Winter Meetings 2013 – Monday live blog

Today starts the 112th Baseball Winter meetings in Orlando, Florida at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort.  They we last until the 12th.  Today, we will have a live blog keeping with today’s events and some reactions to those happenings.

8:10 am: Jon Daniels said he isn’t done with his offseason spending just yet.  Daniels is still looking for another big bat for the outfield.   The Texas Rangers are still have a possibility of bringing back Nelson Cruz.  Also, there is still word about bringing in Shin-Soo Choo.

8:11 am: Two big names to keep an eye on are Masahiro Tanaka and David Price.  The Texas Rangers could jump in on Masahiro Tanaka posting, which is $20 million, to sign the Japanese pitcher.   Also, there is still word that the Tampa Bay Rays are shopping David Price.   At first it seemed the Texas Rangers were a possibility to make a play for him, but that now seems unlikely.

8:18 am: Fox Sports Midwest  to hire Tim McCarver to do a limited number of Cardinals games next season.

8:20 am : According to Jeff Wilson

"“Jon Daniels and his staff will consider that before delving into a contract with Shin-Soo Choo or Nelson Cruz, even though the Rangers wouldn’t lose a pick re-signing their own free agent.“Cruz is a draft pick,” Daniels said. “If someone else signs him, we get a draft pick. So, those things matter. You talk about building for the long term and trying to balance the here and now with not wanting to see the pipeline dry up, those things count.”"

The Rangers should make a play for Choo, but Cruz will probably come cheaper with less years.

8:24 am: Other news, Heard there’s ZERO percent chance Papelbon is the Phillies closer next year.  – Jen Royle

8:25 am : Jarrod Saltalamacchia to be introduced today as a Miami Marlin at 3pm in Orlando.

8:26 am: The Texas Rangers have shown interest in Matt Kemp.  If he’s healthy, it’s a good idea, but last year he only played in 73 games.   Last year Kemp had issues with his shoulder, hamstring and ankle.  He also missed the postseason.   Kemp has a batting average of .293/.350/.493/.844 with an average of 26 home runs per season.   Kemp is currently on a contract with the Dodgers through 2019 worth about $21 million.

8:33 am: With the signing of Robinson Cano, the Seattle Mariners are seeking to add David Price.  This would make sense.  The Mariners need to make another big splash to make the Cano signing worth while.

8:34 am : Ron Washington on @MLBNetwork on Moreland: We tried to get him to understand we still have hope for him in our organization. (1B, DH, OF.) -Jamie Kelly ‏

8:40 am – Ron Washington still says Soto will the most of the work behind the plate.

9:08 am – Bobby Cox unanimously elected to hall of fame. #braves – Jon Heyman

9:09 am – Tony La Russa also unanimously elected. – Jeff Passan

9:10 am -Tickets go on sale today, December 9, at 11 a.m. CT/10 a.m. MT for all Rangers 2014 Spring Training games to be played in Surprise, AZ.

9:14 am – Joe Torre also in the Hall of fame.

9:38 am –  Blue Jays to make announcement at 12:30 ET today at Winter Meetings in Orlando.

9:41 am – “Hearing Blue Jays press conference today is not necessarily related to a player move.” – Jon Morosi

9:41 am – “The Dodgers have reportedly called the Rays to ask about Price, who may be moved during this week’s winter meetings if the right deal comes along for Tampa. The Dodgers are not expected to go hard after Price, but have told the Rays to keep them in mind.” from Call to the Pen

The Rays seem to be wanting to deal David Price.  Some rumor suggest they are shopping him, but it’s doubtful he’ll be traded.  It is probably least doubtful he’ll be a Texas Rangers.  The initial word was they wanted someone like Mitch Moreland and a Profar or Andrus person.  The Rangers are probably sticking with Moreland and will not let go of Profar or Andrus.

10:00 am – Roy Halladay and Blue Jays will announce a 1-day contract at press conference.  He will retire as a Blue Jay – Jon Heyman CBS.

10:15 am – Torre said Bill Belichick once told him that players win games but teams win championships. – Pete Abraham

10:18 am – Great article about the Halladay retirement from Call to the Pen. Former Cy Young Winner Roy Halladay Is Retiring http://calltothepen.com/?p=237261 

10:20 am – Old news, but Yankees signed catcher Brian McCann.  Rangers picked up J. P. Arenciba to back up Geovany Soto.  And that’s ok.  Arencibia will do ok, reports show he’ll bat better in Arlington.  Also, this leaves room for the top prospect Jorge Alfaro to some day catch for the Texas Rangers.

10:39 am – Salty scheduled to be introduced by Marlins here at Winter Meetings about 3 pm – Rob Bradford

10:53 am – Another great piece about the Halladay retirement by the Jays Journal. – Roy Halladay Retires as a Blue Jay http://jaysjournal.com/?p=16085 

10:54 am – Joey Gallo at winter meetings to receive Joe Bauman Award for hitting most homers in minors in 2013. – Jeff Wilson

11:10 am – Giants add themselves to the pack looking to sign Nelson Cruz

12:11 pm -“@mlbtraderumors: Phillies Actively Shopping Domonic Brown http://t.co/0jUWj7jqO2 #mlb”

1:37 pm – “@JeffWilson_FWST: Joey Gallo trains 5 days a week in Vegas w/Jason Giambi, Troy Tulowitzki. Both, but especially Giambi, working with him on hitting. #Rangers”

1:43 pm – “@espn_durrett: For those asking about Andrus, remember #Rangers listen to anything and everything. But I’m told they aren’t discussing him now.”

2:10 pm – Great quote from Evan Grant 

"By mid-day Friday, Seattle had heard that some team bid nine years and $225 million for Robinson Cano, so the Mariners upped their bid to $240 million and 10 years before apparently realizing the initial bid had come from themselves, too."

2:35 pm – Colon market heating up. Orioles, mets, others. If it’s 1 year deal, it’ll be significant number, maybe $10M plus.  Jon Heyman.

Should the Rangers be in on this?  This is a move that wouldn’t cost them Profar or Elvis.

2:47 pm -According to T.R. Sullivan (MLB.com), the Rangers “may have other tricks up their sleeves but right now at the Winter Meetings they appear focused on free agent outfielders Nelson Cruz and Shin-Soo Choo . . . although the Rangers are concerned about the price.” – From Newberg.

The Rangers clearly are not done with their offseason activity.  Rangers top priority should be draw interest to Nelson Cruz and try to sign Shin-Soo Choo.  It will probably cost them to get Choo, but they will be better in doing so.

Elvis is a trade option, but only for something big in return.  This could be a move by the Rangers to help drive up the value on Price.  If Seattle goes in on him, they could over pay to get Price.

To my, you do not want to lose Profar/Andrus playing in the infield.  You do have some options with Sardinas and Odor, but it wouldn’t be the best option to have two young guys in the infield.  Elvis is experienced, keep him there.

3:00 pm – Teams seem to very interested in Nelson Cruz.  Good news is, if someone else picks him up, the Texas Rangers will receive a top round draft pick from that team.  Also, as unlikely as it is, rumors are still going around that David Price could be involved with a trade to the Rangers.  I still see it as highly unlikely.  Rangers could focus on Masahiro Tanaka instead and not lose anyone in the process.

3:15 pm – Rep 4 Nelson Cruz met w/ the Rangers today; expectation is there could be another meeting tonight. He’s wanted back by Texas. – Buster Olney

3:57 pm – Rangers’ comfort level with Cruz has been two-year deal, plus an option. Cruz wants 3 years from them. – Buster Olney

4:15 pm – Buster Olney asked three execs today to speculate on where David Price would land — speculate, mind you — and they all guessed: Seattle.

8:42 pm Late addition  – Rumors are Nelson Cruz turned down five years for $75 million from Mariners.