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Mark Teixeira Rumors: Thursday

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9:56: Jeff Zrebiec says that even with larger offers on the table, the Orioles do not plan on upping their offer for Teixeira. The Orioles’ offer is believed to be seven years, and in the $140-150MM range. The Orioles have discussed Eric Hinske and Hank Blalock as fallbacks if Teixeira signs elsewhere.

2:38pm: Tim Brown and Gordon Edes talked to involved execs (not with the Angels) who believe the Boras camp is "using the media to ratchet up the price beyond what any team had actually offered." 

Brown and Edes say the Angels were told the Red Sox and Nationals offered eight years at about $20MM per.  The Angels don’t want to do an eighth year, so they’ll look into trades for Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, and possibly Adrian Beltre.  Raul Ibanez is the top free agent backup plan.

Brown and Edes believe Boras could insist on an opt-out clause in a deal with the Nationals.

8:59am: Mike DiGiovanna says the Angels "are believed to be willing to offer at least seven years for something in the $160-million range" for Tex.

8:51am: Jon Heyman says the Yankees have re-entered the Teixeira sweepstakes.

2:40am: Summing up the reported offers made to Mark Teixeira:

By the way, Joe Haggerty transcribed the full Scott Boras talk from yesterday at his site.

Stark’s Latest: Dye, Greinke, Teixeira

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Jayson Stark’s Winter Meetings preview is up; let’s take a look.

  • Stark sees "just about zero chance" the Padres trade Jake Peavy at the Meetings.  The Cubs will need at least a few weeks to settle their ownership situation before they can make a trade and take on his contract.  Plus, a Stark source says it makes sense for the Padres to wait until the top free agent starters are off the board.
  • The Braves, Reds, Royals, Rays, and possibly Mets have shown interest in Jermaine Dye.  Dye played for the Royals from 1997-2001 before he was traded for Neifi Perez.  The White Sox are willing to trade Paul Konerko and Jim Thome too.
  • The Mariners would listen on "pretty much anybody."  But given the surplus of closers on the market, it seems unlikely that Jack Zduriencik will be bowled over with an offer for J.J. Putz.
  • The Royals really don’t want to trade Zack Greinke, but they’ll at least discuss him.  The price would be massive.  It doesn’t look like they want to trade David DeJesus or Mark Teahen either, but Jose Guillen can be had.
  • The Marlins have been pushing Jorge Cantu over Jeremy Hermida, though Hermida’s drawn plenty of interest.  Nick Cafardo named the Rays, Reds, and Giants earlier today.
  • The Angels figure to attach a two or three-day deadline to their eventual Mark Teixeira offer.
  • Stark sees Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake as the two free agents most likely to sign this week.  Most execs Stark surveyed see Teixeira and Manny Ramirez signing in January.

Javier Vazquez Trade Reactions

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The word yesterday evening was that the Braves acquired starter Javier Vazquez and lefty reliever Boone Logan for Tyler Flowers, Brent Lillibridge, Jon Gilmore, and Santos Rodriguez (MLB.com’s Mark Bowman confirms the prospects).  Look for the trade to become official tommorrow.  Reactions to the deal:

  • South Side Sox expects a couple of accompanying moves: the trade of Jermaine Dye for a young starter and the signing of an affordable free agent outfielder.  They don’t see the White Sox benefitting from the Vazquez trade in 2009, but at least Ozzie cleared out his doghouse.
  • Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune says the Sox will still have power if Dye is dealt.  Gonzales also provides info on the prospects received for Vazquez.
  • Yahoo’s Tim Brown says the White Sox are also willing to trade Paul Konerko and Jim Thome.
  • Sox Machine provides a more in-depth look at the prospects.
  • From the Braves’ point of view, J.C. Bradbury sees this as a solid win-now move that won’t affect the ’09 team.
  • Ken Davidoff says the Braves will now have less of a need for Jake Peavy or A.J. Burnett.  I think, though, that they’ll still aggressively try to acquire one of the two.  Most of the rumored packages for Peavy didn’t involve the prospects sent to Chicago, with the possible exception of Flowers.
  • Dave Cameron notes Vazquez’s career-long underachievement.  This always baffled me when trying to do fantasy baseball projections based on component stats.

Heyman’s Latest: Manny, Martin, Jenks

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman has some hot stove musings today.

  • Heyman talked to one GM who asked (in reference to C.C. Sabathia), "When does anyone ever leave a dollar on the table, much less twenty or thirty million dollars?"  I have heard this sentiment often but I do remember certain players leaving money on the table (often to play in California).  Randy Wolf took less in ’06 to sign with the Dodgers, and Brian Giles did the same for the Padres in ’05.  Kerry Wood turned down a multiyear offer from Boston last year.  And how about Andre Dawson and the blank check in ’87?  Evan Longoria left a ton of money on the table too, but let’s stick to free agents.  Any other examples?
  • Heyman still likes the Orioles as one of Manny Ramirez’s suitors.
  • Heyman describes the evidence as "fairly thin" that the Dodgers are looking to trade Russell Martin.
  • White Sox GM Ken Williams is listening on Bobby Jenks, and the Mets are in on him.  Javier Vazquez and Paul Konerko may also be available, though Konerko has full no-trade rights.

Odds And Ends: Saltalamacchia, White Sox, Ludwick

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Links for Sunday…

Heyman’s Latest: Furcal, Jenks, Nats, Yankees, White Sox

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Here are a few of the latest notes from Jon Heyman…

  • The Dodgers offered Rafael Furcal a two-year deal worth $25-30MM. A source close to Furcal told Heyman that the Dodgers know that it will take more and at least eight teams have expressed interest in Furcal.
  • In the same piece Heyman says the White Sox are open to trading Bobby Jenks, but Heyman’s source says it will "take quite a bit."
  • Heyman says the Nationals are not likely to land any of the big names they covet noting they do not have the pieces for a trade and few free agents would be willing to play for a 100-loss team. Heyman does say Adam Dunn could be one player that is willing to sign with the Nats based on his relationship with Jim Bowden.
  • Heyman says the Yankees may be serious about trading for Mike Cameron noting that they have even asked for Alex Rodriguez’ opinion of his former teammate.
  • Heyman reports that the White Sox could trade several of their bigger players. Most of the names have been heard here over the last couple of days, but one we haven’t heard in a while is Paul Konerko. Heyman says Konerko could be an attractive backup plan to any team that fails to sign Mark Teixeira. Heyman also says the White Sox could go after Orlando Hudson if they can unload some of their bigger contracts.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

White Sox Offseason Possibilities

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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.

Manny Ramirez Rumors: Sunday

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As we await an offer from the Dodgers to Manny Ramirez, the notion is often floated that a six year contract for Manny is better suited for an American League team. There he can spend the latter half of his deal, presumably the final years of his career, transitioning to DH.

Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune reports that Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi confirmed that he has interest in Manny Ramirez.  Rogers quotes Ricciardi: "I’ve always liked him," Ricciardi told the Toronto Sun. "But obviously getting him and liking him are two different things."  We’ve heard this before here.

Rogers goes on to explain that if Manny is going to wind up on a team in Chicago, it would first require a trade. The Cubs will need to deal Alfonso Soriano, as we discussed last week, and the White Sox would need to trade Paul Konerko or Jermaine Dye for either team to be able to afford Ramirez. The article mentions a bad history between White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Scott Boras, but it does give credit to Ken Williams’ craftiness and Manny’s power potential as a righty in U.S. Cellular Field. Jim Thome and Manny hitting back-to-back would be imposing to say the least.

Giants Discussing Uggla, Konerko And Lee?

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The Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rogers mentions some names that the offensively-challenged San Francisco Giants are considering acquiring this off-season, specifically, Dan Uggla, Paul Konerko, and Derrek Lee. He writes:

San Francisco, desperate for a proven bat, is expected to pursue one-dimensional second baseman Dan Uggla. The Giants also may kick the tires on first baseman Paul Konerko of the White Sox and Derrek Lee of the Cubs, both of whom have full no-trade clauses. They probably would have to deal a young pitcher—Jonathan Sanchez or Matt Cain.

I understand why the Giants would want to add some bats. They averaged 3.95 runs per game in 2008, just barely ahead of San Diego who had an MLB-worst 3.93 runs/game. But I do not understand why they’d want these three guys specifically.

  • Uggla is arbitration-eligible this year and you’d have to assume he’s due for a pretty big raise from his current $417K salary. Despite this, Uggla will probably cost around $6MM in 2009, which is a steal in today’s market. He’s certainly no defensive asset, but second basemen with 30+ HR power are not exactly plentiful. But here’s the issue – Uggla’s going to be 29 in March, which is rather old for a first-year arbitration player. If the Giants somehow manage to get him on the cheap, then good for them. If they need to give up one of their young pitchers to do so, that would be a mistake.
  • If the White Sox trade away Konerko, they’d be doing so at what could be a bargain price. The first baseman will be 33 on Opening Day and is a 10-and-5 player and as such has a full no-trade clause, not to mention the $24MM due to him over the next two years. I’m not sure how you’re going to convince him to waive that no-trade without tacking on another two years to the end of that deal. And while I expect Konerko to have a decent bounce-back year in 2009, he’s never going to be a 40+HR bat again. The Giants are not going to be competitive in 2009 and Paul Konerko is not going to change that.
  • A similar argument can be made against the idea of getting Derrek Lee to the Bay. Also signed for two more seasons (at $13MM per), Lee’s a bit older than Konerko and his power numbers have dropped quite a bit. And as Rogers mentions, the Cubs will not let Lee go without getting compensated with a Cain or Sanchez in return. Lee may have two more above-average years left in him. Cain and Sanchez is worth far more than that to a rebuilding team like the Giants.

Paul Moro writes for UmpBump.com and can be reached here: Paul *at* umpbump *dot* com.

White Sox Looking For Speed

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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.
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