A dozen teams are in on Athletics lefty Gio Gonzalez, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The latest:
Three free agents accepted arbitration at tonight's deadline: David Ortiz of the Red Sox, Kelly Johnson of the Blue Jays, and Francisco Rodriguez of the Brewers. The trio is now off the market and under team control for 2012 at a salary to potentially be determined by the arbitration process. For further details, check out MLBTR's free agent arbitration offer tracker, which allows you to filter by team, type, whether the player was offered, and whether he accepted.
Ortiz, Johnson, and Rodriguez all probably could have found two-year deals on the open market, but they'll receive raises for 2012 by accepting arbitration. Of the three, only Ortiz was inhibited by having a draft pick cost attached.
11:08pm: Johnson has accepted arbitration, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
3:28pm: It sounds very likely Johnson will accept arbitration, tweets MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm.
2:31pm: There's a "good chance" Kelly Johnson returns, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. The second baseman could accept Toronto's arbitration offer, or perhaps sign a multiyear deal.
The Mets are being aggressive at the Winter Meetings, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post, talking about everyone except David Wright. Among young players, the Mets are talking the most about Jonathon Niese rather than Davis, tweets Sherman. Niese, 25, is under team control through 2015 and could be an alternative for teams that find Oakland's asking price too high for Gio Gonzalez. Here are today's rumors on Niese and other Mets trade candidates, with the newest updates on top:
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
AL East updates:
The market for Prince Fielder is developing slowly. Yesterday we heard of varying degrees of interest from the Orioles and Mariners, while the Brewers and Dodgers admitted they likely can't afford the big man. Today's Fielder rumors are below:
3:37pm: The Red Sox offered Ortiz a two-year deal worth $18MM, tweets Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston, but he seeks $7MM more. He's undecided on whether to accept arbitration tomorrow.
2:46pm: The draft pick cost associated with signing free agent designated hitter David Ortiz killed his market, tweets Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. The Blue Jays and Mariners are seen as unlikely, so Big Papi might have to reconsider Boston's reported two-year offer or else accept arbitration tomorrow night.
The Blue Jays acquired reliever Sergio Santos from the White Sox for righty prospect Nestor Molina, announced the team.
In Santos, 28, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos found his closer on the trade market. The converted infielder posted a 3.55 ERA, 13.1 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 0.85 HR/9, and 43% groundball rate in 63 1/3 innings for the White Sox this year, saving 30 games in 36 tries. He was formerly a shortstop in Toronto's minor league system from 2006-08. It was surprising to see Santos (pictured) dealt, as there had been no rumors and he signed a three-year, $8.25MM deal with the Sox in September. The contract includes three club options, so the Blue Jays have cost certainty on Santos potentially through 2017. For fantasy analysis of Toronto's Santos acquisition, check out Bryan Grosnick's post at CloserNews.
Molina, 22, posted a 2.21 ERA, 10.2 K/9, 1.1 BB/9, and 0.6 HR/9 in 130 1/3 innings across High and Double-A this year. Molina is a converted infielder himself, and appears close to MLB-ready. Though Molina was not among the Blue Jays' top 30 prospects in Baseball America's handbook before the season, his stock presumably rose with his excellent 2011. Molina is a good prospect who doesn't offer much projection, writes ESPN's Keith Law. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus agrees, saying "his stuff falls well below his statistics," and he projects as a #4 starter with a shot at becoming a #3.
"This is the start of a rebuilding," White Sox GM Kenny Williams told reporters today, noting that it is not "the start of falling domino rebuilding." Santos himself was affordable, but perhaps Williams preferred a future rotation candidate in Molina. A lot is riding on Molina after this surprising one-for-one swap. Given Williams' rebuilding comment, look for plenty of rumors regarding John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Carlos Quentin, and others in the coming weeks, although the offers have disappointed Williams to date.
Anthopoulos and Williams matched up once before, on the July deal that sent Jason Frasor and Zach Stewart to Chicago for Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
TUESDAY, 11:19am: In reference to Murphy, a Mets official told ESPNNewYork's Adam Rubin, "Some players are more valuable to us than other clubs."
MONDAY, 2:19pm: The Tigers, Blue Jays, and Padres inquired on Mets infielder Daniel Murphy, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman adds that the Mets like the Tigers' Andy Dirks as a potential center field alternative to Angel Pagan.
Murphy, 26, hit .320/.362/.448 in 423 plate appearances while playing first base, second base, and third base this year.
The latest on free agent first baseman Albert Pujols, with the newest updates on top…
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