Heading into the Winter Meetings...hopefully, there will be lots of happy things to blog about this week...
Kat O'Brien has a piece this morning, pretty clearly indicating that Barry Zito is at the top of the Rangers' wishlist right now. O'Brien says the Rangers could sign both Zito and Padilla, but it would mean filling the DH and CF slots from within (which, quite honestly, wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, in my opinion).
The Rocky Mountain News says that the Cubs have offered the Rockies Jacque Jones for Jason Jennings, a rather subpar offer, I have to believe. The Rangers are listed as one of several teams that are currently pursuing Jennings.
The Toronto Star says that Vicente Padilla's agent says that the Blue Jays are interested in Padilla. The Chicago Tribune says the Cubs are also interested, although there are other guys that appear higher on their list.
I get the feeling that Padilla is just about every team's Plan B.
The Washington Post drags out the old "maybe Baltimore can trade for Mark Teixeira" horse to beat some more, even though numerous reports have indicated that Teixeira isn't on the market.
There's also this bizarre item from somewhere in Western Pennsylvania, suggesting that, before the salary explosion of this offseason, the Pirates could have pried away Mark Teixeira from the Rangers, because Teixeira would cost more than the Rangers could pay him.
And the Chicago Tribune brings up the possibility of the ChiSox trading for Michael Young (erroneously claiming he's a free agent after 2007), and the Boston Globe makes a mention of Young to the BoSox (although they also quote Tom Hicks as saying the very idea is "insane."
I don't think either Teixeira or Young should be dealt, but if you really wanted to think about such a trade, Young to the ChiSox would be intriguing. If you could get, say, Brandon McCarthy, Josh Fields, and Brian Anderson from Chicago for Young, I think you'd have to at least think about that.
But in terms of picking a guy to build around long-term, I think that player should be Teixeira, not Young, mainly because of their respective ages and offensive potential. Let's say you lock up Young to a 6 year, $60 million extension (numbers that I've seen kicked around)...
Personally, I have a hard time seeing Young as a $10 million player in 2010, when he'll be 33, and likely no longer at shortstop.
And a 6 year, $60 million extension would take Young through 2014...