Cleveland Indians Rumors

Jayson Stark of espn.com took a look at the players who did not sign during this week's winter meetings and what the rest of the off season has in store for them:

• Mark Teixeira: The rumored offers are plentiful: eight years, $160M from the Nationals; seven years, $140M from the Orioles; seven years, $160M from the Angels. Scott Boras clients always take the highest bid, but how will Tex be able to spin taking slightly more money from the lowly Nationals?
• Manny Ramirez: The prevailing wisdom is that Teixeira signs with Boston, a non-starter destination for Ramirez, and the Tex sweepstatkes losers bid on Ramirez. But the Angels haven't expressed interest, the Nationals don't need outfielders and Orioles owner Peter Angelos is unlikely to make a larger offer to Ramirez. What does it all mean? Wherever Ramirez plays, he won't have a home until at least February.
• Rafael Furcal: His agent alleges that the Royals, As, Blue Jays and Dodgers are all interested in Furcal and know that it will take anywhere from $27M to $40M to get a contract signed. However, most people think that the market and interest in Furcal is not quite the picture his agent is painting.
• AJ Burnett: The equation seems pretty simple: either take the money from the Yankees or decide to take a discount and play in Atlanta.
• Derek Lowe: Perhaps the market for Lowe is not as hot as once thought. It appears that neither the Phillies nor the Red Sox have made an offer yet. The Yankees could quickly drop out if Burnett and Andy Pettitte sign. The Mets may be interested, but only at a discount.
• Raul Ibanez: There appears to be serious interest from the Phillies, Angels and Mets.
• Milton Bradley: The Cubs and Rays are rumored to be the bidders for Bradley's bat.
• Adam Dunn: He's alleged to be the back up plan in Washington if Teixeira does not land in DC.
• Brian Fuentes: The market has significantly cooled with the Mets and Indians finding closers, but St. Louis still remains an option.
• Trevor Hoffman: There seems to be even less of a market for Hoffman who's receive nibbles, but nothing serious from the Dodgers, Tigers, Brewers and Rangers.

Just a few days after signing Francisco Rodriguez to a three year $37M deal, the Mets have acquired JJ Putz from the Mariners in a three team, 12 player deal that also includes the Indians. As part of the deal, New York sent Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez, Mike Carp and three minor leaguers to Seattle for Putz, Jeremy Reed and Sean Green. Additionally, the Mariners received Franklin Gutierrez from the Indians while Cleveland received Luis Valbuena from the Mariners and Joe Smith from the Mets.

The Indians had been rumored to be interested in acquiring Putz themselves, but have since come to terms with Kerry Wood. Once their closer situation was resolved, Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro noted that the team was dealing from a position of strength with regard to trading Gutierrez.

Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times is reporting that the three minor leagues the Mariners received are pitchers Maikel Cleto and Jason Vargas and outfielder Ezequiel Carrera.

Earlier we gave you Yahoo! Sports Tim Brown's winter meetings preview of the NL teams.  Now, let's look at the AL teams:

• The Red Sox are quite involved in talks for big free agent names like Mark Teixeira, Derek Lowe and AJ Burnett but perhaps the most interesting question is how they handle Jason Varitek or his replacement.
• There seems to be a hierarchy of the Yankees off season moves: 1) sign CC Sabathia 2) sign Teixeira 3) sign Lowe or Burnett 4) sign Manny Ramirez as the worst case scenario.
• The Blue Jays are out of the running for Burnett, but could still consider Brad Penny, Paul Byrd, Randy Johnson, Oliver Perez, Pedro Martinez and Ben Sheets are all possibilities. 
• The off season priority list for the Indians reads as 1) closer 2) closer and 3) closer.  Possibilities include: Trevor Hoffman, Jason Isringhausen, Huston Street or JJ Putz.
• Trading for Gerald Laird filled the Tigers hole at catcher, but they're still interested in a closer and could be a dark horse for Rafael Furcal or trade for Jack Wilson.
• Teixeira will dictate the Angels off season.  If he signs with the Angels, that's likely it.  If not, they'll take Francisco Rodriguez back for the right price or look at Sabathia. 
• As Jayson Stark told us a few weeks ago, the Rangers off season priorities are pitching, pitching and more pitching.  They'll look at Penny, Randy and Freddy Garcia.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has a new article:

• The first team Derek Lowe talked to his agent about once he was a free agent was the Red Sox.  Lowe notes that since leaving the team in 2004, he has matured and reigned in his personal life and would be a much better fit for the team now. 
• Roy Oswalt is lobbying hard for Ben Sheets to consider Houston.  If Sheets were to seriously consider Houston, would that affect their interest in Randy Wolf?
• It has long been rumored that if the Sox sign Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis would move to third base and the Red Sox would try to move Mike Lowell.  Cafardo lists the Dodgers, Angels, Indians and Twins as potential trade partners with the Red Sox for Lowell's services.  The Red Sox would likely have to eat some of Lowell's remaining contract with the last two teams, if not all four.
• Cafardo believes that Jermaine Dye would work out well with the Phillies, Mets or Rays.  If the Rays were interested, it would likely take more than Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson to pry Dye lose from the White Sox.
• Willie Bloomquist could fill in for the loss of Alex Cora at the utility position for the Red Sox.

After the demand for espn.com's Jayson Stark's most recent article, let's not delay and get to his next one:

• The list of available closers is long and can be broken down into tiers. Tier 1: Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, Trevor Hoffman, Kerry Wood. Teir II: Jason Isringhausen, Brandon Lyon, Eric Gagne, Juan Cruz and Chad Cordero. Tier III (not really a tier, but those available via trade): JJ Putz, Bobby Jenks, George Sherrill, Huston Street, Jose Valverde and Matt Capps.
• The list of teams interested in closers, however, is short: Mets, Indians, Brewers, Rangers, Tigers and possibly the Cardinals.
• Many teams have filled their closer rolls already: Rockies: Manny Corpas, Marlins, Matt Lindstrom, Cubs: Carlos Marmol, Padres: Heath Bell.
• Jose Arredondo could wind up the closer to replace K-Rod in Los Angeles.
• Rumors are that the Mets will sign K-Rod to a four year deal around $50-$55M, but Stark doesn't think the years make sense for the Mets.
• However, if the Mariners would part with Putz, the Mets may consider trading for him rather than signing any free agent.
• JP Riccardi continued to quell rumors that the Blue Jays are interested in Manny Ramirez.
• While the Angeles remain an unlikely suitor for Jake Peavy, if the team signs Mark Teixeira, they won't have a lot of money left to sign a free agent pitcher and may wind up pursuing the trade route.
• Because of concerns about Russell Martin's health, the Dodgers inquired about how much it would take to sign Jason Varitek.
• There are at least a dozen teams interested in Raul Ibanez: Mets, Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Rays, Blue Jays, Rangers (pending Milton Bradley), Angels (pending Garrett Anderson), and Mariners.

Jayson Stark of espn.com has put together a comprehensive article evaluating the off season needs and plans of attack for ALL 30 major league teams. Here are some of the highlights:

• The Braves may go after AJ Burnett whether they trade for Jake Peavy or not. Either way, they're not likely to do anything about Burnett until the Peavy situation is resolved. If the Braves trade Yunel Escobar for Peavy, that'll open up another hole they may try to fill via free agency.
• If the Brewers are unable to sign CC Sabathia, and that seems to be the likely scenario, the team will likely go the opposite direction in terms of free agency and look to unload an infielder (JJ Hardy, Rickie Weeks or Prince Fielder) and/or Mike Cameron to fill their own holes.
• The Diamondbacks are not expected to be involved in the free agent market much at all. The Dbacks didn't sign a free agent at all last off season.
• On the Padres: "the Padres will be mostly chasing pitchers who have always wanted to pitch in the most pitcher-friendly ballpark on earth, live in Del Mar and not care how many digits are on their paycheck. There must be a few people left like that, right?"
• Trying to figure out what the Red Sox will do is a challenge. After they either sign Jason Varitek or acquire another catcher (perhaps a trade with Texas?), anything from standing pat to signing Mark Teixeira or Burnett and everything in between is possible.
• On the Yankees needs: "Three starting pitchers, a run-producing bat and possibly a catcher if Jorge Posada has any setbacks.
• The Orioles are expected to make runs at Burnett and Teixeira. Major runs.
• On the Indians: General manager Mark Shapiro once said the best approach to the free-agent market is "to avoid it."
• On the Tigers: "They're not in the mood to bump the payroll north of where it was last year ($138 million)." Translation: little action in the free agency market.
• The Angels have plenty of decisions to make regarding free agents, but it all starts withe Teixeira. If he stays, that's likely their winter. If he goes, they'll move on to Sabathia and/or Francisco Rodriguez. "If the Angels were at the craps table in Vegas," says one scout, "they'd be the high rollers."
• On the Rangers needs: "Starting pitching. And also starting pitching. In addition to starting pitching." The Rangers have plenty of talented catchers to trade and will likely try to trade them to bolster their pitching.

There have been plenty of discussions between the Rockies and the Reds today about a potential trade, so let's take a look:

• Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Reds are interested in Willy Tavarez, Yorvit Torrealba (not sure why) and Garrett Atkins and the Indians are interested in the recently traded Huston Street.  The Nationals are also reported to be interested in Carlos Gonzalez who was also acquired in the Matt Holliday deal.
• Troy E. Renek confirms much of what Rosenthal is reporting and also adds that the Red Sox are rumored to be interested in Chris Iannetta. 
• Renek also notes that Manny Corpas has been told he's still the closer, meaning that Street is likely to be moved.
• Finally, Renek adds that the Rockies are interested in Carl Pavano.
• Tracy Ringolsby denies Rosenthal and Renek's reports and notes that the Reds are only interested in Atkins, not Tavarez or Torrealba.  She also notes that the Phillies, Angels and Twins are also interested in Atkins.

A bevy of Mets rumors today, even beyond the previously reported Javier Vazquez rumors.  Let's dive in.

• Omar Minaya will not rule out Francisco Rodriguez as a candidate to replace Billy Wagner, but Brian Fuentes seems like the more realistic option.  The Mets are also interested in discussing trade scenarios for Huston Street, but the Indians, Rockies and Brewers all seems like more realistic options. 
• Ken Davidoff proposes a scenario where the K-Rod market cools enough for the Mets to consider signing him at a "bargain" price while other teams overpay for Fuentes.
• The Mets will discuss having Pedro Martinez return, but it seems unlikely.
• Minaya doesn't feel like the offense is a problem for the Mets and predicts a rebound for Luis Castillo.  This could just be postulating to try and increase Castillo's trade value...somehow.

Jon Heyman's latest post is up on si.com.  Let's pick through it.

• The three biggest free agent names, CC Sabathia, Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira, are likely to be bid on by the two Los Angeles and two New York teams.  Not surprising that those are the biggest markets in baseball.
• Despite that, Heyman lists the Mets, Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles and Phillies with the Phillies interest being dependent upon Pat Burrell's status with the team. 
• The Rockies are willing to sign Matt Holliday for $100M over five years, but rumor has it that Holliday is looking for more.  Despite this, the Rockies remain unlikely to trade the slugger.
• Suitors for Brian Fuentes include the Mets, Rangers and Indians.  Heyman lists the Mets as the front runners who will allegedly offer a three year, $36M deal.
• Jake Peavy has allegedly already rejected being traded to at least one American League team.  Heyman feels that Peavy is not interested in playing for the Rangers and doesn't find the Yankees very appealing either.
• Luis Gonzalez does not appear to be welcome back in Arizona because of a tenuous relationship with Stephen Drew and Chris Young.  This is quite an odd story.
• Heyman feels that Ruben Amaro Jr. is the front runner for the Phillies general manager opening.

Jim Callis of Baseball America provides us with the 2009 MLB draft order. Here it is:

Protected First-Round Picks
1) Nationals (59-102)
2) Mariners (61-101)
3) Padres (63-99)
4) Pirates (67-95)
5) Orioles (68-93)
6) Giants (72-90)
7) Braves (72-90)
8) Reds (74-88)
9) Tigers (74-88)
10) Nationals (compensation for failure to sign 2008 first round selection, Aaron Crow)
11) Rockies (74-88)
12) Royals (75-87)
13) Athletics (75-86)
14) Rangers (79-83)
15) Indians (81-81)
16) Diamondbacks (82-80)
Unprotected First-Round Picks
17) Dodgers (84-78)
18) Marlins (84-77)
19) Cardinals (86-76)
20) Blue Jays (86-76)
21) Astros (86-75)
22) Mariners (compensation for failure to sign 2008 first round selection, Joshua Fields)
23) Twins (88-75)
24) White Sox (89-74)
25) Mets (89-73)
26) Yankees (89-73)
27) Brewers (90-72)
28) Phillies (90-72)
29) Red Sox (95-67)
30) Rays (97-65)
31) Yankees (compensation for failure to sign 2008 first round selection, Gerrit Cole)
32) Cubs (97-64)
33) Angels (102-62)

When teams finish with the same record, the tiebreaker (and higher pick) goes to the club with the worst record the previous year.