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Archives for January 2009

Heyman’s Latest: Pedro, Alou, Pudge

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The latest from SI.com’s Jon Heyman:

  • Some baseball people believe Omar Minaya will bring Pedro Martinez back to New York once Oliver Perez signs. Minaya loves Pedro and Pedro may prefer to return to the Mets
  • The Phillies have about $3MM left to spend; Heyman wonders whether Moises Alou would sign for that kind of money.
  • The Phillies have also considered Rich Aurilia and Nomar Garciaparra, but Aurilia may simply return to the Giants if they have room for him.
  • Heyman says Ivan Rodriguez makes the most sense for the Marlins, but adds that they have little money to spend.
  • Jeff Moorad’s attempt to buy the Padres will almost certainly go through.
  • Heyman makes one clarification about Milton Bradley’s deal after viewing the contract. It’s a two year $20MM deal with an option for a third year that kicks in if Bradley spends fewer than 75 days on the DL this year.

Rockies Lock Up Ubaldo Jimenez

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WEDNESDAY, 5:27pm: Renck adds more specifics. If Jimenez is dealt before the contract’s final year, he can void the 2014 club option that could cover his first year of free agency.

TUESDAY, 3:04pm: Contract details from Renck: "It’s a four-year, $10-million deal with two club options, that if exercised, would bring value of contract to $22.75 million."  The club options were crucial for the Rockies, said Dan O’Dowd.

12:06pm: The Rocky Mountain News says the deal locks up Jimenez through 2012 and has club options for 2013 (his final arb year) and 2014 (his first free agent year).  Renck says Matt Cain’s deal may be a comparable.

11:38am: Renck says the Rockies signed Jimenez to a four-year contract.  I believe that will leave Jimenez unsigned for one arb year (2013) before he’s eligible for free agency.

TUESDAY, 8:33am: According to Troy Renck and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, the Rockies hope to sign starter Ubaldo Jimenez to an extension.  Jimenez is open to the idea.

The 25 year-old with the blazing fastball had a fine 2008, posting a 3.99 ERA in 34 starts.  His control needs work, but his 54.4% groundball rate meshed nicely with Coors Field.  Jimenez won’t be arbitration-eligible until after the 2010 season.

The young pitchers recently signed to extensions aren’t good comps for Jimenez – Cole Hamels is a Super Two and one of the game’s best, while Zack Greinke is an odd case having earned $1.4MM in his first arb year.  If Paul Maholm signs an extension, that might be a good match (despite the difference in service time).

Joaquin Benoit May Be Out For Season

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Rangers reliever Joaquin Benoit had rotator cuff surgery Tuesday, which may make him unavailable for 2009 (or at least the first half).  Benoit was not terribly useful in ’08 anyway, and perhaps the Rangers have known about the injury for some time.  So today’s news may not affect their plans greatly, but they are known to be in the market for a reliever.  Here’s a look at the remaining free agents.

Cubs Rumors: Bako, Looper, Wolf, Uribe

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Fresh off scooping the Cubs’ acquisition of Aaron Heilman, ESPN Radio’s Bruce Levine has more info about the team’s plans.

  • Levine says the Cubs will sign backup catcher Paul Bako to a one-year, $750K deal once they clear a spot on the 40-man roster.  The 2-for-1 Heilman trade takes care of that.
  • The Cubs are still looking at Braden Looper and Randy Wolf if they aren’t able to reignite the Jake Peavy talks.
  • The Cubs have Juan Uribe on the radar as a bench bat and backup infielder.

Cubs Acquire Aaron Heilman For Cedeno, Olson

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11:39am: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says the Mariners acquired Cedeno and Garrett Olson from the Cubs for Heilman.  Essentially, the Cubs moved two out of options players in Cedeno and Felix Pie to get Heilman, who they’ve coveted for a while.  The Mariners did well here, adding a back-rotation candidate in Olson and competition for Yuniesky Betancourt in Cedeno.  They released Randy Messenger to make room for the pair.

Bruce Miles says Heilman will be given a chance to start for the Cubs.

10:55am: Ken Rosenthal confirms the deal, saying the Cubs are on the verge of landing Heilman for Cedeno and a minor league pitcher.  The deal is expected to be announced today.

10:25am: According to ESPN Radio’s Bruce Levine, the Cubs are close to acquiring pitcher Aaron Heilman from the Mariners.  The Ms want shortstop Ronny Cedeno and pitching in return.  Heilman was dealt to Seattle in the J.J. Putz trade earlier this winter.  Earlier this month, Ken Rosenthal mentioned that the Mariners were likely willing to trade Heilman, "who they did not consider a key component of the Putz trade."

Heilman, 30, is set to earn $1.625MM in ’09.  He’ll be eligible for free agency after the 2010 season.

Levine also mentioned that three teams are interested in out-of-options Cubs hurler Rich Hill.

Odds and Ends: Sherrill, Kubel, Teahen

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Links for Wednesday…

Bobby Abreu Lowers Expectations

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WEDNESDAY: Buster Olney says Abreu is now willing to take a one-year deal.  He speculates that teams such as the Mets, Braves, Angels, Giants, and Red Sox might be able to afford that (again, that is Olney’s speculation).

TUESDAY: According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, free agent outfielder Bobby Abreu has lowered his expectations to the three-year, $10-11MM range of Raul Ibanez and Milton Bradley. 

The Dodgers, Reds, or Braves could get in on Abreu, but I imagine they’d still balk at the price.

Rockies Rumors: Beimel, Fogg, Benson

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The latest on the Rockies from Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post…

  • It seemed the Rockies had satisfied their need for lefthanded relievers by signing Alan Embree and Glendon Rusch.  However, Renck says they may renew interest in Joe Beimel if the price is right.  I’m not sure what Beimel is asking for, but two years and $5MM seems appropriate (in hindsight, the Yankees may have overpaid for Damaso Marte at three years, $12MM).
  • Josh Fogg still has an "open invitation" to sign a minor league deal to return to Colorado.  Fogg signed with the Reds on February 21st last year; you have to imagine he’d like to resolve his situation more quickly and have a normal Spring Training.
  • The Rockies aren’t interested in Kris Benson, though they did attend his Saturday workout.

D’Backs Closing In On Deal With Garland?

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11:20pm: MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert has a source saying the D’Backs and Garland are closing in on a deal.

4:56pm: According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks have resumed contract discussions with free agent starter Jon Garland.  Piecoro says Garland initially turned down an Arizona offer in the two-year, $13-14MM range.  It’s unclear which side restarted talks, but maybe that offer is starting to look better to Garland.

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