The Traders Arena Blog

Here is the MLB Talks and Rumors of the day so far:

• The Nationals have serious interest in free agent outfielder Milton Bradley. The Cubs have been Bradley’s number one team, however the Nationals have jumped into the running. However, it is likely that Bradley will sign with the Cubs. The announcement of the signing may be held off though until the Cubs Convention in mid January. If the Nationals do not grab Bradley, they still have Adam Dunn and Orlando Hudson on their radar. Due to not signing Mark Texeira, they have some money to spend and would like to sign a solid player. The Nationals are not at all interested in Manny Ramirez, seeing they already have five right handed OF signed.
• With the Cubs moving some salary around and trading for 3 young pitchers, are the Cubs looking to get back into the Jake Peavy talks? GM Kevin Towers says it is doubtful. The problem isn’t Peavy’s 8 MM salary next year, but the 16 MM he would get in 2010. They would probably be able to get the deal done with the addition of those 3 youn prospects and some of the Cubs prospects, but the real problem is the money issue.
• The Orioles have made their final offer to Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami. The terms are not disclosed, however the Orioles worry about his throwing shoulder and have offered an incentive based deal. This means the base salary will be low, but if he meets some milestones in pitching (maybe 125+ IP or something to that effect), he will get a raise. His agent is holding out to try to get a higher base salary. Chances are the deal would be a short term deal.
• The Rangers have agreed to terms with reliever Derrick Turnbow. It is a one year deal, he will make 925,000 if he makes the majors and can make an extra 325,000 if he reaches some incentives. The likely factor in his decision was that the Rangers pitching coach is Mike Maddux.
• The Cubs have signed C Paul Bako to a 500,000 deal. He will be a capable backup to Geovany Soto.
• The Mets pursuit of Derek Lowe might take longer than they are hoping. Lowe will likely not sign for 12 MM a year. The Mets can probably go up to 3 years, 40 MM, but not too much more. It is also possible that the Mets are making this low offer because no one has else made him an offer. The other team likely to have wanted Lowe was the Red Sox, but they signed Brad Penny and really don’t need another starter. On the Mets radar as well is Oliver Perez, Jon Garland, and Randy Wolf. There are many suitors for Wolf and Garland, so they may want to work quickly to find out what is up with Lowe before losing their other options.
• Barry Bonds plans to play in 2009. He had hip surgery with the intent on playing this coming year. He would possibly be ready by opening day, but also has to worry about a court date in mid March, where he is on trial for lying under oath about the Balco Drug scandal.
• No updates on the possible Erik Bedard / Hideki Matsui deal.

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