By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
ESPN.com’s Buster Olney heard the Royals are looking for ways to fit Orlando Hudson into their budget. Olney calls this a "terrific idea" that would likely give the Royals a "greatly improved lineup and a better defense."
Earlier in the week, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reported the Royals’ interest in signing a free agent before the season begins. Hudson would cost the Royals their second-round pick.
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
A few links for Saturday morning…
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News reports that the Dodgers have put their search for a lefty reliever on hold because talks aren’t progressing with Will Ohman, Dennys Reyes and Jamey Wright.
The Dodgers have added some lower tier arms and for now GM Ned Colletti says he’s happy to let pitchers such as Carmen Cali, Stephen Randolph and Scott Strickland compete with Jeff Weaver and others.
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
Lynn Henning of the Detroit News expects the Tigers to make a trade before the regular season, "perhaps a big one." Henning writes that the team could trade away starting pitching if Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis are healthy. Henning also mentions Marcus Thames and Ryan Raburn as possible trade candidates.
Willis and Robertson each have considerable negative trade value, as they’ll both make at least $7MM in 2009 and 2010. Unless the Tigers are willing to pay most of that, they’d have to trade one of their other starters: Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Armando Galarraga, Edwin Jackson or Zach Miner. Trading one of those starters would leave the Tigers with a thin rotation.
The Tigers don’t have a starting spot for Thames if Gary Sheffield stays healthy.
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
According to Christian Red of the New York Daily News, the Mets have agreed to sign Livan Hernandez to a minor league deal worth $1MM plus incentives. Hernandez can earn another $1MM in performance bonuses according to Red’s source.
Red points out that this signing is "another indicator that free agent Pedro Martinez will likely wear another uniform this season." Regis Courtemanche of MetsBlog writes that Omar Minaya said this morning the Mets’ rotation is set without Pedro, but Newsday’s David Lennon doesn’t rule out a Pedro return.
By Ben Jones | at
The New York Yankees have signed pitcher Brett Tomko to a minor-league deal, Tyler Kepner of The New York Times reports.
Tomko, 36 in April, went 2-7 with a 6.30 ERA for the Kansas City Royals and San Diego Padres in 2008. The right-hander made 10 starts and appeared 12 times in relief.
By Tim Dierkes | at
6:15pm: New Seattle Mariners first baseman Russell Branyan thinks Griffey wants to return to his first organization. Branyan said he visited with Griffey in January at his home in Orlando, Fla.
“He told me he’d love to come back here. … I asked him if we were going to be teammates again. He seemed very open to it,” Branyan said.
4:52pm: MLB.com’s Jim Street says dialogue continued today, but there’s no agreement yet. Griffey’s agent Brian Goldberg said he’s "keeping the information to a minimum with Junior while he’s playing in the Pro-Am tournament."
9:32am: According to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times, the Mariners and Ken Griffey Jr. "are moving toward finalization of a one-year, incentive-laden contract." At a golf tournament yesterday, Griffey did not seem to have much knowledge of the talks.
Geoff Baker offers thoughts on the expected Griffey signing over at his blog. Keith Law on ESPN Radio recently offered this thought: "This isn’t a baseball move, this is a marketing move."
By Ben Jones | at
Ken Gurnick of MLB.com spoke with Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti and manager Joe Torre about the Manny Ramirez saga.
Colletti said he speaks regularly with Ramirez’ agent, Scott Boras, about bringing the free agent outfielder back.
“There’s been some progress made, but obviously not enough to consummate a deal,” said Colletti. “We’re both clear on why we stand where we stand. Three months ago, it was guesswork more than anything else.”
Torre spoke directly with Ramirez on Tuesday. “He was his usual upbeat self,” Torre said. “I’ve told him a number of times to do what’s best for his family. He’s admitted he was comfortable playing in L.A. It comes down to satisfying both parties. You like to believe there’s a lot of romance, but he’s looking for length.”
Gurnick believes the Dodgers are ready to wait indefinitely for Ramirez. After all, they didn’t have him last season until July 31.
Ramirez, 37 in May, hit .332/.430/.601 for the Boston Red Sox and Dodgers in 2008.
By Tim Dierkes | at
According to the AP, arbitration hearings for Willy Aybar and Ervin Santana were postponed until next week. 11 other players also have pending hearings.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Given the number of journalists in competition these days, as well as the instantaneous nature of breaking news, it is very difficult to scoop a major baseball story. Let’s tip our cap to the journalists who were the first to report this winter’s biggest deals. I won’t list them here, but in many cases one person scooped the agreement and a second person had the terms. Many of these are open to interpretation due to the language used.
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