Another day at the Winter Meetings, another million rumors coming from a million tweets. That's just how things go in this day and age.
The subject of these rumors? Unsurprisingly, after Theo laid out his goals during yesterday's introduction of Adrian Gonzalez, are relievers and right-handed hitters.
We recap the rumors du jour after the jump.
First, the ones Jared has already covered during the day. You can find these well-discussed already in their respective comments sections:
- Magglio Ordonez (Sean McAdam) -- Ok, so technically yesterday, but close enough. Ordonez, of course, falls into the RHH category, providing plenty of pop against lefties so long as he can stay healthy. He's hit .347/.419/.537 against them over the last three years. Of course, at 36-going-on-37, that's far from a given.
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Carlos Beltran (Adam Rubin) -- Basically an extreme version of Ordonez, Beltran hits lefties better (.321/.398/.615 over the same period), has a bigger injury risk despite being younger thanks to his damaged knees, and of course costs a lot more. If the Sox can get the Mets to pay enough of that, though, he also brings a much better glove to the equation, a higher cieling, and in the unlikely case that arbitration doesn't end up being too dangerous to offer, would likely be at least a Type-B.
- Cliff Lee (Rob Bradford) -- No, not as a reliever. This seems like a very long shot, but the Sox have at least kicked the tires, however lightly. Right now Sox fans only have to consider whether they would rather the Yankees not get Lee, or whether they'd rather they have yet another player signed to a $20+ million contract well beyond the point where they're useful. I'm guessing probably the former.
Moving on to the rest...
- Arthur Rhodes (Jon Morosi) -- Arthur Rhodes is like Mariano Rivera in that he absolutely defies time. And while you can't necessarily count on him continuing to do so in 2011, you have to imagine that Rhodes could be very cost effective based on his last three seasons and likely low contract demands.
- Kevin Gregg (Ken Rosenthal) -- Rosenthal describes this as "multi-year" interest. I like that the Sox are showing a willingness to take a risk on a higher-ranked FA like Gregg, but does it really have to actually be Gregg? The guy's upside seems to be good-not-great while his peripherals suggest more of an average-not-good type. Seems like an almost guaranteed overpay.
- Brian Fuentes -- Wolf has done a much more in-depth job than I can here. All I'll say is that Fuentes would be nice against lefties, but as an all-purpose reliever doesn't wow me.
- Pedro Feliciano (Jon Morosi) -- I wanted to get this guy at the deadline, so sign me up. Feliciano has been very good for many years, with better peripherals than Gregg but seemingly far lest recognition. Even if Papelbon doesn't recover at all, a combination of Feliciano - Bard would be a great way to close out games.
- Andrew Miller (Gordon Edes) -- Yeah, the same one we traded for and then non-tendered. We're talking to him again. I don't even know at this point.
- Josh Willingham (Ken Rosenthal) -- If that "absurd" (rumored to be Felix Doubront) price doesn't come down, the Sox have two better options listed above.
- Carl Crawford (Alex Speier) -- Just to say they're not actually out on him.