Interesting Non-Tenders
Dozens of players were non-tendered today, and they've been added to our 2010 free agents list. It's fitting that these players comprise the youngest free agents, since they were cut before tallying six years of service time. It should be noted that a one-year deal for many of these players can become more, as quite a few would again be arbitration-eligible after the 2010 season. Let's take a look at the most interesting non-tenders…
- Matt Capps, RP – The decision to let Capps go was a surprise move by the Pirates. The 26-year-old did fine work closing for the Bucs in 2007 and '08. His career BB/9 is just 1.7. His elbow was bruised twice this year, but Capps was otherwise healthy as his hits and home runs allowed ballooned.
- Kelly Johnson, 2B – Dealing with a wrist injury, Johnson hit .224/.303/.389 and lost the starting second base job in Atlanta. He's an interesting pickup given his offensive success in the two years prior. Johnson turns 28 in February.
- D.J. Carrasco, SP/RP – It was surprising to see Carrasco's name pop up as a possible non-tender on Friday, but it became a reality today. The righty, 33 in April, led MLB in relief innings and did solid work with a 3.76 ERA. Carrasco hopes to start in 2010, according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
- Chien-Ming Wang, SP – Wang, 30 in March, had strong years in '06 and '07 as the Yankees' mid-rotation groundball specialist. He had shoulder surgery in July but hopes to be ready by May 1st.
- Jack Cust, DH/OF – Cust is the AL strikeout leader for three years running, but he's also hit at least 25 home runs and drawn at least 90 walks in each of those seasons. He'd fit best in a DH role.
- Ryan Garko, 1B – Garko, 29 in January, has some decent years under his belt but struggled after being traded to the Giants this year. He still handles lefties well.
- Adam Miller, SP – Miller was once the Indians' top prospect, but he's had tendon surgery performed many times on the middle finger of his pitching hand.
- John Buck, C – Buck doesn't seem much worse than the veteran catchers currently snagging two-year offers, and he's only 29. He's shown flashes of power at times.
- Mike MacDougal, RP – MacDougal became a non-tender candidate when the Nationals acquired Brian Bruney last week. He saved 20 games this year but walked more than he struck out.
- Jonny Gomes, OF – Gomes, 29, hit .267/.338/.541 in 314 plate appearances for the Reds this year, though he did get to face lefties 35% of the time. He's had a hard time shaking the platoon bat label due to a .224/.311/.448 career line against righties.
- Garrett Atkins, 1B/3B – He has the name value, but his defense and ability to hit away from Coors are in question. This year, he didn't hit at Coors either.
- Ryan Church, RF – With a career line of .272/.345/.441 and strong right field defense, Church would at the least make a solid fourth outfielder.
- Jose Arredondo, RP – Armed with a 94 mph fastball, Arredondo posted a 1.62 ERA, 8.1 K/9, and 3.2 BB/9 as a rookie in '08. He struggled this year and is now scheduled for Tommy John surgery. He could be signed with an eye on 2011.
Non-Tendered Players
The deadline for teams to offer contract to their players with less than six years of service time is midnight ET tonight, so let's keep track off all the non-tenders here in one post. Make sure you check back in, we'll be updating this post throughout the day.
- Rough day for Jose Arredondo. First it was announced that he would have surgery and miss 2010. Then right at the deadline, the Angels decided against tendering him an offer. Matt Brown and Dustin Moseley were given their walking papers as well.
- The Giants non-tendered Ryan Garko.
- Clay Condrey has been non-tendered by the Phillies.
- Josh Whitesell, though not arbitration-eligible, was non-tendered.
- The Indians non-tendered Adam Miller, Anthony Reyes, and Jose Veras.
- The Pirates made Matt Capps and Phil Dumatrait walk the plank.
- Raul Chavez is the only player not brought back by Toronto.
- The Royals have non-tendered John Buck and Josh Anderson.
- Mark Worrell and Jackson Quezada have been non-tendered by the Padres.
- Shawn Riggans was not offered a contract by Tampa Bay.
- Rays have non-tendered Gabe Gross.
- Seattle has non-tendered outfielder Ryan Langerhans.
- Milwaukee will non-tender Mark DiFelice and Mike Rivera.
- The Metropolitans have non-tendered Cory Sullivan, Tim Redding, Jeremy Reed, and Lance Broadway.
- The BoSox did not tender an offer to outfielder Brian Anderson.
- Oakland has parted ways with Jack Cust.
- The Nationals announced that they will not tender a contract to Mike MacDougal.
- Let's welcome D.J. Carrasco to the list.
- The Orioles bid Brian Bass farewell.
- The Cubs will non-tender Neal Cotts.
- Jonny Gomes has been non-tendered by the Reds.
- Raise your hand if you're an arbitration-eligible Marlin who has been tendered an offer. Not so fast, Alfredo Amezaga.
- Scott Olsen will not be invited back by the Nats.
- The Yankees non-tendered Chien-Ming Wang.
- The Braves gave Kelly Johnson and Ryan Church their walking papers.
- Garrett Atkins has been cut loose.
- Seth McClung tweeted a classy goodbye to the Brewers organization this morning, noting it was not his choice to leave.
Giants Non-Tender Ryan Garko
11:29pm: Baggarly writes that Garko did not see eye-to-eye with manager Bruce Bochy and likely wouldn't have seen much playing time in 2010. Now, the Giants have turned their attention to signing Nick Johnson or Adam LaRoche to play first base. Another option would be to sign Mark DeRosa to play third and move Pablo Sandoval to first.
San Francisco has made offers to all three of the aforementioned free agents, but couldn't agree on the dollar figures. It may take LaRoche a while to come around as he is seeking a three-year, $31.5MM deal.
11:00pm: The Giants elected to not tender Ryan Garko an offer, reports Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News (via Twitter).
After coming to the Giants in July, Garko was unable to get into a rhythm, posting a .638 OPS in 40 games. For his career, the soon-to-be 29-year-old has a slash line of .351/.441/.792.
Players Tendered Contracts
Midnight ET is the non-tender deadline, so we'll keep track of all the players who are offered and/or agreed to contracts today in this post. Keep coming back throughout the day for updates.
- Washington tendered contracts to Josh Willingham, Jesus Flores, Wil Nieves, Jason Bergmann, and Sean Burnett.
- Zach Duke was tendered an offer by the Pirates.
- The Marlins reached an agreement with Ronny Paulino. The deal will be for one-year, $1.1MM.
- The Royals avoided arbitration by reaching one year deals with Brian Bannister ($2.3MM) Roman Colon ($660K), and Kyle Davies ($1.8MM).
- Dioner Navarro will remain with the Rays on a one-year deal worth $2.1MM.
- The White Sox will offer contracts to Bobby Jenks, John Danks, Carlos Quentin, and Tony Pena.
- Milwaukee will tender offers to six players: Dave Bush, Carlos Villanueva, Todd Coffey, Jody Gerut, Corey Hart, and Carlos Gomez.
- Toronto will tender an offer to Jeremy Accardo.
- Kevin Correia will remain with the Padres for one-year, $3.6MM.
- The Rangers have signed Esteban German to a 2010 contract. He'll earn $600K in the majors and $200K in the minors. They offered contracts to their other arbitration-eligible players including Scott Feldman, Chris Ray, Frank Francisco, C.J. Wilson, Dustin Nippert, Brandon McCarthy, and Josh Hamilton.
- Tampa Bay avoided arbitration with Lance Cormier by inking him to a one-year deal. The contract will pay Cormier $1.2MM.
- The Twins will tender contracts to all 30 unsigned players on their 40-man roster. That means Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, J.J. Hardy, Brendan Harris, Francisco Liriano, Pat Neshek, Delmon Young, and many more figure to be in the Twins' plans in 2010.
- The following eight Cubs will receive offers from the team: Carlos Marmol, Ryan Theriot, Jeff Baker, Angel Guzman, Sean Marshall, Koyie Hill, Tom Gorzelanny, and Mike Fontenot.
- Atlanta tendered offers to relievers Peter Moylan and Boone Logan.
- The Marlins will tender offers to almost all of their arbitration-eligible players – Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu, Ricky Nolasco, Cody Ross, Josh Johnson, Leo Nunez, and Renyel Pinto.
- The Astros will tender offers to all remaining arbitration-eligible players. This means Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence, Wandy Rodriguez, Matt Lindstrom, Tim Byrdak, Chris Sampson, Jeff Keppinger, and Humberto Quintero are invited back.
- Matt Albers and Cla Meredith have agreed to terms with the Orioles. Albers' deal is worth $.68MM for one-year. Meanwhile, Meredith will recieve $.85MM in 2010.
- Randy Choate agreed to a one year deal. Terms of the deal are one-year, $700K.
Yankees Non-Tender Chien-Ming Wang
10:04pm: The Yankees have confirmed that Wang has been non-tendered, writes Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). However, GM Brian Cashman says that he hopes the club's relationship with Wang can continue (also, via Twitter).
3:34pm: The Yankees have yet to confirm this, tweets Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger.
1:55pm: The Yankees have non-tendered Chien-Ming Wang, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter).
The right-hander was clearly less than 100% to start the year and had season-ending shoulder surgery in July. Wang's last truly healthy season was in 2007, when he turned in an ERA of 3.70 over 199.1 innings of work.
What teams do you expect to show interest in the 29-year-old?
Rays, Navarro Agree To Deal
Tampa Bay has come to terms with Dioner Navarro on a one-year, $2.1MM agreement, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. The soon-to-be 26-year-old struggled in 2009, posting a career worst OPS of .583.
Despite his disappointing campaign, do you think Navarro should have pressed ahead and sought out more money in arbitration?
Brewers Notes: Correia, Counsell, Non-Tenders
Some Brewers tidbits courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt:
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Haudricourt that he called the Padres earlier today and inquired about Kevin Correia. Even though he made his interest known, San Diego never followed up and instead signed the righty to a one-year deal.
- Melvin also confirmed that he has a tentative agreement in place for veteran Craig Counsell to return in 2010. He expects it to be finalized Monday.
- The decision to non-tender Seth McClung, Mark DiFelice, and Mike Rivera was not financially motivated, according to Melvin. For up-to-the-minute news on other players not being tendered, check out our running post.
Jason Bay Rumors: Saturday
9:02pm: Urbon tells Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com that nothing will be decided this weekend (via Twitter). Earlier today, Jon Heyman tweeted that he believes the Mets would be willing to give Bay a five-year deal if neccessary.
4:46pm: A major league source told WEEI.com that one club has "extended past" a five-year deal for Jason Bay – which could mean a five-year deal or a four-year deal with an option. Meanwhile, Ian Browne of MLB.com says that it's "starting to appear unlikely" that Bay will remain with Boston.
2:55pm: Bay has rejected Boston's latest proposal, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Bay's agent Joe Urbon told Rosenthal there are "other offers on the table that are of greater interest" to his client.
The last known offer from the BoSox was a four-year pact worth $60MM. It has been said that Bay is seeking the security of a five-year contract.
10:14am: A team source indicated to The NY Post's Bart Hubbuch that the Mets' offer to free agent Jason Bay is heavily backloaded, starting out with a $10MM salary in the first year before ballooning to $20MM in the final year. Hubbuch notes that this is common practice for the Mets under Omar Minaya, citing Carlos Beltran's similarly structured deal.
Yesterday we learned that Bay's agent countered Boston's original four year, $60MM offer by asking for six years at $16-18MM annually. The general belief is that a fifth year will land the free agent.
Odds & Ends: Mets, Braves, Red Sox, Cust
Some Saturday links:
- The Mets have yet to make an offer to John Lackey and continue to focus on Jason Bay, according to David Lennon of Newsday (via Twitter).
- Meanwhile, Jon Heyman tweets that the Mets would be willing to give Bay a five-year deal if necessary.
- Braves GM Frank Wren said the club is open to retaining Kelly Johnson at a lesser salary, he said that he would be better suited to an opportunity where he could get more at-bats, according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- While Wren continues to explore other options on the open market, the club is leaving the door open for Jason Heyward to win the job in right field, writes David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- Prior to being selected by the Mets in the Rule 5 draft and sold to the Dodgers, Carlos Monasterios told Bravos de Margarita that both the Dodgers and the Tigers were in contact with him (passed along by Diamond Leung).
- The Red Sox trade of Mike Lowell to Texas has not been officially completed as Rangers officials are looking over the third baseman's thumb, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- Recently non-tendered Jack Cust could be a fit for the White Sox, writes Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
- Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick told Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic that the club still has room to spend this winter.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti says that barring something that's not currently on the team's radar, the second baseman job will go to Blake DeWitt plus a veteran, according to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
- Matt Eddy of Baseball America brings us the latest minor league transactions. Most notably, former Seton Hall Prep standout and Yankees' first round selection Eric Duncan has landed with the Braves.
Padres Avoid Arbitration With Kevin Correia
The Padres have signed Kevin Correia to a one-year deal worth "$3.6MM or so", according to Corey Brock of MLB.com (via Twitter) who confirmed the initial tweet from Marty Caswell of XX 1090 Radio. Brock tells MLBTR that the deal may be a "tad higher" than the $3.6MM figure.
This past season, the 29-year-old recorded a 3.91 ERA, 6.5 K/9, and 2.9 BB/9 in 198 innings for the Padres. After spending six big league seasons with the Giants, San Diego inked the hurler to a one-year pact last winter with a base of $.75MM.