Mets, Nationals Pursuing Jason Marquis
THURSDAY, 10:09am: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post says there's no chance of Marquis returning to the Rockies.
WEDNESDAY, 5:46pm: ESPN.com's Jayson Stark hears that the Phillies do indeed have interest in Marquis.
4:58pm: The Mets and Nationals are pursuing free agent starter Jason Marquis, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. He adds that we should not rule out the Phillies (though Marquis seems pointless for them to me). Earlier today we learned from Yahoo's Steve Henson that the Rockies are open to re-signing Marquis at less than his $9.875MM 2009 salary.
Marquis, 31, posted a 4.04 ERA, 4.8 K/9, and 3.3 BB/9 in 216 innings for the Rockies this year. He's been portrayed as having a lousy second half, but he really only struggled in September.
Rule 5 Picks
A look at the first round of the Rule 5 draft…
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post says that the Yankees will take outfielder Jamie Hoffmann from the Dodgers with the first pick, which they acquired from the Nationals for Brian Bruney earlier this week.
- The Pirates selected outfielder John Raynor from the Marlins, tweets MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.
- The Orioles picked lefty Benjamin Snyder from the Giants, and he'll go to the Rangers as part of the Kevin Millwood deal tweets Evan Grant.
- The Royals selected lefty Edgar Osuna from the Braves, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
- The Indians selected righty Hector Ambriz from the D'Backs, tweets MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince.
- The D'Backs took lefty Zach Kroenke from the Yankees, reports MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. The Marlins took Kroenke from the Yanks in the Rule 5 a year ago but returned him.
- The Mets took righty Carlos Monasterios from the Phillies, tweets Ken Davidoff of Newsday. Monasterios was then traded to the Dodgers for cash, reports Newsday's David Lennon.
- The Astros took third baseman Jorge Jimenez from the Red Sox, and they'll ship him to Florida as part of the Matt Lindstrom deal reports Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.
- The A's took righty Bobby Cassevah from the Angels, says Ben Badler of Baseball America.
- The Jays took righty Zech Zinicola from the Nationals, says MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
- The Brewers took lefty Chuck Lofgren from the Indians, says Castrovince.
- The Cubs took pitcher Mike Parisi from the Cardinals, says Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He had Tommy John surgery in August of '08.
- The Rays took lefty Armando Zerpa from the Red Sox, says Baseball America's John Manuel. The Dodgers then acquired Zerpa for cash, says Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times.
- The Giants took Orioles righty Steve Johnson, reports Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Johnson was part of the George Sherrill trade with the Dodgers.
- The Cardinals took lefty Ben Jukich from the Reds, says MLB.com's Matthew Leach.
- The Phillies took righty Ken Herndon from the Angels, reports MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
- The Mariners took pitcher Kanekoa Texeira from the Yankees, says Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger. Texeira was part of the Nick Swisher trade with the White Sox.
- J.J. Cooper of Baseball America has blurbs on each of the 17 players chosen.
Royals Release Mike Jacobs, John Bale
9:43am: The release of Jacobs and Bale was confirmed by the Royals.
7:10am: Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star tweets that the Royals will release first baseman Mike Jacobs and lefty reliever John Bale this morning. The moves will give Kansas City two open 40-man roster spots, meaning they can make two picks in the Rule 5 Draft if they choose.
The 29-year-old Jacobs hit just .228/.297/.401 with 19 homers in 478 plate appearances after being acquired for Leo Nunez last offseason. Bale, 35, had a 5.72 ERA in 28.1 innings last year, and was only able to hold lefties to a .271 batting average. Both players made MLBTR's list of non-tender candidates.
Mariners Re-Sign Josh Wilson
The Mariners signed infielder Josh Wilson to a minor league deal, tweets Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. Wilson, 29 in March, hit .219/.279/.333 in 211 plate appearances for the D'Backs, Padres, and Mariners this year, mainly playing shortstop.
Joey Gathright Remains Unsigned
7:57am: Gathright's agency, Reynolds Sports Management, tells us via email that the outfielder has not signed.
5:27am: Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun reports that the Blue Jays have signed speedy outfielder Joey Gathright.
The 28-year-old Gathright is a career .263/.327/.303 hitter in the big leagues, and has spent the better part of his baseball life bouncing between Triple-A and the Majors. Gathright just needs to hook on with the Yankees one of these years to complete the AL East quintuple crown.
Mets, Blanco Re-Negotiate Contract
Just a week after signing backup catcher Henry Blanco to a one year, $1.45MM contract, the two sides have re-negotiated the pact according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff. Concerns about the backstop's throwing shoulder popped up during a physical, which led the restructuring.
Under the new contract, Blanco can actually earn more than he would have under the original deal, however most of that money is now tied up in bonuses. His base salary drops to $750K, but he can pocket another $775K in incentives tied to games started and various awards.
The new deal protects the Mets should Blanco get hurt, and as Davidoff so candidly puts it, if he earns those incentives, then "something has gone horribly wrong for the Mets." Blanco's agent stressed that his client's shoulder has been fine since a 1997 procedure.
Winter Meetings Review: Day 3
The Rule 5 Draft starts in a few hours, and after that most team executives will head back home. There was lots on action on Wednesday, so let's recap…
- Two of the better free agent starters came off the board during Day 3 of the Winter Meetings. Randy Wolf finalized his three year, $29.75MM deal with Milwaukee, and even managed to secure an option for a fourth year. Andy Pettitte re-upped with the Yankees for another year, and will earn $11.75MM in 2010.
- The Rays acquired relief ace Rafael Soriano from the Braves for Jesse Chavez, pending medical review. Tampa will take on all of Soriano's salary, whatever that ends up being. The Yankees, Angels, Orioles, and Astros were all considered suitors for the righthander throughout the day.
- The Astros imported a notable pair of relievers of their own on Wednesday. First they traded two minor leaguers and their pick in the Rule 5 Draft to Florida for closer Matt Lindstrom. Later in the day, they signed Brandon Lyon to a three year, $15MM deal. Those moves will help make up for the loss of LaTroy Hawkins, who inked a two year, $7.5MM deal with the Brewers.
- The Rangers finally sent Kevin Millwood packing, dealing him to the Orioles for Chris Ray. Baltimore is also sending the third overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft to Texas. That move opened the door for the Rangers to sign Rich Harden to a one year, $7.5MM contract that includes an option for 2011. The Mariners were rumored to be in on Harden, but they had to settle for Corey Patterson instead.
- While that was happening, the Rangers moved closer to acquiring Mike Lowell from the Red Sox for Max Ramirez. There's a chance Lowell's hip and thumb issues could interfere with the deal, though. That move would open a spot for Adrian Beltre, who the Sox have serious interest in. Despite their need for a corner bat, the Giants are not interested in Beltre.
- Bobby Crosby signed a one year deal with the Pirates, and will earn $1MM with another $500K in incentives.
- On the pitching market, Ben Sheets is looking for big money, while multiple teams are discussing Derek Lowe. The Mets, Nationals, and Phillies are all interested in Jason Marquis, while Darren Oliver has plenty of suitors as well. Joel Pineiro, as expected, has a bunch of teams after him. In a move of astounding cheapness, the Padres are expected to non-tender Kevin Correia.
- Nick Johnson is a wanted man, with seven teams pursuing him. The Reds, meanwhile, are interested in Craig Counsell, while five teams are interested in Scott Podsednik. The White Sox appear to be closing in on J.J. Putz, and the Padres are shopping Kevin Kouzmanoff.
- The Rockies are nearing a two year deal with Yorvit Torrealba, while the Mets are prepared to offer Bengie Molina a deal by Thursday afternoon. Sticking to the theme, the Royals offered Jason Kendall two years as well.
- Of course, it wouldn't be a day near the Hot Stove without some talk about Jason Bay, Roy Halladay, Milton Bradley, and John Lackey.
In case you missed it, here's MLBTR's review of Day 1 and Day 2.
Overnight Links: Rodney, Lyon, Nationals, Weaver
The Hot Stove never sleeps…
- With Brandon Lyon headed to Houston, Steve Kornacki of MLive.com expects the Tigers to intensify their efforts to re-sign Fernando Rodney.
- Speaking of Lyon, Dave Cameron at FanGraphs calls his signing by the Astros "the latest act in a joke that’s gone on far too long." Ouch.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson says that the Nationals' agenda hasn't changed; they're looking for quality pitching and a backup infielder.
- The Angels will be among the teams at Aroldis Chapman's workout next week, reports Mike DiGiovanna of The LA Times.
- The Dodgers have interest in re-signing righty Jeff Weaver, according to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. The 33-year-old Weaver had a 3.65 ERA in 79 innings for LA last season.
- Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com notes that the Tigers have only $33MM committed to their 2011 payroll, and would have a big chunk of money to play around with next offseason even if they scale their payroll back a bit.
- Bill Beane left the Winter Meetings late Wednesday afternoon according to MLB.com's Tom Singer, and is ready to get some serious work done. "You really do more productive work when you get back home, and can get on the phone away from the distractions," Beane said.
- Phillies' GM Ruben Amaro acknowledged that it's possible the team may move past Chan Ho Park and Scott Eyre, says MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
- MLB.com's Chris Haft wonders if the Giants could benefit from the Yankees' glut of outfielders.
Rockies Nearing Two-Year Deal With Torrealba?
THURSDAY, 1:24pm: Steve Henson of Yahoo! Sports says that Torrealba is currently exhausting all of his options, but "it's only a matter of time before he accepts" the Rockies' offer.
WEDNESDAY, 6:24pm: Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports reports that the Rockies are at a standstill with Torrealba. He wants $6MM over the course of the contract, but they're currently offering $5MM.
2:50pm: Renck now says the Rockies have not spoken with Torrealba's people today but they are the frontrunner.
2:32pm: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post says the Rockies are "on the verge" of re-signing Torrealba. He believes the two-year deal will be in the $5-5.5MM range.
1:18pm: The Rockies are "nearing resolution" on a two-year deal with catcher Yorvit Torrealba, writes ESPN's Buster Olney. Torrealba had been reported as the Mets' Plan B after Bengie Molina. Looks like two-year deals for catchers are the norm so far this year, outside of Gregg Zaun.
Nationals Plan To Hold Onto Willingham
The Nationals plan to hold onto outfielder Josh Willingham, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson. The Mets asked Washington who they'd want in exchange for The Hammer, but were apparently rebuffed.
The 30-year-old outfielder hit .260/.367/.496 with 24 homers in 502 plate appearances last season, and stands to get a nice raise over his $2.95MM salary in his second year of arbitration. Willingham is certainly no stranger to the trade rumor circuit.