Rich Aurilia Still Talking To Giants
Andrew Baggarly has a little bit of info about free agent first baseman Rich Aurilia. Aurilia’s agent is having ongoing conversations with the Giants, and the team considers him their top option for a right-handed bat off the bench. A one-year deal seems likely, but Baggarly isn’t sure what’s holding up the process.
Aurilia, 37, hit .283/.332/.413 in 440 plate appearances while playing the infield corners. He earned $4.5MM, so a significant pay cut is in order.
Odds And Ends: Varitek, Markakis, Johnson
Links for Thursday night…
- Curt Schilling thinks the Red Sox need Jason Varitek.
- Buster Olney writes that some executives think Type A free agents like Varitek, Orlando Cabrera and Juan Cruz should sign soon instead of waiting until the season starts.
- Ken Rosenthal proposes a ‘Juan Cruz rule’ so that players like Cruz aren’t the ones hurt by the compensation system.
- Andy MacPhail provides some of the reasons he wanted to lock up Nick Markakis. He has plenty of good ones to choose from.
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post spoke with Nick Johnson, who "expressed no particular desire" to play in his home state of California.
- Kobe Bryant jokingly suggested that he could play left for the Dodgers instead of Manny Ramirez.
Ricketts Family Wins Bid To Buy Cubs
7:13pm: The Chicago Tribune itself also hears from sources that the Ricketts family has won the bidding to buy the Cubs. The bid is apparently for $900MM, but the family hasn’t yet worked out details with the Tribune Company.
5:30pm: The Tribune Company has chosen Thomas Ricketts as the favorite to buy the Cubs, an unidentified source told the Chicago Sun-Times. The article suggests Ricketts bid about $900MM.
8:44am: According to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times, the Tribune Company submitted a favorite among the three Cubs’ bidders to their creditors. It’s not known whether the favorite is Thomas Ricketts, Hersch Klaff, or Marc Utay/Leo J. Hindery Jr. This article had a more detailed look at the situation.
Luis Gonzalez Hopes To Play This Year
According to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, Luis Gonzalez wants to play in 2009, but says he could retire if he doesn’t get the right offer.
Gonzalez is working out to prepare for the season, but told Frisaro: "Maybe I will be one of those guys like Jeff Kent and retire."
Last year he signed with the Marlins in February for $2MM and went on to post an OPS of .749 in 382 PAs.
Minaya Hasn’t Asked Wilpon About Signing Manny
According to Danielle Sessa of Bloomberg.com, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said he hasn’t prevented the Mets from pursuing Manny Ramirez. Wilpon said Omar Minaya hasn’t proposed the idea:
"I don’t have the opporunity to say no because Omar hasn’t brought it to me as an option. Omar and the baseball staff aren’t interested."
Wilpon added that Minaya has "total flexibility" to pursue free agent starters.
Mariners Rumors: Griffey, Draft, Morrow
Ryan Divish of the Tacoma News Tribune collected a number of Mariners rumors from the team’s spring luncheon today.
- The chances of Ken Griffey Jr.‘s return to Seattle seem slim. Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said he plans on "taking the emotion out of signings."
- The Mariners appear to have made a "take it or leave it" offer to their 2008 first round draft choice, Josh Fields. Zduriencik did not say whether the team’s talks with the prospect have progressed.
- The Mariners plan on taking the best available player with their second overall pick in this year’s June draft. They will consider drafting elite high school players.
- Brandon Morrow and Aaron Heilman will compete for jobs in a crowded Mariners rotation.
Mets Finalize One Year Deal With Cora
The AP reports that the Mets finalized their one year contract with Alex Cora today.
We heard last week that the deal was for $2MM, but there are also incentives for Cora based on games started. He gets a $250K bonus for each of 110, 120, 130 and 140 games started. Cora hasn’t started more than 100 games since 2004.
Dodgers Are Lead Suitors For Wolf
According to Ken Rosenthal, major league sources say the Dodgers have the "inside track" on signing Randy Wolf. Such a deal would likely be for one or two years.
The Dodgers are talking with Jon Garland and Braden Looper as well as Wolf.
The Mets, who consider Wolf an alternative to Oliver Perez, are still talking with Ben Sheets and Pedro Martinez as well as Garland and Perez.
Brewers Reluctant To Add A Starter
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel heard from Brewers owner Mark Attanasio that he’s reluctant to add a starter because he wants to have some payroll flexibility heading into the season.
"If we add a starter now and get (beyond) the mid 80s and have some negative events, that would be a first for us."
The Milwaukee payroll currently sits between $80MM and $85MM, up from $80MM last year. Haudricourt does not expect the Brewers to sign "a starting pitcher who costs a lot of money."
GM Doug Melvin said in an MLB.com chat that Ben Sheets remains a possibility for Milwaukee, but they’re not currently in talks. The Brewers hear that Sheets is seeking a multi-year deal.
Glaus Unavailable For Opening Day
So far today I have avoided this story, because it didn’t seem to have much to do with the hot stove. It was revealed today that Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus had shoulder surgery that may keep him out until mid-April. John Mozeliak has plenty of internal third base candidates, but he did say, "We may also look at external options."