The Angels are telling clubs they’ll listen to offers on lefty C.J. Wilson, Scott Miller of Bleacher Report reports on Twitter. It seems that Los Angeles would be interested in clearing some payroll in a bid to address the multiple areas of need on the position-player side of the equation.
More from L.A. and the AL West:
- Angels GM Billy Eppler told reporters that he’s looked into deals for a short-term option in the corner outfield, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. As Fletcher notes, Jay Bruce of the Reds is one player who could meet that description, though it’s not clear that he’s a target for the Halos.
- Free agent second baseman Howie Kendrick is “definitely open” to returning to his long-time club, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets. While Eppler and co. have reached out to the veteran, that isn’t “on the front burner” for the team at present.
- The Rangers have had internal discussions about adding free agent first baseman/outfielder Steve Pearce, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports via Twitter. Pearce has long seemed a good match on paper for Texas, which has a heavily left-handed lineup.
- Meanwhile, the Rangers are looking at bringing Colby Lewis back and want to add at least two starters, Sullivan tweets. Texas would be looking for a rotation piece in any theoretical deal of first baseman Mitch Moreland.
- While the Rangers’ interest in righty Joe Kelly now seems dead in the water after Boston dealt Wade Miley, Texas could also look to chat with the Red Sox about a possible deal for a catcher, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Tigers backstop Bryan Holaday could draw some attention from Texas as well, Sullivan adds on Twitter. As MLB.com’s Jason Beck notes on Twitter, Holaday is out of options and could hit the waiver wire if he loses the team’s reserve catching job to the just-signed Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
- In other Rangers-related backstop news, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweets that he’s told the team “covets” Brewers receiver Jonathan Lucroy. Of course, as he adds, Milwaukee likely won’t move Lucroy unless it can achieve a “huge return.”
- The Mariners are not looking at any major rotation upgrades after acquiring Miley, GM Jerry Dipoto tells Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News-Tribune (via Twitter). Dipoto also noted that he wasn’t willing to guarantee Hisashi Iwakuma a third year, which is why the club reportedly lost out on him to the Dodgers, MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets. Miley was the M’s “Plan A” after missing on Iwakuma, added Dipoto.
mkeving
Man Howie Kendrick is going to be a total under the radar signing. He should have more buzz than he’s getting.
bravesred 2
Angels would have to eat like 3/4 of that contract to get a deal done.
dx4life
Maybe 1/4. Wilson had better numbers than Shark this last season. And he got close to 20 million per season.
ryanw-2
Score!
ImAlwaysRight
Praying someone signs cespedes before the Angels get the chance to. He will end up being a bad signing IMO
samueljames
How was iwakuma not worth a guaranteed third year??
mookiessnarl
Not about being worth it. More about being old.
Andyman516 2
no kidding, solid starter, flash of brilliance, what is Dipoto doing?
Phillies2017
Wilson would be a solid salary dump + prospect deal for a decent bat. Only issue is that the Angels have no prospects to spare.
themint
What exactly is Dipoto doing? He didn’t want to guarantee Iwakuma a third year!? Why? Because he will be 37 years old in that third year? Dipoto traded for a 38 year old reliever in Benoit earlier in the off-season. Why would Dipoto not want Iwakuma at 37, but wanted Benoit at 38? The Mariners could have signed Iwakuma and retained Carson smith for pretty much the same financial cost of Miley and Benoit. Not sure what Dipoto is doing.
Phil253
Losing Smith is getting robbed. Kuma should have been locked down before Greinke signed.. I’m not totally sure I trust Dipoto when he says such and such is a “high priority.” If Kuma was a priority it would’ve been done. Benoit could easily be done and have a horrible season because of how old he is.. I dunno..
Andyman516 2
I agree, Dipito is shuffling, but why?