White Sox Made Offer To J.J. Putz
THURSDAY, 2:53pm: ESPN's Bruce Levine wrote last night that the White Sox made an offer to Putz, though other teams are involved and the reliever will work out for teams on Friday.
WEDNESDAY, 9:20pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that other teams are involved with Putz.
3:57pm: Yesterday Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times said the White Sox were closing in on a deal with free agent reliever J.J. Putz, perhaps encouraging Putz's friend Matt Thornton to leverage their bromance as a recruiting tool. Today, Williams implied that leaks of the team's interest affected the possible deal. Cowley thinks they'll still get it done:
The Sox might have to up the ante a bit, but Putz wants to pitch on the South Side and there is still a deal close to happening.
Putz, 33 in February, pitched only 29.3 innings this year due to elbow issues.
Odds & Ends: Wolf, Stammen, Lackey
Post-Winter Meetings links for Thursday…
- ESPN's Keith Law calls the Astros' signing of Brandon Lyon "hobbling," but likes the Rays impending acquisition of Rafael Soriano. He says the Soriano situation shows that if a team has a borderline call with a Type A free agent, they should offer arbitration.
- ESPN's Buster Olney says Randy Wolf would've re-signed with the Dodgers for a two-year deal in the $14-16MM range.
- Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun says the Blue Jays talked to the Nationals about pitcher Craig Stammen but "he does not appear to be available."
- The Cardinals touched base with Scott Boras before leaving Indianapolis, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cards still haven't made an offer to Matt Holliday.
- ESPN's Mike Salk heard that John Lackey is the Mariners' top priority.
- The Hanshin Tigers signed reliever Randy Messenger for about $600K, says NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman. Messenger will replace Scott Atchison, who signed with the Red Sox.
- The Big Lead did a Q&A with new Yankee Curtis Granderson.
Astros Sign Gary Majewski
1:49pm: Credit on the Majewski signing goes to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart, who had it on Tuesday. At that time he mentioned that the Astros also signed Ryan Sadowski, Roy Corcoran, Casey Daigle, Chris Shelton, Alex Romero, Drew Meyer, and Oswaldo Navarro. Romero, 26, hit .248/.306/.338 in 157 plate appearances for the D'Backs this year.
10:11am: Add one more reliever to the Astros' pickups – they've seen Gary Majewski to a minor league deal, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. Majewski can earn $650K in the Majors. Majewski, 30 in February, spent the season with the Phillies' Triple A club. He posted a 4.02 ERA, 6.2 K/9, and 3.4 BB/9 in 62.6 innings.
Mets Sign Clint Everts
The Mets signed pitcher Clint Everts, tweets USA Today's Bob Nightengale. Everts was a first-round pick of the Expos in '02 (by Omar Minaya), and has spent his entire career in their minor league system. He had Tommy John surgery in '04 and now works as a reliever.
Multiple Teams Interested In Darren Oliver
THURSDAY, 2:15pm: Evan Grant tweets that the Rangers met for a second time with Oliver's agents today, while the Red Sox and Angels are also still in.
WEDNESDAY, 2:14pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Angels and Rangers have been the most aggressive on Oliver.
TUESDAY, 5:51pm: Darren Oliver is drawing interest from multiple teams, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. Along with the Mariners and his old team, the Angels, the Red Sox, Rays, Rangers and Mets are interested. MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reports that the Rangers are expected to meet with Oliver's agents sometime tonight.
Oliver wasn't offered arbitration, so he won't cost a draft pick.
Astros Sign Pedro Feliz
12:02pm: A tweet from MLB.com's Brian McTaggart: "Astros sign Pedro Feliz." The Astros' Alyson Footer confirms, and says the contract is worth $4.5MM.
11:53am: The Astros are close to signing Pedro Feliz to a one-year deal worth about $4MM, writes ESPN's Enrique Rojas. Rojas notes that the Twins and Orioles also showed interest. For the Astros, that's more than $10MM in 2010 contracts added by the Astros during the Winter Meetings, with Matt Lindstrom and Brandon Lyon plugged into to the bullpen. Perhaps the club had a little more to spend than we thought.
Feliz, 35 in April, hit .266/.308/.386 in 625 plate appearances for the Phillies this year. He continued to play above-average defense, based on UZR/150. The Phils bought out Feliz's $5MM club option in November, preferring to sign Placido Polanco instead.
Athletics Release Santiago Casilla
The Athletics released reliever Santiago Casilla today to make room for Rule 5 pick Bobby Cassevah, reports John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. Casilla would've been non-tendered on Saturday anyway.
Casilla, 29, posted a 5.96 ERA, 6.5 K/9, and 4.7 BB/9 in 48.3 relief innings this year. He was hindered by calf and knee injuries. He dealt with a sore elbow throughout the '08 season.
Pirates Sign Bobby Crosby
THURSDAY, 11:09am: The Pirates announced the Crosby deal today. Huntington said that Crosby "will provide us with depth off the bench and also has the ability to play regularly should the need arise."
WEDNESDAY, 6:15pm: Crosby will earn $1MM before incentives next year according to Kovacevic. He can earn another $500K in incentives based on plate appearances.
TUESDAY, 11:57pm: Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the deal will be worth roughly $1.5MM.
2:24pm: The Pirates are on the verge of signing infielder Bobby Crosby, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. Crosby will get a chance to compete with Ronny Cedeno for the Pirates' starting shortstop job.
Crosby, 30 in January, hit .223/.295/.357 in 272 plate appearances for the A's this year, playing mostly the infield corners. His Rookie of the Year season led to a five-year, $12.75MM extension from Oakland.
Mariners Exploring Adrian Gonzalez Trade
The Mariners are exploring an Adrian Gonzalez trade with the Padres, report Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. However, the writers say that "it doesn't appear that talks between Seattle and San Diego are advancing toward a deal."
Gonzalez, 27, hit .277/.401/.551 in 681 plate appearances for the Padres this year. He's owed $4.75MM in 2010 and has a $5.5MM club option for '11. Brandon Morrow could be a starting point, but who else would the Ms have to include to pull off a Gonzalez deal?
Twitter Rumors: Smoltz, Damon, Mulder, Felix, Counsell
Twitter madness…
- Surprisingly, Ken Davidoff of Newsday writes of an "increasing expectation around MLB" that the Yankees will eventually re-sign Hideki Matsui.
- Crasnick talked to one exec who says Scott Boras wants three years and big money for outfielder Rick Ankiel.
- The Royals talked to the Dodgers about Juan Pierre, writes ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, but the Dodgers would have to eat too much money to make it work.
- ESPN's Jayson Stark says the Phillies are now looking hard at John Smoltz as a possible "back-of-the-bullpen weapon." Smoltz's agent apparently told the Phils that the pitcher has no problem with Citizens Bank Park.
- ESPN's Buster Olney heard "the Yankees are in the process of negotiating with Johnny Damon's camp." He adds that the Yanks "intend to use market forces to pressure Damon to make a decision quickly." I'm sure Scott Boras will love that.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin plans to visit free agent lefty Mark Mulder in January to discuss a possible contract, says Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says there have been no Felix Hernandez negotiations this week after an initial four-year offer from the Mariners.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti told Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times that they'll tender contracts to all of their arbitration-eligible players. No big surprise, though it's a large group of players.
- Scott Lauber of the News Journal talked to Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr., who said Astros GM Ed Wade stole Brandon Lyon from the Phillies. The Astros committed three years and $15MM to Lyon despite holes at shortstop and third base.
- MLB.com's Adam McCalvy says the Brewers upped their offer to Craig Counsell this morning and GM Doug Melvin is confident they'll get it done. The Reds are still in the mix for Counsell, says MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
- La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune heard last night that Twins infielder Alexi Casilla is available.