? GM Ed Wade seemed interested in his chat yesterday, saying, "We’ll have to see what develops down the road."
Yankees Rumors: Abreu, Burnett, Teixeira
George King of the New York Post and Kat O’Brien of Newsday have the latest on the Yankees, who are in hot pursuit of free agent starting pitching.
- The Yankees will offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu, according to Jon Heyman. No surprise there.
- King says the Yankees are preparing an offer for A.J. Burnett, "perhaps a five-year deal worth about $80 million." Burnett’s agent says they’re just discussing parameters. It would be a strong offer, dwarfing the Blue Jays’ four years, $54MM. ESPN’s Buster Olney believes a fifth guaranteed year will ultimately result in the winning bid for Burnett.
- The Yankees may make an offer to Derek Lowe soon; they’ve reached out to Scott Boras regarding him. Other Lowe suitors: the Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets, and Rangers. O’Brien adds that the Yanks expressed interest in Mark Teixeira to Boras (despite the Nick Swisher acquisition). The Orioles are also in on in Tex.
- King talked to a "baseball exec" who sees the Cubs re-signing Ryan Dempster at four years, $52MM.
- Andy Pettitte‘s agent doesn’t want a pay cut from this year’s $16MM.
- The expectation is still for Mike Mussina to retire; we may know this week.
- The Yankees aren’t in on Jake Peavy, as evidenced by Kevin Towers’ comments last night. Rick Sutcliffe and Mark Grace have been pitching the Cubs to Peavy, though the hangup seems more about which players the Chicago would send to San Diego.
- The Yanks have an offer of about six years, $140MM on the table for C.C. Sabathia, and he’s mulling it over (somewhere).
Gammons’ Latest: Penny, Jenks, Salty
Let’s take a look at Peter Gammons’ Saturday blog post.
- Gammons indicates that Brad Penny is working hard this offseason, and teams such as the Cardinals, Red Sox, Rangers, and Blue Jays "appreciate" his past success.
- The Mets are apparently worried about Bobby Jenks‘ declining strikeout rate, a sentiment echoed by Joel Sherman. Sherman talked to a Mets official who said the chances of acquiring Jenks are "close to zero."
- The Rangers apparently wanted Clay Buchholz or two of Justin Masterson/Nick Hagadone/Michael Bowden for Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Red Sox aren’t biting.
- The Rangers would probably have to trade Hank Blalock ($6.2MM) to make room for Kerry Wood.
Closer Roundup: K-Rod, Fuentes, Wood, Hoffman
Joel Sherman of the New York Post takes a look at the sudden surplus of potentially available closers in major league baseball, a situation that certainly benefits the Mets considering their need to upgrade the bullpen this offseason.
Two free agent closers that seemed destined to retire with their 2008 teams, Trevor Hoffman and Kerry Wood, now appear to be more available than was expected in October. That pair, along with Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes, give the Mets and other teams several options in free agency.
Other relief pitchers with experience in the 9th inning have been recently mentioned in trade rumors. The list includes Huston Street, who may move again before the 2009 season begins, along with JJ Putz, Jose Valverde, and Bobby Jenks, mentions Sherman.
Sherman also provides a short list of teams, beyond the Mets, that may need a reliever with closing experience for 2009. The Texas Rangers, seemingly always short on pitching these days, may be a good fit for Kerry Wood; the Detroit Tigers, the St. Louis Cardinals, and most recently the Milwaukee Brewers, faced with the sudden retirement of Salomon Torres, are also in need of 9th inning help.
Sherman suggests Fuentes may be the favorite for the Mets’ closing job at this point.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Swisher, Wood, Hermida
A look at the newest column from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- Rosenthal believes the Nick Swisher trade is a prelude to other moves for the White Sox, and shouldn’t be judged in isolation.
- Darren Oliver could follow Damaso Marte and re-sign quickly, as his market value is also diminished by his Type A status.
- Texas native Kerry Wood is a good match for the Rangers, though they’re not going to want to do three years at $10MM per (I think). Jim Hendry says Wood will always be welcome to come back to Chicago. Rosenthal says the Rangers also have interest in Colorado’s Huston Street.
- The Cubs and the Rays are two suitors for Florida’s Jeremy Hermida, though they’ve cleared enough payroll already to be deliberate with this one.
Stark’s Latest: Abreu, Arroyo, Hudson
ESPN’s Jayson Stark is back with a look at needs and plans for all 30 teams. I highly recommend you read the article, but here are a few highlights. He’s also got a fresh blog post here.
- The Phillies are eyeing Doug Brocail and Russ Springer.
- The Mets like Bobby Abreu, but not his three year, $45MM asking price.
- The Reds are quietly listening on Bronson Arroyo, and the Rangers may be interested.
- Contrary to previous reports, Stark believes the Mets’ first order of business is getting a starting pitcher.
- Here’s a new one – the Marlins are interested in Orlando Hudson?
- The Astros may be trying to move money, and Stark implies trading Miguel Tejada or Jose Valverde could be one path.
- The Rockies have "actively explored" signing Jeremy Affeldt, who could also wind up back home with the Mariners. A few more interesting names for Seattle: Joe Crede (if Adrian Beltre is traded), Jason Giambi, and Ken Griffey Jr.