Scott Podsednik Rumors
Quick Hits: Freese, Podsednik, Jurrjens, Goldschmidt
Yesterday, the Cardinals avoided arbitration with David Freese on a one-year, $3.15MM deal, which took care of all of their unsigned arbitration eligible players. However, the third baseman says that he wants to be in St. Louis for life, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "If a long-term deal is going to happen I know for a fact that I have to do some things. I have to be a leader. I have to do what I do on the field. I have do the things expected of me," Freese said. Here's more from around baseball..
- Teams are interested in Scott Podsednik but he likely will need to wait for one that wants more help, suffers an injury, or misses out on a free agent like Michael Bourn, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Earlier today, we learned that the Twins haven't ruled out making a play for the outfielder.
- Orioles General Manager Dan Duquette says he hopes to have the Jair Jurrjens situation resolved by the start of spring training, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The Orioles have yet to finalize their one-year, $1.5MM agreement with the pitcher and are believed to be concerned about his knee.
- Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers says he approached Paul Goldschmidt about a long-term deal but the 25-year-old wanted to wait before talking about it, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Goldschmidt won't be arbitration eligible until after the 2014 season and isn't scheduled to hit free agency until the winter following the 2017 season.
Central Notes: Tigers, Twins, Podsednik, Wainwright
The Tigers are showing a lot of faith in 22-year-old Bruce Rondon by making him the frontrunner for the closer role, but Detroit would be better served by having legitimate closing options to choose from, opines Dave Cameron of Fangraphs in a piece for ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd). Developing your own closer rather than paying free agent prices for one is a good idea, but Cameron believes that the Tigers should probably have someone to hold down the fort while Rondon gains some big league experience. Here's more from the AL and NL Central..
- The Twins haven't completely ruled out free agent outfielder Scott Podsednik, but nothing is close to being imminent, writes Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. So far this offseason, the Twins have appeared to be the only club with serious interest in the veteran.
- A Twins official told Wolfson that there isn't much to the news of 41-year-old free-agent pitcher Jose Contreras was working out at the Twins' Fort Myers facility. When asked if it was meaningful or random, the official simply said, "Random."
- Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright says that extension talks won't derail him during spring training as they did five years ago, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. General Manager John Mozeliak hopes to work out a new contract with Wainwright by Opening Day while Wainwright says that he isn't setting a deadline for talks.
- Edwin Jackson is considered an important piece in the Cubs' rebuilding process, both as an experienced starter under contract through the projected turnaround years and in the short-term as support for the rotation in the event of a likely Matt Garza trade this year, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Twins Notes: Podsednik, Sweeney, Parra, Bartlett
Despite indications to the contrary, the Twins never called to inquire about the availability of pitcher Anibal Sanchez, according to Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500. Sanchez, of course, re-signed with the Tigers for five years and $80MM earlier this offseason. Here's more out of Minnesota, courtesy of Wolfson..
- The Twins still have interest in free agent outfielder Scott Podsednik, but they're not looking to sign free agent outfielder Ryan Sweeney. We recently learned that the Mets aren't among the teams in on Podsednik. The club had brief talks with Sweeney's representatives earlier in the winter.
- Minnesota had interest in signing free agent starter Freddy Garcia in December but they haven't checked in on him since. The Twins have also cut off contact with free agent pitcher Manny Parra. The Twins, along with the Reds and Rockies, were said to be interested in Garcia late last year.
- The Twins have not inquired about free agent shortstop Jason Bartlett, nor free agent second baseman Kelly Johnson.
- The Twins never made an offer to shortstop Cesar Izturis, who signed a minor league deal with the Reds on Wednesday. General Manager Terry Ryan & Co. never had an interest in free agent starter Aaron Cook before he signed with the Phillies either.
- Minnesota could have free agent starter Armando Galarraga on a minor league deal but aren't interested in him. The right-hander hooked on with the Astros on a minor league contract last year after being cut by the Orioles.
New York Notes: Hairston, Pavano, Francisco
Mark Hale of the New York Post has a number of updates related to New York’s two teams. Here’s the latest (all links go to Twitter)...
- The Mets remain interested in Scott Hairston, Hale reports. GM Sandy Alderson has checked in on a number of outfielders, including Jason Kubel and Justin Upton of the Diamondbacks.
- Agent Dave Pepe, who represents free agent right-hander Carl Pavano, said there’s some mutual interest between the Mets and his client. "We clearly have an interest and I think they do too,” Pepe told Hale. “We’ll see where it goes.” The agent added that Pavano’s workouts are going well and that he’s drawing interest from multiple teams.
- The agent for Scott Podsednik said the Mets haven’t shown any interest in the free agent outfielder, Hale reports.
- Agent John Boggs said the Yankees and Mets are among five teams to express interest in free agent outfielder Ben Francisco. Playing time will figure into Francisco’s decision, according to Boggs. The right-handed hitting Francisco has a career line of .252/.329/.414 against left-handed pitching.
- The Yankees don’t have interest in Jim Thome, Hale reports.
Twins Notes: Myers, Harden, Alvarez, Diaz, Gomez
Here's the latest on the Twins, courtesy of 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson...
- The Twins had numerous discussions with Brett Myers before the right-hander signed with the Indians, but they never made him an offer.
- Rich Harden's minor league contract with Minnesota includes a July 31st opt-out date according to Wolfson. The right-hander can elect free agency if he's not added to the big league roster by then.
- The Twins will have a scout on hand to watch outfielder Dariel Alvarez and infielder Aledmys Diaz tomorrow. The two Cuban defectors are hosting a workout for teams.
- The club has had "brief talks" with free agent outfielders Ryan Sweeney and Scott Podsednik after trading both Ben Revere and Denard Span this offseason.
- The Twins have talked about Brent Lillibridge and Yuniesky Betancourt, but they're likely to sign elsewhere. Minnesota also has interest in Brandon Inge.
- The Indians have reached out to several teams about Jeanmar Gomez, including the Twins. Gomez was designated for assignment earlier this week and Cleveland has ten days to trade, release, or waive him.
Red Sox Sign Scott Podsednik
The Red Sox have signed Scott Podsednik to a Major League contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Boston traded the outfielder to the Diamondbacks in the Matt Albers-Craig Breslow trade, but Arizona released him a few days later.
Podsednik, 36, hit .387/.409/.484 with six steals in 70 plate appearances with the Red Sox this year and .242/.308/.291 in Triple-A. The veteran speedster also missed a little more than two weeks with a groin strain earlier this season.
Diamondbacks Release Scott Podsednik
The Diamondbacks have granted Scott Podsednik his release after he declined an assignment to Triple-A, reports Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic (on Twitter). Arizona acquired him as part of the Matt Albers-Craig Breslow trade earlier this week.
Podsednik, 36, hit .387/.409/.484 with six steals in 70 plate appearances with the Red Sox this year and .242/.308/.291 in Triple-A. The speedy outfielder also missed a little more than two weeks with a groin strain earlier this season.
Red Sox To Acquire Craig Breslow
The Red Sox will acquire left-handed reliever Craig Breslow from the Diamondbacks, Jack Magruder of FOXSportsArizona.com reports (Twitter links). The Red Sox will send Matt Albers and Scott Podsednik to Arizona to complete the trade.
Boston had been seeking left-handed relief. The Angels were also looking at Breslow, according to Magruder. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe first reported that the Red Sox might acquire Breslow.
Breslow has a 2.70 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 43 1/3 innings this year. The 31-year-old earns $1.8MM and will go to arbitration again this coming offseason. He's on track to reach free agency following the 2013 season.
Podsednik, 36, posted a .387/.409/.484 batting line in 70 plate appearances this year, but missed substantial time with a groin injury. He earns $750K at the MLB level and will become a free agent after the season.
Albers has a 2.29 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 39 1/3 innings so far in 2012. He is earning $1.08MM this year and will remain under team control as an arbitration eligible player through 2013.
Photo courtesy of US Presswire.
East Notes: Nationals, Youkilis, Podsednik, Red Sox
After 8,020 games, the Mets finally have their first no-hitter in franchise history thanks to Johan Santana's brilliant performance tonight against the Cardinals. Santana's bid was saved in the seventh inning by Mike Baxter as he sacrificed his body to make an incredible catch against the leftfield wall. The left-hander threw 134 pitches in total but said after the game that he had no intentions of coming out of the game early. Here's more out of the Eastern divisions..
- According to a baseball source, there is a feeling that Bryce Harper is not the long-term answer in center field for the Nationals and the club still has interest in Angels outfielder Peter Bourjos and Twins outfielder Denard Span, a source tells Bill Ladson of MLB.com. However, the source said there haven't been any talks between the Nats and those clubs and wouldn't be the surprised if nothing happened until the offseason.
- Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis told Ian Browne of MLB.com that he's not fazed by the recent trade talk surrounding him. Boston GM Ben Cherington denied a report saying that they are telling teams that the veteran is available but the White Sox and Rangers are among the clubs that have checked in on him.
- The Red Sox could be forced to cut veteran outfielder Scott Podsednik once Darnell McDonald or Cody Ross return, writes Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal. For his part, the 36-year-old doesn't sound ready to hang 'em up just yet. "Until I can't go out and steal a base, until I'm not running that well, I'd be doing myself an injustice by not trying to go out and play," Podsednik said.
Red Sox Acquire Scott Podsednik From Phillies
The Red Sox have acquired Scott Podsednik from the Phillies, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The Phillies will receive cash considerations for the outfielder and he will report to Triple-A Pawtucket, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com (Twitter links).
Podsednik, 36, has not appeared in the majors since 2010 when he played for the Royals and Dodgers. The Red Sox were said to be scouting the veteran roughly three weeks ago as they have been on the lookout for a left-handed hitting outfielder.
The outfielder hit .254/.340/.396 in the Phillies' and Blue Jays' farm systems in 2011 and signed a minor league deal with the Phillies last fall. For his big league career, Podsednik owns a .279/.340/.381 slash line.
|
|
