Mark DeRosa
Rumors

Jayson Stark from espn.com has a new article up with plenty of off season rumors.

• Milton Bradley appears to have three different suitors: Rays, Rangers and Jays. However, Bradley is owed $21M over the remainder of his contact, so the Cubs will likely have to take on a bad contract in return.
• The Marlins had discussions about trading Dan Uggla with the Giants and Rangers.
• Rather than bid on Jason Bay or Matt Holliday, the Yankees seem content to try and resign Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui.
• Derek Lowe's contract is becoming burdensome for the Braves, especially as they look to extend Javier Vazquez. They'll try to move Lowe and hope to get a hitter in return for him.
• The Phillies are considering Placido Polanco, Mark DeRosa and Adrian Beltre at third base.

Johnny Damon is an off season priority for the Yankees

Though John Lackey, Jason Bay and Matt Holliday will dominate the headlines and the dollars this off season, Buster Olney of espn.com breaks down the next tier of free agents who are sure to get plenty of calls when free agency begins on Friday.

Brandon Lyon: Though there are a lot of closers available via free agency, Lyon may be willing to take a set up role and is only a Type B free agent. The Phillies, Angles, Mets and Yankees are all likely to be interested

Mark DeRosa: As a player who can play multiple positions his flexibility is a good fit for the Phillies. His bat is a good fit for any team.

Jermaine Dye: His age, 35, precludes him from being able to command a long term deal, but an AL team might be able to snag a good DH for a short and small contract.

Miguel Tejada: Though he might not be able to play shortstop anymore and would require a move to third base, his 313/340/455 splits are still attractive. Philly and Oakland could be good fits.

Miguel Tejada hopes to get plenty of offers this off season

Nick Johnson: Defense and power are very suspect for Johnson, but his OBP (an absurd .477 in 35 games last year for the Marlins) is still attractive. Offense starved teams like Oakland or San Francisco could be interested.

Coco Crisp: He's unlikely to be an everyday outfield, but his defense and speed are still tremendous and he could be a good platoon outfielder.

JJ Putz: A big market team like the Red Sox (think Billy Wagner), Yankees or Angels might be willing to give Putz a one-year deal despite coming off of injury.

Placido Polanco: His 45 extra base hits along with solid defense at second base will certainly attract suitors.

Rafael Betancourt: If the Rockies offer him arbitration, he becomes a Type A free agent and interest will be minimal. If they don't, look out.

Olney notes at the end of his piece that the rational behind Betancourt also applies to relievers Wagner, Jose Valverde, Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano.

Below is a list of second basemen who are eligible for free agency for the 2010 season, their age, current team, current contract and whether the player falls into a Type A or Type B free agent compensation status.

Free agent catchers
Free agent first basemen
Free agent third basemen
Free agent shortstops
Free agent left fielders
Free agent center fielders
Free agent right fielders
Free agent starting pitchers
Free agent middle relievers
Free agent closers

Ronnie Belliard, 35, Dodgers - 08:$1.6M, 09:$1.9M (Type B)
Jamey Carroll, 36, Indians - 07:$1.7M, 08:$2.15M, 09:$2.5M club option ($150K buyout)
Alex Cora, 34, Mets - 09:$2M
Craig Counsell, 39, Brewers - 09:$1M
Mark DeRosa, 35, Cardinals - 07:$2.75M, 08:$4.75M, 09:$5.5M (Type B)
Jerry Hairston Jr., 34, Yankees - 09:$2M (Type B)
Orlando Hudson, 32, Dodgers – 09:$2.28M (Type A)
Akinori Iwamura, 31, Rays - 07:$1.8M, 08:$2.4M, 09:$3.25M, 10:$4.25M club option ($250K buyout)
Adam Kennedy, 34, Athletics - 07:$2.5M, 08:$3.5M, 09:$4M
Felipe Lopez, 30, Brewers - 09:$3.5M (Type B)
Mark Loretta, 38, Dodgers, 09:1.25M
Pablo Ozuna, 35, Phillies - 09:minor league contract
Placido Polanco, 34, Tigers - 06-09: $4.6M annually (Type A)
Freddy Sanchez, 32, Giants - 08:$4M, 09:$6.1M, 10:$8M club option ($600K buyout) (Type B)
Juan Uribe, 31, Giants - 09:$1M

Buster Olney of espn.com provides us with a few good rumors today:

• Pedro Martinez's asking price appears to be too high based on his ability, or lack thereof.  "He'd have to lower [his asking price] a lot before we got involved," one GM said.  The Yankees will be sending a scout to his latest pitching session simply because they have someone in the area.
• Considering how few teams have money to spend at the trade deadline, the As might have to be willing to eat some of what remains on Matt Holliday's contract to move him.  He's owed $13.5M for 2009 and has approximately $8M left on his contract right now.  That number will be about $5.5M at the trade deadline.
• Olney heard that baseball executives expect the Indians to start seriously shopping Mark DeRosa soon.  Olney thinks that the Cardinals, Mets and Cubs make the most sense and figures he'll end up in St. Louis.

Jayson Stark has a new column up on espn.com with a number of good rumors in it.

• The Padres are still interested in trading Jake Peavy despite their recent success. Clearly they don't believe they can sustain it. As far as Peavy is concerned the pecking order of teams he'd accept a trade to is: Dodgers, Cubs, Giants, Cardinals and Astros. Everyone is familiar with the Cubs attempts to get Peavy and word is that the Padres are reluctant to trade within their division, removing the Dodgers and giants. Peavy's friend, Roy Oswalt, has done his best to entice management to make a trade, but Peavy's hefty contract is keeping the Astros away.
• Speaking of Oswalt, a few scouts who Stark talked to said that he had "lost his edge" and could probably benefit from a change in scenery. Rumor has it that the Phillies have already inquired to Oswalt's availability.
• Philadelphia's interest/need for a pitcher is well known. Earlier in the week there were rumors that the Phillies were interested in Brad Penny of the Red Sox. Stark reports that they've also had some inquiry into the following guys: Oswalt, Peavy, Brandon Webb, Roy Halladay, Doug Davis, Erik Bedard, Cliff Lee, Aaron Harang, Penny, Chris Young and Jason Marquis.
• If and when the Phillies do acquire a pitcher, they'll likely have to give up one of the following prospects whom clubs are rumored to be interested: "Lou Marson, infielder Jason Donald and pitcher Carlos Carrasco -- plus catcher Travis D'Arnaud, shortstop Freddy Galvis, pitcher Kyle Drabek and outfielder Dominic Brown."
• The Braves want to take Mark DeRosa off the Indians hands, but seem unlikely to trade some of their young starting pitching to do so.
• Rumors about Jeff Francoeur's availability and who's interested in him are all over the map, but Stark reports that the Braves are "mostly listening" at this point.
• The Mets do not appear to interested in a quick trade to replace Carlos Delgado at first.
• Jonathan Sanchez is available from the Giants...for the right bat. They've already inquired, unsuccessfully, to obtain Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu and Carlos Lee.

Gordon Edes of Yahoo! Sports put together a posting yesterday with a number of different trade scenarios.

• The Nationals have been shopping Nick Johnson to both the Mets and Red Sox recently. Word last week was that the Red Sox rejected overtures of a Johnson for Manny Delcarmen deal and Edes reports that the Sox were unwilling to part with Michael Bowden as well.
• While nothing much has been discussed between the two teams, the Nationals are reportedly interested in Jon Niese, Mike Antonini, Eddie Kunz and Bobby Parnell.
• The Red Sox are also reportedly interested in Jeff Francoeur.
• Edes suggests both Jose Valverde from the Astros and Mark DeRosa from the Indians for the Rays. DeRosa would replace the recently injured Akinori Iwamura. The Astros figure to ask for Wade Davis in return for Valverde from the Rays.
• Buster Olney from espn.com mentioned earlier today that the Phillies are interested in Brad Penny. Edes says that we can add the Brewers, Royals and Twins to the list.
• Similarly, Olney suggested that Jack Wilson could be a fit for the Red Sox and Edes suggestes Jhonny Peralta as well.

Buster Olney of espn.com has a bunch of good trade fodder in his most recent post:

• The Red Sox have had about six different conversation regarding trading Brad Penny. However, most of these talks seem to include inquires into young pitchers like Manny Delcarmen, Clay Buchholz or Michael Bowden whom the team is reluctant to trade. The Phillies are a possible destination for Penny.
• Cincinnati is in the market for outfielders.
• Jeff Francoeur and the rest of the Braves outfield has been terrible and they are expected to look for replacements soon.
• Jack Wilson has been in deadline trade rumors for the better part of the last three seasons, but there might finally be a logical fit this season with the Red Sox.
• The Giants need a bat, preferably a corner outfielder, but are not finding much on the market.
• Troy Glaus is looking less and less likely to return to the Cardinals this year which means they need to find a long term solution to replace him. Mark DeRosa of the Indians and Garret Atkins of the Rockies seem like logical candidates.

Peter Gammons of espn.com broke down the early trade market in his latest column.

• The Nationals will likely try to move Nick Johnson and Austin Kearns and are looking for bullpen help.
• Nick Johnson for Manny Delcarmen was floated between the Nats and Red Sox, but Boston wants to wait and watch David Ortiz's progression.
• Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee are not available according to Indians general manager Mark Shapiro, though he did field one inquiry about Martinez which he quickly declined.
• With Jhonny Peralta moving to third base, that opens up the possibility to trade Mark DeRosa Shapiro conceded.
• The Cardinals tried to entice the Red Sox with Khalil Greene, but Boston wasn't interested.
• The As and Padres face dilemmas when it comes to trading their superstars, Matt Holliday and Jake Peavy, respectively. Holliday is a rent-a-player and Peavy's huge contract makes him difficult to trade. But, more than anything, Gammons cites the differences in the Rangers trading Mark Teixeira with 1.5 years left vs. when the Braves traded him with just 3 months left. The haul brought in by the Rangers was significantly greater. If the As and Padres wait too long, they may not get much at all.

Let's look at the latest Cubs rumors:

• In response to whether trade talks between the Cubs and Padres for Jake Peavy would reopen after the Mark DeRosa trade which has freed up some money for Chicago to spend, Kevin Towers told Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports that it was "doubtful". Similarly, Towers told Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union Tribune that the Cubs recent trades are not likely to impact trade talks between the two teams for Peavy.  Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times agrees with Towers statements.
• The sentiment seems to be that the $8M that the Cubs have freed up for 2009 is to assist with signing Milton Bradley.  Bradley is reportedly looking for three years and $30M.  Wittenmyer notes that the Cubs are still confident that they will sign Bradley and Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune contends that Chicago is Bradley's top choice. Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio takes it another step and says that Bradley landing in Chicago is a "done deal".  Levine also reports on Aaron Miles signing a two year contract with the Cubs.