Jon Heyman has the latest on Milton Bradley, Roy Halladay, Adrian Gonzalez, and plenty of other big names in his new column. Let's check out some of the highlights….
- Although Texas and Tampa Bay seem like the most likely destinations for Bradley, one GM says the outfielder needs to play in a small market like Kansas City or San Diego.
- If the Rangers were to acquire Bradley, they would probably want the Cubs to pick up about $16MM of the remaining $21MM on his contract.
- People around baseball figure that Halladay is more likely than Gonzalez to be traded this winter. But a rival GM wouldn't be surprised to see both players get traded, since "sometimes new GMs like to put their stamp on a team."
- If the Boston Red Sox are in the Halladay hunt again, don't expect them to give up as much as they would have this summer. One executive believes they offered too much.
- Should the New York Yankees offer John Lackey a deal similar to the one they gave A.J. Burnett last winter, a competing GM thinks it would be enough to land Lackey, given teams' increasing reluctance to hand out long-term contracts.
- The New York Mets are a little wary of Lackey's "alleged arm issues" but could be interested in second-tier free agent starters like Joel Pineiro and Randy Wolf.
- Chone Figgins is a top priority for the Angels early in the offseason. They could attempt to re-sign Vladimir Guerrero later in the winter, but he's not a priority for now.
- The Philadelphia Phillies would like to lock up Cliff Lee to a long-term extension that costs them less than $100MM.