Red Sox Attempted To Acquire Hanley Ramirez
According to Jon Heyman and Tom Verducci of SI.com, "the Red Sox made a play to re-acquire Marlins superstar Hanley Ramirez after losing out to the rival Yankees for star free agent Mark Teixeira." The Marlins listened, but no agreement was reached and talks have ended. The Marlins coveted players such as Jacoby Ellsbury and Clay Buchholz, but they’d need to be bowled over to trade their young shortstop.
Ramirez, 25, is signed at a discount through the 2014 season. Juan C. Rodriguez says trading him would make no sense for the Marlins.
Dodgers Interested In Dunn, Abreu
4:28pm: A very Dodgers-centric day here at MLBTR. MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports that in addition to Dunn, the Dodgers will soon open up talks with Bobby Abreu. They’d like to move Andruw Jones or Juan Pierre if they sign an outfielder.
Gurnick adds that pitching is Ned Colletti’s priority – the Dodgers are eyeing Jon Garland, Randy Wolf, and relief help.
1:46pm: According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Dodgers contacted Adam Dunn‘s agent over the holidays to express interest. If the Dodgers sign Dunn, Manny Ramirez could be in a really bad place. Other teams showing interest in Dunn: the Cubs, Nationals, Mariners, and Orioles. All five teams have surfaced in prior reports, with the Brewers also getting a mention while they were mulling a Mike Cameron trade.
There was a report nine days ago stating that the Cubs are Dunn’s first choice. Today Stark puts it this way: "The Cubs had believed to be his top choice before the Dodgers entered the mix."
Rockies Rumors: Redding, Marquis, Fogg
Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post has the latest on the Rockies’ pursuit for back-end starting pitching.
The Rox "remain firmly in the mix" for free agent Tim Redding, who also has the Mets and Orioles in pursuit. Renck suggests the Orioles’ signing of Mark Hendrickson could cause them to back off, though Jeff Zrebiec wrote today that the Orioles want to add at least two starters.
Jason Marquis is also on Colorado’s radar, but they "can’t absorb hardly any" of his $9.875MM salary. The Cubs are seemingly looking to save at least $3-4MM here. Renck adds that Josh Fogg is another possibility for the Rockies, on a minor league deal.
Marti, Gomez Defect From Cuba
According to ESPN’s Enrique Rojas, pitcher Yadel Marti and outfielder Yasser Gomez defected from Cuba to seek MLB careers. They’ll need to get to the Dominican Republic first. Rojas talked to a talent scout who considers both players MLB ready.
Blue Jays Sign Michael Barrett
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Blue Jays signed catcher Michael Barrett to a minor league deal. Barrett, 32, accepted the Padres’ offer of arbitration in December of ’07. He injured his elbow in April and broke his nose in July, resulting in a second consecutive lost season.
2010 Options
Today let’s take a look at the 2010 options – there are 38 of them, as far as I can tell. Do you agree with these groupings?
Likely To Be Exercised
Josh Beckett (30) – $12MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Carl Crawford (28) – $10MM club option with a $1.25MM buyout
Akinori Iwamura (31) – $4.25MM club option with a $250K buyout
Cliff Lee (31) – $8MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Victor Martinez (31) – $7MM club option with a $250K buyout
Magglio Ordonez (36) – $15MM club/vesting option with a $3MM buyout (will probably vest)
Matt Thornton (33) – $2.25MM club option with a $250K buyout
Brandon Webb (31) – $8.5MM club option with a $500K+ buyout
To Be Determined
Doug Brocail (43) – $2.85MM club option with a $250K buyout
Coco Crisp (30) – $8MM club option with a $500K buyout
Alan Embree (40) – $3MM club option with a $250K buyout
Pedro Feliz (35) – $5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Ryan Franklin (37) – $2.75MM club option with a $250K buyout
Ramon Hernandez (34) – $8.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Masahide Kobayashi (36) – $3.25MM club option with a $250K buyout
Kevin Millwood (35) – Rangers can decline $12MM salary for ’10 unless he reaches 180 innings in ’09
Melvin Mora (38) – club option
Miguel Olivo (31) – $3.25MM mutual option
Vicente Padilla (32) – $12MM club option with a $1.75MM buyout
J.J. Putz (33) – $8.6MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Luis Vizcaino (35) – $4MM club option with a $500K buyout
Tim Wakefield (43) – perpetual $4MM club option
Jack Wilson (32) – $8.4MM club option with a $600K buyout
Unlikely To Be Exercised
Rafael Betancourt (35) – $5.4MM club option
Frank Catalanotto (36) – $5MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Jermaine Dye (36) – $12MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout (unlikely that both sides will exercise)
Adam Eaton (32) – $9MM mutual option with a $500K buyout
Ross Gload (34) – $2.6MM club option
Alex Gonzalez (32) – $6MM mutual option with a $500K buyout
Tim Hudson (34) – $12MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout
Geoff Jenkins (35) – $7.5MM mutual option with a $1.25MM buyout
Austin Kearns (30) – $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Noah Lowry (29) – $6.25MM club option
Freddy Sanchez (32) – $8MM club option with a $600K buyout
Yorvit Torrealba (31) – $4MM mutual option with a $500K buyout
Billy Wagner (38) – $8MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Yasuhiko Yabuta (37) – $4MM club option with a $500K buyout
Dmitri Young (36) -$6MM option vests with 500 PAs in ’09
Odds and Ends: Teixeira, Pujols, McLane
Links for Monday…
- Daniel Cabrera passed his physical for the Nationals.
- Tony Massarotti writes that the Red Sox had a shot at Mark Teixeira. The Scott Boras camp was proposing $176MM guaranteed for eight years with vesting options that could’ve brought the total to $220MM over ten years. Ultimately the Yankees beat Boston’s offer by $10MM, with no options and a full no-trade clause.
- Viva El Birdos looks at what the Teixeira contract means for Albert Pujols. Will Albert seek the largest contract in baseball history? The Cardinals have him through the 2011 season.
- RotoAuthority looks at the power/speed shortstop options for fantasy baseball leagues.
- Astros owner Drayton McLane is the second owner to publicly admit he wants a salary cap (Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said it right after the Teixeira signing). Interesting take on the salary cap by Dan Symborski at Baseball Think Factory.
- The best of Big League Stew’s Answer Man series.
Chass On Collusion
My theory on the late-moving free agent market: teams are just being cautious, aiming for January bargains on players like Adam Dunn, Brian Fuentes, Derek Lowe, Orlando Hudson, and Ben Sheets. Plus, many free agents wanted to wait out the Mark Teixeira negotiations to see who’d have money and needs afterward.
Murray Chass suggested another possible explanation in yesterday’s article. He talked to "one prominent agent," who said, "There are a lot of rumblings that all the teams know exactly what everyone is doing with free agents." Chass recalled the "information bank" of twenty years ago, when teams formed a database of all their offers. Rob Manfred, executive VP of labor relations and human resources, offers a less sinister explanation: most offers are leaked out to the public.
Chass talked to another agent who believes budget cutbacks are to blame, which is hard to argue. Chass’ article also discusses the salary cap issue, which he more clearly calls a payroll cap.
Hendrickson, Orioles Reach Agreement
MONDAY, 7:49am: According to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles reached an agreement with Hendrickson. The O’s still want to add another starter.
SUNDAY, 10:26pm: Spencer Fordin of MLB.com adds information about how Hendrickson will help the Orioles. Fordin writes how Hendrickson’s presence will allow prospects more time to develop in the minor leagues.
Fordin also mentions that Baltimore has reportedly been in close negotiations to land Japanese free-agent pitcher Kenshin Kawakami.
8:59pm: Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com is reporting that free-agent pitcher Mark Hendrickson and the Baltimore Orioles are working on a deal to bring the starter to Baltimore.
The announcement, pending a physical, is slated for early this week.
Hendrickson has played with four different franchises since 2002, Kubatko wrote. The 6-foot-9 left-hander is 50-63 with a 5.07 ERA in 215 career games. He was 7-8 with a 5.45 ERA with the Florida Marlins in 2008.
Red Sox Reach Deals With Bard, Penny
9:59pm: Ian Browne of MLB.com weighs in on Bard. He discusses the catching situation, and in particular, how the Red Sox will use Bard if free-agent Jason Varitek returns to the franchise.
SI.com points out Penny’s Interleague numbers: 7-11 with a 5.08 ERA in 24 appearances against American League opponents. Penny has spent his entire career in the National League.
8:41pm: Rob Bradford of WEEI.com spoke with Brad Penny, who confirmed his deal with the Boston Red Sox.
From Bradford:
“There were a lot of teams involved,” said Penny in a phone conversation. “But I wanted to go somewhere where I knew we had a great chance at winning, and Boston is that place.”
Bradford adds that Penny will be in Boston on Jan. 7 to take his physical and will begin his throwing program next week.
Bradford also updates the status of Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, who has started exercises on his throwing shoulder, which is earlier than in years past. Bradford’s post states that the injury that plagued Beckett at the end of the 2008 season has subsided. The injury centered around the intercostal muscles near the ribs and not the oblique as previously thought.
7:33pm: Free-agent catcher Josh Bard has reached a one-year deal with the Boston Red Sox, Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald and Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe are reporting.
The Bard agreement is a nonguaranteed major-league deal worth $1.6MM. According to McAdam, Bard is viewed as a backup, but he could see more time depending upon what Boston decides to do at catcher.
Bard, 31 in March, spent seven games with the Red Sox in 2006 before Boston traded him to the Padres. He hit .202 in 57 games with San Diego in 2008.
McAdam has more on the Brad Penny deal, too. The agreement, a one-year deal with a base salary of $5MM, will be finalized Monday. Incentives and performance bonuses can increase the total deal another $3MM if Penny pitches more than 160 innings, McAdam reports.
Penny, 31 in May, went 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA in 17 starts and two relief appearances in 2008 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The right-hander played 4.5 seasons for the Dodgers. He played with the Florida Marlins from 2000 until he was traded in 2004.
With the addition of Penny, the Boston rotation now consists of Penny, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester.
The move also allows righty Justin Masterson to remain in a setup role for closer Jonathan Papelbon.