Daily Archives: December 7, 2008
Mets GM Omar Minaya will meet with Francisco Rodriguez and his agent, Paul Kinzer, tonight in Las Vegas, ‘and he is expected to make an offer,’ reports SI.com.
…the buzz in baseball seems to suggest the Mets will offer K-Rod a three-year deal, with an option for a fourth year, all worth roughly $12 million per season…
Multiple reports continue to suggest Rodriguez is the team’s first choice, followed by Brian Fuentes.
Earlier, Minaya told reporters that he will meet with Rodriguez, Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman at various points this week.
Update, 12:20 am:
…Jeff Wilpon is in Las Vegas, which would suggest the Mets mean business…from what i can gather, like heyman reports, minaya and wilpon intend to make an official offer to K-Rod…
…i believe the goal may be to sign him, before even needing to meet with fuentes or hoffman…
…i have a good feeling about where this is headed…
Talks between the Mets and White Sox regarding Bobby Jenks never progressed, because the Mets would not trade Robert Parnell, explains Mark Gonzlas in the Chicago Tribune
The White Sox have agreed to trade OF Jermaine Dye to the Reds for RHP Homer Bailey, reports the Dayton Daily News.
According to the report, citing a major-league source, ‘The deal is done and will be announced this week.’
…from what i recall, the White Sox were most interested in Jon Niese and Robert Parnell from the Mets, though i am not sure if any combination would have been able to get dye to Queens…
Update, 10:43 pm:
In a post to the Chicago Tribune, Mark Gonzales says a source with knowledge of these talks rejected the above report from the Dayton Daily News, noting, “The source added that the Sox were seeking more prospects besides Bailey.”
Update, 10:56 pm:
“Reds GM Walt Jocketty categorically denied a report from the Dayton Daily News that Bailey was traded for Dye,” reports MLB.com.
“Wrong. It’s not even close,” Jocketty told reporters. “We haven’t had any discussions with the White Sox since before Thanksgiving.”
Manny Ramirez will reject salary arbitration before tonight’s deadline, writes Jon Heyman at his blog for SI.com.
The Dodgers will turn to free-agent OF Bobby Abreu or Pat Burrell, among others, if they are unable to retain Ramirez, reports the Boston Globe.
In a separate post, Heyman describes talks between the Cubs and Padres involving Jake Peavy as on ‘life support,’ according to a person familiar with Chicago’s thinking.
However, on his blog for ESPN.com, Buster Olney writes, ‘Peavy is going to be traded, and what will be left is a team looking at a long rebuilding process.’
Heyman also reports here that CC Sabathia expects the Brewers to up their offer from five years to six.
…from a Mets perspective, if the Brewers can re-sign sabathia, they may be inclined to ramp up efforts to sign a free-agent closer, like Francisco Rodriguez, thus putting pressure on the Mets to do the same, and weakening Omar Minaya’s position…
Lastly, also according to Heyman, here, C Jason Varitek is also planning to reject salary arbitration.
…jeez, maybe they should just call these the Heyman Meetings…i hope he has an unlimited cell phone plan…
…there have been countless reports suggesting 
the Mets are looking for a right-handed bat, be it for left-field or second base…however, i truly believe this is a low-priority until the team re-builds its bullpen…
According to Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com, Brewers OF Mike Cameron, Tigers 1B-OF Marcus Thames and Rangers OF Marlon Byrd are all available through trade.
In a post to ESPN.com in March of last season, Jayson Stark wrote: “The Mets love Thames, but they’re not going to trade Aaron Heilman for him.”
In a report for FoxSports.com, Ken Rosenthal describes the 
Mets as ‘desperate to move 2B Luis Castillo,’ so they can sign free agent 2B Orlando Hudson.”
According to Rosenthal, “The only way to do it would be to exchange Castillo’s contract for another of similar value…When the Mets asked the Rangers about Castillo for Vicente Padilla they were told, ‘No thank you.’
Speaking of second baseman, the O’s could eventually look in to trading 2B Brian Roberts, reports the Baltimore Sun, but not before the two sides try to work on a contract extension.
Tagged Orlando Hudson |
According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, ‘The Blue Jays would deal B.J. Ryan if overwhelmed by an offer.’
…the buzz from toronto has been that the Jays will trade ryan, but they prefer to move other players, like Lyle Overbay, if they absolutely need to make a deal…
Meanwhile, the Rockies are looking to acquire a left-handed set-up man, reports the the Denver Post.
…this would explain why Colorado asked for Pedro Feliciano, in addition to Aaron Heilman, from the Mets in a deal for Huston Street, as Joel Sherman once reported in the New York Post…
however, the Mets declined, preferring to deal heilman and a prospect…
According to the Denver report, the Rockies are interested in free-agent LHP Joe Beimel, Alan Embree, Will Ohman, Eddie Guardado and others.
…from what i can gather, the Mets are still very much involved in talks with the Rockies for street, in a deal that would include heilman…i believe a deal can be worked out…my guess is the Mets prefer to trade a player like Mike Carp, while the Rockies may be asking for a player like Nick Evans…
…that said, based on the above report, such a deal may need to wait until the Rockies can sign or trade for a left-handed set up man, who isn’t named feliciano…
…frankly, if i were the Mets, i would just do the heilman-feliciano deal, get street and keep Scott Schoeneweis, who can then return to being a lefty-specialist…
This afternoon, like with the other 29 teams, Omar Minaya and his staff will arrive in Las Vegas for the MLB Winter Meetings, which begin tomorrow at the Bellagio and end on Thursday.
The team has booked nearly 50 rooms at the Bellagio and the Convention Center for roughly 50 staff members, ranging from team executives to media directors to minor league personnel.
Typically, Minaya and his immediate staff will organize from their suite at the Bellagio starting at 8 am, where they will meet with other team representatives, agents, scouts and reporters, while dispatching to other team’s suites to do the same later in the day.
Naturally, I have never been to the Meetings, nor have I been in a team suite, but I have talked with enough people to get a sense of what it’s like. I envision lots of snack food, dry-erase boards, binders, tons of notebooks, laptops and various sources of caffeine.
Meanwhile, reporters are occasionally invited up to the suite for a briefing. Otherwise, they are downstairs in the lobby, waiting for something to write about. Occasionally, an agent or team official will slide by them, stop, chat and give a quote or two, while other writers scurry for the latest insight and rumor in to what teams are doing upstairs.
Later in the night – after people take a shower and grab dinner – scouts, reporters, team employees, agents, and even fans, all mingle at the bar, which is where most rumors are born.
I will not be attending the event. I thought about going, and SNY considered sending me, but, in the end, to do what I do best, it makes far more sense 
for me to be here, in my home office, in lock down, watching and listening, texting and calling, and keeping you updated on the entire event, while linking to other reports and keeping the conversation moving.
Like last year, and the previous four years, I’ll be writing and posting and linking and blogging more or less non-stop through the 90–hour period that will be this year’s Meetings, while keeping in touch with my own sources to give you a sense of what’s happening and what it’s like to be at the Meetings, all in hopes of seeing a few transactions occur that will help make this team better.
I look forward to it, and I hope you do to.
Yesterday, in the Chicago Sun-Times, Gordon Wittenmyer said the Cubs could look to trade Jason Marquis, while eating up to $4 million of his roughly $10 million salary, according to team insiders.
According to Dan Graziano, in the Star-Ledger, the Mets could have traded Aaron Heilman for Marquis, “But the Mets passed on the deal because they were trying to use Heilman in other deals (for bullpen help) and because they didn’t think Marquis was better than what they have in their projected 2009 rotation.”
…i actually think they’re playing this correctly, so far…from what i understand, the plan is to use heilman, marketed as a starting pitcher, in a deal to get a set-up man, like Huston Street, while retaining other prospects to use in a deal for a new starting pitcher, should the free-agent market dry up…
Graziano continues on to write about the team’s current starting rotation, and how they may go about adding to it for 2009.
According to Jon Heyman at SI.com, the Mets prefer Francisco 
Rodriguez, followed by Brian Fuentes, then Kerry Wood, then, if all else fails, a Trevor Hoffman-Huston Street combination.
…from what i understand, they prefer a K-Rod-Street combination, and feel confident it can happen, though that, of course, depends on Colorado’s asking price…
“The goal would be to keep Rodriguez to a three-year deal, with a fourth-year option,” says Heyman.
That said, “The Mets are confident they’ll wind up with either Rodriguez or Fuentes,” writes Ken Davidoff in Newsday.
In a post to ESPN.com, Buster Olney continues to report the Mets will begin doling out offers to closer this week, ‘according to their terms, and not the terms of the agents.’
…jeez, i’m getting antsy…make the offer, guys…do it, just do it…
← Older posts
