Breaking News: Yankees Bringing in Sexson

ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the Yankees have reached a tentative agreement with Richie Sexson, who was released by the Mariners last week.

The Yankees will only be responsible for a prorated minimum of $390,000 of the $14 million salary he is to receive from the Mariners.

Share

Friday Hot Stove

With reports of the Yankees close to tying up Robinson Cano with a long term deal, the Twins are doing likewise with Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau. Cuddyer inked a 3-year, $24 million deal, and Morneau, the 2006 AL MVP, will get $80 million over 6 years.

The Yankees are close to a minor signing with veteran utility man Chris Woodard.

The A's added Jeff Fiorentino off of waivers from the Reds. The A's are Fiorentino's 3rd team in 3 weeks. The once highly thought of prospect, who's still just 24-yrs old, was released by the Orioles on January 2nd.

Buster Olney says that the Giants and Mariners are the favorites to land veteran 1st Baseman Tony Clark.

The Rocky Mountain News is claiming the Mets are close to signing Livan Hernandez. It would be great to see him as a teammate of his brother, El Duque.

Rod Barajas was supposed to be the Blue Jays starting catcher last year, but free agent talks broke down at the last moment. This time around Barajas has signed on with Toronto as a back up to Greg Zaun. Had Barajas' deal gone through last year, the Jays would have let Zaun go.

The Braves have signed reliever Rafael Soriano to a new 2-yr, $9 million contract. Atlanta decided to buy out Soriano's 1st year of free agency, by paying more than he requested in arbitration.

If the Orioles can't find themselves a closer to replace the injured Chris Ray, Andy MacPhail indicated that Greg Aquino may be the 1st option.

Share

Cameron, Kotsay on the Move

We breathe a sigh of relief that Mike Cameron will not be a Yankee. Earlier tonight Cameron and the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to a 1-year, $6+ million deal.

Meanwhile, Mark Kotsay is close to returning to the National League. According to a source the Braves are set to acquire the veteran outfielder for a prospect.

According to Ken Rosenthal, Kyle Lohse has backed off of his demands for a 4-year contract. K-Ros also says that the Dodgers, Phillies, and Brewers are showing interest in free agent Pedro Feliz.

The A's have signed Emil Brown, a veteran of Kansas City, to a 1 year deal. Meanwhile the Royals are taking a look at free agent Bartolo Colon. Buster Olney reported that the Mets were close to signing Colon last week, but didn't like the condition of his right arm.

As expected, Eddie Guardado signed a 1-year deal with the Rangers, while Matt Mantei grabbed a minor league deal with the Tigers.

Share

Friday Hot Stove

One more day until it's officially Winter, but here is the latest from the hot stove.

Buster Olney says that the Padres are the front-runners to land Mark Prior. As we mentioned yesterday, Prior is from the San Diego area.

Now that the Tigers have signed Dontrelle Willis to an extension, GM Dave Dombrowski would like to do the same for slugger Miguel Cabrera.

Carlos Silva's 4-year deal with the Mariners turned out to be for $12 mill per year. What are these people thinking? If Silva is getting that, shouldn't Santana get at least double?

We all remember the controversy back in '04 when Doug Mientkiewicz refused to give up the baseball from the World Series' final out. This year, the Red Sox' Jason Varitek had the ball. Then said he gave it to Jon Papelbon, who didn't know where the ball was (perhaps they're passing it around like the Stanley Cup). Now word comes from Papelbon that his dog at the ball.

Cubbies fans are not happy with the possibility of Wrigley Field's naming rights being sold. Technically, you are already a gum.

According to the Seattle Times, the Mariners and Reds are the front-runners to land the O's Erik Bedard.

The Rockies have signed Kip Wells and Mark Redman to shore up their pitching staff.

Share

Hot Stove Update

Nothing too much going on out there...still speculation and not much movement.

Johan Santana
Jon Heyman notes that the Twins are still having on-going talks with the Red Sox, the latter still insisting they won't include both Jon Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury in a deal. The Mets are in the same boat, not wanting to have both Fernanado Martinez and Carlos Gomez in a deal. And you already know where the Yankees stand.

Heyman also gives his review of the Miguel Cabrera-Dontrelle Willis deal. Source

The latest from Ken Rosenthal:

The Padres have joined the A's in having an interest in Barry Bonds. Seems like the Padres are considering every outfielder out there.

Jeremy Affeldt's agents say he has gotten 4-year offers and is looking for a 5-yr deal. They're also quoted as saying "(Affeldt has) the best young left-handed stuff in baseball." Put down the crack pipe guys.

Before he was sent to the Brewers, the Mets passed on Salomon Torres, feeling he was too comfortable playing for losing teams.

K-Ros also has some thoughts on Scott Rolen and Chone Figgins. Source

Buster Olney
The Giants are considering Aaron Rowand for the free agent splash.

Jay Gibbons is looking to win back his fans after his admitted HGH use.

And if you're an ESPN Insider (we're not...we try not to throw good money after bad), you can read Buster's take on the Mitchell Report. Source

Share

Hot Stove Update

Depending on who/what you believe Johan Santana will remain a Minnesota Twin for now or still has a good chance of going to the Red Sox. Peter Gammons reported that the vibe was more and more like Santana staying put for now. Jon Heyman thinks a deal to the Red Sox is still within reach as does Will Caroll of Baseball Prospectus. Ken Rosenthal says the Mariners are now getting back into the mix, and Heyman feels the Mets are, though they won't get it done without including Jose Reyes.

K-Ros also reports that the Rangers are talking to Scott Boras about both Eric Gagne, and Corey Patterson, who they see as a stop gap measure for centerfield.

In a minor move, the Blue Jays acquired outfielder Buck Coats (great name) from the Reds for a player to be named later or cash.


Buster Olney reports that Aaron Boone is receiving interest from the Giants, Nationals and Brewers. As for Johan Santana...

The Yankees' delegation at the meetings seems less and less interested in rekindling those Johan Santana discussions, even if the Twins try to draw them back in. They've been telling people there's a "99.9 percent chance" they're out of the Santana market for good. So where would the 0.1 percent come from? The unpredictability of the Steinbrenners. Where else?

Here's a good recap/breakdown of the Marlins-Tigers deal from Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein.

Share