By Tim Dierkes | at
According to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson, the Nationals have gotten in touch with Scott Boras regarding center fielders Andruw Jones and Corey Patterson.
As you know, Andruw isn’t prepared to give much of a discount despite a terrible 2007. As for Patterson, the Nats seemingly hope to miscast him as a leadoff hitter (.298 career OBP), the same mistake the Cubs made.
Ladson also has a quote from Aaron Rowand indicating that he hasn’t heard much from the Nats.
By Tim Dierkes | at
UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 10pm: Krasovic has an update on the Union-Tribune’s sports blog. Cameron’s agent said tonight that he would decline the Padres’ offer of arbitration. That doesn’t mean the Padres still can’t sign him, but it seems unlikely. Krasovic also notes that the Friars are pursuing Japanese reliever Kazuo Fukumori. As you know, they brought him in for a workout previously. The Rockies and Red Sox have been linked to him in the past.
FROM 11-28-07 at 10:40am:
Tim Sullivan and Tom Krasovic make are a productive tandem for Padres rumors. Sullivan and Krasovic both posted new articles today.
By Tim Dierkes | at
UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 9pm: It’s now a done deal. The Twins substituted 21 year-old reliever Eduardo Morlan instead of Rincon.
UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 7:30pm: This thing hasn’t gone through yet because of concerns over Rincon’s elbow. The deal will either be finalized or killed by Thursday, according to Scott Miller. The trade has been in the works for a few days.
UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 4pm: Neal reports that the Twins have interest in Aaron Rowand, which is really surprising given his reported demands. I don’t see it. Neal adds that Craig Monroe may now be non-tendered and the Garza trade will not stop Bill Smith from shopping Johan Santana. By the way, talks for Coco Crisp persist.
FROM 11-28-07 at 2pm:
Wow! That rumor really didn’t die! La Velle E. Neal III says the Twins are close to a multiplayer deal. They’ll send Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, and Juan Rincon to the Rays for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris, and Jason Pridie. I can’t remember any kind of young player blockbuster like this recently.
It’s exciting to see Bill Smith pull the trigger on a deal to get that possible elite slugger. Will he be more hesitant to trade Johan Santana now? Or maybe it doesn’t matter since he’d require an elite young hurler like Phil Hughes in return. Beyond Young, you also have to applaud Smith for getting Pridie, who immediately becomes the Twins’ center fielder of the future. The 24 year-old came back from injuries this year to rake in Triple A. Just like that, the Twins have an outfield.
Meanwhile the Rays suddenly have an awesome young trio fronting their rotation in Scott Kazmir, Jamie Shields, and Garza. Rincon’s ability is questionable at this point but he could be the setup man the Rays are craving.
I’ll give the advantage to the Twins but I like this deal for both teams.
By Tim Dierkes | at
UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 7:30pm: Jon Heyman chimes in on the Santana talks. If the Red Sox continue to keep Ellsbury out of the deal, the Yankees may have the best offer with Hughes, Cabrera, and another pitcher. The inclusion of Ellsbury would swing it toward the Sox. It appears the two rivals are battling going head to head on this one.
FROM 11-28-07 at 11:15am:
Let’s review the Johan Santana situation, because there’s been plenty flying around the last couple of days.
By Tim Dierkes | at
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.
By Tim Dierkes | at
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.
By Tim Dierkes | at
I recently asked Yankees Rumor Royalty winner Dan Graziano for his thoughts on some hot stove queries.
MLBTR: If Melky Cabrera is dealt, do you see the Yanks going after a free agent center fielder? If so, who do you think would be first on their list?
Dan Graziano: If the Yankees were planning to deal Cabrera, I’m sure they would have been involved in the Torii Hunter sweepstakes. Because they weren’t a factor there, I’m thinking right now that they don’t intend to trade Cabrera.
Of course, if the right opportunity (such as the one detailed previously) presented itself, they could deal him. If that happened, I’m sure they’d express interest in Andruw Jones and Aaron Rowand. There are people in the Yankees’ organization who think Rowand’s hard-nosed, blue-collar style would be a nice addition to a team full of superstars. As of now, though, they don’t have any place to play him. If that changed, they’d be involved. And of course, if they couldn’t get Jones or Rowand, they could always move Johnny Damon back to center until they found a better solution.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Random thoughts in the aftermath of the Torii Hunter shocker…
By Tim Dierkes | at
We missed an installment from good ol’ Kenny Rosenthal yesterday. He’s back today in full force (unlike another great rumor source, Buster Olney, who posted nothing really new in his blog today).
Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Hi. I’m Joe. Tim is busy today, so I’ll be filling in. You can send any tips right to my email. So onto a few morning tidbits.
Tom Glavine. His agent, Gregg Clifton, thinks "it’s a good possibility" that a deal gets done today.
Joe Pawlikowski is a co-author of River Ave. Blues, a New York Yankees blog.
MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com
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