Carlos Beltran: His name hasn't come up very much in the last month and probably for good reason. He'll be 35 in April, and though he played in 142 games this season, he missed considerable time in 2009 and 2010 with injuries. Both the Mets and Giants decided he could no longer play center field, so he spent the entire year in right field. Still, Beltran figures to find a club (most likely an AL team) willing to shell out good money over several years for his services. http://www.csnwashington.com/blog/nationals-talk/post/Whom-might-Nats-pursue-in-free-agency?blockID=587468&feedID=6358
Offseason agenda: Ideally, the Rangers would sign or acquire a center fielder and shift Josh Hamilton to left field full time—in hopes of cutting down on the injuries that have shelved him in the past couple seasons. Trade candidates include the Tampa Bay Rays’ B.J. Upton and Minnesota Twins’ Denard Span; possible free agents include Grady Sizemore, Coco Crisp, David DeJesus and. Reed Johnson. After using the three-headed monster of Michael Young, Mike Napoli and Mitch Moreland at first base late this past season, Texas could fortify the position by making a big splash (Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder) or a smaller splash (Carlos Pena) in free agency. If not, the Rangers can continue to take advantage of Young's flexibility, who can play anywhere in the infield or DH, and Napoli, who also can catch and DH. http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/feed/2011-10/hot-stove-league/story/hot-stove-report-texas-rangers#ixzz1crPgnSyq
FoxSports.com is also reporting that the A’s will listen to offers on virtually any player on their roster, including left-hander Gio Gonzalez and right-hander Trevor Cahill. Gonzalez, 26, is 31-21 with a 3.17 ERA, 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings and 4.1 walks per nine over the last two years; he has pitched over 200 innings in both of the last two years, and made the All-Star team in 2011. He is arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason, and won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2014 season. http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2011/11/05/hot-stove-more-starters-could-be-dangled-in-trade-market
With free agency beginning on Thursday, Freddy Garcia and the New York Yankees plan to have further discussions about the right-hander returning to the rotation in 2012. "I think there is mutual interest," said Chris Leible, one of Garcia's agents. "I think Freddy had a good year and enjoyed playing there." Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Garcia's agents had a brief discussion prior to CC Sabathia being re-signed. Cashman wanted to bring Sabathia into the fold before fully determining the rest of his offseason plan. http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7185470/agent-freddy-garcia-new-york-yankees-show-mutual-interest
It all means that the Yankees will chase hard after the top pitchers on the free agent market: C.J. Wilson, Mark Buehrle, Edwin Jackson, Roy Oswalt and, if he decides to leave Japan, 25-year-old fireballer Yu Darvish. New York lost the Cliff Lee derby last year; don't expect them to let that happen again if they decide they have to see Wilson in pinstripes. The rotation could also be bolstered by rookies Dellin Betances and/or Manny Banuelos. Both are expected to start the season at Triple-A, but they're seen as potential top-of-the-rotation starters. Expect Cashman to also troll the free agent market for low-cost reclamation projects like Garcia and Colon -- pitchers from whom he can squeeze a decent season to buy time until Betances and Banuelos are ready for full major league workloads. If quality starters become available on the trade market -- Seattle's Feliz Hernandez, say, or Houston's Wandy Rodriguez -- Cashman could dangle catching prospect Jesus Montero as bait. Montero projects as an above-average hitter, but the Yankees are rich with catching prospects. Montero would be a valuable chip in the trade market. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stephen_cannella/11/02/al.east.hot.stove.preview/index.html#ixzz1crRWLnQV
I doubt they could get him, but I'd love the Mets to make a run at Gio.
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