Yankees Notes: Damon, Matsui, Chapman
In his recap of the third day of the GM meetings, Lohud.com's Chad Jennings has a few quotes from New York GM Brian Cashman that hint at the Yankees' upcoming moves. Here are the highlights:
- When asked about retaining both Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon, Cashman says: “If I did that I wouldn’t have room for anybody else unless I made trades." Cashman seems to be referring to position players here, so how much flexibility they have to add pitching could be another story.
- It's a possibility that the Yankees could re-sign both Damon and Matsui, since they still trust Damon's ability to play left field. Matsui, on the other hand, would again be relegated to DH duty, although Cashman notes that another team could view him as an outfielder. Based on comments we heard earlier today, that seems unlikely.
- Expanding on whether or not the Yankees would be active in the trade market, Cashman was a little vague: "What necessarily fits and what doesn’t and asking prices, we’ll have to determine and work out. That’s all for another day."
- Jennings talked to one source who picks the Yankees and Red Sox as the most likely destinations for Aroldis Chapman. The source also said that Chapman's raw talent is just as good as advertised, despite his erratic control.
Top Stories Section
We wrote quite a few posts today, and it's easy to miss items. If you ever want to see the hard news in a quick glance, check the Top Stories section on the right-hand sidebar. And if you are really adamant on getting just the news and not the rumors, you can subscribe to MLBTR's Transactions-Only RSS feed.
Also don't miss out on our normal RSS feed (28K strong) and Twitter feed (inching toward 15K followers). No matter your opinion on Twitter, it is now a huge part of the hot stove coverage, so sign up if you don't want to miss anything.
Wasserman Media Group Clients
Today let's take a look at the Wasserman Media Group's free agent clients. Their best known agent is probably Arn Tellem. Here's the list:
Wilson Betemit
Aaron Boone
Nomar Garciaparra
Jason Giambi
John Grabow
Rich Harden
Shawn Hill
Ryota Igarashi
Reed Johnson
Jason Kendall
Hideki Matsui
Jason Michaels
Guillermo Mota
Vicente Padilla
Wily Mo Pena
Joel Pineiro
Matt Treanor
Randy Wolf
Omar Vizquel
WMG is light on regular position players this year, with Matsui and maybe Kendall qualifying. They've got several of the free agent market's top starters in Harden, Pineiro, and Wolf, with Padilla generating interest as well.
Trade Market: Designated Hitters
There are plenty of DH candidates on the free agent market, but trades are possible too. Here's our look at the DH landscape…
- Milton Bradley, Cubs. The Cubs seem certain to unload Bradley, perhaps on the Rangers, Mets, or Rays (obviously the Mets would have to use Bradley in the outfield). Surely by now you've memorized the fact that he's owed $21MM over the next two seasons.
- Luke Scott, Orioles. Scott came up in our left field analysis. He could fit the mold as an arbitration-eligible trade candidate, in the vein of Jeremy Hermida and Mark Teahen.
- Travis Hafner, Indians. I'm guessing Hafner can be had; he's owed $40.25MM over the next three seasons. His .272/.355/.470 line this year was a step in the right direction though.
- Jack Cust, Athletics. We mentioned Cust in that same left field post, wondering if the A's will tender him a contract next month.
- Pat Burrell, Rays. He's been linked to the Cubs in a possible Bradley swap, though the money doesn't match up and the Cubs would have to flip Burrell or else have ghastly outfield corner defense.
- Mike Jacobs, Royals. The only reason the Royals would tender Jacobs a contract next month would be to save face for last year's Leo Nunez swap.
- David Ortiz, Red Sox. No real indication that he's on the block, but Ortiz is owed $12.5MM next year and slumped to .238/.332/.462 in '09. If only he could have a mulligan on those first two months.
Varitek Exercises Player Option
3:47pm: Varitek exercised his option to return to the Red Sox, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
9:36am: Jason Varitek must decide on his $3MM option by midnight tonight, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Varitek must choose between his Red Sox ties and more playing time (and perhaps less money) elsewhere. We'll keep you updated.
Nightengale On Holliday, Sheets, Yankees
USA's Today's Bob Nightengale is cranking out the tweets…put this stuff in a column, Bob!
- He says the Red Sox met with Scott Boras about Matt Holliday, as a Jason Bay contingency.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Nightengale no one has heard from Ben Sheets or his agent. Back in October, assistant GM Gord Ash told the AP, "There's been once and a while conversations with his agent to remind that we still have that ongoing interest."
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman told Nightengale he didn't sit down with a single agent. Seems kind of weird.
- Talking to Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik, Nightengale learned that the team is still open to acquiring a DH despite re-signing Ken Griffey Jr.
- D'Backs GM Josh Byrnes told Nightengale the Super Two cutoff is two years, 139 days, leaving Mark Reynolds one day shy. That saves the team some bucks. But it looks as though Adam Jones, Mike Fontenot, and Micah Owings will be arbitration-eligible. Are Fontenot and Owings non-tender candidates?
Cardinals Interested In Xavier Nady
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak expressed interest in Xavier Nady and other Scott Boras clients, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Presumably Nady would be a low-rent option for left field. Of course, that's not the lead of Strauss' article – the focus is Matt Holliday and the Cards' attempt to sign him.
Mozeliak met with Boras for an hour Tuesday, but did not make an offer for Holliday. Boras then spoke to the media, disputing the notion that the Cardinals are a mid-market team:
"I don't know what a mid-market franchise is. That's like a midsize aircraft carrier. They all have the potential to have an economic bomb. If you're drawing 3.3 million fans and you're averaging $50 a fan coming in, I just don't know that mid-market term. I'm trying to think if that's part of the laissez-faire system. I don't know."
Boras-speak is always hyperbolic, but he makes this point every year and there's something to it. Baseball teams make a ton of money. The players deserve a lot of it.
Odds & Ends: Gordon, Uribe, D’backs, Igawa
Links for a busy Wednesday, as writers, agents, and GMs catch their flights out of O'Hare…
- Welcome to Twitter: ESPN's Buster Olney.
- ESPN's Keith Law assesses the Mark Teahen, J.J. Hardy, Jeremy Hermida, and Akinori Iwamura trades.
- The Royals are committed to Alex Gordon as their third baseman despite acquiring Josh Fields, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Fields instead could play left field in the event David DeJesus is traded. DeJesus' name popped up in our left field trade market post.
- Rosenthal and Morosi also note that the Giants are talking with Juan Uribe about a new contract. Uribe was one of the year's best minor league deals. He's represented by Barry Praver.
- Rosenthal reported yesterday that the Nationals hired Bryan Minnitti from the Pirates to be their new assistant GM. Jake from New Bucs interviewed the young exec last year.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic names four relievers who might be of interest to the Diamondbacks: Rafael Betancourt, Mike Gonzalez, LaTroy Hawkins, and Bob Howry.
- Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues has a reality check for fans as we head toward the offseason insanity.
- Victor Martinez's agent Alan Nero told WEEI's Rob Bradford there's been "little or no dialogue" in terms of the Red Sox extending his client.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post wonders if the Yankees' championship might enable them to take things more slowly this winter.
- Sherman tweets that there is interest in Japan from Kei Igawa, but he doesn't want to go. Igawa posted a 4.15 ERA in 145.3 Triple A innings this year, and still has $8MM remaining on his contract.
- Baseball America's Matt Eddy has your minor league transactions. Wilson Valdez and Mike Gosling are among those joining the free agent ranks.
- New Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos seems passionate, talking to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun. Anthopoulos even gives props to the fine Jays blogs out there.
- Padres pitcher Chris Young told Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune that he understands the business aspect of baseball. With a healthy first half, Young could be a trade candidate.
- Grant at McCovey Chronicles says AT&T Park isn't a pitcher's park anymore, and agents know that.
Boras Seeking Long-Term Deal For Damon?
Joel Sherman of the New York Post says Scott Boras "sounded as if he wants a three- or four-year deal for Johnny Damon" in comments made yesterday. Sherman also questions Boras' willingness to take less than the $13MM salary Damon made the last four years. Such demands would take the Yanks out of the mix for Damon's services, no matter what Boras says about his client's gene pool.
Boras' Damon comments don't mean much, until one team actually emerges that is willing to guarantee three years. Last year Boras somehow got us talking about ten years for Mark Teixeira and five for Manny Ramirez, so it's customary to aim higher than reality. But, Sherman says the Yankees "might not want to offer Damon even a two-year deal," and that does seem possible on the open market. In a blog post, Sherman recommends a two-year, $26MM agreement between Damon and the Yankees. He adds that the Yankees do not want to offer arbitration to Damon.
Meanwhile, Sherman tweets a comment from Hideki Matsui's agent Arn Tellem that suggests Matsui wants to play for another three years. How many contracts that will take, we're not sure yet. Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News surveyed more than six GMs about Matsui, and all agreed that he cannot play the outfield.
The Japanese media was all over the GM Meetings in Chicago, and Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along their Matsui rumors. Specifically, there might be interest from the Red Sox and Angels as a Plan B. Also, this is weird…the Huffington Post commissioned Tellem to write a sales pitch for Matsui.
Yankees To Tender Contract To Brian Bruney?
The Yankees plan to tender a contract to reliever Brian Bruney, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The estimated salary for the arbitration-eligible righty is around $1.5MM.
Bruney made our list of non-tender candidates in October, on account of his sore elbow and high walk rate. He made $1.25MM this year, so Sherman believes Bruney's 39-inning season will limit his raise to 20%.