Giants Sign Juan Uribe
10:47pm: Ken Rosenthal’s source says the Giants’ Uribe signing will not affect their pursuit of Crede.
2:58pm: According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Giants signed infielder Juan Uribe to a minor league deal potentially worth about $1MM. Not sure if this affects the team’s interest in Joe Crede.
Uribe, 30 in March, hit .247/.296/.386 for the White Sox in 353 plate appearances last year while playing second base, third base, and a little bit of shortstop. Based on the plus/minus system, his defense has been below-average in recent years.
Cubs Rumors: Bako, Looper, Wolf, Uribe
Fresh off scooping the Cubs’ acquisition of Aaron Heilman, ESPN Radio’s Bruce Levine has more info about the team’s plans.
- Levine says the Cubs will sign backup catcher Paul Bako to a one-year, $750K deal once they clear a spot on the 40-man roster. The 2-for-1 Heilman trade takes care of that.
- The Cubs are still looking at Braden Looper and Randy Wolf if they aren’t able to reignite the Jake Peavy talks.
- The Cubs have Juan Uribe on the radar as a bench bat and backup infielder.
Giants Interested In Uribe?
MLB.com’s hot stove blog passes along a Chicago Tribune report that the Giants may be interested in free agent infielder Juan Uribe. "Club insiders" didn’t deny the interest when MLB.com asked.
The Giants could use Uribe at any of the infield positions. The 29 year-old hit just .247/.296/.386 in 353 plate appearances, however.
Heyman’s Latest: Sabathia, Burnett, Matsui
Here’s a look at the latest column from SI.com’s Jon Heyman.
- C.C. Sabathia is the Yankees’ top offseason target, and they’ll make him an offer beyond Johan Santana‘s $137.5MM. Heyman also sees the Yanks pursuing A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe, and Oliver Perez (with Ben Sheets a less likely target). Heyman’s sources believe the Yanks could even attempt to sign three free agent starters.
- The Yankees aren’t counting on Mike Mussina, and may wait on him before considering Andy Pettitte.
- Contradictory note from Heyman: the White Sox have no plans to try to keep Joe Crede or Juan Uribe, but might consider bringing Uribe back as a utility man.
- Heyman dismisses vague rumors about Hideki Matsui trade talks.
White Sox Offseason Possibilities
I did a White Sox Offseason Outlook earlier this month, rattling off available speedy players and also suggesting a Bobby Jenks trade be explored. Today, Chicago Tribune beat writer Mark Gonzales offers his take on the Sox.
Gonzales sees Juan Uribe and Toby Hall as two players the White Sox hope to re-sign, with Hall at a lower salary than his $2.25MM option. Orlando Cabrera, Ken Griffey Jr., and Joe Crede will be gone. Cabrera is good for two draft picks if the Sox offer arbitration and he signs elsewhere.
Gonzales wonders if a Paul Konerko for Chone Figgins trade could take shape, but only if the White Sox add players. Konerko is owed $24MM for 2009-10, with full no-trade rights. Figgins should earn $5MM+ in ’09 before he hits free agency for the first time. It may be hard to get the Angels interested – Figgins fits their club, and they’ll try to re-sign Mark Teixeira. Kendry Morales may be the backup plan at first.
Gonzales sees the Rockies as another potential trade partner for Sox GM Ken Williams, naming Garrett Atkins and Willy Taveras as potential matches. Taveras may be had for a song, but Atkins should require young pitching.
A few free agents to consider: Orlando Hudson, Dennys Reyes, and Alex Cora.
White Sox Looking For Speed
With their season over, it’s time to round up some White Sox rumors.
- Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald says GM Kenny Williams wants to add speed to the top and bottom of his order. Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune hints at the same.
- The speedy and available: Brian Roberts, Ichiro Suzuki (maybe), Coco Crisp, Nick Punto, Willy Taveras, Jerry Hairston Jr., Juan Pierre, Randy Winn, Bobby Abreu, Luis Castillo, Corey Patterson, Julio Lugo, and Cesar Izturis.
- Gonzales says Juan Uribe (free agent) and Toby Hall (club option) would like to return. Ken Griffey Jr. would also be willing to talk.
- Gonzales ponders a veteran shakeup, wondering if the Sox will look to move players with no-trade clauses such as Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, and Javier Vazquez. Chris De Luca sees Nick Swisher staying, but no chance of re-signing Orlando Cabrera.
Uribe-Cora Trade Not Happening
8:48pm: Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox backed away from a potential Uribe deal, opting to stick with Cora as Jed Lowrie‘s backup.
4:31pm: Ken Rosenthal has further details on Danny Knobler’s report of Boston’s trade talks for Juan Uribe.
Rosenthal says a Juan Uribe–Alex Cora swap between the Red and White Sox could happen, with the teams splitting the salary difference. Then he lays this idea on us:
One scenario would be for the White Sox to use Cora at least part-time at second, move rookie Alexei Ramirez to short and trade shortstop Orlando Cabrera, possibly to the Dodgers for right-hander Derek Lowe.
Hard to say if this scenario has actually been discussed between Kenny Williams and Ned Colletti. But Rosenthal says the Dodgers are aggressively shopping Lowe, which I didn’t see coming.
Red Sox In Trade Talks For Juan Uribe
According to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com, the Red Sox are "deep in conversations" for White Sox infielder Juan Uribe. Knobler says the return is unclear but the White Sox want to shed Uribe’s salary. Uribe has about $1.7MM left on his contract this year.
Uribe’s White Sox career has been on life support several times this year, but he’s managed to stick around. With Joe Crede‘s back ailing, Uribe is currently filling in at third base.
Week In Review
Continuing with Tim’s new tradition, here’s my take on some of the top rumors of the week from June 29 – July 6:
- The C.C. Sabathia sweepstakes is nearing an end, with the Brewers’ Matt LaPorta package being the frontrunner. We’ll let everyone know the full story as soon as possible.
- The Phillies extended Brad Lidge to a three-year contract. Lidge looks like his old self – great deal for Philadelphia. Looks like this means Brett Myers will remain in the rotation if he can get back on track.
- We heard a lot about the Rays’ growing interest for Colorado closer Brian Fuentes. They could be preparing an offer. Troy Percival has been good, but injury prone, and you almost hate to move Dan Wheeler from the eighth inning where he’s been so good all year.
- The shortstop market is hot, as the Dodgers, Orioles, and Jays would all like to upgrade. The Dodgers are interested in Jack Wilson, while the Orioles are looking at David Eckstein and possibly Juan Uribe or Felipe Lopez. The Jays could look to move A.J. Burnett and his contract for an upgrade there as well. Interesting that Toronto wants an upgrade over Eckstein, while Baltimore looks at him as an upgrade…
- The Indians finally cut Joe Borowski loose, designating him for assignment. Was this too little too late? They tried to sneak Craig Breslow through waivers earlier this year. I’m guessing they’d rather have the 1.42 ERA he’s posted this season than Borowski’s 7.56, but the Twins are enjoying Breslow’s benefits.
- Could the Angels add Matt Holliday? Seems unlikely with the stockpile of large contracts they already have in their outfield if you ask me.
- The A’s signed Michel Inoa for $4.25MM on Thursday.
- The Padres will be sellers this July. The onslaught of injuries have made this a frustrating season for San Diego. If you’d been able to see Adrian Gonzalez‘s monster numbers through July 1 before the season started, who would’ve believed this team wasn’t contending? Wow.
- For those who are interested, Tim looked at this past years’ offseason moves and compiled an All-Star lineup of free agent hitters signed prior to the 2008 season. That’d be a heck of a team to try to beat right now…
Olney Rumor Bag: Eckstein, Teixeira
Another Saturday, another edition of Buster Olney’s weekly blog; along-side the deafening Sabathia discussions, we find some hidden gems:
According to the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles are pondering making a deal for David Eckstein. The Blue Jays have a well-stocked infield that has made the veteran short stop and former World Series MVP expendable.
The Orioles have also been inquiring about Juan Uribe of the White Sox and Felipe Lopez of the Nationals.
Mark Bradley of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution thinks the Braves should trade Mark Teixera. Although some veteran leaders think the team is still in the division race, the Bravos do sit 7 games behind Philadelphia and have been hampered by injury all year.
Teixeira signed a one year-deal in January and can become a free agent next year, but he would prefer not to be traded this year.
Alejandro A. Leal writes for UmpBump.com. Rumors? Comments? Email me alexo05 (at) umpbump (dot) com.