Turn up the Hot Stove

Maybe it will melt the ice from the frozen tundra we had formed by freezing rain overnight. Don't worry with Carl Pavano and Jason Giambi off the market, there's still plenty of big names left out there.

The all-time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman, has been offered similar one year deals by both the Brewers and Dodgers. Jon Heyman believes the Brewers have made a stronger push.

Heyman was on with Mike Francesa yesterday and had some guestimates as to where some of the remaining free agents would end up.

Manny Ramirez - Dodgers reportedly made a 2 year, $45 million offer and aren't likely to increase it. Heyman still thinks another team will jump in.

Adam Dunn - Nationals; teams aren't willing to throw big money at him.

Ben Sheets - Rangers

Bobby Abreu - Still a good possibility of him going to Oakland. We think he could end up with the Angels.

The Rangers are reportedly checking out the medical records on free agent third baseman Joe Crede. Pitcher John Patterson has decided to retire at age 30 due to persistent arm problems.

Ken Rosenthal says the Diamondbacks made an offer to free agent pitcher Jon Garland, but are no longer pursuing him. K-Ros points to Pat Burrell's ($8 mill per year) new contract to show just how difficult it is for the Mets to deal Luis Castillo and his $6.25 mill per year. Like a lot of us, K-Ros also doesn't understand the Angels lack of maneuvering.

According to the Boston Herald, the Red Sox are targeting John Smoltz for the rotation. Of course, most of what is said in the Herald isn't true.

Don't cringe Mets fans, but the Mets have reportedly made an offer to Tim Redding.

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Yankees Front Runner for Burnett

Ken Rosenthal has been told by sources that the Yankees have emerged as the front runner for A.J. Burnett. Not a surprise really since the Yankees are throwing absurd amounts of cash around.

Burnett's representatives were expected to contact interested clubs Thursday, giving them one last chance to beat the Yankees offer of five years and approximately $85 million.

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Yankees Losing Their Minds

Ken Rosenthal reported late Wednesday night that the Yankees had upped their offer to A.J. Burnett to $91 million. Insanity you say? Insanity is correct. Going 5 years is bad enough for Burnett, but more than $18 million per season? Does the name Carl Pavano ring a bell?

The Yankees are said to want Burnett or Derek Lowe, but not both, while still hoping to bring back Andy Pettitte or bring in Ben Sheets for a short term contract. It's becoming clearer that the Yankees don't necessarily want Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain in the rotation, and all this maneuvering could lead to Chamberlain's return to the pen or Hughes being used as trade bait for a bat.

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CC Could Get Early Parole

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that CC Sabathia may have an escape clause in his new deal with the Yankees.

Sabathia is expected to receive an opt-out clause after three years, which was a prerequisite for him to sign with any team, not just the Yankees, according to a source.

Such a clause would give Sabathia the chance for another monster payday in free agency at age 31 — and provides him with an escape if he finds the New York experience unappealing.

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Breaking News: Mets Get Their Closer

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Mets have indeed reached a contract agreement with free agent closer Francisco Rodriguez. The deal is reportedly worth $37 million over 3 years, and has a vesting option for a fourth year at $14 million.

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Vegas Update - Day 2 8:20 AM EST

Jon Heyman of SI and Joel Sherman of the NY Post expect the Mets and free agent closer Francisco Rodriguez to work out a 3-year deal, worth app. $37 million, before the end of the winter meetings.

Rodriguez's agent, Paul Kinzer, said, "I am more optimistic than I have ever been" about finalizing a deal between the single-season save leader and the Mets.

It's hard to believe the Angels wouldn't match such an offer or bump it up a bit to keep K-Rod.

One team rep feels the Red Sox will sign Mark Teixeira. Why does that count any more than what we think?

These updates from Fox's Ken Rosenthal:

The Braves and Cards are trying to work out a deal that would send Rick Ankiel to Atlanta, but thus far the Cards are asking for Mike Gonzalez, and that's a no-go for Atlanta.

The Blue Jays are meeting with shortstop Rafael Furcal's agents, but the chance of signing the free agent are slim.

The Phillies are still looking at Delmon Young of the Twins, and have jumped into the Jake Peavy trade talks.

The Rangers are quietly shopping shortstop Michael Young according to an AL executive, so says Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown.

The Dodgers inked veteran Mark Loretta to a one year deal, meaning that Nomar's days in LA are numbered.

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The Daily Yankeeland - 8/26

The Yankees and Red Sox start a HUGE three game series tonight at the Stadium. Barring some kind of ALCS miracle, it will be the Red Sox' last visit to this incarnation of Yankee Stadium.

Tim Wakefield (7-8, 3.67) comes off the DL tonight to start the series opener against Andy Pettitte (13-9, 4.17). Wednesday night is the real wildcard game with Paul Byrd (8-11,4.61) , acquired from the Indians, going up against Sidney Ponson (7-4, 4.67). Byrd is 1-1, 5.40 in his two starts with Boston, while Ponson is 4-1, 3.88 in nine starts since joining the Yankees.

Thursday's finale features the best pitching match up, with Jon Lester (12-5, 3.49) facing Mike Mussina (16-7, 3.45). Lester has allowed just two earned runs, in 16.1 innings, in his last two starts against the Yankees. Moose tossed six scoreless innings in a 2-1, July 5 win over Boston.

Mike Lupica says it's time for A-Rod to step up.

The Daily News and Star Ledger look back at the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry at the Stadium.

Joba Chamberlain continues his way back to the Yankees.

Jason Bay readies himself for the rivalry.

Ken Rosenthal thinks the Yankees' problems could overlap in 2009.

The Princeton Packet talks to recently-dealt Ross Ohlendorf.

The Yankees have renewed their agreement with Class 'A', Charleston for another four years.

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Thursday Hot Stove

The Mets negotiations with Johan Santana continue as the left-hander's agent, Peter Greenberg, is reportedly seeking a 6-year, $150 million deal. The Mets are also heavily into talks with Kyle Lohse. And they've added reliever Ruddy Lugo to the bullpen mix, picking him up off of waivers from the A's.

MLB.com reported earlier today that the O's were considering trying to sign Erik Bedard to an extension. ESPN.com has countered that with a report that Bedard's agent, Mark Pieper, said that the O's were not considering a new contract. ESPN also reports that the O's and M's are still talking deal and working on the "language" of the deal concerning physicals for Adam Jones and George Sherrill.

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports is reporting that veteran outfielder Luis Gonzalez has reached agreement with the Florida Marlins on a 1-year deal worth $2 million, plus another $1 million in incentives.

Much bounced around reliever Jorge Julio has agreed to a 1-year minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians.

The Phillies officially completed their signing of free agent 3rd Baseman Pedro Feliz. The former Giant will get $8.5 million for 2 years. The club also has an option for 2010.

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Breaking News: Cano Close to 4-year Deal

FoxSports' Ken Rosenthal is reporting the Yankees and Robinson Cano are close to agreeing on a 4-year deal that would be worth a reported $30 million. The deal would include all of Cano's arbitration years and 1 or 2 years of free agency.

Cano and the Yankees were getting ready to go to arbitration with the two sides far apart. Cano had submitted a proposal of $4.55 million, while the Yankees submitted a figure of $3.2 million.

Cano qualifies as a "super-two" player, meaning he gets four years of arbitration eligibility, instead of the normal three years.

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White Sox Ink Dotel

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Chicago White Sox have attempted to strengthen their bridge to Bobby Jenks by signing Octavio Dotel to a 2-year deal. The 34-yr old will reportedly make $11 million.

The signing means the White Sox have invested $30 million in the pen for Dotel and Scott Linebrink.

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Breaking News: Glaus-Rolen Swap Close

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Blue Jays and Cardinals on the verge of swapping their respective third basemen, Troy Glaus and Scott Rolen. Both must pass a physical, which isn't a gimee since Glaus had foot surgery and Rolen had his shoulder carved up.

Both players have waived their no trade clauses, and its expected that the Cards will send along some cash to defer the cost of Rolen's contract.

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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.

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Rosenthal: Yankees Interested in Cameron

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Yankees have joined the Brewers in seriously pursuing free agent centerfielder Mike Cameron. It had been thought that the Yankees would not go after another centerfielder unless incumbent Melky Cabrera were to be dealt. Now there is some thought the Yankees could bring in a player like Cameron and then move Melky.

One of the people in support of bringing on Cameron, is Alex Rodriguez, who played with him in Seattle. (We're sure you can probably find a quote of A-Rod saying Cameron was his favorite teammate.)

The latter scenario really doesn't make a lot of sense. If the Yankees feel that Cameron will only be holding the position until Austin Jackson is ready for the leap to the majors, then why not just keep Melky? Cameron is 35 years old and while he still is a fine centerfielder, his bat leaves something to be desired.

A career .251 hitter, Cameron has struck out an average of 132 times over the last 4 seasons, and has 1,500 strikeouts in a 13 year career. He's also a .177 hitter in 79 career post-season at-bats. With Melky, we'll take a little of the unknown over the known (Cameron).

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A Prior Engagement

The Yankees have shown interest in Mark Prior, but the Rangers and Astros have been the most aggressive in their pursuit of the free agent right-hander. That according to Ken Rosenthal, who also states that the Padres are Prior's 1st choice.

Prior is from San Diego and the Padres' Petco Park is favorable to pitchers. But with an extension given to Jake Peavy and the recent addition of Jim Edmonds, the Padres don't have a lot in the coffers to spend.

Rosenthal also gives his spin on the Dan Haren deal, the Twins roster count, and other winter happenings.

According to the Philadelphia Daily News, both the Phillies and Mets have made 4-year offers to free agent pitcher Kyle Lohse. 4 years for mediocrity?

The Cardinals have signed much-traveled infielder, D'Angelo Jiminez, to a minor league deal.

The Seattle Times says Carlos Silva is seriously considering the Mariners', 4-year, $44 million offer. What's he waiting for?

What a hot stove update be without something on Johan Santana. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that the Red Sox are still the front-runners to obtain the ace lefty, but are sticking to their no-Jacoby Ellsbury stance. The only thing holding up that deal should be hesitation about spending the money on a contract extension for Santana, not whether or not to include Ellsbury.

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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

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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.

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Winter Meetings Eve

The winter meetings kick off from Nashville tomorrow, with plenty of activity expected.

One player that may not reach the market is Padres' ace Jake Peavy. The Pads and Peavy are working on a 3-year, $51 million extension. Source

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Johan Santana told the Twins he will not drop his no trade clause for an in-season trade. Source

Jim Edmonds is reportedly willing to waive his no-trade clause for a trade out of St. Louis. Source

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Hot Stove Update

And we could use that hot stove. 22 degrees and a storm on its way. Dreaming of Tampa, mid-February.

So all day long we've read how the Twins have gone back and forth on who has made the better offer, the Yankees or Red Sox. We don't even know what other teams, such as the Mariners could be offering. There was even one reporter- we'll call him Dick- who reported that the Twins wanted both Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy from the Yankees. Then he later admitted he was merely speculating.

Tonight we get word from SI's Jon Heyman that the Twins want either Alan Horne or Austin Jackson, in addition to Hughes and Melky Cabrera.

Earlier this evening, Buster Olney said the Red Sox and Twins were re-working an offer, thought to maybe include Jacoby Ellsbury or Clay Bucholz.

On and on it goes, and it won't stop until Santana is actually traded. In the meantime, it's creating a heated debated amongst Yankees fans who do or don't want to see Hughes included.

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The Yankees offered salary arbitration to Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, and Luis Vizcaino. The Yankees did not offer arbitration to Roger Clemens, Ron Villone, Jose Molina, and Doug Mientkiewicz. For A-Rod, Molina, and Mariano, this is merely a formality until their deals get formalized.

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Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Padres have snared free agent pitcher Randy Wolf, pending physical. There had been a lot of speculation that Wolf was going to return to the Phillies. The Padres have also reportedly talked to the Cubs about Mark Prior.

The Red Sox offered arbitration to Eric Gagne and Mike Timlin. The didn't offer it to Bobby Kielty, Eric Hinske, Doug Mirabelli, Royce Clayton and Matt Clement. Gagne is almost a certainty to sign elsewhere, while Timlin is close to returning to the Sox.

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The Daily Yankeeland

Negotiations continue with the Minnesota Twins for the services of Johan Santana. There's even speculation that Joe Nathan could be included in a blockbuster deal. Like Santana, Nathan's contract is up after the 2008 season. According to the Star-Ledger, two players who won't be involved in a deal for Santana are Joba Chamberlain and Robinson Cano.

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We highly respect Ken Rosenthal's opinion, but we vehemently disagree with his assessment that the Yankees will move Johnny Damon back to centerfield if Melky Cabrera is dealt. While we don't necessarily agree with trying to give a long term deal to Aaron Rowand, we're sure the Yankees will deal for a younger, less beat up, centerfielder. K-Ros also thinks the Yankees could deal Melky even if he's not included in the Santana deal. That really doesn't make sense unless they really filled a big hole (bullpen set up) in doing so.

We do like this assessment though...

The Yankees will not go beyond a certain financial threshold with free-agent relievers when they can fill certain roles from within, sources say. The team, for example, could pass on left-hander Ron Mahay, if his price — as expected — rises above $12 million over three years, the amount the Phillies awarded J.C. Romero. Sean Henn, Kei Igawa and Chase Wright are among the Yankees' internal options from the left side. Jose Veras, pitching well in the Dominican winter league, is among the right-handed possibilities, along with Ross Ohlendorf, Chris Britton, Brian Bruney and Edwar Ramirez . . .

We will say though that we don't want Ron Mahay even if he only costs a buck. K-Ros also talked about the latest scouting reviews of Austin Jackson.

Scouts offer mixed reviews on Yankees minor-league outfielder Austin Jackson, who could be part of the team's offer for Santana. Jackson, who turns 21 on Feb. 1, put up monster numbers in the Class A Florida State League last season before getting promoted to Class AA. Georgia Tech recruited him to play point guard before the Yankees drafted him in the eighth round and signed him for $800,000 in 2005. Some scouts say he is still more of an athlete than a baseball player, but others believe that he eventually could develop into a star.

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Thanks to Peter Abraham for pointing this link out. Johnny Damon recently made a trip to Thailand, the ancestry of his mother. While he was there, he made trips to Thai orphanages as part of a U.S. Embassy sponsored tour. Source

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Mo Wants Mo

Sources have told Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal the reason Mariano Rivera hasn't agreed to his new deal is that he wants even more. To be specific a 4th year guaranteed. Apparently, Jorge Posada's 4 year deal has had an impact on Mo's thinking.

We love Mo, but he will not get a guaranteed 4 year deal anywhere. I can see the Yankees maybe putting in an option for a 4th, but not guaranteeing it.

If he wants it guaranteed, he can walk.

Source

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