Monday night update: What things look like right now

that the deal is Freel AND a mid-level prospect for Hernandez. The hold-up is the Reds wanting the Orioles to kick in some $$$$.

Freel and a prospect? Ummm, no thanks, I’ll pass.

Jay Leno is staying at NBC after his Tonight Show run is done. He’ll be on every night at 10pm. That sounds like a really bad idea.

Hernandez had a couple of good years with San Diego and 1 with the Os. Looks like he’s beginning to fad. He did get in 133 games last season. I’d hate to give Rameriz

now I’m worried…

Wow… Gotta love that veteran presence.

of Joe Beimel?

.323 wOBA averaging Marcel/Bill James.

Give him 500 PAs and league average defense and he’s about +3 WAR.

I don’t know if he’s a league average defender. knock him down 5-10 runs and he’s still pretty valuable at even $8 million.

It says here that a straight-up Jonathan Sanchez for Encarncion deal seems unlikely. If not a straight up deal, then maybe….

Encarnacion to SF, Alonso to LA, Sanchez to LA, Beltre and Ethier to CIN. Probably we’d have to kick in another prospect to SF.

Sure, it’s biased, but it’s fun.

C’mon you wanker I’ve got you right where I want you…..

Reds heart Francoeur?

Another interesting tidbit from Monday came via a Major League source, who said the Reds may have some interest in Jeff Francoeur. But the Braves are still providing every indication that they aren’t actively shopping Francoeur.

And MLB Trade Rumors adds this blurb:

Jon Heyman says the Mets appear to be closing in on a deal with K-Rod, likely for three years and about $37MM. The gap was apparently closed when the Mets guaranteed a third year. Just a year ago, a lesser, older free agent closer, Francisco Cordero, received four years and $46MM.

per Rosenthal. Arizona looks like it’s trying to shed as much money as San Diego this winter. Snyder hit .237/.348/.452 last year as the starting catcher.

Bill Hall going to the AL? Per Ken Rosenthal via C. Trent:

The Brewers were close to re-signing third baseman Mike Lamb on Monday, a move that could lead to a trade of Bill Hall.

The Yankees are among the teams that have expressed interest in Hall, who could fill a utility role in both the infield and outfield for New York.

However, Hall’s remaining salary — $6.8 million in 2009 and $8.4 million in 2010 with a $9.25 million or $500,000 buyout for 11 — would be a significant obstacle to any deal.

The Yankees also have interest in Brewers center fielder Mike Cameron, who — like Hall — is close friends with the team’s principal free- agent target, left-hander CC Sabathia. Hall and Sabathia attended the Oscar De La Hoya fight Saturday in Las Vegas.

Lamb will rejoin the Brewers at the minimum salary, with his previous team, the Twins, paying the rest of the $3 million that he is owed in 2009. Lamb and Hall could form a left-right platoon at third for the Brewers if no trade is made. —Ken Rosenthal and Ed Price

Please, please let this happen.

Jon Heyman says talks are dead for now, and that Bailey “surely” would not be enough to get such a stud as Dye. i hate Jon Heyman because im 10 times smarter than he is.

Dem Bums signed Casey Blake and Mark Loretta today. Blake got a three year deal worth $17.1 million, and Loretta signed a one year deal worth $1.25 million to be the primary backup infielder at all four positions. You gotta wonder about a three year deal for Blake, since he will be 38 by the end of it. But maybe this helps make Adrian Beltre expendable, right bbjones?

1. Even if he’s no better than Hanigan, I’ve got no problem swapping Hernandez for Freel. Sure, he’ll cost too much money, but (a) it’s not likely to block another move, and (b) it isn’t my money. If you think Hanigan should start, and Hernandez will be no worse, then there won’t be a step down to the “backup”; if Dusty decides on Hernandez’s veteraniness over Hanigan, it won’t be detrimental.

2. Reason #583 I don’t understand the Dye talk. Nick Swisher is likely to be a better player in ‘09 and in the future, is 7 years younger, is cost-certain for 3 years (3/$21M plus $10.25M/$1M buyout), and didn’t bring anything near Bailey++ on trade. Swisher would have been a much, much better option for the Reds.

From MASN via mlbtraderumors.com:

“An agent who represents one of the Orioles told me that the club is "as close as it’s been” to trading catcher Ramon Hernandez.

We assume that Hernandez is going to the Cincinnati Reds, but it’s interesting that the Milwaukee Brewers apparently jumped into the mix. That’s what this agent was told by one of his contacts in Milwaukee. He said the Brewers regard Hernandez as an upgrade over Jason Kendall.

Kendall hit .246 with two homers, 49 RBIs and a .324 slugging percentage. He played in 151 games, an unbelievable total for a catcher.

His defense was exceptional this season, so we’ll have to define “upgrade.”

Again, Hernandez is likely headed to Cincinnati, but the Brewers at least were part of trade discussions at some point, and might be lurking in the shadows."

Who decided to send this guy to Vegas? He added a new blog entry 30 minutes ago. He informed us that hasn’t heard anything new and then quotes MLBTR. Nice work!

Contract Info
Signed a $72 million, six-year contract in December 2003. Tejada received a $12 million signing bonus, with $4 million payable in 2004 and $2 million each in 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011. He receives yearly salaries of $3 million in 2004, $9 million in 2005, $10 million in 2006, $12 million in 2007, $13 million in 2008 and $13 million in 2009.

So if my math is wrong, and it always is, Miggy will be due $13M in ‘09, plus bonuses of $2M each the following 2 years. So that’s $17M for ONE year of a 34-year-old SS, when we already have a 32-year-old $5.875M (including 2010 buyout) SS who is a giant question mark.

We’d be giving up prospects for a one-year rental that would have us spending over $23M at SS. I’m sure the Astros will take on some of that salary, but I can’t imagine that they would ever take on enough for this to be a good idea.

has been a GM for 16 seasons with 4 winning, 9 losing and 3 – .500 seasons. His team has only gone to the playoffs one time. We probably would have gone the strike year as well.

Another guy who has been around frever, with pretty lousy results, is Dombrowski. He has benn a GM for 20 years with 4 winning seasons, 13 losing seasons and 3 – .500 seasons. His teams have won 2 Wilcards, 2 Pennants and 1 WS.