Rick Peterson Rumors

Quick Hits: Orioles, Cespedes, Dodgers

Links for Monday, as teams and players continue avoiding arbitration in advance of tomorrow's deadline for exchanging figures...

• Former A's, Mets and Brewers pitching coach Rick Peterson has accepted a job with the Orioles, MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko reports. The sides have been discussing a pitching-related role since last month.
• ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggests the Yankees could use their DH spot to see what Jorge Vazquez can do at the big league level or to give Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter partial days off (all Twitter links). The 29-year-old Vazquez posted a .262/.314/.516 line with 32 homers at Triple-A in 2011.
• The Orioles aren’t very high on the idea of having a DH-only player, Olney tweets. Because teams like the Orioles and Yankees are shying away from traditional DHs, veterans such as Vladimir Guerrero, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Manny Ramirez aren't finding a robust market for their services.
• Yoenis Cespedes has two hits with six strikeouts in 19 at bats in the Dominican Winter League, tweets Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com.
• Jim Callis of Baseball America includes Devin Mesoraco, Yonder Alonso, Mike Trout and Matt Moore on his 2012 all-rookie team in this week's edition of Ask BA.
• Many see Steve Cohen, whose net worth likely exceeds $5 billion, as the biggest threat to buy the Dodgers, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.

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Orioles Notes: Chen, Roberts, Peterson

Luke Scott hit 84 home runs with the Orioles from 2008-11, but his next homer will come as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. The 33-year-old agreed to terms with the Rays earlier today. Here's the latest on his former team... 

• Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen has “a good fastball and very good control and a good breaking ball,” GM Dan Duquette told Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Chen is a polished pitcher with the physical skills to become a frontline starter, Duquette said. The GM is looking to add durable arms to his rotation, since Jeremy Guthrie was the lone Baltimore pitcher to reach the 200-inning threshold in 2011.
• The Orioles remain concerned about Brian Roberts’ health and are looking for a leadoff hitter, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. He suggests Endy Chavez projects as the team’s leadoff hitter at this point.
• The Orioles have been negotiating with former Mets, Brewers and Athletics pitching coach Rick Peterson for more than a week about a pitching role within the organization, Connolly tweets. Duquette remains hopeful that the sides will agree to a deal.

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Odds & Ends: De La Rosa, Mariners, Thames

Links for Tuesday, as the GM Meetings commence in Orlando and we await the announcement of the NL Cy Young winner...

• The Pirates' top free agent target is Jorge de la Rosa, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  The Brewers, Rangers, Nationals, Yankees, and Rockies have also been linked to the lefty.  Correct me if I'm wrong, Pirates fans, but aside from Yoslan Herrera it seems the team's last multiyear free agent pitcher signing was Pete Schourek in December of 1998.
• The Mariners are expected to be limited to bargain bin shopping this winter, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.  They've got plenty of needs, but expensive free agents don't make sense until they're closer to contention.
• Meanwhile the Softbank Hawks are working on signing Marcus Thames, according to a Sponichi report passed along by NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman on Twitter.  Thames, 34 in March, was productive in a part-time role for the Yankees this year.
• Brandon Backe intends to pitch in 2011, his agent told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). He's recovering from a rotator cuff injury.
• The Rockies will keep an eye on Bartolo Colon in the Dominican Republic, GM Dan O'Dowd told Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, but Renck finds a signing a long shot (Twitter link).  MLBTR's Nick Collias filled us in on Colon yesterday.
• The Chiba Lotte Marines re-signed pitchers Hayden Penn and Bill Murphy, tweets Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times.
• Yankees GM Brian Cashman ruled out Leo Mazzone but not Rick Peterson for the team's new pitching coach, reports Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger.
• Joel Sherman of the New York Post muses on how the Mets should handle well-paid veterans Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, Carlos Beltran, and Jose Reyes.

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Brewers Notes: Peterson, Hannahan, James

The latest on the Brewers...

• Rick Peterson is officially out as the team's pitching coach, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Peterson was let go with a year remaining on his contract; Rosenthal notes that the Pirates, Mets, and Yankees have openings.  ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that Peterson will not be the Yankees' next pitching coach.  Rick Kranitz will replace Peterson for the Brewers, according to a team press release.
• The Brewers have interest in infielder Jack Hannahan on a minor league deal, tweets Rosenthal's colleague Jon Paul Morosi.  Hannahan, 31 in March, hit .237/.340/.374 in 392 Triple-A plate appearances this year while playing all around the infield.  UZR, an advanced defensive stat, indicates he's done good work at the hot corner in the bigs.
• The Brewers claimed reliever Justin James off waivers from the Athletics earlier this month; Baseball America's Casey Tefertiller digs into the righty's underdog story.
• A review: the Brewers have eight arbitration eligible players - Manny Parra, Joe Inglett, Kameron Loe, Carlos Gomez, Carlos Villanueva, Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, and Todd Coffey.  Inglett and Coffey are non-tender candidates, in my estimation.  The team's six free agents: Dave Bush, Craig Counsell, Chris Capuano, Trevor Hoffman, Doug Davis, and Gregg Zaun.  Counsell and Capuano are candidates to return.

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Latest Rick Peterson Rumors

MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reports that Rick Peterson is still the leading candidate to be named Milwaukee's pitching coach, and that Milwaukee likely tops Peterson's destination wish list.

But, as McCalvy put it, "the Brewers are looking at other coaches, and Peterson is reportedly looking at other teams."

Peterson told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that he was interested in Florida's opening.

"I think they can win and I think they can win very soon," Peterson said. "With their young pitching, obviously you have to keep them healthy and get a little more production out of them. That's pretty much been my track record in my career."

According to McCalvy, Peterson also reached out to the Reds, though he has yet to be formally interviewed by Cincinnati.

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