Rumors from Winter Meetings

[browntown653]

Jason Bay will not be getting traded this offseason IMO.

[love_that_reefer]

If the Pirates are smart they won't. Who the hell are these people going to pay to see? Freddy Sanchez? It makes too much sense on the business and baseball side to keep him.

[love_that_reefer]

The Nationals have targeted free agent right-hander Jason Jennings as a possible fit for their 2008 rotation.

Jennings, 29, went 2-9 with a 6.45 ERA in 19 games for Houston in 2007 before his season ended in August due to a tear in the flexor tendon of his right elbow.

Th Nats can do better than Jennings. Nats are also rumored to be interested in Tomko. Nats can do better than him too.

[redsrbetter]

DTrain:

6:16 p.m., Jayson Stark
• The Reds have asked the Marlins about Dontrelle Willis. But a deal between those two teams is unlikely. The Marlins are still placing a high price tag on Willis, so they no doubt would ask the Reds for their best young pitcher, Homer Bailey, plus one more player. And the Reds have little interest in moving Bailey. One baseball man who spoke to the Reds described their interest as "tire kicking."

[redsrbetter]

6:18 p.m.
• Major League Baseball announced that the White Sox will play the Mets in the second annual Civil Rights Game. It will played March 29 in Memphis at AutoZone Park, home of the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.

Civil Rights Game

[love_that_reefer]

The Rockies and Mariners are showing interest in free agent Marcus Giles.
The Rockies would probably prefer Mark Loretta as a replacement for Kaz Matsui, but Giles is a fallback option. The Mariners want a veteran around to perhaps give Jose Lopez some additional motivation.

Despite Doug Melvin's claim Saturday, the Brewers and Cardinals are discussing a Scott Rolen trade, says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Joe Strauss calls the Brewers the front-runner and believes the momentum for a deal is there. Chris Capuano would likely be involved in any deal with Milwaukee. T.R. Sullivan, who covers the Rangers for MLB.com, has indicated that there's little to the rumors of a Rolen-for-Hank Blalock swap.

Rockies would be better off getting Loretta over Giles. Rockies might want to look at Nix or Stewart playing second.

The Cards would make the Brewers better which isn't a smart thing to do. A salary dump would be nice for them but not within the division.

[redsrbetter]

Tidbit on that:

6:27 p.m. Jayson Stark
• Free agent Marcus Giles has attracted interest from the Rockies and Mariners. Colorado is trying to sign Mark Loretta to replace Kaz Matsui, and Giles is one of their fallback options if they lose out on Loretta. Seattle would be interested if it trades Jose Lopez.

[redsrbetter]

More stuff:

7:12 p.m., from Jerry Crasnick
• The Reds need pitching, but they don't have a lot of money left after signing closer Francisco Cordero to a five-year deal. So Cincinnati is talking trade with a bunch of teams here in Nashville and using some of its young position players as bait for a starter. Jay Bruce is out of the question, and Joey Votto would be tough to get, but the Reds are listening on third baseman Edwin Encarnacion and center fielder Josh Hamilton. The Cubs are a natural fit for Hamilton, but Sean Marshall isn't likely to get it done. One possible fit for Encarnacion: the Giants, who may need a third baseman if incumbent Pedro Feliz declines the team's salary arbitration offer.


• Chris Capuano-for-Scott Rolen trade talk is alive and well at the Opryland Hotel. But the Brewers are wary of Rolen's medical reports, and they would have to pick up a significant chunk of the $36 million left on Rolen's contract over the next three years. Given the hard feelings that exist between Rolen and St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, Rolen probably wouldn't be averse to waiving his no-trade clause. "It hasn't gotten any better," one person with the Cardinals said of the Rolen-La Russa dynamic.

[redsrbetter]

Even more from ESPN:

7:35 p.m., from Jerry Crasnick
• The Phillies and Rays both spoke with Damon Lapa, the agent for free-agent outfielder Geoff Jenkins. It's not a strong year for left-handed hitting corner men -- with Trot Nixon, Shawn Green, Cliff Floyd, Brad Wilkerson and Luis Gonzalez as the other main options -- so Jenkins is getting considerable play. "We expect multiple multiyear offers," Lapa said. San Diego and Texas are among the other clubs keeping tabs on Jenkins.

• Barry Praver, the agent for free-agent starter Carlos Silva, arrived at the Opryland this afternoon after attending Silva's wedding in Venezuela over the weekend. Now Praver and his partner, Scott Shapiro, will try to negotiate a four- or five-year deal for Silva for more than $10 million annually. Silva and Kyle Lohse might have to wait for the Johan Santana, Dan Haren and Erik Bedard sweepstakes to play out before teams start getting serious.

[OrioleMagic]

Here is a rumor that would make O's fans very happy... I believe it is being discussed... not sure it will come to fruition though...

The word on the BEST Orioles board is:

Read into this as little or as much as you want. I was told we are working on a deal that would send Tejada, Bedard and maybe Payton to the Dodgers for a package that would include Kemp, LaRoche, Hu, Billingsley, and Broxton. We will also take on Pierre.

I personally can;t see this happening. That's a lot from one team to give up. I'll update if I hear more.

[redsrbetter]

Wow man, that is a lot for both teams to trade. Would the Dodgers take on that much payroll? WOW!

[OrioleMagic]

some speculate the they want to win now under Torre with Andrew Jones, Tejada, and Bedard... I personally choose to side with the cautious O's fans... Billingsley would be too good to be true. I am not sure what Pierre's sa;ary is... Tejada is owed 24 Million and Bedard has 08 and 09 under arb...

[love_that_reefer]

WFAN radio in New York reports that "there's news floating around that the Mets are close on Erik Bedard."
The Bedard rumors have picked up steam since he reportedly told the Orioles that he's not interested in working out a long-term contract extension. There's some speculation that the Orioles could ask the Mets to take Miguel Tejada and his contract back in a Bedard trade, but it's unclear where Tejada would play in New York. It remains to be seen if the Mets have the pieces to pull off a trade for Bedard even after dealing Lastings Milledge.

I don't see the Mets having the pieces they need.

[OrioleMagic]

I think McPhail said that either Reyes or Wright would have to come to the O's in a Bedard trade... The conversations stopped right there... This again is just rumor passed on.

[love_that_reefer]

According to MLB.com, the Diamondbacks are interested in Dan Haren and Joe Blanton.
The report suggests that the Diamondbacks would go after Haren first and might then switch their focus to Blanton if the asking price is too high

.

A Haren-Webb combo would be very scary for the NL West.