Archives for January 2009

Rosenthal On Andruw, Nady, Lyon, Madson

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 3:00pm CDT

The Braves are pulling back for the moment in their search for an outfield bat. They’ll hope for a free agent bargain or the right trade. Rosenthal says they’re torn about Andruw Jones. The Braves seek a right-handed hitter but aren’t dead set on it. They were unwilling to meet the Yankees’ demands for Xavier Nady.
Brandon Lyon’s agent is telling teams he has a two-year, $9MM offer in hand (Kyle Farnsworth money). The Tigers or Twins are possibilities there, while the Cardinals may have offered one year. Jon Paul Morosi confirms Detroit’s interest, but says they’ve yet to make an offer. Morosi believes the Tigers have about $5MM left in their budget.
Ryan Madson turned down a three-year, $12MM extension from the Phillies. The Scott Boras client is eligible for free agency after the season.
Execs have all kinds of concerns with Oliver Perez: his flyball tendencies, frequent walks, and inability to reach 200 innings.
The Yankees have little interest in Ben Sheets and Freddy Garcia. The Rangers, Mets, and White Sox remain in the mix for Garcia.
The Brewers and other teams are in on Braden Looper, while the Orioles and Dodgers have backed off.
Edgardo Alfonzo is playing well in the Venezuelan Winter League and could make a comeback.

Braves Considering Tom Glavine, Andruw Jones

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 2:41pm CDT

The AP has an article up discussing the Braves’ consideration of free agents Tom Glavine and Andruw Jones.

Glavine will see a doctor next week, and then the Braves discuss a one-year deal with him. Glavine, 43 in March, had elbow flexor tendon surgery in late August.

Regarding Jones, GM Frank Wren said, "I want to discuss it a little more internally to determine which direction we want to go." Jones was released by the Dodgers yesterday. David O’Brien says the Braves are reluctant to offer Jones the Major League deal he craves.

Rays Sign Lance Cormier

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 12:51pm CDT

According to Marc Topkin, the Rays signed pitcher Lance Cormier to a $675K deal. They designated Dewon Day for assignment to make room. Cormier, 28, posted a 4.02 ERA in 71.6 innings for the Orioles in ’08. He did a fine job getting groundballs. Cork Gaines offers thoughts on the signing over at Rays Index.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Pirates, Hudson, Tigers, Braves, Dunn, Yankees

By Cork Gaines | January 16, 2009 at 12:17pm CDT

On this day 29 years ago, Albert Pujols was born. 2009 will be the sixth year of his eight year, $111MM deal (safe to say Cards will pick up his ’11 option). According to Fangraphs, Pujols has already been worth $151.9MM in the first five years of the contract ($30.4M per season), begging the question: How much will Pujols command following the ’11 season, when he will be 32? Last winter, Alex Rodriguez signed for 10 years and $275MM prior to his age 32 season. With less than a month to go before pitchers and catchers report, many players are still looking for their own new contracts. Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

River Ave. Blues expands on Baseball Prospectus’ case against a salary cap and how small-market teams likely would not be able to support a minimum payroll.
Bucco Blog says the value of young talent has kept the Pirates from rebuilding. Instead, the team has spent the last two years restructuring and are now moving on to the next phase.
Jorge Says No examines the market for Orlando Hudson and feels the Nationals have to make a play for the second baseman.
The Detroit Tigers Weblog takes a look at who is still available to close for the Tigers in ’09.
Infield Chatter says the Braves were forced to overpay for Derek Lowe.
Braves Blast takes a look at the Braves offseason and what is left to do: adding an outfield bat and extending Chipper Jones’ contract.
On Baseball and The Reds takes a look at Adam Dunn’s value, with the numbers suggesting he is not worth much more than $20MM over four years.
Pinstripes Published makes a case for the Yankees acquiring Lastings Milledge from the Nats, while The Chuck Knoblog argues for Elijah Dukes.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here. This is by far the best way to get your blog linked on MLBTR.

Indians Sign Matt Herges

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 12:04pm CDT

According to MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince, the Indians signed reliever Matt Herges to a minor league deal. Herges cashed in with a $2.5MM deal following a nice ’07 season with the Rockies, but he slipped to a 5.04 ERA in ’08. The main difference between the two seasons was Herges’ batting average on balls in play, so there is hope for a rebound.

Brewers No Longer Interested In Dunn

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 10:24am CDT

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy spoke to Brewers GM Doug Melvin, who indicated the team is no longer interested in free agent slugger Adam Dunn. The possibility was considered when the Brewers were discussing a Mike Cameron trade with the Yankees (Corey Hart would’ve moved to center field). Cameron and Hart are staying put.

Another scenario, which Ken Rosenthal discussed a week ago, is trading Prince Fielder and replacing him with Dunn. McCalvy doesn’t dismiss the idea outright, but notes that the Crew would be treading water in terms of lefthanded bats.

Odds and Ends: Putz, Mitsui, Varitek

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 9:45am CDT

Links for Friday…

Jacob Jackson proposes a new, simpler free agent compensation system.
Jon Paul Morosi says the Mariners wanted Fernando Perez from the Rays in the failed talks that would’ve brought J.J. Putz to Detroit. The Rays were unwilling to do this in part because B.J. Upton will be unavailable to start the season.
Koji Mitsui again failed to garner a bid from an MLB team.
Aaron Gleeman discusses the Twins’ decision not to use certain advanced statistics.
Tony Massarotti and Curt Schilling talk about the Jason Varitek situation.
Former GM Woody Woodward is back with the Mariners, as a scout. The Pirates added former Tigers GM Bill Lajoie as a senior advisor to Neal Huntington.
The Nationals have done little in the Japanese market, and they were never involved on Koji Uehara.

Russell Martin Hopes To Discuss Extension

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 9:09am CDT

According to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times, Dodgers catcher Russell Martin hopes to discuss a long-term extension with the team this winter. Martin changed agents this offseason. He’s arbitration-eligible for the first time, so his salary will jump up from $500K to several million. Said Martin:

"I just want to get treated fairly. I’m not trying to steal the bank."

Martin had a private lunch with the McCourts yesterday at the Dodgers’ new spring home, but they did not discuss a contract. Brian McCann will be paid $15.5MM for his three arb years, $8.5MM for his first free agent year, and has a $12MM club option for another. That deal was signed almost two years ago, however. Also, Martin is a Super Two player and under team control through 2012.

In other Dodgers’ notes, Shaikin adds that they’ve backed off on Juan Cruz. Jon Garland, Braden Looper, Randy Wolf, Andy Pettitte, Luis Ayala, and Dennys Reyes remain on the radar to varying degrees.

Garcia Considering Return To White Sox

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 16, 2009 at 8:54am CDT

FRIDAY: Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times believes the Colon signing "all but ends" the chance the Sox will pursue Garcia.

THURSDAY: According to Scot Gregor of the Chicago Daily Herald, Freddy Garcia is "strongly considering returning to the White Sox." Gregor says we shouldn’t be surprised to see Garcia sign a deal similar to Bartolo Colon’s within the next couple days.

When Kenny Williams was asked if his rotation’s set, he said "we’ll see," which Gregor believes is "code for no."

Minaya Comments On Adding An Outfielder

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 8:34am CDT

Mets GM Omar Minaya was asked last night on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove program about signing a free agent hitter. He indicated that the Mets might be able to sign someone to a one-year deal, once the team’s rotation is finished.

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