Brown’s Latest: Erstad, Livan, Tomko
Yahoo’s Tim Brown checks in with his own set of rumors after working the floor a bit.
- Darin Erstad is popular – the Padres, Mariners, Astros, and Rays have inquired. His mystique lives on.
- The Phillies appear to have a serious interest in Livan Hernandez, though he doesn’t seem to be what they need.
- Brett Tomko‘s agent met with the Rockies today. Brown says the Pirates, Nationals, Marlins, Reds, and Rangers are after him too. Separately it’s been said that the Astros are in on him too. The Padres made a weak $1.5MM offer to Tomko.
Levine’s Latest: Rowand, Prior, Hudson, Swisher
Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 went on air a few hours ago with some interesting tidbits regarding the Chicago teams. This was before the Sox acquired Carlos Quentin so I’m not sure what kind of effect that has on this info.
- The White Sox are still very much in the mix for Aaron Rowand, but they really don’t want to give him five years. By the way Jerry Crasnick mentioned today that the Phillies may be willing to stretch to four years on Rowand or at least three years plus a vesting option.
- The Cubs are having all sorts of trade discussions involving Mark Prior. The Rangers and Padres are said to be two interested parties.
- Of course the Cubs still have Kosuke Fukudome in their sights. But they also have their eye on Oakland’s Nick Swisher and Arizona’s Orlando Hudson. Both are switch-hitters, by the way.
Odds and Ends: Colon, Clark, Gagne
Random rumors, let’s round ’em up.
- How about Bartolo Colon to the Mets? David Lennon notes that Omar Minaya sold the farm to acquire him in 2002 as the Expos’ GM.
- Scott Lauber says Aaron Rowand is insisting on a five-year deal. He adds that the Phils have interest in Geoff Jenkins but he might be too expensive.
- Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller are considered untouchable, so don’t look for the Tigers to make any big trades.
- Patrick Saunders runs down some free agents the Rockies may consider for the back end of their rotation: Tony Armas, Matt Clement, Steve Trachsel, Josh Fogg, Jason Jennings, Jon Lieber, Mark Redman, Brett Tomko, and Kip Wells.
- The Rays may go after Tony Clark, in large part because they’re seeking leadership. Marc Topkin agrees, and also rattles off Geoff Jenkins, Brad Wilkerson, Cliff Floyd, Mike Lamb, Mark Sweeney, Corey Koskie, and Greg Nortion as other possibilities.
- It’s expected that Eric Gagne will not accept Boston’s offer of arbitration, because he wants to close. One place he could do so is Texas, who like him if he’ll take one year.
- The Marlins’ new marketing materials exclude Miguel Cabrera.
- The Rangers have interest in Sean Casey and Mike Lamb.
Kosuke Fukudome Rumors
Kosuke Fukudome is expected to make an official announcement soon on whether he will come to the Major Leagues for the 2008 season. Per Fukudome’s agent, it’s highly unlikely he stays in Japan. He wants only a three-year contract, no more. So who’s after him?
- Cubs: They’re still after him, and Lou Piniella doesn’t see why the failure to sign his acquaintance Kaz Matsui would have any bearing on it. The Cubs have a vacancy in right field plus perhaps a need to spell Felix Pie in center. They also could use a nice dose of OBP. Fukudome is a perfect fit.
- White Sox: The Sox have openings in left and center and a strong need for OBP. Aaron Rowand and Torii Hunter are out of the picture, leaving Fukudome as a prime target. It’s been said that the Cubs are prepared for a crosstown bidding war.
- Padres: The Friars have already contacted Fukudome’s agent. Kevin Towers has publicly expressed his interest. Fukudome could play left or center for the Padres.
- Rangers: With a center field spot up for grabs, the Rangers have "serious interest."
- Giants: In late October, it was said that they were "seriously interested."
- Yankees, Red Sox: They’ve both scouted him, for what it’s worth. Little doubt he could play a better center field than Johnny Damon, but it’s hard to see where he could fit in with Boston since they’ve already got four starting outfielders.
- Mets: They have a right field vacancy, but I haven’t seen too many published reports indicating they’re after him (as of now, I can’t find any). Wouldn’t surprise me to see Omar jump in here though.
Did I miss anyone?
Stark’s Latest: Edmonds, Pierre, Guillen, Santana
ESPN’s Jayson Stark always cranks out a bunch of new rumors when he writes a column. This week is no exception.
- Jose Reyes: going nowhere.
- Probably since they hope to include him in a Johan Santana deal, the Red Sox won’t trade Coco Crisp until that situation is resolved. The Rangers liked Crisp, but are considering interesting alternatives: Rocco Baldelli, Jim Edmonds, and Juan Pierre. If only Ned Colletti could get someone to take his Pierre contract. Then he could sign another one almost equally as bad. Then he could trade Aaron Rowand a year from now and repeat the process.
- The Braves also liked Crisp, so they’ll move on for now. Stark speculates a stopgap like Dave Roberts could work.
- More speculation: Andruw Jones as a darkhorse signing for the Royals. I guess that would push David DeJesus out of center field.
- Is there an unmentioned Mystery Team in on Johan Santana? Stark’s sources suggest the Mariners, but those guys must not read Jon Heyman’s column. I’ll go with the Reds as my guess on the Mystery Team, if there is one.
- Speaking of guesses, Stark surmises that the Padres and Mets could be interested in Jose Guillen, aside from the Royals.
- More rumblings that Vicente Padilla could be traded this winter. Funny quote about how Padilla doesn’t have baggage – he has luggage. In fact his luggage cannot be carried, rather it requires a mid-sized cart.
Rangers Rumors: Dunn, Hamilton, Kemp
MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan has some interesting hot stove banter surrounding the Rangers.
- A three-year deal for Kosuke Fukudome or a two-year pact for Mike Cameron might be the most sensible options to fill the Rangers’ center field void. Aaron Rowand is probably too expensive.
- While the Rangers have a touch of interest in Adam Dunn and Coco Crisp, they prefer the idea of acquiring a young bat. Names they like: Fernando Martinez, Carlos Gomez, Carlos Gonzalez, and Matt Kemp. Sullivan notes that the Rangers have talked to the Reds about Josh Hamilton.
- If the Rangers sign starting pitching it’s likely to be of the injury comeback variety – Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Jason Jennings.
- Eric Gagne is still under consideration to be signed for their vacant closer role.
Crisp Rather Than Rowand For White Sox?
Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times says Aaron Rowand has already priced himself out of the White Sox’s range. Apparently the Sox talked to Rowand before they made an offer to Torii Hunter, and found the number of years Rowand requested to be out of the question. Randy Miller said back in mid-October that Rowand was looking for a six-year, $84MM deal. Cowley sees the Rangers and Dodgers as the main suitors for Rowand.
Cowley believes the White Sox, meanwhile, will move on to Coco Crisp. They’ve long had interest in him. I’m not sure how the White Sox and Red Sox would match up though. The Red Sox are asking for quite a bit for Crisp – three prospects. The Rangers balked upon hearing this.
Cowley also suggests that Kenny Williams could attempt to acquire Willy Taveras. This seems more speculation than anything, based on Williams’ pursuit of him a year ago. Trading him would seem to create a hole for the Rockies, and they have no need for Joe Crede.
Heyman’s Latest: Piazza, Matthews, Milledge
SI.com’s Jon Heyman checks in with a new Daily Scoop column full of rumors.
- A lot of the standard trade talk we’ve seen regarding Miguel Cabrera, Johan Santana, Miguel Tejada, and Dan Haren. All these guys require two good young players or more in a trade.
- Mike Piazza is considering DHing in Japan if he doesn’t find anything he likes in the U.S.
- Heyman talked to an AL exec who speculated that the Angels may try to unload Gary Matthews Jr. GMJ makes $9MM in ’08, $10MM in ’09, $11MM in ’10, and $12MM in ’11. He currently has a full no-trade clause.
- Juan Uribe and Vicente Padilla are two salary-dump types whose names have surfaced in recent trade talks (unrelated to each other). Padilla is owed $24.75MM over the next two seasons.
- Heyman believes the Mets are very willing to trade Lastings Milledge and have discussed him often.
- We knew the Mets had discussed Ramon Hernandez and Gerald Laird. Heyman adds the Nats’ Brian Schneider to the mix. He makes $4.9MM in ’08 and another $4.9MM in ’09.
Odds and Ends: Santana, Hunter
Let’s kick off the morning with some odds and ends, absent any earth-shattering rumors. I’ll keep adding to this post.
- Awesome inside look at the Torii Hunter deal via Bob Nightengale. Hunter’s first choice outside of Minnesota was the Cardinals, but they weren’t interested.
- Hunter – not overpaid? So says J.C. Bradbury.
- Still some confusion about Johan Santana‘s no-trade clause. Buster Olney says it’s full and doesn’t indicate that the rights change on any certain date. Matthew Cerrone says it’s a full NTC only until Opening Day ’08, when it switches to 12 teams. Those are not mutually exclusive comments, so I guess we’ll see.
- Phil Rogers doesn’t think the Cubs will re-sign Kerry Wood. He also sees the Giants in the lead for Miguel Cabrera now.
- My coworker Jonathan makes a good point – thought the Sox wouldn’t give four-year deals to pitchers? They made a huge fuss over Mark Buehrle. Suddenly Scott Linebrink is worthy of breaking the rule again? Some are skeptical.
- Bobby Kielty typically smacks around left-handed pitching (Brian Fuentes for example). He’ll hook on as some team’s fourth outfielder as a free agent. He’d like to return to Boston, but that would require a Coco Crisp trade. Rob Bradford names the Twins, Braves, Rangers, and White Sox as possibilities otherwise.
Rangers Rumors
T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com has some Rangers notes. Of course, much of it revolves around the outfield, since they missed out on Torii Hunter.
On that front, they’re exploring Kosuke Fukudome, who is reportedly seeking three years and $30 million. Add the Rangers to the Cubs, the Phillies, the Yomiuri Giants and his former team, the Chunichi Dragons. I would toss the Nats and possibly the Twins in that group, and there are probably other teams where Fukudome would fit.
The Rangers have a level of interest in both Aaron Rowand and Andruw Jones, but not nearly to the level that they were interested in Hunter. They won’t go five years at $75 million for Rowand like they did Hunter, and are concerned with Jones’s 2007 drop-off. Mike Cameron is also mentioned, but Jon Daniels has said that "we would like to find a long-term fit for us." Cameron would be little more than a stopgap.
Jose Guillen is also mentioned, though there is little elaboration. I’d bet that many teams are going to wait on the Mitchell Report, in hopes that it drops Guillen’s price tag. Then again, at that point it would only take one aggressive team to scoop him up. I’m betting it won’ be the Rangers, but as we saw with the Hunter deal, many of these moves seemingly come out of nowhere.
Internal candidates include Marlon Byrd and David Murphy, who was acquired in the Eric Gagne trade. The only other options would be available via trade. Sullivan mentions Coco Crisp, Rocco Baldelli, Reggie Willits, and even free agent Scott Podsednik, though he mentions that each has his shortcomings.
Other than mentioning the big names on the trade market, Sullivan brings up the Mets interest in Gerald Laird. He notes that the Mets won’t part with Carloz Gomez or "Felix" (though he really means Fernando) Martinez. There’s a mention of the Mets being willing to talk about Mike Pelfrey or Philip Humber, but that seems foolish. Even if their stocks have fallen over the past year, I don’t see any reason to trade them for a catcher who has had one good year — in part-time duty — and flopped in his first year of over 300 plate appearances.
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.