Rays Sign Isringhausen To Minor-League Deal
According to Mark Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times, the Rays have signed veteran reliever Jason Isringhausen to a minor-league deal.
Once one of the league’s premier closers, Isringhausen is coming off arguably his worst season in ten years. After posting a 5.70 ERA in 42.2 innings, he had surgery Sept. 12 to repair a torn flexor tendon. He lives in the Tampa Bay area.
Twins Closing In On Deal With Joe Crede
6:36pm: La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that there are indications that Joe Crede "is willing to sign for less than the $7MM base that we believed he was seeking."
Neal reached Boras, who would only say, "We are in discussions. Nothing has been finalized."
Neal adds that he spoke with another person with knowledge of the talks. "The sense I got was the that Smith and Boras could be one call from wrapping things up," Neal says. "But given the several weeks that talks have gone on – and with full-squad workouts set to begin – the Twins could decide to stick with what they have and move on."
6:04pm: According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, Giants sources say they are "not in last-minute negotiations" with Scott Boras regarding Crede. The Giants have told Boras they will not go beyond the one-year deal they have on the table.
4:11pm:According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Twins are closing in on a deal with third baseman Joe Crede.
Ortiz Comments on Teixeira’s Contract and His Own
David Ortiz indicates that he might have missed an opportunity for a Teixeira-like contract in this piece from Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. It is definitely worth reading in its entirety, but here are a few quotes from the Red Sox slugger:
- On Teixeira’s Contract: "He was put in a good situation. Everybody needed a player like him at the time and the market was wide open. He walked into a situation that was perfect for him, and on top of it he was a very good player. Everybody who performs at that level wants to be put in that situation."
- On Signing His Four-Year, $52MM Extension in 2006: "The market wasn’t like it is now. It wasn’t close to what it is now. The year after I signed my deal the market exploded with the big television deal."
- On His Next Contract: "I know it will be hard to get that kind of money a few years from now. I haven’t really sat down and thought about it. All my focus is about doing my thing. You work, try to get better every day for a reason. I’m not planning to go anywhere."
Ortiz is 33 years old and could have hit the free agent market at the age of 31 had he not signed his extension with the Red Sox. The contract includes a team option for 2011. Bradford notes that his $12.5MM annual salary is $1.5MM smaller than that of teammate J.D. Drew.
Heyman On Bay, Papelbon, Manny, Braves
The latest from SI.com’s Jon Heyman…
- Red Sox GM Theo Epstein says he’s had "casual conversations" about a contract extension with Jason Bay. We learned a few days ago that Bay is open to an extension but doesn’t consider it the "end-all, be-all."
- Jonathan Papelbon says he’s a "gambling man," and he prefers to go year-to-year rather than sign long-term. Boston’s offer was far off his expectations, and he wants to set the market for closers. Papelbon is under team control through 2011, and will earn $6.25MM in his first arb year.
- Heyman says there’s "some indication Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is about to become involved in the Manny Ramirez negotiations." Maybe that’ll get things moving.
- Heyman says the Braves will look at Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds, and Luis Gonzalez, though ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick has indicated the Braves aren’t interested in the veteran free agents.
- The Orioles’ acquisition of Felix Pie cost Edmonds a chance to sign with the team.
Odds and Ends: Lester, Arbitration, Beimel
Links for Friday…
- RotoAuthority hosts a roundtable discussion of the worst fantasy picks of the first three rounds.
- Nationals president Stan Kasten expects "heavy trade talk," given the team’s surplus of first basemen/outfielders. Nick Johnson is the most likely candidate.
- Mark Sweeney may be forced into retirement, according to Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News.
- Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal wonders if Jon Lester could be the next Red Sox player to get a long-term extension.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball analyzes the salary arbitration class of 2009.
- Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle has Astros GM Ed Wade explain split contracts.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes the Yankees outfielders and Scott Boras clients Xavier Nady and Johnny Damon have been affected by the Stanford financial scandal.
- MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan says Joe Beimel turned down a minor league offer from the Rangers about a month ago. Tough time to be a lefty reliever.
Nationals Avoid Arb With Ryan Zimmerman
1:49pm: The Nationals and Zimmerman still hope to hammer out a long-term deal, according to Harlan.
8:37am: According to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, the Nationals avoided arbitration with third baseman Ryan Zimmerman by signing him at $3.325MM for ’09 (the midpoint of the submissions).
The Nationals hope to sign Zimmerman long-term; they have him under team control through 2011. Back on January 26th, Nationals president Stan Kasten noted, "I know it’s just a coincidence that [Zimmerman and Ryan Howard] have the same agent who doesn’t seem to like to do long-term contracts before free agency," in reference to Casey Close.
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Friday
What’s Manny Ramirez up to as his peers report to Spring Training? Scott Boras says he’s spending his weekdays working out in Florida, but that a delicious cake like Manny "takes little frosting." Boras also explained to Bob Nightengale of USA Today how the Dodgers will be screwed if they don’t sign his client:
"Manny is now the face of that franchise. So it comes down to a choice of winning or losing. Dodgers fans know what life was like without him. And they know what life was like with him. The truth of the matter is that he makes that much of a difference."
The Dodgers’ one-year, $25MM offer remains on the table.
SportsTalk Soup Interview
I will be talking with SportsTalk Soup on Blog Talk Radio at 2pm CST today. At that time you can click here to listen.
O’s Sign Brian Roberts To Extension
10:44am: MLB.com’s Spencer Fordin reports that the deal is now official. Put it in the books. The Orioles have even issued a press release.
FRIDAY, 10:08am: MASN’s Roch Kubatko reports that Roberts passed his physical this morning. The O’s will announce his contract extension later today.
THURSDAY, 7:00pm: Zrebiec reports that the deal is done. Roberts confirmed that he took his physical today and the deal will be announced tomorrow. It’s a four-year, $40MM extension. Roberts feels that the O’s will compete sometime during the duration of his contract:
"I don’t think I would’ve made the commitment to even begin negotiations if I didn’t think that at some point in this process of the next four or five years that we wouldn’t have a chance to win,"
Roberts also voiced his desire to remain with one club for his entire career:
"In citing the reasons he wanted to get a deal done to stay in Baltimore, Roberts, who was married this offseason, pointed to the importance of loyalty and his desire to remain with one organization for his entire career," writes Zrebiec.
THURSDAY, 10:03am: Roberts on the deal: "Obviously, it’s fairly close to done."
WEDNESDAY, 6:09pm: The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec writes that the Orioles and Roberts are "finalizing" the contract:
The terms of the deal have been agreed to, but contract language and other details still need to be worked out before the agreement, which is expected to include at least a minor no-trade clause, is finalized, sources said.
Roberts has a physical scheduled for Thursday morning. A signature could come Friday.
4:17pm: Steve Melewski of MASN passes along a few quotes from Roberts. The second baseman spoke of making "huge strides" toward a deal.
3:06pm: MASN’s Roch Kubatko says the deal is "just about done," with only minor issues to be addressed. He says to expect an announcement Friday at the earliest.
11:44am: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says Roberts and the Orioles are close to a four-year, $40MM deal. Rosenthal implies the extension will begin with the 2010 season.
9:34am: According to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles are closing in on a four-year deal with second baseman Brian Roberts. Some details still need to be worked out.
Assuming the extension begins with the 2010 season, Roberts will be 36 at its conclusion. Is this the right move for a franchise trying to get younger?
Mets Don’t Have A Spot For Valentin
According to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News, the Mets don’t see a fit for Jose Valentin on the big league roster, and would rather him work as a player/unofficial coach for their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo.
Valentin, of course, has a different idea. "Right now I’m still a player and my goal is to make the team," said the 39-year-old middle infielder. He signed a minor league deal with the Mets a little over a week ago. If he still wants to play at the big league level, however, it’s probably not going to be in New York. The Mets already have Luis Castillo, Alex Cora and Ramon Martinez in camp.
Valentin didn’t reach the majors last season after struggling through serious neck issues for much of the year. He batted .182/.229/.333 in 33 at-bats for Triple-A New Orleans.