From Nick Cafardo’s Sunday notebook in the Boston Globe:
It looks more and more like [Howie] Kendrick will be involved in a deal that would land the Angels some pitching or prospects. The Royals seem like a good fit as they attempt to solve their second base issue, and Kendrick would be a nice bat in that lineup. But what would the Royals give up? The Orioles are another possible fit with Brian Roberts’s tenure possibly ending soon. The Orioles haven’t decided to cut ties with the free agent, but they certainly wouldn’t re-sign Roberts for more than one season with his injury problems.
The Angels shopped Kendrick at this year’s July 31 trade deadline and received interest from multiple teams, but obviously no move was made.
Kendrick is owed $9.35 million next season and $9.5 million in 2015 -- reasonable salaries for a consistently productive second baseman. Anaheim badly needs an influx of reliable starting pitching -- young or old -- and there aren’t going to be many good options for improvement on the free agent market this winter.
Kendrick, 30, batted .297/.335/.439 with 13 home runs, six stolen bases, 55 runs scored and 54 RBI in 122 games this year. He hit .287/.325/.400 with eight homers, 14 steals and 67 RBI in 147 games in 2012.
