The Angels are seen as the favorites to sign Carl Crawford and we know the Red Sox met with him and his representatives, but it looks like at least one more American League team has strong interest in the left fielder. ESPN.com's Buster Olney has the details:
- The Yankees are very much engaged in conversations with Crawford, though it's unclear whether they have the flexibility to spend on him and Cliff Lee (Twitter links). The Yankees plan to set up a meeting with Crawford, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).
- The A's are targeting Lance Berkman enthusiastically, but they haven't started talking salary with him (Twitter link).
- The White Sox still appear to be the favorites to sign Paul Konerko, Olney writes. The Orioles and Cubs appear to be in on the first baseman, but the Diamondbacks may no longer be bidding for him.
- Olney says the Nationals missed out on a chance to extend Adam Dunn or recoup more value for him.
- Olney boldly predicts that the Yankees will reach an agreement with Derek Jeter today.
The Yankees are just teaching the sawks and angels the right way to drive up contract prices after yesterday’s pathetic showing.
You mean like the Yankees drove up the price on themselves when they signed A-Rod basically bidding against themselves? Yeah, they are good at that.
That was Hank Steinbrenner and only Hank Steinbrenner. Notice how shortly after that Hal was given control of Yankees’ operations and Cashman seemed to also get more power. It was to phase Hank out of opening his mouth and making negotiations he knows nothing about.
So please, drop this three year old, misinformed joke, it’s old and worn out.
They did the exact same thing when Sabathia was signed. The next highest bid was reportedly $100 million, the Yankees were offering something like $110 million and then upped their bid to $160 million.
Oh really? Is that what happened?
nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2008/11/angels_ready_to_o…
sports.yahoo.com/mlb/rumors/post/Angels-offer-to-S…
nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/item_OkSA3ZbX5DgA45j7Q…
Factor in NY taxes and the fact CC was a west coat guy, I think 160 was quite fair compared to something around 140 from an LA team…
The Angels made an offer of $140 mil and the Yanks were desperate. Sabathia asked Cashman to come meet w/ him and Cashman added 1 year and the opt out clause to try and get Sabathia to commit before the Angels learned they had know serious shot to sign Tex and were ready to focus in on Sabathia.
“The Angels, unwilling to meet Mark Teixeira’s desire for a 10-year contract, are in discussions with CC Sabathia and could offer him a contract that approaches the $140-million bid extended to him by the New York Yankees.
The Angels appear reluctant to guarantee more than seven years in a contract for Teixeira, said a source familiar with the club’s thinking. They appear more likely at this time to pursue Sabathia, with an offer in the range of Johan Santana’s six-year, $137.5-million contract with the New York Mets”.
They did the exact same thing when Sabathia was signed. The next highest bid was reportedly $100 million, the Yankees were offering something like $110 million and then upped their bid to $160 million.
Notice the original comment I responded to said “the Yankees” and I also said “the Yankees”. At the time, yes, it was “the Yankees” that bid against themselves, so there’s nothing “misinformed” about the joke.
Oh OK, so I get to make Jose Offerman jokes to Red Sox fans? Or tell Phillies fans how stupid the Vet looks?
Point is, it’s not only old news, but the joke is irrelevant. Just because an employee of a company when he had power made a stupid decision, doesn’t mean three years later under new management they deserve the same criticism.
Man, Texas owners are sooooo dumb for signing A-Rod to that deal. This will clearly reflect how ownership handles baseball decisions in 2011.
Dude. Take a chill pill. You said it yourself: It was a joke that is recent enough for people to remember.
Do Yankee fans make Bill Buckner references when the Sox are playing with completely different players? Yes. And I laugh at them because they are what they are: Jokes.
If I made the Buckner comment to a Red Sox fan they would say what I expect them to say? Yeah, it’s really still upsetting with two rings in the past seven years. Followed by “Buckner hit like .400 that series and no real Sox fan holds that play against him. It was complete media hype”
And I expect that because that joke is old, irrelevant and misinformed. I don’t mean to single you out or anything, it’s just that joke is solely made to rally Yankees’ haters, and a lot of them already spew nonsense about the team to begin with. It’s fine, that’s what happens when you’re the biggest market and the most hated team, possibly in sports. Doesn’t mean I don’t have a right to call you on making a stale joke though.
If you don’t like the joke, don’t read it over and over again…. or did you miss that day in kindergarten?
Yeah basically they are doing what the Red Sox have done to them in recent years, setting up meetings so the rival will raise the price up. Clemens in 07, Sabathia in 08 offseason. I highly doubt Crawford goes to the Yankees. It’s either LAA or Boston.
Hope it’s Boston. Just get him outa the AL west
Yeh, but the Sox don’t have any hall of famers to drive the price up with!
Jeter 3/51 with an option for 4th.
…and probably a buyout to round off the total value at a media-friendly value, say $4m (3/55m).
Orioles have been going hard after a 1bmen, if they don’t get Konerko then they might go after Lee. They need a power bat in that line-up.
I guess you can never count the Yankees out of anything. Everyone thought Texeira was going to Boston and look what happened.
i don’t know who everyone was, but most fans i talk to and reports i saw, it was pretty evident he was going to new york. either way, the point remains the same. don’t count them out until they’re signed.
Alright well the Red Sox management thought he was going to Boston lol.
Yeah well they new Clemens wasn’t in 07 and Sabathia wasn’t in 09.
Look back again. Everyone was on the Teixeira to Boston bandwagon and the Yankees front office were saying “eh, thanks, we’re fine with Swisher.”
The media and fans were scratching their heads asking “but you NEED a first baseman and he would kill in NY, Swisher is a castoff and won’t do anything.” People were starting to wonder, what with the Yankees going all in on Sabathia, if maybe they WERE getting budget conscious. Up until literally the zero hour, everyone was getting ready to get the Teixeira Sox jerseys ready for sale before the Yankees stepped in last minute and made the move. Just search back through this site’s archives alone, it’s all over the place.
i’m aware of what all the rumors were saying. they were mixed at best because the ones who talked the most were yankees and red sox fans. deservedly so since they were involved. i’m just merely saying from a baseball fan point of view, i feel like the rest of the world could just take a step back and realize that this had the yankees written all over it, regardless of what they were saying. it seemed pretty obvious to a lot of us that the red sox were putting in a good bid, but weren’t going to outbid the yankees.
I’ll agree that the writing was on the wall when you get down to it, but that’s not what you claimed. You claimed fans and the media were all making it evident he was going to NY, when that was not the case. Up until the last minute, he was practically ticketed for Boston.
if that’s how you want to interpret it.
Yeah I agree. The Yanks met with Tex and Boras early November put in an offer that was too low and basically told them to contact them before they signed anything elsewhere. Boras called them around Dec 22 after their meeting with the Sox and Cashman had to go and get approval to go over budget. Swisher WAS their legit answer at 1B but once they saw Tex was affordable (not around the 10/$200 Boras was seeking) then they splurged on him.
If the As get Berkman and Beltre they will be set, but they both seem reluctant to sign.
Sign those two and I smell playoffs!
Olney is right about Dunn, they could have gotten more if the Nats GM didn’t ask for a kings ransom at last seasons trade deadline.
Konerko will return to the White Sox. I just don’t see the Orioles outbidding anyone and there’s no way the Sox will lose a fan favorite to the Cubs. The Orioles and Derrek Lee make a lot of sense. As for the Cubs, I’m not sure who they’re going to end up with — I can see Washington upping the ante for Pena now that they’ve lost Dunn and there’s a bit of competition for Berkman. In what seems like a radical departure from the last few years, they don’t seem eager to outbid everyone. I just hope they aren’t the ones left without a chair when the music stops.
If Konerko goes back to Chicago it’s going to be an odd situation. He seems like he’d be the favorite to play first base and what would happen then? Dunn become the DH after he said he didn’t want to DH? Or does he play the outfield? I guess only time will tell if Konerko ends up back with Sox.
I have to imagine this was discussed with Dunn. The Sox like to rotate people in and out of the DH spot. KW also values versatility in his players. My guess is that he DHs some days and plays first on other days. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the Sox played him in the OF once in a while.
Kenny: Well Adam, we want you in Chicago but you will DH mainly
Dunn: I want to play the field or I wont sign
Kenny: We’re gonna give you 56 million
Dunn: Playing the field is overrated
That may well be! But I have to imagine he’ll at least get an occasional start at first to give Konerko some days off.
Yeah, I figured it would be more of a rotation than just DH all the time.
From what I know Chi was either going to sign Dunn, Konerko or Burhlee. With them in on Dunn Konderko seems like a goner. I am thinking Konerko ends up in Baltimore at about 10-12 mil per year.
Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is increasing their payroll this year. That’s why they can fit Dunn, A.J. and Konerko.
But if Konerko goes elsewhere (admittedly doubtful, though he could get back some salary leverage by leaking Cubs interest) I’d think the Sox would then look at Pena, LaRoche and Derrek Lee. Their needs are a 1B and a DH, and only half of that is taken care of with Dunn’s signing.
have you been living under a rock? Kenny Williams said yesterday after the Dunn signing that his #1 priority was now signing Konerko, and everyone is saying they are still the favorite to sign him.
“The next thing we’d like to do is put Paul Konerko back in uniform,” Williams said.
The Sox fully intend to re-sign Konerko and he likes it in Chicago. He will stay if the money is equal. The Orioles would have to outbid the Sox and it’s not the fiscally conservative McPhail’s style to get in a bidding war.
I think you mean Buehrle. And Mark isn’t even a free agent. The only reason his name has come up is because of his expensive contract and some feel the white sox would make him available on the trade market for that reason but Buehrle also has a no trade clause. Konerko will most likely be back in a White Sox uniform unless Arizona decides they want to spend some money
Buehrle is still under contract and Dunn is now under contract. Kenny Williams has stated since the signing of Dunn that Konerko can still be signed.
ummm come again?
By the way who is Burhlee and Konderko? Those guys suck.
Burhlee? David Lee?
hmm yankees and crawford? anyone think that gardners wrist that he had operated on is worse than what has been said?
I don’t think the Yankees are seriously in on Crawford right now. They want Lee, and they’re staying in touch with Crawfords camp incase that falls through.
Gonzales to Boston will probably amp the Yankees up for a Lee/Crawford off season just to keep up. Crawford to the Yankees would certainly mean Jeter leading off for at least another season, which is a kind of high price in collateral damage.
the cubs giving konerko a multiyear deal would be their worst move since deciding to tender koyie hill a contact last night
I doubt the Cubs are serious about Konerko.
Agree about Hill though, not sure why they love that guy so much. They have two good backup catcher type prospects in Castillo and Chirinos. Surely they can’t be any worse than Hill. There was some talk about packaging one of them for Chris Davis earlier this offseason, so maybe they want to cover themselves in case one is traded and the other one isn’t ready.
haha yea, i bet (hope) the cubs are trying to drive up his cost for the white sox.
the koyie hill situation is pathetic. i challenge anybody in the world to show me why he deserves a raise. seriously. if the cubs really wanted him back for next year they should’ve non-tendered him then signed him back at a discount. NOBODY else would’ve gone near the cubs proposed salary nor playing time. that just goes back to the jim hendry’s problem of having no clue what the rest of baseball sees as value. thats why his offer for bradley was a year longer than anybody else’s. and when he inexplicably gave AARON MILES two years. just terrible management which is ironic because hendry’s title is… general MANAGER..
also, with soto a constant injury waiting to happen, it would make more sense to have castillo backing up soto in case he has to miss a couple days.
i dont think the cubs will be able to work out a trade with the rangers as far as catchers go anymore because they signed yorvit torrealba but i could see one of castillo, chirinos or even soto traded this winter.
I doubt the Cubs are serious about Konerko.
Agree about Hill though, not sure why they love that guy so much. They have two good backup catcher type prospects in Castillo and Chirinos. Surely they can’t be any worse than Hill. There was some talk about packaging one of them for Chris Davis earlier this offseason, so maybe they want to cover themselves in case one is traded and the other one isn’t ready.
i still think giving soriano a 8 year 139 million is worse
i think the aaron miles contract and the koyie hill playing time are worse simply because they honestly offer nothing to the team. i’ve watched the cubs about as much as anybody and those two really bring nothing to the table. and aaron miles was given a TWO YEAR DEAL. ON PURPOSE! lol. hendry needs to go.
i still think giving soriano a 8 year 139 million is worse
Really? The Cubs giving a 1B who just came off a career year and was 5th in AL MVP voting would be as bad a move as tendering a contract to a bad backup catcher? Maybe that’s why you guys haven’t won in 103 years, you think offering big money to good players like Konerko is bad and offering big money to bad players (Soriano, Milton Bradley, Byrd, Fukudome, Ramirez) is good and should be celebrated.
No Lance dont sign in Oakland! Come to Colorado, baloon your numbers, then go get some money
No Lance dont sign in Oakland! Come to Colorado, baloon your numbers, then go get some money
I hope the Yanks are just doing their due diligence and driving up the heat on the Sox and Angels. I can’t see the Yanks being serious about Crawford unless they have reasonable doubt that they can sign Lee and plan on packaging an OF and prospects to try and get a starting pitcher via trade. That would be the worst case for the Yanks to be in. I would rather stay w/ a relatively inexpensive and flexible OF like we already have.
Look their are not too many great outfielders any more! The Yanks could sign Crawford, and trade Granderson and Swisher for some more pitching, then they move Gardner to CF, and put Curtis or Golson in Rf for this year.
There is an absolute zero percent chance of Curtis or Golson being the everyday right fielder for the Yankees in 2011. Gardner probably has a higher trade value (than Swisher) and plays the same position as Crawford, so I’d expect him to be dealt if the Yankees make a play for Crawford.
why would they put either of those scrubs in rf ?
I was just glad to see the yankees lose to the Rangers in the ALCS.