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Archives for February 2009

Phillies Rumors: Will Ohman, Dennys Reyes

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Cameron Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer has the latest on the Phillies’ pursuit of a reliever.

Will Ohman’s agent Page Odle spoke of a "real good positive conversation" with the Phillies over the past week, but GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said the dollars would have to be "extremely modest."  Odle said Ohman is open to a one-year deal with a contender.  The Mets are the other main suitor, but they are also in bargain mode.

Smith spoke to Dennys Reyes, who said his agent has been talking to the Dodgers and A’s.  But Reyes did talk to the Phillies back in December.  He is also focused on signing with a contender.

The Phils do have in-house options, plus Amaro suggested he could find a righthanded reliever with the ability to retire lefties.

Durham Turns Down Offer From Nationals

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According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, free agent second baseman Ray Durham turned down a minor league offer from the Nationals potentially worth $850K plus incentives.  Durham would require more than that, and is 50-50 on retirement.  The offer from Washington was Durham’s first of the offseason.

A note from Crasnick regarding the Cardinals:

The Cardinals, who expressed interest in Durham earlier this winter, released second baseman Adam Kennedy on Monday. But early indications are that St. Louis plans to fill the void from within. If general manager John Mozeliak does pursue a free agent, Orlando Hudson would probably rank ahead of Durham on the priority list.

Durham, 37, authored a strong .380 OBP in 426 plate appearances last year.

Dodgers, Jeff Weaver Agree To Terms

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8:38pm: Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News writes that Weaver will "compete for a bullpen spot in spring training, NOT for the fifth spot in the rotation."

7:33pm: Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that the Dodgers have agreed to terms with Jeff Weaver on a minor league contract.

The deal comes with an invitation to spring training.  Weaver, 32, will make $500,000 next season if he makes the club, but that seems like a longshot.  He has struggled mightily since winning a World Series with the Cardinals in 2006 and finished last season with a 6.20 ERA. 

Plus, he’ll have to outpitch Jason Schmidt, Claudio Vargas, Eric Stults, Ramon Troncoso and Shawn Estes to win the fifth spot in the starting rotation.  His willingness to work out of the bullpen might help, but there’s also plenty of competition there.

Giants Sign Rich Aurilia

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8:03pm: Henry Schulman says the deal is done.  Aurilia will earn $1MM if he makes the team.

11:54am: According to Ken Rosenthal, "Rich Aurilia will return to the Giants on a minor-league contract.  Aurilia, 37, chose the Giants over the Cubs and Phillies.  His deal is expected to be finalized on Monday."  Henry Schulman learned that the Blue Jays were also in on Aurilia, and the Astros made a Major League offer early in the winter.

Aurilia hit .283/.332/.413 in 440 plate appearances last year, but he does handle lefties well for the most part.  Though their deals are not guaranteed, the Giants having both Aurilia and Juan Uribe in camp may be another sign that they’re backing off on Joe Crede.  At the least, Crede would have to come down from his $7MMish demand for the Giants to sign him.

Cardinals Second Baseman: Who’ll It Be?

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St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz doesn’t believe the Cardinals will fill their second base vacancy via free agency, but rather will look for the solution in-house.

[GM John] Mozeliak and management want to do what they can to give MLB opportunities to members of the heralded player-development system, and this was a chance to do so.

Miklasz lists Brendan Ryan, Brian Barden, Joe Thurston, Tyler Greene, Jarrett Hoffpauir and Skip Schumaker as candidates to take the job.  Ryan has the most experience as a Cardinals infielder, but he hit just .244/.307/.289 in 197 at-bats last season.

Schumaker is a solid hitter, but will have to prove this spring that he can play the infield.  As Miklasz writes, "It’s a big leap of faith to assume that Schumaker can convert from the OF to 2B. It would be much easier, the other way around."

O’Dowd: Rockies Have Turned Page On Beimel

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As Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports, the Rockies are no longer interested in free agent lefty Joe Beimel.  MLBTR covered this last week, but it seems to be a bit more official now.

"It’s highly unlikely that we would sign him," Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said Monday. "We’ve turned the page and moved on."

The Rockies already have the left-handed Alan Embree on their roster and another lefty, Glendon Rusch, was given a non-roster spring training invitation.  The Phillies are still on the lookout for a left-handed bullpen arm and could become suitors for Beimel.

Padres Invite 20 To Spring Training

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MLB.com’s Corey Brock has compiled a list of the Padres’ non-roster spring training invitees:

Right-handers Kevin Correia, Chris Britton, Greg Burke, Matt Buschmann, Gabe DeHoyos, Will Inman, Mat Latos, Edwin Moreno, Oneli Perez and Mark Prior; left-handers Arturo Lopez and Nick Schmidt; catchers Eliezer Alfonzo, Mitch Canham and Colt Morton; infielders Peter Ciofrone, Chris Burke and Kyle Blanks, and outfielders Chad Huffman and Cedric Hunter.

Padres GM Kevin Towers has said that Correia and Britton have a good chance of making the squad.  Burke’s versatility might also get him a nod.

Rays To Sign Morgan Ensberg

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5:42pm: Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune spoke with Rays VP of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman, on Monday about the Ensberg signing.  The club has talked to their new acquisition about possibly filling in at a corner outfield spot this season.  Ensberg told ESPN.com earlier today that he’d be willing to play second base or left field.

12:36pm: According to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick, the Rays have agreed to a minor league contract with Morgan Ensberg. He can earn $650K if he makes the team out of Spring Training.

Ensberg’s production has declined since 2005, when he hit 36 home runs, but he’d be a backup for the Rays, who already have Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena on the corners.

As Crasnick points out, DRaysBay was on this signing Friday.

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