Rumor Roundup: Padres targeting Weaver, vets

The Hot Stove season is underway, and we’re keeping you up to date with the latest free-agent news, trade buzz, rumors and more.

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Weaver may move down coast to San Diego

The Padres continue to look for ways to fill considerable holes in their starting rotation, so it should come as little surprise to hear they are interested in free agent starter Jered Weaver, according to MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman. Heyman reports Weaver is just one of several veteran possibilities San Diego is considering.

Weaver, 34, is a three-time All-Star and former 20-game winner who just concluded his 11th season with the Angels. The former ace has seen his production fade in recent years, due in large part to diminished velocity. Weaver’s fastball averaged 83 mph last season, according to Fangraphs, making it the second-slowest in the Majors.

Weaver went 12-12 with a career-worst 5.06 ERA in 178 innings in 2016. He led the American League with 37 home runs allowed.

Still, he could provide a veteran presence to a Padres rotation that currently lists Christian Friedrich in its No. 1 slot.

Encarnacion has received six multiyear offers

Edwin Encarnacion’s agent, Paul Kinzer, when speaking on Sportsnet 590 The FAN Wednesday told show host Jeff Blair his client has “had multiyear offers from six different teams.”

Whether those offers are all currently on the table is unclear.

Encarnacion is reportedly seeking a four-year, $80 million deal, and Kinzer said Wednesday that type of deal is still possible. Kinzer told Blair most of the offers they have received are in the three-year range.

Per Kinzer, National League teams have shown interest in Encarnacion and “know he can play first.”

It is looking increasingly likely Encarnacion will not be back with Toronto next season and, per Kinzer, the “realization that he probably won’t be a Blue Jay” is beginning to sink in.

Encarnacion, who finished tied for third in the American League with 42 home runs and tied for first in the AL with 127 RBIs in 2016, has been linked to the Rangers, Athletics and Rockies in the past few days.

Bucs working on deal for Quintana

The Pittsburgh Pirates have tried to make a trade for Chicago White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported early Wednesday morning.

Per Olney, the Pirates have “worked hard” to acquire Quintana, who would perfectly fit Pittsburgh’s budget.

No deal is imminent for the lefty, who has $15.85 million remaining on his contract over the next two seasons with $10.5 million club options for 2019 and 2020.

It’s unclear exactly what the Pirates would have to give up to pry Quintana away from Chicago, but the left-hander’s reasonable contract only enhances his trade value.

Quintana went 13-12 with a 3.20 ERA for the White Sox in 2016 while being named to the American League All-Star team. The 27-year-old has pitched for the White Sox for his entire five-year career and has thrown at least 200 innings in each of the past four seasons.

Given his durability, talent and four years of club control, the southpaw has piqued the interest of a few teams this offseason, including the Yankees and Astros.

Padres considering Peavy reunion

San Diego has had discussions with free agent Jake Peavy about bringing the right-hander back, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Peavy is one of the best pitchers in Padres franchise history, having gone 92-68 and claiming two ERA titles and the 2007 National League Cy Young Award during the first seven-plus seasons of his career. Now entering his age-36 season, Peavy is coming off perhaps the worst year of his big league tenure, after posting a 5-9 record and career-high 5.54 ERA in 31 appearances (21 starts) for the Giants in ’16.

San Diego’s 2017 rotation is wide open, however, and Peavy would have a shot at cracking the Opening Day roster should he sign with his former club. Lin speculates that Peavy would likely be offered a one-year deal at this stage of his career.

Mets searching for center fielder

The Mets are actively exploring trade possibilities to acquire a center fielder, according to a report from MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal.

New York has been “semi-engaged” in trade discussions with several clubs, but has not built any momentum toward striking a deal, according to Rosenthal. Discussions with the Pirates about star center fielder Andrew McCutchen have been “off and on,” while the Mets don’t appear to have strong interest in the Royals’ Lorenzo Cain, who is set to enter free agency next winter, and Jarrod Dyson, whom New York views as similar to its current center fielder Juan Lagares in his limited ability to contribute offensively on an everyday level. Meanwhile, the Rockies appear to be hesitant to move Charlie Blackmon, and Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton doesn’t have a track record of getting on base that the Mets would prefer.

• Mets can still improve situation in CF

Making matters more complicated for New York is the fact that its depth chart is overcrowded in right field with left-handed hitters Jay Bruce, Michael Conforto and Curtis Granderson. The Mets would likely have to trade at least one, or perhaps two, of those players in order to acquire a center fielder, as well as replace one of the young pitchers that might also need to be dealt in order to check off the other positions on their wish list. Any of those three players would likely be a downgrade defensively in center field.

Shortly after Rosenthal’s report, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi added that the Blue Jays remain in discussion with the Mets about acquiring Bruce or Granderson, likely planning for the possibility that Jose Bautista decides not to re-sign with …

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